Chapter Five
A lot of the Sesame Street residents gathered by Hooper’s Store as Mac shared his discovery with everyone else, including Oscar the Grouch, who seemed to have been packing his bags at the moment for a trip he was taking to Gotham City with Count von Count. Everyone was so intrigued by Mac’s discovery they helped him in his research, using every bit of knowledge that they had concerning astronomy or Krypton. Even Goo offered to help the group.
“I’d always known that Superman wasn’t the only survivor of his home planet of Krypton; though I wouldn’t expect that Kryptonians could create their own planet like they are now.” Goo rapidly said. “But if Superman and his Kryptonian family has the power to create new planets, does that mean we can create planets of our own, too?”
“Oh, will you clam it?!?!” exclaimed Oscar. “You’re wastin’ your time, if ya ask me!”
“Oscar, it’s important that we find out more about this planet.” Maria stated.
“Yeah, Oscar.” Big Bird said. “Don’t you want to know where Superman is?”
“You already know the answer to that one, turkey.” Oscar remarked. “Wherever the old boy scout went is none of my business or any of yours for that matter!”
“Hey, what’s your problem anyway, Meyer?” Bloo asked, and Oscar always got even grouchier when Bloo messed up his name. If there was anyone on Sesame Street that annoyed him more, it was most definitely Bloo.
“The name’s Oscar, ya walkin’ blanket!” He yelled. “And my problem is that while everyone else in Metropolis has learned to forget about the so-called Man of Steel, you guys keep talking about him like he’s still here.”
“Well, that’s because he is still here, Oscar.” Big Bird said. “He’s in our hearts, just like Mr. Looper.”
“Coco. Coco. Coco. Coco.” Coco corrected Big Bird.
“Oh, yeah...Mr. Hooper.” Big Bird said.
“Well, there’s a big difference between the two, bird-brain!” Oscar exclaimed. “He’s gone, I tell ya! And he ain’t ever comin’ back!” The others wanted to think that Oscar was wrong in what he was saying, but it frightened them to realize the truth. It was silent for a while, as the Count had arrived at the scene.
“I cannot vait ‘til ve go back to Gotham City!” Count said, with a chuckle. “So many buildings vith so many floors that I vould just love to count all the day long!”
“You’re not countin’ nothin’ as long as I’m there with ya.” Oscar said. “You don’t want to stir up another mess similar to one we got involved in during our last trip, do ya?”
“Of course not.” Count said. “But if I cannot count vhile ve’re on the trip, then I’ll just pay a visit to my friend, Bruce Wayne.” When the others heard Count mention a friendship that he had with Bruce Wayne, their minds had gone off of Superman for a brief moment and focused on Count—Mr. Herriman seemed to be the one that was most interested.
“I do say, Master Count, you know Bruce Wayne? One of the most brilliant and sophisticated gentlemen in that dreadful excuse of a city known as Gotham?” Herriman asked, and Count smiled brightly.
“Yes.” Count replied. “I find his admiration of bats most intriguing of all his characteristics.”
“What I don’t get is why he never shows a bit of interest over the Batman, whenever people start talking about him.” Oscar said. “Now there’s a real hero…the Batman! Never smiles, never asks anyone how there day is doin’, and he always keeps to himself!”
“Yeah, that sounds a lot like someone we know.” Mac said, glaring at Oscar.
“And the Batman never leaves his fans wonderin’ where he’s gone.” Oscar said, and that comment from the grouch left Mac wondering if the studying that he had his friends doing for him really was all just a waste of time. “Well, Count, we better get to Gotham before sunrise.”
“Uh, don’t you mean before sundown, Oscar?” Luis asked, while indicating the sun that was setting in the sky.
“Gotham is usually at its grouchiest at night.” Oscar told Luis.
“Well, we hope you guys have fun in Gotham…if you can.” Gordon said.
“Fun?” Oscar said. “In Gotham, we’re gonna be havin’ a blast!” And with that, Oscar and Count hopped into his beat-up car and drove away from the neighborhood, leaving a trail of nasty, black smoke coming out from the exhaust pipe. The others coughed as the smoke billowed their way; and when it cleared, the Sloppy Jalopy had disappeared and the Foster’s bus had appeared, along with a small yellow Volkswagen that was driven by Bob. Mac reacted to their arrival in surprise.
“Frankie, Bert, Ernie, and Bob are back from the Daily Planet!” Mac exclaimed, turning to the others with a cautious look. “Now, remember…you can’t tell Bert, Ernie, and Bob about what we’ve learned today.”
“Why can’t we let them in on our discovery?” Fred asked him.
“Si.” Eduardo said. “Senorita Frankie, Senor Bert, Senor Ernie, and Senor Bob are a part of our barrio just like everybody else.”
“Because if we tell them, then they’ll have no choice but to tell all of Metropolis and the rest of the world as well, since it’s their duty as reporters to do so.” Mac said. “I don’t think any of us are ready to let the world in on our discovery. So, everybody please keep a lid on things. You got that…Bloo?” Mac looked towards Bloo with suspicious eyes, which offended Bloo a little.
“Oh, please, Mac.” He said. “Ya think I’m gonna be a clumsy ox and just blabber about the whole thing in front of them for no reason? You really think I’m that weak?” Mac just looked at Bloo for a long moment, with his arms crossed and still looking at Bloo suspiciously. Bloo sighed, rolling his eyes in annoyance. “I won’t tell Frankie, Bert, or Bob about the new planet, okay?”
“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Mac asked.
“Oh, come onnnn!!!” Bloo exclaimed. “Like Ernie would ever accidentally tell someone a big secret like that.”
“A big secret like what?” Someone asked, and they all turned their heads to see the four approaching characters. Mac began to get a little nervous.
“That…uh…you guys are now reporters for the best Metropolitan newspaper in the world!” Maria exclaimed, and they all applauded Bert, Ernie, and Frankie; but they soon stopped once Bob stepped up and raised his hands up to them.
“Well, at least two of them were able to get in.” Bob said, and once they all noticed the disappointed and angered look on Frankie’s face.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Mac said. “Frankie knows just about everything there is about journalism, even more than I do.”
“You wanna know why they didn’t accept my application, Mac?” Frankie said, trying desperately not to blow up in front of her friends. “Because they don’t believe someone who works at an adoption company for made-up characters would qualify for a position at a big newspaper business, where you work with real people.”
“What?!” Everyone yelled, offended and surprised all at the same time.
“I’m sorry, but that’s just discrimination at its worst right there!” Wilt remarked.
“Mr. White is very strict about the people who are either working or want to work for the Daily Planet.” Bob said.
“Looks like I’m stuck just doing fifty thousands chores at the mansion.” Frankie uttered, just as Mr. Herriman hopped up next to her and placed a paw over her shoulder for comfort.
“There, there, Miss Francis.” He said, sincerely. “You’ll only have twenty chores to do this week.” Frankie glared at Herriman, wanting so desperately to punch the imaginary rabbit right in the face but kept herself from doing so.
“Thanks, Mr. H.” She said, sarcastically.
“Gosh, Frankie.” Fred said. “That’s really terrible.”
“Yeah, it’s a real bummer, Frankie.” Bloo agreed. “Too bad Mac’s keeping us from telling you guys about the new Kryptonian planet that’s forming in our solar system, otherwise you could get this all off your mind.” The eyes of everyone around Bloo had quickly focused on him. While Frankie, Ernie, Bert, and Bob were looking at him in surprise, everyone else was giving him looks that were dirtier than what Oscar could give.
“New planet?” Bert said.
“Forming in our solar system?” Ernie said.
“And it’s Kryptonian?” Bob queried. Bloo, not realizing that he broke his word about keeping the secret, began telling the four all about it.
“Mac found these really old notes in the Metropolis observatory, just a few weeks ago.” Bloo said. “And these notes contain information about a planet that’s been forming in our galaxy. So, Mac comes across this crystal that has all of this weird writing on it. And Velma tells us that it’s Kryptonian and the new planet could possibly be where Superman is now. Cool, huh?” The area had gotten deathly quiet.
“Man, and I thought I talked too much.” Goo uttered, just before Frankie started snickering and then chuckling. And once that chuckling turned into uncontrollable screams of laughter, everyone just stared at her, like she had gone completely insane.
“Uh, Frankie?” Mac said. “Are you…?”
“Mad?!” Frankie shouted, and that’s when she stopped laughing and gave Mac a furious look. “Yes, Mac. I’m mad because you hid some information from me that was so valuable that I could doing a story right now on the whereabouts of Superman!!! You are so unbelievable, Mac! We keep your best and only imaginary friend from getting adopted, so long as you can come every day with your little happy attitude!! I mean…what do you want from us, kid?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?!” Mac had felt like crying; but he was more angry than sad.
“I only wanted to make everyone happy,” Mac said, “But that might as well be impossible! This city has lost so much respect that we think more about ourselves than we do each other! I only kept this secret from you, Frankie, because I felt like I needed more time to study up on things, just so you could have a solid story for the Planet.”
“Well, there’s isn’t going to be a story now, seeing as how I’m not going to be a reporter!” Frankie snapped.
“It isn’t Mac’s fault, Frankie.” Velma uttered. “He was only thinking about what was right for everyone.” Mac looked down at his feet and sighed; his anger was starting to decrease.
“None of this is right, Velma.” Mac said. “I should’ve never discovered this stupid planet.”
“Stupid?!” Daphne exclaimed in surprise. “But, Mac, this is where Superman could probably be right now; you said that yourself.”
“It’s a waste of time, Daphne!” Mac yelled, his anger returning. “Oscar was right! Superman ditched us for no reason at all, and he’s never going to come back!” Everyone, including Frankie (who was starting to feel bad about screaming at Mac), was shocked to hear those words come out of the child’s mouth.
“You…You don’t really mean that, cousin.” Velma said.
“Yeah, Mac.” Bloo said. “What about the new planet? We could make a fortune with this kind of information, man!”
“Forget about it!!!” Mac shouted. “I don’t ever want to hear about it again! In fact, everyone just leave me alone!!!” With that being said, Mac ran away from his friends. It was at that moment when Frankie had really felt disappointed with herself for hurting Mac’s feelings.
“Oh, man. What’ve I done?” Frankie murmured, just before she started chasing after Mac, calling out his name as she entered a section of the neighborhood that had become very dark, with the sun now gone. Due to the dark atmosphere, she accidentally bumped into a few trashcans, and she couldn’t tell if she was walking down a sidewalk or walking into a pitch-black alleyway. But, luckily, a streetlight had kicked on just in time, helping her see that she was still on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, she also saw a gagged and tied-up Mac, as he was lying down on the ground and moaning with fear. An ice cold hand went over her mouth; and the last thing she had seen was a trench-coated figure approaching Mac, as their kidnappers blindfolded her.
END OF CHAPTER FIVE