"Always Look On The Bright Side of Life"

"This has without a doubt got to be the most bloody brilliant idea I've ever cooked up," said the former agent of the Environmental Protection Agency, Louise Peck, as she stood across the street from the Ghostbusters' firehouse headquarters in her black suit and tie, her arms folded and a confident grin on her face.

Standing right next to her was a taller man with blue eyes, brown hair, and a goatee and went by the name of John Hardemeyer, the former assistant to the mayor of New York City. Not only did he share a taste in suits with Louise; but he also shared a history with the Ghostbusters. Like her, he lost his job to them, due to their "supernatural" publicity stunts that he so determinedly attempted to exploit. Only when New York City turned out to be in serious danger did his plans backfire on him.

And yet there they were—the two of them—standing across the street from the very business that had put them out of theirs, with one of the most confusing schemes ever. "So…let me get this straight…we're going to sign up for Kimberly Venkman's 'Junior Ghostbusters' program?"

"That's right, dear chap," confirmed the British blonde, with a smile and a nod. "If ya can't beat the darn blokes, then just join them."

John shook his head at the idea. "Doesn't make sense to me, Lou. I mean, are they or are they not the same people that put you out of the E.P.A., five years ago?"

"Of course, they are! Made me look like a complete fool in front of the mayor. Venkman even had the nerve to call me…well…a certain name that I can't speak in public for personal reasons. But let's just say it'd sting a lot more, if I were a man!"

"So why are we joining up with the same business that we both tried and failed to shut down years prior?"

Louise placed her arm around John and pulled him in closer to her, whispering into his ear. As she had done so, a taxicab pulled in right near them, driven by a strange Muppet character that went by the name of Beauregard. His passengers were Kermit the Frog, Gonzo the Great, Fozzie Bear, Rizzo the Rat, and Pepe the King Prawn (whom all had been nervously clinging onto their seats during the entire road trip).

"Here we go, fellas," said the naïve taxicab driver. "Ghostbusters H.Q., just like I promised."

Kermit was practically quivering in his seat as he stammered, "Y-Y-Y-Yeah, Beau. J-J-J-Just like y-y-you'd p-p-promised." He then stuck out his shaky flipper, handing over their fee to Beauregard.

"If ya ever need me to drop you off anywhere, just give a holler."

"Oh, don't worry." Pepe uttered. "We'll be hollering plenties after getting into the cab, okay."

The five Muppets quickly exited the taxicab, before Beauregard wildly drove away from the city block, heading off to pick up another unfortunate victim of his madcap service. With Beau finally gone, Fozzie felt a lot more comfortable, especially as he looked across the street at the Ghostbusters' firehouse. "Wow! Can you guys believe we're going to be Ghostbusters? I've always dreamed of this, ever since we grew up in the nursery."

"Uh…I grew up in an aquarium owned by Jessica Biel, okay." Pepe contradicted.

"Oh…well, I was referring mostly to Kermit, Gonzo, and myself." Fozzie told the king prawn. "Back when we were just babies, we always imagined that we were Ghostbusters…or, uh, maybe something close to it."

Gonzo covered his face in embarrassment. "Argh! Fozzie!"

"What? What did I say?"

"Don't tell them that when we get in there," demanded the equally embarrassed Kermit. "That stuff's just too private to reveal."

"Well, I think it's rather cute," said a voice that came right behind them. They turned and saw Louise Peck with John Hardemeyer, both standing very tall over the pint-sized Muppets. "In fact, I believe if you shared that adorable little story with the Ghostbusters, they'd be more than welcome to accept you into their program."

Fozzie smiled. "You really think so?"

Hardemeyer scoffed over Peck's assertion. "You kiddin' me? They'd kick you guys to cur…" He was quickly cut short in his statement by Louise, who elbowed him in the gut, nearly cutting off his air. "I mean, sure they would. I can't see how they wouldn't."

Kermit looked up and down between the two strangers before them. His mouth gaped open in surprise, once he realized who they were. "Hey! You're Louise Peck from the Environmental Protection Agency…and you're John Hardemeyer, Mayor Ignatius's former assistant!"

"You people tried to shut down Ghostbusters!" Gonzo exclaimed.

"C'mon, guys. Let's get out of here." Kermit suggested.

"Yeah, tha air just suddenly got foul…and not in a good way." Rizzo bantered.

The five Muppets were on the verge of walking away from Louise and John, until Louise spoke out in protest. "Wait…we want to make amends with the Ghostbusters for what we've done."

They looked cautiously over at the two black-suited figures, seeing the huge smiles coming across their faces. It was Kermit who then inquired, "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Listen, I got a ton of marshmallow goop rained down upon me, five years ago." Louise stated.

"And I got temporarily sucked into a huge wall of pink slime, coming out smelling like the funk of forty thousand years." John added.

"All because we didn't believe in what the Ghostbusters were trying to convince everyone at those times." Peck admittedly declared. "There are in fact supernatural forces entering our world. And we've both spent plenty of times reading up on demigods and sorcerers to figure out where they're all coming from. The only way to drive them away is to join in the same league as the Ghostbusters, fending off whatever threats come our way."

There seemed to be a lot of sincerity behind Louise Peck's words, if not much power in them. It was still awkward to see two of the Ghostbusters' worst nemeses offering their services to them. And it was even weirder, especially to the likes of one Gonzo the Great, to start wondering if these two were actually asking for their help in this plan.

"So what do you want from us?" Kermit came out and asked.

Louise shared a quick, satisfied glance with Hardemeyer and then told the frog, "We want you to help put in a good word for us, when we walk in there with you."

"You mean lie to them?!" Fozzie remarked.

"Yes!" John cried out.

"NO!" Louise immediately contradicted, slapping Hardemeyer over the back of his head while glaring at him. "We only ask that you be honest with them. Let 'em know that we just want to let bygones be bygones and restart things off on a good note."

Kermit hesitated with a response to Peck's request. And when he attempted to give one, Rizzo suddenly stepped in front of him and said, "Uno momento, por favor!"

"Ohh, excellent Spanish, Ritzo." Pepe complimented, as the Muppets huddled together within a few feet away from Louise and John, whispering amongst each other.

"We just can't trust them, Kermit." Fozzie said. "What if this is some plot of theirs to shut the Ghostbusters down again?"

"Yeah, like an inside job or somethin'." Rizzo presumed.

"I don't know. Maybe they are trying to make good, ya know?" Gonzo stated. "Besides, it'd be cool to see that explosion again. I remember standing on the rooftop of the Chrysler Building and seeing all those cool purple strobes. It was like the Fourth of July in the middle of Thanksgiving!" He then noticed the awkward look that the other Muppets were giving him and sheepishly added, "But that's just me."

After rolling his eyes at Gonzo, Kermit remarked, "Look, guys…it's not really my call to make on this. It's the Ghostbusters who will have to decide whether they're in or not."

"But what about puttin' dat good word in for 'em?" Rizzo asked.

"Well, it's like Miss Peck said," answered Kermit, "we'll just be honest with the Ghostbusters and tell them that they want to make a truce."

Fozzie let out a deep sigh. "I just hope we don't end up ruining our chance to become Ghostbusters in this."

"Relax, Fozzie." Kermit said. "We're the Muppets…no one can turn us down from a great opportunity."

"Tell that to de Walt Disney Company, okay."

After what was an obvious hectic afternoon for Christina Melnitz, she was finally awarded with a nice, relaxing evening at her desk, as she was finally able to watch the season finale to Lost on YouTube. With her feet propped up on her desk and leaning back pretty far in her chair, having her hands locked behind her head, she couldn't have felt more relaxed. A smile grew on her face, despite watching the intense drama displayed on her PC computer.

Unfortunately, that drama seemed to have leaked out into her personal life again, as she heard some brisk, heavy footsteps coming down the stairs near her. Popping out from her comfortable position, she watched as Alexis Embers solely came downstairs and approached her, with a look on fury registered on her face.

"Where's Dr. Venkman?" Christina asked.

"She bailed on me!" Alexis hastily replied. "I went upstairs to check and see if she was ready to go, and she wasn't even there!"

Christina was more puzzled than she was upset. "Wait…how could she just up and vanish like that? Unless she jumped out of the window and instantly learned how to fly, there's no way she could've left without us knowing."

"Well, I'm telling you straight up that she's gone," retorted Alexis, before she added in a brash tone, "and so is that ridiculous recruit…Meagan what's-her-face…for that matter."

Christina shook her head negatively at Alexis. "Her name's Meagan Tully. And I think you should start showing her a little respect, 'cause she might one day replace you."

"And I think we should start focusing on the problem at hand, 'cause I might end up having a migraine in a few seconds!!!"

Never before had Christina seen her so stressed like this. It seemed like only yesterday when she was the calm, quiet type. But since being added onto the Ghostbusters team, she had turned herself into quite the nervous wreck. Although it was understandable, considering how she was now left alone to deal with the situation of five escaped ghosts.

"Whoa!" They heard a voice come from the front entrance, which they soon realized came from Gonzo the Great, who was accompanied by fellow Muppets Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Rizzo the Rat, and Pepe the King Prawn. He gawked in amazement at the huge, nasty hole where the door should've been and said, "They must've known we were coming to do this for us."

Alexis sighed and rubbed her eyes in frustration at the sight of the visitors. "Oh, great. Just what we needed…more fresh meat."

Ignoring Alexis's complaints, Christina stood up and shouted across the room at the possible new recruits, "May I help yo…?" But she stopped as soon as she noticed Louise Peck and John Hardemeyer following the Muppets on their way in. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened wide, looking extremely horrified. "Oh, crud!"

"What's wrong?" asked Alexis, seeing the look on her face.

Then, out of nowhere, Christina pulled her Proton Pack out from underneath her desk. But instead of strapping it on, she just detached the particle thrower from it and aimed directly at Louise and John. She seemed highly upset as she said to them, "You both have got five seconds to turn around and leave, before I blast your butts to kingdom come!!!"

Seeing how they were being threatened by a nuclear weapon, Louise and John instinctively lifted their hands in the air. It wasn't until Kermit stepped right in their path did their fate seemed to be sealed, as the frog declared, "They're with us! They're with us!"

Christina lowered the particle thrower and reacted in confusion, "What?!"

"They want to make amends for their actions in the past." Kermit said.

And again a confused Christina exclaimed, "What?!"

"What the heck's going on here?" Alexis asked, while staring at the two black-suited figures standing behind the Muppets. "Who're these people?"

"Remember those legal problems our company faced in the past?" Christina told her. "Well, these imbeciles are the reason for them!"

Alexis then began to stare at the two in the same way Christina had. "You mean that's the E.P.A. agent and Mayor Ignatius's assistant?"

"Former!!!" Peck and Hardemeyer both corrected.

"They finally realized that what you guys do here is for real and want to register for your Junior Ghostbusters program." Kermit stated.

And the moment Kermit told them this, Christina instantly declared, "No! No way! Nuh-uh! Not gonna happen! Not in a trillion years, man!"

Meanwhile, Alexis looked left and right between the two characters, an idea formulating in her mind. Since Kimberly Venkman decided it was best to leave her out to dry in the midst of this ghostly breakout, she thought it would be best to improvise in the situation. And who better to do it with than two of the Ghostbusters' most hated mortal enemies.

"Make you a deal," she suddenly said, "if you two can help me put away five ghosts who've escaped our Containment System, then we can give you a spot in our program."

Huge grins appeared on Louise and John's faces in reaction to this proposal. "Really?!?!"

Alexis nodded, just as she felt an intense slap come across her left arm. While rubbing it, she turned around to see who was responsible, only to meet with the angry eyes of Christina. "What's wrong with you, girl?" Melnitz asked her. "Did you not remember what these idiots did to our business years ago?"

"Christy, just trust me on this." Alexis pleaded. "I think I'm finally going to put some use to this little program of Kimberly's."

Just as she had done before, Christina shook her head negatively at Embers, wondering just where her common sense had run off to. She only hoped that the still-inexperienced Ghostbuster knew what she was doing with these two dangers to society known as Louise Peck and John Hardemeyer.