Peter: Can I say "Are you ready?" Can I? :D

Emma: Of course. ;)

Peter: (Puffs up his chest) Well, then...are you ready, ladies? :D

Lauren: Ready to pound some bad guys!

Emma: You bet!

(Peter and the girls run along catwalks, trying not to be seen.)

Emma: (Points out a group of men gathered around the shredding machines) What's going on there?

Lauren: Nothing good, I bet.

Peter: (Sees a familiar bald head) Shrink's there!

Lauren: Uh oh...

Peter: (Grabs Emma's hand again) Come on! Let's see what they're up to! (Peter and the girls duck behind a large computer. Shrink and several of the men surround the conveyor belts, securing something to the tracks. Something, Peter notices, that wears gold pants and white go-go boots. He gasps) The guys!

Lauren: *groans* Holy shit!

Davy: (The factory workers move to reveal Davy, Micky, and Mike, all of them tightly bound to the conveyor belts with heavy leather straps on their legs, wrists, ankles, and torsos. The three boys struggle, Davy and Micky shouting and Mike letting out a stream of muffled obscenties, as his mouth is still sealed shut) Let us go, you bloomin' arses!

(Martinelli watches them on a catwalk overlooking the scene, puffing slowly on his cigarette and smiling his toothpaste smile.)

Shrink: I'm afraid not, Mr. Jones. We've received orders to dispose of you and your lovely friends.

Factory Worker: (Jogs up to Shrink) Still no sign of Tork or the girls, Inspector.

Shrink: (Shoves him ahead) Well, keep looking! We'll eliminate these three first, then the others when we find them. I doubt they've left the factory grounds, especially without their friends.

Davy: (Pulls hard at the leather straps, but they refuse to give) I thought Lady Plaisir wanted us for experiments, not lunch meat!

(Mike makes strangled, angry noises.)

Micky: When I get my hands on any of you...

Shrink: (Smiles coldly) Apparently, the lady changed her mind, which I heartily agree with. I can't understand her fascination with the lot of you anyway. You're scrawny, immature, (glares at Davy) short, and about as bright as a burnt-out bulb. It will be a pleasure to be rid of the lot of you.

Micky: *growls* Wrong on all accounts, pal.

Davy: Short? Why, you dirty, bald, (spits out) louse! We've got more intelligence and strength in our little fingahs than all of you 'ave put together!

(Mike shakes his head in agreement.)

Shrink: Oh, and I suppose you're wondering why the bodies of those factory workers were never found. (Smiles coldly) Our boxes are especially heavy, don't you think? Made from some of the finest materials on earth.

(The glasses briefly drop down Mike's nose far enough that we can see his wide eyes.)

Davy: You bastard! You shredded those men!

Micky: *glares* That's disgusting!

Shrink: The next time I see you, my young friends, you will be stamped with the words "Plaisir Media Corporation" and carrying parts for television and radio consoles...and finally of some use to someone. (Turns on the machines)

Davy: (Struggles, turning his head this way and that) No! God damn you...

Micky: *yelling* You won't get away with this!

Shrink: (As the three boys inch closer to the shredders) Oh, but I think I will, my young curly-locked friend.

*Micky growls again, struggling with all his might.*

Peter: NO! Get off them! I won't let you do this! (Jumps out of the shadows and onto the catwalk, grabbing angrily at Shrink. Emma and Lauren join him, kicking off the next romp, appropriately to Peter's song "Long Title: Do I Have To Do It All Over Again?")

(Emma pulls a factory worker away from the computer console and kicks him over the platform bars.)

*Lauren side steps one fellow and sends him tumbling down the stairs.*

(Peter escapes Shrink and grabs the lever...but Shrink catches up with him and grabs the lever, too. The two fight over it as Martinelli continues to watch, almost bored by the romp and the fight. Emma and Lauren grab the lever on Peter's side and help him pull it to the right side to stop the machine. Peter blocks Shrink from the lever as Emma and Lauren free the guys.)

(Micky grabs Lauren, bends her over, and gives her a big kiss. Emma does the same to Mike, making sure to take his glasses off so we can see his dazed reaction, since he can't kiss her.)

(Davy grabs a convenient crane hook just as he comes close enough to the shredders to feel the wind. The crane turns around, and we briefly see Anna Maria in the crane, manipulating the levers with an intense look on her plump face.)

(Martinelli, frowning, takes off from the romp and up to the offices, unseen.)

(Peter and the girls join Davy on the crane as it swings over to a convenient catwalk and the romp comes to an end.)

Davy: (Hanging onto the hook's chain as the music fades away) Thank goodness for the nick of time rescue! I almost ended up carryin' TV parts!

Peter: (Gulps, looking down) This is awfully high.

Emma: Where are the other two?

Lauren: *with her eyes shut* Is this a bad time to mention I'm afraid of heights?!

(Fortunately for Lauren and Peter, the hook swings upwards and ends up inches over a catwalk. The chain is lowered, and the group gets off easily.)

Lauren: This is so much better. *doubles over for a moment to catch her breath*

Davy: (Dusts himself off) Thank goodness. Don't know 'ow much longah I could have held on.

Emma: But who sent the hook down in the first place? (Frowns in confusion)

Anna Maria: (Climbs out of the cab of the crane and runs over to them) Davy! Girls! Oh, thank god! (Grabs Davy's hands) I saw them about to shred you, and I knew I had to do something! (Her face is shocked) I heard that people had disappeared here, but I thought they were only rumors, until I heard Inspector Shrink say what he planned to do to all of you! :(

Davy: (Puts his fingers sadly on Anna Maria's soft cheek) Oh, gosh, Anna Maria, I'm sorry you had to find out this way.

Anna Maria: Almost all of the female factory workers have vanished...and all of the men have gone crazy! They're drinking the punch by the gallons. Some of them are confused or giggly, and some of them are like the ones who attacked you, ready to hurt anything that gets in their way! :o

Peter: (Gulps) Sounds like what happened to me and Mike and Micky.

Davy: Where are the boys, anyway?

Emma: I'll bet that bastard Shrink put them in the box again. :-S

Anna Maria: The box?

Lauren: *mutters* If I get my hands on Shrink...

Peter: It's a very long story, Anna Maria, but it has to do with reality and fantasy and how the mind deals with it. Lady Plaisir, the owner of the factory, has been manipulating people's minds in order to bend them to her will...especially our friends' minds.

Davy: She only glued our friend Mike's bloomin' lips shut 'cause she didn't like 'ow 'e stood up to 'er!

Anna Maria: (Gasps) How could she do a thing like that? How could anyone do a thing like that?

Lauren: *swallows hard* And Micky, she almost... *frowns* I can't say it. *shakes her head*

Emma: She tried to make love to Lauren's fiancee...without asking him first.

Anna Maria: (Her face is pale) Oh, my god...

Davy: We've got to get them back. No tellin' what that bloomin' madwoman might try, to get on Mike's goat or to get in Micky's pants. :p

*Lauren nods, looking furious again.*

Emma: (Frowns) Smooth move, Dave. You know how Lauren feels about that, (clenches her fists) not to mention me!

Davy: (Makes a face) Me and me damn mouth...I'm as bad as Mike sometimes. I'm lucky my lips ain't glued togethah. :(

Lauren: *growls* I could fix that for you!

Anna Maria: (Puts her hand on Davy's shoulder) You were only telling me what's gone on. It's not your fault Lady Plaisir seems to have snapped.

Peter: (Gets between everyone, as usual) Come on, guys. This is no time to fight. We've got to find the others! (Nods) Come on. We'll go down to the boxes and see if they're down there. Shrink might have put them in there until he could come up with another way to get rid of them.

Emma: What I don't understand is why Lady Plaisir suddenly changed her mind about the guys. She's been trying to manipulate them since our arrival in England...and now she wants to kill them? What gives?

Peter: (Quietly) She didn't give the order to kill them.

Davy: What? What do you mean, Petah?

Peter: She didn't give that order. It was Martinelli.

Davy: The big guy with the movie star smile?

Anna Maria: (Makes a face) I've seen him! He's the head of security! (Shivers) He looks like something out of an old Hollywood gangster film.

Emma: (Makes a face) Or a Cecil B DeMile epic. :p

*Lauren nods, frowning.*

Peter: Martinelli is the one who wants to see us dead. He probably thinks we're too distracting to his boss.

Anna Maria: (Shakes her head) I can't believe Lady Plaisir would do these horrible things! I mean, I heard she's a bit of a snob, but...

Emma: She's insane, Anna Maria, cold bloodedly insane. She probably ordered those four men killed. They might have found out too much. Some British Intelligence agents have gone missing, too, including the one who was following us yesterday.

Davy: She's also a 'ookah, and one who nevah gave up the business.

Emma: (Frowns as the descend the steps going into the basement) Anna Maria, you mentioned that the male factory workers were drinking "that punch" by the gallons. What punch?

Anna Maria: (Makes a face) I was told it was some kind of special fruit punch. Tastes terrible to me, like warmed-over rust, but most of the male factory workers seem to enjoy it. They're always surrounding it, drinking it like water. And there seemed to be even more than usual today. It makes them kind of mellow, friendlier.

Davy: (Makes a face) Oh, man, the orange-red liquid. It's probably some kind of drug formulated to make the male factory workers more willin' to capitulate to her so-called Ladyship. :p

Lauren: Oh, good Lord. *makes a face*

Peter: I kind of remember drinking something the night Mike and Micky and I were kidnapped...or maybe it was something else...or maybe not. It was really very tasty, like...something exotic...

Emma: (Groans) She must have forced the three of you to drink that stuff, too. No wonder you don't remember anything.

Anna Maria: I can't believe all of this. Lady Plaisir has the entire male population of the factory under her control?

Lauren: *nods* Basically.

Davy: (As they stop in front of the boxes) All 'cept for Petah and me, Anna.

Peter: And I'm not going under her control again!

Anna Maria: (Pushes at the door - it's locked) How are we going to get in?

Emma: (Pulls the hairpin that unlocked the padlock out of her pocket) Never leave home without them. ;) (Starts jimmying the padlock)

Lauren: She's getting really good at this, too. *smirks*

Emma: (Winks) I don't read all those mysteries and crime and espionage novels for nuthin'! ;) (The door finally opens. Emma opens it and uses a bit of metal to keep it open. The five walk back into the black room, this time slightly illuminated by the sliver of light coming from the open door.)

Peter: Mike? Micky? (Sobs) They're not here!

Davy: (Cups a hand to his ear) They're not, but I hear othah voices.

(The door from the passageway that led the kids out the day before opens, and a group of maybe twenty women or so, ranging from teenagers to 50ish, walk out, holding lit matches in their hands. The matches leave an eerie golden glow on the wall of the black room.)

Anna Maria: (Grins) It's my co-workers! (Frowns and tugs at a lock of wavy black hair in worry) How did all of you end up down here?

Small, Round Woman: Martinelli and his boobs herded us down here like cattle a few hours ago.

Young Woman: (Irish accent) He be tellin the wee bit o' a fib, like a bloomin' smilin' leprechaun in a tacky suit! 'E told us our daily work piecin' together electronics were down 'ere, but we ain't seen a bit of equipment in this entire area, we ain't! :(

Davy: 'e tricked all of you...and us several times, too.

Emma: They really just wanted you out of the way.

Davy: The not-very-ladylike "Lady" Plaisir is a bloomin' monster. She 'ad them men killed, she orchestrated those accidents, and now, she's after our friends...and the 'ole bloomin' factory!

Peter: Not to mention the TV audience.

Lauren: And we're after her!

Small, Round Woman: (Grins) I think I like these kids meself. Nevah thought much of that Lady Plaisir. She don't want to dirty 'erself to come and talk to the workers, unless she's tryin' to get in the men's dicks.

Dark-Haired Older Woman: (Gasps) LAURETTA!

Lauretta: It's true, ain't it, Theresa? She jumps all ovah any new men she sees, 'specially the young ones.

*Lauren nods slowly.*

Young Girl: Me boyfriend's been actin' weird for the past few weeks! One minute, 'e'll be 'igh as a kite and ready to jump into the sheets...not that I'm complainin' bout the lattah part, mind you...and the next, 'e's kickin the TV and kickin' the cat and kickin' me and growlin' and yellin' so 'ard, the neighbors complain.

Lauretta: Me boyfriend ain't been 'imself lately, eithah.

Woman: All o' the men been actin' like that!

Short Woman: And I don't know why she keeps insistin' on servin' that 'orrible orange-red stuff. Don't do nothin' for me tastebuds, but all the menfolk can't get enough of it.

Davy: (Draws himself up to his full height, such as it is) My friends have also fallen victim to the (coughs) ahem, "Lady" Plaisir's lust for power. She's trying to steal one from under the nose of 'is dedicated fiancee, and she got so mad at the othah, she glued 'is bloomin' lips togethah...and there's no tellin' 'ow else she might try to torment the poor bloke.

Women Factory Workers: (Gasps and angry yelling) The blaggart? Ain't she got no respect for people? 'ow could she do such a thing? That's crackers, that is! Just crackers! Etc...

Peter: Her new TV sets are somehow distorting people's minds, bringing out their worst fears and bending their memories and their wills to fit her own evil heart.

Theresa: TV sets?

Emma: (Nods) Her new, giant TV sets may have sharper picture and sound, but they have some kind of a componet that alters and distorts minds. As of last night, the effects weren't permanent, but she may have tinkered with that after she saw that her...(grits her teeth)...experiments...didn't last.

Davy: We're gonna call Scotland Yard for 'elp, but we're gonna need your 'elp, too. If our friends ain't 'ere, they're probably in the so-called "offices" again.

*Lauren groans, rolling her eyes.*

Peter: (Sobs noisily) And the last time she took them there, she stuck Mike's lips together! :((

Theresa: (Puts her arm around Peter) There, there, young man. I'm sure your friends are all right.

Lauretta: (Smacks her fist into her palm) And if they ain't, we'll make them all right!

Anna Maria: (Turns tearfully to the women) You've all GOT to help us! The lives of every man in this factory...your husbands and lovers...and those two boys depend on us!

Lauretta: By golly, we ain't gonna let that Wicked Witch of Northern England throw poppies at these kids, or our men, or the people out there in TV land!

Davy: So, you'll 'elp us?

Young Woman: (Calling from the back) When do we start kickin' arses? ;) :D

Emma: I like her attitude. ;)

Lauren: I like these ladies. *grins*

Davy: (Eyes widen as he sees Shrink lead a group of men downstairs) I think now would be an appropriate time!

(And we get another romp to the tune of "Circle Sky" as the ladies literally run into the group of men...and run them upstairs.)

(The romp takes place all over the factory. Ladies jump on men from above, drop on them from cranes, and come up at them from trap doors. The men are stiff but strong, but the ladies have the advantage of surprise...and imagination. They kick them in sensitive spots. The older women trick them with the classic "Look, there's Elvis!", body-check them over railings, trip them, dumps orange-red liquid on their head, and confuse them with elaborate math problems on blackboards.)

(Shrink tries to sneak upstairs during the fracas, but Davy follows him. He manages to smack Shrink in the gut with his own clipboard and knock him out with a well-placed karate-chop as Peter, Emma, Lauren, and Anna Maria join him.)

Davy: (As the music ends, he's sitting quite contently on a groaning Shrink) Piece of cake, mates. ;)

Lauren: Good shot, Dave. *smirks*

Davy: Thank you, Lauren. I thought so meself. ;)

Peter: Cake? Where? (Looks around)

Emma: (Sighs) Never mind, Peter. (Nods) I called the cops. They're on their way.

Anna Maria: (Points down beneath the catwalk - the women are still dueling with the men. Some are tied up, some are still fighting) I think everything is well under control here. Let's go find your friends!

Peter: Let's go be heroes again! :)

Lauren: Let's do it!

Emma: Let's go, Monkees! ;) (The four quickly tie Shrink up with an electrical cord, then dart upstairs to the office.)

Anna Maria: Monkees?

Davy: (Grabs her hand and pulls her upstairs) I'll explain later. :)

(They once again find their way to the office, and once again apply stethoscopes to walls.)

Lauren: *mutters* If I hear those noises again...

Emma: We'll know to break down the door. ;)

Davy: And I'll be the first one in! X-(

Lauren: I'll be right behind.