Everybody ready to rock the palace? ;)
Lauren: Let's go for it!
Mike: All ready!
Peter: Let's play!
Micky: *twirls his sticks* Woo hoo!!
Davy: (Holds up a maraca) Ready here!
(The six climb out of the Monkeecarriage and start unloading the instruments.)
Emma: Don't forget why we're really here, too. We have to find the jewels and the demons, not to mention the Warrioresses.
Micky: Who could forget?
Mike: Wonder where the heck he's keepin' them?
Davy: Probably not out in the open.
Peter: Maybe a safe?
Mike: The ruby would blow it wide open.
Micky: *crows* I love that ruby, but man, it reaks havoc with my hands!
Emma: Imagine some gloves the next time you've gotta use it.
Lauren: Duh! *slaps her forehead*
(The group encounter four guards as they haul their instruments through the "Ye Entertainers' Entrance," Peter and Emma puffing as they push the piano.)
Guard: (Puts out his hand and stops the group cold. Everyone once again runs into Mike, including the piano.) Stop there! Which band are you, young ladies and gentlemen?
Emma: (As her head bumps into the piano) Ouch! Mike, can't you warn us when you do that? (Rubs her head)
Micky: *grumbles* I'm gettin' tired of running into you guys' backs.
Mike: (Pulls out the scroll) Well, we're the Monkees, and we're tonight's entertainment. They hired us at the music shop this afternoon.
Guard: (Reads the scroll and scratches his chin) Well, it is a real document. (Gazes at the boys) Though you lads do seem terribly familiar from somewhere. (Points ahead, to an ornate hall) The main banquet hall is up the stairs, to your left. You can't miss it. They'll be jugglers and traveling actors and all kinds of entertainers there. We like to have a nice, rounded bill at the Castle.
Mike: (Hauls Black Beauty over his shoulder) You wouldn't know anything about any jewels, would 'ya?
Davy: (Gives him a look) Mike!
Mike: Never hurts to ask!
Guard: Well, I heard Alakazam was keeping them in a very special room. There's rumors of them hidden in the depths of the Castle, in Alakazam's quarters, but I don't know anything about that.
Lauren: *under her breath* Depths. Goody.
Mike: (Nods) Um, yeah, thanks. You've been really helpful. (Gestures to the others, who follow him down the stairs. The Castle looks like something out of a swashbuckler movie, with tapestries hung on the walls and heavy, ornate furniture of velvet and wood.)
Peter: (Gasps) Look at this place! The castle in my dream was nothing like this!
Lauren: I think I've seen something vaguely like this place before.
Emma: (Looks at the tapestry) Nope. No sheep on the walls. ;)
*Lauren chuckles*
(The crest on the red tapestry depicts a tree, a water wave, a flame, and leaves blowing in the wind.)
Micky: Huh? I thought it was "Flowers On The Wall"?
Emma: (Grins) Once again, Mick, long story.
Micky: You girls and your long stories! *hmphs*
Emma: I wrote a story called "The Crimson Eagle" about castles and swashbucklers a couple of months ago. It was, literally, a long story - it took me four months to write when most of my fics usually take two weeks to a month to complete.
Peter: What's wrong with sheep on the walls?
Lauren: She thinks it was bad writing it. I was waiting on edge for more of the story through four months!
Mike: (Sees two huge, carved double doors) Well, here it is, gang.
*Micky makes haunted house sound effects.*
(Mike opens the doors to find a cacaphony of sounds. People are everywhere. Jugglers toss colorful balls, actors recite Shakespeare, dancers work on a routine to "Puttin' on the Ritz.")
Mike: How the heck did we end up in the circus?
Davy: (Points to an empty, raised space in the back) There's the bandstand, mate!
Micky: *singing* It's great, it's terrific, it's the best show on Earth...
Mike: (Rolls his eyes) That again! What IS that you always sing whenever we go near a circus?
Micky: *shrugs* I don't know, man, it just comes out.
Mike: (To Davy) And don't you DARE fall in love with the circus owner's daughter!
Lauren: I know what it is. *smirks*
Emma: (Grins) Me too. ;)
Davy: (Grins) Now, why would I do something like that?
Lauren: Gee, let's see...
Davy: (Puts his hand over Lauren's mouth) I think we can all guess, luv.
*Lauren says something muffled*
Mike: (Looks around) We'd better be settin' up before we try to figure out where the Jewels are. It'll at least look authentic.
Peter: (As he and Emma push the piano over to the bandstand) Before we go look for the Jewels and find the demons and save the kingdom, can we play?
Davy: (Helps Micky with his drum set) Yeah, if we're going to look authentic, we might as well rehearse.
Micky: *lugging the bass drum* We'll get to play something, right?
Emma: Maybe one what-the-hell number wouldn't hurt. Hey, Lauren, why don't you choose this time?
Mike: (Looks at his watch under his peasant outfit) Yeah, we've got time. But only for one number.
(The boys get behind their various instruments. Emma sets up the microphone.)
Lauren: Oh, boy! Let's see... *glances at Micky* How about "PO Box 9847"?
Mike: (Shrugs) Sure.
Lauren: *cheers* Yay!
Emma: Um...(leans over Lauren quick) Laur, teach me the lyrics really quick. I don't know that one!
Lauren: Oh! Sorry... (Lauren whispers something into Emma's ear, and she nods.)
Emma: Ok. Thanks!
Mike: Everyone ready? (Group nods) One, and a two, and...
(They launch into the romp, which cuts between them goofing off with the various entertainers, guards, and guests who watch them and playing the song both in the Castle and the pad.)
Mike: (As the group finishes and the entertainers who have gathered around them applaud) Thank you, thank you. We'll be back for another number later, closer to the coranation.
Peter: (Leans on the piano) How are we going to find the jewels?
Emma: (Puts her hand over Peter's mouth) Shhhh! Even walls have ears, Pete!
Micky: Sniff them out? *grins*
Peter: (Gets off of the bandstand and starts crawling around on the floor) I don't see any ears!
Mike: Cut that out, Pete!
Lauren: Besides, she said walls, not the floor.
Peter: Oh. (Leans against the wall and returns with a handful of plastic ears) No wonder I couldn't find them!
Emma: (Makes a face) As long as they weren't cut off in a duel.
Lauren: Gawd...
Davy: (Shakes his head) Only you, Petah. (Turns to the others and points to the door, which is manned by two guards.) How ARE we going to get out to find the...you-know-whats? This place is more heavily guarded than Buckingham Palace!
Peter: I do know what?
Mike: Not usually.
Emma: We've gotta make some kind of distraction.
Lauren: Well, the last time, Mike and Micky dropped used matches on the ground.
Emma: (Crosses her arms) And don't look at us girls! Distracting the zombies back in the Aquatides was bad enough, but I'm not flaunting my feminine charms around men carrying sharp, pointy objects!
Mike: We could start another brawl.
Lauren: I like the brawl idea. *shakes her head* I don't have any charms left.
Davy: Yeah, Micky's used them all.
*Micky sticks his tongue out at Davy*
Mike: Yeah, but this time, we have our weapons. (Pulls out his broadsword) Who's up for playing Errol Flynn?
Peter: *jumps* Oh, me!
Micky: Down, Peter.
Emma: (Raises her hand) Me! Me!
(They knock into each other.)
Emma: Ouch! (Rubs her nose) Sorry, Peter!
Peter: (Rubs his own nose) That's ok, Em. I'm kinda getting used to my nose being flat.
Mike: (Taps the guard on the shoulder) Hey, you! How do we get out of here?
Guard: (Without turning around) No one is supposed to be out wandering around in the halls until the coranation! That's an order from our King Bruce himself!
Davy: (Mutters) More likely an order from that bloke Alakazam. (Out loud) What about us? We're just a bunch of kids! What trouble could we cause?
Emma: (Under her breath) Speak for yourself, squirt!
Lauren: And we're not no one, we're the Monkees! *winks*
Mike: And wherever Monkees go, trouble tends to follow. (Stamps on the guard's foot.)
Guard: (Jumps up and down) Ow, that hurt!
Micky: That was the general idea.
Mike: (Points the broadsword at him) Now, are you gonna let us out, or are we gonna have to get rough?
Guard 2: Oh, so that's how you play, young musician! (Draws his sword) How would you like to be lacking the digits that your instrument requires?
Mike: I don't think I'd like that. (The guard thrusts at him, but he ducks out of the way. The guard runs into the wall, his sword getting stuck.)
Lauren: Bullseye!
Guard 1: You're going to be wishing you had kept your mouth to youself, Monkee! (Lunges for Mike, but Peter shoots one of his arrows into his sleeve, pining him against the other wall.)
Peter: I always wanted to be Robin Hood!
Micky: Alright, Peter! Nice shot!
Lauren: Save that idea for later, Peter. One story at a time.
Peter: (City-lighting grin) Thanks! (Bows and all the arrows fall out of his quiver - he frowns) Oops!
Mike: (Grabs Emma) Let's get outta here, while these guys are still occupied!
*Micky grabs Lauren's arm and follows.*
(Davy grabs the last of the arrows and Peter's arms and joins the others.)
Davy: Any idea where these "depths" are, luvs?
Lauren: Near the basement?
Emma: Well, depths usually indicated below.
Mike: (Points to two sets of stairs. One set says "down" and the other set says "up") Then I believe that would be the way to go.
Micky: Wasn't that nice of them!
(The four walk down the stairs, which resemble the rest of the castle at first, but as they go further and further down, begin to grow more and more dark and musty.)
Emma: Why couldn't Mr. Wizard live in somewhere nice and bright?
Lauren: Yuck, it's gross down here!
Mike: I doubt ol' Alakazam hires a housekeeper, Lauren.
Lauren: Could've at least kept the jewels in a different place.
Davy: He probabaly wants to keep the jewels close to him.
Emma: (Rubs her finger on the railing and comes up with dust an inch thick) I should say he doesn't hire a housekeeper! I'll bet this railing hasn't been dusted in years!
Micky: So? *slides down the railing*
Lauren: I take it back. *That* was gross!
Mike: Micky, you don't know where that goes! (Follows him) And you'll ruin your clothes!
Peter: That's not the steps back at the Pad! (The others run downstairs, Mike leading.)
Emma: Micky, it's dark down there! Don't hurt yourself!
Micky: *calls back* Aw, Mike! *yelps, then there's a thud* I'm okay!
(The others finally arrive in the room at the bottom of the stairs. Lauren and Emma go to Micky, who's still rubbing his rear.)
Emma: You ok, Mick?
Micky: The floor broke my fall. I'm fine, just a little sore.
Lauren: Smooth move, Mick.
Mike: You're lucky you didn't break your neck!
Micky: I know how to ride railings, thank you very much. *stands*
Mike: You've never ridden this one before!
Micky: That was what was so much fun about it!
Davy: (Gets on his knees on the floor and pushes aside some dust) Guys, look! This part of the floor isn't dirt. It's glass! And whatever's under it is glowing!
Lauren: What is it?
Mike: (Frowns as the others go to Davy) I don't like this at all, I really don't.
Emma: What would you like? A hundred guards jumping out at us, waving "here's the jewels?"
Lauren: *shrugs* Would be nice. *smirks*
Davy: (Brushes more dust off) Guys, it's the jewels! They're down there, in the room under the glass! They must be Alakazam's special rooms!
Micky: How do we get down there?
Peter: Carefully?
Lauren: Good answer.
Mike: (Goes into "Mission: Ridiculous" mode - everyone wears black, including the girls, and carries spy gear) Our men (Emma glares at him)...and women were preparing to invade the insidious hide-out of the notorious jewel robber Alakazam Alakazim. The Manchester Marauder read the list, while the New Jersey Jungle Girl cleaned off the spot and prepared for our decent.
Davy: (Reading list of needed items) Rubber banana?
Mike: Back at the pad.
Davy: Extra drumsticks.
Peter: Weren't they in the Monkeemobile?
Davy: Frisbee.
Emma: Lost
*Micky snaps his fingers.*
Emma; Oh, this is silly! We're not going to get anywhere if we don't get this glass open!
Micky: Anybody got a glass cutter?
Peter: We could imagine one!
Emma: I'll do it, but someone else is going to have to cut it. I can't cut in a straight line to save my life.
Micky: I can do that. No sweat!
Emma: (Closes her eyes) "Glass cutter, glass cutter..." (A glass cutter appears in her black-gloved hands.) Awesome! I am the Master!
Lauren: *eyes wide* Cooooool!
Mike: (Under his breath) In your own mind, maybe.
(Emma glares at Mike and hands Micky the cutter.)
Micky: *accepts the cutter* Thank you! *sets about cutting*
Emma: Be careful, Panther Man! We can't allow ourselves to be heard. It could blow the whole operation wide open!
Lauren: Thankfully, there's very little night air down here.
Davy: Or much of any night air at all.
Peter: Of course there's no night air. It's daytime!
Micky: *makes cat sounds* I'm trying to do some cutting here!
Emma: (Puts out her hands) Shhh! I hear something!
Mike: It's just the glass cutter, Em.
Micky: I'm almost done!
(Voices can be clearly heard upstairs)
Lauren: Oh shit!
Sir Gouda: And you say they went this way, Sir Provalone?
Sir Provalone: Yes, sir, the six kids who stomped my foot and got Sir Brie's sword trapped in the wall made a run for the border of the depths!
Micky: *muttering as he finishes* Those guys are making me hungry!
Mike: (As he and Micky pull the large, round circle away) Groovy job, Mick! Now, everybody in, before the guards get down here!
Micky: No problem!
(The entire group jumps gingerly into the well-cut glass hole. They land in a large, ornate room filled with all kinds of magical gegaws and lovely, gothic trappings - skull's heads, shrunken heads, heavy, dark furniture, satin and velvet draperies, a raven in a cage, candles dripping wax down the sides of tarnished candelabras. The jewels are in a thick glass case beneath the cut glass.)
Davy: (Makes a face at the skulls) Quite a nice little place Alakazam's got for himself down here, eh?
Mike: Would make the loveliest honeymoon cottage.
Lauren: *walks over to the raven* Who does he think he is, Edgar Allen Poe?
Mike: Micky, we'd better see if there's any traps before you try cutting the glass on the jewels.
Micky: Check!
(Everyone feels around for traps. Emma, looking at some thick books on one bookshelf along the wall, pulls one out, triggering a thrown dart that barely misses Davy.)
Davy: (Squeaks) Yikes! Even the books don't like us!
Emma: (Hastily puts the books back) Sorry, Davy!
Lauren: Don't touch anything!
Mike: Heads up! (Pulls Peter and Lauren down as a huge knife swings and barely misses their heads; Mike grabs his neck and gulps) Or maybe I should say heads on?
Lauren: All right, who did that?
Micky: Sorry about that!
Peter: (He's been feeling along the side of the jewels' case and finds a switch) Hey, I wonder what this does?
Davy: Petah, don't...
(But "Petah" has already hit the switch. It sends off a huge rock, which chases the other five around the room until it goes vaulting over the jewels and crashes through the other wall.)
Peter: (Immediately pulls away from the jewel case) Um, oops?
Lauren: *breathing heavily* Oh, I really needed that!
Micky: Yeah, like a hole in the head!
Emma: (Pants, her ears cocked) Guys, those creeps are still coming! (Nods at Micky) Traps or not, Micky, you have to open the jewel case!
Micky: I'm on it! *goes over to the case*
Peter: (Runs under the opening) I think they're getting closer!
Emma: (Nods at the destroyed wall) Alakazam's not going to be too happy when he sees his room.
Mike: At least we have a way out of here now other than the stairs!
Micky: Almost done! *pushes through the glass and grabs the jewels.*
Peter: (Screams and looks scared) Guys, THEY'RE HERE!!!!!!
(The entire room is suddenly filled with guards as the six musicians' clothing returns to their fairy-tale costumes.)
Mike: Grab the jewels and make a break for it!
Davy: (Already out the opening) Don't have to tell me twice, mate!
Micky: Way ahead of you, Mike. *runs for it*
Emma: (Still panting) Hey, guys, wait up! (Grumbles as she hurries to catch up) No wonder Mom's been after me to lose weight.
Lauren: *follows* Wait up! Man, I could never run well.
Peter: (Shoots a few arrows in the guards' general direction) They're still coming!
Lauren: *calls over her shoulder* Run, Peter!
(The group stops suddenly. Their way is blocked by a familiar figure - Alakazam, backed by the four demons, all of them panting, snarling, and looking much meaner than they did earlier.)
Mike: You! (Draws his sword)
Micky: *still clutching the jewels* No fair!
Alakazam: (Smiles) Did you really think I would make it that easy for you, youngsters?
Lauren: Well, we were kinda hoping...
Mike: (Points his sword at the smirking wizard) It's over, Ally. We've got the jewels now.
Alakazam: You only have them now, Mr. Nesmith. (Nods at the others) Oh, yes, I know your names. While the six of you have been galavanting around the Land of Sunshine and Beauty, I did my homework.
Emma: (Clutching her chest) We could blow you to Kingdom Come, Alakazam, and you know it!
Davy: And may I remind you that this was all your idea? You sent us looking for the jewels!
Alakazam: Mere games, Mr. Jones.
Mike: (Gets closer) And it would seem we've won.
Micky: Yeah!
Alakazam: Not quite, Mr. Nesmith. You've found the jewels, but the knights are still under my control.
Emma: What are you saying?
Alakazam: The game continues until noon, my friends. (Pats Robert's head as the four demons snarl menacingly) I spent the past evening giving my four pets quite a bit of reconditioning. They were beginning to forget their place, and recall a few details I'd prefer they didn't bother with.
Mike: (Getting angrier by the minute) Like who they are?
Lauren: Just wonderful.
Emma: Pets? They're not pets! They're human beings, and you have no right to treat them this way!
(As the group is penned in by guards and demons, Alakazam zaps Micky's hand with a blue light. It dazes Micky long enough that he's able to take the jewels.)
Lauren: Hey?!
Micky: Lookit all the pretty colors! *rolls his eyes*
Alakazam: (Laughs) Oh, but they are, Miss Redmer. They'll do what I wish of them. (As Lauren catches Micky) I'll leave all of you in their capable hands. What they don't finish off, my respected men will.
Lauren: *groans* Something to look forward to...
Mike: (Brown eyes flash) Respect THIS, asshole! (Lunges for Alakazam, but Sir Gouda meets him head-on, blocking his way.)
Emma: You...you...bastard! (Lunges for Alakazam herself, but he takes off in a puff of smoke before she can reach him)
Micky: *holding a hand to his head* Nice exit.
Davy: (Duels with two guards) He's gone! (To Lauren) Is Micky ok? His head's really been beaten to a pulp today!
Lauren: *pokes him* Mick?
Micky: Huh, wha...oh, hi, Lauren. *grins stupidly*
Lauren: He's fine.
Emma: (Takes on another guard) We can't keep this up all day!
Peter: (Pins several guards to the wall with his arrows and looks up) Hey, guys, I think help is on the way!
Micky: Superman?!
Lauren: Or maybe not. *She helps Micky back to his feet.*
Mike: (Finally pushes Sir Gouda off of him as Sir Provalone grabs Emma's arms) Yup, Micky's fine as he's ever gonna git.
Emma: Ow! Leggo my Eggo! Is this how your mother taught you to treat a lady?
Lauren: Get 'im, Emma!
(The fight's joined by five very familiar and very female figures in peasant outfits, along with several others in blue uniforms.)
Carlotta: (As she lands on a guard) Ole!
Peter: (Claps his hands) Yeah! The Warrioresses have arrived! We're saved!
Micky: The cavalry!
Lauren: Close enough.
Martha: Sorry we're late. Alakazam had more of his boys blocking the entrance. Took us longer than we thought to get through them.
Mike: (Gets past Gouda and rushes into Sir Provalone) Let her go! (The two go tumble into the thick purple pile carpet as Emma jumps aside.)
Emma: (Rubs her arms) Thanks Mike, I think.
Peter: (Sees Martha surrounded) Martha, look out! (Peter grabs a convienent rope and swings across the room with her to safety on an equally convienient ledge above the room)
Martha: (Grins) Thanks, Peter!
Lauren: He can fly. *smiles at Peter*
Peter: (City-lighting grin) I told you so!
Emma: Mike, look out! Robert! (Robert takes a whack at Mike that leaves him sprawling. She runs to Mike's side, but Robert grabs her and swings her over his shoulder) Robert, put me down! This is really uncomfortable, and I can't be easy to carry! Robert, I'm not Fay Wray! ROBERT!
Mike: (Comes to) What the hell hit me?
Corelle: Big and ugly over there. (Points as Robert duels with Carlotta, who's screaming Spanish curses at him) He has Emma, and he doesn't look real interested in putting her down.
Mike: (Gets shakily to his feet) Don't you dare take off with her! I don't care what you are or what you used to be, NO ONE MESSES WITH MY GIRL!!!
Emma: (Glares daggers) YOUR GIRL?
Thomas: (Chases Mina) You're pretty, little blonde mate!
Mina: (Gets on the bed as the demon pants at her) You stay away from me, you ugly beast!
Davy: 'ey, mate, what you doing? She said 'no!'
Lauren: *notices George moving closer, turns to Micky* Uh, Mick, now might be a good time to regain your berrings! *smacks him upside his head*
Micky: *shakes his head* What're you hitting me for? *looks where she points* Oh. Good reason.
Peter: (As Halsten takes a swipe at him and Martha) Um, down boy, good boy, good Halsten! Nice Halsten!
(Thomas reaches for Mina just as Davy jumps on his back.)
Davy: (As Thomas tries to shake him off) I've ridden stallions in the English countryside nastier than you, mate!
*As George moves closer, Micky takes on a defensive pose.*
Micky: Better watch it, these hands are lethal weapons!
George: (Rolls his eyes) Oh, please. You couldn't hurt a loaf of bread!
Micky: *pouts* Yes, I could!
(There's a noisy growl from the side of the room. Peter stomps on Halsten's hand He runs around under the ledge, clutching it.)
Martha: Halsten, please don't do this! This isn't you!
Emma: (Kicking) Rob, you don't want to do this! Your brothers don't want to do this!
George: (Gets closer to Lauren and Micky) Give me the girl, scrawny, and no one will get hurt.
Micky: Scrawny? *becomes furious* That does it! *jumps Geroge*
George: (Takes him by his neck and tosses him on the floor) Told 'ya I could take you on, Scrawny!
Lauren: *turning red* Now you're asking for it! *kicks both of George's shins*
Corelle: (Gets in the middle of the room and whistles loud enough to be heard back at the Long-Title Library) ENOUGH! (To Robert, who still holds Emma, as George starts hopping up and down, bumping comically into the still-sore Halsten and into Thomas, who finally manages to shake off Davy. Davy lands convieniently in the bed with Mina.)
Emma: Um, Robert, could you put me down? My back is getting stiff.
Mike: Not to mention I'll kill you if you don't.
*Lauren checks on Micky, who's shaking his head, trying to clear it*
Robert: Master wanted women. Something about a prophecy, four hearts led by two women who would restore the true rulers and defend the kingdom, or some such nonsense.
Emma: Rob, you're the rulers in the prophecy! You and your brothers! Alakazam's stolen your memories, your bodies, and your lives! He's a nasty, no-good, mean, rotten, dirty scoundrel!
Peter: (As he helps Martha off the ledge) And he's not even nice!
George: (Glares at Lauren as he rubs his sore shins) e's our Master.
Lauren: No, he isn't. He just says that to make you help him in his evil plans.
Mike: (Fighting to control his temper) Rob, put her down, and I won't hurt you or your brothers. She's right. You don't want this.
Sir Gouda: Yes, you do! Master is the true ruler of this country. He is a great leader!
Micky: Oh shut up!
Martha: (Snorts) Great leader? He's destroyed this country, and these four men's lives...(looks sadly at Halsten, who rubs his paw, confused)..and the lives of others, too.
Halsten: (Trembling) He'll hurt us if we don't do what we're told. He'll put us in the machines again and beat us with whips!
Thomas: (Nods at his brother) He's especially hard on Hal. Hal's so sensitive, he doesn't take the machines well.
Mike: He won't. We won't let him. Not anymore.
Lauren: If you help us, we can change you back to the way you were!
Robert: (Shifts Emma over his other shoulder) Don't remember being any other way...
Martha: I do! (Takes Halsten's injured paw and kisses it, despite Peter's face crumbling.) Halsten, inside that hairy body, there's still the gentle, free spirit I fell in love with in the Green Forests.
Micky: Look at us four guys. Don't we seem familiar, other than the other times you've fought us?
George: Oh, come on, Rob, stop being stubborn! What do we have to lose? These guys haven't beaten us or shoved us in any machines!
Robert: (Nods at Mike) You're too much like me for your own good, Rob.
Mike: No kiddin'.
Micky: We won't make you go boom, either! *grins*
Davy: (Grins from the bed, holding Mina in his arms) No, Micky just makes himself go boom!
George: You like to blow stuff up? Me too!
Micky: All the time, man!
Halsten: You...(turns to Peter) You're trembling! Are you scared?
Peter: Y...y....y...y....es!
Halsten: (Shudders) Me too! I hate having to do what Master says! He does nothing but hurt us, and I don't want to hurt anymore! I hate violence!
Lauren: I think we're getting somewhere.
Emma: We'll help you get back to what you were, Robert. If not for you, do it for your brothers. Thomas and George are, if they're anything like my friends, younger than you are. Do you want them to grow up this way, under the control of some madman looking like horror movie monsters?
Thomas: Come on, brother! I don't think they'll hurt us!
(Sir Gouda comes up behind Mike, who's glaring daggers at Robert. He lifts his sword to stab Mike in the back. Robert drops Emma on the floor and jumps onto the guardsman, pushing Mike out of the way and knocking him cold.)
Micky: *gasps* Whoa!
Robert: Lay off of him, Gouda! He's a better man than you'll ever be! (Grins at Mike, who's flabbergasted, for once) He even has good taste in women! (nods at the unconcious guards) You girls tie him up. Use the heavy rope under Master's bed.
Lauren: Got it!
Emma: (Gets up slowly) Mike...
(Mike and Robert go to her side at the same time. Robert gets there first and takes her gently in his arms.)
Robert: You ok, darlin'? I didn't mean to drop you so hard!
Emma: (Smiles sweetly up at him) Does this mean you'll help us?
Robert: (Mutters to himself, but then says quietly) Yes. (Looks up) My brothers want to help. We want to know what it's like to be free, to be like these boys.
Micky: *breaks into song* I wanna be free...
(Everyone slowly but surely joins Micky for the fast version of "I Wanna Be Free," a kind of re-cap romp showing the six laughing in the Library and frolicing happily with mermaids, dragons, unicorns, pegasus, the Warrioresses, and Emma's Pokemon.)
Davy: (As the romp finishes) That's what it's all about, mate. Freedom.
Robert: Were we ever that way, happy like that>
George: I'm sure we were! We must have been!
Lauren: You were!
Martha: Trust me, you definately were! (Looks deeply into Halsten's eyes, and he somehow manages to blush under his fur.)
Robert: (Sighs) We'll do it. All of us. I can't let my brothers go on this way, especially Hal.
Emma: Thank god! (Hugs Robert without thinking, ignoring Mike's angered glance) You're a better man than you think, Rob!
*Micky snickers at the look on Mike's face.*
Emma: (Looks over her shoulder at Mike and gives him her sweetest smile) I know you're a good man. After all, you're like the best man there is!
Lauren: *smiling* Aw!
Mike: (Takes Emma in his arms) Em, do you really mean that?
Emma: (Smiles as hearts appear in Davy and Mina's eyes) Of course I do! You led us this far, and we're still alive!
*Micky pretends to choke himself, which makes Lauren laugh.*
Lelita: (Sighs) I hate to break up the romance novel, but don't we have a coranation to stop?
Carlotta: She is right! We must get back to the throne room!
Peter: And we have a gig!
Micky: So when do I play hero?
Emma: Soon, Mick. Soon. ;)
*Micky grins*
Lauren: *rolls her eyes* Mick...