...And Then There Were Five.... Chapters 7-9

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Monkees raced to his side. "Hank, have you gone crazy?" Peter gasped.

Hank turned to him, and in the young man's ebony eyes flared a bit of the older Babbitt's irascibility. "Peter, I've battled the Dark Lady for ten years. You've been battling her what, since Christmas? That's eight months.

"And besides..." And now the eyes were pure Hank. "I need to do this, guys..."

"I dig," Peter said. "You need to know if you can still fight..."

"...like before your accident," Mike finished, nodding.

Davy sighed. "We'll support you --"

"No," Hank said. "Please -- let me do this alone. I need to."

Micky nodded in understanding. "We'll stay out of your way, then."

And with that, the Monkees retreated to a safe part of the field -- leaving their new friend to face Mara alone, as he wished.

Hank's palms were sweating. He was trembling slightly. Could he still do this? It had been nearly another lifetime ago....

"Dark Lady!" he cried again. "I challenge you!"

A small tendril of ebony smoke curled around Hank. It coalesced into a woman with flaming red-orange hair, who stood glaring at Hank. "So...you have returned..." Her red eyes raked him up and down. "And it would seem you have undergone a reversal of time," she sneered.

"I challenge you," he repeated.

"Oh, do you now?" she laughed.

"I do!" he snarled.

"Go home, old man," she said, emphasizing the last two words. "Your time of heroism is over."

Hank smiled. "The great Dark Lady is afraid of one young ani-phose!" he crowed, emphasizing the word 'young'.

"I am not afraid of the likes of you!" she snarled.

Hank circled her. "You are afraid to fight me one on one. You know you will lose!"

Mara laughed. "Lose? Hardly! You haven't used your power in thirty years!"

"Then what are you afraid of?" Hank taunted.

For her answer, Mara suddenly became a pure orange panther. Claws splayed, she sprung at Hank. Hank dodged, his own body already rippling with change. The panther was suddenly in the powerful coils of an ebony anaconda.

The panther metamorphed into an orange anaconda, and the two huge snakes tussled for a moment. Then, before the Monkees' watching eyes, the black snake vanished. Confused, the orange snake raised her head ---

Then hissed in pain, flinging from side to side, the ebony mongoose clearly visible on her back. "Is he gonna kill her?" Davy whispered.

Peter shook his head. "Mara can't be killed -- she's a force of evil. His only hope is to injure her badly enough that she retreats."

The mongoose suddenly fell to the ground as the orange snake vanished. Then an orange rat flashed between the mongoose's legs and ran toward the woods that ringed the woods. It was stopped by a black panther's large paw. The cat blinked, confused, looking around to see where his prey went as the rat vanished.

Then the panther had to do some fancy footwork to avoid the beam of fire that shot from above. A low growl sounded in his throat as he saw the orange dragon swoop up in preparation for another pass.

Hank shifted to human form and then, running, became a bird and took to the air. Once in the air, he became an ebony dragon, using claw and tooth and fire to battle the orange one in mid-air. Finally, a combination of a back claw and a ripping bite to Mara's wing, and the crippled orange dragon sank to the ground, the ebony one landing behind her, out of the Monkees' view, already blurring and changing.

Suddenly the orange dragon arched backward and screamed, something thin and black sticking from her stomach. The dragon shimmered and became Mara's human form, which still screamed as her hands closed around the thin black protrusion.

As one, the Monkees slowly climbed to their feet as they saw what Hank had become.

The sleek black unicorn stepped backward, pulling its horn from Mara and raising its head. It blurred and became Hank.

Mara let out a moan and sank to the ground, trembling all over.

"Noooooo!" The other Peter suddenly appeared, shooting from the sky and gathering Mara into his arms. "Mara..."

She gasped out, "...home...need....to rest..."

He glared up at Hank. "This isn't over, Changeling!" He pulled Mara close to him and tenderly kissed her forehead.

Then they were gone.

Peter blinked, blue eyes huge. "Oh, man...he is really ... in love with her!"

"Who would have thought..." Davy gasped. "Even the blackest of hearts can love!"

"Anyway..." Hank gasped, trying to catch his breath. "...they're gone! We won!"

"Yeah, we won..." Mike said slowly. "You did it, Hank..."

"But?" Micky prodded.

"But we are still stuck in yet another dimension that we weren't born in," Mike finished.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Monkees and Hank stood silently as the impact of Mike's words sank in.

"Trapped?" Hank whispered.

"We're...gonna have to stay here," Micky gasped incredulously.

"No," came a voice like honeyed laughter. "You do not." A woman with platinum blonde hair and grey eyes shimmered into view, her silver Grecian robes blowing around her as if in a breeze.

"Again?" Hank hissed, dropping into a fighting crouch.

"No, Hank!" Peter cried. "This isn't Mara! This is Roma!"

Hank blinked. "Who?"

With a smile, Davy said, "If you call Mara the Dark Lady -- well, I guess you'd call Roma the Lady of Light."

Mike nodded. “She’s as good as Mara is evil."

And Hank relaxed, blushing slightly. "Sorry, Ma'am," he said.

"Forgiven," she said, touching Hank's cheek. Then she addressed the Monkees. "I shall send you home. But one question must be asked..."

Peter raised a hand. "We think we know the question. And..." He looked at his partners. Michael?

Mike thought for a moment. Then, with sadness in his eyes and a whispered, "Someday, Phyllis...someday," Mike nodded.

When the others nodded as well, Peter smiled and turned to Roma. "Hank's home dimension... well, it's become our home as well. The other one... it just doesn't feel like home anymore."

Roma nodded. "Then return to your home."

There was a flash of light, and the five were suddenly back at the Pad --

One inch from the ceiling.

Peter grabbed Mike and eased both to the ground. Hank became an ebony cat and landed on his feet, reverting to human as soon as the momentum eased.

An outraged roar of "Get off of me!" drew Peter, Mike and Hank's attention -- and their laughter. Micky shoved Davy from his legs and stood up, grumbling, "Every single time we do this, you end up on top of me!" He snorted. "What am I, your pillow?"

"You're a good one, man," Davy laughed, earning a scowl from the drummer.

Roma shimmered into view. "Hank, I will give you the one-time ability to phose another person and reverse their aging as well."

Hank frowned. "What? Roma, why..."

"You shall see." Her ruby lips brushed his forehead, and she was gone.

Leaving Hank and the Monkees to look at each other, baffled.

A knock came on the door, making them all jump. "Who in the world..." Davy gasped.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Mike drawled. When all eyes were on him, he deadpanned, "It ain't Babbitt."

This made them all laugh, Hank the loudest. Wiping tears, Peter answered the door. "Oh, hello, Mrs. Purdy!"

The older woman came in. "Hello, boys. I brought you over some las ---" Her eyes fell upon Hank. The pan of lasagna crashed unceremoniously to the floor as her hands flew to her mouth and her eyes widened. She moved to look at the young man. Her mouth worked soundlessly for a moment, then she managed to stammer, "Hen...Henry?"

Hank smiled. "Hello, Alice."

She touched his unlined face, the youthful features, the ebony hair. She breathed, "...how?"

"My memory came back. And my powers."

Mrs. Purdy's eyes filled with tears of joy. "And you....grew young again?"

He nodded. "Back to the age I was when I lost my memory and powers." He touched her cheek. "When I lost you."

The Monkees looked at each other, smiling.

Purdy lowered her eyes. "I know..."

"Alice...can I have another chance?"

A sad smile touched her lips. "Henry, I'm nearly thirty years older than you now."

He smiled. "Guys," he said to the four, "this woman covered for me for nearly ten years."

Micky grinned. "So that's how you got so good at covering for us!"

Purdy smiled. "Henry gave me lots of practice."

Hank pushed a strand of grey hair that had slipped from her bun off of her face and said, "My memory is back, Alice. With it came my feelings for you."

She lay a finger on his lips. "I share them, Henry. But all people would see is an old woman and a young man."

Hank took her hand. "What if I could remove that obstacle?"

Then my answer would be yes. But, unfortunately..."

Hank took her other hand. "Do you trust me?"

"I have always trusted you, Henry," she said gently.

"May I remove that obstacle?"

She thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.

Hank became an ebony cat, and Purdy became a lemon-colored one! She let out a startled meow! and he lay a paw on top of hers, comfortingly.

Hank reversed the process, and both returned to human form. Hank looked at Purdy and smiled. The Monkees looked at her -- and gaped.

Her unlined face held classical beauty. Long lashes parted to reveal eyes unclouded by cataracts -- eyes a deep, rich brown. Hank undid her bun, sending waves of pale blonde hair cascading down her back. The dowager clothes were suddenly loose on her slender, young woman's frame.

"My Alice," Hank whispered, leading her to the mirror.

Alice blinked at herself. "...Henry..." she breathed. "...how...."

"I'll tell you later," he said, wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing the top of her head. "Just now -- we can be together like we were meant to be all along."

"A second chance," Alice whispered, turning in his arms and holding him close.

As Alice and Hank said their goodbyes and moved to Hank's house to discuss the changes and their new relationship, Mike turned to Peter and sent him an image of them talking on the beach and a feeling of urgency.

Peter cocked an eyebrow even as he said, "Micky, Dave -- you make supper." With that, he added, I'll meet you there.

Mike nodded and grabbed his guitar as he moved to the beach.

Peter walked out and stood there for a moment, listening to the gentle guitar music. When the song wound down, What's so important?

Without looking up, Mike lay his guitar aside. "Something...something happened back there, Pete."

Frowning, Peter sank down beside him. What?

Mike winced. "Uhm...would you mind..."

"I'm sorry," Peter said with a small smile. "I keep forgetting since the…incident..." which made Mike wince again, recalling the laser strike that had resulted in Peter's muteness. "Hey, man, I'm sorry," Peter said. "I know you're still touchy about my voice. So...what's wrong?"

Mike sighed. "This." He touched the golden band around his neck.

Peter frowned again. "What about that? You've not taken that choker off since you welded it on in the time-shift!"

"Keep your eyes on the choker," Mike said as he raised his fist. The choker pulsed with light as a harmless laser shot into the ocean. Mike then took Peter's wrist, guiding his fingers to the golden circle.

Peter's eyes went even wider and his jaw dropped. "Michael..."

"I know."

"It... pulsed.... it's... warm..."

"It's...part of me," Mike whispered.

"How?"

Again, Mike sighed. "I don’t know. At first, I wouldn't take it off because it was a reminder to me. It was my own brand of penance -- every time I'd look at it or touch it, I'd remember whose fault it was that you couldn't speak."

Peter nodded slowly. "So what happened?"

The ebony head shook slowly. "I'm not really sure. It just became a habit to wear it...and then it began to pulse whenever I'd use my power. I chalked it up to maybe I was causing it without knowing it....but now it's warm. It's almost...almost like it's been absorbed into me."

CHAPTER NINE

ONE MONTH LATER

"Oh, dear!" Millie chuckled as she set her teacup down on the coffee table. "Listen to me -- I've yammered on for nearly four hours!"

"It's all right, Millie," Peter laughed. "We're used to it by now."

"Oh, that's good," Millie said, relieved. "I was just -- now, wait a minute!"

Mike chuckled as he swatted Peter in the back of the head. "Sorry, Millie."

She sighed. "Well, anyhow, I need to get home before Larry starts to wonder where I am." she moved toward the door, turning and touching Mike's choker. "Interesting...it's warm..."

"I've worn it a long time, Millie," Mike said, smiling.

"Ah. Well, boys, I'll see you next week!" She hugged Peter. "No more cream of anything soups till you learn how to cook, okay, Peter?"

Peter laughed. That cream of root beer soup he'd actually tried once had made its way into an episode and now he couldn't live it down! "All right."

She hugged Micky and Davy, then Mike. "Bye, Mickey. Take care."

By now, Mike knew it was useless to try to change her mind and get her to call him Mike, so he just smiled and said, "Take care of Larry and of yourself, Millie."

She smiled and nodded and was gone.

Minutes later, a distinctive knock sounded on the door. Smiling, Micky called, "Come on in, Alice!"

Alice, who had returned to her maiden name of Grayson, came in, smiling from ear to ear. "You are not going to believe this!"

"Hank asked you to marry him," Davy said.

"Hank asked me to ---" Alice blinked. "How'd you guess?"

Peter grinned. "Hank came over last night for a pep talk. He was afraid he'd lose his nerve." He hugged her. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Alice pulled away, smiling. "We missed you at the tenants' meeting last night. Hank was asking about you."

"We had to deal with a lunatic Siren last night," Mike said.

"Ah," she said, nodding. "It was quite interesting. The tenants voted unanimously that Hank Babbitt 'Junior'," this with a wink, "is a kinder, much more generous, much more helpful landlord than Mister Babbitt." Her smile reappeared. "Hank was amazed, amused, and astonished all at once!"

"Hank is different," Micky nodded.

Alice's smile grew, her eyes twinkling. "He's the Hank I knew growing up -- before he lost his memory and became bitter." She snapped her fingers. "That reminds me -- he wanted me to ask you if he could join in the war games."

"Of course," Peter said. "His skills need to be honed just like ours do. We'll let him know."

"Great," Alice said. "I'll bring by some of my famous lasagna later!" And with a hug to Micky, she was gone.

"Well," Davy said to no one in particular. "I have a feeling our lives are gonna get a lot more interesting."

THE END





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