The Monkees and Elizabeth slowly climbed the Golgotha hill. Many other people did the same, including the three Marys and John. Many people were crying, others were saying Jesus deserved death for his blasphemy, while others were curious onlookers.
Crucifixions were pretty common in Jerusalem. Nobody seemed to notice that the sky was turning a little dark, even though it was mid-day...
There were so many people gathering to see the crucifixion that the Monkees and Elizabeth couldn't get onto the plateau itself. The Roman soldiers made sure the executioners had enough room to do their ghastly work. Suddenly, screams cut through the air as the victims had their wrists nailed to the cross-beams they had been carrying from Pilate's house. Elizabeth collapsed.
Micky caught her and gently laid her on the ground. He stroked her cheek, while Davy took off his outer cloak and made it into a pillow for Elizabeth's head.
Now, the three men, with Jesus in the middle, were hauled to their feet while a rope was attached to the back of each cross-beam. When that was done, an executioner on a ladder behind each upright beam pulled on the rope while others lifted the men up.
When each of them were several feet off the ground, the cross-beam was nailed and tied to the upright beam. Finally, the men's feet were placed on top of each other and nailed to the upright beam. More screams echoed down the hill. After making sure everything was secured, a small sign was hung over the heads of each of the men, telling anybody going past why they were being crucified. The men on either side of Jesus had signs saying they were thieves, but Jesus had a larger sign placed above his head, it read 'Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.'
It was also written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek so that anybody from a foreign land would understand it. When the priests read the inscription, they were livid. One of them went over to the head centurion.
"Pilate should not have written, 'The King of the Jews' he should have written, 'This man claimed to be The King of the Jews'!"
The centurion smirked at the priest. "Pilate thought you might protest that sign, so he told me to tell you, 'What I have written, I have written'!"
The priest glared at the centurion for a moment, then went back to his fellow priests. The centurion chuckled to himself, then went back to his soldiers, who were casting lots for Jesus' tunic.
Now that the men had been crucified, some people walked away, but most settled down on the ground to watch. That gave the Monkees, who had settled down next to Elizabeth, a better view of what was going on. Peter took one glance and turned his back, while Micky, Mike and Davy watched in horror, unable to look away. Elizabeth woke up from her faint and looked at the crosses. Micky tried to shield her eyes from the awful scene, but she gently pushed his hand away.
"I must look upon our savior, Micky. See, even Mary his mother is at the foot of the cross. Can't I at least watch?"
Micky helped her sit up better and leaned her against his chest.
Mike put an arm around Davy's shoulders. Peter was crying softly.
At the foot of the cross stood the three Marys and John the disciple. Jesus looked down at his mother. "Woman, behold your son."
Then after drawing a painful breath, he said to John, "Behold your mother." John nodded at his master and from that day forward took care of Mary.
A little ways behind the four of them, the priests shouted abuse at Jesus. "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the messiah of God!"
Even the soldiers laughed at Jesus. "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"
Jesus wasn't even spared abuse from the two thieves crucified with him. The Monkees couldn't believe people could taunt somebody dying such a horrible death! It also sickened them that people could just sit there and watch someone die like they were watching a sporting event! Mike wanted to get up and scream 'What's wrong with you people?!' but just managed to keep his cool. A few people began to notice that the sky was getting darker as time went on, but passed it off as a dust storm in the desert.
Suddenly, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me!?" Elizabeth, Micky, Mike and Davy began to cry, while Peter, who had been crying, turned around to look at Jesus. The sky grew even more dark, and the wind started to blow. People began to be afraid; several started back down the hill and into the city.
A bystander soaked a sponge with cheap wine, put it on a stick and gave it to Jesus to drink. Jesus tasted the wine, then cried out once again: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!" With that, Jesus bowed his head and died. There was an eclipse of the sun at that moment, and the sky turned pitch black. The wind began to howl and it started to rain. People screamed and chaos reigned as people began to flee the scene, beating their breasts.
Lightning and thunder crashed in the sky. Even the Roman soldiers, who had been trained to handle any situation, were alarmed by what was happening.
The centurion who had told off the priest earlier exclaimed, "Truly, this was the son of God!"
The Monkees and Elizabeth stayed where they were.
Mike pulled off his outer cloak and used it to try and keep them from getting wet.
Elizabeth kept staring at Jesus hanging on the cross. Suddenly, she got up and started walking over to where he was. The Monkees were going to follow, but then decided she needed some private time alone. The four of them felt...unworthy...of coming close to Jesus. They watched as the angel knelt down at the foot of the cross, still keeping her eyes on Jesus. Mary the mother of Jesus was lying on the ground in grief, her head against John's chest.
Mike looked at the other three Monkees. "Well guys...its finally over, our job is done." He said over the thunder.
"Yeah, over." Davy said quietly. Micky put his hand on Davy's shoulder. "Don't worry, Davy." He said, "Jesus is dead, but will rise up in three days."
"True, but you four will not!" A voice growled at them. An instant later, the four of them felt knives at their throats.
The cloak covering their heads was pulled off and the Monkees looked up. It was Dr. Chronos and his four henchmen. They had watched Jesus' crucifixion from the bottom of Golgotha and had waited for this moment to ambush the Monkees. In the rain, darkness and confusion of the moment, nobody noticed what was going on.
"Let's go boys." Dr. Chronos sneered, "There are so many things you have to answer for!" The Monkees were roughly pulled to their feet.
Micky looked over at Elizabeth, who was still praying at the foot of Jesus' cross. He decided to take a chance.
"Elizabeth! HELP!" Micky shouted.
Elizabeth turned instantly and saw what was going on. She stood up, looked up at Jesus' cross...then disappeared, her face expressionless.
"ELIZABETH!" Micky screamed, shocked that she didn't even try to help them. The other Monkees were shocked too. They couldn't believe Elizabeth would abandon them! Dr. Chronos' laughed evilly.
"It seems your angel friend has no more use for you four, now that you've done what she wanted."
"She'll be back for us!" Mike shouted.
"Maybe, but she may not recognize what she finds." Dr. Chronos replied. The Monkees faces went white at that remark.
Dr. Chronos looked over at the crosses, then back over to his henchmen. "Let's take our friends back to our base and show them some hospitality!"
Larry, Mark, Ian and Henry laughed and dragged the Monkees down Golgotha and into the desert, keeping their knives next to their captives' ribs the whole time. With all that was going on, nobody paid them any mind.
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Back at Jesus' cross, a priest named Joseph from the town of Arimathea, fresh from an audience with Pilate, came to take Jesus' body down. He hadn't gone along with the other priests in their plans to kill Jesus, but still waited for the Kingdom of God. He had seen the nine men coming down the hill and out into the desert and briefly wondered why they didn't go into the city where it would be safe, but once he saw Jesus he didn't give the men another thought...