Ok. Everyone ready to finish up this monster epic? ;)

Peter: I'm ready! :D

Lauren: Yeah!

Davy: I'm just ready to rest. :p

Micky: *still engrossed with the communicator* This is so cool! :D

Mike: Mick, quit playin' with that thing and come finish this up with us! :p

Lauren: Don't worry, Mike, I'll drag him along. :P

Davy: 'Ow 'bout the twins? You kids ready? :)

Little Mick: *claps* Wanna finish! :D

Shelly: Me, too! :D

(We begin in the Pad. Emma, Mike, Davy, Peter, Micky, Lauren, and the twins all sit around in the living room, sipping lemonade. It's obviously a bit later, as everyone is slightly more paint-spattered and far more tired. ;) )

Bert: So...how does it feel to be finished with the longest role-play story written thus far? ;)

Emma: GREAT, even though this was a blast to write. ;)

Lauren: Great! ;)

Mike: (Makes a face) I can't believe I was such an ass in the future. :p

Peter: I let Shelia get to me! :(

Davy: And I let Mike get to ME. :p

Micky: I got to be a spy! Of course, that was after Alex got a hold of me. :P

Bert: So, girls, how long have you been cooking this epic up?

Emma: Would you believe only a few months, probably since about late April or May? ;)

Lauren: A long time, it seems.

Mike: You mean you haven't planned this for years? ;)

Lauren: Hardy har har. :P ;)

Emma: Actually, Lauren came up with the original ORIGINAL idea earlier in 2005. (Looks at Lauren) As I recall, this all began with Lauren's desire to get Micky and Alex working together as evil "brothers." ;)

Lauren: *grins; shrugs* Hey, it was a great idea! ;)

Micky: *sighs* I don't understand you sometimes, babe. :P ;)

Lauren: I thought it was an interesting concept. What can I say? ;)

Emma: Micky, Lauren's original idea for this story was to have you end up with amnesia and be coerced into working with Alex by Shelia. ;)

Micky: *blinks* I prefer the way this one came out.

Lauren: We may still somehow use that amnesia angle. ;)

Emma: (Grins) Lauren was the one who came up with the future idea, since the first story of this arc was set in the past. ;) :D

Mike: Nice piece of symmetry there.

Lauren: It was only fitting. ;)

Bob: Why the alternative 80s?

Lauren: The 80s guys wanted to get in on the fun. ;)

Emma: (Nods) We figured this was the only way we'd get to use the 80s Monkees, a lot of 80s and 90s Monkees music, and our grown children in a role-play story.

Mike: But...laser guns? Em, you've gotta lay off that "Star Wars" stuff of yours. :p

Emma: Mike, almost every major Monkees fanfic series on the web is an alternative universe of some kind, from Enola Jones' "Power Monkees" to Mich's "Secrets and Lies." (Shrugs) This is just another way of using a part of Monkeedom that's often neglected by fanfic writers, like "Nightmare Revolutions" made use of "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee."

Lauren: Besides, the laser guns were fun to use! ;)

Emma: Something a bit different. ;)

Davy: You know...I wondah what 'appened to The Network?

Peter: From what you say, I hope they destroyed it. :p

Lauren: Hmmm... ;)

Micky: My 80s self worked hard on that, even if it was technically evil. :P ;)

Mike: Maybe they could make it into somethin' else. Might be nice for those video game things you mentioned or somethin'.

Bert: You know, you didn't mention what became of The Network.

Lauren: I know. ;)

Emma: (Shrugs) Micky probably did recycle it for something else. Maybe he could use it for the light shows on their tour. ;)

Lauren: I think we'll find out, hopefully, in a vignette. ;)

Mike: What about my counterpart and Em's? Did they ever get back together?

Emma: (Shrugs) Maybe...and maybe not. The divorce rates skyrocketed in the 80s, Mike. I kept that ambiguous on purpose.

Bert: How much of this story was based on real life, and how much was pure fabrication?

Emma: Well, first of all and obviously, Trinity Records and Broadcasting, First National Radio, Magnetic South Media, and Headquarters Records are all fictional. (Grins to the camera) And a shout-out to Cin from the Long-Title Library for the name and general idea for Headquarters Records. ;) The Music Society Concert was also fictional...but based on the many real-life concerts held by celebrity musicians in the mid-80s for various causes.

Emma: Mike Nesmith really DID inherit a fortune from his mother in the late 70s and started his own music video-related company, though it wasn't named Magnetic South. He still doesn't like to tour and didn't go on the Monkees' big 20th Anniversary 80s tour, though he was briefly on tour in the 90s and played with the guys in the 80s in LA.

Mike: (Grumbles) Darn stubborn counterpart... :p

Lauren: We did use a lot of real life aspects, interspersed with what we thought up. ;)

Peter: (Nods quietly) My real-life counterpart really DID quit first to start his own band...but he wasn't as successful in real-life and became a teacher instead before returning to touring and performing in the early 80s.

Davy: Mine nevah gave up performin' or 'orses.

Micky: And mine's still a total tech geek. ;)

Emma: And apparently always has been. ;)

Micky: *grins* Better believe it! ;)

Mike: Who's idea was it to put Ursula in that gorgeous sexy beast of a car? ;) :D :X

Emma: (Points at Lauren) She's the car lover and "Knight Rider" fan. ;)

Lauren: What can I say? ;)

Emma: That was one of the best ideas you ever came up with. ;) :D

Lauren: Awww, thanks! :">

Emma: I actually wish we could have done MORE with it. ;)

Lauren: Maybe we will sometime. ;)

Micky: Could we get that in writing, please?

Lauren: I think we just DID, Mick. ;)

(Everyone laughs at that...even the producers. ;) )

Micky: Oh. :"> :)

Bert: Where did some of your other ideas come from, like the subplots with the robots and "The Network" and the drugs?

Emma: I tried to remember some of the things they were really afraid of in 1986 besides the Cold War and Freddy and Jason. Computer technology was reletively new in those days, and home computers were the latest and most amazing thing on the market...but they worried people, too, who feared humanity would be overrun with machinery and that life would be replaced by computers and microchips.

Bert: Which is sort of what Alex tried to do.

Lauren: Right.

Peter: What about all the drugs? :(

Emma: That was another 80s fear. The "war on drugs" was a constant reccuring theme throughout my childhood, and probably Lauren's, too.

Lauren: *nods* Yeah, it was. I remember many PSA messages during cartoons and kids' shows.

Emma: Drugs were a HUGE deal then. They're not exactly encouraged today, either, but in the 80s, and everyone from cartoon characters to then-First Lady Nancy Regan did campaigns to warn children and adults away from them. Drug mafiosos replaced gangsters and Russians as the major bad guys in most 80s action flicks, especially as the Cold War started to run down towards the end of the decade.

Mike: (Shrugs) What's the big deal? I mean, I know kids who have done a little weed or somethin' fancier, without the results of Alex’s drugs.

Peter: They say it's really far out.

Emma: What was a "far out trip" in 1971 was an epidemic by 1986...and people like Alex who ran illegal substances and encouraged their use WEREN'T helping the problem. :p

Lauren: And we're not talking about trying just a little, either. :P

Emma: I knew people in the 80s who were on drugs, Peter. They were addicted to it. It almost ruined their life. :p :(

Mike: Alex really went off the deep end, between the robots and the drugs. :p

Lauren: That was the idea. :P ;)

Emma: No shit. I don't think Shelia had a clue of what her creation was up to. And speaking of Shelia and Alex...this is NOT the last we'll be hearing from them. The 1971 Shelia and Alex are both, as far as we know, still alive and still adults. ;)

Lauren: Right. ;)

Mike: Oh, darn. :p

Micky: Rats. :P

Bert: Where did the mall idea come from?

Emma: I figured it was the best way of getting in a lot of 80s pop culture references...not to mention a great place for an extrataneous romp. Malls were big deals in the 80s, the "in" place for people to meet, greet, hang out, and have fun. (Smiles) Which reminds me, the mall sequence was also our dedication to the lost stores of our youth. All of the stores mentioned in the mall sequence but McDonald's, Radio Shack, the Deb Shop, and Cinnabon are, alas, no more. Ames and Jamesway, for instance, were discount department store chains similar to Wal Mart or K-Mart. Jamesway died in the late 90s. Ames closed it's doors in 2003.

Lauren: Zaires was similar to those.

Emma: West Coast Video was a video rental chain similar to Blockbuster. I don't know if they were a local chain or national, but the last West Coast Video stores in South Jersey vanished around the 2000s.

Lauren: Newbury's was like Zaires and Ames, but it had more of a General Store feel to it.

Emma: (Grins) The musical instrument store Jordan and Katie kicked off the "Don't Bring Me Down" video in DOES still exist, but it's in North Cape May, not a mall...and the proprietor with the droopy mustache, as far as I know, is also still in existance. ;) Emma: Lionel Kiddie City was a Toys-R-Us-style toy store chain based in Philadelphia. I don't know when they vanished, but I did hear they were gone. I never went in one, but I have fond memories of the Lionel Kiddie City commercials that used to run on Philly TV stations on Saturday mornings and during the Thanksgiving Day parade. There was a little jingle that went "At Lionel Kiddie City we turn that frown upside-down!" At the "upside-down," a kangaroo and her joey would hop on a frown and turn it into a smile. ;) :)

Emma: Deb Shops still exist, but the one that used to be in Rio Grande, NJ, is gone, along with Monkeys', the arcade, the little record store, and Rick's Theater. (Sighs) The Rio Mall was the only indoor mall in my area, but it was practically abandoned by the 90s and demolished by the 21st century. All that remains of the Rio Mall today is K-Mart, the former record store (now empty), the old Thrift Drug store (now Save-A-Lot), and the old Super Fresh (now a used book store).

Lauren: Record Town was taken over by FYE where I live.

Emma: The Shore Theater down the street from me in Wildwood looks like it's been abandoned for a while. :p

Lauren: Service Merchandise disappeared several years ago. It was later replaced by a Best Buy.

Emma: BK Dalton Booksellers were one of the first stores in the Hamilton Mall when it opened in 1989, but I guess they couldn't compete with Waldenbooks, and later Borders, and vanished in the mid-90s. Lady Foot Locker is there now.

Bert: What was your favorite part of this story?

Emma: With all the fun we had doing these stories, that's too hard to choose. ;)

Lauren: *nods* I was just thinking that. ;)

Mike: Playin' "Listen to the Band" in the finale and gettin' to be sultry and mysterious on the air. ;)

Peter: I liked helping Mike in the finale! :D

Micky: I still liked the double agent thing. ;)

Davy: Gettin' to see 'ow we came out. ;)

Peter: That's another question, Emma. Where did the idea for the "Rio" and First National Radio plot come from?

Emma: My favorite adventure novel...and an elaborate way of explaining Mike's real-life absense from the Monkee reunions in the 80s. ;)

Mike: It was sorta groovy to get to play the mysterious, romantic hero. ;)

Lauren: Not to mention any Nezhead knows "Rio" is one of Mike's song titles and he fronted the "First National Band" in the 70s. ;)

Emma: "Magnetic South" was the title of the First National Band's first album. "Headquarters" has Monkee resonance, too. Most major Monkee fans and even some casual ones may be aware that "Headquarters" is the title of the first album the four Monkees did as an actual group playing their own music and their own instruments. ;)

Mike: I thought those seemed like weird-ass names for media corporations. ;)

Micky: You would. ;) :P

Emma: "Trinity" was Julie Driscoll's band in the 60s. ;)

*Lauren growls.* :P ;)

Davy: Down, Lauren. ;)

Micky: *snickers* She still doesn't like her. ;)

Emma: I came up with the dinner as a way of introducing Mike, Shelia, First National Radio, and the "Rio" subplot. The ideas for "The Network," the mall trip, Suzanna’s questioning, and the concert finale came to me at work. In fact, I probably came up with most of this story at work. We didn't get a lot of the details worked out until we wrote it...and I have to admit, the story DOES look it.

Lauren: But it works. ;)

Emma: Actually, I didn't go into as many details on some things as I wanted to, like Maryann's interest in Little Mick, Katie and Jordan, Mike as Rio, Alex's plotting, or how Shelia really got her hands on Peter. :p

(Peter whimpers. :( )

Mike: Maybe it's just as well you didn't get too much into the Peter thing, Em. :p

Peter: My counterpart just wanted to play music, but Alex used the drugs to make him nasty and let Shelia corrupt his soul. :(

Davy: I thought Maryann's crush on Mick was too adorable. ;)

Mike: I would have liked to have seen more of Ursula the Car myself. ;)

Lauren: I've got the feeling that this story is going to have A LOT of vignettes attached to it. ;)

Emma: This story just got so complicated. It's amazing what you can get out of one simple little two-word idea, in this case...the future. ;)

Bert: This is probably the longest and most complicated set I've seen you do yet.

Lauren: For now, it is. ;)

Emma: We practically got a second Dream World universe out of this one story. Working with the teenagers was fun. ;)

Lauren: It was a lot of fun! ;)

Peter: I wish my counterpart could have spent more time with Jordan. He seemed like such a nice boy. :)

Davy: 'Ow did I end up with four girls?

Emma: (Grins) Sometimes, life IS better than art. ;)

Lauren: Mick and I ended up with five kids. Dear God, I've dug myself a hole. :P ;)

*Micky just grins.* :D ;)

Emma: Just be glad we didn't go with real life there, too. You'd have four girls of your own. ;)

Peter: I like having two boys. :)

Lauren: Three boys and two girls are enough, thanks. ;) :P

Emma: I may do something involving the two boys mentioned briefly a couple of times in the story, Katie's two brothers. ;)

Mike: I love Katie, but I wanted boys.

Emma: He REALLY wants boys. ;)

Micky: Ah HA! And you call my libido over the top. ;)

*Lauren shakes her head, covering her face.* :P

Mike: Hey, we only have three kids! Who's the one who ended up with five? ;) :p

Micky: Speaking of which, babe... ;)

Lauren: *peeks out between her fingers at him* Now? :P ;)

Mike: Is that your way of sayin' it's time to break up the party? ;)

*Micky grins again and Lauren mushes him in the face.* :)

Micky: Hey! :P

(Everyone laughs.)

Bert: So, what's on tap for next month?

Emma: Something COMPLETELY different from this. We're going to do our first animated story. (Looks at Lauren) Oh, and I had a great idea for the bandstand story. Wanna do a flashback to when the boys first met? We've alluded to it before, but we've never actually said how they really met each other in our universe. ;)

Lauren: Sure! ;)

Mike: Ain't a bad idea, at that.

Peter: And it won't hurt anybody.

Micky: Something nice and safe...finally. ;)

Emma: The animated story is going to be our first excursion into pure, surreal fantasy, our version of fantasy tales like "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice In Wonderland" and making plenty of references to both...and any other folk tale or fairy story we can't fit in anywhere else. ;)

Lauren: And we'll get to see Micky in drag again. ;) :D

*Micky does a screech and makes his boa appear.* ;)

Emma: And we swear...no Alex or Shelia in the next story, in any form or at any age. ;)

Peter: (Relieved) Thank goodness! #:-S

Emma: They will be back later in the fall, though. ;)

Peter: (Frowns) Uh oh. :(

Mike: Don't like the sound of that. :p

Lauren: It won't be that bad. ;)

Peter: What about Valerie? :o

Emma: Don't worry, Pete. Your kid will come out all right. You'll see. ;)

Mike: I hate "you'll see." :p

Micky: I'm not gonna get maimed or anything, am I?

Lauren: Weeeeell... ;)

Emma: Not next month, and not in November. October...is up to Lauren. She came up with the idea for both October stories. ;)

*Lauren grins.* ;)

Davy: Nice knowin' ya, Mick. ;)

Micky: Oh my God. I AM gonna get maimed, I just know it! :P :-O

*Lauren shrugs, stills grinning.*

Emma: All we can say is...you'll see, Mick. ;)

Micky: Mike, I agree with you. I HATE that phrase. :P

Emma: (Stands and stretches) I'm going to go upstairs to check on Katie. (Grins) We'll see you guys tomorrow for our first rehearsals for the new album. ;) :D

Mike: 9 AM sharp! You guys hear that?

Davy: Of course, Papa Wolf! ;)

Micky: *salutes* Yessir! ;)

Peter: I'd never miss a chance to play! :D

Emma: I'd never miss a chance to hear you play. :)

Lauren: Hey, Mick, you didn't accidentally hit yourself too hard that time. ;)

Micky: Funny, babe. :P

Mike: Nahh, he's gonna need that head for tomorrow, Lauren. ;)

Lauren: Ohhhhhhh... ;)

Davy: And Mike...(grins)...I'm glad we're still friends. I hope our counterparts eventually settled their differences, too. :)

Emma: (Sighs) I wish it was that easy, Davy.

Mike: I'm sure they settled them for then, Dave. At least long enough to have a go at that tour. ;)

Peter: Do you think the tour was a success? :)

Emma: (Nods with a knowing grin, then winks at Lauren) Yup. ;)

Lauren: *also nods* I'd say so. ;)

Micky: We've got a couple Cheshire Cats here. ;)

Emma: Let's just say that the tour was a bigger success than anyone dreamed of. ;)

Lauren: That "brief" reunion turned into something huge. ;)

Emma: That's how WE first encountered you guys as kids, through that "brief" reunion. The TV shows were rather popular on the real-life counterpart of Magnetic South TV and the kids' station Nickelodeon...and kids still love them to this day. :) ;)

Peter: I'm glad we're still making children and teenagers happy. :D

Lauren: Always. :D

Mike: (As a wail is heard from upstairs) Ok, guys, Katie says it's time for all of you to clear out, so you'll be bright-eyed and fresh for rehearsal tomorrow. ;)

Davy: (Yawns) I've got to get some beauty sleep meself. ;)

Micky: *hopeful grin* Babe? ;)

Lauren: *smiles* Oh, alright, Mick. ;)

Emma: Hopefully, the weather will be more cooperative for our next stories.

Mike: Not to mention schedules. (Puts an arm around Emma) Come on, honey. Little Cub needs Mama Bear and Papa Wolf. ;)

Emma: (Laughs and leans into his chest) Oh, honey. (They go into the downstairs room together)

Davy: (Yawns again) Night, all. (Walks upstairs to his room)

Peter: Hey, Micky and Lauren, can I get a ride home from you guys? It's too late to walk, and Valerie’s at a Headquarters meeting.

Micky: *nods* Sure, Pete. We'd be glad to. :)

Peter: (Hands Micky the communicator) You forgot this, Micky. (Smiles) You know, even with all the laser guns and drugs, I'm still kind of looking forward to the future. After all, we don't know what the future will REALLY be like. :)

Micky: Thanks. I'm pretty sure we won't have to deal with what our counterparts did, now that we know better.

Peter: I hope not. I like making music with you guys! :)

Lauren: *takes the communicator out of Micky's hands* I'll give this back when we get home, Mick. ;)

Micky: *sighs* I think we all do, Pete. We just have to keep reminding ourselves of that. ;)

Peter: (Nods with a chuckle) Yeah, Micky. After all, we have our music, and we have each other. That's what's important in the long run. :)

Micky: Exactly! :)

Peter: (Puts an arm around Micky) Come on, Mick. Let's go prepare to play music. :)

Peter: You too, Lauren. The more, the merrier.

Micky: Sounds like a plan to me. :)

Lauren: I wouldn't miss it for anything. :)

Peter: Me either. :) (He puts his other arm around Lauren, and the camera fades out on the three of them carrying the now-sleeping twins and walking out the door and to the Chevy Bel Air together, enjoying each other's company in this time, this place, now. :) )

(Fade in on the end credits, which are accompanied by "That Was Then, This Is Now" and stills from both "productions," along with a photo of all of the "Dream World" families in the alt-universe 1986 and "A Raybert Production.")