The Death That Brought The Muppets Closer Together

DTOTF: I don't own the Muppets, anything related to Jim Henson, his family, or his associates. I only own Nagini.

SUMMARY: Nagini Niwa and Victoria Betancourt, the new Muppets in the cast, have been with them for almost a year (well, OK, Victoria's been with them for almost 13 months) and are curious as to why the Muppets, including the usually-obnoxiously-loud Electric Mayhem, were all so solemn and sad. So when they finally go to Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, and Kermit for an answer, the three men are forced to swallow their pride and explain. Dedicated to Jim Henson.

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It was an unusually quiet day at the Muppet Boarding House. In fact, it was so quiet that Nagini, Zoot's girlfriend, and Victoria, Lips's girlfriend, were wondering as to why Dr. Teeth had cancelled the practice that the Electric Mayhem was to have that day. Even Statler and Waldorf weren't making cracks at all! Confused, the two gathered Dr. Teeth Rowlf, and Kermit up into the backyard.

"Hey," Nagini said. "Why's the entire house this dadgum quiet? I'm even amazed that we aren't praticing, D. T.! You're usually saying, 'It don't matter the occasion--we're still havin' practice'!"

'D. T.' heard her comment about not practicing but couldn't exactly answer. He was shaking violently and tears were starting to appear in his now-a-silverish-onyx eyes. Nagini and Victoria wondered what was happening to make him all shaky and sad. Rowlf and Kermit were almost the same way but not shaking as bad.

"Hello?!" Victoria said, snapping her fingers infront of their faces.

"N-Nagi," Dr. Teeth (the one Nagini called D. T.) said. "C-c'mon, Nagi, Vicky--it's May 16!"

"What's so wrong with May 16?!" the alto saxist and clarinetist demanded.

"Dr. Teeth," Kermit said, putting his hand on the practically-crying musician's shoulder. "They don't know."

"Know what?!" Nagini shouted, stomping her foot.

"May 16, 1990," Dr. Teeth shook, "was the day that... that... that..."

He couldn't hold it in any longer. Letting out a very un-manly wail, he burst into a fit of tears and buried his face into his hands. Rowlf and Kermit hugged him tightly, about ready to start crying too. The girls now understood. Something horrible must've happened that struck them all, breaking their hearts.

"What happened on that day, Kermit?" Victoria said softly.

"You've heard of Jim Henson... right?" Kermit said.

Another un-manly wail from Dr. Teeth. The others looked at him.

"Yeah," Nagini said. "Isn't he the guy who made Labyrinth?"

"He was also our best friend," Kermit said, wiping away a tear. Realization struck the two woodwind players.

"'Was'?" she said. "Did... did he die or something?"

Another un-manly wail, this time more high-pitched rather than gravelly, erupted from Dr. Teeth's mouth. Nagini and Victoria gasped sadly and put her hand over her mouth. She only remembered the keyboardist acting this balistic after the deaths of his mother and father. If talking about Jim Henson made him this way...

"Y-you're a-absolutely right, N-Nagini!" the gold-toothed keyboardist moaned and the other two boys covered his mouth with their hands in order to muffle out his wails.

May 16, 1990

RING

RING

RING

"Hello?" Kermit said, picking up the phone.

"Hey, Kermit," the voices of Brian Henson, Bill Barretta, Richard Hunt, Frank Oz, and David Goelz said over the speakerphone.

"What do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Um, it's about my dad," Brian said. Kermit's eyes widened.

"Wh-what? What happened to him? Is Jim OK?!"

"Put it on speakerphone and we'll tell all of you," Bill said.

"Guys!" Kermit screamed to the other Muppets in the house. "Guys, gather up in the living room! Brian, Bill, Richard, Frank, and David all have something they need to tell us!"

No one moved.

"It's about Jim Henson!" Within 1.5 seconds, everyone was gathered around the machine. Kermit turned back around and pressed the button that read 'speakerphone'. "OK, guys, we're all gathered around."

"What?!" Dr. Teeth, who was standing beside Kermit, yelled into the machine. "What's wrong with Jim, Brian?!" On the other end of the line, Bill, Brian, Richard, Frank, and David all sighed deeply.

"They're sighing," Floyd said.

"I hear that they're sighing," Kermit said. "Why are you sighing?!"

"Jim's had a heart attack," Richard said. Each and every Muppet's eyes widened.

"Oh my lord..." Piggy whispered sadly.

"I-is he, like, OK?" Janice asked frantically.

"No," David said.

And then Brian said the magic words:

"James Maury Henson is dead."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" came a high-pitched scream. Everyone looked at Dr. Teeth and Kermit, who were about one sixteenth of an inch from hyperventilating, Dr. Teeth's case being the worse. "N-NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

"What's wrong, guys?!" Frank demanded. But it was too late. The two had already run outside.

"YOU SUCK, GOD!!!!!!!" Kermit screamed.

"HOW COULD YOU TAKE HIM AWAY FROM US?!?!?!?!" Dr. Teeth screeched.

About ten minutes later, Bill, Brian, Richard, Frank, and David all arrived in Brian's car and found the two Muppets on the ground nearly crying their eyes out, the others gathered around them. Actually, to tell the truth, Dr. Teeth was crying his eyes out!

Present day

"The news of Jim's death," Rowlf said, "spread over the next few weeks. Everyone was sad. All of us Muppets went to his memorial. I think I even saw David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly there, too."

"B-but we didn't just go because he was our best friend," Dr. Teeth said.

"We went for the Henson family's sake," Kermit said. "Everybody loved Jim."

"I understand," Nagini and Victoria said. They had started to tear up while they were explaining the story.

"It sounds tragic," Victoria said.

"It was," Rowlf said. "And that's why we're all quiet on this day."

"Nineteen years ago, we lost our best friend," someone said in a familiar Louis Armstrong-equivalent voice. The five looked at the door where the other Muppets, including the Electric Mayhem's other members, were gathered.

"We'll never forget that day," Zoot, who had taken off his sunglass, said.

"James Maury Henson was our best friend, Miss Nagini, Miss Victoria," Waldorf said(what, you got a problem with him callin' the two that?).

"Si, we'll all miss him, okay," Pepe said.

"Look at us today, Vicky, Nagi," Dr. Teeth said. "Jim's death brought us closer together. And his children saved his dream."

"By what you've all said, we kinda wish we knew him," Nagini said. Lips and Animal looked at each other.

"GROUP HUG!!!" they said.

Grinning, the five out on the grass in the backyard glomped the others and they all gathered around, comforting others with said hugs, even Statler and Waldorf weren't trying to fight their way out of it like usual, and silently praying in their minds that Jim Henson remembers them where ever he is for they all know that he's in a better place.

Where ever he is, I feel he will always remember and love them.

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DTOTF: OK, probably a little emotional but who cares?

Muppets: We do!

DTOTF: You guys don't count!

BLA: Anyway, we hope you liked it. The reason we said that Jim Henson died of a heart attack was because when 'we' asked 'our' mother if he was still alive, she said he died back in 1990 of a heart attack.

SxRF: However, wikipedia said that it was by some type of a toxic syndrome(nuuuuuuue! A big word!).

MoK: Either way, the Muppets shall be forever sad on the day of May 16. Yes, we even made Kermit, Rowlf, and Dr. Teeth, especially the keyboardist, all emotional. After all, they've known him the longest.