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muppetwriter
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Hey, everyone! 
It's been a VERY long time since I've posted to the forum. I figured that I would come back to share this new story from Earth-M (the MCU-inspired Muppet Universe, featured in Doctor Who and the Marvelous Muppets). This one has many callbacks to my "MARVELOUS Muppets" stories from 2005 to 2007, here on the forum, specifically the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films.
And with that, here's "Night of the Spider-Man," an Avengers: Earth-M tale!
------------------
Part One
Earth-96283-M.
To any cosmic entities, storytellers, or scientific observers, this was what the dimension was designated as. A unique dimension where Muppets, goblin kings, and superheroes coexisted.
Many things have happened in this dimension.
Nearly 20 years ago, a great battle took place—one in which Harry Osborn, son of Norman Osborn (‘The Green Goblin’), died saving his friend, Peter Parker (‘Spider-Man’). They weren’t alone in the fight—many of Peter’s friends from the Happiness Hotel, including Kermit the Frog, came to his aid.
Kermit might’ve seemed like a typical Muppet frog performer to most in Earth-96283-M, but he secretly inherited the mantle of a mystical hero that he himself named ‘The Manhattan Marvel.’ It was because of his dear friend, Mickey Mouse, that he was given this gift.
In the last 20 years, Kermit had sworn off being the Manhattan Marvel.
He opted instead to be just a humbled reporter.
“Can a ‘humbled reporter’ conjure up money for burgers?” Fozzie asked as he and Kermit strolled the city streets one evening.
Money wasn’t like it used to be when the two of them worked at The Daily Bugle with Gonzo and the Thomas siblings (Sean and Lori). Sure, it was easier at The Daily Chronicle, but the newspaper had been spiraling since the start of the digital age.
“We’re just too old-fashioned for this world, Fozzie,” Kermit once said.
He always figured Gonzo had the right idea in taking up a career in digital photography, working for high-profile corporations in need of a talented photographer like him. It was quite the career divergence for the weirdo, considering he once thought himself to be a mutant—one worthy of joining the X-Men.
Too many things were changing for Kermit to keep up with.
The only thing that seemed to stay the same was Peter Parker. He and his wife, Mary Jane Watson, had been working on a stable relationship—nearly ruined by that black alien symbiote that once controlled Peter. Kermit and Piggy sometimes had dinner with them at their apartment (where Mr. Ditkovitch still pestered him about rent).
Unlike Kermit, Peter never stopped being his superhero alter ego.
That was until one day when he suddenly disappeared.
No one knew where he vanished off to—not Mary Jane, not J. Jonah Jameson, and not even Aunt May.
It was the reason Kermit and Fozzie were out late that night.
They were looking for the missing Peter Parker.
“Where do you think he might’ve gone?” Fozzie asked Kermit. “We’ve checked through all the boroughs, and nobody’s seen him.”
“I dunno, Fozzie. But we better find him quick…or else people will start asking where Spider-Man is.”
“Boy, am I hungry! Ya think Rizzo could whip up those burgers for us at no charge?”
“Fozzie, don’t worry. I have money.”
“Magic money?”
“No! Real, hard-earned money.”
“Oh, yeah? How much?”
“Enough for two cheeseburgers.”
“With fries?”
Kermit hesitated to respond. “Ehh, we may have to hold on the fries.”
Fozzie groaned in despair as they stood right across the street from Pete’s Diner, which had been remodeled after the original was destroyed in an attack by Harry Osborn, the second Green Goblin.
Just as Kermit and Fozzie were about to cross the street, however…
…a strange burst of cosmic energy suddenly tore open the night at the spot Kermit and Fozzie were standing—caught in the middle of an unexpected departure…or perhaps a very unconventional arrival.
The energy wrapped around them in brilliant spirals, tracing their outlines like luminous ribbons.
The strange occurrence was instantaneous.
Before either Muppet knew it, the energy dispersed and all was quiet.
“What the heck was that?!” Fozzie exclaimed, looking all around him before settling on his amphibian companion. “Was that you?”
Kermit shook his head. “Nope,” he said. “I haven’t used magic since—”
He stopped once he looked across the street again.
To his shock, Pete’s Diner no longer stood there.
In its place was a new establishment—one that neither Kermit nor Fozzie had ever seen before.
PizzeRizzo.
A warmly illuminated restaurant.
Pools of golden light shimmered in the wet cobblestones while neon signs and old-fashioned streetlamps cut through the surrounding darkness. Not even Pete’s Diner was this lavishly lit.
This ‘PizzeRizzo’ looked inviting but strangely mysterious at this hour. The red awning stretched beneath the glowing restaurant sign—advertising salads, pizza, and beer—while warm lights shined through the windows. Above it, brick walls, fire escapes, darkened windows, and faded advertisements that were fitting for an old Manhattan neighborhood.
The restaurant almost seemed to be waiting for the likes of Kermit and Fozzie, who could only stare at it in confusion.
“When did Rizzo open his own pizzeria?” Fozzie pondered aloud.
“A better question is when did he get Pete’s permission to do all of this before he passed?” Kermit asked. “I don’t think he would appreciate him making this many changes to the diner.”
The aroma of freshly baked pizza called to Fozzie’s stomach, which growled uncontrollably. “At this point, who cares? Pizza sounds better than cheeseburgers now.”
Together, they went inside PizzeRizzo.
The interior of the restaurant had all the makings of your basic New York pizzeria—framed pictures of famous people hung on the walls, along with paintings of famous city landmarks. There was even one picture of Kermit and Fozzie themselves, posing with a group of people—half of whom Kermit and Fozzie didn’t recognize…nor did they ever remember taking the photo!
“Hey, guys,” a familiar voice called to them.
They turned to see Jenny approach from behind the checkout counter.
She still wore the usual blue waitress uniform over a gray t-shirt, the collar of which poked out from the uniform’s collar.
“Jenny, what is going on?!” Kermit asked her.
Jenny frowned. “What do you mean, Kermit?”
“This place—this ‘PizzeRizzo’,” Kermit said in disdain. “What has Rizzo done to the diner?”
Jenny’s frown sharpened. “The diner? Kermit, what’s gotten into you? You know Rizzo opened this place during the Blip.”
“The Blip?” Fozzie echoed. “You mean like Goodyear?”
“That ‘blimp,’ Fozzie,” Kermit corrected.
Jenny glimpsed oddly back and forth between the two. “You guys may be workin’ yourselves too hard. How ‘bout one extra large pizza? On the house, of course.”
“On the house?!” another familiar voice boomed from the kitchen—this one having a distinct Italian accent. From there stepped a man with the imposing presence of someone who spent years ruling his domain with a mixture of authority, impatience, and old-fashioned stubbornness.
He was an older, broad-built gentleman with a weathered face, a thick gray mustache, and a wild halo of curly gray hair that gave him an almost permanently frazzled appearance. His heavy brows were drawn downward, sharpening an already intense stare that suggested he had very little patience for nonsense.
Undoubtedly, he was Pete (the owner of the nonexistent diner that Fozzie and Kermit were more acquainted with).
He was dressed in the same loose white short-sleeved shirt.
The only issue Kermit and Fozzie had with his presence inside PizzeRizzo was that the Pete they knew was dead.
“The only ones deservin’ of the words ‘on the house’ are…” Pete stopped once he spotted Kermit and Fozzie. His gruff demeanor shifted instantly to a pleasantness that was a public rarity in those parts. “Ahh! Yes! Only deservin’ for world’s greatest heroes!”
Kermit and Fozzie momentarily glanced behind them.
“Does he mean us?” Fozzie pointed to himself quizzically.
“I never figured saving the city equated to saving the world,” Kermit whispered to the bear. “Also, have you noticed that Pete is suddenly walking among the living now?”
“Yeah, that did cross my mind after the free pizza,” Fozzie said.
Rather than publicly address Pete’s sudden resurrection in front of Jenny, Kermit opted to ask a more down-to-earth question: “So, uh, Jenny…how’s Ronnie been?”
Jenny had frowned so much that her forehead began to hurt. “Who?”
“Ronnie?” Kermit repeated. “Ronnie Crawford? Son of Bernard Crawford? The greatest producer in all of New York? The one who got us on Broadway for Manhattan Melodies and Manhattan Melodies II?”
No matter how many hints Kermit gave her, none of them rang any bells.
“I’ll, uh, get right on that pizza.” Jenny awkwardly headed for the kitchen, not once taking her concerned gaze off Kermit. Along the way, she pulled her father by the back of his shirt, bringing him along.
“Something is very wrong here, Fozzie,” said the disconcerted Kermit. “Rizzo’s restaurant, Jenny and Ronnie no longer married, Pete being alive…”
“And that!”
Kermit saw Fozzie point to a mounted TV.
There was a news broadcast that had cut to a report from a bald J. Jonah Jameson.
“What happened to J.J.’s hair?” Fozzie inquired. “Did he finally get rid of the toupee?”
“Erm, I’m more concerned with what he’s reporting, Fozzie.”
Jameson announced that he had obtained footage of Spider-Man murdering a character named ‘Mysterio.’ The footage itself showed Spider-Man—in a spiffy, new black-and-red costume that Kermit and Fozzie had never seen before—giving an order to some AI drones.
The footage ended with Mysterio himself revealing Spider-Man’s identity to be Peter Parker.
But as the photograph of Peter Parker was shown on the broadcast, Kermit and Fozzie saw the face of a young man who they did not recognize as Peter Parker.
“Whew! I was worried there for a sec,” Fozzie said. “Jonah really needs to get his sources triple-checked. That’s clearly not Peter Parker.”
Kermit wasn’t so easily convinced this was actually good news.
“I dunno, Fozzie,” he said. “J.J. wouldn’t risk the Bugle’s reputation on a false lead. This is being broadcast on national news—worldwide news.” He pointed to the young man’s face on the TV. “Whoever this poor kid is, the world now sees him as Spider-Man.”
“Well, why should we care?” Fozzie asked.
“It’s not just that, Fozzie. Something about this whole situation feels very off…like we’re in New York…just not our New York.”
“If we’re not in our New York, then where are we?” Fozzie asked.
“Earth-M.” A voice spoke from the only occupied booth in the restaurant. Kermit and Fozzie turned to see a middle-aged blonde woman wearing a black hoodie, a cropped yellow top, and tight blue jeans. She had just finished two whole pizzas all to herself, but the consumption didn’t seem to affect her toned physique any.
“Earth-M?” Kermit repeated her response in a doubtful tone. “What the heck does that mean?”
“It means that you two are no longer where you were before you crossed that street,” the woman said. “You were brought here because of magic—Strange magic—all because that young man…” She pointed to the ‘Peter Parker’ on TV. “…didn’t want the world to know he’s Spider-Man.”
“You’re not making any sense, lady,” Fozzie told her.
“Maybe not to you, Fozzie,” the woman said. “But Kermit knows what I’m talking about.”
Fozzie turned to Kermit, noticing the concern on his face.
“I…I have been sensing powerful magic…somewhere in this city,” Kermit noted.
The woman scoffed. “That’d be the dear ol’ doctor himself. Of course, Peter messed up the spell—just like he did in Earth-616. It brought the Spider-Man of your Earth’s counterpart to that dimension. The Spider-Man of your Earth is here on Earth-M…along with you.”
“If all of what you’re saying is true, lady,” Kermit said, “then we’re trapped in a world we don’t belong to. We must find a way back home.”
Fozzie nervously numbed on his furry fingers. “What if there is no way home?!”
“Don’t worry, guys,” the woman reassured them. “I’m a bit of an expert on the multiverse. I’ll get you back home.”
“Good,” Kermit nodded. “But, uh, who are you?”
“You can call me ‘Kara’.”
END OF PART ONE
It's been a VERY long time since I've posted to the forum. I figured that I would come back to share this new story from Earth-M (the MCU-inspired Muppet Universe, featured in Doctor Who and the Marvelous Muppets). This one has many callbacks to my "MARVELOUS Muppets" stories from 2005 to 2007, here on the forum, specifically the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films.And with that, here's "Night of the Spider-Man," an Avengers: Earth-M tale!
------------------
Part One
To any cosmic entities, storytellers, or scientific observers, this was what the dimension was designated as. A unique dimension where Muppets, goblin kings, and superheroes coexisted.
Many things have happened in this dimension.
Nearly 20 years ago, a great battle took place—one in which Harry Osborn, son of Norman Osborn (‘The Green Goblin’), died saving his friend, Peter Parker (‘Spider-Man’). They weren’t alone in the fight—many of Peter’s friends from the Happiness Hotel, including Kermit the Frog, came to his aid.
Kermit might’ve seemed like a typical Muppet frog performer to most in Earth-96283-M, but he secretly inherited the mantle of a mystical hero that he himself named ‘The Manhattan Marvel.’ It was because of his dear friend, Mickey Mouse, that he was given this gift.
In the last 20 years, Kermit had sworn off being the Manhattan Marvel.
He opted instead to be just a humbled reporter.
“Can a ‘humbled reporter’ conjure up money for burgers?” Fozzie asked as he and Kermit strolled the city streets one evening.
Money wasn’t like it used to be when the two of them worked at The Daily Bugle with Gonzo and the Thomas siblings (Sean and Lori). Sure, it was easier at The Daily Chronicle, but the newspaper had been spiraling since the start of the digital age.
“We’re just too old-fashioned for this world, Fozzie,” Kermit once said.
He always figured Gonzo had the right idea in taking up a career in digital photography, working for high-profile corporations in need of a talented photographer like him. It was quite the career divergence for the weirdo, considering he once thought himself to be a mutant—one worthy of joining the X-Men.
Too many things were changing for Kermit to keep up with.
The only thing that seemed to stay the same was Peter Parker. He and his wife, Mary Jane Watson, had been working on a stable relationship—nearly ruined by that black alien symbiote that once controlled Peter. Kermit and Piggy sometimes had dinner with them at their apartment (where Mr. Ditkovitch still pestered him about rent).
Unlike Kermit, Peter never stopped being his superhero alter ego.
That was until one day when he suddenly disappeared.
No one knew where he vanished off to—not Mary Jane, not J. Jonah Jameson, and not even Aunt May.
It was the reason Kermit and Fozzie were out late that night.
They were looking for the missing Peter Parker.
“Where do you think he might’ve gone?” Fozzie asked Kermit. “We’ve checked through all the boroughs, and nobody’s seen him.”
“I dunno, Fozzie. But we better find him quick…or else people will start asking where Spider-Man is.”
“Boy, am I hungry! Ya think Rizzo could whip up those burgers for us at no charge?”
“Fozzie, don’t worry. I have money.”
“Magic money?”
“No! Real, hard-earned money.”
“Oh, yeah? How much?”
“Enough for two cheeseburgers.”
“With fries?”
Kermit hesitated to respond. “Ehh, we may have to hold on the fries.”
Fozzie groaned in despair as they stood right across the street from Pete’s Diner, which had been remodeled after the original was destroyed in an attack by Harry Osborn, the second Green Goblin.
Just as Kermit and Fozzie were about to cross the street, however…
…a strange burst of cosmic energy suddenly tore open the night at the spot Kermit and Fozzie were standing—caught in the middle of an unexpected departure…or perhaps a very unconventional arrival.
The energy wrapped around them in brilliant spirals, tracing their outlines like luminous ribbons.
The strange occurrence was instantaneous.
Before either Muppet knew it, the energy dispersed and all was quiet.
“What the heck was that?!” Fozzie exclaimed, looking all around him before settling on his amphibian companion. “Was that you?”
Kermit shook his head. “Nope,” he said. “I haven’t used magic since—”
He stopped once he looked across the street again.
To his shock, Pete’s Diner no longer stood there.
In its place was a new establishment—one that neither Kermit nor Fozzie had ever seen before.
PizzeRizzo.
A warmly illuminated restaurant.
Pools of golden light shimmered in the wet cobblestones while neon signs and old-fashioned streetlamps cut through the surrounding darkness. Not even Pete’s Diner was this lavishly lit.
This ‘PizzeRizzo’ looked inviting but strangely mysterious at this hour. The red awning stretched beneath the glowing restaurant sign—advertising salads, pizza, and beer—while warm lights shined through the windows. Above it, brick walls, fire escapes, darkened windows, and faded advertisements that were fitting for an old Manhattan neighborhood.
“When did Rizzo open his own pizzeria?” Fozzie pondered aloud.
“A better question is when did he get Pete’s permission to do all of this before he passed?” Kermit asked. “I don’t think he would appreciate him making this many changes to the diner.”
The aroma of freshly baked pizza called to Fozzie’s stomach, which growled uncontrollably. “At this point, who cares? Pizza sounds better than cheeseburgers now.”
Together, they went inside PizzeRizzo.
The interior of the restaurant had all the makings of your basic New York pizzeria—framed pictures of famous people hung on the walls, along with paintings of famous city landmarks. There was even one picture of Kermit and Fozzie themselves, posing with a group of people—half of whom Kermit and Fozzie didn’t recognize…nor did they ever remember taking the photo!
“Hey, guys,” a familiar voice called to them.
They turned to see Jenny approach from behind the checkout counter.
She still wore the usual blue waitress uniform over a gray t-shirt, the collar of which poked out from the uniform’s collar.
“Jenny, what is going on?!” Kermit asked her.
Jenny frowned. “What do you mean, Kermit?”
“This place—this ‘PizzeRizzo’,” Kermit said in disdain. “What has Rizzo done to the diner?”
Jenny’s frown sharpened. “The diner? Kermit, what’s gotten into you? You know Rizzo opened this place during the Blip.”
“The Blip?” Fozzie echoed. “You mean like Goodyear?”
“That ‘blimp,’ Fozzie,” Kermit corrected.
Jenny glimpsed oddly back and forth between the two. “You guys may be workin’ yourselves too hard. How ‘bout one extra large pizza? On the house, of course.”
“On the house?!” another familiar voice boomed from the kitchen—this one having a distinct Italian accent. From there stepped a man with the imposing presence of someone who spent years ruling his domain with a mixture of authority, impatience, and old-fashioned stubbornness.
He was an older, broad-built gentleman with a weathered face, a thick gray mustache, and a wild halo of curly gray hair that gave him an almost permanently frazzled appearance. His heavy brows were drawn downward, sharpening an already intense stare that suggested he had very little patience for nonsense.
Undoubtedly, he was Pete (the owner of the nonexistent diner that Fozzie and Kermit were more acquainted with).
He was dressed in the same loose white short-sleeved shirt.
The only issue Kermit and Fozzie had with his presence inside PizzeRizzo was that the Pete they knew was dead.
“The only ones deservin’ of the words ‘on the house’ are…” Pete stopped once he spotted Kermit and Fozzie. His gruff demeanor shifted instantly to a pleasantness that was a public rarity in those parts. “Ahh! Yes! Only deservin’ for world’s greatest heroes!”
Kermit and Fozzie momentarily glanced behind them.
“Does he mean us?” Fozzie pointed to himself quizzically.
“I never figured saving the city equated to saving the world,” Kermit whispered to the bear. “Also, have you noticed that Pete is suddenly walking among the living now?”
“Yeah, that did cross my mind after the free pizza,” Fozzie said.
Rather than publicly address Pete’s sudden resurrection in front of Jenny, Kermit opted to ask a more down-to-earth question: “So, uh, Jenny…how’s Ronnie been?”
Jenny had frowned so much that her forehead began to hurt. “Who?”
“Ronnie?” Kermit repeated. “Ronnie Crawford? Son of Bernard Crawford? The greatest producer in all of New York? The one who got us on Broadway for Manhattan Melodies and Manhattan Melodies II?”
No matter how many hints Kermit gave her, none of them rang any bells.
“I’ll, uh, get right on that pizza.” Jenny awkwardly headed for the kitchen, not once taking her concerned gaze off Kermit. Along the way, she pulled her father by the back of his shirt, bringing him along.
“Something is very wrong here, Fozzie,” said the disconcerted Kermit. “Rizzo’s restaurant, Jenny and Ronnie no longer married, Pete being alive…”
“And that!”
Kermit saw Fozzie point to a mounted TV.
There was a news broadcast that had cut to a report from a bald J. Jonah Jameson.
“What happened to J.J.’s hair?” Fozzie inquired. “Did he finally get rid of the toupee?”
“Erm, I’m more concerned with what he’s reporting, Fozzie.”
Jameson announced that he had obtained footage of Spider-Man murdering a character named ‘Mysterio.’ The footage itself showed Spider-Man—in a spiffy, new black-and-red costume that Kermit and Fozzie had never seen before—giving an order to some AI drones.
The footage ended with Mysterio himself revealing Spider-Man’s identity to be Peter Parker.
But as the photograph of Peter Parker was shown on the broadcast, Kermit and Fozzie saw the face of a young man who they did not recognize as Peter Parker.
Kermit wasn’t so easily convinced this was actually good news.
“I dunno, Fozzie,” he said. “J.J. wouldn’t risk the Bugle’s reputation on a false lead. This is being broadcast on national news—worldwide news.” He pointed to the young man’s face on the TV. “Whoever this poor kid is, the world now sees him as Spider-Man.”
“Well, why should we care?” Fozzie asked.
“It’s not just that, Fozzie. Something about this whole situation feels very off…like we’re in New York…just not our New York.”
“If we’re not in our New York, then where are we?” Fozzie asked.
“Earth-M.” A voice spoke from the only occupied booth in the restaurant. Kermit and Fozzie turned to see a middle-aged blonde woman wearing a black hoodie, a cropped yellow top, and tight blue jeans. She had just finished two whole pizzas all to herself, but the consumption didn’t seem to affect her toned physique any.
“Earth-M?” Kermit repeated her response in a doubtful tone. “What the heck does that mean?”
“It means that you two are no longer where you were before you crossed that street,” the woman said. “You were brought here because of magic—Strange magic—all because that young man…” She pointed to the ‘Peter Parker’ on TV. “…didn’t want the world to know he’s Spider-Man.”
“You’re not making any sense, lady,” Fozzie told her.
“Maybe not to you, Fozzie,” the woman said. “But Kermit knows what I’m talking about.”
Fozzie turned to Kermit, noticing the concern on his face.
“I…I have been sensing powerful magic…somewhere in this city,” Kermit noted.
The woman scoffed. “That’d be the dear ol’ doctor himself. Of course, Peter messed up the spell—just like he did in Earth-616. It brought the Spider-Man of your Earth’s counterpart to that dimension. The Spider-Man of your Earth is here on Earth-M…along with you.”
“If all of what you’re saying is true, lady,” Kermit said, “then we’re trapped in a world we don’t belong to. We must find a way back home.”
Fozzie nervously numbed on his furry fingers. “What if there is no way home?!”
“Don’t worry, guys,” the woman reassured them. “I’m a bit of an expert on the multiverse. I’ll get you back home.”
“Good,” Kermit nodded. “But, uh, who are you?”
“You can call me ‘Kara’.”
END OF PART ONE
