*I decided to put songs in each chapter because some of them fit the chapters I'm writing. This one is called "One Less Problem" by Rixton. I know, the irony of the chapters. There's another song called "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift. This is published on March 22, 2021. If you like this chapter, do not be afraid to vote and spam the comment section. That would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!*

"So, you guys are doing a musical?" Nancy, the other white mouse in a blue dress, questioned after the group picked her up and Mike explained everything to her in Johnny's truck.

Meena felt a bit cramped in the black truck while sitting at the back between Rosita and Gunter. Ash was sitting at the passenger side with Johnny driving the truck. Mike and his lover, Nancy, were both on the dash.

Mike nodded his head in confirmation with a heavy sigh. "Yeah, they could've just picked something better--"

"Oh my gosh, I love musicals!" Nancy replied excitedly. "I would love to help you guys with the script!"

"Oh, Nancy, you're so sweet but--"

"I've seen a bunch of musicals to the point where I know a lot about them," Nancy claimed, interrupting Ash. "I think I could help bounce a few ideas."

"That will be great," Rosita responded happily.

When they arrived at Ash's house, they noticed Lance at the front door. Johnny parked his pick-up right on the curb in front of Ash's house.

Mike arched a brow. "Who's this prickly cactus?"

Nancy nudged him in the shoulder to give him a scolding look.

"Ugh, my ex," Ash groaned irritably.

"That's the ex who cheated on you?!" Rosita gasped in shock.

"That total super jerk Dingle splat!" Gunter growled aggressively.

"Wait, he cheated on you?" Mike turned to Ash with a brow raised.

"Yes," Ash answered with an irritable groan.

"That doesn't sound good," Meena uttered while shaking a bit.

"What do we do?" Nancy asked in concern.

"I'm going to strangle him," Johnny responded with a growl.

"No, we need to come up with something non-violent. Something peaceful like talking--"

"Both Johnny and I had told him to go away plenty of times. He wouldn't leave," Ash interrupted Rosita's suggestion.

"I know a gang who will take good care of that cheater," Mike suggested with a mischievous grin.

Rosita sighed heavily. "Violence is not the answer. We need to call the cops if this becomes a problem."

"Or...we can deal with him ourselves!" Gunter interpreted. "I'll hold him while you punch him, Johnny!"

Rosita groaned deeply while shaking her head in discouragement.

"I like the idea, Gunter...but won't the quills hurt--?"

"This little piggy can withstand pain!" Gunter responded.

"Come on, guys, this is not how we should respond," Rosita cautioned her group.

"Hey, I'm not letting him harass Ash and manhandle her again. You guys stay here," Johnny commanded while getting out of the car.

The group watched with tension in their eyes while Johnny strode over to Lance.

"Did Johnny just say Lance manhandled her?" Rosita asked while getting a bit angry all of the sudden.

"Ya, that's what I heard!" Gunter answered while everyone looked at Ash to see if she's okay.

Ash chuckled nervously. "Yeah, Johnny stepped in and saved me."

She said this with a blush while the group saw that.

"He manhandled Ash?" Rosita repeated while showing a bit of anger.

"Yes, did you not listen?" Mike responded while looking at the mother pig.

"Okay...Johnny has my permission to punch him," Rosita growled while Meena, Gunter, and Rosita looked out of the back window on the driver's side.

Mike leaned over to Nancy and whispered, "This is the pig that just said violence is not an answer."

"Well, manhandling someone is a serious crime," Nancy responded in a whisper. "It's also violence. But we'll talk more about it later."

~.~

Johnny had enough with this stupid porcupine's persistence after Ash. Ash seriously didn't deserve this and for her ex-boyfriend to now want her back after the performance. This was harassment and he's going to make sure Lance will never come back.

He loomed over behind Lance while Lance groaned irritably.

"You stupid ape, I--"

Johnny threw a punch at Lance's face, knocking him down on the ground, earning widened eyes from his group.

"Ooh," the group crooned simultaneously.

"Do it again!" Mike encouraged from the truck with a big grin on his face.

Johnny growled. "You didn't take my threat very seriously, Lance. Get out of here and don't ever bother Ash again. If you do--" Johnny clenched his fist tighter, scaring the porcupine. "--it'll be ten times worst than a punch in the face."

"Y-You punched me," Lance uttered in shock.

Johnny narrowed his brows further while grabbing the collar of the scared porcupine's shirt, ready to throw another fist. "Are we clear, Lance?"

Lance nodded fearfully. "Y-Yeah...Yeah."

Johnny snarled and let go of his shirt. "Good. Now, beat it."

Lance ran off into another direction while Johnny turned back at his group in his black truck, noticing their shocked and surprised faces.

"It's safe to come out!" Johnny called while the others slowly got out of the car.

The group approached the gorilla slowly while surprised at his actions.

"Well, looks like you scared the wits out of him. Remind me to not get on your bad side," Gunter replied while smiling ecstatically.

Johnny chuckled. "Yeah, Dad taught me how to intimidate people."

"Well, looks like your father is a good teacher," Nancy responded with a soft smile.

"Thanks."

Ash approached the door with a soft smile at Johnny, earning a small blush from the gorilla as Ash unlocked the door and entered her cottage with the others following her in.

The group saw this exchange but they decided to keep their mouths shut about it as they followed Ash.

Mike climbed up on Johnny's shoulder with a proud smile. "You got my respects, Johnny!"

Johnny snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at Mike on his shoulder. He didn't expect to get praise from an arrogant mouse who was just as self-absorbed as everyone else.

"Uh...thanks, Mike," Johnny stated while arching a brow at the white mouse.

Mike nodded his head and slid off of the gorilla to proceed into the cottage.

Johnny entered after everyone else and shut the door.

~.~

Buster kept going through his files in his office, trying to find some useful information about his father's past actions but so far...the records seemed splendid. Almost like his slate was as clean as everyone else's. Then...why did that cheetah say that his father killed hers? Maybe it's just a figure of speech or maybe his father's records were just the surface of his father's characteristics.

Okay, okay, what does he know about his father?

Well, his father was worked hard every day at the car wash just so that he could own this theater. He doesn't know much about his mother...his mother...she's never in the picture in his life. Buster became curious and searched through the files about his mother.

Buster scratched his head while sighing heavily and leaned back against the desk.

Eddie knocked on the office door with his polar bear bodyguards watching his back. "Uh...hey, buddy."

Buster looked to see Eddie coming with coffee for both him and Buster. He offered up a weak smile. "Hey, Eddie, what's up?"

"Well, you looked tired this morning so...here's coffee," Eddie offered to his friend.

"Thanks." Buster grabbed the coffee out of Eddie's hoof and took a sip.

"I added caffeine because I know how much you need it."

Buster gasped delightfully from drinking so much coffee at once. "You know me so well."

Eddie sat in front of Buster's desk. "So, how's it coming? I mean...the musical."

"Well, I told Johnny and Ash about it and I'm hundred percent sure that they told the others. Crap! I forgot to make a script! We're going to pitch scripts by tomorrow!"

"Whoa, hey, Buster, relax. Are you sure you should be worried about a musical when there's a literal cheetah trying to get you to give up the theater?"

"I know, I know. I've been looking through my files about Dad but there's nothing wrong with him and I couldn't find any files on my mother," Buster groaned. "Ms. Crawley!"

"Yes, Mr. Moon," Ms. Crawley, the lizard lady, entered the room.

"I'm going to need your help writing the script for the musical," Buster determined.

"Right away, Mr. Moon." Ms. Crawley headed out of the office.

Eddie arched a brow. "Do you remember anything about your mother?"

Buster sighed heavily. "No...Not a thing. All I remember was my Dad. That's all I remembered. I mean, my dad takes me to plays and musicals...operas even. And I love it. I love it so much."

Eddie smiled softly at his friend. "That must have been good memories."

"Yes, and I'm determined to keep it that way. This cheetah has no idea about my love for theater," Buster responded while looking at the picture of just him and his father.

"Excuse me, I got to get through," they heard a meek girl's voice as they glanced up to notice a snow leopard trying to go through the bodyguards.

"Hey, let her through," Eddie demanded the guards as they did what they were told, letting the snow leopard in. The snow leopard was skinny with a bright blue sweater and short shorts that went down to her thighs. She had cute round ears that were bigger than the average snow leopards with orange eyes glistening in the room.

"Which one of you is Buster Moon?" the snow leopard girl asked urgently.

"Uh...I am," Buster answered while raising a brow. "What can I do for you?"

The snow leopard stared at him, eyes trembling and speechless, which concerned both the sheep and the koala.

"Can I help you?" Buster asked again, arching a brow.

The snow leopard snapped out of it. "Buster?"

"Yes?"

The snow leopard was about to say something until she frowned. "I know that you don't remember me."

Eddie looked at Buster then back at the snow leopard girl, watching the scene unfold tensely.

"Uh...yeah, I really don't. I'm sorry, I don't recall."

"Milla," the snow leopard girl introduced.

Buster thought for a moment. "I'm sorry...it doesn't ring any bells."

Buster continued to write with his pencil on the script for the musical.

Milla stood there, breathing in and out heavily. "We have the same dad."

Buster's pencil broke instantly after he heard that. The koala slowly turned back to Milla, arching a brow. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I'm your sister, Buster. I'm Milla Moon," Milla explained while Buster had his eyes widened in pure shock.

Eddie had his jaw agape in pure shock.

Eddie's bodyguards broadened their eyes comically with silent gasps as if they had listened into the conversation.

Ms. Crawley entered the office, blissfully unaware of what's going on. "So, need help with the script Mr. Moon?"

~.~

Another idea was thrown into the trash that was filled with scrapped ideas crumbled up in Ash's cottage.

"Okay, okay, how about this?" Mike announced to the group while the others had their pencils on paper for ideas. The white mouse stood on the piano to get everyone's attention. "We make a play about an animal turning into a werewolf!--"

"Aren't we copying The Beauty and the Werewolf?" Nancy questioned her boyfriend.

"Nah! It'll be ten times better than the movie!" Mike assured her.

"Let's be more creative," Rosita suggested as she tapped on her paper with her eraser end of the pencil. "Ooh, how about a play about the daily lives of people?"

"That sounds incredibly boring," Mike groaned a bit.

"Well, I agree with Mike. Let's come up with something better," Johnny thought while laying on the floor.

Ash laid on the floor next to Johnny, thinking. "Well, how about a nonsensical musical about people?"

"Ugh, like Cats?" Mike questioned while leaning his head on the piano. "That's the three hours of theater I wish I can take back."

"No, no, I think we oughta do a musical about superheroes struggling with superpowers," Gunter suggested from the couch.

"That didn't seem like a bad idea...although, how are we going to use the effects of having powers?" Nancy questioned Gunter.

Johnny pondered about it. "No. No. Hold on."

The gorilla got up from the floor while opening up the piano in front of Mike.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked.

Johnny played a couple of notes and then stopped. "Hmm, maybe a song can help us come up with the plot."

Nancy raised her brow. "How's that going to help?"

"Hold on," Johnny played the notes while playing a couple more notes.

"Look, Johnny boy, we appreciate the spirit but--"

"Wait, I know a song that could fit the play well...maybe we should make that a plot," Johnny replied excitedly.

"What's the idea?" Nancy asked.

Johnny sat with his group while Ash sat up to look at him. "What if we could make a play about gangsters?!"

"With superpowers!" Gunter determined with a bright smile.

Meena watched the group while slowly inserting herself into the conversation. "I think we should include some romance with the main characters of the musical."

"That's a great idea, Meena. Give the show more emotion!" Rosita cheered with a bright happy smile.

"Ya! There we go! Do a Romeo and Juliet style! With gangers and superpowers!" Gunter said with a laugh.

"Okay, let's just exclude the superpowers," Mike remarked. "Gangsters is not a bad idea...and romance is a little meh...but I can go with that."

"That is perfect!" Nancy responded while clapping her hands cheerfully.

"Now...the script...the dialogue...what music should we even use?" Meena uttered to the group while everyone began to think.

"Well...I wrote this song but I don't know if it'll fit," Ash replied while everyone glanced at her.

"Ooh, what song?" Gunter asked excitedly.

"Well, here," Ash brought out her guitar and cleared her throat to sing.

"Putting my defenses up.

Cause, I don't want to fall in love.

If I ever did that, I'd have a heart attack!"

Ash began to strum the chords while continuing to sing to her group.

"Never put my love out on the line.

Never said 'Yes' to the right guy.

Never had trouble getting what I want.

But when it comes to you, I'm never good enough!"

Ash messed up on the note as she cursed underneath her breath and looked up to the group.

"Oh my gosh, Ash! That's perfect!" Johnny pointed. "We could use this song in the play!"

"Great! Now we need more!" Mike determined to his group.

~.~

Meanwhile, there's an awkward pause in Buster's office as he found out just now that Milla, the snow leopard with koala ears, was, in fact, his sister. Eddie darted his shocked gaze between them while slowly getting up.

"Should I give you two some privacy--?"

"No...please stay, Eddie," Buster responded quickly, causing the sheep to sit down again.

Milla stood there nervously while hoping that Buster wasn't going to faint.

"You're my sister?!" Buster shouted at Milla.

"Yes...two years older than you," Milla informed sweetly.

"Wait...how come--what?" Buster uttered his disbelief. "Do we even have the same mother?"

"No...sadly...we have different mothers...um...yeah," Milla responded awkwardly.

Buster leaned back against his seat while blinking incredulously. "Everybody...out of the office...please."

Ms. Crawley frowned but she obediently exited out of the office.

"O-Okay," Eddie responded while Milla was frozen in place.

"Buster--"

"J-Just go. Please. I need time to think," Buster growled but not intentionally at Milla.

Milla nodded her head while Eddie helped escort her out with the guards by his side, leaving Buster alone to think.

Buster breathed heavily while looking at the picture of him and his father. "Please, tell me that it isn't true. Please."

Of course, a photo of him and his father wouldn't respond to his plea. Buster groaned heavily while slamming his head against the desk.

"Your father ain't no saint."

Buster sighed heavily while looking up at the ceiling. "What else are you keeping from me, Dad?"

~.~

Eddie guided Milla out of the theater with his bodyguards following them.

"Give him some time. He'll come around," Eddie reassured Milla, whose face read as if she's afraid that she upset her brother.

"I looked all over the world for him...I mean...heck, my mother never told me that I had a baby brother," Milla uttered shyly.

"How did you find out?" Eddie asked with a brow raised.

"I looked through the records because I was made fun of for my big ears," Milla pointed at her koala ears.

"I think you look cute with those ears," Eddie complimented, which he immediately blushed.

"Thanks...um, we weren't properly introduced--"

"Oh, right. Um, the name's Eddie...Eddie Noodleman--"

"The grandson of Nana Noodleman?!" Milla gasped in shock.

"Uh, yeah--"

"Oh my gosh, I heard you got shot the other day. Are you okay?" Milla questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Had to have bodyguards for twenty-four hours," Eddie said with a shrug.

"You could've died," Milla responded worriedly.

"Eh...I was just shot in the stomach--"

"That is still scary."

"Only for a moment--"

"Wow...um, you're brave."

"Oh no, I-uh-I'm not brave...I was still going around the streets scared. Heck...most of the time, I don't get out of the house."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Milla blushed slightly. "Um...well, I hope you'll be okay in the streets."

"Don't worry, as long as I got these guys...I'll be fine."

Milla nodded her head. "Okay, I'll see you, Eddie."

"Uh...see you."

Milla walked away with Eddie watching her walk away with cheeks reddened.

"Are you hot, sir?" one of his bodyguards asked.

Eddie cleared his throat. "Eh...I'm fine. I'm fine. Guess we'll go home now."

~.~

Dream:

Buster was in the line for the theater. It was a long line but Buster happened to be the first in line. Without being asked for money, Buster was let into the theater without paying. Buster went upstairs and entered the balconies. Looking around the auditorium, he noticed his father sitting in the front row of the balcony, staring at the closed curtains.

Buster immediately strode next to his father. "Dad?"

Buster's father turned to him with a small smile. "There you are. The show is about to start."

Buster blinked while sitting next to his father. "Dad...what's going on?"

His father shushed him as the place was already filled with animals watching the show. The music began to play, getting Buster's attention. Buster was silent while the red curtains opened up.

There's Johnny on stage, playing on the piano with a strange costume on. He's wearing something white and shiny, blinding to the naked eye. Johnny began to narrate with an unusual smirk:

"There's once a boy.

A boy who grew up to become a man

A man who became broken.

A story of success and fame, a story of failure and heartbroken.

A singing competition is what saves this theater.

Through many crimes and allies, he got away with the clenches of judgment.

But how long will he keep running from his past?

How long will he keep repressing the trauma?"

Johnny pounded on the last deep note on the piano, causing smoke to puff up in the air. When the smoke cleared, Johnny was nowhere in sight.

Where did he go?

Everyone clapped, including his father, except Buster.

"Come on, Buster, it's a great show," his father uttered to his son.

Buster turned to his father with a stern gaze. "Why didn't you tell me about Milla?"

His father frowned. "Who's Milla?"

The music began to play to interrupt the two of them as the audience cheered.

When Buster looked to see Meena on stage in a pink glittering dress.

There's a castle cut-out that housed his younger self, intimated by the thunderstorms caused by the sound effects team. Then...Buster saw a woman koala up on stage with younger Buster, trying to comfort him.

Meena lent her beautiful angelic voice:

https://youtu.be/iMk_6hOXqlU

"I remembered tears streaming down your face when I said,

'I'll never let you go'.

When all those shadows almost killed your light.

I remembered you said, don't leave me alone.

But all that's dead and gone and past tonight.

Just close your eyes, the sun is going down.

You'll be alright. No one can hurt you now.

Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound."

Buster heard the booming sounds continued while noticing his mother comforting his younger self while lip-syncing along with Meena's words while she continued:

"Don't you dare look out your window, darling, everything is on fire.

The war outside our door keeps raging on.

Hold onto this lullaby.

Even when the music's gone...gone."

Buster saw Ash up on stage now while strumming the guitar and singing along with Meena:

"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down.

You'll be alright. No one can hurt you now.

Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound."

That's when the noises made crashing noises, causing Buster to cover his ears with tears streaming down on his face.

He glanced up to his father enjoying the show. "Dad! What happened to Mom?!"

Buster's father didn't respond, watching the theater.

"Dad, answer me! Please!" Buster screamed but he felt like his father couldn't hear him. "Dad! Please! Tell me what happened to Mom!"

His father didn't even look at him when he responded. "I'm proud of you, son. You put up a great performance."

"Dad! You're not even answering me!" Buster yelled for his father to hear but his father wasn't paying attention. "Stop ignoring me!"

Buster went to grab his father but, as soon as his hands touched his father's arm, his father became a skeleton in front of him. Buster gasped while watching this with horror. When he looked out into the auditorium, everyone in the room became a pile of bones; including his friends.

Buster watched this with terror in his blue eyes. "No. No."

He heard a whirling sound, as he looked up at the ceiling, seeing something crashed through the rooftop and blowing up the theater he was in.

~.~

Reality:

Buster woke up screaming in terror, sitting upright on his drawer bed and breathing heavily. Buster soon realized that he's in the office of his theater, safe and sound from whatever those things were outside. He felt tears stinging his eyes while wiping them away and sniffling.

He covered his eyes, sobbing a bit quietly. He didn't know why but he felt like he needed to let it out. Someone prompted the door open, causing Buster to look at Ms. Crawly, entering the room with scripts.

"I wrote a dozen scripts last night in case you need to bounce off ideas," Ms. Crawly replied.

Buster wiped his tears away while clearing his throat. "Thank you, Ms. Crawly."

Ms. Crawly noticed some tears escaping from his eyes. "Are you okay, sir?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Ms. Crawly. Thank you," Buster responded while the old lizard woman slowly exited out of the office.

Meanwhile, Eddie arrived at the theater, with the bodyguards walking with him and coffee in his hands. When Eddie and the polar bears went inside the theater, they noticed the theater is empty. Eddie arched a brow while he saw Ms. Crawly greeting him.

"Hey, Ms. Crawly. What's up?" Eddie greeted the lizard lady with a glass eye.

"I think Buster needs you," Ms. Crawly suggested.

"Why do you think that?"

"He's...a bit emotional."

Eddie pondered for a second while nodding. "Okay, I'll check on him."

"Thank you, Eddie."

Eddie walked through the auditorium while the polar bears were following him.

They went up to the office while Eddie heard someone sobbing.

"Stay out there," Eddie told the bodyguards as they did as they were told. Eddie entered the office with a knock. "Hey, buddy. I brought you some coffee--"

His sentence was interrupted when he saw Buster crying.

"Buster?"

Buster quickly glanced up at Eddie, his eyes red and puffy from crying. He faked a smile while wiping the tears away.

"Hey, Eddie," Buster said with a croaked voice, hiding his emotions.

Eddie looked at him softly. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Pretend you're not crying...is everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Buster responded while clearing his throat, suppressing his emotions.

Eddie put the coffees down. "Are you sure that everything is okay?"

"Of course, I am," Buster responded while wiping his face more to get rid of the evidence that he's been crying. Before Buster could further justify the hidden emotion, Eddie wrapped him in a warm embrace.

Buster slowly hugged him back, as tears rolled off of his eyes. Eddie could feel the tears on his shoulders while patting Buster softly on the back.

"It's okay, buddy, let it out," Eddie soothed while Buster just broke down and held him tight.

Buster and Eddie shared a moment where Eddie listened to Buster crying on his shoulder. Hearing all this made him more heartbroken. He didn't want to end the moment too soon and neither did Buster. But eventually, they both broke apart while Buster wiped the tears away.

"Feeling better?" Eddie asked softly with a gentle smile.

Buster genuinely laughed a bit. "Yeah, a bit better."

Eddie nodded his head in approval. "Good. Do you want to tell me what happened that got you so emotional?"

Buster cleared his throat while his tears were dried. "It's just a stupid nightmare."

"A nightmare caused you to be emotional?"

"Well...yeah, a little."

Eddie rolled his eyes to notice his friend was downplaying his emotions again. "It didn't seem like a little."

Buster sighed heavily while silence filled in the room.

"Hey," Eddie called to get Buster's attention. "I'm no stranger. You can tell me anything. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah...yeah...but...you might not understand because...I don't understand myself."

"Okay," Eddie uttered while scooting up on the chair he's sitting in.

Buster cleared his throat. "I had a dream about my mom and my dad...I was with Dad in the theater and we're watching a performance...and-and Johnny was there, playing the piano. Then Meena and Ash sang this really familiar lullaby. I don't know how to put it into words but...the next thing I know is...I saw me as a kid on stage with my mother comforting me...lip-syncing every word Ash and Meena sang."

"That's kind of creepy...but sweet."

"That's not the worst part...there were these loud booming sounds and...my dad didn't acknowledge me until I touched but when I touched him, he turned into bones...and then...and then everyone turned into bones. You, Meena, Johnny--"

"Okay, okay--"

"And then the theater blew up," Buster continued while trying not to get emotional again.

Eddie silenced himself while frowning a bit. "Well...that seems...terrifying. I can tell you one thing...it's just a dream. I mean, it's a bad dream and it's okay. It's not real...whatever that is. Okay?"

"I know...I am a fool for crying--"

"Oh no, you're not. You're petrified by that dream...I would be too if I was in your shoes. But...it's going to be okay. Okay?"

Buster breathed heavily while nodding his head. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. It's going to be okay."

"So...about the musical--"

"I got the scripts but...for some odd reason...Ash and Johnny are not here...I thought they would come in by this time."

"Should we check up on them in case something happened?"

"Sure."

~.~

Snores were heard throughout Ash's cottage with more scrapped ideas in the trash than last night. However, the group was able to come up with three scripts along with the music to go with it. Ash produced the notes with the help of Meena while Johnny and Mike came up with the lyrics. Gunter made plans of choreography for each musical number with the help of Rosita and Nancy.

They stayed up all night to come up with three scripts for the musical, causing the group to be paused out of exhaustion. Mike and Nancy were snuggling each other on the piano while Johnny slept on the floor with his leg on the stool of the piano while his arm was over his eyes. His arm was unknowingly wrapped around Ash, who faced him without stinging him with her quills. Gunter slept on the floor with Ash, Johnny, and Meena while Rosita slept on the couch.

Mike woke up with a yawn. He held his lover and placed her aside gently to not to wake her up. He stretched his arms with a bright smile while seeing the three scripts on the stool beside Johnny's foot.

I hope we didn't come up with something stupid. Mike doubted it but still, he didn't like to get too optimistic. He heard something clashed outside, causing the mouse to check outside on the window by the television. He moved the blinds to see and had his eyes widened in horror when he saw Lance spray-painting on Johnny's truck. However, he's not the only one there. Those bear gangs that would always pester both Mike and Nancy and chased after them were there, smashing the truck to bits.

"Son of a--" Mike quickly darted back to the piano by hopping on and off of the television and bounced onto the piano next to his lover. "Nancy, sweetheart, wake up."

Nancy moaned while looking up at him with heavy-lidded eyes. "What's going on?"

"Shh," Mike shushed her gently while looking around the cottage. "We need to get out of here."

"Why?" Nancy asked while yawning.

"The bear gang...they're here," Mike whispered to Nancy.

Nancy gasped in shock. "Oh no."

"Yeah, they were destroying Johnny's truck and Lance just spray-painted something...I don't know what. But we got to get out of here," Mike urged his lover.

"Wait, what about them?" Nancy questioned Mike.

"What about them? Babe, they're after us. I don't want to put them in the way--"

"I know, I know...but what if the bears hurt them either we ran off or we didn't? Didn't you indirectly destroyed the theater--"

"That's by pure accident. I was trying to get the money so that the bears wouldn't attack me and you didn't have to be involved--"

Nancy held Mike's hand. "But I want to be involved...I want to help you. If we just left our friends...who are we going to go to who's safe? Who's going to help us? You didn't let them in and you blindly destroy the theater without meaning to. Hon, if we just keep running...we'll never stop running unless we face the problem."

Mike sighed heavily. He knew his lover was right since they had been running for so long. Since Mike was almost eaten by the bear gang because he cheated them, Nancy had been having his back with the Ferrari car that he bought with the bear's money. With this thought in mind, Mike sighed again while nodding his head.

"You're right," Mike responded while picking up a scrap of paper. "Johnny boy! Wake up!" He threw the paper at the gorilla's head, causing him to moan.

"What are you doing?" Nancy whispered to Mike.

"I'm getting everybody up. You know what, I have something better," Mike pondered something while opening the piano case and jumped on the loudest lowest note to wake Johnny up. The gorilla gasped with eyes snapped open until he realized that his arm was around Ash.

With a light blush on his cheek, he slowly removed his hand away from her quills, getting quills all over his arm. He plucked them off and glanced up at Mike. "Ay, what was that for?!"

"Oh, great, you're awake, Johnny boy," Mike stated with a casual smirk. "Could you help us get everyone up..? We're going to be late for the pitch-meeting."

"Oh shoot! You're right," Johnny gasped again while waking Ash up. "Ash, Ash, wake up."

Ash moaned while looking up to see Johnny. "Hey, Johnny."

"We got to get up," Johnny replied while waking Meena up, who groaned. The gorilla woke the two pigs sleeping separately, which Rosita yawned with a soft smile.

"I never actually slept in before," Rosita commented while stretching her limbs. "Oh no, Norman! The kids!"

"I'm sure they'll be okay with few hours without you," Mike reassured her with a snark.

"It's been twenty-four hours!" Rosita shouted at Mike.

Mike laughed nervously. "I'd be surprised if your husband can survive with twenty-five kids for that long."

Rosita rolled her eyes while looking around the living room. "We got three scripts. We need to show them to Mr. Moon."

"Ya! This is going to be so awesome!" Gunter responded happily.

"Oh yeah, Johnny...um, to warn you in advance, um, your truck has been smashed to pieces and vandalized," Mike cautioned, earning a deadpan stare from Johnny.

"Are you serious?" Johnny questioned with a brow raised.

"Well, yeah...Lance was out there spray-painting it--"

"That's it, I'm going to kill him!" Johnny growled while getting out the pistol and placed it on his belt.

"Whoa, hey, Johnny-boy. I like your style but uh...there's also the bear gang that smashed your truck to pieces," Mike added. "Trust me, you don't want to mess with the bear gang."

"Wait, isn't that the gang that entered the theater and destroyed it in the process?" Rosita recalled.

"Yeah, you don't want to mess with these guys," Mike cautioned.

"Like you did?" Johnny remarked with crossed arms.

"Hey, it was one time I was caught cheating," Mike responded defensively. "I owe them money because of it."

"Well, what do we do?" Meena asked nervously.

Everyone began to ponder about what to do.

Johnny glanced at Mike. "How much money do you owe them?"

Mike pondered for a moment. "Uh...hmm. I did promise them a hundred thousand--which resulted in the theater getting destroyed."

"Are you still going to get them that money?" Johnny asked Mike.

Mike tilted his head. "Uh...I think so. They'd probably stop chasing us if we hand them the money."

Johnny cornered a tiny unsure frown. "I think I have a plan."

To Be Continued...