Pepper Family Values (A Muppet Fanfic)

TwoHeadedLlama

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Hey all. I know it's been a long time since I posted anything on this forum, but I hope to change that. This fic is a sort of 'revamp' of my previous fics, as my views of the characters have changed quite a bit since I first started writing.
Enjoy! :smile:

Plot: After Floyd Pepper unexpectedly inherits a bed and breakfast from his late mother, his band mates are determined to help him run it, and they learn some rather unusual things about the bass player and his family.

Chapter 1
The Electric Mayhem made their home in a small, rundown house at the end of an old suburban neighborhood. They rented it out, and divided the rent between the six members. Although most of their neighbors thought the building should have been torn down years ago, the band thought the place was more than suited to their needs. Sure, a lot of the floorboards were rotting, and there were mice living in the drywall, but what could you do? At least the place was big and a safe distance away from the other homes. That way they could play their music as loud as they wanted without getting any noise complaints. Plus, the muppet boarding house was beginning to get rather crowded.


The house was big enough so that each member could have at least half a room to themselves. The one closest to the living room belonged to Janice, after that came Floyd and Animal's room, followed by the room shared by Lips and Zoot. Dr. Teeth made the basement his home, and this arrangement worked out pretty well for everyone, as he was usually the last one to go to bed and the first one to wake up.


One night, on a warm, summer evening, the band members were asleep, having spent the entire afternoon doing a gig at an ice cream parlor. Most of them were so exhausted that they fell asleep wearing their clothes, all except one. Floyd Pepper was lying in bed, wide awake. Animal was sleeping in a hammock next to his bed, snoring abnormally loud. You may think that this was why Floyd was still awake, but he had been around Animal for so many years that he was now the only one who could sleep through the furry creature's loud snores. No, Floyd was awake for a very different reason. He was leaving.


He'd thought it over many times, and it pained him to even think about doing it, but it was something he had to do. But Floyd wouldn't be go for long, at least that's what he hoped. This...incident...would probably only take a few days, and after that Floyd would come back and not even think about where he went. The problem was, if the band knew why he was leaving, they'd want to come too, and this was one trip that friends weren’t invited to go on. No, he'd made up his mind. This was something he had to do by himself.


Which was why Floyd was leaving in the middle of the night. Quietly, he slipped out of bed and tiptoed across the floor over to the closet. As he reached for the handle, Animal let out a loud snort that nearly made Floyd jump out of his socks, but he quickly came to his senses and reckoned that nothing would wake up the drummer short of a nuclear explosion. He opened the door carefully, and removed a black suit and pants, all pressed and ready to go. Then he walked back over to the bed and slid his suitcase out from underneath it. It had been packed early that morning. Finally, after scanning to room to make sure nothing had been left behind, he strode over to the door and exited quietly.


Floyd began to walk towards the front door, when he stopped and realized that it would probably be a good idea to leave a note, just so that his friends would know he wasn't gone for good. So he went into the kitchen, picked up a notepad and pen from the counter and wrote;


Janice,


Gonna be gone for a few days. Don't worry about me. I have some business to take care of just south of here. Should only be gone a few days at the most. Make sure someone takes Animal for walks, and tell Zoot I found his spare shades in the freezer.


Love,

Floyd


He'd wanted to write a longer note, but the bus he needed to take was leaving soon, so Floyd could only put down the basics. Now came the next challenge, to find a place to put the note so somone would actually see it. After some thought, Floyd decided to put the note in Janice's room, so she would find it first. So he turned around and went back the way he came, but instead of going back to his room, Floyd went into the one next door to his, which belonged to Janice.


Janice was sound asleep when Floyd entered her room, so he tried to quickly find a place to stick the note without making too much noise, which wasn't exactly easy. He finally made up his mind to stick it on her nightstand, and after giving her a quick goodbye kiss, he made his way back to the door and slipped out as quietly as he'd slipped in.


Floyd sighed heavily as he made his way towards the front door. He was about to do something he'd hoped he would never have to do, something he could avoid for an indefinite amount of time, but unfortunately it had come to this. But with any luck, as long as didn't stay away too long, the band would never realize he was gone at all.

***​

“A few days?!” Dr. Teeth, Zoot, and Lips shouted in surprise at the same time.


“Yeah, rully,” Janice sighed sadly.


The four muppets were sitting around the kitchen table, staring at the note Floyd had left. Animal was still in his room, for some reason. Dr. Teeth picked up the note and looked it over carefully. After a few moments or deep though, he said;


“This is indeed a situation which requires careful consideration.”


“Ya sure he didn't tell ya where he was goin'? Not even some sorta hint?” asked Lips.


“Nope. And it's, like, really bumming me out,” replied Janice.


Dr. Teeth got up from his chair and began to pace next to the table.


“Well, it looks like what we have here is a bewildering puzzle. This note states that our mustachioed musician has traveled somewhere south, but 'south' is a rather inconspicuous area.”


“That's true, Teeth,” Lips agreed. “He coulda gone anywhere. Texas, Mexico-”


“Or Antarctica!” added Zoot.


The others stared at him.


“That's south, right?” he said.


Dr. Teeth cleared his throat and continued.


“Be that as it may, our next course of action should be to search for any objects which my point us to the specific location of Floyd, which may be-”

Suddenly, with all the grace of a stampeding elephant, Animal came running into the kitchen. He rushed over to the table and began to jump up and down, causing the ground to shake and plaster to fall from the ceiling. A piece of paper was hanging out of his mouth.


“Woah, woah, cool it Animal!” shouted Dr. Teeth. “Easy there! What have you got for us?”


Animal stopped jumping and took the piece of paper out of his mouth.


“Clue!” he bellowed. “Trashcan clue!”


Dr. Teeth took the paper and read it carefully. The others crowded around him as they tried to get a closer look.


“Hmm...Mr. Pepper...we regret to inform you that...mother?! Passed away??”


Everyone gasped in shock.


“Mama...” Animal whimpered.


“Poor Floyd,” Janice said. “He must be rully upset.”


“Darn. I used to know his mom,” said Zoot. “Real nice lady. Nice couch too.”


“Wonder why he didn't want to tell us about it?” Lips wondered. “I mean, if I was him, I'd be wantin' all the good vibes I could get.”


“Maybe,” Janice thought aloud, “Maybe he didn't want us to feel sorry for him. Like, you know how he gets…”


Her voice trailed off, and the others grew quiet. After about a minute, Dr Teeth broke the silence.


“It looks like our companion of many words needs us now more than ever. I suggest that we go to the destination imprinted upon this card, and give him our utmost comfort and support.”


The rest of the band nodded in agreement.

(To be continued...)​
 
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