Everyone ready to finish off this vacation?

Mike: YES!

Peter: Please!

Micky: I'm ready!

Davy: It's about time. ;)

(We open in a scene from the concert in the arena outside of Mexico City with "You and I." The Goodtimers sit in pedestals in the back as the boys play their instruments. Johnny briefly takes over the drums for Micky so he can go show off for the crowd and annoy Mike. All nine men wear colorful ruffled shirts and tight black pants.)

(As the song ends, we cut to the bus. The sun is now shining, and Micky sits in the back, in a seat next to Lauren. Peter chats with Davy behind them, and Emma and Mike are on the other side.)

Bob: Hey, gang, nice to see you alive.

Mike: I really appreciate bein' alive after that last story.

Bert: So, how was your vacation?

Mike: Not bad after the storm finally subsided. The hotel we ended up in still wasn't five-star, but it was better than the Hotel Del Aztec.

Bob: What's going to happen to the Martinez family? How bad of a condition is the hotel in?

Emma: Bad. Most of the southern end fell in when the ruins collapsed. They're going to try to excavate what wasn't destroyed in the storm and rebuild a new hotel for visitors a bit down the road, closer to the village.

Mike: (Grins) And Val convinced Sheila and Alex that footin' the bill for the new building and the losses the Martinezes sustained when the hotel went down, not to mention lending hers and Alex's hands to the labor crew, was a better fate than endin' up in jail.

Davy: Well, lending Alex's good remaining 'and, that is. ;)

Emma: They'd just break out if they were arrested, anyway.

Mike: Sheila and Alex didn't really do anythin' punishable by normal law, 'cept for shack up with a crazy Mexican general. :p

Davy: *to Peter* Nice shot again, mate.

Peter: Thanks! I didn't want Alex to hurt Mike anymore than he already had. I had to save him somehow. I didn't want to really hurt Alex that badly, but I couldn't think of any other way to get Mike's soul back.

Mike: Man, that's still kinda hazy, the whole ceremony thing...

Emma: Trust me, be glad you don't remember much. I'll have nightmares for weeks.

Peter: Me too. :(

Davy: *peeks over the seat in front of him. Micky and Lauren are busy kissing, snuggled under a blanket* Ditto for these two, if they evah come up for air.

(The other three laugh.)

*Micky waves a hand up around trying to swat Davy, but the Brit moves, and Micky just gets air. He snaps his fingers in mid-air and returns to what he was, ahem, doing.*

(Everyone laughs harder, even the producers.)

Mike: Good thing we managed to hire a driver for the ride home. We'd never detach him from his wife now.

Bert: How did it feel to do the ceremony sequence?

Emma: Wild. I'm never going around in sarongs again, especially around Alex and a bunch of drooling military men. Dorothy Lamour, I am not.

Mike: Oh, I dunno 'bout that, darlin'...

(Emma giggles as Mike puts his arm around her and kisses her cheek.)

Davy: That 'ole thing was crackahs, it was.

Peter: I've never been so scared! All those terrible things Alex and the ladies in the robes did to Mike... (shudders)

Emma: The next time any of those so-called handmaidens get anywhere NEAR Mike, I will punch the lights out of every single last one. X(

Davy: I'm inclined to believe 'er.

Mike: I'll do it first.

Davy: I 'ope we don't 'ave to find out.

Bert: How long have you had this one planned? Years?

Emma: Funny. No, this one comes out of, I believe, the many brainstorming chats we had in late spring. The trip idea came from a "Perfect Strangers" episode where Larry takes his cousin and their girlfriends on a lousy vacation on a tropical island that's suddenly engulfed in a hurricane.

Mike: What about Mexico and the ruins n' everythin'?

Emma: The real-life Monkees (sans Peter, who had quit the group by that time), went on tour in Mexico in 1969 with an R&B band called the Goodtimers. The results were pretty much the same as in our story. The tour was popular...but the Goodtimers were accustomed to playing straight R&B and soul, making the Monkees' songs sound good, but...all alike.

Peter: (Nods) Val says the Goodtimers are nice guys, but she's not sure if she's going to use them for another tour again, since as good as they are, they aren't a good fit with US musically.

Bob: Ok, the ceremony. Where on EARTH did you get THAT from?

Emma: I've had the sacrifice idea for almost two years, but I never found a really good place to fit it until this story. It almost made it into "The Devil and Michael Nesmith," but became the "ancestor's flashback" sequence.

Mike: You've really wanted to sacrifice me for two years?

Davy: *makes a face* Ouch. :P ;)

Emma: (Shrugs) You're very noble, dear. Who else would the devils want to sacrifice?

Mike: Couldn't you sacrifice a chicken or somethin'?

Peter: That would hurt the chicken!

Davy: Wot would be the fun in that?

Mike: It would be a hell of a lot easier on ME.

Bert: What about the ruins? How did that come in?

Emma: I wanted to do something really action-filled, "Indiana Jones"-esque. (Grins) Oh, and thanks to Wikipedia for most of the information on the Aztecs. I have fond memories of reading an article on them in 321 Contact, a now-defunct kids' magazine on science and culture, as a child. I’m still interested in ancient cultures to this day. (Makes a face) And yes, the real-life Aztecs DID practice human sacrifice. Modern-day Mexico City really IS on top of the original Aztec capital. Modern Mexicans still eat many of the same things their ancestors did...albeit without the insects they'd occasionally add in.

Bob: Was the hotel really Micky's suggestion?

Mike: Yeah. So was tourin' with the Goodtimers. He saw them in some club and raved about them so much, Val caved in and hired them.

Davy: 'E may admit it if 'e evah comes up for air.

Bert: So, what's next on the schedule?

Emma: Next month, we're time-traveling again.

Mike: As long as it don't involve sacrficin' or devils or vacations, I'm all for it.

Emma: Nope. Like last year's time-traveling story, this intended to be a light caper-comedy on the line of "The Sting," nothing too harmful. It's also going to be set in the era of "The Sting." I hope we have a lot of Russ Columbo and Bing Crosby fans, because we're traveling back in time to a humble little radio station at the height of the Great Depression. ;) :D

Peter: Wow, old-time radio! Jack Benny, Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen, The Shadow...

Mike: Gunsmoke, The Lone Ranger, Tom Mix and His Ralsten Straightshooters... ;)

Peter: I can't wait to perform on an old-time radio show! Maybe Micky could do sound effects!

Davy: *peeks over the seat again* 'Ear that, Mick? You're doing sound effects.

*Micky gives a thumbs-up.*

Mike: I get to be the Lone Ranger.

Peter: I'm Superman and Jack Armstrong!

Emma: And don't forget all the great music and amateur shows.

Mike: That should be interestin', seein' all those singin' pigs and dancin' dogs and people who eat weird stuff come on stage and do their thing.

Emma: It'll be fun, and something different after the last few stories.

Bob: Hey, how are the little ones coming? Davy? Lauren and Micky?

Mike: Daph sure seemed ok to me. She's in the hotel gift shop, tryin' to select snacks for the ride home.

Peter: Valerie's talking to the new driver, and the Goodtimers are saying goodbye to Jose and Manuel Martinez. Those two were really nice guys, even if they were kinda weird.

Davy: All I know is I'll be glad when we get 'ome.

Bert: Lauren and Micky, how's your little one coming?

Davy: *leans over and knocks on Micky's head* 'Ey, the fellas asked you a question!

Mike: Davy, don't provoke him.

Micky: *glares up at Davy* Do that again and you'll be missing that hand. :P

(Emma and Mike put hands over their mouths to hide their chuckles.)

Lauren: *leans forward and looks around Micky* The little one is doing just fine. It’s not nearly as big as the twins were, thankfully. ;)

Davy: *gulps at the look Micky gives him* Maybe you two should go back to wot you were doing.

*They do.*

Mike: (Looks at them, then turns away, whistling) And, um, this would be a good time to remind people that this story is rated "R," and while it ain't quite as bad as the "Return of the Clone" story we did at this time last year, it still ain't recommended for anyone under 16.

Emma: As with "Return of the Clone," reader discretion is advised.

Mike: Pete, why don't you go get Val and see if we can get movin', before these two (juts a thumb at Micky and Lauren) end up movin' and shakin' the bus themselves?

Peter: (Watches Micky and Lauren, his eyes wide; he gets up, stumbling) Um, yeah, I'll do that. (Stumbles back and out the bus)

Mike: (Grins) Hey, Em, before we get goin', wanna do the same thing?

Emma: Mike, everyone will (nibbles on her ear) hear....um...(he then nibbles on her neck; he moves up her neck, kissing it)...ooh, honey, that tickles...(he finally pushes her down into a kiss and out of the camera's sight)

Davy: *sighs* That leaves me without a girl at the moment. There's something wrong with that.

(The camera fades out as Davy stands and, with one last annoyed look at the two couples cuddled together in their seats, heads off the bus in search of Daphne.)

(Cut to "Acapulco Sun" over "stills" from both "productions" as the end credits run. We end with a final shot of the entire tour group, the Goodtimers, the military men, and even an annoyed Sheila and Alex in front of the Hotel Del Aztec under the words "A Raybert Production.")