Marvel Mayhem

Chapter Six: The Missing Link

          In her nervous pacing around the Muppet Theater's backstage area, Victoria glanced at the clock that hung on the wall above Kermit's desk more times than she allowed the big hand to move before glancing again. Genevieve was gone for five straight hours, leaving Victoria to deal with the possible suspicions that had developed on the disappearance of her friend and fellow reincarnation. Four times in the last five hours Victoria had been asked where Genevieve was; the response Genevieve instructed her to give was "She's out running errands." Some residents had followed up with questions about what type of "errands" Genevieve had been running; for this, Victoria was forced to improvise a reply – she was not instructed on how to answer these questions.

            She gave twelve various types of errands to each question, some of which she even questioned herself over the plausibility. The anxiety started to become too much for her to handle. She found herself wishing that she were back at her lowly cabin back in the Disneyverse, living the perfect life of solitude, away from all the stress.  

            "Victoria?"  

            "She's running errands!"  

            The response had been programmed into her brain. She was so jumpy over Genevieve's absence and all the interrogations that came with it that she snapped at the one person who showed her an ounce of kindness and respect that she so desperately wanted to have most days at the theater.  

            Standing in front of her that moment was a startled Sean Thomas with an equally alarmed Walter by his side. "Is everything okay?"  

            Victoria took a deep breath and relaxed. "I'm fine. Sorry. Was there anything you needed?"  

            "Just your help in bringing down a trunk full of costumes from the attic." Sean said. "It'll only take a sec."  

            Victoria smiled in relief. "Certainly."  

---------------  

            Victoria followed the man and the Muppet up to the hot, stuffy area via a winding wooden stairwell. Upon entering, Walter could not pass on having a "geek out" moment with all the props and other memorabilia from the various skits done in the history of The Muppet Show. "Oh, man! Is that the Swinetrek model from 'Pigs in Space?' And the rubber tire Gonzo attempted to eat to the tune of 'The Flight of the Bumblebee' – with his bite marks still on it?"  

            "Walter, could you maybe chill for a while, buddy?" Sean respectfully urged. "The sooner we find the costume trunk, the sooner you can come back up here to check out the relics."  

            While Walter giggled like a giddy child, Victoria coughed and gagged a few times. "Ugh. Stinks up here."  

            Sean sniffled. "How can you smell anything from all of the sinus-clogging dust?"  

            Victoria coughed again. "That's what I mean. I'm allergic to the stuff."  

            In his search for the trunk, Sean took a moment to glance at her in surprise. "Really? So am I?" He chuckled at the coincidence. "Small world, eh?"  

            Victoria smirked and muttered, "Not quite as small as you'd think."  

            "Say what?"  

            "Nothing."  

            The three searchers moved aside several articles of clothing and props, hoping to see a trunk beneath them. Four minutes of searching had passed until Walter managed to find their target item between a folding screen and a small black spotlight. "Here it is," he alerted Sean and Victoria, who immediately joined up with him as he stood in front of the wide and large decades-old brown trunk.