TwoHeadedLlama
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2014
- Messages
- 155
- Reaction score
- 217
Brief Summary: A small rivalry between Lips and former Muppet Show trumpeter Delores spirals out of control after the rest of the cast begins choosing sides.
Two's a Crowd
Chapter 1: Back to the Beginning
It was a busy day at the Muppet theater. Kermit the frog had hardly gotten any sleep the previous night, since he had been busy making preparations for that day's auditions. The fifth season of The Muppet Show would be starting in a few months, and new acts were needed to keep the show 'fresh' so to speak. So that's what was going to happen today. Performers from all over the country were coming to display their skills, and Kermit had made absolutely sure that the theater was clean and sparkling, as much as it could be, so that the performers would get a good impression of the place. He was now seated in one of the red velvet seats that were placed near the very front of the stage, looking down at a clipboard he had in his lap. In it was a checklist of things that he needed to have ready before the performers arrived.
“Lights, check. Sound, check. Water backstage for the performers, check. New wallpaper put in the dressing rooms, check. Replacement curtains in case of explosions-”
“Hey boss! I got the forms all organized for you.”
Kermit looked up. The theater's resident gopher, Scooter, was standing next to him, holding a few pieces of paper in one hand and adjusting his headset microphone with the other.
“Oh. Good job, Scooter. Did you count how many people are auditioning this season?” Kermit asked.
“Less than last season. But some of these look pretty promising,” Scooter replied. “Like this one...”
Scooter handed the papers to Kermit, who immediately clipped them into his clipboard and raised it to his face. Scooter leaned over slightly and put a finger on top of one of the names.
“Could you move your finger, Scooter? I can't see it.”
“Oh.”
The gopher shifted his finger slightly to the side.
“This guy here, is famous for his tap-dancing snowmen act,” he said.
“Tap-dancing snowmen? How do you make snowmen dance?” Kermit asked.
“Put 'em on a hot plate, I guess,” said Scooter.
Kermit scrunched his face. “Maybe we'll put it in the Christmas special,” he said.
Scooter shrugged his shoulders. All of a sudden, he froze dramatically, and put his hand on the left ear of his headset.
“Huh? Yeah? I'll be right there,” he said into the mic. The gopher then lowered it and turned to Kermit.
“A few of the acts are here, boss. They're already backstage.”
Kermit nodded. “Fine then. Go tell them to make themselves at home. Auditions will start in a half hour.”
Scooter turned around and trotted to the end of the isle, where he then exited through a pair of stage doors on the left. Kermit sat still in his chair and watched him leave, and kept his eyes on the door for a few moments after he was gone. Good old Scooter, he was usually the most reliable reliable person in the theater, and often seemed like the only one who used common sense once in a while. The frog emcee sighed, and reclined in his theater chair. He felt unusually peaceful and relaxed for some odd reason. Usually on audition days he felt stressed and upset, but today seemed different. Maybe it was the feeling of accomplishment that he felt. After all, four seasons of a TV show was nothing to sneeze at, and for Kermit, it was quite the accomplishment, considering all the mayhem that usually went on behind the scenes. Kermit wanted to start the show off on a good note, and this year it seemed like he might actually get a chance to do it.
Kermit had been resting in this position for only a few minutes, when suddenly he heard footsteps coming from behind him. The frog sat up straight, and craned his neck around to see who was coming. It turned out to be Nigel, the conductor of the orchestra, and also the writer of some of the show's songs. He was walking down the center isle of the seats, carrying in his arms a large stack of papers with musical notes written on them. He gave Kermit a little wave as he approached, and upon reaching the location, took a seat next to his boss.
“Hi, Kermit,” he said, smiling half-halfheartedly. “Long time no see.”
“Hey, Nigel,” Kermit said, returning the smile. “What's on all those papers?”
“Oh,” said Nigel as he shifted the papers in his hands. “Just a few songs I'm working on. Probably nothing you'd be interested in.”
Kermit nodded and turned his head to look at the stage, frowning. He and Nigel weren't exactly friends, in fact, they were more like rivals. It was because the two of them had once been pitted against each other in the fight for the role of TV show host, and ultimately, Kermit had come out the victor. Poor Nigel probably wouldn't even have had a job in the theater if he hadn't begged the owner to let him stay on as a conductor and composer. Kermit couldn't exactly remember the last time he had shared friendly small talk with the conductor. They rarely ever spoke to each other now, other than to discuss musical arrangements that could be used on the show.
The two of them sat in silence for a number of minutes. The lack of noise felt terribly awkward for both of them. Kermit thought long and hard about things that he could say to break the silence, but he could not come up with a single one. Nigel had always seemed to him like none other than a business partner, never as a friend, or even an acquaintance. So knowing what Nigel liked other than composing was a mystery to him.
The green emcee looked up at a clock to check the time. It was five minutes to show time, which meant the first act would be coming onstage any moment now. He looked at his clipboard and tried to find the name of the first act. Suddenly, Nigel spoke.
“Seats look pretty empty. I thought more of the cast would have shown up to watch the auditions.”
Kermit looked over at him and shrugged. “I thought so too. I know that Miss Piggy said she would defiantly be here, but she did tell me she had some shopping to do, so maybe she's just running late. As for everyone else, I don't have a clue.”
Nigel nodded, then craned his neck around to look at the balconies, but those were empty as well. He then looked back at Kermit, and seemed about to say something else when his eyes fell on the clipboard the frog was holding.
“Is that the list of today's acts?” he asked
“Yep,” replied Kermit.
“Who's on first?”
Kermit held the clipboard close to his face and squinted. Whoever wrote the list had very bad handwriting. But after staring at it for a few seconds, he managed to make out the first name on the paper.
“Someone named Delores,” he said.
“Delores?!” Nigel said suddenly. “You mean the trumpet girl?”
Kermit's eyes widened as he put two and two together.
“Let me look,” he said, returning his gaze to the piece of paper. After a few moments, he looked back to Nigel with a stunned expression on his face.
“It says she's a trumpeter. So it is her!”
Suddenly, Scooter poked his head out from the edge of the stage right curtain.
“First act is ready to go on, chief,” he declared. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, yes, show her in!” Kermit replied with enthusiasm.
Scooter vanished as quickly as he had arrived. Kermit sighed a bit, and looked back at Nigel, who dropped his voice to a whisper.
“That's impossible!” he hissed. “She quit at the end of the last season. Why on earth would she come back?”
“I don't know,” Kermit said worriedly. “It sounded like she was getting a high paying job, too.”
“And now she wants to be a trumpeter again,” Nigel replied. “But that's fine. I mean, you haven't filled her position yet, right?”
Kermit gulped and shook his head. He calm, relaxed demeanor had vanished in a matter of seconds, for a new problem had suddenly arisen. And it was a doozy.
“So you did hire someone?!” Nigel blurted out, now that he was as unsettled as Kermit.
“Well, not exactly,” Kermit said quietly. “The Electric Mayhem-”
A loud, squeaking noise suddenly filled the air, causing the two nervous Muppets to jump in surprise. They quickly realized the the stage curtains were being parted, and adjusted themselves in their seats quietly, so as to appear calm and professional.
“Leave her to me, Kermit,” Nigel whispered hurriedly. “I know her better than anyone in the theater.”
Kermit nodded, and turned his attention back towards the stage. The curtains were now fully parted, revealing the trumpet player in question. She was a lavender-skinned woman, with a bob of blond hair covering her head. She was seated on a wooden stool in the middle of the stage, trumpet in hand, with a music stand positioned in front of her. The woman looked up from the stand to stare at the pair at the foot of the stage, beaming.
“Hello Nigel, Kermit,” she said in a high, pleasant voice. “Short time, no see.”
“Nice to see you too, Delores,” Nigel replied, returned the smile as best he could. “I thought you found a new job?”
“I did,” Delores said, changing her expression to a frown. “But I...I had to leave it. So now I'm back here. Would you like me to play something for you?”
“Well-”
“Um, Delores,” Kermit said suddenly, interrupting Nigel. “I have some bad news...”
Delores blinked in confusion. “What is it?” she inquired.
“While you were gone, the Electric Mayhem...you remember them, don't you?”
The trumpet girl rolled her eyes.
“Yes, I remember them, Kermit,” she huffed. “It hasn't been that long.”
“Ok, good. Just checking,” Kermit said.
He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, preparing to deliver the news. Kermit noticed that Nigel was shooting daggers at him (figuratively of course), but tried not to think about it. He would deal with the conductor later.
“The Electric Mayhem found themselves a new trumpet player. He's going to be working full time, which means he'll be playing in the orchestra as well.”
Delores appeared shocked. But her surprise quickly turned to anger, and Kermit and Nigel braced themselves for the impact.
“What do you mean “The Electric Mayhem chose their trumpet player?” I thought Nigel was the one in charge of replacing me?”
“Well, I was,” Nigel grumbled. “But Kermit here-”
“It was my fault, Delores,” Kermit sighed. “The band wanted to pick the next trumpeter, so I let them. I mean, I'm really sorry. I didn't know that you would come back so soon...”
Delores glared at him.
“Humph. I would have thought you'd go about it in a more professional way, Kermit,” she muttered.
The trumpet girl got up off her stool, and tucked her music stand under her arm, preparing to walk offstage.
“I'm really sorry about this,” Nigel said as she started to walk away. “Maybe next time...”
But Delores didn't hear him, and was gone in a matter of seconds without saying a word or even bothering to look at him. Nigel groaned and looked at Kermit, glaring at him.
“Now you've done it, frog,” he grumbled.
“She would have found out eventually!” Kermit defended. “I just didn't want to delay it too long.”
Nigel gave his companion a long, hard look, before getting up out of his seat. He walked around to the side of the stage, climbed some stairs to get on it, and vanished backstage. Kermit sighed in exasperation.
“What have I gotten myself into?” he moaned, covering his face with his hands.
Backstage, Delores pushed her way through a crowd of Muppets and performers, trying to make her way to the stage door. The trumpet girl had tears streaming down her face, revealing the pain she was in. She could hear people yelling at her, telling her to stop running, or to watch where she was going, but their shouts fell on deaf ears. Delores simply didn't care, and continued to run until she reached the door. But she didn’t open it, instead she leaned against it and rubbed her eyes on her sleeve, trying to remove any traces of her outburst.
She didn't blame Kermit or Nigel for the problem at all. In fact, she was more worried about what would happen to herself. Trumpet playing was really the only thing she had to offer, and being fired from her job had dealt a serious blow. Now the only place Delores really called home had replaced her, with someone unknown. The trumpet girl was devastated, but as she stood there at the door as the panicked thoughts raced through her mind, a plan started to form. A single light in the darkness. The chance of it being successful was incredibly slim, but she had to try it, even if it wouldn't work.
Quietly, Delores opened the metal door, and slipped outside, shutting it behind her with a small click. No one noticed her leave.
To be continued...
Two's a Crowd
Chapter 1: Back to the Beginning
It was a busy day at the Muppet theater. Kermit the frog had hardly gotten any sleep the previous night, since he had been busy making preparations for that day's auditions. The fifth season of The Muppet Show would be starting in a few months, and new acts were needed to keep the show 'fresh' so to speak. So that's what was going to happen today. Performers from all over the country were coming to display their skills, and Kermit had made absolutely sure that the theater was clean and sparkling, as much as it could be, so that the performers would get a good impression of the place. He was now seated in one of the red velvet seats that were placed near the very front of the stage, looking down at a clipboard he had in his lap. In it was a checklist of things that he needed to have ready before the performers arrived.
“Lights, check. Sound, check. Water backstage for the performers, check. New wallpaper put in the dressing rooms, check. Replacement curtains in case of explosions-”
“Hey boss! I got the forms all organized for you.”
Kermit looked up. The theater's resident gopher, Scooter, was standing next to him, holding a few pieces of paper in one hand and adjusting his headset microphone with the other.
“Oh. Good job, Scooter. Did you count how many people are auditioning this season?” Kermit asked.
“Less than last season. But some of these look pretty promising,” Scooter replied. “Like this one...”
Scooter handed the papers to Kermit, who immediately clipped them into his clipboard and raised it to his face. Scooter leaned over slightly and put a finger on top of one of the names.
“Could you move your finger, Scooter? I can't see it.”
“Oh.”
The gopher shifted his finger slightly to the side.
“This guy here, is famous for his tap-dancing snowmen act,” he said.
“Tap-dancing snowmen? How do you make snowmen dance?” Kermit asked.
“Put 'em on a hot plate, I guess,” said Scooter.
Kermit scrunched his face. “Maybe we'll put it in the Christmas special,” he said.
Scooter shrugged his shoulders. All of a sudden, he froze dramatically, and put his hand on the left ear of his headset.
“Huh? Yeah? I'll be right there,” he said into the mic. The gopher then lowered it and turned to Kermit.
“A few of the acts are here, boss. They're already backstage.”
Kermit nodded. “Fine then. Go tell them to make themselves at home. Auditions will start in a half hour.”
Scooter turned around and trotted to the end of the isle, where he then exited through a pair of stage doors on the left. Kermit sat still in his chair and watched him leave, and kept his eyes on the door for a few moments after he was gone. Good old Scooter, he was usually the most reliable reliable person in the theater, and often seemed like the only one who used common sense once in a while. The frog emcee sighed, and reclined in his theater chair. He felt unusually peaceful and relaxed for some odd reason. Usually on audition days he felt stressed and upset, but today seemed different. Maybe it was the feeling of accomplishment that he felt. After all, four seasons of a TV show was nothing to sneeze at, and for Kermit, it was quite the accomplishment, considering all the mayhem that usually went on behind the scenes. Kermit wanted to start the show off on a good note, and this year it seemed like he might actually get a chance to do it.
Kermit had been resting in this position for only a few minutes, when suddenly he heard footsteps coming from behind him. The frog sat up straight, and craned his neck around to see who was coming. It turned out to be Nigel, the conductor of the orchestra, and also the writer of some of the show's songs. He was walking down the center isle of the seats, carrying in his arms a large stack of papers with musical notes written on them. He gave Kermit a little wave as he approached, and upon reaching the location, took a seat next to his boss.
“Hi, Kermit,” he said, smiling half-halfheartedly. “Long time no see.”
“Hey, Nigel,” Kermit said, returning the smile. “What's on all those papers?”
“Oh,” said Nigel as he shifted the papers in his hands. “Just a few songs I'm working on. Probably nothing you'd be interested in.”
Kermit nodded and turned his head to look at the stage, frowning. He and Nigel weren't exactly friends, in fact, they were more like rivals. It was because the two of them had once been pitted against each other in the fight for the role of TV show host, and ultimately, Kermit had come out the victor. Poor Nigel probably wouldn't even have had a job in the theater if he hadn't begged the owner to let him stay on as a conductor and composer. Kermit couldn't exactly remember the last time he had shared friendly small talk with the conductor. They rarely ever spoke to each other now, other than to discuss musical arrangements that could be used on the show.
The two of them sat in silence for a number of minutes. The lack of noise felt terribly awkward for both of them. Kermit thought long and hard about things that he could say to break the silence, but he could not come up with a single one. Nigel had always seemed to him like none other than a business partner, never as a friend, or even an acquaintance. So knowing what Nigel liked other than composing was a mystery to him.
The green emcee looked up at a clock to check the time. It was five minutes to show time, which meant the first act would be coming onstage any moment now. He looked at his clipboard and tried to find the name of the first act. Suddenly, Nigel spoke.
“Seats look pretty empty. I thought more of the cast would have shown up to watch the auditions.”
Kermit looked over at him and shrugged. “I thought so too. I know that Miss Piggy said she would defiantly be here, but she did tell me she had some shopping to do, so maybe she's just running late. As for everyone else, I don't have a clue.”
Nigel nodded, then craned his neck around to look at the balconies, but those were empty as well. He then looked back at Kermit, and seemed about to say something else when his eyes fell on the clipboard the frog was holding.
“Is that the list of today's acts?” he asked
“Yep,” replied Kermit.
“Who's on first?”
Kermit held the clipboard close to his face and squinted. Whoever wrote the list had very bad handwriting. But after staring at it for a few seconds, he managed to make out the first name on the paper.
“Someone named Delores,” he said.
“Delores?!” Nigel said suddenly. “You mean the trumpet girl?”
Kermit's eyes widened as he put two and two together.
“Let me look,” he said, returning his gaze to the piece of paper. After a few moments, he looked back to Nigel with a stunned expression on his face.
“It says she's a trumpeter. So it is her!”
Suddenly, Scooter poked his head out from the edge of the stage right curtain.
“First act is ready to go on, chief,” he declared. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, yes, show her in!” Kermit replied with enthusiasm.
Scooter vanished as quickly as he had arrived. Kermit sighed a bit, and looked back at Nigel, who dropped his voice to a whisper.
“That's impossible!” he hissed. “She quit at the end of the last season. Why on earth would she come back?”
“I don't know,” Kermit said worriedly. “It sounded like she was getting a high paying job, too.”
“And now she wants to be a trumpeter again,” Nigel replied. “But that's fine. I mean, you haven't filled her position yet, right?”
Kermit gulped and shook his head. He calm, relaxed demeanor had vanished in a matter of seconds, for a new problem had suddenly arisen. And it was a doozy.
“So you did hire someone?!” Nigel blurted out, now that he was as unsettled as Kermit.
“Well, not exactly,” Kermit said quietly. “The Electric Mayhem-”
A loud, squeaking noise suddenly filled the air, causing the two nervous Muppets to jump in surprise. They quickly realized the the stage curtains were being parted, and adjusted themselves in their seats quietly, so as to appear calm and professional.
“Leave her to me, Kermit,” Nigel whispered hurriedly. “I know her better than anyone in the theater.”
Kermit nodded, and turned his attention back towards the stage. The curtains were now fully parted, revealing the trumpet player in question. She was a lavender-skinned woman, with a bob of blond hair covering her head. She was seated on a wooden stool in the middle of the stage, trumpet in hand, with a music stand positioned in front of her. The woman looked up from the stand to stare at the pair at the foot of the stage, beaming.
“Hello Nigel, Kermit,” she said in a high, pleasant voice. “Short time, no see.”
“Nice to see you too, Delores,” Nigel replied, returned the smile as best he could. “I thought you found a new job?”
“I did,” Delores said, changing her expression to a frown. “But I...I had to leave it. So now I'm back here. Would you like me to play something for you?”
“Well-”
“Um, Delores,” Kermit said suddenly, interrupting Nigel. “I have some bad news...”
Delores blinked in confusion. “What is it?” she inquired.
“While you were gone, the Electric Mayhem...you remember them, don't you?”
The trumpet girl rolled her eyes.
“Yes, I remember them, Kermit,” she huffed. “It hasn't been that long.”
“Ok, good. Just checking,” Kermit said.
He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, preparing to deliver the news. Kermit noticed that Nigel was shooting daggers at him (figuratively of course), but tried not to think about it. He would deal with the conductor later.
“The Electric Mayhem found themselves a new trumpet player. He's going to be working full time, which means he'll be playing in the orchestra as well.”
Delores appeared shocked. But her surprise quickly turned to anger, and Kermit and Nigel braced themselves for the impact.
“What do you mean “The Electric Mayhem chose their trumpet player?” I thought Nigel was the one in charge of replacing me?”
“Well, I was,” Nigel grumbled. “But Kermit here-”
“It was my fault, Delores,” Kermit sighed. “The band wanted to pick the next trumpeter, so I let them. I mean, I'm really sorry. I didn't know that you would come back so soon...”
Delores glared at him.
“Humph. I would have thought you'd go about it in a more professional way, Kermit,” she muttered.
The trumpet girl got up off her stool, and tucked her music stand under her arm, preparing to walk offstage.
“I'm really sorry about this,” Nigel said as she started to walk away. “Maybe next time...”
But Delores didn't hear him, and was gone in a matter of seconds without saying a word or even bothering to look at him. Nigel groaned and looked at Kermit, glaring at him.
“Now you've done it, frog,” he grumbled.
“She would have found out eventually!” Kermit defended. “I just didn't want to delay it too long.”
Nigel gave his companion a long, hard look, before getting up out of his seat. He walked around to the side of the stage, climbed some stairs to get on it, and vanished backstage. Kermit sighed in exasperation.
“What have I gotten myself into?” he moaned, covering his face with his hands.
Backstage, Delores pushed her way through a crowd of Muppets and performers, trying to make her way to the stage door. The trumpet girl had tears streaming down her face, revealing the pain she was in. She could hear people yelling at her, telling her to stop running, or to watch where she was going, but their shouts fell on deaf ears. Delores simply didn't care, and continued to run until she reached the door. But she didn’t open it, instead she leaned against it and rubbed her eyes on her sleeve, trying to remove any traces of her outburst.
She didn't blame Kermit or Nigel for the problem at all. In fact, she was more worried about what would happen to herself. Trumpet playing was really the only thing she had to offer, and being fired from her job had dealt a serious blow. Now the only place Delores really called home had replaced her, with someone unknown. The trumpet girl was devastated, but as she stood there at the door as the panicked thoughts raced through her mind, a plan started to form. A single light in the darkness. The chance of it being successful was incredibly slim, but she had to try it, even if it wouldn't work.
Quietly, Delores opened the metal door, and slipped outside, shutting it behind her with a small click. No one noticed her leave.
To be continued...