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DREAM WORLD
A "Daydream Reality" sequel

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"SITCOM? I'm drowning in a sea of jealousy." Aaron's mouth hung open in shock. He'd had "Teen Angel" back in the day, but that hadn't lasted long before being smited by the cancellation god. This new series sounded promising from the few details LB had supplied. He had only been in one episode, but Aaron had a feeling that could change. It happened a lot-- a character created for an episode or two suddenly becoming a regular. Alright, so not all the time, but a fair amount, especially to guys like LB who were naturals in front of the camera.

"Now hold on! I didn't say it was definitely going to be picked up by CBS!" LB protested.

"Oh, it will." Aaron nodded knowingly, a smile dancing at the corners of his mouth.

"I said there was a chance..."

"A good chance." Jeff spluttered between sips of soda.

LB rolled his eyes and nodded his head slowly. "I guess so."

"You guess so." Aaron restated incredulously. "You don't excite easily, do you?" He slapped LB on the back and walked on ahead with him.

Tossing his empty cup into a roadside trash can, Jeff was about to play catch up with the other two when he realized George had lagged pretty far behind them. "You coming?" He called over his shoulder.

Jumping as if he had been jarred out of a deep train of thought, George looked mildly annoyed. "Yes! Will you wait a minute?!"

"Whoa. What's up with you? Calm down." Jeff waited for George to come up beside him and then added, "Something on your mind?"

"No! Why does everyone keep asking that?" He exploded suddenly.

"I repeat my 'whoa'," Jeff began in a careful, measured tone, "And add a question mark to the word 'everyone'. Didn't know I constituted everyone."

"It's not just you! I guess... I guess I've been distracted while cutting this new album. It's like I just can't get into it. And the worst part is that the producers of this thing were there today..."

Jeff groaned. "We had no idea. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I figure that it's my deal." George ran a hand through his hair and let out a deep sigh. "I mess up, I should take responsibility for it. Not go around making excuses. Don't--" He began and then stopped suddenly, as if he thought better about what he was going to say.

"Don't what?"

"Don't mention it to the other guys. As I said-- my deal."

"I wouldn't. You know that."

George finally took that statement without protest and both men walked on in silence.

"Jeff? Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"How often do you think about it?"

"It?"

"You know."

Jeff sighed. "Twice a week sound like too much to you?"

"Twice a day is more like it. And yeah, I'm a champion brooder, thanks for wondering." George rubbed his temples. "The whole thing just threw me I guess."

"Hey, it threw all of us. But we made it through, and it'll never happen again." Jeff smiled reassuringly before pressing into what he figured was far more sensitive territory. "I know you hated it. Being dropped down in the middle of other people's lives isn't exactly something you learn how to handle in school."

"Being a Monkee 101." George mumbled in a half-hearted attempt at a joke. Suddenly another thought crossed his mind. "Did I? Hate it, I mean. I seem to remember enjoying it for a while." He could feel anger festering inside him, laying hot on his chest like a branding iron.

Deciding to play a little damage control, Jeff held up his hands. "That was before we knew we might have been stuck that way. You can't blame yourself for that!"

"No... but I can blame you."

"What?!"

"I seem to recall that you completely gave up at one point. How about you? Did you like it?"

"Now hang on! I never said that I---"

LB and Aaron returned as the argument reached a fevered pitch. Recognizing trouble when they heard it, both quickly took up positions to keep George and Jeff from killing each other.

Passers by simply shook their heads and continued on their way.

"Crazy strikers."

* * * * * * * * *


If I were a 20-something Hollywood actor, where would I go? Kez found himself musing as he walked along Sunset Strip. Twice this afternoon he could have sworn he'd seen the guys, but each time he was mistaken. Quite embarrassing mistakes too... usually involving people who refused to make eye contact, invariably rushing off and muttering something about "pseudo hippies".

He couldn't really blame them. Kez knew that he looked like a man out of his time. To be more precise, however, he was a man out of his dimension. That had been his final conclusion, at any rate. What had happened to Aaron Lohr, LB Fisher, Jeff Geddis and George Stanchev wasn't a change in their timeline, but rather a jump into another. It was a dimension that came into existence the moment Dr. Herbert the Strange and Deranged created a machine that warped the walls between realities.

Kez came to this conclusion when he and his new friends had first come face to face with the mad scientist. Kez had gambled that destroying the machine would irritate the preverbal lining between dimensions and send anything out of place back to its own time-- in other words, his four new friends would get to go home. The only uncertain moment was whether or not he, himself, would vaporize on impact, but that was a risk he was willing to take if it meant cleaning up the timeline and restoring order.

When he had come to after destroying the machine and its creator, he was laying face down in the middle of a sandbox halfway across town and there was no sign of Eric or the four actors. It let him know that his gamble had worked, but there was a tinge of regret and sorrow over most likely never seeing them again.

That was when he started searching through Dr. Herb's notes. The guy had been some sort of genius, but his advancing years had clouded his judgment. At some point, Kez came to the decision that it was a pity to let all the research go to waste, so he had chosen to take it upon himself to modify some of the good doctor's equipment. At the very least, he wanted to secure it so that no one else could use it for destructive purposes like the doctor had. However, his main goal was to make it into something >>>he<<< could use to see new, exciting places. He discovered how to jump dimensions and this trip into the year 2001 had been his maiden voyage. Thankfully it had worked, or his molecules would have been scattered around in a million different directions.

"Come on guys! Where are you? I need your help!" He muttered in slight desperation. The reason he was here now was not simply a joy ride. People's lives were at stake and only the Monkees could help now.

As if on cue, four familiar faces rounded the corner. Two of the guys looked a little worse for the wear, but there was no doubt about who they were. Show time.

Kez pulled a small mechanical orb from his bag and placed it behind a trash can at the side of the road. Next he grabbed for the band on his wrist which had passed nicely for a watch up to that point. "Understand why I'm doing this, guys. Please understand." With a touch of the button, simultaneously he vanished and the orb started to give off a gentle glow.

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"Care to explain what that was all about?" LB's hand held on firmly to George's forearm.

"And why we had to pull you two away from each other like Kindergartners?" Aaron stared expectantly at Jeff.

"We just had a few things to work out. Nothing more than that. We're fine now." Jeff replied evenly.

George scoffed. "Like hell we have."

"Still not answering the question." Aaron refused to accept such a lame excuse. "I thought we were having a great time."

Before George could start into a reprise of the tale of his failing career, a strange feeling swept over him. The closest thing he could compare it to would be like a sudden bout of severe nausea. A quick glance to either side revealed that he wasn't the only one to have suddenly suffered the queasies.

"Guys? I'm really not feeling so---"

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Headache. Stomach ache. Joe's Eatery will be getting one very strongly worded complaint letter--- The thought faded away as George came to, eyes clamped firmly shut. "Fellahs?" He croaked, throat dry as the Sahara. Clearing it and swallowing a few times, he tried again. "Ah think we should get outta 'ere."

"Let's head back to the Pad." Aaron climbed to his feet and rubbed his head, tousling about the mass of curls that stuck out in all directions.

"No arguments here, shotgun." Jeff drawled, pushing the green wool hat back from its customary perch to rub his head as well. "Comin'?" He called to LB, who was still sprawled, spread-eagle, on the ground.

Upon hearing the voices of the others, LB got to his feet with a start. "Sorry." The blonde rushed to apologize, blushing profusely.

The Monkeemobile sat by the side of the road, motor idling. Aaron rushed foreward and threw open the driver side door with a flourish.

"You're not going to let him drive!" LB grinned, twisting his head around, shoulder-length locks flying, to glance at Jeff.

"What's wrong with my driving?" Aaron protested.

"Nothin'... if you're aimin' for the sidewalk." George chuckled.

Jeff held up a hand. "I think ya'll are forgettin' somethin'. I have the keys."

Rolling his eyes, Aaron begrudgingly relinquished control of the car. "All yours."

Jeff chuckled and slapped Aaron on the back. "Thanks, Mick."

* * * * * * * * *


Kez paced anxiously. If everything had worked, the guys were liable to be quite angry with him. Well, once their memories had been restored, that was. He was perched on the steps of the beach house awaiting their return, having practiced what he would say at least a dozen times. Best case scenario, they were perturbed, but got over it and helped him with his problem when they realized how serious the situation had become. Of course, then there was the worst case scenario which involved lots of blood and his own personal body bag, courtesy of four majorly put out actors.

There wasn't any more time to muddle over his own untimely death, however, for he suddenly caught sight of the Monkeemobile barreling down the road. Here we go... again.

Aaron was the first one out, tossing the back door open and bounding up the steps. "KEZ! You didn't say you would be coming over!"

"Hey Micky." Kez smiled sadly. He really hated this. It was great to see the smiling face of someone he considered a best friend, but he knew he ran the risk of loosing that friend when he told him the truth.

"Kez ol' pal! Long time no see!" Jeff came up behind Aaron with the same happy expression, more than doubling Kez's guilt level.

The best he could muster was a nod and a smile. "Mike." Craning his neck, he acknowledged LB and George as well. "Peter. Davy."

"Well, we hadn't been planning on company, but there's no reason we couldn't order out a pizza or something, right Mike?" Aaron walked over and unlocked the front door of the beach house.

"Don't worry about it," Kez took a deep breath and pressed a button on his wrist band, "Aaron."

"Who's--" His head throbbing, Aaron dropped to one knee. LB leaned up against the wall, and clamped his eyes shut. George doubled over, and Jeff staggered backwards.

"I'm sorry." Kez mumbled.

* * * * * * * * *

Bleary eyed, Jeff blinked rapidly to clear his vision. Something was wrong. He felt... strange... and yet he knew the feeling from somewhere. His hands curiously explored an outfit he was certain he hadn't put on that morning. Eight buttoned shirt, tight gray pants. Instinctively, his right hand shot up to his head where, sure enough, a green wool hat roosted upon hair swept to one side. The only other piece of evidence he needed was the scratchy feeling on his cheeks-- sideburns, he realized.

"Oh no. No way..."

"Way." Micky's voice answered him.

No, not Micky-- Jeff's whirled around. "Aaron?"

Sighing miserably, Aaron nodded his head, topped with an all-too-familiar mass of curly hair. "Yeah, it's me."

Jeff took a step forward, unwilling to believe his eyes. "We must be dreamin'."

"Where 'ave I heard THAT before?" George's British-tinged voice intoned dryly.

"Is everyone alright?" Jeff tried his best to take control of a situation which already seemed well out of his hands.

"Yeah. We're all here. Unfortunately." LB got to his feet. "And unharmed except for the obvious." He gestured to their 'altered states' poignantly.

Just hearing the four reactions made Kez want to crawl into the bushes, or even better, sink straight into the pavement. Any form of vanishing would have been readily accepted at that moment. However, he managed to keep his head up and, finding that words had failed him, all he managed a small, pathetic wave.

"Kez?" Jeff's mouth hung open in surprise. "How did we... I mean, how did you... I thought you were..."

"Dead. I know, but since I'm not, let's just say that it's a long and complicated story and move on. So, how was your trip?"

Aaron stopped dead in his tracks. "TRIP? You mean, you know how we got here?"

"Yeah. I brought you here." Kez swallowed hard. "People are dying. I need your help."