Hi ho! Sorry for the lateness. MPP will probably be late tomorrow too (on the account that I kinda haven't started it yet), but for now...
Chapter XI
Bakersfield, CA is a bustling city and is the ninth largest city within the state. For residents, it was a nice change of pace usually to go up and visit some of the museums and art shows.
Bakersfield had always held a fascination with Carter Smythe and when he needed a place to lay low for a while, it was here that he took his girlfriend of three months. After his disastrous turn as a motocross driver, Smythe had left the track field and hurried home, bursting through his door and grabbing almost everything he owned and threw it into a bag. He then fled, only stopping a few blocks from his girlfriend’s house; he called her immediately, asking if she wanted to go with him to Bakersfield and she had immediately heard that he seemed to be agitated.
Beth Monahan had a bachelors in psychology and could easily hear that her new boyfriend was upset; he then made it clear when he come over to her apartment. He was agitated, nervous, and fidgety. Beth was aware of Carter’s troublesome background; in fact, that was how they met.
She was a counselor at a place for youths trying to get their lives together and while she had never had a session with him, they had passed by each other every so often in the halls and she was a counselor to an acquaintance of his. Carter was unlike many of the people that came through – he was willing and able to make a change in his life, knowing that the decisions he had made had affected both himself, his family, and his friends.
She liked him and liked him enough that she worried about him, hence why she agreed to go with him to Bakersfield.
The first few days had been great – the two of them had gone around the city, gone to some of the outskirts and surrpunding cities just to do something. However, one day when watching the news, they heard the report of the big brawl that had happened after the race he been in. Hearing that two of the Muppets and that of Royce La Chance were involved had been a shock, to Beth at least, but to Carter it seemed to be the start of the downturn to their trip.
As the days turned into a week and then another, it became clear to Beth that something was very wrong. While reports about the jewel heist in Pasadena were mixed, it was the information that Carter had been receiving from friends of his that told the true story of what was happening. She hadn’t said anything, but after listening to one conversation, she couldn’t let this go on without telling him how she felt.
“What’s going on?”
Carter, who had been sitting at the small table in their hotel room, looked up quickly, surprised by seeing Beth standing in front of him.
“What baby?”
“I know something’s going on,” she repeated. “And I know it has something to do with this recent museum robbery everyone’s been talking about. Carter, is something wrong? Did you…did you steal that ruby?”
So stunned, Carter could only sit and stare, mouth agape at the knowledge that she knew. His silence however only confirmed to Beth that he had indeed stolen the gem. “You did, didn’t you?” she sniffed. “You stole that ruby?”
“No!” he cried. “I mean…” Looking down at the table top, he heaved a deep sigh. Maybe in some other life, he would’ve completely denied everything, would have told her she was crazy, but the Carter Smythe of today was not the same Carter Smythe of yesterday.
In truth, Beth Monahan had been the best thing that had happened so far for Carter. After meeting her, he had landed a pretty nice job working in an office; it was only a part time position, which allowed him to be up in Bakersfield, but it looked good enough that, if he worked hard, he’d be able to move into a full time position. And then there was Beth, who liked him despite of his past and thought he was a decent guy.
He just couldn’t lie to her.
“I was with the group that did it,” he whispered.
“What?”
“A friend of mine,” he began. “You remember Johnny-O? Anyway, he called me up and said he was in trouble and he needed help. So I helped him.”
“Helped him steal from a museum, you mean.”
Carter nodded.
“I can’t believe this, Carter,” she hissed, pacing around the table he sat. “And here I thought you were actually different, but in reality, you were just laying low.” Turning to him, she asked, “Is that why we’re here? Because the police know where you are and you’re hiding?”
“We’re here so I can keep you safe!” he exclaimed.
“Please,” she huffed. “Safe from what? The police coming to find you? Well, I won’t be a part of it.”
“You can’t leave!”
“Watch me,” she said, going about the room and grabbing her things. “Unless you plan on keeping me prisoner. Or worse.”
“What?”
“I understand the psychological underpinings of a killer,” she said.
“Beth, wait a minute…”
“I certainly know how to pick them,” she murmured. “I had hoped that you were different, that you just had some problems in your youth and that you were better now. What, was getting up in the corporate world taking too long?”
She was ranting and she could tell, but she just couldn’t believe it. After everything…when she didn’t hear any response from him, she turned to look, finding him standing there, dejected, and hanging his head.
“Is that what you think?” he asked, quietly. “Is that how you feel?”
“I’m not sure what to think and feel,” she whispered. “I thought I was falling for you, had fallen for you, but now…”
The two stood there, both surprised at how a simple vacation could deteriorate into this and what would happen once things sped back up to a reasonable facsimile of life.
“Can I ask you something?”
“What?”
“Will you let me explain?” asked Carter, looking to her finally. “Just…just let me tell you what happened and if you wanna leave, I…I won’t stop you. In fact, you have every right to leave; I’m…I’m not the kind of guy you should be with anyway.”
Taking a shaky breath, she walked past him to the table and sat down. “Tell me.”
And he did.
He told her everything, from hearing from Johnny-O and how he had this plan to steal some of the artwork there and then sell it on the black market in order to get him out of the trouble he was in. He told her how he had arrived and had been surprised to see an actual group of people, including two professional cat burglars.
And he went on, describing how they had broken in and how he had declined, only wanting to be the lookout and being extremely nervous. An unexpected patrol car in the area had stopped them from getting everything they wanted, but the two pros had managed to get the ruby in question; however, they had handed it off to Carter and the group disappeared.
It was only after Carter had heard about the deaths of three of those members that the guilt of what he had done made him realize that he had worked so hard and was about to lose everything, including his job and Beth. He had then made the decision that he would go to the police after he finished the Risen Corp race.
Only he didn’t, all because he had been spotted by Royce La Chance, one of the pros that had been with them. Carter had panicked, simple as that, and he had put the ruby in the first place he thought of – that of the gas tank of the Great Gonzo’s motorcycle. The blonde had been beside himself, quickly leaving the race and coming back to his home. He had hoped that things would calm down and then he could call Gonzo and tell him what he had done, but he had gotten word from several friends that La Chance was watching his apartment.
“And now,” he finished. “The police think Gonzo did it.” Shaking his head, he mumbled, “I didn’t want this. I never wanted this.” Agitated, Carter jumped up from his seat and began tearing through the room, grabbing clothes and souvenirs and throwing them in his bag.
“What…what’re you doing?” Beth asked.
“I have to make this right,” he said, quickly. Hefting his bag on his shoulder, he headed towards the door, but then stopped. He turned to look at her, memorizing everything about her as best as he could. “I know I’ve ruined things,” he whispered. “I’ll go downstairs and leave some money so that you can get home and…hopefully forget any of this happened.
“I don’t…know if I’ll see you again, so I wanted…it’s probably better I say this now, so that I can say that I did. I…I love you. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I know what I did to lose you and…and I’ll live with that. But I just wanted you to know.”
And with that, Carter Smythe opened the door and made the journey back to Pasadena.
[hr]
The KAOS Club was a rockin’ little joint that many of the sports personalities and locals went to when they were in the area. It’s proximity to the race track next door allowed for sporting events to take place, while allowing the KAOS Club to host many of the participants and their fans.
Today was a special treat for the club, which usually opened during the mid-mornings; the Electric Mayhem had stopped by for food, fun, and drinks and had been talked into doing a short set for the customers there. That short set, which was only supposed to be an hour at best, had extended itself to about the two hour mark, with more and more people coming in once they heard who was there or the music that streamed out.
That was the reason Piggy could barely hear them when she called.
Shortly after rescuing Gonzo from the stoney lonesome, Piggy had immediately called up Dr. Teeth to find out what was going on at his end. In a stroke of luck, Teeth had suggested that maybe some unfamiliar faces around the track would help in getting some clue on what was going on there.
Sure enough, leave it to the bar crowd to see things that the cops might not have.
“So in talking with Scottie,” Teeth was relaying. “The good doctor, which is me, has learned that our number one with a bullet took an interest in a bird in flight.”
“What?” the diva asked, before realizing what he meant and where he was. “Okay, I get it. La Chance was watching the kid that took off in the middle of the race?”
“You got it, mamacita,” he replied. “Turns out he had the kid’s number almost as soon as he saw him. And I’m sure you know, the guy’s friend is none other than the head boss of Risen.”
“That’s interesting,” Piggy murmured. Hearing a beep in her ear, she quickly checked her phone to see she was getting an incoming call. “Doc, I’ll call you later. The boy wonder’s trying to check in.”
“Over and out.”
“Talk to me.”
“Please tell me you aren’t planning on doing something crazy.”
Piggy couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “Meaning what, dearheart?”
“I’ve done some research on La Chance,” Scooter began. “Piggy, I’m serious on this; whatever you’re thinking, you need to stop. You have to go to the police about this.”
“What’s so bad about La Chance?” she asked. “Other than his deplorable driving.”
“Piggy,” the assistant stressed. “La Chance was investigated for breaking and entering, as well as murder. Murder, Piggy! The guy has been implicated in murder.”
“Well then,” she said. “That’s all the more reason for us to catch him, right?”
“Piggy, get real about this!” the page cried. “Do you have any idea how insane whatever you plan on doing is? You need to stop this.”
“Scooter,” Piggy replied. “Dearheart, thank you for your concern, but everything will be fine.”
“I’m going to the police if you don’t.”
“Don’t you dare,” she hissed. “Andrew, I’m serious. Don’t you dare go about ruining this. I have a plan and I need to put it through, with no interference, darling.”
“Are you serious?”
“Very.”
[hr]
After getting dropped off by Piggy, Gonzo wearily walked his way up the stairs to his fourth floor apartment. Despite being relatively awake throughout his three days of interrogation, being back home made him tired.
Perhaps the stress was getting to him; he had figured that he would become a suspect because of his knowledge of the ruby, but he hadn’t expected the police to comb through his life as a stunt weirdo and then try to link him to the Muppets’ leading lady.
Reaching his door, the feeling of just wanting to lay down was overwhelming. Opening the door, the weirdo walked through the living room, making the immediate decision that a quick nap on his couch was the way to go. The couch was inviting, almost calling to Gonzo, telling him to sit down and lay down in comfort.
And that’s exactly what Gonzo did, until his head hit something hard and not soft. Assuming he had just aimed too far up, he reached up to push himself back down to the comfort of the pillow or the cushion or whatever was there that would house his head.
Instead of feeling the arm of the couch, his hand brushed across something hard, but squishy. Sitting up in confusion, Gonzo grabbed whatever was in his hand around so that he could look at it. It was a black sequined purse and one that was fairly familiar to him.
And right then, said owner of the purse walked out from the kitchen, surprised to see her beloved sitting on the couch in front of her.
“Camilla!” he cried, jumping up and rushing towards her, all pretenses of being tired evaporating. “When did you get here? How long have you been here?”
The show chicken clucked a response, stating she could have asked him the same thing, but instead held him back from the embrace he was in the midst of giving her. “Bawk?” she asked, giving him a once over.
“Just a little tired, baby,” came the answer. “When did you get here?”
She answered that she had arrived early that morning and quite frankly, she had been surprised that not only had been gone, but was just now returning. Gonzo chuckled, nervously; he wasn’t sure if he should tell her the whole story or what. Ultimately, he decided he’d tell her later and really only after everything was settled.
“Sorry honey,” he apologized. “We’ve been…uh…kinda swamped at the theater and stuff. Did you see my last stunt?”
Deciding that he’d rather stay up with his chickie, Gonzo launched into a play by play of his last stunt.
Afternoon soon gave way into earlier evening, which did see Gonzo doze off for a number of those hours. Camilla, who had just spent a good two weeks on stage and arriving by early flight, just snuggled up with her boyfriend when she noticed he had stopped paying attention to her story of the monkey who had escaped and ran amock around the hotel they were in.
With a good two and half hours of sleep behind them, the two starcrossed lovers were able to catch up on what had been happening in the other’s life. Again, Gonzo hesitated about telling his girl that he was a suspect in not only a robbery, but three murders which were attached to said heist.
Instead, Gonzo felt that this night was a blessing in disguise. Suggesting that they celebrate in style, the weirdo was off to pick up take out and even a bottle of champagne, stating it would only take him about twenty minutes or less.
True to his word, it only did take about fifteen minutes for the weirdo to get the take out he had order and picking up a bottle of champagne. That was the trickier part, as the weirdo didn’t know as much about champagne, so he ended up calling Piggy, who outlined an incredibly crazy plan to trap La Chance.
Now, if Gonzo wasn’t facing imprisonment for a crime or crimes he had not committed, he would have said two things. First, this was probably the craziest idea the pig ever had and that was certainly saying something. Piggy didn’t get wild and crazy ideas that didn’t involve getting married to Kermit.
So for her to suggest that the best way of trapping La Chance was to dangle the ruby in front of him meant that either she had been spending too much time with him or she was having some sort of mental breakdown.
Secondly, this idea was dangerous. They already knew La Chance was fast to bury his fist in both of their faces, so in the case that he was involved, telling him that they had his ruby was so a bad idea. He had politely told her whatever plan she was hatching, to leave him out of it.
For that night at least.
His baby was back and he was gonna party like it was still 1999. So the diva let it go, for the moment, and reluctantly told him what the right choice for champagne would be, though he noted that she did manage to even suggest a couple of wines that would best with their dinner.
Gonzo headed back, happily, to his apartment, food and drink in hand. The climb to his apartment door this time was met with excitement; his girl was back and maybe she’d be able to talk some sense into either him or the pig or both.
“Home again, home again,” he sang, reaching the door and juggling bags so that he could actually open said door.
“Hello again, Gonzo.”
The weirdo froze, wondering who could possibly be behind him and why the voice seemed chillingly familiar.
“Don’t turn around,” the voice instructed, seeing the weirdo starting to move. “I have a gun trained on you, so I suggest we play this nice and cool, alright?”
Gonzo nodded.
“Now,” the voice said. “You’re going to put those bags down, right there, that’s it. Now, we’re going to go and have a nice talk. You have something of mine and I want it back.”
“Listen…”
“I don’t believe I told you to speak,” the voice sneered. “Keep your mouth shut or I’ll be forced to shut it for you. Start walking.”
Welcome to the Muppet Central Forum!
Jim Henson Idea Man
Back to the Rock Season 2
Bear arrives on Disney+
Sam and Friends Book
to have a fully interactive car with computerized phonebank and dialing capabilities.
and
Why is it called interfering with a police investigation if the Muppets are the ones carrying on the real investigation? If anything, it's more like a case of interference by a police investigation.
!
that'll leave you just as swollen with beakmarks like the former underlord, Mr. Pattypan.
