Destination: Home

[TogetherAgain]

Rest Stop Part II

Suddenly Floyd felt a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned to see who it was.

Janice.

He put his arm around her waist, she put her arm around his shoulders. They leaned on each other, both seeking comfort.

"I was just thinking about the show," He told her. She nodded.

"Rully. Like, we've gotta get back there."

He nodded. They stood together, with nothing to look at but stars.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The morning after Gina left, after Robin had gone to school, the rest of the boarding house piled into the Electric Mayhem bus and headed for the Muppet Theater.

As soon as they pulled up, Kermit could see work that needed to be done: the sign was falling off. He sighed. Well, that was why they were here. To see what needed to be done before they could start doing a show again.

"Okay, I'll be around soon to see what needs doing," he announced as they got off the bus. "In the meantime, everybody go take care of whatever it is you take care of."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he was being trampled by his friends, all eager to get back to the theater. When they had all passed, he stood up and watched the theater door slam shut behind them. "Sheesh!"

He went in and stopped by the ticket counter, where Pops already was.

"Pops, how are we doing on tickets?" he asked.

Pops looked at him. "Well, assuming we only fill half the theater, we've got enough for two nights."

Kermit folded his face. "Why didn't you just say we have enough for one night?"

"Because I wanted to make it sound like more."

"...Right. I'll order more tickets." And Kermit made his way into the theater house. Where he was immediately hit by a fish.

"Lew!" He shouted.

"Sorry, Mr. the Frog!" Lew Zealand said. "Tommy got a little carried away!"

Kermit handed the stray fish, apparently named Tommy, to Lew. "Well, tell Tommy to try to watch where he's going. Do you need anything before we start the new show?"

"Nope! I've got plenty of fish right here!" Lew patted his bucket.

"Oh good. I'll see you around, then, Lew." Kermit headed for the backstage area. That was where his attention was really needed.

"Hey boss, it's good to see you again!" Scooter greeted him. Scooter had recently reunited with his twin sister, Skeeter, and they were now living together.

"Good to see you too, Scooter. How's your sister doing?"

"Well, actually she's having some financial trouble. I was wondering if you could give her a job here."

Kermit looked skeptical. "I don't know. What can she do?"

Scooter leaned in as though telling a secret. "Kermit, what can anyone here do?"

Scooter had him there. "Good point."

"Hey, Kerm!" Clifford called as he walked over, "When do we start the show?"

"As soon as we can get the theater into shape, Clifford." Kermit said. "How are the lights looking?"

"Man, we've got more burnt out bulbs than my aunt's christmas tree. I think there's some faulty wires up there, too."

"Which ones?"

"Here, I'll show you." The three of them walked out onto the stage, where Beauregard was already sweeping.

"Hello, Kermit!" the janitor said.

"Hi Bo. Need any cleaning supplies?"

"No... I don't think so..."

"Good. Now Clifford, you were saying-"

"Oh Kermit?" Beauregard interupted. "Be careful on the stage. I think one of the boards is loose-y"

Kermit turned. "Which one?"

*crack*

"WOAH!"

Clifford stepped on the loose board and fell through the stage.

"Um... I think it was that one" Beauregard decided.

Kermit shook his head. "Sheesh. Well, thank you for telling me, Beauregard."

"You're welcome!"

Clifford crawled out of the new hole in the stage.

"Are you alright, Clifford?" Scooter asked.

He coughed. "Yeah. I'm-" he coughed again. "I'm fine."

They heard laughter coming from the balcony. They turned, knowing who they would see. Statler and Waldorf.

"Who called them?" Kermit asked Scooter.

Scooter shrugged. "I think they're still here from the last show."

Kermit called up to the old men, "does the balcony need any work?"

"Yes!" Statler cried

"Lots of it!" Waldorf agreed.

"What does it need?" Kermit asked.

Statler spoke slowly, as though giving very deliberate instructions. "It needs to be turned around, so that it faces AWAY from the stage!"

"Doh ho ho ho!" the men laughed.

Next Kermit went down to the cafeteria, where the Swedish Chef was at work.

"Need any ingredients, chef? How are you doing with supplies?"

The chef looked flustered. "Vell! I cuoold hefe-a iferytheeng thet I need. Bork bork bork! Boot it vuoold be-a a lut ieseeer tu keep it ell in stuck iff zeese-a rets vuoold stup ieteeng it ell!" He pointed furiously at Rizzo, who was taking a huge loaf of bread off the counter to eat.

"What? A rat's gotta eat, ya know!" He said.

Kermit tried to keep the peace. "Look, Rizzo, why don't you just-"

The chef was taking out his cleaver and waving it at Rizzo.

"Not now, frog-man, I gotta go!" and the chase was on. Kermit sighed and went to find Bunsen and Beaker.

"Hey Kermin!" Pepe stopped him, "What is this new pill the crazy scientists are making, hokay?"

"New pill?" Kermit's face fell. "I haven't heard anything about it."

"You should go see them, hokay! I could have sworn I heard them say it will make you sexy, hokay."

Kermit folded his face. "I'll look into that." He wasn't quite sure he believed the shrimp. Er, King Prawn.

He found "the crazy scientists" a few minutes later.

"Do you guys need anything?" He asked.

"Yes," Dr. Bunsen Honeydew said, "We are running severly low on several important chemicals.

"Mee mee mou moo!" Beaker agreed.

"Oh. Such as?" Kermit asked.

"Well, for one, we desperately need twenty moles of silicon tetrachloride." Bunsen said.

"Oh." Kermit had no idea what that was. "Uh, is that expensive?"

"Extremely."

"Oh dear. Um, what do you need it for?"

"I'm so glad you asked! You see, we here at Muppet Labs are developing a new pill, guaranteed to raise any body temperature by at least thirty degrees!"

Now Kermit understood what Pepe had been talking about. The pill would make you hot, which the prawn had thought to mean "sexy." Typical frame of mind for Pepe.

"Now then, my assistant Beaker will demonstrate!" Bunsen continued.

"Mee mee mou! Mee mee mee mee mee mee mee mee mou!"

"Come on, now, Beakie, take the pill!"

Beaker sighed, swallowed the pill, and followed it with a gulp of water.

"Now then, as you will see, this pill is perfectly harmless!" Honeydew explained.

Perfectly harmless? It didn't look that way. Beaker's eyes lit up, steam came from his head, and the usual meeps ensued.

"See? Perfectly harmless!" Bunsen repeated. "But unfortunately, the effects wear off very quickly."

"MEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEE!" Beaker had been pointing to a chart displaying the time effects of the pill, but his touch had set the paper on fire. He tried to smother the flame with the arm of his lab coat. The flame didn't go out, though- it just moved from the chart to the coat before quickly dying down to a mere ember.

"Oh dear," Bunsen said, "It would appear that Beaker needs a new lab coat, as well."

"I'll get right on it," Kermit said. He wandered back to his desk backstage right. First day back, and already he needed a break. He turned as the Swedish Chef ran behind him, still chasing Rizzo. They were headed for the stage.

The stage?

He shouted after them, "GUYS! WATCH OUT FOR THE-"

There was a crash as they fell through the hole. "Sheesh. I'll put that at the top of the list," he muttered. He heard them climbing out, starting up the chase fresh. He didn't bother to try and stop them- he heard other trouble coming. Specifically, it was coming out of a certain pig's dressing room.

"Kermie!" she called. "Kermie, my dressing room needs some remodeling!"

No it didn't. It had just been remodelled after the last show. The other dressing rooms had never been remodelled at all, and they were holding up fine. There was no way her dressing room needed to be remodelled.

"Uh, not now, Piggy. I've got a lot of stuff to take care of-"

"Frog, you will listen to me! Now. I was thinking a new vanity, oh, and that mirror is simply out of style! It has to go. I think a nice mirror from-"

He took a deep breath. "Piggy, not now."

"YES, NOW!"

"No, NOT now! Miss Piggy, I have other priorities. We can talk about your dressing room later."

Of course that was a big mistake. He knew better than to tell Miss Piggy that she wasn't his number one priority. She glared at him. Her words came out as almost a growl. "Put this at the top of your list," she warned him.

He couldn't afford to take this right now. He had a theater to run. So he kept it simple. "No."

She was quite visibly angry now. He knew he was in the danger zone. But as long as he didn't push things any farther, he should be able to get away without a karate chop.

"Fine!" She huffed, storming off towards the stage.

...the stage? Oh not again... "MISS PIGGY! WAIT!"

crash.

He rushed to the hole and helped her out. She stood there, a piece of floor board sticking out of her hair, with a look that should have made him burst into flame. She was absolutely furious.

But she couldn't get mad at him! Because now it was clear why he was being short with her, and he had even tried to warn her of the hole. She couldn't blame him for anything.

"That is at the top of my list," he said simply, plucking the board from her hair and turning back to his desk.

By the time Kermit got back to the house that night, he was downright exhausted. He plopped down on a chair near the piano, where Rowlf was playing a relaxing tune. It was just what he needed.

"Long day, huh." The dog said quietly.

"That's an understatement" the frog said.

Rowlf nodded. "Well, you knew it needed work." He tried to reassure his friend. "It'll be worth it," he said.

Kermit nodded sleepily. "I know it will. It just seems so overwhelming now." He shifted in his chair. "Do you need anything, Rowlf? For the show?"

Rowlf hesitated before answering, but his fingers never stopped moving. That had always amazed Kermit. "Well, the piano there could use a little tune up," he said.

Kermit nodded. "I'll take care of-"

"Don't worry about it, Kermit. I like an out-of-tune piano. Besides, you've got enough on your plate."

Kermit managed a tiny smile. "I'll put it at the bottom of my list."

Then Robin walked in. "Uncle Kermit?" he said meekly, "can I talk to you?"

"Of course, Robin." He pulled his nephew up onto his lap. "What's on your mind?"

Robin seemed a little nervous. "Well..."

"Yes?"

He took a deep breath. "Uncle Kermit, am I important?"

Kermit was shocked. Rowlf stopped playing. "Of course you're important, Robin." Kermit said. "Why on earth wouldn't you be?"

"Well, you didn't really pay much attention to me when I got to the theater after school today, and you won't let me read the script..."

Rowlf picked up the melody where he had left off. Kermit sighed. He tried to be tough for his nephew, but it was confession time.

"Robin, that script gave me nightmares last night. I don't want you to read it because it's very inappropriate for a frog your age. In fact, it's inappropriate for a frog any age. That has nothing to do with whether or not you're important. And as for today at the theater, well..." He hesitated. He had to admit, he had hardly noticed his nephew at all. Except of course for when he fell through the stage. It seemed everyone had done that today.

Rowlf eyed Kermit carefully. Robin sat, patiently waiting for his uncle to explain why he had been ignored. Finally Kermit sighed. "I'm sorry, Robin. I was really busy, and I wasn't really paying much attention to you. Do you forgive me?"

Robin nodded. "Yes, Uncle Kermit. I forgive you."

Rowlf nodded as he continued to play.

Then Fozzie came in the room. "Um, Kermit?" He was wringing his hat in his hands. "Telephone for you."

Kermit followed the bear into the kitchen. "It's Mr. Galt," Fozzie explained.

Kermit picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"What's this I hear that you don't want to do my movie?" Lloyd Galt sounded like he was angry enough to tear a car in half.

"I'm sorry, Lloyd. I explained in my message. We're not interested."

He heard a crash at the other end of the line. He could feel Lloyd's anger boiling through the telephone wires.

"You'll be sorry for this, Frog!" He shouted.

"Lloyd- Mr. Galt- please-"

click.

Kermit stared at the receiver in his hand.

Now what on earth was that supposed to mean?

 

[TogetherAgain]

Sorry didn't see this until after I posted more story!

And I realized the Dr. must be someone important,
but who is he?

Dr. Goelz= Dave Goelz= muppeteer= Gonzo, Zoot, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beauregard...

 

[The Count]

Ah... If we had that Cookie Monster "Satisfaction" or "Delicious" icon, I'd be using it now.
Got all caught up. Need the weekend to study for my last final of the semester, but I've got my own story scheme in mind in need of a bit of character additions. When I'm ready, I'll post my own fanfic.

But I rully love reading all the stories the rest of you guys post here on the boards.

 

[Beauregard]

Coolness! Am luving it! Will give a more detailed "luvign it" post soon.

 

[RedDragon]

Thanks Lisa I figured that, but I wasn't sure.
Anyway great story. Love it! Genius, pure genius!
Bravo! Tres Bien! And all that go stuff.

So on another note, when you going to kidnap me?

 

[TogetherAgain]

Count: I'm glad you're enjoying, and I'm looking forward to reading your fanfic.

Beau: Looking forward to the more detailed "luving it" post. (almost as much as I'm looking forward to the next installment of your fanfic... )

RedDragon: I'll kidnap you as soon as I figure out the voice lessons mom just scheduled for me, as well as when parents approve of a kidnapping, etc.

Everybody: Thank you for your comments, and look for some more story tomorrow!

Wait a second, it's after midnight here, so... look for some more story later today! (hey, it's all the same, right?)

 

[Fragglemuppet]

That was hilarious, Lisa, but then again I'm not really that surprised. You always make me crack up. The cameos were clever, as was the, "Who the heck is Bill?" line. I wonder how Gina will come in to the story later on.
By the way, is LLoyd Galt an anagram for something?? Don't tell us what it is, but I just had the feeling that since it is an uncommon name, and villeons usually had anagramed names, that's what it might be. Once again, I love it; please continue.

 

[TogetherAgain]

Rest Stop Part III (yes, three rest stop parts...)

"Bus is leaving!" Dr. Teeth called into the night.

Floyd and Janice turned and walked back towards the bus, joining the other muppets and taking the same seats.

All of them were tired. Kermit and Robin had given up on the spelling list, and everyone but Dr. Teeth was drifting in and out of sleep. Still, Floyd kept thinking back...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

They had planned for each day of the next few weeks to have the same structure: Get up, go to the theater, work till they dropped, go home, sleep. They had planned to keep doing that until the theater was ready for the show. But things didn't quite work out that way.

Because first thing the next morning, the phone rang. Kermit answered sleepily.

"Hello?"

"Have you changed your mind yet?" It was Galt.

"Lloyd, we gave you our answer already. It's not going to change. We're not interested."

Kermit could feel Galt's anger even more this morning than he had last night. "Frog... you will regret that." He said. "You'd better change your mind soon!"

click.

Kermit hung the phone up, deep in thought. Why did Galt keep insisting he change his answer? What did Galt have up his sleeve that he was so certain Kermit would regret saying no?

An hour or so later, the muppets were walking out the door to head for the theater. But as soon as they were on the porch, they stopped, uneasy, looking from the street to Kermit and back at the street.

A large blue van was parked in front of the boarding house. Leaning against it was Lloyd Galt, dressed in grey pants and a grey T-Shirt. Beside him were twelve other men, all dressed in grey pants and grey T-Shirts. The men said nothing, simply stood and watched the muppets. Their eyes never wavered. It was horribly unnerving.

"Come on, guys," Kermit whispered, nudging his friends towards the bus. "Let's just ignore them."

So the muppets boarded the bus, and Dr. Teeth started it up. They watched as Galt and his men loaded themselves into the blue van. The muppets faced forward in their seats, deliberately trying not to notice the van as the bus pulled away... and the van followed.

From then on, anywhere the muppets went, they could be sure that blue van filled with grey men would be just behind them. Every morning Kermit awoke to a phone call from Galt, asking if he had changed his mind. Every morning they were greeted by Galt and his men, silently watching their every move. Every afternoon, when they left the theater for lunch, twelve grey men followed as they walked along the street. Every evening, the blue van would follow them home, and sit in the street. Every evening, they were bombarded with phone calls- all of them from Galt. Every night, at precisely eleven o'clock, the van would pull away. After a month, Galt disappeared from the line of men, as he had returned to his home in Pine Springs, Texas. But the men stayed.

Kermit tried to hide as much of this as possible from Robin. He didn't want his nephew to worry, or to be afraid. The men didn't arrive until after Robin left for school each day, and they never followed Robin alone. But Robin was an observant young frog. He left for the theater with everyone else on the weekends, he came home with everyone else everyday, and he saw the van on the street through his window every night. He heard the phone calls every day. And he was scared.

They were all scared. Any one of the men looke like they could tear them apart without even trying. They were being stalked individually, they were being stalked as a group, they could never guarantee their own privacy. They were never alone.

Then one day, a couple of weeks after Galt had left, they had a slightly different schedule. Kermit had hired some men to lay some new carpet in the theater, so they had to leave much earlier than usual to stay out of the way. The left for lunch, and then simply went home. Lloyd's men followed, as usual.

The Electric Mayhem gathered in the family room, no intention to play.

"I can't take it anymore," Dr. Teeth said. "Those guys follow us everywhere!"

"Rully," Janice said, "Like, they're rully creepy looking."

"Yeah, they're creeping me out!" Floyd said.

"WEIRD MEN! WEIRD MEN!" Animal agreed.

Zoot nodded.

"You guys are sick of them too, huh?" another voice asked.

The band turned to see Rowlf sitting at the piano.

"Yeah, man..." Floyd strolled over and sat by the dog. "I'm sick of it."

Fozzie heard them talking and walked in. "Yeah. They're scary! I don't like it."

"Me either." Gonzo came in with Camilla, who clucked in agreement. "I mean, they're straaaaaaaaaaange."

The rest of the muppets stared at Gonzo. If anyone could call those men strange, it certainly was not him.

"What?" he said.

Then Miss Piggy came in. "Moi simply can not handle being watched in such an unpleasant manner," she said. This from the diva who loved being in the spotlight. Something was definately up in this house.

They looked around, all in agreement. They had had it. There was only one thing to do, and they all knew what it was. But none of them wanted to do it, so they sat in silence for several long minutes, each waiting for some one else to suggest it. Finally Fozzie spoke up.

"We should tell Kermit."

They turned and looked at the bear. They were a little relieved that some one had finally said something. But they were set even more on edge at the idea of actually approaching the frog. Because they didn't know what he woud say. They had two choices: do the movie, or disappear. Disappearing would take a bit of work. They would have to leave before the men came in the morning. And where would they go? Still, if the only other choice was to do that movie...

Kermit stood outside the door of the family room, just out of sight. He had been listening to every word they had said, and he knew they were right. Galt's men were simply unbearable. Something had to be done. Something... something...

He had been hoping they could decide something to do. Then he heard Fozzie's comment. They were turning to him. Kermit sighed. How was he supposed to know what to do? All he knew was that they couldn't do the movie. And how else would they rid themselves of the grey men? He didn't know what to do. But they were relying on him. They needed him.

He listened to the silence in the other room. Absolute total silence. He sighed again. That was his cue.

Kermit felt the tension triple in the room when he entered. He looked at his friends. Each and every one of them was looking at him, trusting him, waiting for some one else to say what was on their mind.

He could feel them watching him.

Their leader.

He tried to remember how he had been given the position of "leader". It had never been official. So when had it happened? He didn't know. Any way, it wasn't important now. Now they had a problem, and they were depending on him to fix it.

The tension mounted as the silence continued.

"Uh, Kermit..." Rowlf started...

"Yeah, um..." Floyd tried to help...

"Kermie? Um..." Miss Piggy made an attempt...

"Yeah, see Kermit..." Gonzo contributed.

Kermit looked at each of his friends as they spoke. At this rate, Beaker could have made him understand before they would say what they were trying to spit out. But they all fumbled.

"Kermit. We were thinking..." Fozzie said.

"I heard," he whispered.

The silence immediately returned. He had heard them.

"And?" Rowlf said.

Kermit looked at Rowlf. Then at his feet. And back to his friends. He might as well tell them the truth. It had gotten him this far.

"And I don't know."

And the silence came back again for a little while.

"We could leave," Gonzo finally said.

"Where would we go?" Fozzie asked.

"Well like, maybe we could just, like, wander around until they give up, maybe," Janice suggested.

Dr. Teeth smiled. "Like a cross-country tour!"

"Wouldn't they still follow us?" Miss Piggy asked.

"Not if we left early enough!" Floyd said.

"Yeah, that's right!" Gonzo said. "They don't come until after Robin leaves for school!"

"Robin..." Kermit thought out loud. He sat down in an armchair by Gonzo and Camilla. Everyone looked at him, waiting.

He looked around at them. "What would we do about Robin? He still has school."

They sat back, dissapointed. It couldn't work. There was no way they could get away from Galt and his men. They would be followed forever by twelve men in grey outfits with their blue van. Well, at least they left Robin alone. They could take some comfort in that. But it wasn't much comfort. That silence was back.

Then they heard the front door open.

"I'M HOME!" they heard Robin call, his voice trembling a little. "Where is everybody?"

"We're in here, Robin." Kermit answered.

The young frog walked into the room, shaking.

"Robin?" Kermit was alarmed. He immediately crossed over to where his nephew was standing and knelt in front of him. "What's wrong?"

Robin just stood there shaking.

Kermit picked him up and carried him back to the armchair. He sat down with his nephew in his lap. He hugged him, trying to comfort him, then simply, quietly, said, "Tell me."

Robin slowly stopped shaking, clutching onto his uncle. "Uncle Kermit..." he tried to speak.

"I'm listening, Robin."

He tried again. "Uncle Kermit... you know... those guys... the grey..."

Kermit's face became increasingly grim. "Yes?"

Robin was shaking again. He took a deep breath, and it seemed to help. "Well..." Another breath. And another. He seemed to have control of himself now, but his grip on Kermit did not lessen at all. The poor thing was petrified.

He spoke very slowly, forcing every word.

"Uncle Kermit, when we went outside for recess today, one of those men was standing by the playground. And he was just standing there watching me. And then when I came outside to leave, he was there again. And he followed me home..."

He was shaking again, and he couldn't stop his tears. He cried into his uncle's shoulder.

Kermit held his nephew, deep in thought. They had crossed the line. This was going too far. It was the absolute last straw. He would not let them do this to Robin. He could not let them do this to Robin. He had to protect his nephew.

"Uncle Kermit?" the young frog whimpered. "I'm scared."

No kidding.

The rest of the muppets watched, deeply concerned. They knew what Kermit was thinking, and they had to agree.

Thought's flew through Kermit's head. He could teach Robin, couldn't he? He could call the teacher, find out what they were learning... he could keep Robin with the rest of the class...

He looked at his friends. They were waiting. Waiting for him to make a decision. Waiting for him to give the final word.

He would have to call some one at the theater, so they knew what was going on. Scooter. He would call Scooter. Explain everything to him, give him specific instructions, leave him in charge. He was sure to do everything he was told. Yes, that could work...

He looked down at his nephew, still crying in terror. And he looked back at his friends.

He spoke very, very softly.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning." He held his nephew a little closer. "Start packing."

 

[TogetherAgain]

That was hilarious, Lisa, but then again I'm not really that surprised. You always make me crack up. The cameos were clever, as was the, "Who the heck is Bill?" line. I wonder how Gina will come in to the story later on.
By the way, is LLoyd Galt an anagram for something?? Don't tell us what it is, but I just had the feeling that since it is an uncommon name, and villeons usually had anagramed names, that's what it might be. Once again, I love it; please continue.

Gina? You think Gina's coming back? What on earth gave you that idea?

But no, Lloyd Galt in not an anagram. It's just sort of grabbed off of my book shelf. I REALLY wanted to post the story, see, but the villain didn't have a name, so I was desperate. And it turns out "Lloyd" means "grey" so it works out very well, don't you think?

Glad you're enjoying! And don't worry, I will continue to continue as long as I can. But I will warn you that my parents think I'm spending too much time at the computer, and they're threatening to take away my keyboard. So if I suddenly dissapear for no apparent reason... that'd be why.

 

[Skeeter Muppet]

Another nice chapter. You've done well with this Lloyd Galt character; he's one of the few fanfic villains who have made my [CENSORED] list. Although I'm curious - are the Jerks in Grey stalking just the gang that lives in the boarding house, or are the others associated with the show but living elsewhere singled out to be followed as well?

-Kim