Davy laid his head back on the soft pillows of his bed. The last thing he remembered clearly was when he and Micky were in Queen Grizelda's throne room. He had a hard time believing what Mike had told him. Glick made him think he was King Davius of the trolls? He almost married the troll Queen? Davy would've thought Mike was crackers any other time, but this was real. What made his head spin was the fact he had told the trolls to dig tunnels to undermine Santa's castle! The castle would've been destroyed and Santa would be dead! Anger started to form up inside Davy had how he had been used, like a toy, for evil.
Micky reached over Davy's bed to bring the covers up to his chin, when Davy saw Micky's cut and bruised wrist. Davy gently but firmly took Micky's wrist in his hand and looked at it. It was injured on both sides. He had a bad feeling about how Micky was injured.
"Where'd you get the bruises, Mick?" Davy asked quietly.
"Oh...um...I got it from," Micky hedged. He didn't want to tell Davy he got the bruises from being chained and tied up several times, once from Davy himself.
But Davy already guessed the answer. He used his other hand to gently push back Micky's shirt sleeve to find several more cuts and bruises.
"...being tortured." Davy finished tonelessly, looking Micky in the eye.
Micky looked down at the covers, then nodded his head. Davy looked over at Peter and Mike. They quickly put their hands behind their backs, proving they too had been tortured.
Davy released Micky's wrist, then shut his eyes. This was too much.
"It wasn't your fault, Davy." Micky said quietly.
"Yeah, it was Grizelda who had us tortured the last time when we kidnapped you from your wedding," Peter put in quickly. "Not you."
"The last time?" Davy put in sharply, "What about the first time?"
"You weren't yourself, Davy," Micky replied, "You were being controlled by Glick."
"Yeah, weak little Davy, so easily manipulated!" Davy shouted, "You three should've left me in that pond!"
"Davy don't say that!" Mike exclaimed, "We still love you."
"We even told Grizelda that in the dungeon," Peter said, "She tried to make us say you were Davius and that Santa had been controlling you, but we didn't."
"Pete, I don't think Davy needed to hear that right now." Mike whispered, "He's feeling poorly about our torture as it is."
After a long pause, Davy finally spoke. "Please, fellas, I need some rest."
"OK, shotgun," Mike said, squeezing Davy's hand, "We'll check up on you later."
Micky, Mike and Peter walked out of the room and closed the door.
Davy waited until their footsteps faded before he burst out crying.
~~~~~~~~
Little did Davy know that Glick had watched the entire scene play out on his television. He was furious that the Monkees had escaped and that Davy was out from under his spell; but still happy that Davy was going to be feeling guilty about this for a long, long, time. The door opened and Queen Grizelda walked in. She looked at Glick's TV and saw Davy crying. She started to cry too.
"Oh, my poor Davius! Look how sad he is!" Grizelda exclaimed. She didn't know the real reason Davy was crying, and Glick wasn't going to tell her. "We must get him back, Great One!"
"Yes, yes, of course we must, and we shall, my queen!" Glick replied, "He has his destiny to fulfill! He needs to be here when Santa's castle crumbles to the ground!"
"How do we rescue Davius, Great One?" Grizelda asked.
"I must work some more of my magic, my queen, so I can sneak Davius out of the castle. Will you excuse me? This will take concentration." Glick asked.
"Yes, Great One." Grizelda replied, then started for the door, "I want him back so we can be married, too! After 150 years, I finally find a mate, and he's taken from me." She left the room, closing the door.
"Silly little insect." Glick muttered to himself. Then, he clapped his hands. Lisa and Laura entered the room from another door. They were wearing matching black mini-dresses.
"Yes, Wizard Glick?" They both asked together.
"I need you two to work your charms on the Monkees again." Click said.
"Is that all we're good for?" Lisa asked, "I have a degree in journalism you know."
"And I have a degree in retail." Laura said.
"And look how far you two had gotten with those degrees," Glick sneered, "Perhaps you two would like to go back to those dirty factory jobs working 12-hour days making wallpaper?"
"No." Lisa replied, hanging her head.
"Good." Glick replied, all smiles, "Now here's what you two will do."
~~~~~~~~
Micky, Mike and Peter came downstairs and walked to the cafeteria. They got some cocoa and settled themselves down gingerly on the too-small tables and chairs near a window. The elf doctor had done a marvelous job in patching up their injuries, but they would be sore for awhile. For a few minutes, they drank their cocoa, then Micky said what was on all of their minds.
"Davy sure is down right now." He said sadly.
"Yeah," Mike agreed, "I wish he'd realize what he did wasn't his fault."
"You know, guys," Peter said, "We might've saved Davy, but what if the trolls are still digging those tunnels? What if Glick comes back for Davy? Our problems aren't over yet."
"He's right." Mike said, "We gotta find a way to take care of Glick. But how do you fight a wizard?"
"What about that book we use against the giant mole?" Peter asked.
"It's gone." Micky said simply, "It was lost when we were captured again by Grizelda."
"No it's not." A voice came from behind them. It was Santa. In his hand he held Micky's book.
"Santa!" Micky exclaimed, taking the book from him, "Thanks! Where'd you find it?"
"Right next to a giant, dead mole." Santa replied, wincing a little, "Those trolls keep such awful pets."
"Are you having any luck with shoring up the walls?" Mike asked. They had told Santa of Glick's plan to collapse his castle, so Santa was doing what he could to keep his castle up.
"Yes, the walls aren't cracking anymore. I hope the trolls stop digging now because their king is gone. By the way, how is Davy?"
The three Monkees looked at each other. Mike finally spoke.
"Davy's having a hard time handling what he had done, Santa. We told him it wasn't his fault, but he saw what the trolls did to us and he's feeling kinda low right now."
"I'll go talk to him. We can't have him feeling sad over something he couldn't help." Santa turned to go.
"Thanks Santa." The three men said as Santa walked away. Micky put his little book in his shirt pocket.
"I'm gonna get a refill." He said, "You guys want one?"
"No, that's OK, Mick." Mike replied, and Peter shook his head. Micky walked away. A few seconds later, Peter happened to look out the window, and saw two human girls in green elf costumes walk past.
"Hey Mike!" Peter exclaimed, "LOOK!" He pointed out the window.
Mike looked out the window at what Peter was pointing to. "Hey I think those are Glick's chicks."
"They sure look like the girls Micky described." Peter agreed. "They might be after Davy! Let's go after them!"
Mike and Peter quickly got up and ran out the cafeteria door. Micky, carrying a fresh cup of cocoa, saw them leave.
"Hey guys, what's up?" he yelled, but his friends were already gone. Micky put his cocoa down on a table and followed them out the door. He soon saw who his friends were chasing: Lisa and Laura, the two girls who had led Davy and himself into a trap!
"Mike! Peter!" Micky yelled, "Don't follow them! It's a trap!"
Fortunately, Mike and Peter heard Micky and stopped running after the girls. Lisa and Laura, however, realizing they weren't being followed, walked back to Micky, Mike and Peter.
"Hi guys!" Laura chirped happily.
"Don't 'hi' us, you two." Micky said angrily. "We know you're working for Glick."
"And you're coming with us." Mike said, "Santa's gonna have some questions for you two."
"Don't be mad at us, Micky," Lisa said. "We have to work for Glick, or its back to a horrible factory job for us."
"Cry me a river." Mike replied with a snort. He, Micky and Peter grabbed the girls' arms, but Lisa held up a small box she had been hiding in her hand and pushed a button. There was a popping sound, then, with a blue flash of light, all five of them disappeared.
~~~~~~~~~
Santa knocked on Davy's door and then went in. To his surprise, Davy wasn't in bed, or anywhere in the room for that matter. Santa knew Davy was still weak from his dip in the pond, so he became concerned for Davy's whereabouts. Plus, Davy was feeling bad about his turn as Davius, so that wasn't working in Davy's favor either. Santa quickly left the room, hoping Davy hadn't gone far.
Davy wasn't too far at all. He had gone into the barn where the reindeer were kept and up into the loft. He needed some quiet time to think about what he had done. True, he didn't know what he was doing at the time he was Davius, but it was still him. How could the other three be so kind to him after all the pain they had gone through, most likely ordered by him? He didn't deserve such good friends. After they got back to California, he would have to try and find a way to make it up to Micky, Mike and Peter. Worse was the thought that he had almost destroyed Christmas for the whole world! Davy shuddered at the thought of all those kids not getting presents on Christmas morning.
Davy was so focused on these glum thoughts that he almost didn't see the figure appear next to him: Wizard Glick.
"Hello Davius, oh, that's right, you're Davy again, aren't you?" Glick said sarcastically.
"Glick, you filthy rotter!" Davy screamed and charged the wizard. But Davy passed through Glick's figure like it was a ghost, and he landed on a bale of hay.
"Before you foolishly charge me again, Davy, I think you should see this." Glick said calmly.
Glick snapped his fingers and a TV set appeared with them in the loft. The screen showed snow for a second, then a picture came into focus. Davy's jaw dropped in shock.
On the screen were Micky, Mike and Peter lying bound and gagged on the floor of an underground tunnel. Worse, next to them was a troll drilling machine, its sharp, pointed spikes whirling away. Davy's friends were about to chewed up by the machine!
"NO!" Davy yelled frantically, "No, Glick, please don't kill them!"
"I won't...if you agree to act like King Davius again. But any treachery from you and..."
"You're a fine one to talk about treachery!" Davy shouted.
Glick moved a finger, and the drilling machine came closer to Davy's friends. Davy could see the terror in their eyes from where he stood.
"NO! I'll do it, I'll do it!" Davy said frantically. "Just take that machine away!"
Glick moved the machine back. "Just remember, that they'll stay there until I no longer need you as Davius. This will be much easier for me than putting a spell on you."
"I'll do as you say, Glick." For now, Davy thought.