The day had started like it usually did; a well choreographed musical number, a line that felt like several miles long to the bathroom, Animal cutting into the line, alarm-clocks needed to be replaced, and Statler and Waldorf next door coming over to snark.

Kermit sighed sadly as he looked at an empty seat next to him, where Robin usually sat. The little frog had told him that his parents insisted he stay for a month- Kermit had agreed that Robin should stick around the Swamp, keeping his happy tone in his voice until they'd said goodbyes and hung up.

Now it felt like that he'd lost an important part of himself.

Oatmeal exploded in the kitchen, bringing the frog out of his self-pity fest. The Swedish Chef along with breakfast came flying out, hitting bowls with remarkable precision. Pepe's voice was the first one to speak up after a confused moment of silence. "What do you know, we finally have food to eat! Okay everyone, let's dig in!"

There was a burst of unintelligible noise from the chef as around the table, as everyone looked to Kermit. The frog gently prodded the oatmeal with his spoon, before gingerly digging out a spoonful.

Silence fell across the table as Muppets waited with breathless anticipation to see what would happen to their fearless leader. For a moment the spoon hovered in the air, before slowly making its way into a mouth.

Muppets leaned forward, waiting to hear what was to come next. "I-It's not that bad."

The Swedish Chef on the ground gave thumbs up.

"The Swedish Chef made food?"

"Shouldn't the question be how he made food that's actually edible?"

"At least its wheat- I don't want to be nearly cooked again."

"You know what they say, no pain no grain! Wocka wocka wocka!"

"Where's the tomatoes when you need them?"

"Yeah, after all, veggies are a part of your complete 'Get the Bear offstage' value meal."

"Do-ho-ho-ho!"

Ignoring the two old Muppet's cackling, Kermit dug into the food with a will. He'd have to send Robin a letter and tell him that a major miracle had just happened. Yeah, sure, it tasted a little like swamp mud, but when meals cooked by the chef generally ended up running away from those trying to eat it, you took what you got, and didn't throw a fit.

Kermit polished off the rest of the oatmeal, and looked up.

To his surprise, it wasn't just Robin's seat that was empty. He frowned slightly, eyes scanning across the milling crowd, attempting to spot the missing Muppet. There was no flash of the familiar color- "Oh, Kermie!"

The frog jumped slightly at the pigs high pitched voice, and turned to glance back. Miss Piggy stood in the doorway, long blond hair carefully coffered into a teasing rumpled look. Her blue and yellow sundress gave her the look of a younger woman out to have some fun. In one hand she held a floppy straw hat, complete with a ribbon and bow.

Overall, she looked younger then she generally did, and was just radiating an innocent cuteness.

"I- You-" Kermit was vaguely aware that he should probably pick his jaw off the floor, but Miss Piggy was smirking at him, that odd little smirk that said she had gotten the reaction she wanted.

"I'm off to moi photo shoot darling!"

"In that? I- I didn't know you even had it in you-"

"Oh, why my dear Kermie, you were the one who signed us up for this particular photo shoot, and they said they wanted someone young, someone fresh, so moi thought that I'd give them a nice summer flair!"

Kermit did have a vague memory some time ago about agreeing to a photo-shoot in order to bring in some more money to the struggling theater, but he thought it was supposed to take place a week from now-

"She's right Boss. Don't worry about a thing, I have it all planned out." Scooters' reassuring voice spoke up at his elbow. "She should be back in time for tonight's show, a segment of Pigs in Space, right after Rowlf plays his song."

"Rowlf! Where is Rowlf anyways?" The frog abruptly stood; mind brought back to the matter he had been contemplating before.

Miss Piggy frowned as she too turned; scanning the crowd with him- there was no flash of brown fur and droopy ears. "That's odd." Miss Piggy mused aloud, "Moi wonders if he simply decided to skip breakfast- he often does it whenever he starts working on some music."

Kermit frowned as he glanced upwards towards the music room. He couldn't hear any sounds of music, but it didn't mean much; Rowlf had bought himself an electric keyboard and headphones so not to disturb anyone when he was trying to compose music.

He generally didn't use it for anything other then the first stage, when still picking out the theme though. After that he played for the Muppets, letting them put in their own two cents. "I suppose so."

The pig, taking advantage of his distraction, leaned across to peck his cheek. "Bye Kermie, don't spend too long on the phone with your nephew- we have a show to do tonight! Kissy, kissy!"

Kermit's jaw hit the floor for a second time that day, as he stared after the wonderful, beautiful, infuriating pig that could undo him in a single moment. Muppets, having eaten, began to separate and spread out, taking happy advantage of the AC.

"Hey," The rough, tired voice snapped the adult out of his thoughts. "Any breakfast left?"

"Rowlf!" He turned to the exhausted looking dog standing nearby. "You slept late today?"

"Yeah, actually." The dog laughed slightly, embarrassed by the admission. "I figured I'd scrape up something, but I guess the Swedish Chef wasn't cooking today because I see food on the table."

"No actually, a miracle was made and the Swedish Chef actually cooked food." Kermit glanced towards the kitchen, "You can probably find more in the kitchen if you want it."

The brown Muppet nodded in response to the answer, slowly making his way to the kitchen. Kermit frowned slightly, beginning to stand as he considered offering to bring the food to Rowlf.

An explosion from downstairs, followed by a wild cackle diverted the frog's attention as a wild-eyed Mad Harry flew past on silver wings. That's right; flew. On wings.

"BUNSEN! BEAKER!" The frog leaped by Rowlf, slowly collecting bowl and spoon. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"

"Oh, we're just trying to experiment with the idea about whether or not pigs could fly- for some reason Link refused, so we asked Uncle Deadly. Of course, we forgot he was dead-"

KABOOM!

The explosion rocked the house. Kermit dashed outside, bypassing his neighbor Steven. "Hi Steven!"

The middle-aged drawer looked up, waved half-heartedly, and went back to watering the petunias. "Hey, Kermit, think you can keep your crazy bunch away from the marigolds?"

"Right, I'll tell them to stay out of your yard- did you see which way the flying person went?"

Steven pointed off to the right. "He went that way, carrying a bottle, and said he was going to find some pig for the two people who promised him explosives."

"WHAT? BUNSEN AND BEAKER-" The frog found himself torn- go back and lecture Bunsen and Beaker, or go rescue Miss Piggy? His eyes landed on the dog standing in the doorway.

"Rowlf! Tell Bunsen and Beaker that when I get back I'm taking away all of their nitroglycerin. I gotta go stop Mad Harry!"

The frog leapt for one of the cars in the driveway, despite the fact he had no license- most police officers knew him, and knew when he was in a rush, something big was about to happen.

The dog, bemused, watched Kermit leave. He was originally going to ask if Kermit wanted the fly in his oatmeal, but it looked like the frog was far too busy. Casually he dumped the spoonful of food onto a bush, before turning around to walk back inside.

He ate a single bite, pulling on a long face at the murky under-taste. "No wonder Kermit liked it so much." Still, food was food. Carefully he ate a few more bites, and feeling oddly full, placed it back on the table at his spot. It was Droop's turn to clear the table; hopefully he wouldn't break any dishes.

He opened the door to the basement, and carefully made his way down the steep stairs; sometimes it sucked to be colorblind in as dark environment as this. "Bunsen? Beaker?"

"Hmm, oh, why if it isn't Rowlf, do come in. We're just about to test our special uranium powered light bulb!"

Beaker, huddled and cowering in the furthest corner, shivered. Rowlf took a step back; he wasn't the world's smartest dog, but he had picked up a few new tricks. Mainly the knowledge that radioactivity equaled bad things.

"Well, I was just told by Kermit that he's hopping mad right now; he'll be taking away anything explosive, reactive, and radioactive as a two-week time out as soon as he gets back."

Bunsen gasped, a green hand flying to his mouth. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Beakie! Help me hide everything."

Slowly and slothfully the lab assistant complied. Rowlf decided that it was better to retreat out the mostly lead door, and get upstairs. There he could alert Scooter to Kermit's orders, and the big guys could take care of the Muppet Labs.

"Ohh, suuuure." A soft voice grumbled at his elbow, "The rat can take off for the afternoon, and I can't even go to my old spawning ground; maybe I should go back to the aquarium and try to pick up some girl prawns there. But then I'll get eaten by the fish-"

"Pepe?" The dog turned to the muttering King Prawn. "What are you doing here?"

The shrimp- King Prawn please- looked up at the crouching dog. "Rizzo left me behind, hokay? Like…Like some kind of guy after a one-night stand! Wait, no, that doesn't sound quite right…"

"Don't worry, he'll be back by tonight- the theatergoers like to leave popcorn behind, and the rats go through for food before Beauregard cleans it all up; and since Rizzo's the leader-"

"Just how much of a leader is he?" Pepe interrupted suddenly.

Both dog and shrim- King Prawn already!- jumped as a voice spoke up from behind them. "Oh, a pretty good one." Gonzo, arm still in his makeshift cast, had come up behind them. "He's the leader of all the rats in the entire town practically; and he's got family across the globe."

"So, so do I! Hokay, I get it, alrig-" Whatever Pepe got, it was interrupted by the hum of AC's shutting down.

Gonzo perked up, "Oh cool! The AC's broke again!"

A low groan came from above, and Rowlf pulled himself to his feet as Kermit's voice from above echoed downwards; "BUNSEN BEAKER, COME UP HERE!"

The two scientists, still attempting to hide all dangerous material glanced at each other. Kermit's voice came again, slightly stressed, "Now please!"

"We should go before he blows up." Bunsen sighed sadly as he put down a rod of plethobium.

On cue, Mad Harry's voice drifted down the stairwell, "Did someone say blow up?"

The explosion barely even ruffled the home. Gonzo leaped up the stairs three at a time, sniffing the air; "I know that gunpowder! You got it from old Marley's shop down the way, didn't you?"

Pepe's eyes went heavenwards for patience as he started climbing the stairs. Rowlf staggered to his feet, his left arm numb. He turned his head to the side, dizzily looking for a wastebasket, wondering if breakfast had been poisoned.

Blackness rushed into his vision as he stumbled one step downward, leaning against the wall. He stretched both of his forearms, moving his head about, trying to relieve the pressure. It didn't work, and blackness swam before his eyes.

Nausea overwhelmed him, and he felt the world tilt in a ninety degree angle, and a sharp pain dove up his right side, oddly muted.

With a low whimper, he curled up on the ground, feeling the cool cement against his fur. It felt surprisingly good, and the darkness receded for a moment.

Kermit's voice drifted down the stairwell. "Rowlf? You down there?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Are you alright? I heard a crash-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Already pain and nausea was receding. "I just slipped on a step." No need for the frog to know about the arm pain; it would probably go away on its own within a few days.

Kermit hesitated for a single moment, his worried concern palpable from where Rowlf was lying. "Really Kermit, I can take care of myself. I just wanted to stay cool in the basement, now that the AC broke down again."

"Wait, you're right! Gwark! Beauregard can you fix it?"

"Uhh- Kermit, today's Beauregard's day off, remember? To visit family?"

"Ahhh!"

Rowlf smiled at the sound of family life returning to normal, massaging his left arm.

a/n: It's confirmed then! I have one reader! Yay! *does Kermit arm flail* Second chapter, picking up the pace of things a little. Hopefully interesting. Leave a review if you like!