Everyone ready for this month's story?

Mike: As long as I ain't a dog, sure.

Peter: I'm ready.

Micky: I'm ready.

Davy: Me, too.

(We open with a shot of a spacious country club and an elaborate sign that says "Malibu Beach Country Club - Members Only." The camera then passes by the large, palatial buildings and a golf course to the tennis courts. One familiar couple is already playing. Alex and Sheila hit the ball back and forth in what looks like a furious match. Zelda watches them, leaning on her own tennis racket. Alex finally misses the ball.)

Sheila: (Grins) Game, set, and match.

Alex: You cheated!

Sheila: All's fair in love and war, my dear boy.

*Alex grumbles, stomps past Zelda, and sits on the nearest bench.*

Zelda: Oh come on, Alex! So you got beat by a girl! *Grins* I thought you liked that.

Alex: Not when it comes to sports!

Sheila: Ready to take me on, Zelda?

Zelda: *Goes onto the court* You bet I am!

(Sheila and Zelda don't notice two more people join them on the tenns courts as they play their match and Alex sulks. The man is a tanned, muscular, almost too-pretty blond in perfect whites. The woman is a familiar blond in a pink polo shirt and pleated skirt.)

Stella: (Sits down next to Alex) This seat taken, handsome?

*Alex glances over. He first glimpses her knee, then the rest of her legs. He slowly looks up at her, grinning.*

Alex: It is now.

Stella: Haven't I seen you somewhere before? (Grins) Besides my dreams, that is.

Alex: Well, I do get around quite a bit. *Waggles his eyebrows*

Stella: No, I've seen you somewhere recently, but you didn't have the beard and mustache...

Alex: *smirks* In that case, I'm willing to bet that you've met my brother.

Stella: Your brother?

Alex: Half-brother, I guess you could say.

Stella: Oh, that cute Micky fellow? He's your brother?

Alex: That would be him. *pauses* How do you know him?

Stella: (Smirks) Oh, my lover and I have had him many times.

Alex: *Leans in closer* I know that kind of smirk. I'm willing to bet you REALLY HAD him.

Stella: And loved every minute of it.

Alex: Naturally.

Stella: (Nods at Sheila and Zelda) Who's the chicks?

Alex: The shorter one, Zelda, is my girl. *waggles his eyebrows* The taller one, Sheila, is my boss lady.

Stella: She's the one in charge? (Sees Sheila eye the blond man...and miss a ball) Looks like she knows my boss man.

Alex: *Chuckles* I'd say so. Man, I could've used him when she was kicking my ass on the court.

Sheila: Blast it! (She stomps over to Belavarg) What are you doing here, you old reprobate?

Belavarg: *Smirks* For one thing, I own the place.

Sheila: Figures. I would join the one country club in southern California owned by a demon. What are you doing in this area? I thought you opted to stay in Europe after my uncle more-or-less fired you.

Belavarg: Word got around that your uncle is no longer around. I decided to come back upon hearing that.

Alex: *Leans over to Stella* I think they know each other.

Stella: (Shrugs) Bela knows a lot of people. He's been around for a while.

Sheila: Yes, but I AM still around, and I have no intention of letting you take over where you left off. (Narrows her eyes) You tried to kill me and my uncle before he sent you away.

Belavarg: Perhaps I've had a bit of a change of heart, so to speak. *Pauses* I'm actually very glad I ran into you.

Sheila: Whatever it is, the answer's no. (Makes a face) And I'm not joining your collection, either, so you might as well put that out of your head this second. I don't like the view from the inside of a cabinet.

Belavarg: I wanted to ask if you'd team with us. Stella and I recently found some...problematic characters we wish to dispose of.

Sheila: (Raises an eyebrow) Problematic characters?

Belavarg: A group of young men with very interesting powers that have wreaked havoc with our plans lately.

Sheila: The Guardians of the Light, aka the Monkees?

Belavarg: That would be them.

Sheila: I too have had...problems...with them. I'm surprised you don't remember them. Uncle must have ousted you before we dealt with their ancestors. (Sighs) My sister infused the ancestors of those eight young people with special powers to fight our kind and other menaces. Uncle thought he destroyed them, but my sister was able to restore their souls and their powers several years ago.

Belavarg: How lovely of her.

Sheila: You may remember my sister. Broke with my uncle over his treatment of our vicitms.

Belavarg: Yes. Ursula, was it?

Sheila: (Nods) Yes. It's a long story, but she's now in the car owned by one of the Guardians. It's a matter of getting her away from them and out of the car...and we haven't figured out how to do it yet.

Belavarg: Interesting.

Sheila: (Nods at the court) Are you still a good tennis player, Bela?

Belavarg: *smirks* The best.

Sheila: Want to play me? Winner decides what to do with the Guardians.

Belavarg: You're on, Sheila.

(Belavarg replaces Zelda on the court. Zelda joins Stella and Alex.)

Stella: (As they begin) You know, you're familiar too, miss.

Zelda: *Grins* I'm a clone of his brother's wife.

Alex: Let’s just say we like to keep things all in the family.

Stella: (Raises an eyebrow) Very interesting.

(Sheila and Belavarg continue their game. Sheila finally gets in a tremendous hit that goes past Belavarg. She cheers, grinning.)

Sheila: I do believe that is game, set, and match.

Stella: Darn, she's GOOD.

Sheila: I should be. I've had hundreds of years to practice.

Alex: *Folds his arms* She's good at cheating, too.

Sheila: What is it with you men that you can't losing to a woman?

Belavarg: I believe it's something called male pride.

Alex: *nods* You got THAT right!

Sheila: Maybe it's time you swallowed a bit of that. Your concession stand makes an excellent sherry vineagarette to put on top.

Belavarg: Yes, they do, but that's beside the point.

Sheila: The point is, we want to lure the Guardians into both our grasps. I've wanted the White Knight as my slave for over 500 years.

Belavarg: I'm certain we could share them equally.

Stella: (Whines) But I want the Knight!

Sheila: (Ignores her) Why don't we use this lovely country club of yours to trap them?

Belavarg: *Nods* An excellent idea.

Sheila: Tennis is a very popular sport, with men and women, and there's other things at this club as well. (Grins) I believe the Aristocrat is already a member, but you could send out invitations for the others to join.

Belavarg: *Thoughtful* Send invitations out to all of them would be too obvious. Perhaps we could just send a few.

Sheila: (Nods) That's true. They might become suspicious if we invited the whole group at once. Whom did you have in mind to send the invitations to?

Belavarg: Do we know who the actual tennis players may be?

Sheila: We don't, but my colleague does. He knows the Savage and the Mother...quite intimately.

Alex: *grins* My brother would be an excellent choice. His wife's no slouch, either.

Belavarg: *Looks over at Alex, who waves, grinning; eyes widen a bit* I can certainly see why.

Sheila: If we invite even a few of them, the rest will follow if they know they're in danger. They'll snoop anyway.

Belavarg: That will be perfect.

Sheila: You can do what you want with the other women and the Lord of the Manor. I want the Bard and the Knight, and my collegues want the Savage and the Mother. Once they're here and we get them alone, we'll set our traps.

Stella: But the Knight is mine! I want my puppy!

Belavarg: Stella, dear, we must be fair.

Sheila: Puppy. (Thinks about it) Hmmm. I like that. I must consider that when I have him in my bed.

Stella: I don't like this. How do we know we can trust you?

Sheila: You don't...but we all want the same thing, the Guardians out of our way.

Belavarg: Exactly. That should be enough for us to be willing to work together.

Sheila: Shall we shake on it? (She puts out her hand)

Belavarg: *Accepts her hand and shakes* We shall.

Sheila: Good. Why don't we adjourn to the locker room, then meet in the restaraunt to discuss this further?

Belavarg: Certainly.

Stella: (She pulls Belavarg aside as the two groups go in opposite directions) I don't like this. That...that...WOMAN wants my puppy!

Belavarg: You don't seriously think I'm going to let her have him, do you? I want YOU to be happy. I only said we'd share to get them to work with us.

Stella: Good. (Looks over her shoulder at the Devils) The one with the goatee isn't bad. I wouldn't mind having him.

Belavarg: Perhaps we can figure something out, dear.

Stella: (Takes his arm) Let's do that. You can never have too many lovely men around.

(As she walks off with Belavarg, we cut back to Sheila, who watches them.)

Sheila: I don't trust him...and I especially don't trust that little blonde fruitcake attatched to him.

Alex: *Stares after Stella* She is a looker!

Zelda: *Groans* Alex!

Sheila: If she's involved with Belavarg, she's either stupid or dangerous or both.

*Alex just sighs, still watching after her.*

Zelda: *Slaps the back of his head* Alex!

Alex: *Whines* Ow! *rubs the back of his head*

Sheila: I wouldn't look too hard, Alex. Belavarg likes his women extra-evil. If he's seriously interested in her and not just a piece of his collection, she must be a nasty piece of work.

Alex: All the better! *Gets slapped again* Ow!

Sheila: Belavarg likes to cultivate women with talent in the black arts. Roughtly translated, witches or demon mages, the nastier, the better, especially if they have odd sexual habits.

Alex: And that's supposed to DISCOURAGE me? *Gets slapped again* OW!

Sheila: If that doesn't, Zelda will.(Frowns) I want you two to spy on them. Find out what they - and her - are up to.

Alex: *Big grin* We will do so gladly! *Gets slapped again* Owww...

Zelda: We'll spy on them... *Points at Alex* but I want you to behave, or else!

Sheila: Alex, stay out of the women's locker rooms. The last time I let you in there, we were almost banned from the club.

Alex: Yes...but the key is almost. We WEREN'T banned.

Sheila: Just don't do anything that will draw attention to yourselves, all right?

Zelda: I'll keep an eye on him.

Alex: Gee, thanks Zel.

Sheila: I'll keep an eye out for potential victims at the club. There's lots of bored socilalites here who would love a night out with one of the club's best tennis players. (Looks at her watch) We'd better get going. Belavarg will want to meet us soon. We're going to need to keep up appearances unless we want him to get suspicious.

Alex: At least until we get what we want.

Sheila: That's right. (We fade out on their evil laughter as they make their way to the locker rooms)