Rated PG
Ending to Story Starter #2
"You were reading my journal weren't you?" Peter demanded angrily. Davy looked down at the cover and nodded his head.
"I'm sorry Peter." Davy said.
Peter reached down and grabbed the book from under the covers.
"How much did you read?" He said, still angry.
"Just the last entry."
"Then you know too much." Peter replied. He opened a drawer and pulled out what looked like a pen with a bulb on the end. "I was going to take you last, but now..."
"What are you talking about?" Davy demanded, not liking the look on Peter's face, nor the object in his hand.
Peter didn't answer. He simply pushed a button on the side of the
object and a pale blue light emerged from the tip. It hit Davy's
face and Davy knew no more.
Meanwhile, Micky and Mike were wrestling in the shallow water when
suddenly Micky gave a cry.
"What's the matter?" Mike asked.
"Feels like I cut my foot." Micky replied, wincing.
"Lift your foot up." Mike said, "I'll take a look."
Micky lifted his left foot up out of the water and grabbed Mike's shoulder to balance himself. Mike gently took Micky's heel and looked at his foot. After a few seconds, he saw a line of red appear on the outside of Micky's foot.
"Yeah, it looks like you got a long cut on the side of your foot, Mick." Mike said, "You must've cut it on a seashell." He let go of Micky's ankle. "Let's go back to the pad and I can put some antiseptic on it for you."
"Thanks, Mike." Micky smiled. The two of them walked out of the water and back over to the pad.
"It sure is taking Davy a long time to `freshen up'. Micky remarked.
"Yeah, Peter's been gone a long time too." Mike replied.
"Maybe he's getting pointers from Davy." Micky laughed.
Mike laughed too, but both Monkees stopped laughing when they came inside the pad.
Coming out of the bottom bedroom were an angry-looking Peter and a glassy-eyed Davy. The young Englishman stared straight ahead and seemed to be in a daze.
"Hi, you two." Mike said, noticing the appearance of his friends.
"Hi Mike and Micky!" Peter said, becoming his old self again. "Why aren't you two swimming?"
"I cut my foot on a seashell." Micky said, "Mike's gonna put antiseptic on it." He looked oddly at Davy. "What's wrong with him?"
"Oh he's just nervous about meeting this chick on the beach." Peter said, "Right, Davy?"
"Yeah, I'm just nervous." Davy said in a monotone, still looking straight ahead.
Mike and Micky looked at each other. Something was definitely wrong here.
"Are you ok, Davy?" Mike asked. "You're never like this when you're going to meet a girl."
"Yeah, I'm just nervous." Davy repeated, still speaking in a monotone, still looking straight ahead.
"C'mon, Davy." Peter said, "Let's go back onto the beach." He began to lead Davy away.
"Wait, maybe Davy's had too much sun." Micky said, stepping in front of them. "Perhaps he should rest."
"Yeah, he doesn't seem like himself." Mike added.
"He said he's ok!" Peter said, starting to get angry.
"Whoa, don't get angry, Peter." Micky replied, "We're just concerned about Davy, that's all."
"Concern yourself with your foot, Micky." Peter said, "I'll take care of Davy."
"Let them go, Micky." Mike said, giving Micky a look. Micky stepped aside and let Peter and Davy pass. They walked out the back door and down the steps.
However, Peter and Davy did not go back onto the beach. With Davy obediently following behind, Peter went to the left and the two began to walk between the pad and the house next door. When they arrived at the front of the house, Peter began to lead Davy down the lawn to the sidewalk.
Suddenly, Micky and Mike popped up from behind the shrubs.
"Surprise!" They yelled.
Peter stopped suddenly and Davy nearly crashed into him.
"What are you doing?" Peter demanded angrily. Davy was still staring straight ahead, giving no indication as to what was going on.
"We should ask you the same, Pete." Micky said as he and Mike stepped in front of him and Davy.
"You said you two were going onto the beach." Mike said.
"And the beach is that way." Micky added, pointing behind Peter.
"Davy changed his mind." Peter said quickly.
"Not when it comes to girls." Mike replied. "Why are you speaking for him?"
"What's going on?" Micky asked.
"This is what's going on." Peter growled, his face growing dark.
He brought up the pen-like weapon he had used on Davy and pointed it at Mike and Micky. "Back away. I don't want to use this."
"What?" Micky asked, "You don't want to write us a letter?"
In response, Peter pointed the instrument at a small shrub at Mike and Micky's feet. Peter pushed a button and a red light shot out of the tip. Without a sound, the shrub disappeared into thin air!
"Ahhh!" Mike and Micky yelled, jumping back a foot.
"Babbitt's gonna kill us for that!" Micky shouted.
"That will be you two if you don't get out of our way." Peter said matter-of-factly.
"Who are you?" Micky asked, clinging to Mike. "You aren't Peter!"
"That's for me to know and you to find out." Peter replied with a smile. "Now move aside, I won't ask again."
Mike and Micky moved over to the right, while Peter and the still- silent Davy moved around them. Peter and Davy began to back away from Micky and Mike, Peter's weapon never wavering from them.
Unfortunately for Peter, still walking backward, he didn't see another small shrub behind him. With a shout of shout of surprise, he fell backward over the shrub, his weapon flying from his hand when he hit the ground. Davy was still standing in front of the shrub.
Instantly, Mike and Micky went into action. While Mike wrestled with Peter, Micky picked up Peter's weapon.
"Stop, Peter!" Micky shouted.
Peter looked up to see Micky holding his weapon, correctly, at his face. Peter stopped struggling with Mike and looked at Micky with contempt.
"You don't know how to use that." He smirked.
"Oh, I'm a fast learner." Micky smirked back. "Now are you going to come quietly back inside?"
Reluctantly, Peter nodded his head and walked back into the pad with Mike and Micky. Davy, still staring straight ahead, followed them.
Inside, Mike tied Peter to a chair and tried to get Davy to move away from him, but Davy stubbornly wouldn't move from Peter's side.
Micky carefully examined the weapon he had in his hand.
"What have you done to him?" Mike asked Peter.
Peter didn't answer, just stared straight ahead like Davy.
"Looks like Peter, or whoever he is, is giving us the silent treatment." Mike said to Micky.
"Oh, that's ok Mike." Micky smiled, "We can spend the time pointing this little do-dad at his head and keep pressing all this colorful little buttons to see what they do."
"Sure is a lot of them." Mike replied, an evil smile on his face.
"Let's see what this red one does." Micky said, pointing the weapon at Peter.
"No, stop!" Peter shouted, his eyes wide.
"Oh, you're going to talk now?" Mike asked.
"Yes, please don't push any buttons." Peter said to them, "I'll tell you what you want to know."
"Good. First of all, what did you do to Davy and how do we reverse it?" Micky asked.
"I hit him with a slave beam." Peter replied. "He is unharmed."
"And you reverse it how?" Mike demanded.
"Point the Freebish at Davy's head and hit the blue button." Peter replied. "That will free him. You have my word."
Micky did what Peter said and instantly Davy shook his head and looked around.
"What happened? How did I get…"
"Are you ok, Davy?" Mike asked.
Davy saw Peter tied to a chair and Mike and Micky standing next to him. "Why is Peter tied up?" Then it all came back to him. "Now I remember! Peter pointed some sort of pen at me, and…and…"
"He was leading you away and you were looking like some sort of zombie." Micky said.
"What?" Davy said incredulously.
"It's true, Davy." Mike said, "Peter, or whoever he is, was trying to take you somewhere."
"Oh, man…" Davy breathed, "This'll teach me not to look in other's peoples' journals again."
"He has a journal?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, he caught me looking at it then zapped me." Davy replied, hanging his head.
"Go get it." Mike said, "Maybe it will tell us what's going on."
"That's my property!" Peter shouted.
But Davy ignored him and went into the downstairs bedroom. Within seconds he was back with the small, leather-bound journal.
"I'm going to read it." Davy told Mike and Micky, "There's only a few pages of writing."
"Go ahead, I gotta bandage Micky's foot." Mike said.
So while Davy read the journal, Mike put antiseptic on Micky's foot and put a bandage on the cut. As Mike finished, Davy was also finished reading.
"What does it say, Davy?" Micky asked.
Davy shook his head. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear I was reading a science fiction novel." He replied. "The journal starts about three weeks ago and tells how he kidnapped Peter-our Peter-and took his place. But this is the really weird part. He writes about what it's like to be a human."
Mike and Micky just looked at each other. Davy continued.
"He's been learning to live like us and in a few days he was planning to kidnap us too."
"For what reason?" Mike asked, shocked.
"All Peter wrote is that we would be `good' for his companions to use." Davy replied.
"That doesn't sound too nice." Micky said slowly.
None of them had an answer to that, so the three Monkees walked back over to Peter.
"We know you're not really our friend Peter." Davy said sternly, "Want to explain what's going on?"
"Looking at this device of yours," Micky added, "I'd wager you're not from our planet, are you?"
"No, I am not." Peter replied after several seconds. "My real name is Zontar, and I am from the planet you Earthlings call Neptune."
"Some distance." Mike remarked.
Zontar nodded. "Yes, I was sent by the High Council to explore this planet. For several years we have been receiving strange sound and picture signals from Earth."
"Strange signals?" Mike asked.
"Yes. I now know they are from what you Earthlings call radio and television." Zontar replied. "They are primitive, but what we have been hearing and seeing has disturbed us greatly."
"How do you mean?" Davy asked, "I know some of our TV shows aren't great but..."
"We have heard and seen pictures of war and destruction." Zontar cut in, "I was sent to see if this planet is a threat to galactic peace."
"So you came to Earth and took Peter's place?" Micky asked.
"Yes, he happened to be the first Earthling I encountered and so I took him back to my ship and transformed myself into him."
Mike dreaded asking this next question, but knew he had to do so.
"Is Peter...our friend Peter...still alive?"
"Yes, he is alive and in hibernation. I took your friend's place so that I could blend into the human population and learn to live like one."
"Why the journal?" Davy asked.
"To record my experiences and feelings as a human to take back to my fellow scientists." Zontar answered.
"Your journal mentions others." Mike said, "When will they be here?"
"Soon." Zontar replied, "I was going to lure you three to my spaceship so my three companions can replace you as well. Then we could explore this planet more thoroughly. Now I see that will not happen." He sighed, "Please untie me. I will take you back to my ship and free your friend. My cover has been blown, as you would say."
"We have your word, they'll be no tricks?" Micky asked.
"You have my word." Zontar said.
So the three Monkees untied the alien and they were soon in the Monkeemobile. Following Zontar's directions, Mike drove to an abandoned warehouse a few miles away. Even though Zontar gave his word, Micky discreetly kept the alien's weapon close at hand.
The four of them walked inside the warehouse. Inside, there was a large round silver sphere. The warehouse had been abandoned for many years and the roof had collapsed. That had made it easy for Zontar to land his ship inside and nobody would know.
Walking over to the ship, Zontar placed his hand on a panel and a side panel opened and a set of stairs came down.
Cautiously, the three Monkees followed Zontar inside. They made their way over to the lab and once there they saw Peter lying on a bed inside a glass tube.
"Peter!" Micky, Mike and Davy shouted, rushing over to them. They pounded on the tube, but Peter stayed asleep.
"You won't wake him that way." Zontar smiled as he walked over to another tube, "I will transform back to my original self. He got into side his tube and the other half came down.
Seconds later, a humming sound was heard and the lights on both Peter and Zontar's tubes lit up. Zontar's body shimmered and seconds later he no longer looked like Peter-he turned all silver and hairless. Peter's eyes slowly blinked open-as his eyes focused, he became scared. The top of the tubes holding Peter and Zontar came open and Peter quickly jumped out of his tube.
"What's going on?" Peter asked, hugging his friends, "I was walking along the street and I met this guy..."
"It's a long story Peter." Davy said, "But we're glad you're back." Zontar walked back to the Monkees. Peter hid behind his friends.
"It's him!" Peter shouted.
"Don't be afraid." Zontar, now a glowing silver alien, said to him. "I am truly sorry for what I have done. We of Neptune are a peaceful race and I was sent to see if Earth posed a threat. Now I see that the transmissions we had been receiving were from your past and that Earth has made some strides in the name of peace."
"What will you do now?" Mike asked.
"I will contact my fellow scientists and tell them to turn back. Earth, while still warlike in some ways, poses no immediate threat to my planet."
"Thank you Zontar." Micky said.
"Thank you, Mike, Micky and Davy." Zontar replied, "For not turning me over to your authorities."
"I don't think they'd believe us anyway." Davy smiled. "By the way, here's your journal." He handed the journal to the alien.
"Thank you, Davy." Zontar said, "At least my mission has not been a complete failure."
Zontar escorted the Monkees out of his spaceship.
At the door, Micky handed Zontar back his weapon.
"Have a safe trip home, Zontar." Micky said.
"Thank you my friends." Zontar replied.
The stairs retracted back into the sphere and the door closed. A few minutes later, Zontar's ship rumbled and shot straight up into the air. Within seconds, it had totally vanished into space. They stared up for a few more seconds, then Mike turned to Peter.
"Let's go home, Pete." Mike said, patting him on the back. "You have three weeks of your life to catch up on."
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