Chap. 9: Meanwhile in town, Zoot was walking around angrily. He couldn't believe his brother had done what he did to him and Lips! Now he and Lips were going to be in danger. It might get so bad the cops will have to get involved and magazines might learn about it. Then hell will really break loose! He knew Zachariah was a little upset about him being gay, but he didn't think he'd share it online, setting off all the threats. Did he really intend that to happen, or was he just venting?
Zoot was so focused on his thoughts, he didn't even notice a person was following him, holding a big baseball bat. The stranger raised it over his head and hit him hard on the head.
Zoot fell to the ground, groaning in pain.
"Did you kill him?" a girl's voice asked.
"I don't know," a second voice said.
"Look! He's still breathing! He's still alive!" a third voice said.
"No, no, no…" Zoot muttered. He knew who they were; they were some of the people that made those nasty comments.
"Well, we better do him in now, until the cops show up," the first voice said.
The girl kicked Zoot in the side and into the side of a building. Zoot struggled to get to his feet.
"What kind of people are you?" he demanded to know.
Then, he got a good look at his attackers to see that they were just some teenagers.
"Great, I can't fight back, otherwise I'll get arrested for assault on a minor," Zoot muttered.
He wanted to run so badly, but he began to feel dizzy and his side hurt terribly. One of the teens took this as a chance to sock him in the face, forcing his back to collide with the wall. Another teen whipped out a knife and jabbed it into Zoot's side, causing blood flow out quickly.
Zoot shouted in agony at the sudden pain, and knew he was going to be done for unless someone came in time.
Meanwhile, Walter was struggling in taking Animal and the White Lion for a walk.
"Slow down, you guys! I can't keep up with you!" Walter shouted.
Then, the two beasts stopped in their tracks.
"Thank you, you guys sure love exer-," Walter was saying until he saw what made them stop.
He stood there in shock as he witnessed Zoot being beat to death. It had gone to the point where Zoot started shouting for someone to save him.
"That's Zoot!" Walter gasped. "He's being attacked! What do we do?"
White Lion and Animal tugged at their leashes, trying to tell them to let them go to protect Zoot.
"I know, I'll call the cops!" Walter said. He started to search his pockets for his cell phone. "Now where's my phone…I picked a bad day to wear pants with a lot of pockets…no, those are the keys to the Muppet Boarding House…keys for the Electric Mayhem bus…oh that's where the TV remote went!"
As Walter searched himself, he dropped the leashes and White Lion and Animal ran at the teens.
"Is that a lion?" one of the girls asked, seeing White Lion.
"And Animal!" one of them shrieked.
"Animal…White Lion…where'd you come from…" Zoot muttered before blacking out sue to loss of blood.
White Lion stood over Zoot's unconscious body and roared at the girls. The teens screamed in fear and tried to run away, but Animal prevented them from doing that.
"BAD WOMEN!" Animal shouted angrily.
"Animal! White Lion!" Walter yelped.
He finally found his phone and dialed 911. "Hello…yes, I need an ambulance and the police here as soon as possible…Zoot the saxophone player of the Muppets has been attacked by a group of teens…the noise? That's Animal and White lion trying to protect Zoot. Get someone down here quick! I don't know how long Zoot will last!" Walter explained.
Within moments, a white ambulance and a few police cruisers drove into the area. The teenage girls tried to run, but White Lion tackled them to the ground and sat on them to prevent them from making a hasty exit. The paramedics quickly put Zoot on a stretcher and drove him to the hospital as fast as they could. The cops arrested the girls and took them to the police station where they would speak to their parents.
"Oh man, what am I going to tell the others?" Walter muttered worriedly.
"We should tell them what happened," White Lion said wisely. "Otherwise they might freak out if Zoot is gone all night for no good reason."
"Yeah," Animal agreed.
Walter sighed, grabbed his phone and dialed for the Muppet Theater. The phone rang in the backstage area and Lisa answered. "Hello? Muppet Theater, backstage. Lisa Armstrong speaking."
"Lisa! I need to speak to Kermit! Something bad happened while I was taking Lion and Animal out for a walk!" Walter literally screamed on the phone.
"Walter, calm down. Take a deep breath and explain what happened," Lisa said.
Walter took a deep breath and let out a loud gasp before going on a fast ramble. All Lisa could decipher was Zoot, teenage girls, and attack.
"Um…could you repeat that?" she asked.
At that point, Floyd Pepper walked into the room. "Hey Lisa, who's one the phone? The telemarketer?" the bassist asked.
"No, it's Walter. Something happened when he took Animal and White Lion for a walk," Lisa explained.
"What happened?" Floyd asked, concerned.
"I don't know. He said it really fast, so I can't tell. All I got was Zoot, teenage girls and attack."
"Put it on speaker phone, I might want to hear this," Floyd said.
"What's going on?" Kermit asked.
"It's Walter, something happened while he was walking Animal and White Lion," Lisa explained.
"Kermit? Is that you?" Walter asked.
"Hand me the phone, Lisa," Kermit said. Lisa did as told.
"Hello? Walter, what happened?" Kermit asked.
Walter started to go on another ramble when Kermit stopped him midway, saying, "Walter, say it slowly. I can't listen that fast."
"Sorry Kermit," Walter said.
"Okay, now what happened?" Kermit asked.
"Zoot got attacked!" Walter exclaimed.
Kermit, Floyd and Lisa went stiff with shock. Zoot? Attacked? Who would target the saxophonist?
"Did I just hear 'Zoot' and 'attack' in the same sentence?" Dr. Teeth asked as he and Janice ran into the room.
"You heard right," Floyd said.
"By who?" Kermit asked, freaked out.
"Some teenage girls! Animal, White Lion and I saw them attack him and one of them had a knife! He looked like he wasn't going to last and he probably wouldn't have if we hadn't come when we did," Walter said.
As the Muppet explained what happened, all the other Muppets came out of their dressing rooms or the canteen to hear what happened. Lips was one of them. He felt like collapsing at the sound of Zoot getting attacked. Considering that one of the girls had a knife and judging by how Walter described Zoot in the situation, he was probably badly hurt. Lips ran into his dressing room and sat on the sofa and started to cry.
"No…this can't be happening…" he whimpered.
At that point, Ethel Armstrong walked into the room.
"Lips? You alright, sweetie?" she asked her son.
"I-I'm fine, just a little shocked," Lips whimpered.
"Don't get upset, Lips. It won't be good for the baby," Ethel said, sitting next to him and rubbing her hand on his bump. "I'm sure Zoot will be alright. It was just a few small stabs. He'll probably be okay in a few weeks," Ethel said.
"O-okay," Lips stammered, rubbing the tears out of his eyes.
Will Zoot be okay? Will Zachariah find out what happened? Find out next chapter!
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