muppetwriter
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Chapter Five: Anything's Possible
S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage, and Logistics Directorate) was a counterterrorism and intelligence agency that often dealt with superhuman threats, just like the recent Hulk threat. Nick Fury, creator and second known executive producer, usually led the organization that often operated as much as a covert agency as a quasi-military one. It was initially depicted as affiliated with the United States government; but in later years, it was under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, with vast technological resources at their disposal.
Working with General “Thunderbolt” Ross was quite an experience for Fury, during a time when the general’s vendetta against the creature had become uncontrollable. As soon as Ross learned that the Hulk was back in San Francisco, he knew that joining forces with S.H.I.E.L.D. would ensure the end of the Hulk, especially since the organization had faced the Hulk once before, soon after Fury’s Intel revealed that the monster was in fact former S.H.I.E.L.D. member, Dr. Bruce Banner. The two generals operated their Hulk mission high above the clouds in an aircraft that was larger than four planes put together. Fury sat in the enormous cockpit with twelve of his soldiers around him, operating different functions of the craft, just as Ross came in and approached him.
“What’s the status of our search, Fury?” He asked.
“We just tapped into a recent phone call that was made by someone named Skeeter Grosse and sent directly to Banner.” Fury replied, and he turned to one of the soldiers sitting in the cockpit. “Play back the recording.”
“Yes, sir.” The soldier acknowledged, and he pressed a few buttons and turned a large knob, playing the conversation between Skeeter and Bruce.
“Hello?” Bruce said.
“Dr. Banner?” Skeeter uttered.
“Yes, this is him. Who is this?”
“This is Skeeter Grosse…Scooter’s twin sister.”
“Oh, yes. I remember you, Skeeter. Dr. Richards used to be your physician at the clinic. How are you?”
“I should be asking you that, Dr. B. You know, with all of these military and spy guys on your tail.”
“You’ve heard about that, eh?”
“Who hasn’t heard? My brother’s been nagging over the whole thing, ever since he heard about it on the news.” Bruce was heard sighing over the phone, sounding a bit distressed.
“How has he been doing?”
“Well, despite the fact that his own doctor is creating chaos across San Francisco, I have to say that he’s surprisingly doing fine.”
“I just wish that I could handle his operation for him. With my transformations coming at unexpected moments, I can’t risk operating on him.”
“So who’s going to do it?”
“I’ve gotten Betty Ross, my colleague, to take care of things. It’ll be okay. She cares for Scooter as much as I do, so he’ll be in good hands.” Hearing that brought half of a smile to Ross’s face; he was pleased to know that his daughter was using her medical skills to do good for someone. “I’ve got a feeling that you didn’t call me to talk about Scooter’s health, Skeet. What’s on your mind?”
“Dr. B, how would you like to be on television?” Ross and Fury exchanged odd expressions, as there was a long pause over the recording.
“WHAT?!?! Skeeter, have you lost your mind? I am a wanted man! I’ve already got my ‘Mr. Hyde’ face on television already.”
“Just hear me out for a sec. If you were to appear on our program, Muppets Tonight , and admit to S.H.I.E.L.D. and General Ross that you’re tired of turning into the Hulk and want them to find a cure for you, then I’m sure that they’ll leave you alone.”
“No! No way, Skeeter! They wouldn’t give up that easily! These people want to take me apart and see to it that the Hulk never destroys again!”
“But wouldn’t you at least want to say you’re sorry, even though you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“It’s not that simple, Skeet. What I’ve done last night and over the past months aren’t the type of things that you can just say ‘You’re sorry’ to someone about. I didn’t spill milk here, and I’m not even going to cry about it.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I’ll just have to find someplace where Ross and S.H.I.E.L.D. won’t find me. The problem is…there’s no hiding from them. No matter where I go, they’ll find me there.”
“Why not come here?”
“Come where?”
“Come here.” It was that moment when the recording had stopped, and Ross was left feeling a little confused.
“What did you stop right there?” He asked. “Didn’t they reveal the location?”
“No.” Fury replied, disappointedly. “Grosse must’ve figured at that moment in the conversation that we could’ve possibly been tapping into the phone lines and also that if she was to tell me the place for him to come, then we’d be coming there in a flash.”
“This Skeeter Grosse is a lot smarter than we anticipated.” Ross said.
“She gets it from her mother, Sadie Grosse.” Fury remarked. “As a matter of fact, both of Sadie Grosse’s children have I.Q.’s that are almost as large as Banner’s.”
“If Banner has such a large I.Q., then how come he hasn’t found a way to eliminate the beast within him?” Ross inquired.
“Banner’s come across a phenomenon that even he can’t understand.” Fury said. “Didn’t he say that the cause of his Gamma-radiated cells is by some accident from an experiment on nanomeds?”
“That’s what Betty told me.” Ross said, and Fury quietly sat his chair, deep in thought. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” Fury told him. “I just wondered what kind of operation Scooter Grosse needs that Banner can’t handle for him.”
“Are you suspecting that the nanomeds Bruce and my Betty have been experimenting on have a connection with Scooter Grosse?” Ross asked.
“You did say that your daughter has recently been involved in that particular project again.” Fury replied. “What if she and Banner are attempting to use the nanomeds on Scooter Grosse?” Ross thought about the possibilities, and they made him a bit uncomfortable.
“If they’re attempting such a thing, then it’d require using the same Gamma technology that they used during their first attempt.” Ross stated.
“And Scooter Grosse plus Gamma radiation equals…” Fury said, and he stopped when both generals’ eyes widen in shock, realizing the consequences to Scooter’s operation. Immediately, Fury turned to another soldier, with great deal of urgency in his voice. “Get a chopper ready for Ross, myself, and six other soldiers! We’re heading for the St. Kirby’s Medical Clinic now!”
“Yes, sir.” The soldier acknowledged.
Only a few moments later were Ross, Fury, and six S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers were boarding a black chopper in the main docking area of the aircraft. They were armed with some of the most advanced weaponry in their arsenal, prepared for what could possibly be a horrendous visit. As soon as they were all in the chopper, the doors to the docking area parted open, allowing the chopper to fly out into the evening sky.
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There were a lot of anxious people coming to the KMUP station that night; they heard about the one-on-one on-air conversation between Skeeter Grosse and Bruce Banner that was scheduled to happen. Banners (no pun intended) were hung all over the building by Pepe and Seymour, each having a fantastic rendering of Bruce Banner transforming into the beast himself while Skeeter stood in front of them, smiling.
Amongst the anxious crowd were a couple of characters that were visiting San Francisco, just for this occasion; their names were Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, two teenagers that usually fought crimes on nights like that one. The two didn’t even bother wearing their usual gear (black shirt, black boots, and gray/khaki cargo pants) to the occasion; instead, Kim wore a white t-shirt with a heart stitched on it and violet-colored jeans, and Ron with his usual red/white/black shirt and his beige cargo pants, which he usually kept his pet naked mole rat, Rufus, in one of the pockets. Their reasons for attending the event were very much differentiated: Kim loved the Muppets and Ron loved the stories he read about the Hulk.
“THIS IS GONNA BE SO AWESOME!!!” Ron yelled, startling some of the people around him with his hyper attitude. “Can you imagine what it would be like if Banner just ‘Hulked-Out’ right in the middle of the interview?”
“Yeah…I can imagine several people running out of the building and freaking out, while a ten-foot green man crashes through walls and roaring like a wild lion.” Kim said. “Ron, this is not some theme park attraction. Notice how there isn’t any police officers or military soldiers around to guard the scene, just in case Banner does ‘Hulk-Out’?”
“What are you talking about, K.P.?” Ron asked, just before he pointed towards Bobo the Bear, the jovial but bumbling security guard at the KMUP TV studio. “Ya see? There’s one police officer right there.” Kim glanced over at Bobo, who was eating a honey and peanut butter sandwich at the moment.
“Ron, that’s not a police officer.” She said. “That’s a security guard.”
“There’s a difference?” Ron asked, and Kim rolled her eyes with disgust.
“Let’s just hope that nothing goes wrong tonight.” Kim uttered, as she and Ron went into the building and took their seats in the stands with the rest of the audience.
Meanwhile, in the backstage area, Scooter and Sadie (who both had no idea that tonight’s broadcast of Muppets Tonight involved an interview with Bruce Banner) were heading out of the studio, until Scooter remembered that he needed to check the storage room. Skeeter, who was standing nearby when she heard him mention the storage room, quickly jumped in front of him and blocked his path.
“Don’t worry about checking the room, bro.” Skeeter said, trying not to appear as if she was hiding something. “Just tell me what it is that you need to check in the storage room, and I’ll get it for you.”
“Oh, it’s not the storage room itself that I wanted to check.” Scooter said. “I just wanted to see if the room was unlocked.” The truth was that Scooter had actually unlocked the storage room only a few hours ago, but Skeeter came to it shortly afterwards to lock it, because that was where she was keeping Bruce Banner, and also where she was going to conduct her one-on-one interview with him.
“Don’t worry about it, Scooter. I’ll handle it.” Skeeter said. “You just go get your operation taken care of; that’s what’s important right now.”
“That’s very kind of you to think about your brother’s health like that, Skeeter.” Sadie complimented.
“Of course it is, Mom.” Skeeter said. “He’s my brother. His health should always come before business.” Sadie and Scooter just smiled at her, as they started heading for the exit. When they were near the door, they suddenly heard the crowd chanting nearby.
“HULK! HULK! HULK! HULK!” The crowd yelled, and Sadie & Scooter tried to make out what the crowd was saying (it was hard to, since they were chanting out of sync), while Skeeter signaled for Animal to quiet down the audience. Animal nodded in affirmation, just before he walked out onto the stage and faced the chanting audience.
“QUIET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Animal bellowed, and every member of the audience quieted down, except for Ron, who was still chanting.
“Hulk! Hulk! Hulk! Hulk!” He said, until Kim elbowed him in his side, silencing him. “OUCH!”
“Thank you.” Animal said, and he walked backstage, where Sadie and Scooter were still trying to figure out what the audience was chanting.
“Were they…?” But Skeeter didn’t give them the opportunity to finish their question.
“Uh, uh, you two had better get going, before Dr. Ross thinks you chickened out or something. And, uh, don’t worry about a thing, because Clifford and I will have everything under control.” She forced Sadie and Scooter out through the exit, and once they were gone, she sighed with relief. Clifford, who was ready to start hosting tonight’s broadcast, had come backstage to greet her.
“Hey, Skeet,” He said, “Before we get this show on the road, there’s something I’ve got to know: how in the heck are you gonna interview Dr. B, when he made it clear that he didn’t want to be on television?”
“Simple.” Skeeter said, and she pointed to the Muppets Tonight pin on the left side of her green sweater. “See this? Before I left Manhattan, Bunsen and Beaker made this hidden camera for me, and I used it to pull practical jokes on Scooter all of the time.” Skeeter chuckled as she reminisced. “I remember this one time when Scooter was in the bathroom, and he was…”
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Clifford exclaimed. “I don’t need details, Skeet. I just wanna get this show started, before Scooter and Sadie get back and find out what’s really going on.”
“I just hope they didn’t notice the posters that have this building wrapped like a fast food burger.” Skeeter uttered, just as the Muppets Tonight theme music blared and Clifford went out onto the stage to greet the audience.
END OF CHAPTER FIVE