Summer In The Theater

[TogetherAgain]

Well folks, I can't stand sitting around not posting this story. And since now I have figured out some details that get worked out towards the middle that are needed for the beginning, I'm confident that I can post it without worrying about discrepencies. Did I spell that right? Aw who cares. Here's another story by ol' TogetherAgain, for your reading pleasure. Oh, and if it starts to sound a bit like IAVMMCM... that's not really intentional. The scenarios do have a few parallels, but it's really a different situation. There's nobody breathing down their necks saying "give me money or I'll take the theater away!" ...or at least not directly... I mean... you know what, how about I just post the story already, and I'll let you figure out what the heck this story's really about, because I sure as heck don't know!

 

[TogetherAgain]

Chapter One

It was late in the evening at the Muppet Theater. There was no one in the audience and the stage was empty. Beauregard pushed the last set piece into the prop room and grabbed his mop and bucket. Clifford finished checking and adjusting the lights and climbed down to stage. Pops collected the money and receipts from that night’s ticket sales and carried them backstage to Kermit’s desk, where a small crowd had already gathered.

“Pops, how’d we do on tickets?” Kermit asked.

“Ten seats short of a full house,” Pops said. Scooter wrote something on his clipboard.

“Good,” Kermit said. “Clifford, did you figure out why that light was acting up?”

“Yeah, it’s got a couple problems,” Clifford said. “One, the lens is cracked. Two, it’s rusty. And Three, it’s old.”

“Is there any way to fix it?” Kermit asked.

“Probably,” Clifford said, “but it would be easier and cheaper just to get a new one.”

“I’ll work on it,” Kermit said,” and Scooter made another note on the clipboard.

“Scooter? Did Miss Diaz have any complaints?” Kermit asked, referring to their guest star.

“Just what we’ve been hearing from everyone for the past ten weeks,” Scooter said. “Those ants are out of control. I’ve tried two kinds of traps, and neither one of them is working. I think we need an exterminator.”

“How much were the ant traps?” Kermit asked.

“Twenty dollars all together,” Scooter said, and he wrote something down.

“Alright,” Kermit said. “So we’ve decided that we are going to do the flaming wire act as the opening for the show in two weeks, right? Pepe, can you get the permit by then?”

“Si, but there’s a little fee, hokay,” Pepe said. “I mentioned that earlier.”

Kermit nodded. “Right. I’ll get that to you tomorrow.”

“Oh hey Kermin?” Pepe said. “The insurance company sent us another bill. I think dey raised de rates on us again, hokay!” he handed the bill to Kermit.

“Sheesh,” Kermit said. “I’ll look into that tomorrow.” He handed the bill to Scooter, who tucked it into the clipboard beneath some other papers and wrote something down on the top sheet.

“Do we have the order for next week’s acts?” Kermit asked.

“Oh- right here, Boss,” Scooter said, pulling a piece of paper out of the clipboard and handing it to Kermit.

“Let’s see,” Kermit said as he looked it over, “Rowlf, you’re okay with this music?”

“It looks good to me,” Rowlf said. “The band is okay with it, too, but they want stuff with a more hard rock feel to it as well.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Kermit said. “Uh, Rizzo, do we have all the props we need for now?”

“We need some more o’dat wax fruit for the tropical number,” Rizzo said.

“I thought we just bought some of that,” Kermit said.

“Yeah...” Rizzo said, “but you know, some of the guys got hungry... it’s not my fault the first food we found was wax. Oh, the tummy-aches we had that night!”

Kermit scrunched up his face. “Right,” he said, and he turned to Scooter. “Are we almost done?”

Scooter was writing furiously. He paused and glanced over the sheet. “I think so,” he said. “All we have left is the finance stuff.”

“Alright,” Kermit said. “You guys go on home, we’ll finish up here.”

“What?” Pops said, waking up.

“I said go home!” Kermit said.

“Oh,” Pops said. “Alright. Good night, then.”

“Hey Kermit, you gonna play cards with us later?” Rizzo asked.

“Not tonight,” Kermit said.

“Alright,” Rizzo said.

“Ritzo, let’s go, hokay,” Pepe said. “See you at home, Kermin!” They headed down the stairs, slipping where Beauregard had put down too much wax, and falling into an awkward pile of limbs before walking out.

Clifford and Rowlf lagged behind.

“I think I can cover for that light for a little while,” Clifford said. “So don’t worry about getting a new one right away. It is pretty important, though.”

“Right. Thanks, Clifford,” Kermit said.

“Hey, good luck with the finances,” Rowlf said.

“Thanks,” Kermit said. “Oh hey Rowlf? Could you tell Robin to start getting ready for bed?”

“Sure,” Rowlf said. “I’ll see you two back at the house.”

“Later, Kerm!” Clifford said. “Bye Scooter.”

“See ya later, guys,” Scooter said.

“Bye,” Kermit said.

Rowlf and Clifford headed down the stairs, slipped, fell to the ground, brushed themselves off, and left.

“Alright, Scooter,” Kermit said. “Let’s take a look.”

“This bill is definitely higher,” Scooter said, pulling out the insurance bill. “It’s getting pretty expensive.”

Kermit nodded. “All our expenses are going up,” he said. “We’ll see if we can find another insurance company. In the meantime, let’s look at the short-term costs...”

They looked over the list Scooter had been making throughout the meeting, adding up how much everything would cost, discussing ways to save money, figuring out how much money they were actually making.

“It looks like we’ll have to hold our breath and squeeze through to that summer special,” Kermit said.

“Gee, I hope we can make it that long,” Scooter said.

Kermit nodded. “Me too. But if we keep getting audiences like tonight, we should be okay.”

Beauregard approached, mop and bucket in hand. “All clean, Kermit!” he said proudly.

“Good,” Kermit said. “Why don’t you two head home, I’ll lock up.”

“Okay, boss, but are you sure you don’t want any more help?” Scooter asked.

Kermit shook his head. “Nope. You go get some rest.”

“Well, alright. Goodnight, Boss, I’ll see you at home,” Scooter said.

“Goodnight, Kermit,” Beauregard said.

“Goodnight, Scooter. Goodnight, Beau,” Kermit said.

They walked down the stairs and slipped on the step.

“Oopsy,” Beauregard said. “Kermit? Watch out for the slippy step.”

“Thanks, Beau,” Kermit said. He hurried through the theater, checking that everything was in its place, making sure the windows were closed and the doors were locked, turning off the lights as he went. Closing up the theater had a calming effect on him. He liked being the last one out sometimes. When he was certain that everything was secure, he headed for the back door. But he stopped, and, remembering the slippery step, decided to exit through the lobby instead. He paused when he reached the door and looked back at the empty theater. He hadn’t seen the ghost for a while, but... “Frightful night to you, Uncle Deadly,” he said. Then he stepped outside, locked the door behind him, and slipped on a banana peel.

He stopped at the corner, where a light haired man sat every night with his clarinet. An old baseball cap with a few coins in it was next to him on the ground. Tonight he played a beautiful but eerie tune. Kermit stood and listened until the song was over and a new song had begun. Then he tossed a quarter into the hat and walked on.

 

[Aaron]

good start lisa

 

[TogetherAgain]

<hugs Aaron>
THANK YOU for replying so quickly, I was holding my breath over here... not too wise, I guess... but I'm so glad you like it!

 

[Aaron]

hugs to you lisa because i dont give enough of them

 

[luvtosr]

Excellent start, I love the bit where, even though money's tight, Kermit still gives a quarter to the busker. I think you've got the 'voices' of the characters down brilliantly too, from what I recall anyway( I just gotta get my hands on the Season One DVD when it's out).

Good show!

 

[Beauregard]

Funniest bit: The Banan Peel
Colest Bit: Miss Diaz
Cleverest bit: Finally getting some details down on that light Clifford fixes in all the TMS fan-fics. I gfuess someone (you) finally noticed that seemed to be his lot in all the fan-fics and did something about it.
Sweetest bit: "Can you tell Robin to get up to bed?" Good old Kermit.Still so responsible for that nephew of his.

 

[TogetherAgain]

Chapter two

The boarding house had pretty much quieted down by the time Kermit got there. From outside he could see that a few lights were still on, but most everybody seemed to be asleep. Kermit opened the door, and the first thing he saw was Robin, half-asleep, sitting halfway down the stairs with his pajamas on. Waiting.

Kermit climbed up and sat next to his nephew. “Robin, it’s way past your bed time,” he said sadly.

“But Uncle Kermit,” Robin said, “You promised you would tuck me in.”

“I know,” Kermit said. “Things ran late tonight. I’m sorry, Robin.

Robin nodded and leaned on his uncle’s arm.

“Come on,” Kermit said as he took his nephew by the hand. “Let’s get you to bed.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

A dark figure of a person walked briskly down the empty street until it came to the door it was looking for. It pulled something out of its pocket and put it in the lock, wiggling the thing just right until the figure heard a tiny click. It pushed the door open and stepped inside, discreetly closing the door behind it.

It walked forward with an all-knowing step, going exactly where it wanted to without even trying. It picked another lock, and another. Its all-knowing step led it to exactly the right spot. The figure knelt down, reached out and touched a combination lock. It slowly turned the lock, waiting for the exact feeling. There it was, and now the figure knew exactly what number it was on. It carefully spun the lock in a combination that had not been changed in years, and opened the metal safe door. Now came the only difficult part. The figure felt around inside the safe, touching everything with its gloved hands. There were papers, lots and lots of papers. But too large to be what the figure was looking for. It moved its hands down to the lower shelf. Yes, this was it. It lifted a stack of small papers, neatly bound together. There were several of these bundles, but the figure only wanted one. It let the bundle slide deep into its pocket, closed the safe, and set the lock exactly as it had been found. Then the figure stood up and, with its all knowing step, walked back the way it had come, locking the doors behind it, as quietly as a shadow.

But someone else was quieter.

The figure locked another door behind it and began to cross the lobby with its all-knowing step. It stopped, feeling another presence.

This other presence lit a match and held it close to its own face. The presence was blue, with a long, almost snout-like mouth and yellow teeth. It had thin, inward-slanting slits for eyes that seemed to glow in the thick darkness. Beneath its chin, a beard-like growth, the same blue color as its skin.

Uncle Deadly.

The figure stepped left and began to walk around Uncle Deadly. Uncle Deadly moved and blocked it. It stepped right. He moved, blocking it. It moved forward and left. He blocked it. Right, blocked. Left, blocked. The match burned out. The game did not. The duo slowly crossed the lobby until Uncle Deadly was standing directly in front of the door. The figure put a hand on his shoulder and firmly pushed him out of the way. Uncle Deadly stayed close to the figure as it opened the door. It stepped into the night and closed the door behind it. Uncle Deadly heard a click as the door locked.

He struck another match and looked at the bundle of cash he had just taken from the figure’s pocket.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

Kermit got to the theater extra early the next morning, trying to think of more ways to cut expenses. He approached the back door, key in hand, ready to unlock it, but the door swung open before he even touched it. He froze, then stepped inside apprehensively. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving him in total darkness. Some one struck a match, and Kermit turned to see Uncle Deadly lighting an old candle.

“Frightful day to you, Kermit,” Uncle Deadly said.

“Well hi ho there,” Kermit said nervously. “How was your night?”

“Frightful,” Uncle Deadly said. “But more to you than to me.”

“What do you mean?” Kermit asked.

Uncle Deadly produced the bundle of cash and handed it to the frog. “Someone came, picked the locks, opened the safe, took this, locked the doors and left.”

Kermit looked from the phantom to the cash and back at the phantom. “How did you get it?” he asked.

The slits of Uncle Deadly’s eyes grew narrower. “No one succeeds in this theater,” he said. “That doesn’t mean someone can steal from it.”

Kermit nodded.

“I expected you would want to know,” Uncle Deadly said. He handed the candle to Kermit and turned to walk away.

“Uncle Deadly?” Kermit said.

The phantom turned to look at him.

“Thank you,” Kermit said. Uncle Deadly shook his head and walked off into the dark theater.

Kermit stood there with the candle in one hand and the money in the other. Robbed. They had almost been robbed. They needed better security, then. New locks, latches and bolts. A new combination, maybe even a new safe. He looked at the money in his hand. There wasn’t enough. They needed new equipment and insurance and better security, and they didn’t have money for all of it.

The door burst open behind him and the morning sunlight poured in. Kermit found himself surrounded by the first wave of Muppets to arrive.

“What’s going on in here?” Gonzo asked excitedly.

“It’s like night in here,” Fozzie said as he fumbled with his hat, glancing around in the darkness.

“Kermie, why aren’t the lights on?” Miss Piggy asked.

“What’s with the candle?” Dr. Teeth asked.

“Yeah what’s goin’ down?” Floyd asked.

“Don’t tell me the lights are busted,” Clifford said.

“Boss, is something wrong?” Scooter asked.

Kermit looked each of them in the eyes. “When more people get here, we’re having a meeting,” he said. He carefully felt across the wall until he found a switch and flicked on the most general lights in the theater. “Until then, I want you to cut as many corners as you can with water, electricity, and anything else that could cost money.” He blew out the candle.

“But like, why, Kermit?” Janice asked.

“We have to,” Kermit said. They stared at him in silence for a long moment. “We have to,” he repeated, and he walked away.

 

[Beauregard]

Most heart rending bit: Robin on the stairs, with his pyjamas, waiting.
Most exciting: Deadly against the bad-figure
Curious: Uncle Deadly and hsi match. Is this a reference to....something?
Questianable: Here's something I have always wondered....why is it the Muppets are always lacking Moneys? When they are so famous?


I'm liking it so far Lisa!

 

[TogetherAgain]

Uncle Deadly's match? a reference? Yes, a reference to something.

And their current state of lacking money is explained in the next chapter. Although I suppose their typical lack of money probably has something to do with a very large pay roll. Glad you like it so far!