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----- Chapter 3 -----
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"...which makes the square root of pie over 3/4ths come out to... Oh wait. That's not it." Eric cursed under his breath and ran a well-worn eraser over the surface of his advanced calculus paper. Sometimes he wondered why he had wanted to major in something requiring so much math work. Algarhythms, Euclidean proofs, it was sometimes such a strain that he simply wanted to scream.

His train of thought wasn't helped any by having his mind constantly drifting back to his four Monkee friends. They'd saved his butt Sophomore year by agreeing to play a gig when the band he had lined up suddenly backed out on him. Granted, Mike seemed to have had other plans at the time and was a touch put out by having to change them, but that was the only time relations between him and the Texan had been strained. Oh, he could tell when Mike was in a bad mood and knew well enough to avoid him in those situations, but on the whole he and Mike were buddies. Today though, Mike had acted like a complete stranger. As if he'd never seen Eric before in his life. It was disconcerting to say the least, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake that strange feeling.

He walked over to the stereo and put on the demo 45 the guys have given him for a surprise gift. They were quite good, despite their reputation as third rate musicians. There was a certain something in their work that others lacked. Deciding now was as good a time as any for a quick chill session, he popped on the A-side.

"You've been lookin' at your life through a mirror... it's time you started seeing things a little bit clearer... than through the lookin' glass..." Micky's voice came through the speakers just as clearly as if the drummer were actually in the same room.

"Ain't technology grand?" Eric shook his head with a laugh. Almost a whole second verse had gone by when suddenly, an idea crept into the back of his mind. Turning down the volume on his stereo, he grabbed up the telephone. One ring, two... "Hey Kezzy! Yeah, it's Eric. Would you mind coming over for awhile? I need you to help me with a special project." Kezzy was into that counter culture, psychadellic stuff far more than Eric could ever even hope to be, and he would need someone with unconventional ideas to help him with his almost certainly insane plan.

"You're looking through me.... like you never knew me...."

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It had been one heck of a rough night. For starters, none of the four guys had been particularly at ease with sleeping in such a foreign setting, and secondly, LB had suddenly sat up and declared that there was no way he could sleep without something to hold on to. Even though he swore this was never the case before--- he hadn't needed any stuffed animals even when he was a kid, for pete's sake! Some poking around the cluttered bedroom had finally produced a teddy bear which he greedily took up in his arms and promptly fallen asleep with.

"Must be a Peter thing." Aaron had said teasingly before they all fell asleep.

Aaron's comments were no longer seen as cold douses of reality by the other three. Since their conversation earlier in the day, they had each settled into their individual role in this reality as struggling musicians. It was just like being in an extended play. At least, that's what each one had told himself. They had even been in a pleasant enough mood for a quick rehearsal that evening. The strange experience of playing Monkees tunes hadn't worn off, but they each knew that even the Monkees needed practice. They had lined up two sets of varying song styles. It was interesting to note that the time line of the real Monkees didn't seem to bear significance here as far as the music was concerned. The quote "later" pieces were just as much a part of their repetoir as the early stuff. It had been fun setting up tunes and not having to worry about if a certain song had even been written yet. Since, in this reality, the Monkees weren't recording their stuff anyway, there was nothing to be "released"!

Setting up the playlist had taken them late into the night, so it wasn't until nearly 11:00 the next morning that all four of the faux-Monkees had rolled out of bed. LB had managed to drag his lazy carcass out of bed first and slogged over to the mirror. He was used to seeing this face staring back at him by this point and didn't even blink an eye in response. He ran a wayward hand through the blonde moptop mess of hair to straighten it out a bit, but other than that he had been unmoved by the man in the mirror.

Plodding down the stairs, he decided to try a hand at making breakfast. Nothing exotic... just a bowl of cereal. With a sleepy smile, he noted that it was a Kellogg's box. It wouldn't be any other way around here. He said to himself with a shake of his head. Ain't irony ironic? While he mused over the choice of cereal boxes, Jeff walked down the stairs at an even slower pace than LB had.

"Morning sleepyhead." LB tossed him a box of cereal like a quarterback to his wide reciever.

"Lemme alone." Jeff mumbled, narrowly ducking out of the way. "I'm not us'ally a mornin' person anyway, shotgun."

George was up about an hour later. As he slogged down the stairs he mumbled a vague greeting. Upon reaching the table, he and promptly fell asleep in his, luckilly, still empty cereal bowl.

"Mornin' to you too." A, by this point, fully awake Jeff quipped.

"Awwwww. It's actually kinda cute." LB stifled a laugh.

Aaron slid down the banister at that moment and landed with a graceful flourish. Using less tact than the two before him, he caught sight of George and let out a hearty laugh. George's head shot up and he immediately turned bright red. "'Ey." He rubbed the blanket marks on his face awkwardly. "How yah doin'?"

His only response came in the form of three hearty laughs.

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The guys had arrived at the Cassandra approximately an hour prior to showtime in order to set up. While Aaron set up his drum kit he couldn't help but remember the young college student he had met the other day. Maybe he'd show up tonight and he could appologise for Jeff's behavior the day before.

Meanwhile, George's thoughts were on Veronica. She'd said she would be here tonight, and the very thought was oddly thrilling. She wasn't like anyone he'd ever met before in his life, and not just because she was from a decade long gone by. Well, okay, so that was part of it, but not the important part.

LB too was thinking of the young girl he'd been introduced to. But for different reasons that George. Something told him she could prove invaluable in figuring out how to get back home. Those headaches had to be more than sheer coincidence. A little more gentle prodding was in order if she came by tonight.

Breaking the mold, band member number four wasn't thinking of any person in particular. Jeff was just generally taking in his surroundings. His outlook had definately changed since arriving here. Sure he was freaked out by the sudden change he and the others had undergone, but once that initial reaction had worn off he found he could even bring himself to have a little fun with this. Everything was cool. Groovy, even. He grinned and tuned up the Gretsch.

Soon enough 8:00 arrived and with it an influx of teenagers looking for their accustomary Friday evening escape from the day to day pressures of life. Friday evenings were for chilling out with friends, digging the groovy tunes, and possibly picking up a hot chick or two. Wasn't really any different in the year 2000, the four actors observed.

"Guess the phrase 'TGIF' holds true in any decade." Aaron said from his perch behind the drum kit.

"No kiddin', man." George tossed the tambourine playfully into the air, catching it with expert skill.

Jeff stepped up to the microphone. "Hello everyone. We're the Monkees--" He tossed a quick glance back at the other three guys who all were simulateously trying not to betray the slight performance anxiety they were experiencing. "-- and for our first number we'd like to do 'The Girl That I Knew Somewhere'."

A few kids who had obviously been to several Monkees gigs before whistled and cheered. Either that or in their Friday euphoria they really don't care WHO is playing as long as it's music. Jeff shook his head in amusement and let loose with the first few chords of the song.

"You tell me that you've never been this way before... you tell me things I know that I've heard somewhere...."

At that moment, Eric and Kez walked in and sat down at a table in back. Kez was of moderate physical stature. His dark black hair hung down to his shoulderblades, or rather, it would have been had he not pulled it back into a ponytail before leaving the house that evening. Eric was determined to find out what was going on, and Kezzy had a plan that seemed foolproof.

Kezzy's knowledge of hallucinogens and something he had called "the spirit relm" was supposedly going to guide them to the truth the other guys were hiding. Eric tried to explain that it could be something as simple as planning a surprise party, but Kezzy had immediately launched into his "alien invasion" diatribe.

"Listen, man! There are beings out there that we haven't encountered yet. We can't just assume that they'll be nice and friendly, now can we?"

"Well, I wouldn't know about...."

"I'm glad you came to me when you did. I mean, for all we know these aliens could be controlling your friends--- Gorillas, right?"

"Monkees. Two E's, no Y."

"-- could be controlling The Monkee's minds! We have to help them!"

Eric had begun to regret dragging his old friend into this. Sure, they went way back, but ever since sophomore year in High School, things were weird. The whole counter culture, long hair and beads thing was suddenly all Kez lived for. Not that Eric was completely opposed to new thinking, but it took a lot of getting used to.

Kezzy's plan looked quite simple on paper. They would take each Monkee aside separately and question them. During this time, Kezzy would do something he called a "Karma Scan" to see if mind and body matched up. An alien prescence would show up in his special magic mirror. Er, something to that effect. Eric had pretty much been lost around "Now here's what we're going to do..". Magic Mirror? Oh yeah. This was definately the plan of a sane man. Eric was dripping with sarcasm by this point. After we've smoked out the aliens we can tell Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that it's safe to frolic through the forrests once more. And we'll all live happilly ever after in the land of Oz with the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Woodman. He made a mental note to appologise to the guys for all of this later. A suspicion was one thing, but this was insanity! If he could have gone back in time and stopped himself from calling Kez, he would have. In a heartbeat, in fact.

But the fact remained that a reluctant Eric HAD agreed. They decided to start with Mike. If the guys were hiding something, the leader of the group would more than likely know about it.

In the meantime, he was going to sit back and listen to the tunes. It was Friday night afterall! The most laid back night of the week! Kicking back, he tapped his foot along to "Papa Gene's Blues".

"No heartaches felt.... no longer lonely... nights of waiting finally won me... happiness is all rolled up in you..."

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"Great job guys." Jeff slung the Gretsch off his shoulder and shook his arms out. They had cramped up a little over the course of the evening, but it wasn't something he couldn't handle. He was, however, completely prepared to hit the hay.

"WHOO-HOO!!" LB bounded over waving a small slip of paper in his left hand. "You guys will never guess what I got!"

"The number of that pretty girl who was eyeing you all night long?" Aaron jabbed him in the ribs playfully before going back to loading his base drum into the Monkeemobile.

"Real funny. But this is better than that." He handed the slip off to Jeff. "Mon capitan?"

It was a check. A fat check. "Lookit all them zeros." This would easilly pay off the rent and then some. He also noticed a note scrawled on the envelope: 'NEXT WEEK?'. "They want us back next week!"

With this news, all four started loading their equiptment with a lighter step and happier outlook. If they didn't have to worry about the money coming in weekly they could spend more time focused on how they would go about getting back home.

Eric and Kez rounded the corner as the last of the band's gear was loaded into the car. At least they hadn't missed them yet. "MICKY!" Eric hollared to the drummer. He had really more needed to get Mike's attention, but he was none too eager to repeat last time. Annoyed that he had to hollar a second time, Eric called out again. "MICKY??!!" The curly haired drummer turned around quite suddenly. At least I know it wasn't my imagination now. It's like he doesn't know that's his name. That one errant comment suddenly sent shivvers down his spine, which was quite stupid. This was Micky Dolenz, for god sake! They'd been buddies for years!

"Hey man!" Micky definately recognised him, which was a good sign.

Take THAT Kezzy. Eric grinned. Aliens my foot! The whole thing was just so dumb it was laughable.

"Sorry about yesterday." Aaron appologized, and he meant it. He just hoped Jeff would follow his example. "We were all kinda stressed out. You know, big gig tonight and all." There. Not all of that statement was a lie. It just wasn't the complete truth. Call it the abridged version.

"Hey, all's forgotten, alright?" Eric shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Real groovy set up tonight. Betcha that'll keep Babbit off your case for awhile."

"We hope so." Mike emerged from the trunk crawl space and straightened his shirt. Eric drew in his breath sharply. How exactly was he supposed to----

"'Ey.. I'm real sorry 'bout yesterday too, Eric." Mike added.

--- Whoa. Had he heard correctly? Michael Nesmith was appologising? Well, there was a first time for everything he supposed. Now he felt really bad about having to submit these guys to Kezzy's ranting and raving. Oh well. Hopefully they'd just humor the looney toon.

Aaron threw an expectant look at Jeff. Taking an extra moment or two to readjust his hat he added, "An' the guys an' I were wonderin' if you an' yer friend wanted ta hang out back at the Pad for awhile."

Eric suddenly was overwhelmed with a mix of emotions. It would be cool to hang out, but he knew what was coming if Kez came to the Pad with him. Welcome in the insane Q and A session. Before he could say yes or no, he was aware of Kez agreeing. Oh well. So much for politely declining.

"Great! We'll meet you back there? We'd drive you but---" Aaron gestured towards the overstuffed Monkeemobile.

"Say no more, dude. We dig." Kez nodded his head making his hair whip about his face in a comical fashion.

The Monkees piled into their cherry red automobile and zipped off down the road. Eric cast a wary eye at Kezzy who was deep in thought.

"We can't do it man! I mean, they're being real cool, inviting us over to their home base and everything!"

"Prehaps it's just the aliens trying to throw us off their scent, huh?" Kezzy was indignant.

"Whatever, man. Whatever."

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The last of the equiptment was just being set back in it's customary position infront of the picture windows when Eric and Kezzy knocked on the door. None of the actors were too keen on keeping up the act any longer tonight, but Aaron had convinced them that it was the only way. They couldn't risk raising any suspicion, and it was only polite after the rather rude ejection Jeff had given the college student the night before.

"Welcome to our humble abode gentlemen. Do come in." Aaron put on the best stuffy butler accent George had ever heard. "Wipe your feet. Mustn't get dirt on our dirt!"

Eric laughed. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary here, no sir.

George pulled a bottle of soda out of the fridge. "Well, it isn't exactly champage, gentlemen, but we do ah best."

"It's fine, Davy." Eric walked over to the cabinet and pulled out six glasses. Although using the term 'glasses' was probably being diplomatic about it. They were truthfully old chipped plastic cups, but for the purposes of celebration they would have to suffice.

Pouring what turned to be quite flat gingerale into the cups, each raised their glasses in a toast.

"To new possibilities!" Kezzy grinned and shotgunned his glass.

Eric had heard that toast over and over again. He really wished Kez would get some new material. Turning, he was just in time to pick up a strange look on the four musicians' faces. They'd been doing that a lot lately. Weird.

New possibilities. George shook his head. That guy had no idea just how pognient his words had been. A whole bunch of new possibilities had opened up since they had woken up yesterday like this. Not all of them were positive possibilities either. There was the chance that they were stuck like this, which he admitted he could live with now a lot easier than he would have 24 hours ago. There was also the chance that this was some sort of dream, although the lack of waking up was a major strike against that theory. Right now they were in that uncertain gray area between the two options. An area where the very ground underneath them was unstable. It was hard to tell what was reality and what was a figment of one's mind. George was inundated with that feeling of being in a constant free fall. It would be so much easier if they were on one absolute or the other. Black or white. Unfortunately, They didn't have that luxury.

Kez walked out onto the balcony and started setting up a few candles. If they were going to do this, it would have to be right now. The moon was at it's apex in the sky. It was a relatively cloudless night also, so that the light given off by the moon reflected off the ocean with a surreal almost otherworldly gleam. Yes, this situation was ideal.

"Hey man. Whatcha doin' out here all by yerself? Couldn't have gotten bored already!" A wool hatted head stuck out through the doorway.

Good timing, alien scum. Kez thought to himself with a secret pleasure. Alright, so he wasn't downright positive about the alien theory, but it was the only one that made sense at the moment. Either that or his last acid trip had left a slightly larger hangover than he'd expected.

Mike came out onto the balcony and stood there for almost a full minute before he said anything. The silence sat on Kez's shoulders like a yoke until he could bear it no longer and stood just for the sake of changing positions.

"Just shootin' the breeze, eh?" Mike's eyes wandered to the glassy surface of the ocean and Kez knew this was his chance. He mumbled a chant he had seen in one of those Asian books he'd picked up from the corner vendor and directed his gaze towards a mirror he had strategically placed in the far corner.

Time to see what ET really looks like. Kez tensed up with anticipation. A haze clouded over the mirror and for a second Kez thought he would have to discretely walk over to it and clear it off with his handkerchief. Before he could even move a muscle, however, the vision began to clear again. To his dismay there was no three headed monster in place of Mike's reflection. Still Mike. Or.... was it?

The man in the mirror was still roughly the same height, but his appearance was radically different. For one thing, there was no wool hat and his hair was cropped close to his head. He wore looser, more baggy clothing and simply the way he carried himself was different. Not as confident, and more laid back than Mike would ever allow himself to be. It was Mike, and yet, it wasn't.

Just when he was about to dismiss this all as some sort of trip hangover, Mike turned to him and spoke.

"Just going to sit there or did you want to talk about something?"

The accent, or rather, the lack of an accent caught him off guard. What was going on here? It was so much to handle. He backed away, unwilling to trust his eyes or ears any longer.

"You alright? You don't look so good."

The last thing he remembered before blacking out was Mike, or rather, that stranger in the mirror, leaning over him with concern in his eyes.

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The VH1 movie "Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story" is copywrite Pebblehut Productions. I am in no way affiliated with the guys who played the Monkees (Aaron Lohr, LB Fisher, George Stanchev, and Jeff Geddis) in this movie. I just wrote this out of admiration for the guys and the incredible job done on the movie. If you don't agree with my interpretation of one of the actors or one of them happens to actually READ this... I'm simply guessing about what they're (you're) really like. No offense is intended! This fanfic is copywrite Random Fandom. If you would like to link Random Fandom on your own website, be my guest!