Five Ball Cha-Cha

The Count

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"That had been a monumental between his parents."
Er, monumental "what"?

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. Robin's got stuff he needs to figure out, good thing he's got Scooter as his Jedimaster. *Laughs at Robin's reply when sent off to get the set designs, is he a frog with a floorplan or a lizard with a ladder.

*Loves the direction you're taking Scooter and Amanda into, this is how you earn your ushgush chops, or so I've been told by the grand diva herself.

Please, continue the story.
 

WebMistressGina

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"That had been a monumental between his parents."
Er, monumental "what"?
UGH! I swear I read this twice before posting and I still miss stuff!

:rolleyes: Ju do a lots of work, hokay?

I know that!

Um, let's see...that probably should have been a 'monumental disagreement'? maybe? Yeah, that sounds right.

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. Robin's got stuff he needs to figure out, good thing he's got Scooter as his Jedimaster. *Laughs at Robin's reply when sent off to get the set designs, is he a frog with a floorplan or a lizard with a ladder.

*Loves the direction you're taking Scooter and Amanda into, this is how you earn your ushgush chops, or so I've been told by the grand diva herself.

Please, continue the story.
For some reason, the episode where Kermit hurt his flipper (Kenny Rodgers?) where Robin comes out and is the 'heir apparent' was stuck in my head as I wrote that. Robin could be funny and snarky as a kid, so I'm just gonna up his dosage as a teen :big_grin:

Glad I've got the ush and the gush going and it's not too mush or muck!

0.0 That made better sense in my head.

Anyway, as I said earlier, Chapter IV will have Gonzo revealing a secret, Scooter talks to Floyd, and learns about love at first sight from Kermit! And...of course I'm gonna have to show you a little bit of this Valentine's Day show (and yes, I do have a playlist for it), so here's a crowdsource for you all -

So, I really did try to find some new pop star to incorporate and I just couldn't find anyone that I liked. Just not into the kids' music apparently, so if you could sum up love and happiness with a singer, who would it be? I think for an hour long show, there should probably be a guest star, but I haven't come up with anyone :frown:

That's not true; Donna Summer came to mind earlier and I had to nix that for obvious reasons. In fact, I had a couple of people, but....yeah. They are all performing in the great gig in the sky, so they were out.

Ideas??
 

The Count

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Mmm, lemme think... Air Supply? The've done a couple of Valentine's concerts here, I went to one of them, it wasn't so much Valentine's specific as much as it was a basic concert. Molly Shannon? Oh, you want singers, right. Erg, Demi Levato? Honestly I don't rully know If you can't find a suitable guest, then try doing it Muppets-only and see if you like it that way instead.
 

WebMistressGina

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Nice! I LOVE Robin!! I didn't know he had a complicated life with his parents and now lives with his mother.
Whoa! Amanda is sure in love with Scooter.

I cannot wait for another chapter to read.
Before I forget - in this case, Robin HAD been living with his mother, but now is currently on a temporarily permanent basis with the frog and pig. Leaper died and Jimmy is AWOL.

And yes, Amanda is definitely in love. She - like Scooter - hasn't told him yet. But she will.

Another chapter...maybe later....

Mmm, lemme think... Air Supply? The've done a couple of Valentine's concerts here, I went to one of them, it wasn't so much Valentine's specific as much as it was a basic concert. Molly Shannon? Oh, you want singers, right. Erg, Demi Levato? Honestly I don't rully know If you can't find a suitable guest, then try doing it Muppets-only and see if you like it that way instead.
The original thought was to do a Mups only, especially when it was going to be a shout out to their fans, but then I thought there's gotta be some star that I could use and actually be proud to use and Demi Levato is not it.

I know The Muppets are now a Disney property, but can we honestly say that the Disney stars are gonna be remembered in like two days? I think not. I did have Aerosmith in mind, but um...many of their songs about love and loving are not child appropriate, which sadly I wish I could look at this like a child, but just can't anymore.

Well...as I said, I do have a playlist and it's pretty long, so I could probably get away with just the Muppets and really, when you tune in, are you there for the guest star? Noooo....
 

WebMistressGina

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And here's Chapter 4 everybody!


IV

Tuesday began with a bang.

Literally.

Crazy Harry had rigged one of the orchestra pits tubas to blast away anytime the player played a D on the instrument. This of course was the worst thing possible when trying to play the Toccata Fugue in D.

Basically, it was a typical start to the day at the Muppet Theater.

Tuesdays usually didn’t see that much activity, with many acts not coming in until the next day or having past their acts with both the director and stage manager on Monday. Tuesdays however were the days in which Nigel ran the Muppet orchestra through their paces, rehearsing for each number that they would play in.

It also meant double duty for those members of the orchestra who were also members of the rock band, the Electric Mayhem. Dr. Teeth also ran rehearsals for the band on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though he was understanding in having his rehearsals well past the time Nigel wanted them on stage.

Tuesdays also marked the day that the Great Gonzo found time for a little preventive measuring. In order to avoid the great wall disaster of 87, Gonzo made sure to take great care of all of his equipment that he would use, could be using, and thought about using in any of his acts.

For Sunday night’s show, he thought he had come up with the coupe de gras, if he did say so himself. Being the romantic that he was, he had decided he wanted to serenade his favorite chicken with a song and he would sing it to her center stage. Now Gonzo didn’t want to just sing any song and certainly, any song wouldn’t do for his little chickadee.

No, sir.

Gonzo’s song for that week would be Duran Duran’s “Electric Barbarella”, a nice poppy song about a man who was obviously in love with a mannequin. Why Gonzo thought this was an appropriate song and why Camilla even let him choose it was between the two, but often times they understood each other better than anyone else could.

That understanding also extended to the very concept that Gonzo had in terms of performing this number. Gonzo’s grand scheme was to have the stage somehow rotate around, in the air, while he jumped from floating podium to floating podium. Granted, this idea of his had been around for quite some time, just in different context and the daredevil felt he had finally beaten Kermit far enough down that the frog had just said yes, thinking one, Gonzo would leave him the heck alone and two, the idea was so preposterous, it couldn’t be done.

But Gonzo knew people and the people he knew were good at what they did. So with some help, the daredevil was able to get a slight modification to his original idea.

The platform itself would be split in half, with an inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring would be where Camilla would stand. The outer ring was sectioned into smaller rings that would then rotate around the inner ring and also had the ability to move up and down, giving the rings an uplift movement.

The whole idea wasn’t cheap in any sense of the word and Gonzo was fairly sure the only reason Kermit had even given his consent was the fact that the former plumbing magnate had offered to buy all the materials and pay the workers.

Scooter found the weirdo in the basement of the theater, in the area right under the stage. He had given Kermit his word that anything mechanical would be looked at and analyzed with a fine tooth magnifying glass before the frog would let Gonzo use the thing and the page was down there to do exactly that. Well…not just that.

The assistant had decided to take Rowlf’s advice. It made sense, of course; who else would be better at knowing how being in love and being loved felt than the very couples he was surrounded with every day? He had wanted to talk to Floyd first, but Scooter knew Nigel ran an unusually tight ship around the orchestra players, so he would need to wait until the Mayhem started to practice.

That left trying to decide between talking to Gonzo or Kermit. Truthfully, Scooter wanted to speak to Kermit last; maybe it was because the frog held the unique situation of having loved and lost and then regained, but the assistant also needed to ask Kermit some other things and he didn’t exactly want to announce his intentions to everyone.

That ultimately meant that Gonzo was the first on his list that day.

It was no secret that Gonzo was very much an equal opportunity ladies man. The weirdo held a deep appreciation of the female form and he held no embarrassment in admitting that the appreciation was for every female form. Gonzo was the only person he knew that could literally say they had dated just about every species known to man, woman, or Muppet kind in the world. But even with a wondering eye and sometimes a wondering hand or arm, the daredevil had none the less been captured by one Camilla Clucks.

If the term opposite attracts ever held, it held in the case of these two. Oh, Kermit may have stated up and down the coasts that he and Piggy clearly had nothing in common with each other (which was, of course, a big fat lie), Gonzo and Camilla were completely outmatched with each other. Gonzo’s eccentrices had caused the best of people to question his sanity; his love of danger and the everlasting thrill had certainly turned off more women than the sight of a naked Donald Trump.

Camilla, by contrast, held the same type of grandiose style that Piggy had perfected. She was a professional, she was talented, and she was well aware of it.

What the chicken saw in the daredevil, no one knew, but it was obviously something that kept her with him for so very long. They only had at most a few months officially on the frog and pig and they certainly were in the running for longest interspecies relationship, probably better than their spokespeople were.

Scooter could admit that when he got stuck on something and needed an idea, Gonzo was the best person to talk to. The majority of his ideas and plans were so out of left field that it would jump start the creative processes; when the Muppets had broken apart, the red head had tried to find a replacement, only coming as close as Plan 9 From Outer Space, but it wasn’t the same. Scooter needed the real deal if he was ever going to come up with something that would so impress Amanda that, if his declaration of love failed, he would be able to cover up the mistake.

“I see the frog sent you down to make sure I didn’t blow up the theater. Again.”

“Right you are,” the manager replied, watching as Gonzo went around the large platform and checking on various screws and hinges. “However, I like to call it part of my investment.”

The one detail that neither Scooter nor Gonzo happened to mention to their frog boss was that Scooter had been the one who hired the mechanics who worked on the platform, while Gonzo was the one that paid their wages. It had been a mutual decision by both – Gonzo would get his platform and Scooter saw an additional use for the thing sometime down the line.

“Well as you can see,” the daredevil replied, coming around to stand next to the red head. “Your ‘investment’ is doing just fine and is going to look great on stage. I’ve already got Sweetums and BD on hand to get it upstairs.”

“Can’t wait to see it,” the assistant murmured. “Listen Gonzo, there was actually another reason I came down. I uh…I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Alright,” Gonzo replied. “What about?”

Scooter shrugged. Why were these talks so hard? He had known Gonzo for a good portion of his life! It wasn’t like he was talking to a stranger, the blue stuntman was practically family!

“You know,” he said. “About…stuff.”

Gonzo looked at him shrewdly. “Didn’t we already have this conversation with you?”

Maybe talking to a stranger would’ve been better.

“Not that,” Scooter huffed. “And yes, for your information, Kermit did go over that with me and I reiterate, it was the worst thirty minutes of my life and something I have tried years to forget. That is not why I came down here.”

“You sure?” Gonzo asked. “Cause Amanda is a one fine looking woman and…”

“Watch what you say about my girlfriend, Gonzo.”

“Boy,” the daredevil chuckled. “You do have it bad, don’t you?”

“Apparently.” Scooter sighed, a little despondently. “Seriously, Gonzo, I need some help with all this.”
As much as it would have been fun to continue teasing the boy, Gonzo never the less patted his shoulder in a friendly fashion. “Aw, come on, kid,” he said. “Don’t get so down. You just tell Uncle Gonzo what the problem is.”

As ridiculous as that entire sentence sounded, Scooter couldn’t help but laugh. Gonzo always did manage to find a joke somewhere, though it was usually Fozzie they turned to in order to get a laugh in any situation. “There’s no problem,” he began. “Not exactly. Gonzo, you and Camilla have been together for a while, right?”

“We’re only second to the pig and frog for longest interspecies relationship,” Gonzo stated proudly. “Though I do call foul when you consider that we started dating before they did, but I guess that’s neither here or there…”

“How did you tell her?”

“Tell who what?”

“Camilla,” Scooter said. “How…how did you tell her about how you felt about her?”

Gonzo shrugged. “Swallowed a bunch of red hots and managed to breath ‘I love you’ in flames.”

Scooter looked at him. “If you’re not gonna take this seriously…”

“I’m being serious!” Gonzo proclaimed. “I’m totally serious! I had this whole fire act planned out, using just some atomic fireballs, a match, and a body meant to be set on fire. I didn’t think Camilla would be in the audience, but there she was sitting front row center and looking as though… “

“As though what?”

“As though she wanted to see me,” Gonzo remembered, fondly. He could easily draw the picture from memory – a tiny little show room, blurry lights, and Camilla sitting happily in front of the stage. That was back when Gonzo still did his stunts outside of the Muppet Show, usually testing to see which ones worked and which didn’t.

On that night, he hadn’t expected the cute little chicken he’d managed to spend most of his time with to even be there, but there she was. In hindsight, he hadn’t been the best of boyfriends to her – something he ultimately shared with a certain commitment fearing frog – and he was remiss in stating that Camilla hadn’t been the only girl he had his eye on, but there was something about her that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.

And seeing her in the audience that night, even after the jerk he had been, and some of the unnecessary things he had put her through…she still managed to come to one of his craptastic shows.

“Needless to say,” Gonzo replied, coming back to himself and the current conversation. “I had run out of fireballs and only had red hots. Seeing her in the audience, I did the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

“And that’s saying something.”

“Don’t interrupt me, Junior,” came the retort. “Anyway, seeing her in the audience, I decided that enough was enough and I swallowed the red hots, followed it up with some cinnamon and a match and whoosh. I still don’t know how I was actually able to spell ‘I love you’ and I obviously can’t do it again.” Looking at the manager, he finished with, “It actually takes quite some time for the cells in your mouth to regenerate once you’ve shot a stream of flammable projectiles through your teeth.”

Scooter just looked at him. “You’re a lunatic.”

“Don’t knock it till you tried it,” the daredevil stated. “Camilla loved it.”

“Then you’re both lunatics.”

“Hey, I didn’t hear her complaining on our wedding day.”

That stopped both of them from replying. Scooter swung a stunned look towards Gonzo, while the stuntman grimaced at his lapse of holding his tongue.

“I’m not sure I heard you correctly.”

“Well,” Gonzo began. “That all depends on what you heard.”

“Did you just say that you and Camilla got married and didn’t bother to mention this to anyone?”

“I…don’t remember saying it like that…”

“Gonzo!”

“Now hold on…”

“Are you seriously telling me that you got married and one, you didn’t even bother to invite any of us, but two, you haven’t even bothered to tell any of us!?”

“Well, if you keep shouting like that, then everyone’s gonna know,” Gonzo retorted. “Now before you get your big boy pants in a twist, just let me explain.”

Scooter folded his arms across his chest, making a fairly imposing figure, despite the fact that Gonzo was one of those people who were immune to this act. “Start explaining.”

“Hey,” Gonzo replied, sternly. “Knock it off. You don’t get to be huffy with me, though I’ll allow some huffiness in this matter. Look, it wasn’t like we snuck around everyone and got married behind your backs; don’t you think I wanted my best friends, my family, at my wedding? What was I gonna do? The only person who I knew for sure where they were was you.”

“I could’ve found everyone,” the red head muttered.

“I’m sure you could have,” the daredevil agreed. “And then my wedding would’ve been a complete disaster and you know I’m right. It may not have been much, but that was her day and I wasn’t going to inflict or bring about pain, disaster, and destruction. Besides, it’s not like I can go around proclaiming it and you know why.”

Scooter couldn’t help but sigh. As much as he wanted to be upset about this, he knew Gonzo was right. The discord and disharmony that was the Muppets from the time of their very last movie to now had been the very reason they had split apart in the first place; coupled with California’s stance on marriage that was outside of the ‘norm’, the manager had to begrudgingly admit that the stuntman was correct in his assumptions.

“I know,” he sighed.

“It’s bad enough Piggy would kill me if she heard.”

“What?”

“Oh come on,” Gonzo huffed. “If Piggy ever found out that Camilla and I got married before her and Kermit, she’d blow such a gasket, Yosemite could take lessons.”

“I don’t think you’re giving her enough credit.”

“I give Piggy the same amount of credit that relates to how far she can throw me,” Gonzo stated. “And as you can attest, it’s pretty darn far.”

The stuntman couldn’t help but sigh. He hadn’t meant to say anything in regards to Camilla and himself and he certainly hadn’t meant to bad mouth the show’s leading lady, especially not in front of her favorite Muppet pupil. Throwing an arm around the stage manager’s shoulders, Gonzo gave him a small shake.

“I’m sorry, Scooter,” he said. “You didn’t come down here for all of that. Look, you want my advice?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then just do this,” he started. “If you know you love this girl – and obviously you do or you wouldn’t be asking me for advice – then you have to tell her.”

“But how?” Scooter whined. “And what she doesn’t feel the same?”

“First,” Gonzo started. “I can almost guarantee she feels the same because if she doesn’t, there will be heck to pay should the Axis of Evil find out. Second, the how part – you’re a smart kid; I know you can figure out something using that genius brain of yours. Work with what you got; women are surprising creatures and actually like simplicity. But they like creativity too.”

“Creative simplicity?”

“By jove, I think you’ve got it!” the weirdo exclaimed. “Exactly. Of course it helps to know what Amanda likes and all, but I don’t think you have a problem finding that out, right?”

Scooter nodded, slowly, that genius brain of his working out a few details. Despite the oddness of the conversation, which always happened when speaking to Gonzo, the weirdo had given the red head another direction that he could possibly use.

“Thanks,” he murmured, heading towards the stairs. Stopping however, he turned to look back. “Hey Gonzo?”

“Yeah?”

“Congratulations.”

The weirdo smiled, shyly. He had meant what he said, he had never meant to go behind everyone’s backs and he certainly had wished that he could’ve given Camilla the wedding she deserved, with everyone they knew, but at the time…bringing the Muppets back together, before the time had been right, could have been disastrous and the daredevil hadn’t wanted that.

Especially if it meant bringing together two of the most volatile people he had ever known, to his wedding, with the underlining understanding that they weren’t married and apparently weren’t ever going to be.

Yeah, that would’ve been a day to remember.

“You know,” Gonzo began. “We’ll need help in order to organization the bigger and better wedding.”

Smirking, Scooter shook his head slightly. “You know I’m not the one to go to for wedding planning.”

“As her assistant, I expect you to be able to at least get a head start.”

“We’ll see,” the page joked. “Thanks, Gonzo.”


[hr]


It was early afternoon when Scooter made his way towards the music studios that sat on the Muppet Studio lot. He had gotten a lot done in terms of administrative work that he and Kermit usually took care off during the week when they weren’t leading the group away from certain death.

The time alone actually did give Scooter the change to actively think about what he wanted to do for Amanda that weekend. Knowing that he was in love with her pushed his original plans out the window, at least for the celebration of Valentine’s Day. No, this Sunday had to be special because it held many special things on it – it was a day of love, it marked four months in their relationship, and Scooter was in love.

That was much more than candy and flowers could really say.

Once again, Gonzo had managed to talk some sense into the boy through his own weird personal story. The red head was luckily too distracted with his own love life to begin to harp on the fact that he hadn’t been invited to the stuntman’s wedding, but the daredevil’s tale of stating his love for his new wife had started an idea within Scooter that he didn’t think he could ignore.

From the first time Amanda had seen him perform on stage, she had been asking him when he planned on doing it again. While Scooter did enjoy being on stage, he preferred the behind the scenes work that he did as both the stage manager and production assistant, but he couldn’t deny that the thought of Amanda sitting in the audience and proudly watching him do his thing gave his ego a boost.

With the foundation of an idea in place, the red head went in search of Floyd Pepper, bassist for the Electric Mayhem, in hopes of some extra guidance and maybe furthering some of the ideas he had going through his head. He knew the Mayhem usually practiced well into the night, especially if they were having a good night.

Strains of music were coming from the studio, the sounds of a much slower song happening, but one that still had a rocking beat to it; or rather, a rocking beat courtesy of the Mayhem. It sounded as though Scooter had walked in on the middle of Floyd’s verse and while that wasn’t unusual, the following lines he heard did cause him to pause as he walked through the doorway.

“How to tell you girl,

I wanna build my world around you.

Tell you that it’s true.

I wanna make you understand that I’m talking about a lifetime plan.”

“Life plan! Life plan!” Animal shouted, causing the group to halt the song.

“Aw Animal,” Floyd complained. “You came in too early, man.”

“Sah-ry.”

“Well, if it isn’t our honorific manager and young ward,” Dr. Teeth proclaimed when he saw the assistant at the door. “How may we assist you on this melodious day?”

“I was just passing by,” Scooter began, easily being interrupted by Floyd’s throaty laugh.

“Passing by or fleeing in terror?” the bassist asked.

“I’ll have you know the frog and pig aren’t even on the lot today,” Scooter said, matter of factly, though there was a slight grin on his face. “I have no idea where they are nor am I going to bother to find out.”

“Like, sometimes I wonder who’s really running the show around here,” Janice joked, giving a hug to her favorite non biological brother.

“I’d say it was a free for all,” the assistant quipped. “But if I had to guess, I’d say Piggy. And then me.”

“I think you might have to rewind that back,” Teeth chuckled.

“Hey,” Scooter protested. “Piggy’s owns my soul, so of course she’s running things around here.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Aw Jani,” Scooter cooed. “You know you own my heart.”

“Liar,” the blonde giggled, tousling the boy’s hair. “And don’t let Amanda hear you say that. The girl’s like totally commando and stuff. I’d definitely want her with me, if like I’m ever in a dark alley.”

“Gee, thanks babe,” Floyd pouted. “I thought I was your knight in shining armor.”

“You’re the shiniest, honey bunch!” Janice replied, leaning over to peck her boyfriend on the cheek. “But Amanda could protect both of us without breaking a sweat.”

“Alright children, gather ‘round,” Teeth replied, gathering everyone together. “I don’t know about you, but my stomach’s playing Beethoven against my ribs. Why don’t we breath a little lunch into ourselves before we start rockin’ again?”

“Awesome,” Janice sighed in delight. “I’ve so been craving a veggie wrap. You in, lover?”

“You know what I like, babe,” the bassist nodded. “The kid and I are gonna tune up.”

Scooter looked at his fellow red head, always amazed that the bassist seemed to know when the younger Muppet needed to talk to him. They waited as the others filed out, all heading towards the shops that were lined along the street across from them.

“You need help tuning your bass?” Scooter asked.

“Just keeping you on your toes, man,” Floyd replied, handing over his bass to the assistant. There were very few people that Pepper allowed to handle his axe – Janice was one and Scooter was the other, only because the bassist trusted them implicitly to handle it with care.

Scooter obediently threw the shoulder strap over his head, settling the bass against his body and began a walking blues rift, the very same one that Floyd had taught him years ago. It was the perfect warm up exercise, especially when Floyd insisted that the boy do the rift in every key.

“Something on your mind?”

“Couple things.”

“I noticed,” Floyd chuckled.

“Am I really that transparent?” asked Scooter.

“Only to the folks that know you as well as we do,” Floyd nodded. “So? What’s the beef?” He sat down on the nearby couch they had, Janice’s guitar in his hands, and began improvising over the bass line that Scooter was giving to him.

“Valentine’s is this week.”

“The day of love and roses,” Floyd replied. “This is your first with your lady, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Got something planned?”

“No,” the assistant sighed, switching keys. “Yes, I don’t know. I had something planned, but…I kinda…realized something so that changes everything.”

“If I’m not mistaken,” Floyd said, grooving to the new key. “There’s love in those baby browns of yours. Ain’t nothing better than knowing you’ve been caught by a fine woman.”

“So what do I do?” Scooter asked.

“Well, you tell her, man.”

“I know that,” the page huffed, changing keys once again. “But how? What did you do?”

“My girl is a music lover, as you know,” Floyd said. “So I got the band together and serenaded her.”

Scooter looked at him skeptically. “With Zoot?” he asked. Janice and Zoot had been an item when the show had first started up, but had soon dissolved, which allowed Floyd to pick up the slack.

“Sure,” Floyd nodded. “He was the one who suggested it. They had a good run and they’re obviously still friends, so I just asked him what he thought.”

“Huh.”

“Zoot’s a good guy,” the bassist continued. “Skips a groove every once in a while, but he’s solid. Anyway, he tipped me on how to get a good woman like Janice on my speed dial, you dig?”

“Right.”

“So I picked a little Motely Crue, stood outside her window – not an easy feat when you live in a high rise apartment – and told her I was digging on her.”

“And that’s that?”

“No reason to get all complicated, now is there?”

The two managed to finish their impromptu song in the key of G, leaving Scooter a little more solid on his own plans. “No, I guess not.”

“Right on,” Floyd replied, standing and placing Janice’s guitar back where she had left it. The elder red head stood before his younger counterpart, taking the bass back and looking him in the eye.

“Don’t over complicate,” he whispered, patting the assistant on the shoulder.

“A song would be enough?”

“As long as you pick the right song,” Floyd nodded. “I gotta couple in mind and you know Ol’ Brown Ears has a million of them to choose from.”

“It’s that simple?” Scooter asked.

“Love is always simple, baby,” the bassist replied. “It’s us people that make it complicated.”
 

WebMistressGina

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And here are the videos to go with the above -

Gonzo's act: Duran Duran - electric Barbarella


The song the Mayhem are praticing: Little River Band - Reminiscing

 

Twisted Tails

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And here are the videos to go with the above -

Gonzo's act: Duran Duran - electric Barbarella


The song the Mayhem are praticing: Little River Band - Reminiscing

Thank you for posting, Gina! Those are great songs! My dad was always a fan of Little River Band and sometimes Duran Duran.
 

WebMistressGina

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We're moving right along! Here's some steam to start up chapter five!


V.


Wednesday mornings usually found the Muppet Show director and the stage manager meeting to go over the theater and the studio’s finances. Sometimes, it was just an excuse for the two to get together for breakfast or lunch, a moment for just the two of them to be out of the limelight and normal people who happened to run a group of Hollywood stars.

And then there was a day like today.

With the approaching hour long show, the entire cast of the Muppet Show seemed to be going all out in making sure their performances would be solid. It was also the perfect day for any costume fittings that anyone needed. Kermit had been talked or rather, hesitantly agreed to be in the show this week, hoping that his trusty assistant could handle any madness that went on backstage.

After he had thought about it, the frog liked the idea more and more and thought it would be a great excuse to spend some time with his favorite people. He couldn’t remember the last time he had done any type of act with Gonzo or Fozzie and couldn’t remember when they had done an act together; he had gone to his two best friends and asked what they should do.

And when they couldn’t come up with anything, they went to Rowlf.

Rowlf, who was equal parts Muppet therapist and music historian, had suggested that the three do some sort of group dynamic before the quartet had initially agreed that the answer lay in the form of a musical quartet and what better musical quartet was there then the Fab Four themselves? Kermit had stated that love wasn’t always about getting the girl in the end, sometimes stuff happened in between or didn’t happen at all, an assertion that the dog had whole heartedly agreed with.

That statement had not only helped to get the quartet to pick a song to do together, but had actually helped Rowlf pick the song he planned on doing as well.

And because it was such a formal night, it seemed everyone had opted for some sort of date night attire – most of the male cast would be dressed in suits or tuxes for their numbers and their female co-stars had decided this night above all was perfect to show off any evening gown that had been sitting in the closet.

Kermit, Gonzo, and Fozzie were still trying to figure out what looked better for them on stage – a jacket, a vest, or suspenders. Kermit wasn’t exactly opposed to the jacket, as he was probably going to be wearing one for his number with Piggy, but Gonzo was really pushing for the suspenders, only because it made it easier for him to change once his number – which was first – finished.

Fozzie couldn’t decide, based on the fact that he had trouble tying his tie.

The frog decided that the best thing to do was ask an outside opinion and who else to ask but the fashionista?

Heading upstairs with vest in hand and already dressed with suspenders, Kermit didn’t bother to knock, just opened the door and shut it behind him, calling out, “Darlin’, you in here?”

Piggy, who was behind the dressing room’s screen, sent a glare at the intruder. “No, please come in,” she replied sarcastically. “Not like I’m undressed or anything.”

Kermit regarded her for a moment, a small smirk on his face. “Are you?”

The diva huffed before muttering a string of phrases in French, all about frogs who thought they could just barge in on a lady, with no announcement what so ever, and then had the audacity to inquire if they were dressed. Unbelievable!

Kermit had no other choice, but to stand there and listen to the tirade. Secretly, he loved when Piggy spoke French, especially when she spoke it for him and in such a way, she literally melted him in a pool of goo.

This didn’t sound promising though. It was amazing how the closer to show time, the more excitable and irritable everyone got, no exceptions made for the frog of course, however this week, the closer it got, the happier he got.

And the happier he got, the more flirtatious he was with Piggy, which ordinarily had met with approval most of that week.

Today, maybe not.

He waited until she had thrown on some silky lavender robe and left the cover of the screen to approach before he said anything. “I have no idea what you said,” he began. “But I don’t think I liked your tone.”

Hands on her hips, the diva impatiently waited for the frog to explain himself, while Kermit did his best to keep his eyes above the neck.

“Can I help you?”

Holding up the vest in front of him, he asked, “Vest?” He then lowered the piece of clothing and gestured to the suspenders he was currently wearing. “Or suspenders?”

It took the sight of Kermit looking quite dapper in a blue dress shirt and slacks to keep her holding her tongue against the annoyance of being interrupted. She had two songs to rehearse today, along with at least two skits thrown in the mix, and having her frog disturb her to ask what looked better was a bit of a stretch in terms of importance.

But he did look cute and for that, she wouldn’t hurt him. Too much.

Walking over, she replied, “Vest,” before pulling one of the suspenders and letting it go.

“Ow!” he cried, rubbing the sting from his chest. “You best be nice to me.”

Grabbing him by the tie, she hauled him closer and growled, “Or what?”

The frostiness in the room melted and warmed by at least a hundred degrees. Whatever argument had been planned on happening wasn’t going to happen.

“You’re gonna be trouble,” the frog stammered, trying his best to maintain the very little composure he had left. It didn’t help that Piggy was obviously aware she had the upper hand at this point.

“Is that right?”

Never let it be known that these two didn’t have an equal share of one upping each other; that was the only way to explain how they were always able to get in the last word with anyone else. It also helped that neither one of them liked to lose.

“I don’t have the time,” he replied, undoing the knot to her robe. “To show you exactly how much trouble you’d be in.”

Raising a slim eyebrow, she countered with, “Then I suggest you remove your hand from where you’ve placed it.”

“I’ll put my hand where ever I want and so far, I have yet to hear you complain.” Grinning at the small gasp that came from her, he asked, “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Kermit didn’t keep his lead for very long when he answered his question with a gasp of his own. “Hey now,” he said. “That’s not fair.”

“Turnabout is always fair play, Kermie,” she murmured. “Now who’s in trouble?”

Five minutes alone with Piggy was never just five minutes alone with Piggy, as Kermit quickly rediscovered as he made his way from her dressing room, hurriedly throwing his tie over his head and rushing to the stage. He wasn’t sure how she had managed to divest him of the suspenders or how she got his shirt untucked, but there were just some things he never bothered to question about her.

Skidding to a stop next to Gonzo, Kermit quickly tried to right his appearance while casually saying, “She liked the vest.”

“Really,” the weirdo deadpanned. Glancing at his watch, he retorted, “And that took thirty minutes to find out?”

Shrugging, Kermit continued to get dress. “Women.”

“They do seem to take a long time getting dressed,” Fozzie noted.

Gonzo stopped the wildly inappropriate comment about women getting undressed and instead turned to pat Fozzie on the shoulder. “One day, we’ll have a little talk,” he said. “Or better yet, we’ll get Kermit to tell you, seeing as he’s apparently giving them out to everyone.”

“Shut up, Gonzo.”
 

The Count

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Ooh... Er, more of the steam and you'll end up with a good foggy sauna.

:smile:: Ah Tish, I love it when you speak French!

Nice touch of naivety with Fozzie at the end, and a clever quip by the weirdo (he seems to get a lot of those in your fics).
Thanks, more please?
 

WebMistressGina

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And here is the rest of chapter Five!


The usual Wednesday meeting between Kermit and Scooter took place that day in the balcony that was set center stage. The frog had found that sitting up there gave a sense of privacy, depending on where area you sat in, while also giving someone the full view of the stage that was better seen at a higher level than that of the ground floor seats.

Kermit had purposefully made a break for it a little after lunch, calling Scooter to come with him as they headed out into the audience. The frog had gotten the sense that his assistant had wanted to speak with him all morning and with everything going on, this would probably be the only time in which the director could devote his undivided attention to him.

Taking two of the front most seats, the two sat back, the younger Muppet propping his feet up on the edge, mindful of the fact that his boss could tell him to put his feet down at any moment. Kermit stretched, feeling some of the aches that were associated with standing at a desk all day. “Everything alright?” he asked.

“Yeah,” the assistant answered. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“Bang, bang.”

“Cute,” the frog smirked. “Real cute.”

“Anyway, can I be in the show this week?”

“Sure,” Kermit shrugged. “I don’t see why not. You got an act all ready?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’ve rehearsed and everything?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay,” the frog said. “I think we were running a little short anyway.”

“Precisely why I asked and why I managed to get two songs in as well.”

“Smart boy.”

“So they tell me.”

The two were content to watch some of the acts below, calling out when Link missed his mark and ended up knocking over his own set piece. Scooter called for his padawan, whom he had since promoted to that of ‘minion’ to help out in fixing it and then stating that once they got downstairs, he was first on the list to show the two acts he was doing.

“Do you believe in a love at first sight?”

“Yes, I’m certain that it happens all the time.” The two looked at each other before Kermit chuckled. “Sorry,” he said. “I thought we were starting a song there. I take it you’re asking in regards to a certain red head of our acquaintance?”

Scooter nodded. “Our anniversary is this weekend.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“I can tell the two of you are really close,” the frog continued, sending a side glance towards his companion. “From what I saw the other day.”

The comment hit its mark as Scooter fought down a blush to his cheeks. “We’re not…we…nothing…” he stumbled. “Didn’t I say we were to never have conversations like these again?”

“Vaguely remember you saying that.”

“Well, you don’t…there’s no worry for that…for…for at least another few…”

“What?” Kermit teased. “Hours? Days? Minutes?”

Huffing, Scooter decided to turn the tables. “Have I ever mentioned that I hated being an only child?” he asked.

“Can’t say you have,” the frog replied. “Grosse, where exactly are you going with this?”

“I don’t know, Frog,” the assistant retorted. “Where do you think I might be going with this?”

“If the word ‘figs’ is a part of this conversation…”

“Not a lot,” the assistant continued. “I don’t think I could handle more than two, maybe three.”

“The older you get, the snarkier you become.”

“And here I thought you were going to say annoying.”

“That too.”

“I really think it’s the people I hang out with.”

“That’s a distinct possibility.”

Again, the two were content to watch the changing of set pieces, as Link’s was discarded for that of a smoky bar atmosphere, where Piggy was rehearsing her number with Rowlf. Their piece was something they had wanted to do for a while and just had never gotten around to fitting it into a show until that one. Kermit enjoyed watching their interactions, really most of the pieces and sketches she did with Rowlf always seemed to put her at ease.

There was a freeness that the pianist seemed to bring about in her that the frog found fascinating and even alluring.

“So everything’s okay with Amanda then?” he found himself asking, though his eyes were fully trained on what was happening below.

“Things are great with Amanda,” Scooter whispered. “I really love this girl, Kermit.”

The admission was a bit of a shock to both of them; it was the first time Scooter had actively stated, out loud, that he loved her, a secret he had been trying to keep to himself until the ultimate reveal that weekend. For Kermit, it wasn’t exactly a startling revelation; he was aware that Scooter seemed to be showing those taletele signs of puppy love – he had seen it before – but at some point, the younger Muppet had gone past that point.

Honestly, Kermit was having a hard time separating this Scooter with the teenager he had known years ago. He was having the same problem with Robin, trying to wrap his mind around this teenaged version of his little nephew. So caught in his thoughts, it took the frog a moment to realize that Scooter had continued speaking.

“I think I’ve always loved her, from the moment I saw her,” he said. “Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever fallen head over heels with just one look?”

Kermit went to answer, but was distracted by the song that Piggy and Rowlf were performing below. Ironically, the frog didn’t see the current stage below, but one that he had happened upon many years earlier. Conflicting senses of direction, the inability to read a map, and one car accident had led himself, Fozzie Bear, and the Great Gonzo to a little known fair and annual beauty contest in the county of Bogen.

“Just once,” he muttered, brought back to their present time and conversation.

In all of his life and in all of the relationships he had been in, Kermit the Frog could honestly say that he had only fallen in love on sight just once in his life. And judging by his recent behavior, it was a pretty clear indicator that he was no doubt falling in love all over again.

“And I’ve been paying for it ever since,” he concluded, though he had a dreamy smile on his face when he said it. Turning to glance at his companion, he wasn’t surprised to see the smile on the red head’s face. “If you tell the pig that, I will hurt you.”

“Secret’s safe with me, Boss.”

“It had better be.”

“How was that?”

The question came from the stage, where the song had ended and the leading lady – who had noticed the audience above her – was wondering how the set had gone and sounded from the balcony. The two watchers quickly leaned over, ready to give their critique, even if they didn’t really have one because they hadn’t really been paying attention.

“Beautiful, sweetheart,” Kermit replied.

He had heard the song once or twice and had seen the set design, but had yet to actually see how those two had put this whole thing together. He was actually disappointed that he had been daydreaming – about her, no less – that he hadn’t been able to actually see it. However, they would do a complete dress rehearsal on Friday and he hoped to fully see it then.

“As always.”

“I like the dress,” Scooter said, commenting on the black number that Piggy had chosen.

Everyone likes the dress,” Floyd chuckled from the orchestra pit.

“Why Floyd,” the diva said, sweetly. “That’s probably the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. You really do have a heart.”

“Oh, it’s beatin’ for ya, mama.”

“Hey!” Janice cried, giving her beau a shove. And within minutes, the whole stage had dissolved in laughter, quips, and joking and relative pandemonium.


What's coming up next, G?

Well, we got some dress rehearsals to get through and of course, our big Valentine's Day show! And we still have questions to answer! What's Scooter's plan of action? Will he be able to tell Amanda he loves her? How will the frog and pig celebrate the day? Will Piggy ever find out about Gonzo's marriage? And why does Kermit need to call in the Unholy Trinity of Evil Goodness??

All coming up on Soap! Wait, no! I mean, 5 Ball!
 
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