Mike drove the Monkeemobile to a rich part of town called Royal Heights. The mansion was situated on top of a hill away from the other mansions in the area. Partially free of Jynger's evil, the guys began to have doubts about what was going on.
"I dunno, fellas." Davy said, "I like the idea of getting a contract and having money, but this is happening all too quick for me."
Mike was having doubts too, but pushed them away. "We can't let an opportunity like this pass us by." He said, "We'll just be careful not to get ourselves in over our heads."
"If we're not already." Micky muttered under his breath.
Arriving at the right address, Mike pulled the Monkeemobile up to the gates. They opened right away and a uniformed guard came over to them.
"Hello sir, we're the Monkees." Mike told him.
"Yes, I was told to expect you." The guard said. "Go right in, a valet will take care of your car."
"Thank you." Mike replied and drove away.
The guard watched them go up the long drive and began to laugh. A few seconds later the guard turned into the figure of Satan.
"This will be a fun evening." Satan laughed and then disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
++++
Mike pulled the Monkeemobile up to the front door. A black- uniformed valet came up and handed Mike a card when he handed the valet the keys. When the Valet had driven their car away, the Monkees walked up to the front door, only to have it open as they approached. Standing in the door was none other than Jynger Ritz wearing a silver and black mini-dress.
"Hello gentlemen, and welcome to my home!" Jynger said with a wide smile.
"Hello, Ms. Ritz." Peter said, "Thanks for inviting us."
"It's Jynger now, Peter." She replied, "Here we drop the formalities, ok?"
"Sure, Jynger." Davy said.
"Good, now come in from the cool air." She said as she led them inside. The doors closed by themselves.
The Monkees found themselves inside a large foyer with a huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Rock music was blaring from hidden speakers all around. Jynger led them into another room from there. It was dimly lit with wall lights. It had red plush carpeting and was filled with couches, chairs and pillows done up in psychedelic colors. A large fountain with a dragon pouring wine from its mouth was in the middle of the room. Scattered about were several young men and women, dressed in psychedelic clothes, loudly talking, laughing, eating and drinking. There was a large buffet table along the back wall. The Monkees suddenly felt out of place in their conservative attire. Jynger looked at them.
"Don't worry," Jynger said, knowing their fear, "We're all here to have a good time, not to judge. I'll introduce you." Jynger raised her hands and the music stopped. Everybody in the room stopped what they were doing and looked over at her.
"Hey, everybody! I'd like to introduce some new friends. These are the Monkees!" She exclaimed, then pointed to each one.
"This is Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones." she said.
The people gathered in the room waved to the guys. Some looked a little out of it to do anything. The Monkees waved back, looking a little awkward.
"They are really nice guys, so make them feel at home." Jynger said then walked away.
Several people came over and led each of the Monkees away in four separate directions. The music came on again by itself.
A bleach blonde wearing a tight red mini-dress took Micky's arm and led him over to a couch.
"My name is Candy." She said with a giggle, sitting down a little too close to Micky.
"I'm Micky, Candy." He replied, looking where the others had been taken. "So, um, are you signed to Ritzy Records?"
"Yep, Jynger tells me I'm going to be bigger than Barbra Streisand!" She squealed.
A waiter came over with a tray of drinks. Micky started to wave him away.
"Oh, c'mon Micky!" Candy said, taking a drink from the tray, "Have a drink!"
"I don't drink alcohol." Micky replied.
"One isn't gonna hurt you." Candy said, taking another goblet and handing to him. "Have some fun."
Micky simply took the goblet and set it aside.
++++
Mike had been grabbed by two girls and was placed down on a mountain of pillows. The brunette said her name was Julia and the red head was Myra, but Myra quickly moved away and reclined next to none other than Keith Locksley. He put his arm around her.
"Hi, Mike!" Keith said, "Small world, isn't it?"
"Oh hi, Keith." Mike said, "Nice to see you here."
"Hey, Jynger takes care of those who help supply her with acts." Keith replied, sipping his drink from a red goblet. "I take it the audition went well?"
"It did, Jynger likes us, but wants to hear some new stuff." Mike replied.
The waiter came over with a tray of drinks. Julia and Myra took one, but Mike did not.
"Not drinking, Mike?" Keith asked.
"I'll just have a soda, please." Mike told the waiter.
"You live dangerously." Julia teased.
"Wine is arrogant, strong drink is riotous; none who goes astray for it is wise...Proverbs, chapter twenty." Mike said, pleased with himself.
Julia simply stared at Mike, unsure of what to say to that. The waiter came back with a glass of soda for Mike. He took it off the tray and drank some.
"You sure know your scripture." Keith said, watching Mike drink.
Mike leaned back against the pillows, feeling content. "I should. I'm a descendent of St. Thomas, one of the original twelve apostles." He bragged.
"How...interesting." Myra said, hiding a smirk. "Who told you that?"
"A friend of mine, she's an..." Mike stopped himself in time before he said too much. "She's a genealogist."
"Groovy." Julia said, brushing back Mike's hair. He smiled and drank some more soda.
++++
Peter was taken over to a couch by a girl who called herself Kali.
She had brown hair and wore a green mini-dress and held Peter's hand tightly.
"So, what do you play in the Monkees?" She asked.
"I play the bass." Peter replied. "Sometimes I play the organ or piano."
"You must be smart to play all those things." Kali said, running a finger down his cheek.
"Well, sometimes I'm called a dummy because I say or do something stupid." Peter answered.
"You don't look like a dummy to me." Kali replied, moving closer. "In fact, you look very handsome." She pulled Peter in for a kiss. He was surprised at first, but soon returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around the girl.
Davy's girl Denean took him over to the buffet table. She was the makeup lady at The Potion Club that had winked at him. Walking over to the table, the young Englishman had never seen so much food spread out in one place before.
"This table could feed an army." Davy remarked.
"It looks that way." Denean replied, "Let's eat!"
Davy and Denean filled up their plates with all kind of food and went over to a couch by the window and sat down to eat.
"This is good." Davy told Denean between bites.
"Yes, it is." Denean agreed. "So, your group might be signed by Jynger?"
"Yeah, it could be." Davy said, "At first I thought it was happening too fast, but now looking at all this luxury..." He paused, "It would be so much different than the little house I used to live in."
There was loud laughter coming from the corner of the huge room.
Davy looked over and saw Jynger, Maggie and several other people lounging around on large stuffed pillows. The attention seemed to be on five men sitting in the middle of the group.
Davy guessed that that had to be the group Warmonger, and asked Denean if that was true.
"That's them, alright." Denean said, nodding her head. "They're one of the most successful acts at Ritzy Records."
She took Davy's hand. "Who knows? Perhaps the Monkees will sell more than them?"
"I would like that." Davy smiled, kissing Denean's hand.
"Wanna go talk to them?" She asked, with a smile. "I'm sure Jynger would want you talk to them anyway."
"Well..." Davy began, "I wouldn't know what to say."
"Just listen then. C'mon."
Denean led Davy over to the group and sat him down near the edge.
She sat down next to him. One of the members of Warmonger was speaking.
"Our last stop in Toronto was a real blast, lemme tell you." He said with a chuckle. "We did not one, but two sold-out shows. Girls screaming so loud, I couldn't hear myself play. Then of course, there was the after-show party, er parties." He said and leaned back against the pillows. "I couldn't see straight for two days."
Everybody laughed at this. Jynger looked over and noticed Davy with Denean.
"Come closer, you two, join us!" She said, waving her hand.
Davy and Denean came over closer to Jynger and the others.
"Um, hi guys." Davy said to the group while trying to keep his food plate steady. "I'm David Jones from the Monkees."
"Yeah, we heard of you guys." One of the group said, "You're in one of the best up and coming bands around. I'm Al, pleased to meet you."
"Same here." Davy replied, shaking Al's proffered hand, then finding a spot on the cushions to sit down.
"So, continue your story, Al." Jynger said.
"We were having such great time, we didn't want the tour to end." Al continued, "Traveling around in our own private jet; something the Beatles didn't have, and a constant flying party going on between cities.
"Hey, Al." One of his band mates sitting next to him said, "Remember the time the pilot got on the intercom and told us there were too many people in the back of the plane he couldn't bring the nose down so we could land?"
"Oh yeah, I remember that one!" Al replied, as everyone laughed at that. "We had a few too many groupies on the plane that time."
Mike, Peter, Micky and their companions slowly joined the group and listened as Warmonger told of the good times they had on and off tour. Another member of Warmonger took up the story.
"When the tour was over, I took a vacation to Australia." The man, whose name was Bill, was saying, "Rented a house near the beach and just...relaxed. Had a beautiful girl cook and clean for me. What a life." He said, leaning back on the cushions.
"So now you're doing another album?" Micky asked.
"Yep, back to work." Bill replied, "I wrote a bunch of tunes while on vacation, so we're recording those right now."
"You guys sure are lucky." Peter stated, then looked thoughtful, "Are you happy, though?"
Bill and Al stared at Peter for a second. "Sure, we're very happy." Al replied, "Our lives are going great!"
Suddenly, another song started playing, one from Warmonger. It had a heavy beat and everyone started swaying to the music.
"C'mon, let's dance!" Maggie exclaimed.
The whole group, including the Monkees, got up and moved onto the dance floor. Micky danced with Candy, Mike with Julia, Peter with Kali and Davy with Denean. The lights seemed to dim as everyone got down to the beat.
"You know I love you, I know you love me." Al, the lead singer of Warmonger sang, "Let`s just leave the world and reality."
Temperatures rose as everyone moved close to each other, getting lost in the rhythm.
The Monkees slowly lost their inhibitions as they danced with their partners. Julia reached up and kissed Mike and soon the other Monkees were being kissed as well. The other dancers paid no attention as they were in their own worlds too.
When the song ended, the Monkees were led off the floor by their respective partners. Micky and Candy sat down and Candy handed him the goblet he had set aside before. This time, he drank it without reservation.
Peter and Kali sat down again and this time Peter took her in his arms and kissed her hungrily.
Mike and Julia walked outside into the garden. They sat down on a stone bench and looked at all the stone gargoyles surrounding them.
"Funky looking garden." Mike said, wiping his brow. "Sure was hot in there."
"Here, let me help you cool off." Julia said, then pulled Mike's sweater over his head and over her shoulder. She then ran her hands down his chest. "Is that better?" She cooed.
"Yeah, much better." Mike whispered, pulling her in for a kiss.
Mike didn't know that not all of the gargoyles watching them were made of stone.
Davy and Denean hit the buffet again. Once seated with their food, they began to feed each other from the other's plates. Denean took a napkin and gently wiped Davy's mouth, then kissed it gently. Davy pulled Denean close and kissed her passionately.