The NEW Marvelous Muppets

muppetwriter

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Here it is! The very first story out of the NEW Marvelous Muppets series! And there are plenty more to come! :smile:



To New Beginnings

Sprawled out on the asphalt, surrounded by near-pitch-blackness, was a young, beautiful, and unconscious blonde in a grey sweater that hung off her right shoulder – exposing the right strap of her black bra – tight black jeans, and white knee-high socks worn beneath dark brown boots. The number of seconds, minutes, or hours she had been lying in the dark alley were unknown. No one cared to notice her there – this is New York after all. Her clothes were damp, along with her long golden hair.

Soon her eyes, noticeably blue in the dark atmosphere, opened. Their first view was of the starry sky, which appeared hazy at first but clear after a few blinks. The young blonde breathed in and out, the wind blowing her peppermint-scented breath back into her nostrils. She began to sit up yet found incredible difficulty doing so, her head aching on the way up. Her joints had stiffened, popping and cracking heavily as she stretched them out. It was an excruciating task, but she managed to return flexibility to her body once more.

Getting to her feet was easy but staying on them was a challenge, particularly with dizziness setting in. She balanced herself against the brick wall to her right with both hands pressed against it. She felt nauseated to the extreme, feeling the desire to vomit but unable to do so. There was not much in her stomach to come up at the moment.

BANG!

Without even realizing it, her right knee hit against a garbage can, scaring away an orange alley cat that sat atop it, wearing an eye patch over its left eye.

“Hey! What’s goin’ on out there?” A grouchy voice blared from inside the garbage can. “I’m tryin’ to get some sleep in here!” The lid popped open in front of the young blonde. A filthy, furry, bushy-eyed green monster rose up, glaring right at her. “Hey, bright eyes, watch where you’re goin’!”

Her vision partially misty, the young blonde saw the grouchy monster and a warm smile grew upon her exquisite face. “Oscar? Oscar the Grouch!”

“Yeah. And who are you? Meg Ryan?”

She did not seem to hear his sarcasm, too preoccupied with reaching at the grouch and giving him a warm hug.

Oscar instantly protested the kindhearted gesture. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don’t do hugs, Bright Eyes!”

The blonde frowned. “Bright eyes? Why do you keep calling me that? My eyes aren’t anywhere near ‘bright.’ They’re dark brown.”

Oscar shook his furry head. “Nuh-uh, kiddo. Those peepers are as blue as a sky on a sunny day.” He covered his mouth and made a gagging noise. “Ugh, just starin’ at them makes me sick to my stomach.”

Alarmed by the grouchy monster’s observation, the blonde requested, “Can I have a mirror?”

“I dunno. Can ya?” Oscar said with a snicker.

“I’m serious, Oscar! Give me one!”

“Well, since you did ask so nicely…” He temporarily lowered himself back into the garbage can and reemerged with a faded black handheld mirror. “I should warn ya that it’s broken.” He then added with a wicked cackle, “Seven years bad luck.”

Taking the mirror, the blonde right away looked into her cracked reflection, terrified to see a whole different person looking back at her. Sure enough, she had bright blue eyes, as well as long blond hair. However, the most stunning aspect most of all to her was that she was a woman.

She gazed at her body, noting the curvy, feminine shape of it. Her bright blue eyes widened with shock. “How did this happen?”

“That’s a question for your mommy and daddy, kiddo.”

Looking back at the grouch, she said, “Oscar, this isn’t who I am. You know who I am. I’m Sean Thomas of The Daily Bugle. I’m tall, I’m as black as Gordon and Chris Robinson combined, and I’m 36 years old. I don’t look like…this!” She gestured to herself for emphasis.

“Look, kid, none of that stuff rings any bells for me. I don’t even know what a ‘Daily Bugle’ is. That some kinda trumpet you play every morning you get outta bed?”

“It’s the newspaper I work for with Kermit the Frog, Gonzo, and Fozzie Bear! You should know this! The Bugle’s covered Sesame Street more than numerous times!”

“Wrong again, kid. The only newspaper that’s ever been to Sesame Street is The Daily Chronicle.”

The blonde frowned again. “The Bugle’s chief rival news business?”

“How many times have I got to tell ya? This ‘Bugle’ newspaper doesn’t exist. Here, look at this.” He descended into his garbage can once again, rising out with a crumpled newspaper that he handed over to the blonde.

She looked at the front page copy of The Daily Chronicle with a headline that asked the question: “Has the reign of mutant-kind come to an end?” Below it was a photograph of silhouettes with question marks labeled on each figure, some of them she recognized as members of the team of mutants known as the X-Men.

The article was written by a journalist named “KaeLeigh Marie-Cecilia.” There was a photo next to the byline of a woman that looked exactly like the young blonde herself.

I’m KaeLeigh?” She whispered in confusion and surprise.

“I’d say it’s nice to meet ya, but it’s not.” Oscar growled.

Stricken by this discovery, KaeLeigh tossed the newspaper aside, much to the delight of Oscar, who watched it fall to the asphalt with the rest of the garbage that cluttered the alley.

KaeLeigh rushed out of the area to find herself right into a street corner in the heart of Times Square. She hailed for a taxicab and one came to a screeching halt right in front of her. The nature of it all reminded her of Beauregard, one infamous cab driver in New York City known for his insane driving throughout the streets.

She looked through the driver’s side window and, sure enough, the Muppet cabbie sat there. “Where to, Miss?”

KaeLeigh smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. “It’s so good to see you again, Beauregard.”

“It’s good to see you, too, Miss. Whoever you are.”

Her smile fell the instant he failed to recognize who she really was. She was not certain how she ended up as this new person in a world where neither The Daily Bugle nor Sean Thomas existed, but she intended to get to the bottom of it, and there was only one place she knew to go to get her answers.

Getting into the backseat of Beauregard’s cab, she told him, “Take me to the Chronicle HQ.”

Beauregard blinked once, as if to keep the location memorize in his limited mental storage. “Got it.”

KaeLeigh had not even got her door shut the second Beauregard hit the gas. The rear tires screeched wilder than a banshee, kicking up clouds of smoke from the burning rubber. Within a millisecond, Beauregard was back to driving the streets in his maniac fashion. Without proper seatbelts, KaeLeigh was left to clinch the seat cushion with her hands, as well as her butt cheeks, to prevent herself from bouncing around the cab.

Ten minutes later (a new record for Beauregard), they pulled up right at the front of the Daily Chronicle HQ building. A neon sign situated at the very top was the biggest clue of the location. KaeLeigh paid for the cab fee – she was amazed to discover she had any money on her at all – and rushed right into the HQ.

Arriving on the twentieth floor, which was the newsroom floor, she found a plethora of reporters gathered together under balloons hovering against the ceiling and streamers hung in various places. There was a banner hung over the entrance to the editor’s office that once belonged to the late Mike Tarkanian. The words “Welcome, Ms. Banks” were painted in a rainbow of colors on the parchment.

Standing just beneath it was a 50-year-old blond woman wearing a light blue silk blouse and black dress pants. She raised up a glass of sparkling champagne and exclaimed, “To new beginnings!”

“To new beginnings!” The reporters repeated before roaring into applause for who KaeLeigh could only presume was the new editor of The Daily Chronicle.
 

The Count

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Dunno where this is headed, but at least I kind of know after reading the other like fic you posted at fanfiction.net with the many fragmentation resurrections of the 'Guardian'.

Regarding Mrs. Banks' quote at the end of the Chapter?...
*In Tom Servo voice: Yes, we have a title!

Hope to read more from you soon buddy.
 

muppetwriter

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Dunno where this is headed, but at least I kind of know after reading the other like fic you posted at fanfiction.net with the many fragmentation resurrections of the 'Guardian'.
Yeah, this reboot does have some influence from my World of Disney series, but I promise that the explanation behind my "Marvelous Muppets" character's gender-swap is much different than my WOD one. In fact, once you all see how it's explained, it'll blow your minds. :crazy:
 

Bridget

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I really like the start you have here @muppetwriter ! I was immediately hooked not only from the first paragraph, but from the poster you made. This story is really intriguing! I love the way that you portrayed our favorite grouch, and I can't wait to read more. :smile:

-Bridget-
 

muppetwriter

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I really like the start you have here @muppetwriter ! I was immediately hooked not only from the first paragraph, but from the poster you made. This story is really intriguing! I love the way that you portrayed our favorite grouch, and I can't wait to read more. :smile:

-Bridget-
Thanks, @KissesToKermie! I'm glad the poster helped. KaeLeigh, the girl featured in it and the new series, is a really supportive friend and loves how I've portrayed her character so far. She's a real fun-loving woman, which helps me to bring her to life. :smile:

I'm also glad my writing for Oscar turned out just right. For the first SS Muppet I've written in years, I was afraid I'd be rusty, haha! :grouchy:
 

muppetwriter

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Meet Melitta "Mel" Simmons in this brand new Marvelous Muppets story!



Mel

Too much has changed. None of it feels real, yet it is. What is happening?

KaeLeigh needed a moment to herself – a moment to process all that she had been seeing in the last hour. Just a while ago, shortly after the celebration of the new editor-in-chief of The Chronicle, Juliet Banks, so many employees had approached her, shaking her hand in congratulations of her recent article making the front page. She was being congratulated on something she had no knowledge of ever writing.

But the most troubling thing to her was the notable absence of Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo – three guys who, as she remembered before things went topsy-turvy, worked for The Chronicle. Where were they in all of this? Where was Lori, for that matter?

KaeLeigh never felt so alone. This world…everything about it…was alien to her.

She stood upon the scaffolding just beneath the neon sign of the newspaper’s logo that illuminated the spot in a reddish-orange hue. The wind whipped past her, blowing her long blond locks into her face, getting in her nose and mouth. She was not used to having such long, unmanageable hair. It annoyed her and was a constant reminder of who she had become.

I miss it when it was short, black, and curly – and even a little nappy at times.

She let out a big sigh as she looked out at the view from the rooftop. Yes, it was Downtown Manhattan laid out there before her, but it all seemed different somehow. She knew Manhattan like the back of her hand – and she no longer knew even that.

“Nice night, isn’t it?” An approaching voice said to her.

KaeLeigh looked to her left to see a light-skinned African American woman with long, flowing brown hair. She was donned in the unique work attire of a white blouse tucked into a pair of black yoga pants, along with knee-high black boots and a loose necktie. Her hair whipped all about as well, only it managed to avoid her nose and mouth. Lucky her.

She stood right beside KaeLeigh, their arms practically touching each other. “Breathtaking view, eh?”

“I remember it being bigger.”

The woman laughed hard, despite the fact that KaeLeigh was not joking.

There were familiar spots missing from the view – Avengers Tower and the Baxter Building. It was all gone, replaced with an average New York skyline.

“Just how big did it used to be?” The woman questioned her.

“You know, I’m not really in the mood to be laughed at. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to spend my time up here all by myself.”

“You’ve been real moody ever since Banks got promoted.”

I don’t even know who she is!” KaeLeigh snapped. “I don’t know her or anyone else that works here! I knew three guys – a frog, a bear, and a whatever – and they’re not here anymore! I don’t know where they are!”

“You mean Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo? Oh, honey. Those boys moved on to the life of showbiz. Their days in journalism are long gone.”

KaeLeigh despondently sighed. “Well, that’s not how I remember it. I remember a time when Bunsen and Beaker were members of the Fantastic Four…when Jenny at Pete’s Luncheonette near Broadway became the Black Cat…when Gonzo wasn’t even working as a journalist but a part of the X-Men.”

The woman laughed harder than before.

She glared at her intently. “I am telling you the truth.”

“I know.” She remarked, settling down in her hysteria. “That’s exactly why I’m laughing. ‘Cause I know you’re telling the truth.”

KaeLeigh stared at this woman differently now – intrigued rather than aggravated. “Who are you?”

She smiled. “Name’s Melitta Simmons. ‘Mel’ for short. Of course, I went by another name – one that could be well-suited for woman or man, I guess.”

This brought out KaeLeigh’s curiosity further. “What was your old name?”

“I prefer not to think of it as my ‘old name.’ In my opinion, I still am who I used to be, and I know just where to go to find out what happened to me…and you.”

KaeLeigh was stricken by her words. Does she know? Is the same thing happening to her, too? Do I finally have the right connection I was looking for?

Impulsively, she asked, “Where is it?”

Melitta did not respond. She simply smiled.

---------------------​

If there was anyplace one in New York wanted to get to as soon as possible, Beauregard was just the driver for the job. Surprisingly, his cab still remained out in front of the Chronicle HQ where KaeLeigh had left it, with him still sitting at the wheel, snoozing. He got KaeLeigh and Mel Westchester County in less than an hour – yet another new record for him.

To see the mansion that served the foundation of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters nearly brought tears to KaeLeigh’s eyes. It was the first true sign of hope in these last few troubling hours. And that was saying a lot for someone who was not a mutant.

Unfortunately, the second that she and Mel stepped up to the front gate…

“Get outta here!”

A gruff voice spoke over the intercom to the left of the gate, partially hidden by vegetation.

“Turn away right now and get back into your crappy little cab.”

“Hey! I heard that!” Beauregard exclaimed from inside his taxicab, parked nearby.

“We just want to see Charles Xavier.” Mel spoke into the intercom.

“The Professor’s not seein’ anybody today, ‘specially not the bimbo that’s been trashin’ us in the papers!”

It didn’t take long for KaeLeigh to recognize that he was referring to her. She did not see any cameras around the front gate to trace their movements. This was a definite clue to the fact that a telepath was inside the mansion, taking surveillance all on his or her own.

But KaeLeigh remembered one crucial detail: “Charles Xavier is dead.”

Mel glanced back at her, almost catching what she muttered. “Huh?”

“We’re asking to see a man who died years ago.” KaeLeigh indicated. “This visit is pointless.” She felt angry, not at Mel but at herself for trusting Mel. This was all a practical joke to her.

“Leave now!” The voice over the intercom demanded.

KaeLeigh was more than ready to oblige, turning back towards Beauregard’s cab.

She only stopped once she heard metallic squeaking from the front gate that had opened…but not automatically.

Just behind it was a bald, elderly man dressed in a turquoise pinstripe suit with a yellow tie, sitting in a chair that hovered a few feet off the ground. The front gate opened at his command, allowing him to hover over to KaeLeigh and Mel.

“Professor Xavier.” KaeLeigh was more than surprised to see him in person, not having the chance to in her previous life.

“I heard what you said, about me being dead.” Xavier remarked. “I could hear both of you long before you arrived here this evening. There is much disturbance in your minds. Voices are crying out, but they’re not your voices.”

KaeLeigh looked to Mel, believing all over again that she shared her dilemma in some bizarre way.

“Professor, you’re the only person who can help us understand…what’s happened to Sean Thomas?” KaeLeigh asked.

Xavier frowned. “You two are not the first come to me about him.”
 

The Count

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Finally, an update to help distract me. So the plot thickens with the addition of another character with similar identity fluctuation issues as KaeLeigh. Nice refering back to former entries in your Marvelous Muppets series of fics. Seems like this Professor Xavier is the one from the 90's animated series in his famous hoverchair. Guessing that was Logan barking at the women to leave the mansion. Others have also been asking about Sean Thomas, why does that not phase me as much as it should? *Shrugs. Thanks buddy, waiting for the next installment. :smile:
 

muppetwriter

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Finally, an update to help distract me. So the plot thickens with the addition of another character with similar identity fluctuation issues as KaeLeigh. Nice refering back to former entries in your Marvelous Muppets series of fics. Seems like this Professor Xavier is the one from the 90's animated series in his famous hoverchair. Guessing that was Logan barking at the women to leave the mansion. Others have also been asking about Sean Thomas, why does that not phase me as much as it should? *Shrugs. Thanks buddy, waiting for the next installment. :smile:
Actually, it's based on his latest film version. He had a hover chair in X-Men: Days of Future Past. :wink:

 

muppetwriter

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Whoo, boy! Do I need to get back to updating this fic! :smirk:

Got some new ideas coming, involving Deadpool and the X-Men with the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock! I'll update soon after I've got the next chapter ready!
 
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