The Spectacular Spidey/Muppets Celebration

[muppetwriter]

Thanks, Count.
---------------

Before only two villains were emerging in this part of the story, Harry Osborn and Otto Octavius. But in this "extended/alternated version", there is one more: Rachel Bitterman.

Here's the next chapter.

Chapter Four​

“Just let it go, Pete. I’m sure she’ll understand.” Jenny told Peter, who just ignored Jenny, as he picked up the receiver on one of the payphones at Columbia University, put in the money, and dialed the number to Mary Jane Watson.

“I promised her that I’d be there, Jen.” Peter said, having his back facing both Jenny and Rizzo. “And I broke that promise.”

“You had a good reason.” Jenny said, and Rizzo snickered. “Not helping.”

“Sorry.” The rat uttered.

“A police chase in the middle of downtown Manhattan is no excuse.” Peter contradicted. “I’ve been making a lot of excuses to her over the past years. If she were to hear the one that I made up this time, she’ll never believe or even want to see me again.”

“So what’re you going to tell her?” Jenny asked, and before Peter could answer her question, Mary Jane had answered Peter…at least, her answering machine had.

“Hi, this is me. Just sing your song at the beep.” Peter sighed, wanting to actually talk to Mary Jane; but he knew just reaching her machine was good enough.

“Hi, M.J. This is Peter.” He began, fighting off both nerves and hesitation. “I was on my way to your show and…well…I was on my bike…uh…uh…”

“Oh, yeah. He’s really winnin’ back her respect now,” said a sarcastic Rizzo.

“Shush!” Jenny exclaimed, while Peter felt totally disappointed in himself.

“Are you there?” He asked, and wasn’t given a reply. “I really was planning on it all day, and…I know you predicted on me disappointing you. But it’s amazing, isn’t it? How complicated a simple thing, like being someplace at eight o’clock, can…” That’s when Peter was reminded of his “accident,” which he still had been feeling the effects of since the previous evening. “To be honest with you, I had gotten…” Before Peter could finish, a voice over the phone had informed him that his time had expired and needed to insert more money to finish his message. Unfortunately, Peter didn’t have any more money, and neither did Jenny, who spent the last bit she had on the hot dog that was bought for Rizzo. When he heard the dial tone over the receiver, he knew it was no use. “Oh, great.” Jenny felt sorry for him, wanting so badly to do something to cheer him up. But repairing a broken heart was something she was no expert in.

“Pete…”

“You guys go and get head start on Dr. Octavius’s.” Peter urged. “I’ll…catch up you.”

“OK. See ya.” Rizzo said, and he started walking away, while Jenny tried to move from the spot she was standing in. She had to convince herself that Peter would be alright, once they made it to Dr. Octavius’s demonstration, in order to leave him alone for a moment. Once she did, Peter was about to hang up the phone, until he stopped and looked at it briefly. He then spoke into the receiver again, pretending as if he was actually talking to Mary Jane.

“You want the truth…here it is.” He said. “I got hurt the other night, and you wanna know how I did? Because for the past two years, I’ve living a double life. One moment, I’m Peter Parker…the next, I’m Spider-Man. Weird, huh? Now you know why I can’t be with you. If my enemies found out about you…if you were to get hurt…I would never forgive myself.” Peter sighed again, wishing that the conversation was actually taking place. “I wish I can tell you how I feel about you.” Peter just let the dial tone play into his ear some more, and then he finally hung up the phone, realizing how foolish he was for speaking to no one but himself, and followed after Jenny and Rizzo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Rachel Bitterman sat in the backseat of her limo and watched intently out the window, as several people came to Otto Octavius’s home to see his demonstration, from important businessmen like Harry Osborn (whom she hadn’t worried about bothering until after the demonstration) to reporters such as The Chronicle’s Bear (who arrived in a light blue car with a raised roof). Even common people like Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Peter Parker, Jenny, and Rizzo had attended the event.

“Aren’t you going in, Ms. Bitterman?” The limo driver asked, and Rachel just glared at him, certainly not the type that liked to be questioned by anyone, especially her own limo driver.

“No.” She snootily remarked. “I’m just gonna sit here on my butt and wait for what I want to happen eventually happen.” The driver looked into the rearview mirror, seeing the arrogant yet hopeful expression on her face, as she continued staring out the window.

A couple of people who were attending the event passed through Rachel’s limousine, momentarily blocking her view of everything, before walking inside the building. These people eerily reminded Kim and Ron of Shego and Drakken—the only difference was that their skin was the color of a normal human being and their hair colors were blonde and red, instead of green and black. Kim and Ron didn’t want to jump to any conclusions and possibly make a scene, so they just kept a careful eye on the two observers, during the presentation.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Octavius began, “My wife, Rosie, and I would like to welcome you this afternoon. But, first, before we start, has anybody lost a large roll of twenty-dollar bills in a rubber band? Because we found the rubber band.” Everyone laughed over Octavius’s little joke, including Bear.

“That was a really clever joke.” Bear said, while Rizzo (who was the only one not laughing) looked over at him and grinned.

“I know another bear your color who can make better jokes dan dat.” Rizzo uttered, and Bear blinked a couple of times, seemingly puzzled over Rizzo’s remark. Meanwhile, Octavius returned to a more serious tone for the event.

“Today, you will witness the birth of a new fusion-based energy source. Safe, renewable energy and cheap electricity for everyone.”

“I know a certain KMUP host and an annoying light will be happy ta hear dat news.” Jenny shushed Rizzo, not wanting to be distracted from such an important event.

“And now, let me introduce my assistants.” With that said, Octavius turned to where a large sheet was covering something that stood at five feet tall. After he had uncovered it, the audience was awed and amazed to see four mechanical arms resting on a pedestal. They might’ve been an impressive sight, if it weren’t for their intimidating appearance. Bear had taken a few pictures of the arms for The Chronicle. “These four actuators were developed and programmed for the sole purpose of creating successful fusion. They are impervious to heat and magnetism.” While Octavius was talking, he stood up on the platform with the four arms and positioned himself within the boundary of a large, steel belt that automatically attached itself around Otto’s waist at the press of a button.

“Impressive,” uttered the stranger that resembled Dr. Drakken, whom Kim heard and glanced at before focusing her attention back on Octavius. She would’ve wished that she hadn’t, once everyone saw how a mechanical-like spine that was connected to the arms had stuck itself to Otto’s back and attached several needles directly into his own spine. All of the observers cringed, watching the painful display of the mechanical arms becoming one with Octavius.

“Oy! I did not need ta see dat!” Rizzo uttered, while Octavius focused hard and used his mind to activate the arms and move them around.

“That’d be so cool, if it didn’t look so scary!” Ron exclaimed, clinging onto Kim’s shoulder at the time, as Rufus did the same to his.

“These smart arms are controlled by my brain through a neural link.” Octavius informed the audience. “Nano wires feed directly into my cerebellum, allowing me to use these arms and to control fusion reaction in an environment no human hand could enter.” As Octavius explained all of these details to the crowd, the woman that resembled Shego had been taking them all down on a notepad, which Kim had noticed and got suspicious of.

“Doctor, if the artificial intelligence in the arms is as advanced as you suggest, couldn’t that make you vulnerable to them?” Jenny asked.

“Oh, that’s a good question.” Bear complimented, and Jenny smiled at him with appreciation for his comment, while Rizzo just looked at the large, furry critter awkwardly. Octavius also smiled and turned himself around, indicating the small blue light bulb that was connected to the mechanical spine that was attached to his.

“That’s why I developed this inhibitor chip to protect my higher brain function. It means I maintain control of these arms, instead of them controlling me.”

“Dis guy sure comes prepared, don’t he?” Rizzo commented, and that was one comment from Rizzo that Jenny seemed to agree with, just as Octavius had the technicians bring out the reactor machine that he would use for his demonstration. Everyone followed Octavius, as he walked over to the machine, and while turning it on, he used a small pair of tweezers from one of the mechanical arms to pull out a marble-sized ball of a high reactive element known as tritium and place in the center of the machine. Only the magnetic field that the machine was generating kept the tritium floating and spinning in place.

“Tritium is the fuel that makes this project go, and there’s only twenty-five pounds of it left on the entire planet.” Octavius stated. “I’d like to thank Harry Osborn and OsCorp Industries for providing it.”

“Happy to pay the bills, Otto.” Harry remarked.

“Ya mind payin’ ours sometime?” Rizzo asked him, and Jenny shot him another of her “Be quiet or else” type of looks, as Rosie Octavius approached her husband and handed a pair of dark goggles to him. Otto smiled and she smiled right back at him, just before he put the goggles on.

“Ladies and gentlemen…fasten your seatbelts.”

Soon after Otto said that, he typed some information down on the keyboards in front of him and brought out eight beams to target the floating ball of tritium, causing it to start swelling in size and fieriness.

“Doctor, we have a successful fusion reaction.” One of the technicians informed, and everyone applauded over the good news, except for Kim, who was still keeping her focus on the Shego and Drakken look-alikes. Without attracting too much attention, she pulled out her Kimmunicator and positioned it under her left arm, aiming it directly at the look-alikes and capturing a photo of them. Kim then contacted Wade on the device.

“Hey, Kim. How’s the demonstration going?”

“It’s going well, Wade. But I think we’ve got some unwanted company with us.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sending you another photo, and I want you to match the image of these two people with one of Drakken and Shego.” While Kim sent the photograph to Wade, Octavius started to touch the swelling ball of tritium with his mechanical arms, growing confident over his experiment.

“The power of the sun…in the palm of my hand.” He uttered, at the same time Wade responded to Kim’s command, sending her back the photo of the two observers with one of Shego and Drakken superimposed over it, which had the word “Match” in big, bold letters beneath it.

“I knew it!” Kim said, and as she looked over at the two observers who indeed turned out to be Shego and Drakken in disguise, she had noticed Peter close nearby, remembering the information she discovered on the previous evening. And just as she glanced at him, she noticed something he noticed as well: a paperclip vibrating on the floor and flying away towards the machine. Then the lamps hanging over the heads of everyone started bending and pointing towards the machine. Something was wrong, and everyone began to realize it, as all sorts of objects began to fly away from their bodies, such as necklaces, watches, pens, and other things that attracted the magnetic field.

“Keep calm! It’s only a spike!” Octavius shouted. “It’ll soon stabilize!” Otto turned to his wife and smiled again, only she didn’t smile back that time. Rosie was just as worried over what was happening as everyone else had been.

“Uh-oh.” Bear said. “This isn’t looking good at all.”

“I think it’s time for us ta scat, Jen!” cried a nervous Rizzo.

“Maybe he’s right, Peter.” Jenny said, and when she turned to where Peter was standing, she was surprised to see how he had disappeared. “Where did he go?”

“Someplace other dan here!” Rizzo exclaimed, just as there was a loud siren blaring and a readout appearing all over the screens that said, “Caution: Overload In Progress—System Unstable.” It was obvious to everyone that the demonstration was taking a dangerous turn, with metal plates ripping off the walls. But Otto Octavius, overly confident in his invention, refused to stop it all.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please clear the room!” A technician yelled, and the crowd began to scatter. The Drakken and Shego “look-alikes” were heading directly towards the exit, just as Kim’s Kimmunicator and a device that Drakken’s “look-alike” had been holding for some time were sucked into the unstable tritium ball, which giving off circular solar flares that Otto, using the robotic arms, pushed back into the growing sun. The device that Drakken was holding was a DNA enhancer that gave him and Shego the ability to look differently, and with it destroyed, the two reverted back to their regular appearances, just as Ron and Kim spotted them.

“Drakken! Stop!” Kim shouted, right before a large, flaring loop from the sun shot out and tore off a section of the ceiling, causing heavy bits of debris to fall between Drakken and Kim.

“You must be crazier than me, Kim Possible!!” Drakken yelled, and he and Shego fled the scene, leaving Kim and Ron to deal with Octavius’s unstable machine, at the same time Jenny and Rizzo were looking around for Peter.

“Never mind about da geek, Jen!” Rizzo cried. “We gotta get outta here!”

“Not without Peter!” Jenny shouted, barely even noticing the huge metal structures that were coming towards Rizzo, Harry, and her. Before they could’ve gotten near them, Spider-Man swooped in just in time to move them out of sight. He placed them in an area that was at a safe distance from the machine, and while Rizzo and Jenny were grateful of his rescue, Harry was the only one that wasn’t.

“This doesn’t change a thing.” He said, and Spider-Man just looked at him, before leaping away back into the laboratory, where Kim and Ron were urging Octavius to shut off the machine.

“Doctor, you have to turn it off!” Kim shouted. “It’s too unstable now!”

“It’ll stabilize! I’ve got it under control!” Octavius assured.

“Uh, dude? If this is your way of getting control, then I’d hate to see when you lose it!” Ron exclaimed, just as Spidey swooped in and attached himself to the ceiling, right above the power source to Otto’s machine.

“What’re you doing?” He asked Spidey.

“I’m going to pull the plug!” Spidey replied, and just when he attempted to do so, Octavius turned his body and accidentally made one of his mechanical arms operate to swoop towards Spider-Man and hit his body, sending him flying hard into a wall. Kim attempted herself, only to have the same thing happen to her, once Octavius noticed her. She was hurled across the room and directly into Ron, causing the both of them to land right near Spider-Man’s body. They were luckily able to be out of harm’s way, when the metal structure holding a nearby window broke off, forcing all of the glass to fly off and come towards Rosie Octavius.

Hearing the sound of his wife screaming and the glass shattering, Otto forced himself to turn and see how his wife had been killed by a piece of glass that struck her left eye. Distracted by the sudden death of his wife, Octavius didn’t even see the fiery loop that ruptured out completely from the sun and struck the spine link of his mechanical arms device, electrocuting him and destroying the inhibitor chip in the process. Kim, Ron, and Spider-Man had come to their senses just in time to see Octavius in danger and immediately went to the power source.

“Help me shut this thing down!” Spidey ordered, and they each grabbed a plug from the source and began ripping it away from its outlet. Once the power cables broke off, the sun had then imploded along with one part of the machine, not before unleashing a powerful explosion that had imploded as well and disappeared, leaving the entire room pitch black.

“Man! I’m stayin’ the heck away from science!” Ron exclaimed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

A few short moments later, everything that Rachel Bitterman had anticipated on happening that day happened. Octavius’s home was surrounded by ambulances, fire trucks, and squad cars, as stunned guests walked out—some guided by paramedics and firemen. Rachel passed through some of them, hearing negative comments about Octavius and his experiment that brought a wicked, greedy smile to her face. After passing through them, she noticed one face that she hoped to see in the aftermath of the chaotic demonstration, and that was the dismayed, frustrated, and angered face of Harry Osborn. Immediately, she went into a sympathetic approach, as she walked up to him.

“Harry,” She sadly said, “I am so…”

“What do you want now?! Huh?!?!” Harry viciously snapped, coming at Rachel in a way that she had not expected. He looked at her for a long moment, remembering what she told him about Otto’s machine during their last conversation and finding it suspiciously coincidental to what was happening then.

“I just want to help you get both yourself and your business back on your feet, after being a part of this disastrous presentation of Octavius’s.” Rachel remarked. “Let Bitterman Bank and Development help fund your needs, Harry. I promise that it’s the only way to ensure success for OsCorp. It’s what your father would have wanted.” Harry was calmed for a moment, but Rachel’s last comment was what flustered him all over again.

“My father would have wanted me to get back at the man who killed him.” Harry angrily said. “Spider-Man embarrassed me today…just by touching me! I don’t why he was here in the first place, but if I ever see him again, I’ll kill him! And that’s a promise!!” Harry stomped away from Rachel’s side, aided by his assistant as he got into his limousine and left. Watching him depart from behind once again, Rachel felt confident of the plan that she had been forming together as things only started getting worse for Harry Osborn.

END OF CHAPTER FOUR​

More to come soon.

 

[The Count]

Great chapter. Caught a long-running reference to all our fanfics regarding Clifford.
Post more, you've only got two weeks left before Spidey 3 begins. And I'm open to whatever questions you may have about that crossover, this is the last I'll say of it, don't want to exacerbate the point.

Take care and post soon!

 

[muppetwriter]

Not much has been altered in this next chapter. A few grammatical changes, but nothing big.

Chapter Five​

After the disaster at Otto Octavius’s demonstration, the good doctor was immediately taken to the St. Mullen Hospital to have the mechanical arms that were still attached to his body removed. The pins that were connected to the spine link had been broken directly into Octavius’s spine, so it was crucial that the doctors removed the arms in order to know the extent of the damage. However, when a surgical procedure was in the hands of Dr. Bob, a wisecracking dog of a doctor, one can always bet that things won’t always get done.

“Now then, it seems the patient has got a bit of a problem on his shoulders…all six of them!” Dr. Bob joked, and only a few of the surgeons around him chuckled at his joke. “Look at this guy. I don’t know if this is surgery or auto repairs!” The doctor got a few more laughs out of that joke, just as two more surgeons came into the emergency room. It was actually Dr. Drakken and Shego in disguise again, interested in the mechanical arms that were fused with Octavius.

“I don’t see why those freaky arms are so important to us now.” Shego said. “With that machine destroyed, they’re useless.”

“They are not, Shego!” Drakken snapped. “I could use arms like those for miraculous purposes, like…”

“Reaching for the remote control?” Drakken gave Shego a nasty glare, which didn’t intimidate her at all.

“Let’s just get those arms!” Drakken and Shego placed their surgical masks over their faces to obscure their identities, joining Dr. Bob and the other surgeons.

“Ah, I see we’ve got two others that want to witness this interesting operation.” Dr. Bob said, addressing Shego and Drakken. “I would ask you to leave the room, if you happen to have a weak stomach. But who gets a weak stomach from looking inside a man that has a radiator in place of one?” All of the surgeons laughed heartily, while Shego and Drakken were taking the operation very seriously.

“Ha, ha, ha!” Drakken mocked. “Can we just get on with this?!”

“Patience, buddy.” Dr. Bob remarked. “This is a man’s life we are dealing with here.” For a moment, it seemed as if Dr. Bob was finally starting to take the operation seriously. But then he said, “How else do you think he’s gonna go on that date with R2-D2?” Drakken and Shego just rolled their eyes at the corny jokes, while the surgeons just laughed and laughed.

“To heck with this!” Drakken yelled, moving past Dr. Bob and taking a chainsaw off of the tray. “I might as well take these arms off myself!” Shego’s eyes widened, as she watched the disturbing sight of Dr. Drakken holding a chainsaw.

“Whoa! Dr. D!” She exclaimed. “Maybe you should leave this to the professionals!”

“Yes, leave it to them.” Dr. Bob suggested, and then looked around the room. “Where are they anyway?” Drakken shook his head, wondering where Dr. Bob must’ve gotten his doctoring degree.

“I really think you should stop, before you actually do start barking up the wrong tree, Doctor.” Drakken said, unknowingly making a joke that everyone, except Shego, thought was humorous.

“Now this is a doctor after my own heart.” Dr. Bob commented. “It’s just too bad that he has to cut me open first to get it.” The laughter grew louder, until there was a noise that put it to an abrupt stop. Everyone looked up to one of the hooks that were holding up one of Octavius’s mechanical arms, which was where the noise had supposedly come from. They looked at it for a moment and figured that it was probably nothing.

“Let’s get this over with. I’m missing tonight’s episode of Lost!” Drakken complained, and as he turned on the chainsaw and brought it closer to Octavius’s spine link, Shego and the others noticed something creeping up from behind Drakken.

“Dr. D!!!” She cried, and Drakken turned just in time to see one of the arms, fully functional, come after him. With a quick swipe, Drakken was knocked several feet across the room and sent crashing through glass doors. The once laughing surgeons were now screaming in terror, as the terrifying arms slithered themselves from the hooks, like mechanical snakes, and started attacking everyone in the room.

“Uh, my contract didn’t say anything about this! I’m outta here!!” Dr. Bob shouted, and he was about to leave the room, until the steel claws of one mechanical arm grabbed his ankle and hurled his body around in the air. “Ahh! If I wanted this type of thrill, I’d go back on Space Mountain!!” The mechanical arm tossed Dr. Bob aside and made him crash right through a window, before assisting its fellow mechanisms in killing several surgeons, some of which tried to fight back but led to no avail. Shego was able to make an easy escape into the hallway outside, checking on an injured Drakken.

“Yo! Dr. D! You okay?” Drakken just groaned in reply. “Yep. You’re cool.” Drakken’s groans were drained out by the sound of a running chainsaw, as the last surviving surgeon attempted to sever one of the arms, only to be severed by the other three. Shego dragged Drakken’s inert body out of the hallway and into a broom closet, while the mechanical arms drooped a little over the body of Otto Octavius, who was beginning to regain consciousness, with one arm taking a bandage that had been covering his eyes off his head. He opened his eyes and looked around, shocked to see where he had suddenly ended up and what was still attached to his body.

“NO!!!!!” He howled, as he got off the operation table and on his feet, while two of his mechanical arms cling to the floor beside his bare feet, leaving the others to slither around through the air. It was obvious that they were responding to his every move and his every emotion, as he staggered his way out of the emergency room. Shego noticed just that, watching Octavius move past the broom closet. She left the unconscious Drakken in there, before she followed after Octavius, who busted his way out through some double doors, with a lot of help from his mechanical arms.

Keeping a safe distance from him, Shego watched in surprise as Octavius crossed the street, at the same time a taxicab came his way. Before the cab driver even had the chance to step on his brakes, Octavius’s arms grabbed hold of the yellow, checkered vehicle and threw it high into the air, making it land on top of another parked taxicab. After seeing what his new robotic arms had done, Octavius was scared and felt like he needed to get away, especially before the police—their sirens already wailing from a distance—arrived. Shego wanted to follow after him, but knew that if she had left Drakken where he was, the police were sure to find him. So, instead, she went back into the hospital, got Drakken’s body, and fled the scene.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The next day at the Daily Bugle, Peter arrived at work with Kermit, Fozzie, and Piggy joining him, all heading towards J. Jonah Jameson’s office for the same purpose: ask the boss for an advanced payment. They knew that they had a better chance at bringing Al Capone back from the dead. However, it didn’t hurt to at least ask, so they met up with Betty Brant, who graciously led them into the office, where Jameson had been discussing about the current situation involving Otto Octavius with none other than Robbie Robertson and the newest Bugle reporters (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy).

“It’s all over town! Gossip! Rumors! Panic in the streets…if we’re lucky, that is.” Jameson said, looking out through one of the many windows in his larger than life office.

“Duh, why would we wanna be lucky about panic in tha streets?” Goofy asked, and Mickey elbowed him in the side, reminding him about lesson one in the rules of a journalist: never ask the publisher any questions. “Oh, right.”

“Crazy scientist turns himself into some kind of monster. Four mechanical arms welded right onto his body.” Jameson said, and he chuckled. “A guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs. What’re the odds?”

“It does sound kind of strange, chief.” Mickey said, and he suddenly got an idea from what he just said. “Hey! Maybe that’s what we should call him in the papers…Dr. Strange!”

“That’s good, mouse. I like it.” Jameson commented. “Only one problem: it’s taken.”

“Oh, yeah.” Mickey said in defeat.

“We need something good to call this guy.” Jameson uttered, and before he could shout the name of one Bugle employee named Hoffman, the man himself came into Jameson’s office, much to his surprise. “What’re we gonna call this fella?”

“Uh…Doctor Octopus?” Hoffman suggested.

“Eh…crap.”

“Science Wiz?”

“Crap.” It was quiet for a moment, as the characters in that room tried to think of a good name, until Goofy finally did.

“Uh, how ‘bout ‘Doc Ock’? Sort fer ‘Doctor Octopus’?” He suggested, and Hoffman was about to say something, until Jameson stepped in.

“I like it, Goof! Like it enough to give you a five percent raise in your salary!”

“A-hyuck! Hot dog!” Mickey and Donald shook their heads, neither having the heart to tell Goofy that it wasn’t very much. Jameson was pleased that he finally found a good name for the new villain in town, certain that it would make a big impact for the paper. He looked over at Hoffman, completely forgetting about the reason he called him in.

“What’re you doing here? Looking for a raise? Get out!” Jameson demanded, and Hoffman immediately left the room, just as Betty brought Peter, Kermit, Fozzie, and Piggy in. Kermit noticed Mickey in the room and felt a little edgy with the mouse in the room, while Fozzie and Piggy enjoyed his company, as well as that of Donald and Goofy.

“Hiya, guys.” Fozzie told them. “How’s it goin’?”

“We just thought of a new name fer that feller with tha arms.” Goofy remarked.

“Yeah, we’re calling him ‘Doc Ock’.” Mickey said. “Isn’t that neat, Kermit?” Kermit didn’t reply; he didn’t even realize the mouse had asked him a question.

“Kermie?” Piggy said in her peaceful tone. “Mickey just asked you a question. It isn’t nice to dawdle.” Kermit snapped out of his trance and finally gave an answer to Mickey.

“Oh, uh…yeah. It’s great, Mickey.” Kermit said.

“You bet it is, Frog!” Jameson exclaimed. “This is gonna be some story that the mouse, the duck, and the goofball will be covering.” Kermit nearly jumped—literally—in surprise over what Jameson had just said.

“The story they’re going to be covering?!” Kermit shouted, not even realizing that he was shouting. “Mr. Jameson, what about Fozzie and me?” Piggy cleared her throat, reminding her boyfriend of who else was on their team. “Oh, I’m sorry. What about Fozzie, Piggy, and me?”

“What about you three?” Jameson asked.

“We’re always the ones who cover the biggest stories for the Bugle.” Kermit stated. “Remember the Green Goblin?”

“Oh, come on, Frog. That was yesterday’s news…two-year-old news to be more exact.” Jameson indicated. “It’s time to live in the now, son! You’ve got a madman with mechanical arms running around now, at the same time you’ve got three of the biggest stars of Disney becoming brand spanking new Daily Bugle reporters. Do the math right, and you’ll know that all adds up very nicely!” Kermit couldn’t believe what he was hearing. While it was very depressing news to him, it was in fact great news to everyone else, including Mickey. But Mickey could see the disappointment in the frog’s face and felt bad for him.

“Uh, Mr. Jameson…” Mickey said, but the Bugle publisher didn’t give him the chance to finish his statement.

“Ah-ah! Thank me later, Mouse.” Jameson said. “Right now, I need your tail out on those streets, doing some serious investigating.” Mickey wasn’t going to thank Jameson, but instead declare that he handed the story over to Kermit, who deserved it more than him. However, Mickey suddenly remembered the number two lesson of being a journalist: never back down from an opportunity that was provided to you by the boss. “As for you, Frog, you’re going to help Parker, the pig, and the bear cover the Planetarium Party. What do any of you know about high society?” Peter was going to answer that question, but Piggy answered instead.

“Oh, come on.” Piggy said. “Who the heck do you think you’re talking to? Courtney Love?” Jameson gave another of his newest reporters an odd look.

“Huh?” He said, and Kermit quickly stepped in, before Jameson decided to fire Piggy on her first day on the job.

“What she means is that as Muppets, we know all about high society.”

“Good! Because my society reporters and their photographer all got hit in the head by polo balls and you four are all I’ve got.” Peter, Piggy, Fozzie, and Kermit found that a little hard to believe, but neither bothered to point that out to him. “There’s a big party for an American hero,” And Jameson said proudly after that, “My son—the astronaut!”

“Wow! Your son’s an astronaut?!” Fozzie asked.

“One of the best since Neil Armstrong!” Jameson replied.

“Did he ever get the chance to walk on the moon?” Donald asked.
“Walk on it? He probably played basketball on it!” Jameson said, and Goofy thought about the possibilities of that. He might’ve been dumb, but he knew a thing or two about psychics.

“Duh, wouldn’t that be a little impossible?” Jameson grinned at him.

“You wanna talk about something possible? Turn to the kid that’s helping you out on your assignment.” Jameson said, just before he tossed a photo of Kim Possible over to Mickey, who smiled as he looked at it. When Peter noticed the picture of Kim, he recognized her from the other night, still wondering why she came after him the way she did.

“I still think you guys should’ve gotten me from my good side.” Someone said, and everyone turned their heads toward the doorway, seeing Kim herself standing there, with Ron and Rufus behind her. Peter’s eyes locked on with hers—both of them pondering over things that were different yet similar in a way. “You must be Peter Parker.” As she shook Peter’s hand, he looked up and down at her, seeing how regular she looked when out of her crime-fighting gear. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Same here.” Peter said, as Kim looked up and down at him, noting how normal he looked when out of his Spidey costume.

“Possible, we were just talking about you.” Jameson said. “Happy to have you helping the Bugle on this ‘Doc Ock’ case.”

“Ah, yes. Otto Octavius’s accident.” Kim remarked, not taking her eyes off of Peter. “You know, I heard Spider-Man was there.” Peter’s eyes looked a little suspicious to Kim after she said that. But the photographer was able to keep his cool in front of her.

“Is that right?” He said.

“Yep. And I think I recall you being there, Mr. Parker.” Peter noticed how all the eyes were on him now, and he wondered what they were all thinking about him that moment.

“Well, I didn’t stick around long enough to see Spider-Man there,” Peter said, “But I did eventually hear about his good deed.” Silence had befallen over the room again, as Peter and Kim stare at one another, while Mickey and Kermit had done the same thing. Jameson looked at the four, wondering if some kind of showdown was happening, and broke the silence.

“Alright! Alright!” He shouted. “What is this? Paid programming? There’s a madman out there and my son’s getting a hero’s honor at the Planetarium tomorrow night at eight o’clock! Everybody get outta here and get me some stories for my paper! New York isn’t just going to sit around and wait for the sun to come up, people. Let’s go!” On Jameson’s demand, the group began to move themselves out of his office. “Sheesh!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

When Drakken had regained his consciousness, Shego immediately alerted him of what had become of Otto Octavius. Drakken didn’t believe her at first. But when news about an eight-limbed madman started coming all over New York City, he had no other choice but to find Octavius and convince him to take over the city by his side. The mad “scientist” figured that if he couldn’t beat him for the mechanical arms, then he might as well join him.

After spending the entire morning searching all over Manhattan for Octavius in a hovercraft that Drakken designed (but didn’t make), Drakken was ready to give up, until Shego reminded him of a mechanism built into the hovercraft that would enable them to track down any particular matter. Entering heat- and magnetic-resistance mechanical limbs into the hovercraft’s computer, Drakken and Shego were able to discover Octavius’s current location: an old, tilted building with stained glass windows on a wharf at the center of the Hudson River. It was there that they had found Octavius, looking down at a pool of shallow water that had filled up a section of the building’s interior and talking to himself.

“My Rosie’s dead…my dream is dead…” He then looked up at the mechanical arms attached to him. “And these monstrous things should be at the bottom of the river…along with me.” The mechanical arms seemed to have reacted to what Octavius had said, because they looked directly at them afterwards.

“They’re not monstrous, dear doctor.” Drakken said, and both Octavius and his mechanical arms turned to see him and Shego inside the worn-out building. “They are marvelous…no, not marvelous…they’re magnificent…no, not magnificent…Argh! Shego, help me out here!”

“Marvelous?” Shego uttered, while filing her gloved nails.

“Yes! Marvelous!” Drakken exclaimed, but Octavius wasn’t buying in to his compliments, because he was too distraught.

“I don’t know how you got in here, but you’re not welcomed!” Octavius shouted. “Now…GET OUT OF HERE!!!” Responding to his fury, the mechanical arms extended towards Drakken and Shego and snapped at them, causing Drakken to hide behind Shego.

“Shego, please say something to ease the good doctor’s nerves.” Drakken begged.

“Don’t think he’s so good anymore, Dr. D.” Shego said, just as she and Drakken noticed how Octavius was looking upwards, as if he was listening to another unseen party. “And I don’t think he’s all there anymore either.”

“Something…in my head…something talking.” Octavius uttered, and that’s when he realized what could’ve been the cause, “The inhibitor chip!!” He felt over the back of his neck and realized that the chip had been destroyed from the accident. “It’s gone.” He knew that everything seemed hopeless at that point, until one of the arms crept up to his ear and moved its claws around, looking as if it was whispering to Otto. “Rebuild? No.” The rest of his arms had gathered around him, while Drakken and Shego moved a little closer to him. “Peter was right. I miscalculated.”

“Who’s Peter?” Drakken whispered to Shego.

“Have no idea.” Octavius turned to Drakken and Shego, who both jumped, wanting to escape while they still had their skin intact. But their fear and interest in Octavius’s arms were what made them freeze in place.

“I couldn’t have miscalculated. It was working, wasn’t it?” Octavius asked them, and they both agreed with him by shaking their heads, with nervous smiles on their faces. “You two were there at the demonstration, only you both looked…different.” Octavius looked closely at Drakken and Shego, at first wanting them to leave, but then becoming increasingly interested in their reason for finding him. “Who are you people? What do you want from me?”

“We…uh…want to…help you.” Drakken stammered, but Octavius still wasn’t buying into his tricks.

“What can you possibly do to help me?” He asked, and Drakken tried to think of something to tell him but couldn’t. When Shego realized that, she stepped in and improvised.

“Those arms appear to be talking through your mind and telling you to do things that we can assist you in, such as rebuilding your machine.” Shego said, and Drakken, following her improvisation, stepped in and addressed Octavius.

“Yes! Let us help you, Dr. Octavius.” Drakken said. “We can provide the technology needed to recreate the fusion process and take over the…uh…I mean, get your good reputation back.” Octavius thought over their proposal and started to grin, signifying his admiration and already dreaming about regaining the life he once had.

“Yes! We can rebuild!” Octavius exclaimed, his arms carrying him high into the air, as they stomped across the wooden floor and around Drakken and Shego. “Enlarge the containment field! Make it bigger and stronger than ever!” The mechanical arms rested him back down on the floor, as he faced his new helpers: Dr. Drakken and Shego. “You say that you have the technology to help me rebuild. Can you bring it here?” Drakken wished he could have said “Yes.” However, due to several attempts at defeating Kim Possible, he was running short on the money needed to purchase useful parts.

“Uh…what’s in your wallet?” Drakken asked, and Shego & Octavius rolled their eyes, seeing how empty Drakken’s pockets were.

“We need the money.” Octavius said, just as another of his mechanical arms had “spoken” to him. “Steal it? No, no, no! I’m not a criminal!”

“But we are.” Drakken said, with a wicked smile. “Shego here has even taught others how to become experts in the art of criminality.”

“Though with those sweet mechanical arms of yours, you wouldn’t need my teaching, Doctor O.” Shego indicated, and Octavius turned to his mechanical arms again, listening to what they were telling him.

“That’s right.” Octavius said. “The real crime would be not to finish what we started.” Two of the mechanical arms planted themselves on the hard wooden floor, bringing Octavius back up in the air, while the other two mechanical arms slithered high above his head. “We’ll do it here! The power of the sun in the palm of my hand! Nothing will stand in our way!”

“Yes! Nothing!” Drakken shouted. “Not even Kim Possible…or Spider-Man.”

END OF CHAPTER FIVE​

Stay tuned. There's more to come.

 

[muppetwriter]

An extended fight sequence and an editor's sneaky plot are revealed in this next revised chapter.

Chapter Six​

Mike was very impressed with the photos that Bear had taken at Octavius’s failed demonstration. They were enough to beat The Daily Bugle for the story of the once-good doctor becoming a horrifying maniac. Although Jameson had come up with the name, it was The Daily Chronicle that had the best photos of the entire incident. Not even Tarkanian’s old photographer, Gonzo the Great, could take photos that were as good as Bear’s.

“This is marvelous, kid! Really marvelous!” The Chronicle editor exclaimed, as he gazed at the front headline of their recent issue, which had a split image of Octavius operating his four mechanical arms on the left side and his destroyed fusion machine on the other. He looked up from the paper and at Bear, who seemed a little distraught at the moment. “If you play your cards right, you’ll be the top most talented staff member on The Chronicle.

Bear sighed with desperation. “Thanks, Mr. Tarkanian.” His boss couldn’t help but notice how down he was and assumed that he was down about something that he had been for a long time.

“Hey, I know it’s not a picture of Spider-Man, kid. But it got us ahead of the competition.” Bear sighed again, looking down at the floor as he addressed Tarkanian.

“It’s not that, sir. I just feel…well…I never really seen so many people scared. So many lives were in danger that day…including mine.” Tarkanian understood completely where Bear was coming from. He had taken the issue of The Chronicle and placed inside his desk, thinking that it might’ve disturbed Bear even more by just looking at it.

“Yeah, I know how you feel.” He said. “We journalist have jobs that are just as much gruesome and depressing as that of a fireman or a cop. I mean, you think it’s hard for them to do their jobs, take a look at us.” Bear looked away from the floor and stared directly into the eyes of the editor. “I remember when I was in your position. I used to do pleasant, peaceful stories before coming in and having all of these stories about murder, sex, and all sorts of terrible things thrown at me. But I learned to accept it, because it’s what got the food on my table and the clothes on my back.” Listening to what Tarkanian was saying helped Bear out a little. He looked back down again, sighing once more.

“I know you expect the best out of me, sir.” Bear said. “And I promise that I’ll get the job done, no matter how uncomfortable it makes me feel.”

Tarkanian nodded happily. “You’ll get used to it, kid. The real world might be full of crime and violence. But it’s also filled with mystery. And unlocking the doors to each of those mysteries is what really makes the job seem worth it all. I promise that the day you find the biggest story ever will be the most marvelous day of your whole life.”

Bear was instantly struck with inspiration from Tarkanian’s words. It was enough to make him go back out and find more interesting stories to put in The Daily Chronicle. He thanked his boss, right before he walked out of his office. And as soon as Bear had left, Tarkanian reached into desk again and pulled out a newspaper. But it wasn’t the recent issue of The Chronicle that he had been reading. It was an old article of The Daily Bugle, and one of the very first to feature a cover story of Spider-Man.

“And I’ve got a feeling that story will be the one I’ve been hoping to have for two years now.” He brought his hand over the picture of Spider-Man that was on the front page and stroked his index and middle fingers over Spider-Man’s masked face with a look of interest on his face. “One of these days you’ll have to face the world, webhead.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

With their attempt at asking Jameson for an advanced raise being a complete failure, Peter and the Muppets resorted to going with Robin and Peter’s aunt, May Parker, to the Bank of Manhattan and try to get a loan for their mortgage problems. It was only until Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, and Robin went there with Peter and May that they discovered that the two had foreclosure problems of their own. If May didn’t find a way to pay it off, she would lose her home just like the Muppets would lose the Happiness Hotel. The only difference in the two foreclosures was that May had been threatened of hers long before Kermit and his friends had on theirs, and it was a matter of time before her house would be gone. So, as an act of kindness from both groups, they all decided to see the same banker, a man named Mr. Jacks, to help them out…but, unfortunately, things didn’t exactly go their way.

“I’m afraid the information you’ve provided for me here isn’t enough to refinance your homes.” He informed much to their displeasure. However, May was able to come up with some sort of excuse.

“I’m giving piano lessons again.” She said, surprising Peter a little.

“You are?” She meant to give him a little kick in the shin to silence him. But her foot seemed to have connected to Mr. Jacks, instead of Peter.

“Ouch!!!” He startled Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, and Robin with his howling.

“You okay?” Kermit asked, while Jacks looked puzzlingly at the people in front of him, trying to ignore the pain in his leg.

“W-We appreciate that you just opened up new ‘Super-Saver’ accounts with us today,” said Jacks, with a slight smirk on his face. “But the fact is that you don’t have the assets to justify your loans. I’m sorry.” Peter and the Muppets looked down in despair, while May still seemed a bit cheerful, pulling out a medium-sized sheet of paper from her purse.

“Well, at least we still get a free toaster.” She said, but Jacks then informed her of the fact that the toaster could only be free for people who registered for three hundred or more dollars, before moving away from his desk and limping away to check on his leg.

“Oh, don’t worry everybody.” Robin cheerfully said to his discouraged friends. “As long as we still got the Theatre and the KMUP station, we’ll be just fine.”

“Robin, we haven’t performed a show at the Muppet Theatre in ages, and we barely have enough to repair the damages at the KMUP station in San Fran.” Kermit contradicted. “It’ll only be a matter of time before we lose both of them as well.” Robin then became discouraged himself. Kermit realized that he just might’ve crushed his nephew’s hopes, so he didn’t to make up his mistake by comforting him. “But we’ll still be alright, Robin. We’re the Muppets, remember? We always pull through.” Fozzie was beginning to believe that fact was only becoming pure fiction, as their situation got more hopeless by the hour.

“We’ll be fine, Uncle Kermit,” Robin said, “But what about Peter and Aunt May?”

“Oh, don’t you worry about us, Robin.” May remarked, gently patting the tiny frog’s head. “We’ll be alright.”

“That’s right. We’ll think of something.” Peter added, just as three people wearing black hats and brown trenchcoats (one larger than the other two) came in and walked to where the bank’s safe was located. These three visitors were no mere costumers; they were the newly formed alliance of Dr. Drakken, Shego, and Otto Octavius (a.k.a. “Doc Ock”). Once they neared the safe, Octavius ripped off a section of clothing from the back part of his trenchcoat and allowed his mechanical arms to come out. Two of them clutched to the floor, while the others grabbed a hold of the thick metal door for the safe and tore it out of place.

“Sweet!!” Shego yelled, just as Octavius hurled the detached metal door across the air and towards Peter, May, and the Muppets. Peter’s spider sense had kicked in as soon as the flying metal door came near them, and he pushed May and the Muppets away, pushing himself back in the process as well and allowing the metal door to crash into Mr. Jacks’ desk, completely destroying it.

“What the heck?!” Piggy shouted, while Peter, realizing that there was an actual robbery occurring, jumped from his chair and ran away from May and the Muppets, who were surprised to see him escaping on his own.

“Peter! Don’t leave us here!” May cried, but Peter was too far away to hear her cries, as he rounded a corner and disappeared.

“Oh, he’s a real hero.” Piggy’s sarcasm didn’t seem to be helping any, and neither did the security officers that attempted to stop Drakken, Shego, and Octavius.

“Put your hands up! All of them!” An officer demanded, and Octavius answered the request by using his mechanical arms to grab the officers by their ankles and toss them aside.

“Man, Dr. D! I’m lovin’ this guy more and more by the minute!” Shego commented.

“Told ya we made a good bargain, Shego.” Drakken remarked, as the three menacing strangers entered the vault, where Octavius’s mechanical arms took off his hat and began putting several large bags of money into several cases. One of the arms stopped and “whispered” something to Otto, making him grin as he turned to Drakken and Shego.

“We have company.” He uttered, and the two knew exactly who he was talking about, once Shego removed her trenchcoat and turned around in time to see Spider-Man swing his way into the scene and stick to a section of the ceiling. She unleashed long-range projectiles of green plasma energy from her hands at the web-slinger, who instantly dodged each one as they came near him, leaving the blasts to blow away chunks of the ceiling.

“Argh! Hold still, you masked freak!” Shego yelled, using her acrobatic skills to jump into the air and attack Spidey head-on. But the hero provided to be too fast for Shego, even in hand-to-hand combat, as he swiftly dodged each of her punches, which were increased greatly in strength by her plasma flares, enough to melt and tear certain objects.

“Wow!” Fozzie exclaimed, pulling out a camera and taking several photos of Shego and Spider-Man fighting. “Jameson will be sure to pay us thousands for these photos!” While Fozzie was talking photos, Drakken was becoming very upset over the way Shego was having her butt handed to her by the web-slinger.

“Never send a woman to do a man’s job!” Drakken uttered, just before he snatched one of the heavy bags of golden coins and flung it at Spider-Man, who fired a web strand at it and simply hurled it back towards Drakken.

“Here’s your change!” He shouted, as the heavy bag hit Drakken square in the chest, causing him to immediately hit the floor and momentarily lose his breath.

“Never send an idiot to do a genius’s job!” Octavius said, before he used his mechanical arms to fling other bags at Spider-Man, who was dodging them between blows with Shego. He was able to knock her away and send her crashing into a desk, while he swung across to one of the pillars in the building and attempted to fire some webbing at Octavius. However, nothing came out of his wrists again, just like the night he was chased by Kim.

“What?!?!” He yelled, distracted long enough for Octavius to throw a money bag and make a direct hit, causing Spider-Man to fall from the pillar and hit a railing on his way to the floor.

“Ohh! Nice one, Ock!” Drakken yelled, as he moved the money bag that hit him away from his chest and went to Shego, who was slowly getting to her feet. “Why are you letting him kick your butt like that?!”

“Hey! You go one-on-one with a guy with spider reflexes and see how it’s like!” Shego snapped, while Octavius went to where Spider-Man was lying, having two of his arms pick him up by his wrists and fold them over his chest, as he glared at him through his sunglasses.

“You’re starting to get on my nerves!” Octavius told Spidey.

“I have a knack for that.” Spidey remarked.

“Not any more.” Octavius then used the claws from his other two mechanical arms to cling onto Spidey’s head and begin to squeeze it, making Spider-Man grunt as he did so.

“That’s it, Octavius! Squeeze his head to a pulp!” Drakken yelled, with his mouth watering as he watched the torture, disgusting Shego a little. But just when it seemed as if Spidey was done for, he fired two crisscrossed web strands, one at a marble-plated desk and the other at an old fashioned wooden one. Spidey unfolded his arms, sending both desks flying towards Octavius at the same time. Ock dropped Spider-Man immediately and focused on the wooden desk, using his mechanical arms to grab it and tear apart, just as the marble-plated desk came near him and hit him hard enough to make his body soar across two rooms and crash through a window. He hit a generator and tore it away from the sidewalk, creating a loud booming noise and unleashing several sparks, soon before he smashed right into a taxicab.

Close nearby, there was an SUV rounding a corner and coming across the area where Otto Octavius had smashed into the taxicab. The SUV was driven by Quentin Fitzwaller, who was once an irate, bumbling security guard at Walt Disney World, but became the personal assistant of Mickey Mouse, after he had been promoted for scraping all the spearmint off of park benches by the mouse himself. He immediately stopped the vehicle, upon seeing the man with the four mechanical arms, and turned to his passengers (Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Kim, and Ron).

“U-Uh, Mr. Mouse, sir?” Quentin said. “Maybe we should take a different route.” Mickey looked past the windshield and noticed Doc Ock on the street. He knew it was time for both his companions and his sorcerer alter ego to spring into action.

“No, Fitzwaller! We’ve got a job to do!” Mickey said, just before he jumped out of the SUV with Goofy, Donald, Kim, and Ron. He surprised and confused his friends, when he had run in a completely different direction from them.

“Hey, Mickey. You’re goin’ tha wrong way.” Goofy said.

“Uh, I…uh…have to get some film for the camera.” Mickey said, and without saying another word, he rounded the same corner that Quentin had in the SUV and disappeared, confusing his friends even more.

“But there’s plenty of film in this camera.” Donald indicated.

“Never mind.” Kim said. “Just keep a safe distance, while Ron and I go and stop Octavius.”

“Why does it always have to be you and me?” Ron asked, as he and Kim ran towards Octavius, who was able to pick himself back up with his mechanical limbs. Ron and Kim stopped, just as they noticed Spider-Man jumping through the shattered window, at the same time Octavius ripped two car doors from the taxicab and hurled them at Spidey. The web-slinger was able to jump over the first door, but it was the second that had caught him. While Spider-Man crashed back into the building, Kim and Ron confronted Octavius, neither of them realizing how much the doctor had changed.

“Doctor Octavius! Remember us?” Kim asked, and when he noticed the two, he just became more enraged.

“How can I forget the two people who failed to protect my machine?!” Octavius yelled and used two of his arms to swipe at Kim and Ron. Kim was able to jump out of the way in time, but Ron was caught by the two limbs, being sent flying through the air and landing on top of one of the squad cars that had arrived at the scene. Drakken and Shego came out of the bank at the moment Kim landed in front of them and taken aback by their appearance at the scene.

“What are you two doing here?!” Kim asked, and Drakken didn’t fear or get upset over Kim’s arrival, because he was that much confident of his alliance with Otto Octavius. All he had done was grin at Kim Possible, who was beginning to put two and two together. “What did you do to Doctor Octavius, Drakken?!”

“Let’s just say he’s all that and you’re not anymore!” Drakken exclaimed, just before one of the claws from Octavius’s mechanical limbs grabbed Kim by the waist, while one other did the same to May Parker. Octavius used his human arms to snatch Piggy, who was just coming out of the bank, taking all three of the women hostage. The police that had arrived at the scene aimed their weapons at Octavius, but soon lowered them once Octavius turned to them and held his hostages in front of him.

“Don’t follow me.” Octavius warned, and with his hostages, he moved away from the bank and started climbing up the side of a nearby building. Kermit, Fozzie, Robin, Goofy, and Donald saw what happened to Piggy, and they all started to get scared.

“Miss Piggy!” Robin cried.

“Kermit, what are we gonna do?!” Fozzie asked, and for the first time in his life, Kermit was lacking ideas, as he watched his girlfriend being taken away with Kim and May by Otto Octavius. While Octavius distracted the crowd and the police, Shego and Drakken got out of sight, both carrying two moneybags, and left in their hovercraft, which had been parked in a nearby alleyway. As they flew away, a red/blue blur flew past them at a miraculous speed, spinning their hovercraft around and around just as fast.

“This is like the Mad Tea Cup all over again!!!” Drakken yelled, while the red/blue blur that was in fact the Sorcerer’s Apprentice (a.k.a. Mickey Mouse) landed on the side of the building that Octavius was climbing up, defying the laws of gravity by standing horizontally and stopping the surprised doctor in his tracks.

“Alright, buddy! Let the girls go!” Mickey demanded, and his forceful attitude impressed Piggy a little.

“Oh! Mickey!” Piggy exclaimed. “This is a side of you that I never thought I would see in person.”

“It’s gonna be okay, Piggy.” Mickey said. “As long as Octopus here cooperates!”

“Sure, Mr. Mouse. I’ll do anything for my childhood idol.” Octavius said, but the tone in his voice told otherwise. When the mechanical arms came closer to Mickey and put May and Kim in arm length from him, Octavius made a quick move and made his mechanical arms drop the two on purpose, at the same time he dropped Piggy as well. “Oops! Butterfingers!”

“NO!!!” Mickey yelled, and he quickly flew away from his spot and caught Piggy before she could’ve fallen any further. Kim, who was falling faster than May Parker, pulled out a gun device and fired a grappling hook that connected to one of the ledges of the building and allowed her to stop falling and start swinging through the air, catching May Parker and gently setting her back down on the sidewalk below.

“Goodness gracious! Thank you, my dear.” May said, a bit shaken.

“No big. Just get to someplace safe. Everything will be alright.” Kim said, before she pushed the trigger of her grappling gun and sent herself soaring back up the building.

“Be careful, young lady.” May said, watching and fearing for Kim as she flew upwards at Octavius, who noted her sudden appearance and made a move quick enough to surprise even Kim herself. He grabbed her body with one mechanical arm and began smashing her body against a brick wall, tearing it apart in the process. Chunks of stone began to fall towards the crowd, leaving Kermit, Fozzie, Donald, Goofy, and Ron to move several people to safety in the process. Kim was shaken badly from the blows, but she tried her very best to fight back against the six-armed madman.

Meanwhile, Mickey was able to bring Piggy back to her friends, but didn’t stay long enough to be thanked, considering the fact that Kim was in serious danger. When he flew back up towards her and Octavius really fast, he was caught by surprise when Spider-Man swung his way and accidentally caused the two heroes to collide, smashing into a wall. Angered by each other’s interference, Mickey and Spider-Man had to put a moment for bickering aside, in order to climb up and help save Kim.

When the sorcerer and the web-slinger came near the two, they didn’t expect to be caught by two of Octavius’s other mechanical limbs. It had become a one-on-three brawl in a matter of seconds, as Octavius fought desperately with his robotic arms against Kim, Mickey, and Spider-Man all across the side of the building. The spectators far below couldn’t believe the battle that was happening above, which Fozzie Bear was competing for pictures with Donald Duck, both snapping away at the scene.

“Gosh, Uncle Kermit.” Robin said, truly amazed. “I didn’t know Mickey Mouse could fight like that.”

“I didn’t either, Robin.” Kermit uttered, trying to comprehend the fact that his old F.A.S.A. buddy was up there with Kim Possible and Spider-Man.

The building that the four combatants were fighting alongside of was no regular building. It was the office building for a conglomerate fashion industry ran by the wealthy British designer known to the world as Lady Holiday. She was sitting at her desk that moment and talking over the phone with her imprisoned brother, Nicky Holiday. Her current receptionist, a buxom female pig named Spamela Hamderson, was handling important documents and pictures of beautiful models while she was talking.

“Nicky, listen to me, darling.” She said as her back was facing the windows of her office, which Mickey, Kim, Spider-Man, and Doc Ock were passing through between each second. “I understand that the food there at Riker’s is dreadfully distasteful. But you were the one who stole my valuable necklace and then attempted to steal my precious baseball diamond from the Mallory Gallery, so you had it coming.”

While Lady Holiday was listening to her brother’s loud, vicious rants over the receiver, she heard a short, heavy banging noise at the same time that she felt a fierce but brief tremor. She moved the phone receiver away from her ear for a moment and turned her attention to Spamela, who had also felt the tremor and heard the heavy noise.

“Did you hear that?” Lady Holiday asked her.

“I did, ma’am.” Spamela replied, and they both stopped for a moment to hear the noise and feel the tremor again. After a few seconds, nothing happened and the two returned to their activities.

“As I was saying, Nicky, I understand that you’re forced to share a cell with a Southern-bred former owner of a chain of fast food restaurants and his wimpy assistant.” Spamela came near Lady Holiday’s office and grabbed a few papers before moving away from it. “Well, what do you want me to do? Jump out a window for you?” Soon after Spamela was a few feet away from Lady Holiday’s office, the four combatants outside her office had crashed through the window and landed right in between a stunned Lady Holiday and a shocked Spamela. Lady Holiday dropped the phone, as she and her receptionist watched the fierce battle take place in her office. “What is the meaning of this?!?!”

Neither of the combatants bothered to answer her question, due to their focus on each other. Spider-Man had repeatedly punched Doc Ock in the face, while Mickey and Kim were busy wrestling with Ock’s mechanical arms. Two of the arms grabbed Kim by her arms and her legs, spinning her around at an extraordinarily fast speed before throwing her against a wall. Kim’s body crashed through it and landed right in the middle of the next room, where a photo shoot had been taking place. Several beautiful, ethnically diverse female models wearing long, glittering gowns that came in many different shapes, sizes, and colors had stared at Kim in surprise, as her weakened body was covered with rubble.

Back in Lady Holiday’s office, the two arms that had thrown Kim’s body had reached for Spider-Man, grabbing his head and torso and slamming his body all over the room. Shelves were demolished and Lady Holiday’s desk had been collapsed, as Spidey desperately fought to get free. Meanwhile, the arms that Mickey was wrestling with had slammed him against another wall, breaking through it in the process. Mickey had come across a conference room, where a meeting had taken place. The businesspeople in the room stared at Mickey blankly, as he sheepishly waved at them all.

“Hiya!” He said, just as he noticed one businessperson’s coffee mug, which was—much to his pleasure—filled with extremely hot coffee. “Mind if I borrow this? Thanks!” He was suddenly pulled back into Lady Holiday’s office, and as soon as he was above Doc Ock’s body, he dumped the coffee all over him. Doc Ock screamed in pain, while using his arms to hurl Mickey and Spidey back outside through the shattered window. As they were flying, Spidey fired two web strands towards Ock that instantly connected to him, which caused Ock to be pulled back outside with them.

“Call the police!!!” Lady Holiday screamed, as she and Spamela dashed out of the office, passing through the room where Kim was lying and starting to regain consciousness. Dazed, she got up and realized where she was, seeing all of the startled models staring at her in shock.

“Nice outfits, ladies.” Kim commented, holding up a sprained thumb. She then ran back into Lady Holiday’s ravaged, emptied office and jumped out through the window. While her body was soaring back onto the ledge, it was immediately snatched by one of Ock’s mechanical limbs, just as another had snatched Spidey’s. Both of the heroes were thrown through two windows and then hurled them away towards another building on the other side. Kim and Spidey crashed through the same window, leaving Mickey the only one fighting against Octavius, who pinned his small body against the wall with one of his mechanical limbs.

“I hope you enjoyed yourself, Mr. Mouse, because you’ve put on your last magic show for your adoring fans.” Octavius said, right before a long, sharp knife plucked itself out from one of his limbs and pointed directly at Mickey’s head. From the other building, Spidey and Kim could see the trouble that Mickey was in and both cooperated long enough to pull off an interesting trick. While Kim jumped on his back and gently held her arms around his neck, Spider-Man fired two web strands at two sides of the broken window and started pulling both himself and Kim back, stretching the web strands.

“Oh, this is so gonna be the drama!” Kim uttered, just before Spider-Man catapulted the both of them towards Octavius and Mickey. But things didn’t go exactly as planned, when Mickey unleashed a flash of light from his hands that melted Octavius’s sunglasses away and blinded him. While Octavius was screaming in pain, his body reeled back along with the limb that still had the protruding knife, which had aimed at Spidey and Kim. “Look out!” Spidey snatched the limb and used it as leverage to push himself and Kim towards the wall, which he instantly stuck to. The mechanical limb that Octavius used to pin down Mickey had loosened its grip on the mouse, but accidentally pushed him off the ledge in the process.

While Mickey had fallen several feet through the air, his sorcerer hat had flown off his head, taking away the power that he could’ve used to stop himself from falling and soar through the air again. Seeing how Mickey was freefalling, Spidey and Kim immediately jumped from the ledge and fell towards him. Spidey fired two web strands at both sides of Mickey’s body and gave a hard jerk to increase his fall enough to catch up with the mouse. Once he was near Mickey, he snatched him and fired another web strand into the air, stopping their fall and giving Spidey opportunity to swing them all to safety, while the police fired at Octavius, who had fled the scene.

Spider-Man brought himself, Kim, and Mickey back down to the center of the crowd below, all of the people gathering around them and congratulating each of them. While the crowd cheered on the three heroes that took on Doctor Octopus, Robin spotted something nearby that made him move away from his uncle’s side, as Kermit himself joined Piggy, Fozzie, Donald, Goofy, and Ron in congratulating and questioning Kim, Spider-Man, and Mickey.

“You okay, Kim?” asked Ron, who was just as bruised as Kim was.

“I’ll let you know once I’m in a bathtub filled with ice.” Kim remarked.

“I know the feelin’.” Ron said, while Kermit checked on Piggy.

“How are you doing, Piggy?” He asked her. “Do you think you need medical attention or anything like that?” Piggy wasn’t exactly listening to Kermit, because she was too interested in the person that saved her life: Mickey Mouse. “Piggy?” The frog soon noticed her gaze on Mickey, and he finally reached the jealous attitude that he had known he should’ve been feeling, ever since Mickey became a Bugle reporter. Fearing that he would say something he would regret, Kermit simply just walked away, coming across Robin, who was picking Mickey’s sorcerer hat up from the sidewalk at the same time his uncle took him by the hand. “Come on, Robin. Let’s go.”

“But…Uncle Kermit…” Robin said, trying to show the jealous Kermit the hat, as he was led away by him. Meanwhile, Fozzie was interested in the story regarding Kim, Spidey, and Mickey.

“So is this the start of a new partnership?” He asked, and the three heroes answered in unison, each giving a simple “No.”

“I work solo.” Spidey told Fozzie.

“Same here.” Mickey said, glaring at Spider-Man.

“You boys took the words right out of my mouth.” Kim remarked, and Ron was about to say something, until Kim had covered his mouth. “Come on, Ron. Let’s get outta here.” Kim and Ron limped away from the scene, while Spider-Man jumped and swung out of sight. Mickey remained where he was, as Quentin approached him with a sorcerer hat that looked oddly similar to his.

“Here’s your hat, sir.” He said, and Mickey angrily snatched it away from, as he turned to Donald and Goofy.

“Neither of you fellas say anything about this to Jameson, alright?” Mickey demanded.

“But, Mickey, everyone saw ya do what ya did.” Goofy said.

“Yeah, it’s bound to get into the papers sometime.” Donald added.

“You fellas forget that I’m a sorcerer. I’ll just use my magic once we get back to the Tipton to make everyone forget all about this.” Mickey said, as he walked back to the SUV with Donald, Goofy, and Quentin. Had he and his friends hung around longer, they would’ve heard a young boy ask his mother where the hat that he bought from the Disney Store had gone.

“I can’t wait ‘til we get these pictures back to the Bugle for Mister Jameson to see.” Fozzie said, just as Piggy noticed something about his camera that brought on her next action.

“HIIIII-YAHHHH!!!!!” She screamed, just before she karate-chopped Fozzie, sending him flying through the air and smacking against the side of a squad car. “The lens cap was still on, you idiot!!!”

“That’s…all…you had…to tell…me.” Fozzie grunted, while Piggy shook her head, wondering if they would have any luck at the Planetarium Party.

“Oh, I hope so.”

END OF CHAPTER SIX​

More to come soon.

 

[muppetwriter]

Originally, Quentin Fitzwaller (the bumbling security guard from The Muppets at Walt Disney World) only had very small parts in the story, playing Mickey Mouse's new personal assistant. That all has changed within this next revised chapter.

Chapter Seven​

Quentin Fitzwaller never knew how furious one of the most lovable American icons in the history of Hollywood could get, once Mickey Mouse had realized that the sorcerer hat he had retrieved for him was nothing more than a common hat bought straight from The Disney Store, and the tag that was on it was proof. The frustrated Mickey had immediately fired Quentin for his mistake, although it wasn’t really the former Disney World security guard’s fault. However, despite the fact that Quentin himself knew exactly that, he just left his former boss alone in his room at the Tipton Hotel and took stroll down the streets of Manhattan on that busy night.

Quentin was on his way to one of his most favorite spots in Downtown Manhattan, which was Pete’s Diner, and aimed on getting a nice submarine sandwich to take his mind off of losing his job. But when he was only half a ways far from the Tipton Hotel, a sleek, black limousine had pulled up right near him and the sidewalk he was walking down on. The passenger side window had rolled down and a gorgeous face that Quentin immediately recognized stuck out from it.

“Rachel Bitterman?!” Quentin exclaimed in surprise, as she smiled at him.

“Why the surprised look, Q?” Rachel asked. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your old girlfriend after just only seven years?”

“Believe me. I’m trying.” Quentin angrily remarked, and while he continued walking down the sidewalk, Rachel’s limousine moved alongside of him, allowing her to speak with him more. “You know, I nearly lost my job that day you came to Epcot and failed to pay your way in.”

“Hey, I made up for it by inviting you to have dinner with me at Pleasure Island.” Rachel innocently said. “Besides, if I hadn’t snuck my way in, we never would’ve met.”

“I was never interested in you, Rachel.” Quentin said, glaring at her as he walked. “You were nothing more than a common crook, while I…used to be one of the best security guards in the park.” Thinking about the job that he had before the one that he recently lost made Quentin feel more depressed than he already was. He shot a dirty look at Rachel again, increasing his pace. “Just leave me alone, Rachel. I don’t ever want to speak with you again.” The faster he walked, the faster Rachel’s limousine drove.

“I know about Mickey firing you from your new job.” Rachel quickly said, and Quentin stopped in his tracks, forcing the limousine to abruptly put on its brakes. Rachel nearly fell out of her seat from the immediate stop, and she glared at the driver before returning her gaze on a surprised Quentin. “Look, there’s a celebration happening right now at the Planetarium for the astronaut, John Jameson. Let me help lift your spirits by taking you there.”

Quentin wasn’t exactly certain how Rachel had found out about Mickey recently firing him, but he knew that his old flame was just full of surprises. His feelings for her were very grim, though he couldn’t help but to think about the good times they had (even though there were very few of them). Knowing that he probably didn’t have anything else better to do, he decided to accept her offer.

“That’s a high-society gathering.” He uttered. “I’m sort on a tuxedo.”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem.” Rachel said, just as her male bodyguard who was sitting across from her in the backseat of the limo hopped out and walked around its rear, heading towards Quentin. The former security guard had stared at the bodyguard in fear, wondering what the bearded seven-foot man with dark sunglasses, an earpiece, and a pressed black and white suit might do to him. Just as he had approached Quentin, he pulled a perfectly tailored tuxedo out from behind his back and gave it to Quentin.

“I don’t suppose this comes with rainbow-colored socks, does it?” Quentin asked Rachel, who just continued smiling at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Moments later, Rachel and the tuxedo-dressed Quentin Fitzwaller arrived at the social gathering in the Planetarium, where there were a lot of mixed emotions amongst the attending guests. Kermit, who had become very frustrated over the chemistry that Mickey and Piggy supposedly gained after the rescue than the assignment given to him by J. Jonah Jameson, arrived there with Fozzie, Robin, Peter, Jenny, Rizzo, and Piggy herself in Fozzie’s Studebaker. Piggy had tried several times to get Kermit to at least say one small word to her, but the frog hadn’t spoken to her for hours, which made Piggy feel very sad and disappointed in herself for letting her admiration for Mickey get in the way.

Fozzie backed Peter up on the photo shots, remembering to take the lens cap off that time, while Peter tried to some refreshments. However, no matter how hard Peter tried, someone snatched the last hors d’oeuvre before he could’ve. While Peter was doing that, Jenny spotted Harry Osborn alone at the bar, drowning his sorrows in booze, and she realized that he could use a friend’s company at that time. Leaving the side of her companions, she moved over to the bar and had a chat with the discouraged son of the late Norman Osborn.

“Hey, Harry.” Jenny said, trying to think up something to start up a conversation. “How’s it going?”

“Don’t you have some orders to take?” Harry snapped, and Jenny was a little offended by his remark, but didn’t let it drive her away from him. She saw how he taken one big gulp out of a whole bottle of champagne and seemed a little worried about his condition.

“Listen, Harry,” She said, “Maybe it isn’t such a good idea to drink so much. Alcohol never does solve anyone’s problems.”

“It’s a party, Jen.” Harry remarked, taking another big swig. “Wouldn’t you be drinking if you lost a bundle on some crackpot who you thought would take you to fame and fortune?” It was obvious it was more than Octavius’s failure that was troubling Harry, and he made that clear as he turned away from his drink and glared at Jenny with his drunken eyes. “Not to mention your boyfriend’s devotion to the bug.”

“My…” Jenny was puzzled at first, until she looked past Harry’s shoulder and noticed Peter being guided by Jameson to various socialites, including the Mayor and his girlfriend (or is it his wife?), who his wife had been photographed with. She realized who Harry was referring to and immediately defended herself and Peter. “Harry, he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Oh, really,” Harry said in a sarcastic tone. “Don’t think I noticed the way he was staring at you at Otto’s demonstration that day? Why else would he take that job at your father’s poor excuse for a restaurant?” Jenny was trying not to appear upset by Harry’s drunken remarks.

“We’re just friends, Harry. That’s all.” She said. “And if I were you, I wouldn’t question Peter’s devotion. He’s a good friend and cares a lot about you, as do I.”

“If he cares so much about me, then how come he doesn’t help me find Spider-Man and make him pay for what he did to my father?” Harry asked, and Jenny didn’t answer, not because she couldn’t think of a good answer, but because there was no answer for a question like that.

“Please, Harry. Not tonight, when everyone’s having such a…”

“Every night, Jenny! Until I find Spider-Man, it’s gonna be twenty-four/seven!” Harry stared coldly at Jenny, who was quite disturbed by his comments, afraid that he would do something one day that he might regret. Before anything else could have been said between, Rachel Bitterman and Quentin Fitzwaller appeared at their location, butting into their conversation.

“Oh, hello again, Harry.” Rachel happily said, and as soon as he noticed her, Harry sighed and took another heavy swig from the champagne bottle. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yes, you did.” Harry viciously remarked. Rachel still couldn’t believe the hostility he was showing towards her and knew that she would have to work harder to earn his trust and respect. Meanwhile, Quentin noticed Jenny near them; he smiled and waved at her.

“Hi, Jenny.” He said, and she instantly recognized him from his frequent visits to the diner, returning his pleasant greeting.

“Hello, Quentin.” Rachel took notice of the happy exchange between the two and quickly became jealous of it.

“And who’s this?” Rachel asked Quentin, who could detect the tension in her voice and was a bit worried about replying to her question, wondering if it would cause a stir between the only two women in his miserable life. Luckily, Jenny answered Rachel instead.

“My name’s Jenny.” She friendlily stated. “I’ve known Quentin for about two years now. He often comes to visit the diner that my father owns and that I work in.” Rachel wasn’t too interested in what Jenny was telling her, because she was only focusing on her jealousy and letting it distract her attention. But instead of letting it show in front of everyone, she just bit her tongue and smiled awkwardly. “Quentin, you didn’t tell me that you were coming here with your mother.” After hearing that comment, Rachel had nearly bit her tongue so hard that it bled. Quentin’s wariness had begun to increase, as his eyes quickly moved left and right between an angry Rachel and a cheerful Jenny.

“Uh…she’s not my mother, Jen. She’s…” Before Quentin could’ve continued explaining himself, Rachel quickly stepped in and interrupted him, glaring at Jenny.

“Jenny…now the name sounds familiar.” The glare in her eyes intimidated Jenny a little, wiping off the smile that was on her beautiful face. “Your father signed a contract with my business not too long ago and promised that mortgage payments would be taken care of by the time three months have passed. Well, three months have passed, and he hasn’t paid!” Jenny hadn’t wished to discuss the financial status of her father’s business with anyone other than him. What Rachel was saying worried her a little, as she thought of the possibility of the diner—the only home they have in America—shutting down permanently.

“I…I’ll be sure to let him know that, Miss…?”

“Bitterman. Rachel Bitterman!” She snapped, her angry tone catching the attention of a few people around her, including Harry. “And I would suggest that you, young lady, before the both of you are left out on the street, and that diner ends up becoming my property.” Rachel’s harsh words brought tears to Jenny’s eyes, and the young waitress forced herself to walk away from Rachel and head to an area where she could be alone for a while to cry.

“You didn’t have to say all of that, Rachel.” Quentin said, seeming a little offended.

“Whatever. Go get me something to eat.” Rachel maliciously demanded, and Quentin wanted to tell her how heartless she was and that he wasn’t going to stick around long enough to hear any more of her rants. But he was too much of a coward to do so and realized that he was wearing a tuxedo that belonged to her and not him. Quentin had just done what his old girlfriend had ordered him to do, while Rachel focused her attention back on Harry. “That’s how it’s supposed to be done, Harry. No matter how weak they are, you always show them no mercy.”

Harry chuckled over the way she was mentoring him. “Funny…that’s what my father used to tell me…before he was murdered.” As he drunk more of the champagne from the bottle, Rachel took a glass that was already filled and drank some herself, thinking about the topic that had been on Harry’s mind for two years.

“What if I were to tell you that I could help you find the person who killed him, Harry?” Harry nearly choked on the champagne while laughing at what Rachel had said.

“A common banker helping me find Spider-Man. Like that’s really going to happen.” Rachel grinned with arrogance, listening to the way he was mocking her intelligence.

“Doesn’t sound as ridiculous as you believe it is. Especially considering the fact that I helped finance all of the technology necessary for the military to construct the perfect soldier.” Harry shook his head, still not buying into that one fact that Rachel kept bringing up in front of him.

“Listen, just because you worked with my father doesn’t mean that I want to work with you. You’re just a greedy woman who has nothing else better to do than steal other people’s money.” Harry’s harsh reactions weren’t menacing to her at all. She practically invited intimidation, and anyone else using it on her would get just a wicked smile and a frightening glare. “Get it through your thick skull! I don’t need your help!” And with that, Harry took his bottle of champagne and walked away from the bar, leaving Rachel standing there and feeling much more confident in her plan.

“Ladies and gentlemen, good evening,” said the emcee that stood at the podium on stage at the center of the huge room, with a bright smile on her face. “The committee for the Science Library of New York is pleased to present our guest of honor.” While the emcee was talking, Jameson turned to Fozzie and Peter, grinning.

“Get ready, boys.” He said.

“He’s the first man to play football on the moon.” Everyone gave a little chuckle over the emcee’s joke, especially Jameson and his wife. “The handsome, the heroic, and the delicious…John Jameson!!” After the emcee’s introduction, all of the guests turned to the flight of stairs that John Jameson himself came down on, along with the gorgeously dressed Mary Jane Watson. While everyone was applauding for the lovely couple, Fozzie had taken several photos of them, though it was only him that was taking them. Next to Fozzie was a frozen Peter, who couldn’t believe that Mary Jane was involved with John. Jenny noticed how shocked he was and felt a little disappointed for him.

A short while later, things seemed to have gotten tenser by the second. Peter went outside to the back of the Planetarium to have a talk with Mary Jane, which only escalated her hatred and disappointment towards Peter. While Peter confronted Mary Jane, Piggy confronted Kermit over the situation involving them, fearing the direction that their long-time relationship was going and doing everything she could to save it. She found Kermit in a section of the main room, interviewing John Jameson and asking questions that regarded to his next space mission (yet most of the answers John gave the frog had a mentioning of his new love, Mary Jane, in them).

“Kermie?” Piggy said, softly, and Kermit cringed, not wanting to talk about anything with Piggy, especially in the middle of an interview. “Do you mind if we talk for a minute?”

“I’m a little busy.” Kermit said, and Piggy was a little pleased that he finally said those four words after spending hours giving her the silent treatment, even though he didn’t look at her as he said them.

“But I just want to talk about…well…you know…” Piggy said, and Kermit sighed in exasperation, addressing John Jameson again.

“I’m sorry, John.” Kermit told him. “I’m afraid I have to end this interview rather early, because somebody wants to hog all of your attention.” Usually when Kermit made comments like that, he would get a karate chop in a millisecond. But Piggy was too worried to be offended and refrained from her violent outburst.

“I get the message.” John said. “I have to find my date, anyway. There’s some great news that I’m gonna share with everybody, once I find her.” And with that, John left Piggy alone with Kermit, who didn’t once turn to look at her as they talked.

“Kermie…you know that you’re the only one I love.” Piggy said, still in a soft tone of voice. “What happened yesterday with Mickey…that was…well…He was just saving my life. You wouldn’t have wanted me to splatter all over the sidewalk, would you?”

“How can you even ask a question like that?” Kermit replied, with a mixture of anger and frustration in his voice. “For years, all I have ever done is care about you, Piggy. All I ever wanted was for you to be by my side at times when I really needed you there with me.” He tried to contain his anger and frustration, so he wouldn’t cause a scene in front of the people around them. “It doesn’t bother me that Mickey saved your life, Piggy. What bothers me is the way you looked at him after he did. You look like you’d rather…you’d rather…” He tried to bring himself to finish, but didn’t have the heart to. Piggy knew exactly what he was going to say and couldn’t believe he would think such a thing, especially seeing as how he and Mickey were trustworthy friends. Kermit let out a deep sigh and turned to face Piggy for the first time in a while. “Look, Piggy…I think you and I should just…not see each other for a while. There are a lot of thoughts going through my mind right now, and I want to convince myself that they’re not all true. I want to get my head on straight, before we can continue on with whatever we had…that is, if we had anything to begin with.”

Piggy was shocked and bewildered to hear Kermit make such a proposal. She was so crushed that she couldn’t utter another word and had to leave the frog right away to be alone and weep out her pain. Kermit couldn’t believe what he suggested either. He knew how long the both of them had been together, and to hear himself talk about breaking up was the last thing he would’ve expected. What made it all even weirder to him was the fact that Mickey Mouse, his old F.A.S.A. buddy, was the reason for it all.

Shortly after the conversation Piggy and Kermit had, Robin was trying to talk to someone about Mickey’s sorcerer hat, which he had actually brought with him to the event. He couldn’t find Piggy anywhere and his uncle only told him that he needed to be alone for a moment, as he sat in one of the corners, just staring out into space. Rizzo was still busy trying to snatch a snack and Fozzie was busy taking photos all around. Eventually, Robin ran into Jenny, who had greeted a distraught Peter as he came back into the building.

“Hey, Jenny,” The little frog said. “Are you busy right now?”

“No. I’m not busy at all, Robin.” Jenny replied. “What is it?”

“Well…I have to talk to you about…” Before Robin could pull out the hat from behind his back and show it to Jenny, a man rudely pushed them aside as he passed by, staggering his way towards Peter. It was Harry, who was totally smashed at that moment, finally letting off his frustrations on Peter.

“You know, your loyalty to Spider-Man and not to your best friend is starting to **** me off.” He said, angrily. “I find him with my father’s body, and you defend him like he’s your bread and butter.” Jenny knew what was about to happen, so she urged Robin to go find his uncle, while she stepped in between Harry and Peter. Quentin and Rachel were close nearby, mingling with a few guests at one point and listening in to the altercation the next.

“Harry, take it easy.” Jenny said, gently putting her hand on Harry’s shoulder, which he brushed off immediately.

“Don’t touch me, you tramp!!” Harry snapped.

“Don’t talk to her that way.” Peter told him. “We’re your friends, Harry.”

“Well, you sure don’t act like it.” Harry remarked. “You stole M.J. from me…you stole my father’s love…you let him die, ‘cause you didn’t turn in the freak. Isn’t that right?” What happened next took Peter, Jenny, and everyone else around them by surprise, as Harry slapped Peter across the face. The band that had been playing for hours stopped, as had everyone else in the room. All eyes were focused on Peter and Harry, as the two stared at each other. “Huh?! Isn’t that right?! Huh…brother?!?!” Harry attempted to slap Peter again, but Jenny quickly grabbed his arm and tried to hold him back.

“Harry! Stop!” She cried, just as she was pushed to the floor by Harry, angering Peter, who grabbed him by the collar, ready to take him on. Peter didn’t do anything for a long while, as he held Harry by the collar. His sudden action had truly surprised Harry, who just stared into his eyes, seeming to be prepared for whatever fight that he and Peter would get into. Rachel was also surprised by the actions of Peter, who she wasn’t very familiar with but wondered what his connection was to Harry.

Jenny watched and waited for something to happen, while everyone else did as well. However, nothing had happened, except for Peter letting go of Harry’s collar and moving over to help Jenny to her feet. Without saying another word, Harry left the scene, furious and disappointed. Rachel’s eyes had followed him for a moment as he left, and then they darted towards Peter, who she had gained much interest in that moment.

“You okay, Jenny?” Fozzie asked, as he approached Jenny and Peter with Rizzo and Robin by his side.

“I’m fine.” Jenny said, looking at Peter with thankful eyes. Standing nearby the scene was Mary Jane, who saw what had happened and couldn’t believe it all, especially when Peter and Jenny looked into each other’s eyes, which made it seemed to M.J. as if the two had a romantic connection. Her attention was soon distracted by John, who smiled as he passed by her and went to the podium on stage, making some sort of announcement.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I just want you all to know that the beautiful Miss Mary Jane Watson has agreed to marry me.” John announced, and his action brought a smile to the face of Mary Jane, who wasn’t expected it. Meanwhile, Jenny and Peter were shocked by the announcement, whereas Fozzie and Robin were ecstatic about it.

“Hey, that’s wonderful!” Fozzie exclaimed.

“It sure is,” Robin said. “Isn’t it, Peter?” When Robin turned to Peter, he noticed the unhappy look on his face, as well as the one on Jenny’s, and got a little confused. The small frog quickly became sad himself, though he wasn’t sure why. While everyone, including Fozzie, was applauding over the huge announcement, Mary Jane joined John on the stage, which brought J. Jonah Jameson to beckon Peter or Fozzie to take a picture.

“Shoot the picture! Shoot the picture!” He yelled, and Fozzie & Peter got their cameras ready, aiming them at John and Mary Jane and shooting photos that were likely to make it on the front page of the Bugle. Meanwhile, Quentin and Rachel still had their eyes on Peter.

“Who’s the kid that almost brawled with Harry?” Rachel silently asked Quentin.

“His name’s Peter Parker.” Quentin replied. “He’s a photographer for The Daily Bugle.” Rachel grinned cruelly, as she gazed upon Peter.

“Peter Parker, eh?” She roughly took one bite of the appetizer that Quentin had brought for her, and it was only until she tasted it that she realized it was a celery stick. Immediately, she spat it out, surprising Quentin. “How many times do I have to tell you?! I hate celery!!” She continued spitting it up, while Quentin had a blank look on his face.

“It’s only been seven years, Rachel!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Hours after the party at the Planetarium was over, Mickey Mouse decided to step out of the Tipton Hotel and take a late night stroll on the streets of Manhattan, without his friends joining him. He needed to be alone for a while to think about where his sorcerer hat could’ve been. He was really disappointed in himself for failing to retrieve it and making everyone forget about his daring deeds. The mouse knew that without the hat, things were going to be difficult for him, as he tried to make a new career in journalism in New York City. “Journalists aren’t supposed to look for big news and be it at the same time,” he thought.

While passing through the area that he, Kim Possible, and Spider-Man fought against Doc Ock, Shego, and Drakken in, Mickey looked all around the crime scene (which it had become, soon after the fight) and search desperately for his hat. Hundreds of people witnessed the fierce battle and any of them could’ve taken it. When he checked just about everywhere and couldn’t see any sign of the hat, Mickey decided to give up and head back to the hotel. That was until he noticed one other at the scene: Kim Possible herself.

“Hey!” Mickey exclaimed, approaching Kim, who was analyzing parts of the ravaged bank for clues. When she noticed Mickey, a small smile crept across her face, happy to see the mouse whose life she was proud to save.

“What up, Mickey.” Kim said, and as Mickey got closer to her, he was surprised to see how the top part of her head was bandaged up, covering half of her long, beautiful red hair.

“Gosh! Are you alright?” Mickey asked, and Kim gently placed a hand over the bandaged area of her head.

“Oh, you mean this? No big.” Kim replied. “I’ve taken worse blows than this.”

“What about your sidekick friend? I think he took a beating from Doctor Octopus that was worse than either of ours.”

“Oh, Ron just has a sprained ankle. He’ll be fine, as long as Rufus keeps feeding him that chicken soup.” Mickey nodded, with a friendly look on his face that told how much he was glad to see and hear that Kim and Ron were still all right. He then began to feel a little upset with himself for saying the things he did the other day about Kim and Spider-Man. The feeling was the same for Kim as well.

“Listen, I’m really sorry about yesterday.” They both said at the same time, which made Kim chuckle and point at Mickey.

“Jinx! You owe me a soda!” She exclaimed, and Mickey shook his head, expecting her to say just that. “Seriously, Mickey…I really don’t mind fighting crime with you. I never even knew you had a thing for it.” Mickey felt a bit sheepish, not wanting to discuss his secret life with anyone. But seeing as how it was currently out in the open, he decided to talk about it with Kim.

“I just wanted to be something more than an American icon. I want to be an American hero, helping people in dire situations and making a change for those that really need it. I want to help the world get back on its feet and earn the peace that it deserves.” Kim was impressed to hear such a lovable character say such marvelous things, almost bringing a tear to her eye. “But I don’t think I can anymore, with my hat missing now.”

“Where did it go?”

“I don’t know. I’ve looked all over for it and haven’t found it anywhere.”

“Well, maybe I can help you out. I have this friend who…” Before Kim could finish, she was interrupted by the sound of a man screaming in terror, followed by several thuds and a splashing noise. They noticed how the noises were coming from a nearby alleyway, which they immediately went to and found Spider-Man laying in a puddle of water.

“Did he just fall?” Mickey said in surprise.

“Believe it or not…he did.” Kim responded, as they watched Spidey painfully get to his feet and unmask himself, revealing his true identity before the two characters. When Mickey found out that Spider-Man was really Peter Parker, he couldn’t believe his eyes, which he wiped over and over again before coming to grips with the truth.

“Peter?!?!” Mickey shouted, and once Peter looked up and spotted the two, he quickly realized the mistake he made.

“Relax, Parker.” Kim said. “I’ve known for some time now.”

“You have?!?!” Mickey and Peter both said, as they looked at her surprisingly.

“The first time you fell, after I chased you over the rooftops, I watched you remove the mask. And, at first, I didn’t know who you were. Then I had a friend of mine do a quick background check. I had never anticipated the Amazing Spider-Man to be not much older than me.” Peter somehow figured that Kim knew his secret, just from the way she acted towards him on their first encounter in Jameson’s office at the Bugle. However, Mickey Mouse discovering it was a different case.

“So, Mickey…I guess this has got to be quite a shock for you.” Peter said, and Mickey smiled and nodded.

“It is.” The mouse remarked. “I guess I can understand why you hide it from everyone, especially after what happened to me.” Peter did find it a little uncanny how Mickey’s situation was oddly similar to his own that moment. Mickey found it just as uncanny that he was beginning to gain some respect for the wall-crawler, after finding out he was someone who he respected more than anyone else. “But, don’t worry…I’m gonna make sure no one else finds out about your secret.”

“Same here.” Kim said, realizing that the only way she would find out the truth of what happened the night Norman Osborn died would be to earn Peter’s respect first. Peter, believing in the two characters, was pleased yet a little disappointed at the same time.

“Well…you might not have to worry about helping me keep any secrets, because…well…just watch.” He said, right before he stuck out his wrists and attempted to fire webbing out of them. Unfortunately, nothing came out. “You see? Something happening to me, and I don’t know what it is.” Kim and Mickey were just as baffled as Peter was.

“What about your wall-crawling ability?” Kim asked, and Peter decided to take the opportunity to check it out, turning to a brick wall that he started to scale up on. For a while, it seemed as if things were back to normal again, reaching to about nine feet. Then he suddenly began to start slipping, until he was able to find his grip again.

“Hmm…” Mickey said, “Looks like there’s nothing…” But Mickey immediately silenced himself, just as Peter lost his grip again and fell right back to the ground, his back slamming against a nearby dumpster in the process. As Kim and Mickey went to his side and checked on him, it was obvious to the two that Peter was indeed losing his spider abilities.

“Why is this happening to me?” Peter asked.

“I have no clue.” Kim said. “But maybe my mom can tell you.” Peter and Mickey looked at her strangely, thinking that she forgot her promise all too quickly. “She’s a doctor, and we don’t have to tell her about your spider powers. We’ll just take you for a simple checkup.”

“That’s a good idea.” Mickey said. “Maybe what’s happening to you is a physical problem, like a cold or something.” Peter pondered over the possibilities of that, as he looked past Kim’s bandaged head and noticed a current issue of the Daily Bugle hanging out of the dumpster. He reached past her and grabbed it, looking at the front headline, only to see black and white blurs.

“Oh, no.” Peter uttered, blinking his eyes several times, while Mickey and Kim read the front headline and shook their heads in disgust.

“Aw, man! There are times when I really hate tabloids.” Kim stated.

“What does it say?” Peter asked, and Kim and Mickey looked at him oddly, wondering if his condition was more serious than they thought.

“It says, ‘Spidey/Ock Bank Robbery Foiled by Sorcerer and Teen Heroine’.” Mickey indicated, and after hearing that, he felt a lot worse about the headline than he did about his poor eyesight, which was starting to come back.

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN​

More to come later.

 

[The Count]

Mmm... Very much enjoyed the intrigue of the added narrative. Though there are some parts it needs to be cleaned up.
Fozzie was talking some photos? Pretty odd, then again, maybe it was a Muppet camera. Or maybe he was "taking" photos instead.
Jenny told Robin to go get her uncle? Didn't know Jenny had an uncle. Or maybe it was his uncle, Kermit who she meant for the young frog to get.

Just a few little things. But I hope more gets posted soon.

 

[muppetwriter]

Thanks, Count. I can't believe we didn't spot those mistakes before.

 

[The Count]

No problem. There have been some others, you might want to have someone else read the stories to see if there are thigs that need cleaning up like this and make a corrected copy for you to keep, and then have it as best as it can be for future readers' enjoyment.

Looking forward to the next chapter. Oh, and I take it you already know about the aliens' plans for invading CN next month.

 

[muppetwriter]

This has been and always will be one of my favorite chapters from the story (and one of my favorite scenes from the actual movie), and I believe the added scene with my character and Alissa's character, Lori, earlier on in the revised tale ties in perfectly with what was once just a cameo appearance from our characters.

Chapter Eight​

“Now, open wide and say, ‘Ahhh’.” Mrs. Dr. Possible said, as she stuck a Popsicle stick in Peter’s open mouth and shined a light into it. Being one of the best medical doctors in Manhattan, she had seen her share of special cases and was often challenged to face those that were difficult to comprehend. Peter’s situation was one of those cases that were much like the latter, and when Kim (who Mrs. Dr. Possible had seen after her fight with Doc Ock to bandage her wounds) brought him in to see her, she couldn’t help but to seem a little confused, because he seemed so healthy to her. “Well, Pete, want the good news or the bad news?” As Mrs. Dr. Possible removed the Popsicle stick from his mouth, Peter admitted that he wasn’t too happy to hear that there was some bad news involved. He looked over to Kim and Mickey, who were in the room with him and the doctor.

“Uh…the good news?” Peter remarked, and Mrs. Dr. Possible smiled.

“The good news is that there doesn’t seem to be anything physically wrong with you, which I expected as soon as you stepped in.” She said, and Kim gave Peter a gentle pat on the back.

“Well, that is good news.” Kim commented. “So what is your diagnosis, Mom?”

“My diagnosis…” Mrs. Dr. Possible pointed to her head, “…it’s all in here.” Peter nodded his head, comprehending the possibility of that.

“So, uh, what’s the bad news?” Mickey asked, and Mrs. Dr. Possible frowned.

“The bad news…you don’t have to pay anything for this checkup.” She replied, and Kim rolled her eyes over her mother’s lame joke, while Mrs. Dr. Possible just laughed it up. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know it sucks, but…gimme a break, will ya?” Mrs. Dr. Possible removed her gloves and sat next to Peter on the examination table. “You say you can’t sleep, sweetie. What is it? Heartbreak? Bad dreams?” The bad dreams part sounded like the perfect cover-up for Peter’s real reason for being there.

“There is one dream…where—in my dream—I’m Spider-Man.” Peter said, and Mrs. Dr. Possible raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “And I’m losing my powers. I’m climbing a wall, and I keep falling.”

“Oh?” Mrs. Dr. Possible remarked, her curiosity in Peter’s dream growing. “So…you’re Spider-Man…in your dream…”

“Actually, Mom,” Kim interjected, “It’s my dream.” Mrs. Dr. Possible got even more curious, now that her daughter stepped in and confessed.

“You, Kimmie?” She said, obviously surprised. “What’re you doing dreaming that you’re Spider-Man? Or a man for that matter?” Peter looked at Kim strangely, wondering why she would step in like that.

“I guess it just comes from saving the world a lot.” Kim said.

“O-kay.” Her mother uttered, trying her best to understand all of this. “Fill me in, honey. Why does the girl who can do anything believe that she has to climb walls like Spider-Man? Is there something about yourself that you’re starting to think about for the first time?” Kim looked over at Peter, whose life she could relate to in so many ways, being that she was a dedicated hero as well. It made it easy for her to compare herself to him for a moment, as she addressed her mother.

“Well…that’s just the thing…I don’t know what to think.” Kim said. “It’s like I don’t know who I am anymore.” Mrs. Dr. Possible had gone from being curious to concern in a matter of seconds, wondering if that blow to Kim’s head had done more damage than she imagined. But she decided to just ask more questions, before ruling amnesia as a cause.

“It must gotta make you mad to not know who you are, sweetie. Your soul disappears. The worse kind of illness for a human being is uncertainty.” She stated, and as Peter listened to her, he took notes in his head, adding them all up to come up with some kind of answer to his current condition. “Listen, Kimmie, maybe you’re not supposed to be Spider-Man climbing those walls. That’s why you keep falling.” Kim nodded, pretending to find all of this helpful for herself, when it was really Peter who did. “You always have a choice, sweetie.”

“I always have a choice.” Peter uttered, and Mrs. Dr. Possible looked back over to Peter, becoming really confused again.

~~~~~~~~~~~​

That night, when it was storming hard outside, Peter sat in the bedroom of his apartment, thinking about what Mrs. Dr. Possible had told Kim. He thought about the two years that he had spent as Spider-Man and how much devotion he had put in to the crime-fighting job. The more he thought about those two years, he began to think about the things…the incidents…the people that made him become what he was. Uncle Ben…his death by the hands of that carjacker who he could’ve stopped…was the biggest reason of all. And though he really wished he could talk over his problems to him that moment, he knew there was only one living man who could actually help him out.

“Hello, operator?” Peter said into the phone. “I’d like to make a long distance call to Sean Thomas in San Francisco.” He knew that he couldn’t afford the call. But he had to talk to someone who was there when Norman Osborn had died and reminded him so much of his late uncle. When the operator connected Peter to Thomas, he was glad to have heard the voice of his sister, Lori, on the other end.

“Thomas residence. This is Lori.”

“Hey, Lori. I-It’s me…Peter Parker.” Lori’s voice sounded very happy, after Peter revealed that it was him on the phone.

“Peter?! Oh, man! It has been years since I’ve seen you! How are you doing, kid?”

“I’m…fine.” Peter didn’t want to lie to Lori. But he felt like he had to, because she didn’t know who he really was, even though she was there when he fought against the Green Goblin, only in an unconscious state. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, aren’t you sweet. I’m doing okay. I’m just here at our aunt’s house with Sean, celebrating the fourth birthday for our cousin, Stanley.”

“Is it alright if I talk to Sean? I’m calling from long distance here.”

“Sure, kid. I understand. Come visit me sometime, will ya?”

“I promise.” Peter waited for a brief moment, as Lori went off the phone and Sean Thomas, former Daily Bugle reporter, replaced her voice.

“Pete?”

“Hey…it’s good to hear you again, too.”

“Same here. Is there something wrong? You sound a little down.”

“I’m just…well…I have to stop.” It was quiet over the receiver for a while, as Sean realized what it was that Peter was talking about.

“What happened to Osborn wasn’t your fault, Pete.”

“It’s not just that. I…love Mary Jane. And I feel like I’m losing her by not telling her how I feel about her. I haven’t been keeping my promises to her, and she feels like I’m neglecting her.”

“Peter…honesty, fairness, and justice are the three things that define not just a hero. Those things define ordinary people as well. What makes a person, whether he’s a hero or not, so special is how he lives his life. And you have been living your life being honest, fair, and serving justice to those that need it, despite whatever promises you haven’t kept.”

“But I’ve been living more of a life as Spider-Man than I have as myself. I want a life of my own, Sean.”

“You’ve been given a gift, Peter. With great power comes great responsibility. You have to remember that, if you want to go on as Spider-Man.” When Sean had said that, it reminded so much of his Uncle Ben, which was what made it so hard for him to tell Sean what he said afterwards.

“No, Sean. I’m just Peter Parker. I’m Spider-Man…no more.” He said, with tears pouring out from his eyes, as he hung up the phone right in the middle of their conversation. “No more.”

In San Francisco, Sean Thomas stood in the kitchen of his aunt’s house, with a cordless phone placed near his ear. Hearing the dial tone coming over the phone, he felt really disappointed in Peter’s decision and wished that he hadn’t hung up so soon, because there was so much more he could’ve done to talk Peter out of his decision. As he pressed the button to shut off the phone, Sean thought about how the city of Manhattan would go on, without a hero to watch over it.

“Hey,” Lori said, as she came up to her brother from behind. “How was Pete?” Sean turned to his sister and gave her a little smile.

“He’s fine.” He said. “He’ll be just fine.”

~~~~~~~~~~​

In a dark alleyway, in the midst of the thunderstorm that was happening over the city, Kim and Mickey joined Peter, as he carried his Spider-Man costume over to a trashcan that was nearly full. With the decision that Peter just made, it seemed obvious that the three heroes were never going to be the team that so many New York citizens wanted them to become, along with the fact that Mickey still was without his sorcerer hat and Kim still needed time to heal up before jumping back into the action (which could be quite a while). What made the whole thing even sadder to the three was that they were just starting to get into the idea of a partnership.

“Gosh…what do we do now?” Mickey asked, and it was quiet for a moment, before Kim finally gave him a straight answer.

“We just…go on living our lives…being the regular people that we were born to be.” She said. “Like Mom said, we have a choice. And if it’s our choice to retire from what we do, then…so be it.” It was somewhat easy for Kim to say that, considering that she was the only teen in the trio who still had her whole life ahead of her and couldn’t risk it on perilous missions or fierce battles like the one she was in with Doc Ock (a far greater foe than Shego and Drakken combined). Yet it was very hard, because she loved saving the world and helping those in need of it, just as much as Mickey and Peter did.

“Our lives are more important.” Peter said. “I love someone who depended on me to be there for her…and still probably does.” He looked down at his Spider-Man costume, as he held it over the trashcan. “This is what’s best…for all of us.” And with that, Peter slowly set the costume down into the trashcan, letting part of it hang over its rim.

“So much for the amazing.” Mickey uttered, just before he, Kim, and Peter walked away from the trashcan, each of them going their separate ways.

END OF CHAPTER EIGHT​

More to come soon.

 

[muppetwriter]

No problem. There have been some others, you might want to have someone else read the stories to see if there are thigs that need cleaning up like this and make a corrected copy for you to keep, and then have it as best as it can be for future readers' enjoyment.

Looking forward to the next chapter. Oh, and I take it you already know about the aliens' plans for invading CN next month.

Yeah, I've been seeing the ads on Cartoon Network. Those aliens look really funny. It'll be interesting seeing how they'll appear in episodes of favorite CN programs like Billy and Mandy, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, Camp Lazlo, and Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy.