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Chapter Text

It was a dark and cold night, as a large old building creaked due to age. Almost all the lights in the building were out, all the windows dark. Except for one little window that lead into the cellar. It was a small light but it was noticeable.

Inside the cellar, a little girl was stuffing some things into a little backpack. The girl was rather small...and rather odd-looking. She was half the size of other children her age, had lavender hair and a little pink nose. Her skin was a natural tan color, but some people have compared its texture to that of foam, so it still stuck out.

Her clothes were very dirty, her shirt looking like it hasn't been cleaned for months and having a few tears at the bottom and on the edges of the sleeves, her pants with a few holes in the legs, her shoes worn out to the point that the soles were starting to tear off, and her jacket, which had lost most of the cotton filling, was thinner than when she originally got it.. She also had a pair of square glasses on that had tape on the bridge and one of the temples to keep it from falling apart and an old hat that had pieces of dust stuck to it.

The little girl zipped her little backpack shut and made her way to a stack of boxes that led up to the cellar window. She climbed the boxes with the little strength she had, becoming really tired when she got to the top. After resting for a few minutes, she grabbed the rusty latch for the window and pulled on it with all her might, until it finally clicked back. The small child pushed on the window with as much force as she could muster, until she heard a loud squeak from the hinges, showing signs that it hadn't been opened for a long time.

She stopped and sat on the stack of boxes and waited to see if anyone else in the building had heard the noise. When she didn't hear the sound of someone walking down the hall to the cellar to investigate the sound, she proceeded with opening the window until it was wide open enough for her to crawl through.

She slipped through the window and crawled onto the sidewalk on the outside, where she looked at her dark surroundings. Part of her wanted to go back inside the cellar, where it was safe, but she knew she'd never have another chance like this to get away, so she shut the little window behind her has gently as she could so it wouldn't slam and catch someone's attention.

Then, the little girl stood up on her tiny legs and started to walk down the street, looking warily back at the old building she had come from. After a few minutes of waiting to see if anyone would storm outside and yell at her to return, she broke into a run.

Her destination: she didn't know but she was going to find out.

Chapter Text

A morning at the Muppet Theater was alive with activity as usual, everyone going around trying to prep for their upcoming show.

Kermit and Scooter were going over the schedule for the acts; Fozzie was preparing some new jokes; Gonzo was gathering whatever he needed for his next stunt, most notably a great deal of tapioca pudding; Miss Piggy was rehearsing her musical number with Rowlf; Bunsen and Beaker were prepping up their latest invention for their part in the show; Hilda was mending costumes to be used on the show; and Swedish Chef was busy trying to track down a chicken to use for his sketch.

At one point, Robin the Frog ran up to Kermit and asked, "Hey Uncle Kermit, will the Electric Mayhem be home in time for the show this week?"

The Electric Mayhem was busy with a gig in another city that involved performing onstage for a few days. They've been gone for three days so far.

"I'm not sure, Robin. I'm hoping they will be. Dr. Teeth forgot to specify exactly how many days they'd be in this other city," Kermit explained. "If they're not back by Friday night, then I'll have to call up Solid Foam to take their place for the show."

"Solid Foam!" Gonzo exclaimed, dropping a large carton of oatmeal in surprise. "Oh, that takes me back! Remember that time I pre-recorded myself for an episode because I was judging a poultry show on the other side of town?"

"Yes Gonzo, I remember," Kermit said.

"I always thought it was such a shame that Jim Henson Hour only had one season," Scooter said. "Say, will the rest of Solid Foam ever move into the Muppet Boarding House like Clifford did?"

"As much as I'd like them too, I think the house might be a little too crowded to house four more people," Kermit explained. "Besides, they're happy with where they're living now; Flash and Charlie have an apartment in San Francisco, Beard is living in Las Vegas, and Digit is in Portland with Vicki."

"Vicki and Digit are living together?" Robin asked.

"Oh yeah, they started dating sometime after Jim Henson Hour ended," Kermit explained.

"It's been awhile since I've seen Solid Foam. It'd be nice to have them drop by," Robin said. "And maybe Vicki could visit too. I heard she was really nice."

"I'll call Dr. Teeth and ask him when he thinks the Electric Mayhem will be home so we can plan ahead in case they won't be home in time to perform for the show," Scooter said, making a note on his clipboard. "I'm sure some Muppet fans that are familiar with the Jim Henson Hour will appreciate the appearance of Solid Foam."

Kermit nodded and observed how everyone else was doing in the theater. Since the show has started back up again, things have been pretty good. Characters that haven't appeared in the two recent Muppet films have returned to participate in the new Muppet Show.

Clifford was chatting it up with Rizzo as he tuned his bass. Since there was a chance Floyd would still be absent by the next show, Kermit planned to have Clifford take his place temporarily in the orchestra pit so Clifford wanted to be ready should the problem arise.

Pepe was busy flirting with Spamela Hamderson, who seemed oblivious to his romantic advances and compliments. She mostly worked as a backup dancer or singer for Miss Piggy's numbers, which is honestly how Piggy preferred it to be. No way was she going to let Spamela's newfound presence in the show upstage her.

Darci was scrolling through her phone with her acoustic guitar set nearby, appearing to be really bored of everything going on around her. Kermit was actually really surprised that she came back, especially since the last time she was seen she revealed to have some sort of dislike towards bears and rats, which the Muppet Theater had plenty of each. Maybe she got over her hatred for them, but Kermit could never tell what she was thinking. Then again, nobody could. Nowadays, she tends to have a bit of a negative and maybe somewhat bitter attitude.

Johnny Fiama was rehearsing his own songs, while Sal stood nearby, holding a CD player that had the music for Johnny's song playing. From what Kermit could tell, it was one of Tony Bennett's. It usually was. At some point, Sal accidently dropped the player on Johnny's foot, causing him to hit a very high note and then scream out in pain.

Kermit then heard little excited squeals and turned around to see Betina and Belinda were running around onstage with Bean Bunny, seeming to play tag. Robin saw them having fun so he ran over to join them.

Kermit smiled. Everything at the Muppet Theater was has excitable as it always was and everyone was happy. Just like how it was back then.

"So Kermit, does everything in the schedule look good for the upcoming show?" Scooter asked.

"Everything looks great. Now all we have to do is run through it with everyone. Gather everyone in the auditorium and we'll get started," Kermit said, before heading onstage to inform the kids that they had to get off for rehearsal.

Later that evening, everyone was back in the Muppet Boarding House, discussing how they think the rehearsals went, whether it was their own sketch or someone else's, while the Swedish Chef prepared dinner.

Kermit was sitting at the head of the table, listening to everyone's thoughts and opinions on all the acts and making a few mental notes on what some people said in case it could help improve certain sketches more.

Scooter then walked into the room, having finished talking to Dr. Teeth on the phone and said, "Well, the Electric Mayhem says they won't be back until AFTER the show, so we'll have to call the rest of Solid Foam and get them up here before Friday."

"This must be some gig the band got," Clifford said. "Usually when they got a performance somewhere, they're usually gone for about 3 days, but a week? That's pretty incredible."

"Well, ever since their Outside Lands and Macy's Thanksgiving Day performances, they've been gaining a lot of new popularity and a lot of cities have been eager to get them to perform at their local venues," Kermit explained.

"Wow, at this rate, they might become more famous than the rest of us," Gonzo said, his jaw dropping. "I've got to step up my daredevil stunts if I'm going to catch up to them!"

The whatever then whipped out his cell phone and called someone, "Dave, it's Gonzo. Cancel the piranhas and get great white sharks for my next live stunt instead. Thanks!"

Kermit grimaced, not even wanting to guess what Gonzo's latest live stunt was going to be. No doubt, it'll be insanely dangerous. He'd have to check to see if the Muppets' insurance has been paid for, in case the situation that Gonzo could get seriously injured might arise...again.

"Maybe with the Electric Mayhem's paycheck we can buy a bigger house. This one is getting kind of crowded," Yolanda pointed out.

The rat was right; with a great deal of the Muppet cast in the small house, it was getting pretty packed, and a lot of people have been having to share rooms with other people.

Robin and Bean Bunny used to have separate bedrooms, but with Betina and Belinda moving in, Bean has had to move into Robin's room so the girls could have their room; The Electric Mayhem are all in one room, with Lips and Animal sleeping on mattresses on the floor; Walter has moved into Gonzo and Rizzo's room; Clifford was roommates with Pepe like he was in the 90s; Darci was roommates with Annie Sue and Spamela, much to the Gothic Muppet's dislike since the two pigs' personalities were a complete 180 from hers; Thankfully, some Muppet employees, such as Johnny Fiama, the rest of Solid Foam and a few others had their own houses so Kermit didn't have to worry about them.

Kermit was one of the few to not have a roommate, but that could change at some point. He couldn't imagine what would happen to the roommate system should there be a new resident in the house.

"A bigger house would make things more comfortable, but I don't know if we'd be able to go house-hunting right now, Yolanda," Kermit said. "Not with the show going on right now that is. Maybe we'll wait till summer to see how much money we have and then go looking around."

"Hopefully this summer. Do you know how difficult it is for everyone in the house to get ready in the morning with just one bathroom?!" Yolanda snapped. "You have to be really lucky to get first dibs on the shower!"

"And don't get us started on using the toilet!" Rizzo added.

At this point, almost all the other Muppets began to complain to the point where Kermit was worried he'd get a migraine after it was over. Lucky for him, it didn't last long enough to cause one because at that point, Swedish Chef had announced that dinner was ready...at least that's what Kermit think he said.

After a couple of hours, it was finally time for everyone to go to bed and get some rest for the new day tomorrow.

The moon had already risen into the sky when a train pulled up into an LA station. Several people unboarded, many greeted by friends and loved ones who had been waiting for them. One small figure hopped out of a car and started walking through the station until they reached outside.

The little runaway girl looked at her surroundings. Los Angeles looked a lot different than it did in the magazines, but then again, those pictures were in the daytime. It was now night, a little bit past her bedtime she was guessing.

She walked through the dark empty streets, jumping at every loud noise that she couldn't figure out the source of, and for every crash, screech, and bark, she moved faster through the city, until she got to the suburbs. Most of the house windows were dark, showing no sign of activity by a person who could help the poor lost child.

After a while, the little girl's pace began to slow and she became very weary. Soon, she'd have to find a place to sleep for the night before proceeding on her journey the next day. She came across a house that had a bench set on the porch that had an old cushion on it. Not exactly an ideal place to spend the night, but the kid didn't really have any other choice.

As she crossed the path leading up to the house, she noticed some farm animals sleeping in the yard outside, which was kind of odd since this was after all the suburbs, but she was too tired to question it. She slipped off her backpack and opened it up, pulling out a little stuffed toy raccoon. It was very dusty and there were a few holes in it where some bits of cotton were starting to fall out, but it was the child's most beloved toy.

She zipped her backpack closed and positioned it on the bench like a pillow, where she laid down on the bench, holding her little raccoon close to her heart and watched the night sky until her eyelids grew heavy and she eventually drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning, the Muppets were all up and about at the usual time of 7:30 in the morning.

Swedish Chef was busy making breakfast for everyone, while Beauregard, Pepe and some of the rats set the table.

Sam the Eagle and the chickens were all getting their exercise in the living room.

Statler and Waldorf were sitting in their armchairs in the living room, drinking their morning coffee.

Miss PIggy was busy digging through her wardrobe for the perfect outfit to wear for the day.

A good handful of the Muppets were waiting in line for their turn in the bathroom, and those that were in it, were either in the tub, the shower, or one of the two sinks.

Kermit walked down the stairs to the dining area and observed everyone going around, getting ready for the day. It was kind of weird to not see the Electric Mayhem sitting at the table as usual for the last three days, but the frog had gotten used to it.

Before Kermit said down at the table, he went to grab the house phone so he could call the rest of Solid Foam to inform them that they were needed for the Muppet Show that week. He dialed and waited.

Meanwhile, Robin and Bean Bunny were pouring themselves some cereal. "Boy, there are so many people in the Boarding House nowadays. You have to be really careful not to get stepped on here," Robin said.

"Us especially, since we're smaller than everyone else!" Bean added, as he went to grab the milk and got into the path of some Muppet cattle. Bean quickly jumped back to avoid getting trampled. "See what I mean!" he shouted.

Betina and Belinda made their way to the table and waited for their turn to get some cereal.

"You better not eat what's left of the Captain Alphabits!" Betina snapped. "I don't want to eat whatever it is that Swedish Chef is making!"

"Relax, Betina. It's a new box. There'll be plenty for all four of us," Robin assured the pig.

"Really, Betina," Belinda told her twin sister. "You have no reason to get agitated over a bowl of cereal. Besides, there's plenty of other cereals in the house to choose from."

"Yeah, yeah," Betina said, grabbing the box and heading into the kitchen to grab her own bowl.

Betina and Belinda look exactly the same, just as they did in Muppet Christmas Carol, except Betina wore blue and Belinda wore pink. Also, Betina tends to be a little more intimidating and gets irritated with others really easy, while Belinda is more tolerant to the chaos that goes on around her and is usually very perky.

Belinda looked over at Robin and asked, "Do you think we will end up getting a bigger house when summer comes?"

"Who knows? I hope so. If we had a bigger house, we'd have more space to move around and less risk of any of the smaller Muppets getting squished by one of the bigger ones," Robin said.

"I bet Betina wants to live in a bigger house. That means she won't have to share a room with me anymore," Belinda stated. "I mean, we get along pretty well, since we're sisters, and I don't mind sharing, but I know Betina would rather have her own room."

"I'm surprised she hasn't tried moving into the attic. As far as I know, nobody lives up there," Robin said.

"That's what I said to her! But she said 'there are worse things than having no privacy'," Belinda said. "I think she was talking about how dusty it is up there, or how we saw a bat up there once."

Bean snickered, "You mean on Halloween? I remember how me and Robin got a bunch of fake bats before that night and scattered them all over the house and scared anyone that found them. That was so fun!"

On Halloween night, Betina had gone up to the attic to get something, when she saw a bat sitting on one of the boxes. Assuming it was one of Robin and Bean's fake ones, she went to grab it when it came to life and started flying around the room.

The poor pig screamed so loudly that the Muppets were sure that the glass on the windows vibrated and everyone was worried that they would shatter. Kermit and Fozzie went up to see what had happened and saw Betina hiding under an old table as the bat circled above her, screeching out of fear of the pig. Kermit threw open a window and got the bat to leave the attic, but Betina had vowed to never go up there again.

Robin laughed, "Yeah, then afterwards, Uncle Kermit gave everyone a lecture on what to do when we find a non-Muppet animal in the house. Don't scream, leave the room quickly and quietly and tell an adult immediately."

"I forgot about that last rule when I found that newt in the bathtub one morning before Miss Piggy took her evening bath," Belinda stated. "I had gotten distracted by a cartoon on TV and didn't remember until I heard her shriek!"

Bean burst out laughing, "Oh yeah! And she thought you didn't warn her about it on purpose! Oh that was horrible!"

At that moment, the three kids had heard Clifford say, "Let me take the phone, Kerm. I'm the only one around here who can understand Flash."

"Thank you," Kermit said, thankful that the purple Muppet was taking his place in the phone conversation. Flash had been the one to pick up the phone when he called him and Charlie, and as usual, Kermit had a difficult time understanding what Flash was saying due to his accent and mumbling. He's not sure how Clifford could understand him, but he's grateful for it.

Kermit let out a sigh and walked into the dining room. He scanned the table before asking Robin, "Has anyone gotten the newspaper yet?"

"Not yet, I don't think," Robin said. "A lot of people are busy this morning."

Usually the task to bring in the newspaper was done by Animal, which usually resulted in the paper having a few holes in it and feeling a little soggy but due to his absence, the other Muppets have neglected to take over the job.

Kermit was heading out the door when one of the chickens had just run in, apparently late to the morning exercise with Sam.

"Ah-ha! I thought a chicken was missing," Sam said. "Don't you realize how important morning exercise is?"

The chicken clucked frantically, motioning it's wings to the door, as if trying to tell Sam something, but Sam didn't seem the get the message. "I will not hear any excuses as to why you were late...mainly because I can't understand your tongue," the eagle said. "Just pick up from where we are and I'll forget it."

But the chicken still seemed to be a little upset about something, still pointing towards the door. Kermit shrugged it off as he headed out the door just when Gonzo walked over to the bird to figure out what the big issue was.

Kermit stepped onto the porch and picked up the morning paper, then was about to turn around and head back inside when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

He turned towards the bench and gasped, dropping the newspaper. He saw a little Muppet-like girl lying on the bench, sleeping it seemed. She had very dirty and worn-out clothing, clutching a battered toy raccoon, and seemed to be shaking a little.

At that moment, Gonzo stuck his head out the door and looked at the bench as well, his eyes widening, "Oh, that must be the kid Ethel was telling me about!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Kermit asked.

"Oh, Ethel, one of the chickens, decided to sleep outside last night and when she woke up this morning, she saw this kid sleeping outside. She's been trying to get someone to follow her outside to see it all morning, but nobody would listen to her...then again, not everyone here can speak chicken. I'm starting to think I should teach classes," Gonzo said.

"She's so dirty. I wonder how long she's been on the streets," Kermit said, observing the small kid.

"Probably a while. What should we do?" Gonzo asked.

Kermit thought for a couple of seconds before saying, "Well, we can't just leave her out here. You take the newspaper and her little backpack, and I'll carry her inside. Get the couch cleared out so she'll have a place to lie down until she wakes up."

Kermit handed the newspaper to the whatever and carefully lifted the small child off of the bench, allowing Gonzo to retrieve her little backpack.

As he carried the little girl into the house, Kermit thought to himself, "I wonder who this kid is? Whoever she is, she must've been through a lot. Hopefully we'll get answers soon."

Chapter Text

As soon as Kermit carried the little lost girl into the house, Miss Piggy was coming down the stairs to grab her breakfast. She had just retrieved a muffin from a basket on the table when she saw Kermit re-entering the house out of the corner of her eye.

She turned towards him, ready to wish him a good morning, when she saw what he was carrying inside. She dropped her muffin and her jaw dropped.

Annie Sue took notice of Miss Piggy's expression and asked, "Miss Piggy, what's the matter?" The young pig looked over to where Piggy's attention was to see Kermit carrying the dirty little girl. She gasped, catching everyone in the house's attention.

At that moment, everyone's attention was on the little girl Kermit had in his arms.

"Kermit! Who is that?!"

"Where'd she come from?"

"Was she outside on the porch?!"

"Oh that poor little thing! She's shaking!"

"Is she homeless?!"

"Is she sick?!"

"Who is she, Kermit?!"

"Everyone, please settle down! We'll get the answers to all those questions as soon as she wakes up. For now, let's just let her sleep on the couch and help her in any way we can," Kermit said.

"Clear the couch!" Gonzo shouted at the people currently occupying the couch, prompting them to scatter, allowing Kermit to lay the little girl on the cushions.

Statler and Waldorf looked over at the kid, where Statler shook his head, "Oh what a horrible and cruel thing to do to a child that young."

"I know," Kermit said, nodding. "Whoever neglected her like this deserves jail time."

"No, I mean letting her stay in a house with all these freaks," Statler stated.

"Yeah, can't you see she's suffered enough!" Waldorf added before he and Statler started laughing at their latest heckle.

Kermit groaned and ran into the kitchen to get Swedish Chef to prepare some oatmeal for the new guest.

Robin, Annie Sue, Hilda, Rowlf and Gonzo stood around her.

Robin had a sad look on his face as he said, "I can't believe she was sleeping on our front porch. Where do you think she came from?"

"Wherever she's from, they must have treated her very poorly," Annie Sue said. "Look at how her clothes are. They're so dirty and worn."

Hilda shook her head sorrowfully, "Oh, the poor little dear. She must've been so scared being out on her own for so long," she said.

"She wasn't completely alone; look she has a little raccoon toy with her," Robin said, pointing at the girl's stuffed toy.

Hilda observed it, "Why, it's in just as bad shape as her clothes. Perhaps I can fix it for her." The elderly Muppet then carefully took the stuffed animal from the little girl's arms and started walking to the room where her sewing machine was.

Before leaving the room completely, Hilda turn towards Annie Sue and said, "Annie Sue, there are some old quilts in the closet down the hall. Go grab one and cover the little girl with it so she doesn't catch a chill."

"Yes mam," Annie Sue said, running down to the hall.

Rowlf sighed, "It always saddens me to see kids in such bad shape. I wonder what kind of person would treat a child like this."

"Whoever it was, we're not returning her to them, that's for sure!" Gonzo exclaimed.

"So, what are we going to do with her?" Robin asked.

"We'll worry about that later," Rowlf said. "For now, let's just wait for her to wake up and maybe try to figure out who she is."

Robin ran off and grabbed his bowl of cereal before sitting on the couch near the little girl. "I'll keep her company until she wakes up," he said.

"Good idea, Robin. I'm sure if anyone else stayed with her, she might be a little startled when she woke up. She might feel more comfortable around another kid," Rowlf said, before he and Gonzo returned to the dining table.

At that moment, Clifford re-entered the room, having finished calling up the rest of Solid Foam to inform them that they would be needed on the Muppet Show that week.

He went up to Scooter and said, "Well, Flash and Charlie said they will take a train down here later today so they could rehearse the Muppet Show theme with the orchestra, and Beard and Digit will be here tomorrow to prep for Solid Foam's performance."

"Great, I'll tell Kermit when he's done talking with the Swedish Chef," Scooter said.

Before the orange Muppet had a chance to leave, Clifford asked, "What was that commotion I heard from this room a few minutes ago? It was so loud, Digit heard it over the phone."

"The answer is lying on that couch over there," Scooter said, pointing at the living room couch. "But don't make any loud noises. You might scare her awake."

Clifford approached the sofa, at first only seeing Robin sitting on it, eating his cereal, looking at something with great curiosity in his eyes. Then, Clifford spotted the small child sleeping on the couch in it's dirty clothing. His jaw dropped and he raised up his sunglasses, checking to be sure he was really seeing it.

"Where'd that kid come from?" he asked.

"She was out on the porch, sleeping in the bench," Robin said. "So far, we know nothing about her."

"Man, I wonder what she was doing out there," Clifford said. "Do you think she's a runaway?"

"It's kind of hard to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised," Scooter said.

"Why would a kid run away from home?" Robin asked.

Clifford was silent for a few moments before saying in a tad serious tone, "Robin, I just need to warn you before I explain the answer to your question: There are a LOT of bad people in the world."

"I know that. I've read books and seen movies that have bad people in it," Robin said, nodding.

Clifford took a deep breath before explaining, "Well, there are some people out there, whether it's the kid's parents or someone in charge of caring for them, who don't treat kids with the love and care they need. Sometimes they're very cruel to kids by hurting them physically or emotionally, or ignoring them all together. Some kids who can't handle the abuse anymore try to find a way to get away from the cruelty, such as running away to find a better home. Though, there are other paths kids have taken to escape…"

At that moment, Clifford went silent, staring into nothing for a second, as if remembering something at that moment. Not long after doing this, he shook his head and quickly added, "But those other paths don't matter in this situation. What I'm saying is that this kid probably ran away from a place that treated her very badly. I mean, look at her. I wouldn't let a kid get that dirty. Wherever she came from probably neglected her, so she ran away to find someplace better."

Robin looked at the girl thoughtfully, then back at Clifford, "Do you think our house could be that better home?" the little frog asked.

"I don't know. That depends on Kermit. Remember, he said last night that the house was getting kind of crowded. We'll probably have to figure out where she'll stay," Clifford said.

"I know, but we can't send her back out there. Who knows what'll happen to her," Robin said.

"Too true, Robin, too true," Clifford said as Annie Sue re-entered the living room holding a quilt.

"It took a while, but I think I found a quilt that's just her size," she said, unfolding a small pink and purple patch quilt and covering the little girl with it.

Not long after, the small Muppet child started to stir in her sleep and open her eyes.

"Oh! She's waking up!" Annie Sue exclaimed.

Chapter Text

The little girl sat up on the couch, lifting up her glasses to rub her eyes before looking down at the little quilt covering her, seeming a little confused as to how it got there, until Robin finally said, "Hi there!"

The little girl jumped, seeing the little frog sitting near her. Then her eyes went back and forth, observing her new surroundings. When she spotted Annie Sue and Clifford, she jumped again and began to whimper.

"Oh, don't worry! It's okay! We're here to help you," Annie Sue assured the frightened child.

The little girl just buried her face in the quilt and began to softly cry.

"Aw, you poor thing. You've been through a lot haven't you," Annie Sue said, patting the girl on the back. "Don't worry, you sweet little dear. We won't hurt you. You can trust us."

The small child looked up at the girl pig, as if surprised to hear these words from the Muppet. The little girl started to rub the tears from her face with her hands, but Robin hopped off the couch and grabbed her a tissue, which she used instead.

"Goodness!" Annie Sue gasped upon seeing all the dirt that now stained the white tissue. "Something tells me that you haven't had a proper bath in a while."

Kermit re-entered the room carrying a bowl of oatmeal, saying, "We'll take care of that as soon as we get some food in her stomach." He handed it to the little girl and said, "Here's some nice hot oatmeal to warm your up and give you some strength."

The small child nodded and began scarfing it down immediately. "Whoa, whoa, slow down, kid! That stuff's hot!" Clifford warned her. He looked over at Kermit and said, "She's eating like this is the first time she's seen food in weeks."

"It just might be," Kermit said, walking to the dining room table to read his newspaper.

Robin went into the kitchen to put his empty cereal bowl in the sink and shortly returned to the living room and turned on the TV.

"Have you ever seen Sesame Street?" the little frog asked the girl.

The little girl seemed to think for a few seconds before shaking her head no.

"A little kid that's never seen Sesame Street? That's surprising," Clifford said.

"Oh, you'll love it! It's a very fun and educational show my Uncle Kermit helped create," Robin said, pointing to the frog. The little girl nodded and watched the TV screen.

"So, what's your name?" Annie Sue asked, taking a seat on a nearby ottoman.

The little girl looked down at her bowl, as if she wasn't sure how to answer that question.

"What's wrong?" Annie Sue asked. "I'm sure it's a really nice name. You can tell us."

Rowlf went over and observed the kid, "I don't think it's that, Annie Sue. I'm thinking it's because she can't talk."

"Oh, I read about that in my Frog Scout Handbook! It's called mutism, right?" Robin asked.

"Right you are, Robin. Now if Clifford's theory about her being abused by her former caretaker is right, I'm guessing it might be because she's gone through some traumatic things recently," Rowlf said.

"Then how are we going to find out what her name is?" Clifford asked.

Robin looked at the quiet girl and asked, "Do you know sign language? I could probably decipher what your name is with the sign language alphabet page in Frog Scout Handbook."

The child shook her head.

"Can you write it down?" Annie Sue asked. The girl shook her head again.

"Well, we're in trouble," Clifford said. "If she can't talk, use sign or write, figuring out what her name is isn't going to be easy."

"We could read a name book until we find her name," Robin suggested.

"That'll take a really long time. Besides, what if her name isn't in the name book we find," Clifford said.

Robin thought hard for a few seconds, before his little frog eyes lit up. He turn towards the girl and asked, "Can you recognize letters?"

The small child nodded, which prompted Robin to ask, "Can you spell?"

The kid did the so-so hand gesture, where Robin hopped off the couch and raced up to his bedroom. He returned shortly with his Bananagrams, where he opened the bag and poured the letter pieces onto the living room table.

"See if you can spell your name?" Robin said, beckoning her to the table.

The girl sat still on the couch for a few seconds before setting her bowl of oatmeal aside, pushing the quilt off herself and hopping off the couch to stand at the table. Standing next to Robin, Clifford, Rowlf and Annie Sue could see that she was perhaps a 2 inches or so taller than the frog.

The little kid scanned the letters before grabbing a few to look at them. She seemed to think about how her name would be spelled before grabbing four letters and arranging them a certain way. When she was finished, she stepped back to show off her work. The other Muppets looked at what she spelled: RRIA.

"Rria? What kind of name is that?" Robin asked, very confused.

"Do you think she means Ria?" Annie Sue asked.

"If she did, wouldn't she have only put one 'R'?" Clifford asked.

The kid, seeing the Muppets were confused, moved the first R away from the other three letters, then pointed at it, as if wanting someone to read it.

"R," Robin said aloud

She then pointed at the three letters. "Ria," Robin read aloud.

The girl repeated this process a few times, with Robin reading out the letter and name, until Rowlf snapped his fingers, "Aria! Her name's Aria!"

The girl smiled and nodded.

"Aw, what a pretty name," Annie Sue said.

"Welcome to the Muppet Boarding House, Aria," Robin greeted the girl.

Chapter Text

At that moment, Darci came walking out of her bedroom, waking up an hour late as usual, wrapped in her black robe, looking pretty irritated with the world, as always.

Clifford looked at her and remarked, "Well, I see the vampire has finally arisen from her coffin."

"Oh ha ha ha," Darci sneered. "You're jokes are SO original, Clifford."

"I try."

Darci grumbled a little as she got herself a coffee cup and went for the coffee pot set on the table. She noticed Robin watching Sesame Street, prompting her to say, "Watching that painfully colorful and annoyingly adorable kid's show again, Robin?"

"Yep, I'm showing it to a new friend of mine," Robin said, motioning at Aria who was seated on the couch again.

Darci froze when she saw the kid, before approaching her with a suspicious look on her face and asking, "And who exactly are you?"

Scared of Darci's serious demeanor, Aria hid under the quilt Annie Sue got her and began whimpering.

Robin decided to answer for her. "Her name's Aria. Uncle Kermit and Gonzo found her sleeping on the front porch. She can't talk because she might be traumatized by something from her past," the little frog explained.

"Really?" Darci said, eying the child, as if sceptical of who the kid was.

"Oh come on, Darci! She's just a kid, go easy on her," Yolanda snapped at the Gothic Muppet.

"Sorry, it's just a little odd how this kid suddenly turned up on our doorstep the day after Kermit clearly said we couldn't keep anymore people in this boarding house," Darci explained. "Also, she's keeping her mouth shut, when most kids her age can't shut up. I've been told to never trust the silent types."

"Darci…" Clifford said in a warning tone.

"Lips is pretty quiet. You trust him don't you?" Robin asked.

"That's different. I actually know who Lips is. This kid is a stranger," Darci said. "We don't even know where she's been."

"We could find out someway," Robin said.

"True, but what if she chooses to not tell us anything. This kid might bring some trouble our way if we keep her here," Darci said.

Annie sue walked up to the Goth Muppet and told her, "Darci, I think you're being a little paranoid. I mean, how much trouble could she cause? She's only…"

Annie Sue then looked over at Aria and asked, "How old are you?"

Aria held up 4 fingers.

Annie Sue looked back at Darci and said, "She's only four years old."

Darci shrugged, "Still. Something to look out for."

"Darci," Clifford said in his warning tone again.

Annie Sue shook her head and then looked over at Aria, "Let's get you all cleaned up so we don't have to listen to mean old Darci say bad stuff about you."

Aria nodded and then began to look around her, before getting a worried expression on her face and began to whimper again.

"What's she upset about now?!" Darci asked, getting annoyed by the child's behavior.

"I think she's looking for her raccoon toy," Robin said, prompting Aria to nod. "Don't worry, Hilda has it. She's cleaning and fixing it," the frog explained.

Aria nodded, but she still seemed a little troubled without her toy. She hopped off the couch and took Annie Sue's hand, where the pig led her up to the bathroom.

Not long after, Hilda re-entered the room holding a small stack of clothes with the toy raccoon set on it. It's fur no longer had dust clinging to it and all the holes it had in it were now sewn up.

"Well, it took a bit, but I cleaned and fixed the raccoon," she said. "And afterward, I decided to make some new clothes for the sweet little girl."

"Wow, Hilda, the raccoon looks brand new!" Robin exclaimed, looking at the newly fixed toy.

"You were only gone for about half an hour and you managed to sew some clothes for her too. Hilda, you are magic!" Clifford stated, impressed with the old seamstress's craftsmanship.

"Oh, I'm just naturally a fast sewer. Now, where is the little dear?" Hilda asked, looking around the room for Aria.

"She's in the bathroom getting a bath with help from Annie Sue," Kermit said, pointing up the staircase.

Hilda nodded and went up the stairs.

Darci watched her leave and switched her gaze back to the other Muppets. "Seriously? We're actually taking that kid in? After what you said last night about the place being too crowded?"

"She's a pretty small kid. I'm sure she won't take up too much space," Kermit stated.

"Yeah! She could stay in our room!" Belinda exclaimed giddily.

"If she's moving in I'm moving out," Betina said.

"Even better!"

"Hey! Rude!"

"Maybe we could get bunk beds for Betina and Belinda and let Aria have one of their old beds," Scooter suggested.

"Yeah, that could work!" Kermit said. "Remind me to look for a bunk bed sometime this week."

"Sure thing boss!"

"Okay, so the crowding issue is resolved," Darci said. "But that still doesn't take care of the fact that we don't know what'll happen if we leave her to her own devices. Who knows what kind of kid she'll be. Sure she's quiet and shy now, but that can change in a few weeks. She might be a wild child who'll break everything in sight!"

"Darci," Clifford said, getting an annoyed look on his face.

"She might be the kind of kid who'll use her backstory to make us feel sorry for her and guilt us into having things her way, like a brat," Darci added.

"Darci!" Clifford repeated, his voice raising a bit.

"And also, one of these days she might disappear from the house, along with all our money, the silverware, and the jewel-"

"DARCI, WILL YOU PLEASE STOP!" Clifford shouted causing everyone in the room to jump.

Nobody has even seen Clifford get this angry before, at least not angry enough to shout at somebody, so everyone was a bit stunned by it, including Darci.

"The kid has obviously been through some traumatic stuff, enough to not want to talk to anybody right now, and I'm pretty sure you saying all that horrible stuff about her is probably similar to how her old caretaker used to treat her and it's not helping her. I mean, come on, she's only four! What's the worst she could do?!" Clifford snapped. "Listen, Darci, I'm not asking you to like her; all I ask is that you be nice to her as long as she's with us! But if you're going to keep being mean to her, then you'll have to leave!"

Darci glared at Clifford for a few moments, as if examining his angry demeanor to see if he really meant it about kicking her out. Seeing that Clifford was serious, she grumbled, "Fine. I'll be nice to the little brat. I'll be so nice to her it just might kill me."

"That last part would honestly benefit all of us, Darci," Clifford replied.

Darci then stomped back up to her room.

Clifford sat down in a nearby chair, muttering, "We've GOT to do something about her attitude."

"You're telling me," Rizzo agreed.

Chapter Text

Scooter got up from the table and went to the room where the Muppets' home computer was. He wanted to try to Facetime the Electric Mayhem to check in on them, and also to get over the shock of seeing Clifford blow up at Darci. He had never seen him look so mad before! Something must be up with him, but now wasn't the best time to ask him about it.

Scooter logged onto the computer and clicked the Facetime app, then choose Video and clicked Janice's contact number, then initiated the call.

After a few seconds, Janice appeared on the screen, sitting on a black leather couch wherever she was.

"Hi Scooter!" she greeted the Muppet.

"Hi Janice, where are you?" Scooter asked.

"Oh, I'm in the hotel. Zoot is taking a nap on one of the beds and Lips is sitting over there cleaning his trumpet," Janice explained, pointing in two different directions. Scooter heard Lips' voice say, "Hey Scooter!"

"Dr. Teeth is checking out the local record stores and Floyd took Animal for a walk in the park near here," Janice went on. "As for me, I'm just relaxing. So, what's going on back at home?"

"Well, we've had to call in Solid Foam to take your place in the show happening tomorrow," Scooter explained.

"Oh cool! We'll have to, like, try to catch the show on TV tomorrow to see how they do," Janice said.

"So when are you guys coming home?" Scooter asked.

"Oh, we'll be back in town Sunday morning, so just in time to get started on rehearsals for the next show," Janice said.

"Great! I'll let Kermit know!" Scooter said as Robin walked into the room.

Seeing the little frog in the background of the video chat, Janice greeted, "Hey Robin!"

Robin looked at the computer and got a big smile on his face, "Hi Janice! How have the rock concerts been?"

"Oh, they're really fun! We're drawing in a lot of crowds. Apparently, the ticket guy has had to turn people away a few times, like rully!" Janice stated.

"Wow! That many people went to see you play? You have a lot of fans," Robin said.

"So anything else new at the house?" Janice asked.

Robin then exclaimed, "There was a little girl sleeping on the front porch this morning!"

"What? Really!" Janice asked Scooter.

Scooter nodded, "Yep. Her name is Aria and she's four years old, and that's pretty much all that we know about her. She seems to be unable to talk."

"Yeah, I had to use my Bananagrams to figure out what her name was," Robin added. "Her clothes were very dirty and old, but Hilda made her new ones."

Janice gasped, "Oh no, that's awful!"

"What is?" Lips asked, off-screen.

Janice turn to her right and said, "There was a little girl sleeping on the front porch at the boarding house this morning."

Lips then walked on-screen and asked Scooter, "Was she homeless? A runaway?"

"Like I said, we don't know much about her because she doesn't seem to want to talk," Scooter explained. "But Clifford thinks she may have been neglected and abused where she came from, because of how her clothes were and how surprised she was by our kindness."

"And Darci was mean to her, saying that she was probably a bad kid and made her cry!" Robin shouted, getting an angry frown on his face.

Lips got an annoyed look on his face and said, "I hope Kermit scolded her for that. I've never really liked her attitude."

"Actually Clifford was the one to tell her to cut it out. He got REALLY mad!" Scooter stated.

"Really? Like, how mad?" Janice asked. The band knew Clifford really well, ever since his Jim Henson Hour days, and they've hardly ever seen him get angry about anything.

"He raised his voice," Scooter answered. "He also said that if Darci wasn't nice to Aria, she wouldn't be allowed in the house anymore."

"Oh wow, he sounded really mad. He doesn't say stuff like that usually," Janice stated. "It takes a lot to set him over the edge like that, so I wonder what's up."

"I know. It kind of made us jump. I'm still recovering from the shock of it," Scooter admitted.

"Well, when we're home, I'll see if I can talk to Aria. I'm good with little kids. Maybe she'll talk to me," Janice said.

"I guess you could try, but I'm not sure it'll do much," Scooter said. "I don't think Aria will be speaking anytime soon. It might take a while."

Lips then asked, "When Clifford suspected that Aria may have been a victim of child abuse, did he seem to know what he was talking about?"

Robin answered, "Yeah, he kind of did. He explained to me how kids tend to run away when they're being treated badly at home. He also mentioned how some kids take 'other paths' to get away from the abuse, but he went quiet for a moment after saying that, like he remembered something he didn't want to."

Lips scratched at his goatee, "Well, that's a little off for him. I wonder if what he remembered is why he got angry so easily at Darci."

"Well, I'm pretty sure he's not going to talk about it right now, so we'll just leave it alone for now," Scooter said. "So, you'll be home on Sunday?"

"Yep, and we'll have souvenirs for the kids," Janice said. "We'll have to buy a fifth one for Aria."

"I'm sure Aria would like that," Robin said.

"I'm sure she would. Anyway, we'll like, see you guys on Sunday, and we'll check out the Muppet Show on TV tomorrow night. Good luck!" Janice said.

"Thanks, we'll need it," Scooter said.

"And try to keep Darci from upsetting that little kid anymore. If Clifford is right about Aria being abused, then Darci being mean to her isn't going to help her recover from it," Lips said.

"We will," Scooter said, before turning off the Facetime app.

At that moment, Scooter and Robin heard someone else enter the room and they turned around to see that it was Aria. She was no longer in her dirty old clothes, except for her shoes and hat. She now had a flower-patterned t-shirt and vertical striped shorts, and she seemed pretty content. She was holding her toy raccoon.

"Hey Aria!" Robin greeted. "Do you like your new clothes?" Aria smiled and nodded.

At that moment, Annie Sue walked into the room, saying, "We're going to buy Aria some more clothes today while you're all at the theater, and Kermit is going to be looking into getting a bunk bed for Betina and Belinda."

"We? Who's we?" Scooter asked.

"Me and Miss Piggy. She feels really sorry for her and wants to do whatever she can to help her get settled here," Annie Sue explained.

"Really? That's nice of her," Scooter said.

"Miss Piggy is such a kind and considerate lady. I want to be a compassionate as she is when I'm famous like her," Annie Sue said, leaving the room.

"Wish she was that compassionate with the rest of us," Scooter mumbled to himself as he turned off the computer.

Chapter Text

While most of the Muppets rehearsed at the theater, Miss Piggy and Annie Sue took Aria on a bit of a shopping spree, buying her new clothes and other things she might need. They were gone for pretty much the whole day and didn't get back until an hour before dinner.

Miss Piggy told Kermit about their trip later that evening, "Aria was a little scared because of how many people were in the mall, but she seemed to be okay."

"Well, kids her age tend to be a little shy around big crowds," Kermit said.

"I know, but she had a bit of a death grip on my hand the entire time, and she seemed very wary of the people around her, like she was scared someone might try to hurt her," Miss Piggy explained.

"Well, if Clifford is right about her past, maybe she was worried she might run into her old caretaker," Kermit suggested.

"If we ran into her old caretaker, I'll see to it that they'll get a karate chop for treating that sweet little girl so badly," Miss Piggy stated, standing boldly.

"I'm sure you will. I just wish I knew what exactly happened to her so we could help her recover from it better," Kermit said.

"I think she's recovering just fine. She was pretty happy today. Happier than she was this morning," Miss Piggy said.

"I know, but-," Kermit said until Piggy cut him off. "Kermit, we're doing fine. If anything happens with her, we'll figure out what to do about it and make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Okay, but I'm still worried about her," Kermit admitted.

The next day, the Muppets were at the theater getting ready for their show that would be on later that night. They decided to take Aria with them so she could see what the theater looked like and let her sit in the audience during the show.

While Robin was giving Aria a tour of the place, Solid Foam was rehearsing for their number for the show.

"So you don't know anything about her except her name and age?" Digit, the band's cyborg keyboardist, asked Clifford. When Solid Foam arrived to the theater, they asked about Aria as soon as they noticed her presence, and Clifford had explained everything.

Clifford nodded, "Yeah, and since she's not talking, I don't think we'll learn any more about her for a while. Robin plans on teaching her the alphabet in sign language so she'll be able to communicate with us in some way."

"That's a good way to start, especially since she doesn't seem to know how to write yet," Digit said. "However, if she's going to learn sign, the other Muppets will have to learn too so they can know what she's saying, which might take a while."

"Well, not all of us; Kermit knows a bit of sign language, and a few others took some ASL classes in high school, so they're familiar with it," Clifford stated.

"Kermit knows sign language?" Beard, the guitarist, asked.

"Yeah, he learned while he still worked on Sesame Street when Linda was on the show," Clifford explained. "But listen, the main issue here isn't the fact that Aria isn't speaking. I think she may have been abused wherever she came from."

Charlie, Solid Foam's drummer, gasped, "Abused! What makes you think that?"

"Well, she was really dirty when we first found here, and she's been pretty anxious around everyone, like she's scared she'll do something wrong and make someone mad," Clifford said. "She kind of started doing that after Darci yelled at her."

Beard frowned, "Why is Darci even a Muppet? She's got the worst attitude and from what I can figure, a lot of people here don't like her."

Flash, the saxophonist, then mumbled something to Clifford, where Digit asked, "What did he say?"

"Flash is guessing that Darci re-joined the Muppets to take advantage of their newfound popularity and get famous again," Clifford explained.

Charlie rolled her eyes, "Figures. So where's little Aria now?"

"Robin's showing her around the theater," Clifford said. After saying that, the sound of someone messing with the keys Rowlf's grand piano could be heard from backstage. Clifford smirked, "Sounds like she found Rowlf's piano."

After a couple of more seconds, the band heard "Chopsticks" being played.

"Ah yes, Chopsticks, a classic," Digit said. "Maybe she'll take up piano."

"Sam Eagle would probably like that...unless anyone in the Electric Mayhem introduces her to one of their instruments! Then she'll become another hippie musician," Clifford said, laughing.

"Do they know about her yet?" Digit asked.

"Yeah, Scooter told Janice and Lips. They'll probably pass the info onto the others," Clifford said. "Janice and Lips were pretty shocked to hear about her."

"I don't blame them, especially Janice. I know she's really fond of little kids," Charlie stated. "So, are you guys going to keep Aria permanently?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to tell now, but we'll probably know in the future," Clifford said.

Later that evening, when the Muppet Show went on, Aria was seated in the front row of the audience, clutching her raccoon toy. She wondered what the show was going to be like, since beforehand she's never heard of it.

Clifford was seated in the orchestra pit, wearing the typical purple tuxedo they had to wear, waiting for the cue to start playing the Muppet Show theme. Floyd was right about what he said about the theme in season 1; it WAS pretty square. The purple Muppet looked forward to Solid Foam's performance in the show, where he could hopefully redeem his status as expert on everything cool.

He saw Aria sitting in the audience, staring at the stage, waiting for the show to begin. Clifford waved at her, where the small child waved back and returned her focus to the stage. It was Kermit's idea to have her sit in the audience for this show, since he was unsure how she would handle the backstage chaos during it. He told everyone that went onstage to check that Aria was still in her seat throughout the show, in case anything happened.

Then, the Muppet Show sign lowered in front of the curtains, where Kermit popped out of the iconic letter "O".

"It's the Muppet Show! With our very special guest star, Tom Bergeron! Yaaaaay!" Kermit announced.

Then, the Muppet Show theme began. Clifford noticed that Aria bobbed her head a little to the music, which was a sign that she was enjoying it so far. The Muppets would probably be devastated if the little girl had turned out to hate their show, but Clifford was sure that wouldn't happen.

Halfway through the show came Solid Foam's number. Clifford gripped his bass and stood on his spot on the stage, ready to show the world what their band was made of. He heard Kermit onstage announce, "And now, filling in for the Electric Mayhem, performing for the first time in nearly 30 years, Solid Foam! Yaaaaaay!"

As soon as the curtains opened, Clifford looked into the front row of the audience to see Aria still sitting in her seat, watching them with a smile on her face. She seemed very excited about this part of the show.

The band started up the music and began to sing:

The music just keeps on rolling along

I got my friends, I got my song

We're living for the rhythm and can't go wrong,

Because the music keeps rolling along

Come on, pretty mama, and do your things

Spirit of the music and the joy it brings

So kick of your shoes

You know we can't lose

Cause the music keeps rolling along!

Then Flash began his vocal solo in the song

I make my own decisions

I go by my own rules

Gotta live the life I want to, I'm no fool

Clifford: There you go

As Beard went into his solo, Clifford looked into the audience at Aria again to see her bobbing to the music, like how she did during the opening theme, but she seemed more intrigued by this performance than the first one. He began to wonder if Aria would be interested in rock and roll music in the future. However, before Clifford had a chance to think further, he heard Flash and Beard:

And every time I hear those sweet sounds

Hey-ey-ey-ey!

Clifford: Hey-ey-ey-ey!

Flash and Beard: What can I say-ay-ay-ay!

Clifford: Yeah!

The music just keeps on rolling along

I got my friends, I got my song

We're living for the rhythm and can't go wrong,

Because the music keeps rolling along

Then Flash did his small saxophone solo in the song

Spirit of the music and the joy it brings

The Flash played a few more notes

Cause the music keeps rolling along!

Then it came time for Clifford's solo in the song:

Come on, little darlin', ain't no time to stop

Smile that smile and take us to the top

Beard: When you get that feeling, there is no denying

Flash: You're going to find your spirit without flying!

The music just keeps on rolling along

I got my friends, I got my song

We're living for the rhythm and can't go wrong,

Because the music keeps rolling along

Come on, pretty mama, and do your things

Spirit of the music and the joy it brings

So kick of your shoes

You know we can't lose

Cause the music keeps rolling along!

The music just keeps on rolling along

I got my friends, I got my song

We're living for the rhythm and can't go wrong,

Because the music keeps rolling along

Come on, pretty mama, and do your things

Spirit of the music and the joy it brings

So kick of your shoes

You know we can't lose

Cause the music keeps rolling along!

After Solid Foam finished the song, they received thunderous applause from the audience, which made the band really happy since it's been awhile since they got such praise from a crowd in a long while. Clifford looked at where Aria was sitting again to see the little girl clapping as well. It was pretty safe to say that she was a Muppet fan now.

Chapter Text

After the show, all the Muppets were gathered backstage, having a post-show meeting to discuss the box office for their show and talking about what parts of the show the audience seemed to enjoy.

"I gotta say, it was great to perform again," Beard said.

"Yeah, I haven't seen an audience that liked our music that much since our Jim Henson Hour days," Charlie admitted.

Then Flash mumbled something, which Clifford translated, "Flash says, 'hopefully my old groupies haven't taken notice that I performed again. I was actually a little happy to be free from them'."

"Don't worry, Flash, we took precautions in case that were to happen," Kermit told the saxophonist. "I told everyone to not invite any women they don't know into the theater."

"And you're sure that'll keep the groupies out?" Digit asked.

"Positive."

Meanwhile, Aria was walking around by herself near the back exit, when she heard a bunch of murmurs from outside the door followed by a knock at the door. She opened the door slightly to see who wanted entry.

She saw a small group of female Muppets she couldn't identify, who all seemed very excited to be at the theater. One of them noticed Aria had opened the door and said, "Oh look! Someone opened the door for us!"

"Aww! She's so cute! I wonder if that's someone's daughter!" another woman squealed.

"Would you mind letting us into the theater, sweetie. We need to speak to someone," another girl asked.

Aria wasn't sure who these women were and she was about to shut the door when one of them pulled a few chocolate bars out of a handbag she had with her. "I'll give you these candy bars if you let us in."

Aria looked at the candy bars. Nobody has ever given her candy before, especially not as a reward for doing what she was told. She decided that maybe these women didn't mean any harm and opened the door.

The woman gave her the candy and asked, "Do you know where Flash of Solid Foam is?"

Aria nodded and pointed down the hall to the backstage area where the Muppets were having their post-show meeting, where the women bolted off. One of them asked the woman who gave Aria the candy, "Why'd you have all those candy bars?"

"I was thinking they'd have the bear security guard they had on Muppets Tonight on guard. I heard he can be easily bribed with food," the lady answered.

Aria shrugged off the girls' antics and went to find Robin, Bean, Betina and Belinda to share her newly acquired candy.

Back with the Muppets, Kermit was talking about how the Electric Mayhem would be back on Sunday, but he wasn't sure if they would want to perform for the show next week since they'd done shows for almost a whole week, when they heard excited squeals.

Before anyone knew it, Flash was mobbed by a group of girls! "The groupies!" Flash audibly hollered.

"Uh-oh! Someone let the girls in!" Clifford exclaimed.

"Girls! Girls! You're not permitted backstage! We'll have to ask you to leave!" Kermit told the girls, but they didn't seem fazed by Kermit's words. They were more interested in Flash.

"Help!" Flash shouted.

"Don't worry, Flash, we got it," Charlie said before she and the rest of the band began pulling the groupies off of Flash and taking them out through the other exit in the theater near Kermit's desk.

After a couple of minutes, all the fangirls were out of the theater, leaving a very frazzled Flash. He mumbled something with what seemed like an annoyed tone, where Kermit asked, "What'd he say? That didn't sound happy."

"He said 'so much for your precautions'," Clifford stated.

"I'm so sorry, Flash. I have no idea how they got into the theater. As far as I know, everyone in the theater is present right here so I don't know who let them inside," Kermit said.

At that moment, the 5 Muppet kids walked into the room, eating the chocolate bars Aria was bribed with. "I don't know where you got this chocolate bars, Aria, but it was nice of you to share them with us," Robin said.

"Chocolate bars? Piggy, did you buy candy earlier today?" Kermit asked his girlfriend.

"Yes, but it wasn't plain chocolate bars. It was a bunch of Milky Ways," Piggy admitted.

Clifford walked up to the kids and asked, "Where'd you get that candy?"

"Aria got it, but we don't know where," Bean answered.

Clifford nodded and looked over at Aria, "Did someone give you that candy?"

Aria nodded.

"Was it a lady?"

Aria nodded again.

"Was she with a group with other women?"

Aria nodded for the third time. Upon this, all the adult Muppets groaned in annoyance, causing her to look around frantically, wondering what she did wrong.

"I guess I should've told the kids to be aware of the groupies. I thought they'd be more wary of strangers, but I guess I was wrong," Kermit sighed.

"See, what'd I tell you! Might cause trouble!" Darci stated.

"Can it, Darci!" Yolanda snapped at the Goth woman.

"What! Aria did something wrong, didn't she? She let those weird groupies into the theater," Darci said.

"She didn't know who they were," Annie Sue said.

"Still, she let them into the theater and they attacked Flash, right after Kermit said that it wouldn't happen. Aria needs to be punished for this," Darci said.

As soon as Darci said "punished", Aria began shaking and whimpering, on the verge of tears. What were they going to do to her?

Seeing Aria in distress, Clifford looked back at Darci and said, "Come on, Darci. She didn't know who those women were. I don't think we need to punish her for this."

Darci groaned, "Oh come on, don't tell me you're going easy on her just because she 'might' have come from an abusive home."

"She probably did!" Clifford argued.

"Yeah, but we don't know for a fact if she did."

"Well, she looked ready to freak out when you suggested we punish her. I'm pretty sure she got that treatment a lot wherever she came from."

"And for all we know, she got punished a lot because she's a troublemaker!"

Seeing the two Muppets argue, knowing that it was about her, made Aria more afraid than she already was. Would she get punished for what she did or would she not? Was she really a troublemaker?

Miss Piggy, seeing the little Muppet's scared demeanor, turned towards Clifford and Darci and snapped"Will you two knock it off! You're making Aria freak out!"

Clifford looked at Aria, seeing that the pig diva was right, and said, "Sorry Aria. Didn't mean to scare you."

Darci just grumbled, "Oh for Pete's sake, does this kid get frightened by everything?"

Flash then mumbled something to Clifford, who said, "Flash said that he's not mad at Aria over the groupie thing so he forgives her for her mistake."

"Oh good," Kermit said, glad that Flash was the forgiving type. "Well, it's been a long day. I think we better all get home."

"Good idea, but I think with the chocolate the kids just ate, they might have trouble falling asleep," Scooter said, motioning at the five Muppet kids now all jittery from ingesting their sugar-filled treats.

"Oh boy," Kermit groaned.