As they drove along, Miss Piggy could not stop gushing over Kermit. "Oh, Kermit. You were so courageous back there."

"You should compliment the bear," Fozzie butted in. "I did all the driving."

"And I took a hundred-foot bellyflop onto a moving car," Gonzo chimed in.

Miss Piggy still made goo-goo eyes at Kermit. "Yes, but Kermit assumed the awesome responsibility of command."

"Oh, brother," Lucy rolled her eyes.

Miss Piggy looked around, still a bit dazed. "Um...how about we stop somewhere for the night. And have a quiet little dinner for two."

Still oblivious, Gonzo continued to butt in. "Terrific! I'll eat with you, Miss Piggy."

Kylie pulled him back. "Gonzo, know your boundaries."

"But I was just saying…"

"No," Kylie pointed. "Not appropriate." This got Gonzo to stop.

"Not you, Buzzard Beak!" Miss Piggy made it clear. Then, she looked back to Kermit. "Just mon capitan and...moi."

"Uh…" Kermit gulped. "Yeah...that would be nice."

"Actually," Lucy motioned to Jeanette. "I have been feeling kind of peckish since the balloon race. I could go for dinner too."

"Okay." Jeanette patted her on the back. "Let's make it a double. You and I can go with them."

Late at night, under a half moon, Kermit sat alone by candlelight. Lucy and Jeanette were seated to the side, talking amongst themselves, but also paying attention to Kermit.

In walked Miss Piggy, in a stunning pink gown, ready to greet Kermit.

Kermit stood up in reverence. "Good evening, Miss Piggy. You look lovely tonight."

"Thank you," Miss Piggy answered. As she strutted to the table, she added, "I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

"No problem," Kermit helped Piggy to her seat. Lucy snickered from the other table, but Jeanette kept silent. "I took the liberty of ordering us some wine," the kind frog smiled. Calling across the room, he shouted, "Oh, Waiter!"

An insolent waiter who resembled Steve Martin turned around and smiled. "Yes, how may I help you?" He sneered, in a sarcastic but happy voice.

"Do you mind pouring us some wine?" Kermit asked.

Steve Martin showed the bottle. "Oh, champagne," Miss Piggy smiled.

"Not exactly," Steve read the label. "Sparkling Muscatel. One of the finest wines in Idaho."

"Yes. You may serve us now," Kermit suggested.

"Oh, may I?" Steve snided. He unwrapped the wine with great dexterity.

"Look how he does it," Piggy pointed.

"So suave," Kermit added.

Steve threw the wrapper across the table, procured a bottle opener from his belt, and opened up the cap. "Don't you want to smell the bottle cap?" He shoved it in Kermit's face.

Kermit sniffed and nodded in approval. "Smells good." Piggy seemed to agree.

As Steve Martin poured the wine, he asked, "Would you like to taste it?"

Piggy whispered at Kermit. "I think he's supposed to."

Kermit took charge again. "Would you like to taste it for us?

Steve smiled as he took one sip of the wine. Almost immediately, he spat it out in disgust, though it was away from Jeanette and Lucy. Though he was able to return to his normal demeanor and spoke without a break in tone. "Excellent choice."

"Good deal for ninety-five cents," Kermit noted. Piggy approved. As Steve Martin finished pouring, Kermit made one last request. "May we have straws, please?"

"Yes," Steve pulled out two straws from his pocket. "I expected that."

He placed the straws in the wine. "And that will be all for now. Thank you."

"Thank you," Steve gasped as he bowed. "Thank you very much."

"Here's to you Miss Piggy," Kermit took a sip. "To Good Health." Piggy did the same. They sipped from their straws in peace.

Some time later, Steve turned to Lucy and Jeanette's table, delivering their order. "So you ordered the nachos with the chili dip and one smoked salmon?"

"Yup!" Lucy pumped her fist. "Bring it."

As he placed it down, Steve gave a warning. "It's really spicy, that dip."

"No problem," Lucy gloated. "I'm Latina."

"You go, Lucy," Jeanette clapped.

Lucy took a chip, dipped it in, and tasted. It was hot enough to make her eyes water and wheeze a little. But she was able to hold it down. "Excellent. Just the way...I like it." Lucy gasped. "Thank you!"

"No problem," Steve flashed an okay sign as he left. "I have milkshakes if you need them."

"No need," Lucy croaked, going for another.

"You sure that's okay, Lucy?" Jeanette ate her salmon in peace, not noticing anything else.

"Seriously, I'm fine," Lucy reached for some cheese dip in a bowl. "I eat this all the time."

"Okay," Jeanette shrugged.

As they ate, they listened in on Kermit and Miss Piggy as well.

"It makes me giggly," Piggy seemed a little tipsy.

"Must be the wine," Kermit added. Then, he looked up. "Quite silvery, the moon is."

"Yes," Piggy responded. Her own speech was slurred.

"But I must say," Kermit leaned in. "The moon doesn't look quite like you." Kermit and Miss Piggy were just about to kiss.

But before their lips could meet, Steve Martin called from the back. "Miss Piggy. I have a telephone call for Miss Piggy."

"Yes?" Miss Piggy jumped up from the table to answer the phone. Turning back one last time, she called back. "Kermit, I need to place a phone call to my agent. It will only take a teensy-weensy moment." And with not another word, she left.

"What the hey?" Kermit turned around, alone and confused.

As Kermit sat alone, Lucy and Jeanette finished their dinner. As soon as they paid the check, they sat by Kermit and tried to console him. "Cheer up, Kermit," Jeanette tried to be nice. "She said she'd only be a moment."

"It's been ten minutes," Lucy looked at the clock. "Something's up."

"Oh," Jeanette tilted her head and still tried to cheer up Kermit. "Well, I am sure she had her reasons. She is a busy girl."

"Yeah, you know showbiz," Lucy added. "Hard for everyone."

"Yeah," Kermit sighed. "I just...I just wish she was more open with me."

"Whatever," Lucy returned. "My mission was to get you to Hollywood. So get you to Hollywood I shall." Then, she heard a piano off in the distance. "Oh, hey, there's music. Let's see who's playing." She got up with Jeanette and they followed the music. Kermit got up and followed too.

In the next room, the girls were surprised to see their talented pianist was...a dog. He just sat and played to his heart's content, before turning and smiling to them. "Evening! I'm Rowlf. Rowlf the Dog."

"Awwww," Lucy and Jeanette crooned in unison. He looked cute playing there like that.

As Kermit walked in, Rowlf spoke to the whole party. "Sit yourselves down." They sat on the benches near Rowlf.

"Kermit. Kermit the Frog," answered Kermit.

"Lucy."

"Jeanette." The two human girls waved at Rowlf.

"Pleased to meet ya." Rowlf did a little staccato motion on his piano. "I'm no typist, but I get by."

"That was very nice," Kermit sniffed, suddenly seeming forlorn.

"Oh, don't worry, Kermit," Lucy peered in. "Remember, we're still your friends."

Rowlf did not need any introduction to what was going on. "Oh, a broken heart, right?"

"Oh, how did you know?" Kermit was confused.

Rowlf offered up his wisdom. "Listen, when you've been tickling the ivories as long as I have, you've seen a broken heart for every drop of rain. A shattered dream for every fallen star." His playing got more erratic as he finished his speech.

"Exactly," Kermit replied. "She just walked out on me."

"Eh, typical," Rowlf answered back. "That's why I live alone."

"You do, huh?"

"Yup," Rowlf kept playing. "I finish work, I go home, read a book, have a couple of beers, take myself for a walk, and go to bed."

"Cool," Lucy smiled. "Me too...well, aside from the beer part. But the rest is my day."

"Nice and simple," Kermit seemed to be warming up to Rowlf's easy-going attitude.

"Stay away from women. That's my motto."

"But I can't!" Kermit complained.

"Neither can I," Rowlf sympathized. "That's my trouble."

Rowlf began playing a song. Kermit moved a bit closer, wanting to join in. "I'll leave you to it,"

Lucy stayed out of this one. "It's your number. I'll just watch."

Rowlf began his song:

You can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em.

There's somethin' irresistabullish about 'em.

We grin and bear it 'cause the nights are long.

I hope that somethin' better comes along.

"I see what you mean," Kermit responded before beginning his line:

Kermit: It's no good complainin' and pointless to holler.

Rowlf: If she's a beauty she'll get under your collar.

Kermit: She made a monkey out of old King Kong,

Rowlf: I hope that somethin' better comes along.

Kermit got up and joined Rowlf. Even though Jeanette and Lucy knew the song was not for them, they still tapped their toes and bobbed their heads to the beat.

Kermit: Still, it's fun when they're fetching,

And agree to see an etching

That you keep at your lily pad.

There is no solution, it's part of evolution,

Rowlf: You'll sooner hear the souls,

The little feet of tadpoles.

Kermit: (Ah, Rowlf, tadpoles don't have feet!)

Rowlf: (Oh. Sorry about that... 2, 3, 4)

Kermit: There's no limitation to mixin' and matchin'

Rowlf: Some get an itchin' for a critter they've been scratchin'.

A skunk was badgered, the results were strong.

I hope that somethin' better,

Kermit: I hope that somethin' better,

Both: I hope that somethin' better comes along.

Rowlf: (Beep bop bidder da dum dum bum bum bum!)

Lucy and Jeanette applauded. "Bravo," Lucy announced. "That was perfect."

"Thank you," Rowlf lowered his head. "Anything to get you folks out of your funk."

"Phone call for Kermit the Frog!" Steve Martin called back.

"Huh," Kermit got up to see what was going on.

"I'll go with him," Lucy called back at her new friends.

"But Lucy, It's for Kermit," Jeanette insisted.

"I don't care. There's something suspect with how Miss Piggy just left," Lucy snapped back. "I need to see what's up."

Jeanette shrugged and let Lucy go.

"Hello," Kermit answered the phone.

But Kermit looked distressed. While Lucy couldn't hear clearly, it sounded like Miss Piggy was in trouble.

"Yes, Kermit," a sinister voice answered back. Lucy gasped as she recognized the voice of Doc Hopper. "You listen, Frog, and you listen good. Step outside the hotel right now. My guys will be waiting there."

"And what if I don't?" Kermit shouted back into the phone.

"Then your girlfriend will be hamhocked by breakfast," Doc Hopper threatened. Kermit listened in as Doc Hopper hung up the phone.

"No, Kermit," Lucy warned. "You're one frog against guys with guns. You don't stand a chance. Let me talk to them."

Kermit did not listen, though. He went outside the hotel. Lucy shrugged and decided to follow. Sure enough, waiting outside were five men in rifles, pointed right at Kermit. Lucy held her hands in surrender. "It's not you we want," the men shouted. "It's the frog. You may leave."

"Excuse me," Lucy got angry. "As his agent, I am…"

"Fine," they turned their guns at Lucy. "We'll show you both to the Doc."

A few minutes later, Lucy found herself tied up with Kermit and Miss Piggy. "You didn't have to come," Kermit tried to say. "I mean it."

"No, it's my mission," Lucy was determined. "I'll follow you to the ends of the earth. Maybe the Fairy Godmother can bail us out, but I have to take you to Hollywood and complete the mission."

"The professor's here, Doc," one of the henchmen told them.

"Bring him in," Doc Hopper ordered.

Kermit turned to Lucy. "If that's the case, I won't be worried. Your Fairy Godmother should be here any moment."

"Well, we got this far, didn't we?" Lucy tried to lighten the situation.

Right then, a mad scientist in a lab coat and black boots appeared. He cackled evilly looking down his victims. "Professor Krassman," Doc Hopper shook his hand.

"It's good to see you, too," the professor smiled back. "Where's my victim!?" Krassman covered his mouth right then. "I mean patient" Lucy and Kermit gasped upon hearing Krassman's sarcasm.

"Step this way," Doc Hopper ordered as they walked closer. Leaning in, he told the gang what they were up against. "Professor Krassman is a world leader in neurology and mind control for frogs."

"It's a rapidly growing field," Krassman insisted as he looked over Kermit.

"Tell us what you're going to do to our little Kermit," Doc Hopper sneered even more.

"Well, we are going to perform an electronic cerebrectomy," Professor Krassman explained. "It's something so special you will have to hold onto your hat."

"What's that?" Doc Hopper was still confused.

"When a German scientist says 'hold onto your hat' it is not time for conversation...HOLD ONTO YOUR HAT!" Doc Hopper held his hat as Professor Krassman showed his machine. "What we are going to do is bring out a machine that is going to wow you!"

Out rolled a menacing machine which beeped and whistled. "You think we're napping in Cologne? No, we're working at night. Each night, a new dial, a new knob."

"But what does it do?" Doc Hopper was getting impatient.

"What does it do?" Krassman himself was angered. "It turns the brains into guacamole." Everyone laughed.

Kermit wiggled and jiggled in his ropes. "Hold on, I'll pull out of this."

"Wonderful," Lucy rolled her eyes. Though she herself was using some of her trained dexterity to try and undo her ropes.

"Halt!" Krassman continued the explanation. "I detest the sound of provincial laughter." He motioned to his machine. "So we take your friend, the little F-R-O-G, put him in the chair, clamp on the terminals, drop on the little glass yamaka, and throw what we call in German...The Switch!" He threw the switch and the machine pulsed with electricity. He leered directly at Kermit. "Yes, little green devil. Soon it will be a hot time in the old skull tonight!"

Turning off the machine, he turned to Doc Hopper to explain the endgame of his plan. "Now, the little frog will do your bidding. He will do your every wish. He will do your commercials. Yes, he will sell your frog's legs!"

"Excuse me," Lucy protested as she strained some more. "As his agent, I cannot allow my client to do morally reprehensible work."

"You don't get to talk," Krassman threatened. "Or I can just as easily set this to a human setting." Lucy said no more. "So let's fry both their brains!" Doc Hopper and Krassman both laughed at their jokes.

"Ah, Prof. Krassman, you have a fun job," Doc Hopper laughed.

"But I'd love it if I can inflict a little pain during the afternoon, I can sleep good at night." He looked over and pointed at Kermit. "First, the frog. And I'll get his lovely agent later."

"Excuse me?" Lucy took that as an insult. But she could do nothing as Kermit was lifted into the chair.

"Oh, Kermit," Miss Piggy tried to sound dramatic as they cut Kermit's ropes. "No matter what else happens, I would never trade it away to give up this glorious evening. With you!"

As they placed Kermit and strapped him down, Kermit kept trying to protest. "Oh, would you stop whimpering," Krassman taunted. He moved over to the switch to do the work. "Okay, Herr Machine. This is big time here." He clamped the poor frog inside tight. "You can struggle all you want, Frog. It will do you little good!" Then, he moved to the hat. "Now, for the electronic beanie." As the beanie lowered, he sneered further. "Soon, there will be enough voltage in your little frog brain to light up Cincinnati."

"Oh, no!" Piggy shouted. "Not my Kermit, please."

"Oh, come now," Krassman sneered at Piggy now. "In ten seconds, he won't know you from Kosher Bacon!"

"THAT DOES IT!" And with a strength of a thousand pigs, Miss Piggy broke loose from bondage right then and there. "HI-YAAAH!" Kermit kicked Krassman right in the chest with a flying kick. Chaos erupted as the henchmen tried to subdue her. One by one, the henchmen fell, as a giant hole in the wall was opened.

Through this confusion, Lucy had been unable to undo her own knot. It wasn't easy, but she did it. Standing up, she saw what Krassman was thinking. "What's going on here? A pig that goes bananas? What is this, a luau?" Miss Piggy waved and screamed, but Krassman was still just close enough to the switch. He motioned to turn it on.

"I got you here, Miss Piggy," Lucy tacked Krassman just in time as sparks flew. "Now, set him free." Miss Piggy broke through the bonds with ease. Kermit was freed once more.

As Lucy and Kermit ran away, Miss Piggy startled Krassman and sent him back into the machine. Soon, it activated on him. After a few seconds, Krassman ended up delusional. "Ribbit. Ribbit." He croaked as he fell to the floor.

Miss Piggy regained her composure once more. "Shall we go now, Kermit?"

The phone rang. Kermit got up to answer it. "Hello?" He turned the phone around. "Piggy, it's your agent."

Miss Piggy got up to answer. "Thank you." On the phone, she addressed, "Yeah, Marty. What have you got? A commercial? How much? When? Ticket." She hung up and talked to Kermit. "Um...goodbye."

Kermit and Lucy looked at each other and shrugged. "Well," Lucy looked off into the distance. "I guess we resume the journey from here."

"Yeah," Kermit looked back as he walked back to join the rest of the gang. "I...I guess."