*HEY!! I'm back with the musical number in-store within the chapter! I think you all will love this. If you guys like this chapter, don't forget to vote and spam the comment section. Also, this is published on May 25, 2021. The song is called "The Room Where It Happens" by the Hamilton cast. You guys are amazing and wonderful! Enjoy!*

Flashback:

It's starting. The lights in the auditorium began to grow dim. The grand red curtain hid the stage well.

Young Chirea sat on her father's lap, her smile ecstatic while sitting up on the balcony, a row behind Arthur and his son, Buster.

The music began to play as the spotlight shined in the center of the stage. The curtains dispersed apart, revealing a set of a big fake rock with pink blossom leaves blowing towards the other side of the stage.

Then, an elegant familiar black sheep with a glittering black dress came out, climbing up on the rock like it was stairs holding it.

She sang in the most angelic voice that Chirea had ever heard.

"Once there was a way!

To get back homeward!

Once there was a way!

To get back home!

Sleep, pretty darling.

Do not cry.

And I will sing a lullaby."

Chirea smiled giddy as the play began but her green eyes would shift to see Buster on the edge of the balcony while Arthur Moon held him up to see the whole theater. The young cheetah saw that passion even though his back was turned to him. The way his baby blue eyes moved around, following the spotlight as if it's a guiding light while gasping in fascination.

Arthur passed little whispers to his son, rubbing his arms to calm him down while smiling at his son's fascination with the theater.

Chirea smiled mostly at the small koala as she glanced up at her father, seeing a bored look on his face. Or was it disappointment? It's probably both.

She continued to pay attention to the musical, with a smile on her face.

"Ek dink dit is 'n manier om mense bymekaar te bring," her father whispered to her in her native language.

Chirea glanced up at her father in shock but she didn't pay any more attention to her father's reactions.

~.~

Present:

Chirea sat in that very spot she remembered sitting in the theater in her younger years. The empty theater was never silent, even when there were no performers here. The wood creaked and crept as if there were people moving around through the theater. Chirea was not the one who would be spooked by a ghost, she'd seen too many of them. At first, she was terrified, eyes go wide in shock. But, the more blood was on her hands, the more the ghosts followed her through the streets. And...she wasn't scared of them. Haunted by them, sure. But not, terrified...not anymore.

Chirea sighed heavily while staring straight ahead of the theater with a tear escaping from her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Those words slipped out without a thought, the creaking stopped temporarily.

"I'm sorry for the pain I put your loved ones through," Chirea spoke in a mutter, eyes shifting back to the stage. She couldn't help but picture little Buster leaning over the edge of the balcony with Arthur Moon holding him in place so that he wouldn't fall off.

Chirea pulled out a detonator, taking deep heavy breaths. "The theater should've stayed in the rubble."

She placed the detonator underneath her seat as she got up and walked off, going downstairs until she saw a poster for a new musical coming up. Out of curiosity, she decided to take a detour and entered back into the auditorium. She made her way through backstage, up the stairs, and into Buster's office. It's completely empty without the ambitious koala pondering about everything. She sat on the reeky office chair, leaning back against it while looking around the room.

She spun the chair around and glanced up at all the posters that she didn't bother to look at before. It had every single play displayed up there, framed and protected with care. Then, she found something odd. She saw the two pictures that stood side by side. They're the same picture of opening the theater up except one had more people coming together than the old one. It's probably the picture of the theater reopening, Buster had more people to support him than his father and the old iguana.

Her eyes went wide a bit when she remembered the other day where Johnny had his gun, ready to shoot her. But Buster stopped him, which showed her that he's different than his own father. Chirea sighed heavily while looking at the new picture closer. Everyone was together, hugging each other while being trapped in the frame.

Chirea remembered about the apartment complex that the theater used to be. She searched through the cabinets under the pictures to find blueprints of the theater. Her eyes went wide when she saw the title.

"Bellows Estate".

Chirea pulled out that blueprint and noticed that this blueprint was not part of the theater at all. It's a new place that's near the theater...a rundown apartment that people were afraid to use. She glanced to the corner of the paper to see a small note.

"Will work on later."

Chirea blinked in surprise while rereading the title. The cheetah assassin didn't know what to think of this title.

Had Buster been working on this?

This...she had no idea.

~.~

Johnny taped the two pieces of the map together, fitting it together. It turned out that the map that he obtained from his mother's grave was a corner for the piece of the map that Darrell gave.

Eddie, Ms. Crawly, Milla, Leonard, Gunter, and Boba leaned forward a bit to be fascinated by the old map. Whoopi, Dareel, and TweetTweet were sober now, headaches ached a bit.

"Is this how we're going to find Nana?" Eddie asked the group.

Buster stood aside from Johnny, now wearing his white buttoned-up shirt and blue slacks. "That's what Johnny told us. They didn't go grave-digging for nothing."

Mike, now with his dry purple suit on, gave Buster a withering glare. "Why would we dig up a grave for nothing?"

Nancy nudged her boyfriend in the rib. "Not now, Mike."

Meena, the shy elephant with her signature blue sweater back, blocked the light with her head. "So, how many pieces are there exactly?"

Ash shrugged, who sat on her boyfriend's broad shoulder. "We don't really know ourselves."

Maya pinched her chin while pulling her hair back in a ponytail. "Are there any more riddles?"

Ms. Crawly tilted her head. "I can't see riddles."

"That's because it was written in invisible ink," Johnny explained to his piano teacher while trying to shine his UV light but it ran out of battery. "Bugger."

Boba gazed at the map. "Interesting." The ferret quickly searched through the kitchen cabinets as Rosita glanced up in concern.

"Mind if I borrow your stuff, Rosita?" Boba asked politely.

Rosita shrugged. "Um...sure."

Boba found a bag of lemons in the refrigerator as he took the bag out and placed it on the kitchen counter. He picked up one of the lemons and placed it on the cutting board that's clean. He searched through the lower cabinet to see a knife, pulling the sharp knife out. His finger felt the sharp edge of the knife with a feathery touch so that he wouldn't get a cut. The ferret began slicing the lemons into pieces.

"I'm going to need cotton swabs and a hairdryer," Boba requested.

"I'll go get them," Rosita responded while hurrying up the stairs.

Buster arched a brow. "Boba, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to find the riddle. It needs heat and a bit of lemon juice to reveal the riddle," Boba answered happily.

Whoopi, the hippo, had her hand on her hip. "How in the world do you know how to do this?"

Boba smiled proudly. "My mother is a cartographer. She knows how to handle maps and makes them for places other than Catalonia."

Rosita came back downstairs with a hairdryer and cotton swabs.

"Thank you, Rosita," Boba replied while taking out one of the cotton swabs and plugged in the hairdryer.

Boba swiped the cotton swab on the lemon to soak up the juice and gently swiped the map across the second piece of the map. Maya took out her notebook and pencil that she had in her pocket while watching Boba pick up the hairdryer and turned it on to blow on the paper. The heat made the words visible in front of the group, earning a quiet gasp in surprise.

Maya wrote the words down on the map, to which Buster peeked to see her beautiful handwriting.

"You have nice handwriting," Buster randomly complimented.

Maya blushed a bit while glancing at him. "Uh, thank you."

Buster scratched the back of his head. "Uh...no problem."

They glanced at the group, who gave them smug smirks.

"Uh...Maya...what did the words say?" Buster asked awkwardly.

Maya smiled a bit at the male koala and looked down at the notebook. She read it in a meek voice.

"Don't breathe in the chemicals.

The mind of an infected animal will play tricks.

Wood and smoke created the darkness.

Don't fear for the room where it happened."

Mike blinked incredulously. "Okay, that's like...five times harder than the last one."

"At least the last one gave us hints of where it is," Ash muttered to herself.

Johnny tilted his head. "Where can you go that will cause you to breathe in the chemicals?"

"And the room where it happened," Meena added.

"What happened in that room?" Leonard asked.

Mike chuckled. "Wanna bet that it's talking about Las Vegas?"

The group glared at the mouse.

"What? What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. That's the old saying," Mike pointed out to the group.

Milla had her orange eyes widened in realization. "Vegas street."

"What?" Eddie turned his head to see his girlfriend thinking.

Milla glanced at Mike. "Mike, you're a genius!"

"What?" Mike arched a brow in disbelief.

Milla turned to the group. "There's this place down on Vegas Street. A place where you can get easily lost without proper guidance."

"Like a maze?" Whoopi asked.

"Sort of but it's like in one room or something," Milla described while smiling in excitement.

"Where you inhale the chemicals and hallucinate stuff?" Dareel brought it up.

Milla smiled brighter. "Yes! It has both wood and smoke!"

Dareel nodded his head excitedly. "Yeah!"

"How did you guys know?" Rosita asked timidly.

Milla frowned a bit. "I've been there before...before Kobra and his family found me in the streets. You'd be trap in there for a few days until you can get out at least."

"Isn't that illegal?" Eddie asked while tilting his head.

Milla shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah...but it's only one room. So, you wouldn't get too lost."

"Let's go!" Buster encouraged the group.

~.~

On Vegas Street, Johnny, Ash, Milla, Buster, Eddie, and Mike. arrived at the wooden shack connected to the rundown hotel.

"This is it?" Buster pointed at the wooden shack.

"Yeah. I know this place well...just stay on my tail. And hold your breaths," Milla replied, inhaling a deep breath and held it.

The door was opened as everyone held their breaths. There's nothing but green smoke that lurked out of the wooden shack. The animals took a stride into the wooden shack with the doors closed behind them. Buster couldn't hold his breath for a long time while trying to stay on his sister's tail. However, there's uneven wood that caused him to stumble and exhale, breathing in the chemicals.

Buster gasped while covering his mouth, trying not to breathe any more of the chemical. He glanced around and realized he lost his group. He dropped his hand down, breathing heavily. He already inhaled the chemicals to see that it's not as bad as Milla and Dareel made it out to be.

"Guys?!" Buster called while shivering in the smoky room.

Out of nowhere, the trumpet sounds came out of nowhere, scaring the koala.

https://youtu.be/WySzEXKUSZw

"Ah, Mr. Moon."

Buster turned to see a tall familiar male cheetah approaching him.

"Ah, Chester Bellows."

Buster spun around to his adopted father, Arthur Moon, walking past him like he's a ghost.

"Did you hear the news about the old theater owner?" Chester, the male cheetah, ignited the conversation while the music played in the background.

Arthur pinched his chin. "No."

"You know, the good ole Tailor Longhorn?"

"Oh yeah."

"They named an apartment complex after him. The Longhorn legacy is now secured. And all he had to do is die."

Arthur smiled a bit at his friend's cynical point of view. "And that's a lot of less work."

Chester nudged on Arthur's arm with a tease. "We ought to give it a try."

Arthur laughed at Chester's joke.

"Now, since we both want the theater, what are the plans for Mr. Moon himself?"

Arthur glanced up at the cheetah. "I guess I'm gonna listen to you."

"Really?"

Arthur stood aside from the cheetah while singing.

"Talk less...learn more. Do whatever it takes to take care of my son."

Chester crossed his arms while smiling. "The bank is not going to hand over the theater that easily."

Arthur smirked. "Well, you know what's great about hitting rock bottom? There's only one way left to go and that's up."

The familiar llama entered the scene, with the door attached to the wooden shack Buster was in. "Moon, Bellows."

Arthur glanced up at Chester. "Guess our financial plans await."

Arthur and Chester entered the room with the bank teller, the door shut by a familiar mouse. It's Mike with a suit that half black and half white, with his white and black hat perched on his head.

Mike glanced at Buster as if he's telling the story through his beautiful singing voice.

"Two men and the bank teller walk into a room.

Diametrically opposed. Foes.

They emerge with an unstable financial plan.

A system that could be passed on to the one in charge of theater.

The animals grew more hostile because of their different opinions.

The bank was split between the two.

And here's the piece of resistance."

The beat dropped as Mike threw his hat off of his head and began to dance to the music while singing:

"No one else was in the room where it happened

The room where it happened

The room where it happened

No one else was in the room where it happened

The room where it happened

The room where it happened!"

Everyone that Buster knew in his entire life began to join in the dance, half of the people wore black dresses and suits while the other half of the people wore white dresses and suits. They were all placed on the spots like a game of chess as they began to dance in their separate sides.

The people joined Mike in singing:

"No one really knows how the game is played

The art of the trade

How the sausage gets made

We just assume that it happened

But no one else is in the room where it happened."

There's a break in the music as Mike took Buster by the hand and guided him on the chessboard.

Half of the people who wore black dresses and suits began to croon to the melody.

"Judith claims!"

The same brown-furred llama who Buster saw earlier came out to him, now wearing a black dress and black high heels.

"Mr. Moon is on my doorstep the other day in distress and disarray," Judith claimed, completely not talking about Buster.

Then, the other people in white dresses and white suits sang.

"Nana claims!"

Nana came out towards Buster in a beautiful white dress that would contrast her love of pink and purple dresses. "Mr. Moon begs for money, his tone pitiful and desperate. I felt nothing but pity for the man."

Everyone in the whole chessboard began to shout in singing tones.

"Kobra claims!"

The older snake came through the green smoke beside Judith with an eyepatch. "I approached Mr. Moon, willing to help. The inheritance was mine after all. I gave him the money to buy the theater for all his hard work on the car wash.

Everyone crooned again loudly.

"Tabitha claims!"

A female gorilla emerged from the darkness towards Buster. "Kobra's money didn't last long for the poor young koala. Serpent had his parent's inheritance and was sucking the souls of the poor people."

"But!" Mike interrupted while Buster shifted his gaze down at the mouse, who began to sing.

"No one else was in the room where it happened

The room where it happened

The room where it happened

No one else was in the room where it happened

The room where it happened

The room where it happened

No one really knows how the parties get to "Yes"

The pieces that are sacrificed in every game of chess

We just assume that it happened

But no else is in the room where it happened."

Everyone began to dance towards each other, moving as if they're playing a game of chess.

There's a brief break in the music as the animals danced in the spotlights.

Then, everyone began to croon quietly.

"Meanwhile."

Mike hopped on Buster's shoulder while singing and showing Chester sitting on the desk, breathing anxiously.

"Chester is grappling the fact

That he's losing into an inevitable duel between two friends."

Everyone jumped in with the one-word note.

"Meanwhile."

Mike turned Buster's attention towards Buster's younger self-studying hard with the fire burning right behind him. The snarky white mouse began to sing.

"You went off to college, leaving past trauma."

Screams and yells echoed around the koala, who covered his ear with heavy breaths.

Out of the corner of Buster's eyes, he saw Mike trying to make eye contact with a smug grin.

The mouse continued to sing with a chuckle.

"It isn't pretty.

Two opposing sides approach the duel.

One left dead and one left to suicide.

A therapist would say--"

On cue, Meena, the tenderhearted elephant, stepped away from her spot, her white dress glowing in the light like an angel in the dark.

She sang in a beautiful angelic voice.

"Maybe we should solve this problem with love.

And maybe we could be mentally stable.

In other words--"

Suddenly, Chester and Arthur appeared in front of the three animals, sitting around the green round table with Arthur standing on his chair.

Chester spoke first. "Ho ho, a quid pro quo."

Arthur shrugged. "I suppose. Wouldn't you want to fight someplace to home?"

Buster began to breathe heavily, tears running down his face while shaking his head.

Chester nodded his head. "Actually I would."

Arthur sighed deeply. "Well, I propose a will for our children."

Chester stared straight into Arthur's eyes. "Whoever wins this duel, gets the theater."

Arthur looked up at the male cheetah. "I guess we'll see where it goes."

"Let's go."

"No--!" Buster cried out for his dad.

However, the animals interrupted him, with Mike being the loudest singer in the next chorus.

"No one else was in the room where it happened

The room where it happened

The room where it happened

No one else was in the room where it happened

The room where it happened

The room where it happened."

Buster glanced around him as he's surrounded by dancing and singing animals, their clothes switching from black to white and white to black as they were tap-dancing on the chessboard.

"My God, In God We Trust

But we never really know what got discussed

Click boom! Then it happened

But no one else was in the room where it happened!"

There's a quick break as Buster saw his adopted father in the corner of the room, tying the hangman's noose.

Mike perched on his head while everyone shouting in their uplifting voices.

"Arthur Moon!"

Mike stood on Buster's head while gesturing towards Arthur and singing.

"Why did you fall from glory your son see you as?"

Every animal Buster ever knew surrounded Arthur, eyes focusing on the koala setting the rope up.

"Arthur Moon!"

Mike began to snap his fingers while sliding onto Buster's shoulder and hugging his cheek. He sang in a grim tone.

"Did your ghosts tell you to tie that rope?!

Was this all pressure from your angel of depression?!"

Every animal backed away, letting Chester come through the crowd as they sang.

"Arthur Moon!"

Chester began to sing in a deep voice.

"Did you know that it'll end this way? Does that mean your fight is meaningless?"

Arthur had his back on Chester while Chester turned his back on the koala. Surprisingly, Arthur began to sing sadly.

"My fight isn't meaningless. My son got what he wants."

"You took more than you gave," Chester spoke in a growl.

Arthur began to take a deep breath and sang to his friend as they stepped forward slowly.

"And I wanted what I got

When you got skin in the game, you stay in the game

But you don't get a win unless you play in the game

Oh, you get love for it

You get hate for it

But you get nothing if you wait!"

Chester and Arthur took steps forward, swiftly turned around, but Arthur shot the male cheetah first, earning a surprised gasp from the short harmless koala. His back was on the rope while looking at his hands in shock and his dead friend. That's when he began to cry and sing.

"God, help and forgive me for my sin!

I want my son to have something when I'm dead."

Arthur backed into the small closet as the rope wrapped around his neck, falling into the abyss below.

"Dad!" Buster cried with shock as everyone surrounded the koala.

The animals began to croon loudly.

"That's what Buster wants!

Isn't that what Buster wants?

Don't you ever consider what your own son wants?!"

Buster covered his head with tears in his eyes while hearing the animals shouting at him.

Then, unexpectedly, he began to sing, his voice shaky.

"I...I wanna be in the room where it happened.

The room where it happened

I wanna be in the room where it happened

The room where it happened."

Buster glanced to see Mike smiling with glee, encouraging him to sing more loudly while everyone began to join Buster in singing loudly.

"I wanna be in the room where it happened.

The room where it happened

I wanna be in the room where it happened

The room where it happened

Oh, I wanna be in the room where it happened.

The room where it happened

I wanna be in the room where it happened

The room where it happened

The room where it happened."

Nancy tap-danced while smiling brightly and singing.

"The art of dialogue!"

Mike sat on Buster's shoulder with a smug smile.

"Hold your nose and close your eyes."

Johnny slid next to Buster in his British singing voice.

"We want our parents to save the day!"

Ash appeared behind Johnny's shoulder with a stern singing voice.

"But we don't get to say about the decisions that affected our lives!"

Maya stepped beside Buster while wrapping her arm around his and singing.

"We dream of a brand new start."

Mike jumped off of Buster's shoulder while sliding on his knees and sang.

"But we dream in the dark for the most part!"

Buster began to sing along with his friends.

"Dark as a tomb where it happened.

I've got to be in the room where it happened!"

Everyone began to join Buster for the final chorus, dancing around him while he became intoxicated and danced along with them.

"I gotta be in the room where it happened.

I gotta be in the room where it happened.

I gotta be in the room where it happened.

I've got to be in the room where it happened.

I gotta be, I gotta be, gotta be in the room where it happened.

In the room where it happened!!!"

There's a break in the music while everyone posed for the final note.

"CLICK BOOM!"

The gunshot was heard while Buster stood on center stage with a bright smile from singing along with his group...but...something was wrong. His legs felt weak as he fainted while his group disappeared into thin air.

To Be Continued...