The Game of Games

The Count

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To answer your questions...

1 Gonzo, when he and Beaker returned from soaking their hands in cold water asked, "What did we miss?"
And as Denise has already been penalized, any question is a drink penalty, even if it's not about the game itself.
2 Mom created an account for us, and I went in to create my own profile... But Netflicks allows a maximum of three people/linked account members to watch a time. So if my mom, my aunt, and my second brother's girlfriend are all already in and watching something, I has to wait until one of them logs off.
 
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The Count

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Couple other things.

Sure, Wheel of Fortune isn't a board game per say, but there's such a thing as the "home edition" game. And since the gang's taking cards or elements from other games, that was the first thing I remembered from the game show Family Game Night that I could throw into the mix.

If Denise wants to get out of jail, she should do like they do on Cutthroat Kitchen, be resourceful girl. Tap the tops of the eggs to create an opening you can drink the yolks out of, but don't smash the shells too hard since you can use those as a bowl or cup to eat the other ingredients. :hungry:

Hope to read more from you soonish.
 

WebMistressGina

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Hi-ooooo! So I'm sure you're all looking forward to see what craziness our gang is gonna get up to in Level 3, but first, they'll handle another situation first...



Pre-level Toast


The last pre-level toast was extended to ten minutes and switched from light alcohol to that of hard alcohol. “This level is harder and darker,” Floyd responded, holding up his whiskey neat.

“Stuff is about to get real,” Piggy added, handing Kermit something that looked like cranberry juice, though Denise was well aware there was alcohol in it, vodka if she remembered correctly, and it certainly didn’t escape her notice that both the frog and the diva were drinking the same thing.

After the Grape Gobble fiasco and a few more rounds, Scientific Mayhem had made it to Level 2, however it couldn’t stop the Dark Alliance, as they got the needed second card to reach Level 3. Denise, who felt slightly sick at having eaten those brownie ingredients, had made sure to point out several infractions of the questions rule, though she didn’t do her own team any favors when she called out Kermit for his own earlier questions.

It had been hours since they had first arrived and while gameplay seemed to go fast, there were several time stoppages for Level 2 injuries and of course the pre-level breaks; all in all, Denise was getting tired, when it seemed the rest of the group was only getting drunker and more hyper. Kermit and Fozzie were of course feeling low – once again, SoCo looked to be the losing party in this game and nothing she said seemed to rally them. “Denise,” Fozzie began, placing a friendly hand on her shoulder. “I don’t think you know what you’re getting into. Level 3 is not for the faint of heart; there’s a reason we call the level ‘harder and darker’.”

“It is not,” Kermit replied, throwing back the rest of his drink. He then faced the others, getting their attention. “Alright, here are your Level 3 rules – firstly, anything that is said during this level, between the people involved in the game, is not to be mentioned outside of this house. Secondly, anyone pulling the ‘emotional battery’ card has one week to put aside what was said behind them, work it out, move past it, yeah?”

“Wait,” Denise interrupted. “I don’t understand.”

“In Level 3,” Floyd explained. “There are two challenges – emotional battery or public humiliation. In emotional battery, the team member who picks the card has to withstand a verbal evisceration for two minutes by the other team; in public humiliation, the team member has to act out the suggestion on the card, in public. And before you ask, yes, there are all plays in both categories.”

“We changed the rules for emotional battery so that we aren’t mad at each other for long periods of time,” Kermit continued. “For example, the first and only time SoCo has made it officially to Level 3, Piggy pulled emotional battery and well, for lack of better words, I tore her apart. I mean, really deep to the core, personal stuff. In her defense, she held it together, but we…we didn’t talk to each other for like four, five months.”

“Well, to be fair, you were in the hospital for two of those,” Piggy added.

Denise just looked at them. “So what you’re saying,” she whispered. “Is that for the last level of this game, you all sit around and…and…berate each other?”

“Well,” Kermit huffed, uncertainly. “When you say it like that, it sounds horrible.”

Was he being serious?

Because it is horrible!” she exclaimed. “I thought you all were friends!”

“We are friends,” Scooter said.

“Friends don’t berate each other for entertainment!”

“Yes, they do,” Gonzo replied, looking at her. “And we especially do. C’mon, we’re entertainers and have been for like…forever. If we can’t take a little criticism from each other, how the heck are we supposed to take the stuff the tabloids or anyone says about us?”

Denise was literally flabbergasted. “Kermit, can I see you in the living room for a second, please?”

The group watched as the marketing manager walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, before the others turned to look at the frog. “You are in trouble,” Floyd stated.

“I am not trouble.”

“Oh my god, you are so in trouble,” Piggy whispered back.

“Look, we can just burn your flag right now,” Gonzo suggested. “It’s clear you are totally going to forfeit.”

Kermit started to respond, but decided it would better if he went out to the living room first. “Do not burn our flag,” he hissed, as he hurried out.

“You know what?” Fozzie said. “I don’t need Kermit. I can take it; I can bring glory to SoCo.”

“Yes, you can, Foz,” Janice agreed. “Just not tonight. You are going to go down if you try.”

Despite his words to the others, Kermit was very aware he was most likely and definitely in trouble by the way Denise seemed to be waiting for him, anxiously. “Hey babe,” he replied, going over and placing a flipper on her shoulder. “Alright?”

“Kermit, can we please just leave?” she asked. “The rain has stopped, so we aren’t stuck here anymore...”

“You wanna leave?” he asked, looking at her in surprise. “You feeling sick? It was the brownie mix, wasn’t it? Look, don’t tell the others if it was because they will never let me live it down and they’ll insist on bringing the actual brownie back...”

“It’s not the brownie,” she interrupted. “Though yes, I’m not feeling particularly well after eating a milk carton full of brownie mix.”

“Which was ingenious, I might add,” Kermit said. “I’m pretty sure it’s cheating, but no one else noticed, so yay for us, though it may have better used to move us up a level. Not that I’m judging!”

“Kermit!” Denise insisted, grabbing a hold of him by the shoulders. “I want to leave because of the game! It makes no sense and quite frankly, it’s dangerous and debilitating. I’m surprised you would even participate in something so…so…heinous!”

“Heinous?” the frog questioned. “That’s a bit harsh. Besides, it’s just a game. It’s a friendly game, that’s all.”

“Kermit,” the manager sighed. “If you had the choose between spending time with me or finishing this game, what would you choose?”

If he was honest, the question threw him for a loop. “I’m not sure that’s a fair question, to be honest.”

“By your own admission,” she began. “You said that SoCo didn’t have a chance to further the game and that you had already lost. If that’s the case, then what would be the point of staying if you know you’re going to lose?”

“Denise, it’s not…it’s not…” he stumbled. “It’s not entirely about winning or losing, it’s the gameplay and we’re totally enjoying ourselves!”

Denise just looked at him. “You tried to flip the game board over while Fozzie tried to throw up the grapes he accidentally ate,” she stated. “While I stood in a cage, that came from one of your best friends’ bedroom, eating the ingredients to a brownie. I won’t even mention the fact that both Gonzo and Beaker most likely have severe burns on their hands that should be looked at by a trained medical person, especially in discovering that you all are doing your own surgeries.”

Kermit looked at her. “Is this about Fozzie’s appendix? Because, I oversaw that and Piggy did remove his appendix; Fozzie’s just a little hypochrondriactic…”

“I’m leaving, Kermit,” Denise said, turning towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Kermit watched as his girlfriend walked out the door and dreaded going back into the kitchen. Standing in the living room, the frog tried to figure out where exactly this night had gone wrong. Yes, in hindsight, their Game of Games wasn’t for most people; actually, it wasn’t much for most of them and it did always seem that the same people played all the time…but that didn’t mean anything! It just so happened that the conception of the game had occurred when he, Fozzie, Gonzo, and Piggy were stuck inside during a storm.

Bringing in Scooter wasn’t an issue and the Scientific Mayhem seemed to have easily gotten into the game…okay, so perhaps only the eight of them enjoyed the game, but so what? They always enjoyed themselves!

At least until tonight. It wasn’t a good sign when he couldn’t tell when his girlfriend managed to be unhappy while he was in the room; it was a scenario he had been through before and he had hoped to avoid with this new one. Which…was…not working out as well as he had hoped.

Feeling a bit dejected, Kermit slowly made his way back into the kitchen, surprised to see that the others had been patiently waiting for him to return. “Well?” Piggy asked.

“Denise had to leave,” he began. “I don’t think eating that brownie batter agreed with her.”

“Okay,” Fozzie said. “That’s fine. No offense, Kermit, but Denise was costing us a lot of drink points. Now that she’s gone, we can soldier on through. You with me, brother?”

The frog opened his mouth to say something before making a grimace. “No,” he said, causing the comic’s face to drop and the others to protest. “Look, guys, Denise brought up some good points, one being that we’ve essentially lost this game. There probably isn’t any reason to finish it, to be honest.”

“What?”

“Oh come on!”

“You guys are so close!” Janice explained.

“Gonzo and I totally cheated earlier,” Piggy admitted. “During Level 1, so hey! Guess what? You move up to Level 3! Awesome!”

“Don’t try to sway me,” Kermit muttered, though he couldn’t help but be a little annoyed that his girlfriend’s words were about to cost him and Fozzie their first and most likely, only win. “And Denise is right – it is a little weird for us to be sitting around and you know…berating each other.”

“Oh my god!”

“It sounds like your lady talking, Frog.”

“You gonna carry her purse, too?”

“Hey watch it…”

“No, no,” Gonzo replied. “Don’t you worry, Mr. Denise, we have learned our lesson, thank you very much.”

“You’re making me want to set fire to our own flag, Kermit,” Fozzie admonished.

“Don’t you dare!” Kermit exclaimed. “Look, I’m not gonna get into this with you guys and I’m not about to be put in a position where I have to choose between my girlfriend and my friends.”

“Certainly been there before,” Piggy quipped.

“Yeah well,” the frog huffed. “You certainly made it easier. Everyone’s afraid of you.”

Again, a chorus of denials erupted. “We are not afraid of her,” Gonzo insisted. “We’re afraid of the hospital bills that would rack up should we run afoul of that left hook. Thems is not so cheap anymore.”

Rolling his eyes, the frog let out a sigh. “I’m going home,” he said, turning towards the kitchen door.

“You can’t go home,” Scooter protested. “We’re in the middle of a game.”

“Then we’re forfeiting.”

“Bite your tongue!” the comic cried.

“You are not forfeiting,” Piggy announced. “We’ll just pause the game until such time you come to your senses.”

“I have come to my senses,” Kermit huffed. “And my senses are saying that this game is…way too dangerous and I will have no part of it. Good day to you all.”

“You can’t possibly be serious,” Floyd said, at his retreating back.

“I said good day!”


[hr]


The next morning, the skies were still dark but the clouds seemed to be holding back the rain. The weather seemed to be dictating the mood of everyone on the set, with irritability at an unusual high. Denise had walked into work with the hope of mending fences with Kermit; it had been a lonely and sad night for the manager. She had hoped Kermit would have called or come over, but it was not to be; in hindsight, she wondered if her words had been too harsh. After all, their little creative game seemed to be something they had been playing for years, if evident that Kermit’s nephew had once been involved with it.

She regretted the stance she had taken, especially when she had been quite eager at playing earlier in the night. It wasn’t even the gameplay that had interested her, it was the bonding with her boyfriend’s friends, the people that had known him far longer than she had; admittedly, she knew she didn’t need to be friends with them, but working with them on a daily basis meant they would be in close proximity and it would make their lives so much easier if she was cordial and friendly with each of them.

Certainly, with the way they hung around each other, Denise knew that large engagements would feature his friends and coworkers and the marketing manager had wanted to be or at least attempt to be the good girlfriend that got along with them. It was clear towards the end of the night that she had erred, either by leaving or by saying what she had, had probably hurt Kermit in the process, and that wasn’t what she had wanted. True, she didn’t understand their odd game, but it was clear it was a game between friends that had known each other far longer than they knew her.

She had decided by bedtime that she was going to make it up to him and she had a pretty good idea how.


[hr]


The rest of week continued to be rainy, with scattered showers throughout the state and flooding in a few cities. By the weekend, the forecast looked to be more of the same, though the sun looked to be running by the middle of next week. During that week, Denise had made good on her promise to ensure her boyfriend knew the fun the two of them could have, playing games together.

And that’s what they did – the marketing manager had invited the frog over for dinner and presented him with fun, family favorites that they could both enjoy. Kermit wasn’t a hard guy to figure out and Denise understood that and she felt that she needed Kermit to see that she did get him and appreciated him. She kept her feelings on his friends – that at times, many times, they were a horrible influence on him and could exploit him for their own benefits – to herself and instead showed him how they could have a delightful evening to themselves, without the others around.

Kermit even did his best to completely ignore all the text messages he seemed to be getting – “Aw dang, that is a good idea. We never thought of that before.” – and concentrated on the games before them. They played Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Scrabble, and even Clue; games that were easily played with two people, which didn’t need to include the others; she had even invited her own circle of friends over to play. Kermit had only met them a few times and he was always cordial to them, but as with her, he didn’t really seem to fit in with them.

In fact, their week of playing games with each other seemed to expose their relationship to aspects they may have blinded themselves to.

It started during Monopoly, when he questioned why she would not outright buy Broadwalk when she landed on it and carried on to Scrabble, where he seemed about a quarter of the way invested into the game. Even during Pictionary, a game that should be lively in its creative endeavors, Kermit seemed as though he was just playing along for her sake, which she guessed he was. She may have anticipated this, if they had been a couple long lived together, but this was happening after just a few short months.

She couldn’t help but look over their months together, seeing a growing pattern that she had either overlooked or refused to acknowledge. Lasting relationships often were held together because the two individuals involved meshed together, blended together well, because they worked as a team. They each brought something to the table that the other lacked and that was why they were so successful.

After all these months together, Denise had sadly realized that she did not have that with Kermit.

Kermit and Fozzie had that chemistry, the straight man to the always trying comedian; Floyd and Janice had it, the cynic and the sunshine kid; and she was loathe to admit it, but Kermit had it with Piggy. She had never understood how someone so obvious volatile in nature could come together with someone as patient as Kermit. But working on the show had proved that even Kermit had his limits and most of the time, those limits were reached by the very people he worked with. She had seen with her own eyes that Kermit and Piggy had some remarkable chemistry between them, that even the worst of arguments and the seemingly finale of their relationship couldn’t erase, not fully.

Denise remembered the joy on her frog’s face as they played their so-called Game of Games, even with the idiocy and danger, he had fun playing; she couldn’t remember him having that look when playing with her. She felt horrible at the realization, that Kermit was bored with her, but at the same time, ironically, she felt that maybe Kermit held too much excitement for her. It wasn’t that he was a big star or that he knew big name celebrities – Kermit was very much a down home kinda frog – it was the people he hung out with; anyone else would be completely overwhelmed with the amount of chaos that occurred every day and the frog just rolled with the punches, as though it was a regular Tuesday.

In one night, one point of what should have been a normal game night, had shown Denise that she was not that type of person. More importantly, she didn’t think she could continue to date that kind of person.
 

The Count

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Yay for fic update. Yes, I'm more or less usually up this late on a Monday night, moreso now while DST is not in effect and all my TV shows are pushed back an hour later. Rully liking the new addition of Lucifer on Fox, hope to get back with Sleepy Hollow on Fridays.

Anyhew... Seems like there are some deeper realizations taking place here much like they're starting to take place on the show. Which makes me a little sad. Maybe I'm weird for thinking and saying this out loud, but I like the Kermit+Denise ship. My mind is basically spinning this narrative where the Up Late writers were trying to come up with ideas for the actual show, and they landed on the power couple's brake-up, and just bringing in a new face into the story that would end up being a disposable oneshot character they could easily discard at the end of the day because you know we're going to get Kermit and Piggy back together again again again anyway.

Sorry for the rant, please post more fic when possible.
Oh, and feel free to swing by HVC with :wink: and :eek: if you get the chance, Apt 6 has been set aside in your name.
 

WebMistressGina

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Anyhew... Seems like there are some deeper realizations taking place here much like they're starting to take place on the show. Which makes me a little sad. Maybe I'm weird for thinking and saying this out loud, but I like the Kermit+Denise ship. My mind is basically spinning this narrative where the Up Late writers were trying to come up with ideas for the actual show, and they landed on the power couple's brake-up, and just bringing in a new face into the story that would end up being a disposable oneshot character they could easily discard at the end of the day because you know we're going to get Kermit and Piggy back together again again again anyway.

Sorry for the rant, please post more fic when possible.
Oh, and feel free to swing by HVC with :wink: and :eek: if you get the chance, Apt 6 has been set aside in your name.
So I thought I'd answer this first before I give the new post, yeah?

I've said it before - the breakup was a gimmick and I'm sure it was to make the show more 'adult-ish'. Why? Probably cause people break up all the time and move on. The problem with this is that, Kermit and Piggy always find their way back to each other. ALWAYS.

No one, in the world, was happy about this breakup and worse, when Denise was introduced, she wasn't utilized very well. In a normal sitcom (or any other show) when the established couple breaks up and the new person is introduced, the new person is at least around for a couple of episodes, if not a season (if that new person is more than a date).

I'll use HIMYM as a perfect example - main couple Marshall and Lily broke up and though we saw more of Marshall's dating, they eventually got back together. Ted & Robin (and even Barney & Robin) got together, then broke up, then got back together again, but during the break up (especially with Ted and Robin), they both had serious relationships before they got back together.

Another example would be Star Trek TNG - Riker and Troi were no longer a couple when they were assigned to the Enterprise and through all 7 seasons (and 2 movies), they dated other people with a serious relationship between Troi and Worf until Insurrection when they got back together.

With that all said, yes, I would've liked to have seen Denise way more and see just what it is that Kermit liked about her (other than she's nice and geeky) and what it is that's turning him off (which I can't believe is just because he's spending time with Piggy). I really hope/hoped to see a situation like the above examples, where the two explore their friendship before they get back together, maybe even Piggy dating someone close to Kermit (I really would like either Gonzo or Scooter to be honest; there was a stray idea of Link at one point) just to reinforce the idea that 1. they can easily have romantic relationships with other people, 2. that their friendship gets started and straightened while doing so, and 3. that when they reignite their relationship, they know where they went wrong and they've learned from it and they won't do it again.

Now, I will totally admit that should Kermit drop Denise at say, the end of this season and - knock wood - they come back for season 2 and K & P are dating again, then yes, I would have a problem with that cause it would gloss over the whole reason K & P broke up in the first place, Piggy coming to grips that her behavior contributed to that, and what they SHOULD show is Kermit's part in that break up as well. Of course, that doesn't mean I want to see the typical 'will they/won't they' plot line, which is boring and at this point, I just want them - read: Kermit - to just say, you know what? This is dumb, let's just do this!

IF IF IF this thing goes past season 1, I'd really like to get through...3 or 4 seasons where they find their way back to each other and you know what? I would be a-ok with a season/series finale wedding (but only if it stuck. If we got a movie where they got divorced or it was all a dream, I'd be very upset)

Okay, that was a long rant.

BTW - um...where do I find the HVC? I don't know where it tis.:confused::confused::eek::eek::cry::cry:
 

The Count

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The HVC 2011 thread is in the Games section of the forum. It's been tagged with the 2011 label since that long ago because, admittedly, I dunno how to verifiably close threads here any more unless it's to delete them and we certainly don't want that.

Seems like Kermit and Piggy are refinding their friendship. As an example, I give you from this past week when Kermit was trying to help Piggy deliver her socially conscious message without bowing down to the network pressures, and he was the first to unveil his faux tail in solidarity with Piggy. It led to a nice backstage moment between them afterwards, though cut short by Piggy checking the current tweets.
As for Gonzo, he's in a cliffhanger now that Camilla came back at the end of last episode, we'll have to wait and see. Oh, and I have it on good authority that Robin will be in next week's show.
 

WebMistressGina

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And now, without further delay, I give you our conclusion! It's a little heavy at the beginning (continuing from our last portion), but we're back to our game towards the end, where we learn more about how the rules are decided, what happens when the game is paused, why the name has still yet to be decided, and our games conclusion!

*FYI - while the show Piggy is watching doesn't exist, the ones they are based on due and sadly, I can't find them anywhere. I know, and why this is later than I wanted, is because I spent most of the morning looking for them.*



Kermie
: Risk. Or Stratego.

Piggy: Most people would just say ‘hey’

Kermie: I’m talking about the game. Had an awesome idea. Actually, I’m just gonna come over.

Piggy: How do you know I’m not busy?

Kermie: Are you?

Piggy: …Well, not anymore.

Piggy was enjoying the start of her weekend by catching up on her new favorite show, Ultimate Game Show Show, a popular Japanese game show in the same vein as Ultimate Banzuke or Ninja Warrior. Why the diva had taken to the show, with its ridiculous stunt rounds and even weirder prizes, she didn’t know but she was hooked and she couldn’t look away. She had ordered a pizza and had just sat down to start her marathon when her phone had gone off, alerting her to Kermit’s text.

The frog was not known to text – in fact, several times he had been adamant about not texting – so it was strange, not unusual, to get not one but several messages from him. Even more was the fact that within five minutes, said frog was walking through her door, holding a bag. “What’re you doing here?”

Kermit gave her a look. “I told you I was coming over,” he said.

Piggy sighed before rolling her eyes. “Usually when people say they are coming over,” she began. “They at least give a twenty minute heads up.”

Holding up the bag in his hand, he said, “And here I brought you ice cream. You have dinner yet?”

Just as she was about to answer, there was another knock on the door, signaling that her pizza had arrived. Standing, she directed the frog towards the kitchen to put away his ice cream while she went to go pay for what would most likely be their dinner. Kermit had just finished putting the container of chocolate brownie bits into the freezer when Piggy carried the pizza box to the kitchen, placing it on her dining table.

“Whatcha got there, baby?”

“It’s a pizza.”

“I can see that,” the frog said, giving the diva a smile, and opening the box. “That’s a good looking pizza. What kind is it?”

“As vous can see,” Piggy replied. “It’s a veggie pizza.”

The two stood for a few more moments, both gazing at the pizza, or rather, Kermit was gazing at the pizza while Piggy gave him a sidelong look. “Sure looks tasty…”

Heaving an annoyed sigh, the diva pushed the frog towards the kitchen. “Grab two plates and another wine glass. As well as your choice of whites. Actually, just bring the whole bottle.”

Doing as told, Kermit brought over plates, a glass, and a bottle of the white wine Piggy normally kept in the fridge for him – he was usually the only one who drank it – and the two proceeded to take their dinner to the living room, where Piggy unpaused her show as they sat down.

“What the heck are you watching?” Kermit asked, watching as a contestant began to go through a steps of alternating height on his hands.

“Ultimate Game Show Show,” came the response.

“What?”

“It’s a Japanese game show,” Piggy stated, as though that explained everything. “That should explain it. In fact, we should all just totally sit down and watch this, cause…I’m thinking we could put some of these to good use for the game. Like this? This is the Hand Walk, where contestants have to walk these steps on their hands. Very few people finish the level, like no one ever finishes the level, but can’t you see this as a level 2 event?”

Kermit was about to protest, but conceded that the idea had merit. “Okay,” he said, biting into his slice. “I could go with that, except for one thing. Fozzie and I can’t stand on our hands.”

“Then you should probably start learning how.”

“There’s also the issue of this not being a board game.”

“Details,” Piggy said, waving off the concern. “Speaking of which, what’s this think about Risk and Stratego?”

Kermit began to lay out his idea of adding in the game plays of the popular strategy games into their own concocted game play. The current episode of Ultimate Game Show Show finished and was starting up the next episode when Piggy asked, “So are you going to tell me why you’re really here?”

Kermit glanced at her. “I told you,” he said. “I wanted to tell you my ideas about the game.”

“Which you could have done over the phone,” she retorted. “You coming over means there’s something wrong.” Turning to look at him, she continued with, “Or you want something. And seeing as I fed you…”

“Do I honestly need a reason to see you?” Kermit asked, exasperated, huffing when he saw that she had raised a slim eyebrow in his direction. “Newsflash – I actually do this with Fozzie and Gonzo or Rowlf; you know, my other best friends?”

Piggy snorted. “You’re saying I’m your best friend now?”

“You’ve always been one of my best friends,” he insisted. “You might actually be my best friend.”

“Okay, that’s enough…” she chuckled.

“Piggy, I’m serious.”

“Are you?”

The two looked at each other for a long moment. “You don’t think you’re my best friend?”

“You really think I am?” she countered.

Looking at her in surprise and surprisingly, hurt, Kermit whispered, “Piggy, no one knows me better than you. I thought you knew that.”

The joking atmosphere dropped immediately, as Piggy realized that this was actually a serious conversation. “You’re really serious,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Kermit, I…no, I didn’t know that.”

Kermit went to say something before stopping. Her not knowing about how much he cared – how he had always cared – was his fault; he always had trouble expressing his feelings with her, that is to say feelings that weren’t related to being annoyed, irritated, angry…

“Of course you’re my best friend,” he whispered. “And I’m sorry I hadn’t bothered to mention it until now. And yeah, I did come over because…I need your advice on something and you’re the only person I think can help.”

“Well when you say it so excited like that, I can’t help but be intrigued,” she quipped. “What’s on your mind, Frog?”

Kermit sighed, leaning back against the back of the couch. “Denise,” he whispered. “Or rather, she isn’t. On my mind, that is.”

“Oh, that’s not true,” she said, poking him in the side. “Or else you wouldn’t be here.”

Again, the frog sighed. “Do you think she’s right?” he asked. “About out ‘game’? I mean, it’s not like other board games…”

“Of course not,” she replied. “Or else it wouldn’t be ours. And it’s just a game and one we’ve been playing for literally decades. We’re big boys and girls and we know how handle ourselves; yes, the rules probably only make sense to us, but we’ve played it, twenty-seven I might add, so we have it down pat. Denise’s resistance is cause she doesn’t play it, doesn’t know the…loving care we take in playing it…” Giving the frog a look, she asked, “This isn’t just about Denise and our game, is it?”

“No,” he muttered. “Yes. Maybe. I just…Piggy, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t think I can a normal life.”

“Darling,” she cooed. “You live in Hollywood. Whatever made you think that was normal?”

“Touché,” he chuckled. “I don’t mean that, I mean…sitting at home, playing board games…it’s boring. It’s so boring.”

Grinning, Piggy asked, “I take it you and Denise played some…standard gaming fare, this week?”

“Yeah,” he said, unhappily. “All week, me and her, me, her, and her friends…utterly mundane, utterly normal, utterly boring.”

“You do know that you two don’t have to share the same tastes or even the same friends, don’t you?”

“I know that,” he huffed. “But it’s so much more…simpler when we do. I mean, if I were ‘Brazilian Spider Monkey’ you’d know exactly what I meant.”

And she did, which is why she couldn’t stop chuckling. “That…” she giggled. “Was an unfortunate situation.”

“Hey,” Kermit said, sternly, or rather he tried to, but couldn’t help his own giggles. “That monkey broke Gonzo’s heart.”

“And his leg,” Piggy laughed. “And his arm.”

The two couldn’t help but laugh over the incident, which had also been hilarious at the time, though they had done their best to reign in their amusement around said stunt weirdo. “Ok…ok,” Kermit gasped. “This is serious! Piggy, I mean it, this is serious now.” They both tried to calm their giggles, however looking at each other caused another round of laughter until they were both panting on the couch.

“I don’t have this kind of fun with Denise,” the frog admitted, giving his ex a very earnest look.

Shaking her head, she said, “Don’t say that.”

“It’s true.”

“Kermit,” Piggy whispered. “You can’t expect to have what we did with her, because believe me…it will not work.”

“I…I know that.”

“Do you?”

“Yes,” he sighed. “I do, I just…I’m starting to think that we have nothing in common.”

“That’s not exactly a newsflash.”

Giving her a look, Kermit groused, “Not you and me; I meant Denise. And…despite what others may say, we – as in, you and me – actually, do have a lot in common. Maybe that’s the problem.”

“Kermit,” the diva said. “Nothing says you have to have everything in common with your girlfriend. So the two of you don’t spend your Friday nights playing board games; let her do her thing and you do yours, meaning you come over and play Game of Games. Moi is sure the two of you have more in common than your preference to board games.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to say that their different choices in board games was just the tip of the ice berg when it came to things they didn’t have in common; in fact, it had come as bit of a surprise to Kermit when he actually thought about how few things they did have in common and he was disheartened to realize that those things just weren’t enough to keep a relationship afloat. He wasn’t sure where he was supposed to go from there, though he knew the answer was obvious but he was just afraid of having to actually go through it.

Ultimately, he would most likely find himself back here – probably sooner than later – to get a final verdict on what he should do, but that was for another time. Instead, as was his way when he got nervous, he changed the subject back to the weird show they had watching in the background; luckily, the event of the ‘form bridge’ caught both of their attentions until they had managed to get through until three episodes before Kermit felt he should call it a night.

“Merci,” he said, standing from the couch. He started to make his way towards the door, waving off her motion to walk him to it. Instead, he stood behind her before draping his arms around her neck. “For dinner and…for the advice.”

Giving him a soft smile, she shrugged slightly. “That’s what friends are for,” she joked.

“And you’re the best of them,” he said, delivering a kiss to her cheek. Standing, he gave her shoulders a slight squeeze. “You can keep the ice cream. Gonzo’s tomorrow?”

“Why?” she asked, turning to look at him.

“We have a game to finish.”

“You’re unpausing?”

“Unpausing and…most likely, an admin session,” he said. “I wanna talk to the guys about adding in those games and…I’m…reconsidering the whole brownie thing. With concessions!” He added, when Piggy gave him a look. “Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“With bells on.”

“I hope not,” he quipped. “Cause that did not go over well last time.”


[hr]


11:25AM

SATURDAY MORNING


“Okay, so what do you think?”

As requested, the next morning saw the three teams of SoCo, Scientific Mayhem, and the Dark Alliance once again assembled at Gonzo’s house, getting ready for another game of the Game of Games or rather, they were hoping to finish their previous game from the week before. Kermit had just outlined his ideas for incorporating Risk and Stratego into their game play, added by Gonzo’s suggestions of Mastermind and Jenga or what he called ‘human Jenga’.

“I don’t see any problem with it,” Scooter replied. Both he and Janice were the official recorders of the rules and game play – in the past, they had both taken turns to make sure that the rules were not only written down, but updated should they ever change. The invention of mobile apps and tablets made the task of taking every rule, infraction, and score card into the modern age as Scooter took on the task of recording their rules into his tablet and cloud storage; it was probably better, as their overloaded and tattered binder had seen better days.

“Actually, while we’re at it,” Janice began, flipping the binder until she reached the page she needed. “The brownie?”

Kermit sighed. He had of course mentioned that he was rethinking the punishment for jail and that perhaps they bring back their pot brownie instead having to eat the ingredients. “I have conditions,” he began, sternly, pointing a finger at both Janice and Floyd. “More brownie than…whatever you’re putting in to it. And! Only one brownie and it has to be a decent sized brownie. Individual brownies, at that.”

“In our defense,” Floyd countered. “We didn’t know Bunsen would eat so many. Yes, we should have realized that would have been the ultimate conclusion, but we didn’t think he would actual crave brownies.”

“That was totally our bad,” Janice added. “We will totally shrink wrap the brownies. But you know, that does bring up a good point – perhaps we should an alternate in the case…brownies are forgotten.”

“Or ingested,” Floyd murmured.

“Or ingested.”

“Then we’ll go with the ingredients,” Kermit amended. “What’s next?”

“Should we bring up the name?” Scooter asked.

“Well, I don’t know,” Kermit said, crossing his arms. Glancing at Gonzo and then Beaker, he asked, “Should we?”

The actual reason they hadn’t officially given the Game of Games an actual name wasn’t because they couldn’t think of one – Gonzo had been correct that the original name had started with the team captains’ first names, however as Piggy pointed out, not only had the team captains changed, but so had the teams. Back before they had actually written down the rules and when it had only been made up by four people, Kermit and Piggy had been on a team – the Power Couple – while Fozzie and Gonzo had been on their own team – The Mezzianics, which meant the team captains had been Kermit and Gonzo; when the Scientific Mayhem was introduced to the game – this was when it had just been Bunsen, Beaker, and Floyd, the latter had switched back and forth as captains.

Since then, the teams had changed – with Piggy and Fozzie switching teams – and the name going through different iterations. The hold up – or arbitration as they now called it – hinged on Gonzo and Beaker. And it was a bitter divide – Gonzo wanted to keep the old name, while Beaker wanted it changed to You Blinded Me with Games and had even gone on a three-hour filibuster about the influence of the name (from the song She Blinded Me with Science) to how it related to their game play, and a host of other things.

Also crossing his arms, Gonzo replied, “I refuse to yield to the gentleman.”

Beaker had something to say about that.

“You take that back!” Gonzo exclaimed, trying to lunge for the red head.

“Okay, so arbitration is still in effect!” Kermit shouted, trying to bring order back to their conversation. “Anything left on the table?”

Everyone seemed satisfied with the new additions and rule corrections, so Piggy asked, “So…un-pause?”

“Wait,” Fozzie interrupted. “What do we do again when we un-pause? It’s been a while since we’ve had to pause a game.”

Both talent manager and guitarist flipped through their perspective rule books on what to do during a game pause, with Janice finding the rule first. “Here it is!” she called out. “Rule number 246 – in the case a game has to be paused, depending on the game play in progress, proceed in the following manner: if one or all teams are still on level 1, all teams advance to level 2. If one or more teams are on level 2, but one team is on level 1, that team advances to level 2. If one or more teams is on level 3, but one team is on level 2 or lower, all teams advance to level 3. In all of these cases, an all play must be chosen to determine the winner.”

“Well then,” Gonzo replied, throwing a look to SoCo. “Once again, you gentlemen find yourselves in the harsh world of level 3.”

“Should we start our pre-level ritual?” Floyd asked.

Looking up at the clock on the wall, Kermit made a grimace. “It’s almost 12:30,” he said. “I say we get lunch, finish the game, and…we’ll leave the rest of the day open.”


Level III – Spirit [re-do]

Emotional Battery and Public Humiliation


“Alright, cats,” Floyd said, pulling out one of the all plays that had picked out of the Level 3 card box. Turning the card around, he said, “Guess Who?”

Of all the cards that could have possibly been played, Floyd Pepper had to pick that one. Unlike it’s family friendly game reference, their version of Guess Who was guessing which one of them had taken a truth serum laced drink, depending on who made the drinks. At any other time, Rowlf would be in charge of distributing both truth serum and alcohol, but because Rowlf wasn’t with them, it fell to Floyd, who was known to pull a prank, even when drunk.

As part of their rules, should at any time Floyd, or Gonzo for that matter, happened to be playing bartender, whatever All Play was being done, it would be last man standing. In this case, all team members must blurt out a truth, usually an embarrassing one, in order to be counted out. And the drink of choice?

Everclear. The most potent alcohol ever.

For the first time, Kermit actually felt SoCo had a shot at winning – while he’d most likely lose Fozzie in the process, the comic couldn’t lie to save his life and he was even more truthful when he had been drinking, Kermit could pretty much keep a lid on it.

He of course had to fight against Gonzo and Piggy, who could be equally closed mouthed; as always, it came down to SoCo versus the Dark Alliance.


[hr]


An hour and several embarrassing and uncomfortable truths revealed later, Kermit and Fozzie watched as the Dark Alliance burned their flag.

It was Kermit’s fault, actually it was all Piggy’s fault and their recent conversation, that caused him to blurt out the most embarrassing thing he’d probably ever said during this game, not that he and Fozzie had ever gotten this far to actually play Guess Who, but with all the other things he’d done and said – even when he had raked Piggy over the goals, it had been more about her and not them per se – he had never said anything so personal outside of his chosen few.

Needless to say, not only did they all know that he and Denise were having a bit of trouble, they were now aware of just how far it went. As far as Kermit was concerned, that totally trumped Beaker’s weekend with Mildred Huxsetter, Wanda, and BD – though both Gonzo and Piggy were all in on hearing that story. “I’m much more interested in hearing this.” “Like, we don’t have time.” “We should totally make time. Like right now.” – it totally trumped Scooter’s admittance he had once had fantasies about Piggy and Janice, though he tried to throw in every female Muppet they ever knew on top of that and swore on his parents’ graves that he had completely and totally stopped around the age of twenty or what Fozzie had done to his girlfriend’s father’s prized roses – “I’m not sure if I should be angry or proud.” “Oh my god, proud. Totally proud!” – none of that mattered, really, in the end.

Because they still lost.

Piggy gave a happy little sigh, watching at the smoldering wreckage of the SoCo flag. “That was oddly gratifying,” she said. “Play again?”

If this was any other time or any other day, SoCo would have adamantly denied it, stormed off in a fit of anger and would never speak the words ‘Game of Games’ for months until the urge to redeem themselves, or boredom, took hold. Today however, Kermit wanted redemption after his faux paus and to be honest, he didn’t think he could head over to Denise’s with his current knowledge and mortification.

“Of course we’re playing again!” he exclaimed. “This time with the new additions.”

“That suits us just fine,” Scooter boasted. “Cause you suck at Risk. And I’m gonna enjoy mowing over your pieces like I normally do.”

“Well, if we get Battleship again,” Fozzie complained. “I refuse to be shot in the stomach. The last time I had a huge bruise that made it look like I painted a target on my belly.”

“Then maybe you should start wearing pants,” Piggy admonished.

You start wearing pants!”

The group started going through their routine, setting up the game board, pulling out the first aid kit, calling Rowlf…

And the war continued.



THE END
 

WebMistressGina

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The HVC 2011 thread is in the Games section of the forum. It's been tagged with the 2011 label since that long ago because, admittedly, I dunno how to verifiably close threads here any more unless it's to delete them and we certainly don't want that.
Good to know! I didn't even know we HAD a games section...

Seems like Kermit and Piggy are refinding their friendship. As an example, I give you from this past week when Kermit was trying to help Piggy deliver her socially conscious message without bowing down to the network pressures, and he was the first to unveil his faux tail in solidarity with Piggy. It led to a nice backstage moment between them afterwards, though cut short by Piggy checking the current tweets.
That's good!

As for Gonzo, he's in a cliffhanger now that Camilla came back at the end of last episode, we'll have to wait and see. Oh, and I have it on good authority that Robin will be in next week's show.

O. M. G

I had recently been playing around with the idea of a teen Robin coming to visit and discovering that 1. Kermit and Piggy have broken up and 2. Kermit is dating another pig. The idea would be that Robin wouldn't be happy - as any teen would react - and he'd run away and it would be Piggy that not only found him, but would talk him into coming home and bringing him there.

It would work as a Robin having to get used to his uncle dating someone else, Piggy showing her soft side - which I always thought she had for Robin especially - and showing that it's clear, to Denise at least, that Kermit still has feelings for the diva.

Now I'm intrigued to see how that episode plays out. Is Robin a one time deal or will we see him in a few episodes? I mean, if you can make Rizzo and Yolanda and Deadly featured players, why not Robin?

And Count, my Count, as you can see, I is all finished! My next goal is Bogen, cause 2 Ball is still very very long. I told you, there's a bachelorette party and a wedding and a reception to get through, so...very long!
 

The Count

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Sorry to reply to this late.

Dunno if Robin will be a one-episode appearance or more, I'd guess the former, but since I is visually impaired it's always possible he could show up in the background of the last three episodes in a silent cameo.
Trust me, since Robin's with Kathy (Katzi428) at HVC, he knows and has "accepted" his uncle dating Denise. Not sure if that's another contributing factor why Aunt Ru's staying away from the fandom for the moment besides her work, but we're all entitled a while of pursuing other interests from time to time. Heck, I get a bit of obsessive overload with my own little headcannon pet projects.
Good you finished this, when I have some more finished fics from other folks or just basically decide to do it I'll move yours and add this and Desert Delay as well. Look forward to whatever you've got next. :smile:
 
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