*Hey guys!!! I'm back with another chapter!!! Heck yeah!!! This is going to be much more intense and emotional. So, bring your tissues. This is published on July 16, 2021. If you like this chapter, don't be afraid to vote and spam the comment section. That would be greatly appreciated! Have a blessed day! Enjoy!*

"Okay, we're safe for now," Mike uttered as he parked his red sportscar into a discreet place in the alleyway and guided Nancy off of the vehicle. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing okay. This tracker thingy is hurting me," Nancy answered honestly as Mike examined it.

"Yeah, I see that. Who put that on you?" Mike asked gently. "Whoever did it, I'm going to punch him right in the face if I see him."

Nancy sniffled while she wanted to cry from what happened last night. She didn't know if it's a dream that Mike rescued her or it's real until she woke up in Mike's car this morning. Now, she just wasn't sure how to tell her boyfriend what's been happening with someone looking over her shoulder.

Nancy frowned. "I can't tell you who it is with this thing in me."

Mike widened his eyes while nodding his head in understanding. "Understood. I'm going to need someone with big fingers or--" Mike noticed that he's right near the theater. "Maybe something with tools. Okay, sweetheart, stay hidden. I'll be right back."

Nancy watched as Mike was on his way to get something to get the tracker off of her.

Mike climbed up the theater and opened the window to Buster's office. He looked around to see that no one was there. He made sure that the coast was clear as he scurried across the office and climbed up on the wooden desk. He searched through the drawers until he heard vibration. Turning around, he noticed that there's a phone left on the desk, vibrating.

Mike took a look to see that it's Johnny calling. The mouse didn't hesitate to answer Buster's phone. "Hello?"

"Mike?" Johnny's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I was calling Mr. Moon--sorry," Johnny said as if he made a wrong call.

"Yeah, you're calling Moon's phone but he left it at his office," Mike explained. "I'm glad you called, kid."

"What's going on?"

"I finally found my girlfriend...but she's got this tracker thing on her neck. Do you have any tools to get it out?"

There's a pause.

Johnny finally spoke, "I think I might have some."

"Great! Come over to the theater! I'm going to need your help."

"Alright, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Alright, see ya, kid." Mike hung up the phone as he set Buster's phone down on the desk and hopped off of it. He scurried back to the window sill while closing it. He climbed back down from the theater and came back to his girlfriend. "Okay, sweetheart, we need to wait here. Someone's coming over."

Nancy nodded her head as she waited with Mike under the dumpsters.

Fifteen minutes passed as they saw a truck pulling up. The mice smiled brightly when they witnessed Johnny getting out of the truck with a few tool kits and a medkit. The tall gorilla approached the mice while being discreet.

"Top of the morning," Johnny uttered as he examined Nancy's neck.

"Uh, Nancy, this is Johnny. Johnny, this is Nancy," Mike quickly introduced them just to fill in the air of awkward silence.

Nancy smiled a bit. "It's nice to meet you, Johnny."

Johnny nodded his head politely. "It's nice to meet you too." He tilted her head a bit more to see the tracker. "Bloody Mary, who did this to you?"

"Get the tracker out of her first then we'll talk more," Mike responded quickly. "Whoever gave her the tracker can hear everything."

Johnny widened his eyes in shock as he managed to get out a tool kit. Carefully, the gorilla was able to get the tracker out of Nancy's neck permanently while putting a white small cloth over her neck to put pressure on her bleeding spot.

"Keep the pressure here," Johnny instructed Nancy as he crushed the tracker and turned to Mike. "Where did you find her?"

"I found her at Fort Dunstan. They held a party over there and I had no idea who did this to her," Mike pointed out while looking up at the gorilla.

Nancy rubbed her neck. "Do you guys have any place where we can talk privately?"

Johnny and Mike glanced at each other while Johnny nodded his head.

"Yes, the theater gang is at the garage. We can trust them," Johnny reassured Nancy as Johnny held his arm out for both Mike and Nancy to climb up on the gorilla's shoulder.

Johnny carried the mice into his truck and sped off away from the theater, leaving Mike's sportscar hidden in the shadows.

~.~

Ash could only groan in irritation as she paced back and forth in Johnny's garage. Since the theater gang all got a group text from Buster and Ash hadn't been able to check on Buster to see if he's doing okay, she panicked.

Johnny offered for her to come to the garage so that they could talk amongst themselves without being distant on the phone or group text. Rosita was talking with Maya while Porsche took interest in their conversations. Clay let his gaze wandered around the weapons that the gorilla had in store while Ms. Crawly and Herman were huddled together near Porsche. Meena held Alfonso's hand as they talked amongst themselves about their own private life. Nooshy sat around, bored out of her mind since Johnny was gone off somewhere else.

Gunter and Eddie just walked into the garage with worried looks on their faces.

"What's going on with Buster?" Eddie managed to ask while holding out his phone to the group. "I've been calling him five times and he hadn't answer."

"Johnny said he left his phone in his office...again!" Ash answered with a groan.

"Oh yeah, he's really bad with his phone," Eddie said in the most calming tone until his fear was picked right back up. "He said that there's something he oughta do. What's going on with that?"

Nooshy shrugged her shoulders. "Moon's got daddy issues. That's all I can say."

Johnny came through the garage with Mike and Nancy on his shoulders. "I'm back. I got Mike and Nancy with me."

"Hey, Mike!" Porsche waved to the mouse, who waved back.

"Hey," Mike replied with a nod.

"We're trying to figure out what's wrong with Buster," Clay informed Johnny, Mike, and Nancy.

Eddie sighed heavily. "Oh my gosh, I think he's going to do something stupid."

"Yeah, leaving his phone behind is a great start of stupidity," Mike replied.

"Well, if he's not at the theater, where is he?" Meena asked in concern.

Everyone paused as they tried to think of where Buster might possibly be at.

Eddie had his eyes widened suddenly. "Wait, Nooshy, you said that Buster had daddy issues."

Nooshy nodded. "Uh...yeah."

Eddie blinked until he realized something. "Guys, I think I know where Buster might be at."

Everyone glanced at the sheep, waiting for him to tell them where Buster could be at.

~.~

Meanwhile, Buster and Chirea hid under the desk that was closed off from the outside, hearing rattling sounds coming closer and closer. A couple more footsteps approached the secret office.

"Did you find anything so far?" They heard a silky voice coming from outside.

"We found this, sir. It's a baseball bat of some sorts," one of the gruff voices stated.

Buster widened his eyes in shock, remembering that he left the bat behind from the time he's exploring his father's old room to the secret office.

Chirea glanced at him sternly as he gave a little toothy nervous smile.

As the rattling sound continued, Chirea saw Buster breathing heavily to the point where he's hyperventilating. The koala didn't even realize that he's making quiet noises that were easy to hear until Chirea put her hand on his chest to get his attention. Buster shifted his focus to Chirea, who motioned him to calm his breathing.

"He smells fear," Chirea mouthed the words but Buster couldn't understand.

They heard something crawling underneath as they glanced down and saw a needle by the end of the rattler's tail. The villain knew they were hiding under the desk.

Chirea and Buster exchanged gazes as Chirea began to speak so that the koala could hear easily.

"Once I opened this, you run as fast as you can out of this place," Chirea instructed quietly.

"What about you?" Buster mouthed his words while flicking glances back and forth between the needle and Chirea.

"I'll catch up with you. Just make a run for it," Chirea whispered softly as she took out her sword and stabbed the tail sliding under the desk, earning a painful hiss. She opened the board that kept them under the desk as Buster ran out of it without hesitation.

Chirea got up after him but was stopped by one of the hooded figures, who just pick her up and threw her across the office.

Buster climbed the old reeky wooden stairs while something was following after him. He didn't turn around to see what it was as he reached the top of the stairs and bolted through his father's old room. He turned a sharp right and ran down the hallway, getting to the stairs by the end of it. The koala sprinted down the stairs as he made his way through the living room. Before he could reach the door, he felt something wrapped around his ankles, causing him to trip and fall on the floor. He was picked up quickly as the koala noticed scales wrapping around his body.

Buster breathed heavily as his arms were constrained and his legs were tight together. The koala struggled to get out of the scales until he heard a tiny maniacal giggle.

Buster turned his sights on a huge rattlesnake, which was bigger than it would normally be in the real world. He blinked to see the snake creature slithering his tongue in and out of his dry lips.

"We finally meet, Buster Moon," the snake said in a silky tone.

Buster breathed heavily in panic as he felt a needle pressing into his neck. "Who-Who are you?"

"You don't know who I am? Even better," the snake responded with a dark chuckle.

Buster felt something going into him, causing him to be stiff. "Wh-What are you doing to me?"

The snake smiled coyly but he didn't answer as he became distracted by the assassin's holding Chirea hostage. Chirea tried her best to fight them off but they had a collar that kept her speed down.

Buster glanced around the room as he finally saw a needle buried into his neck, causing his body to tremble. The koala's vision began to become contorted as he tried to find a way to get out of this hold.

Buster noticed the scales and he didn't hesitate when he bit down on the tail of the snake. After he bit down the tail, he was released suddenly with the needle pulling out of his skin.

"Buster, wait!!!" Chirea shouted.

Buster ran for the door and finally reached outside of the house. Everything became contorted around him but he couldn't let that stop him from escaping. The koala showman bolted through the weeds as he felt them wrapped around his arms. He gasped to realize that the weeds were coming alive and trying to hold him. Buster kicked them away quickly as he ran through the fields.

Breathing heavily, Buster finally got out of the field only to find fire in front of him. The koala shook his head as he looked back to see something lurking in the tall field of weeds. The koala ran as fast as he could through the streets, even though his vision saw fire up ahead. He heard cars swerving but he couldn't see any of them. He went across the street while feeling something chasing him. When he turned back, he couldn't see anything behind him.

Buster stumbled onto something and tumbled into the concrete, breathing heavily and anxiously. The koala got up to see everything burning around him.

"Wh-What's happening?" Buster was able to moan out as his eyelids got heavy. He wanted to fall asleep but he knew he had to keep going.

"I'm glad you asked."

Buster gasped as he turned to the familiar silky voice but he kept seeing fire everywhere. His hearing became contorted full of screams, cries, and yells of pain.

The koala's body began to tremble.

"Wh-Who are you?" Buster managed to ask while he felt his lips dry. His heartbeat was going faster and faster to the point where he could feel his heart pounding against his chest as if it wanted out.

Buster tried to keep going but his body was getting weaker and weaker, his stomach doing flips rapidly where he could feel like puking.

"I'm just the shadow in your head."

Buster heard two different voices that time as he quickly found the shadowy figure ahead of him. He squinted to see that its form shaped like a koala...like him. And it was coming towards him.

Buster fell back as he's beginning to realize that it's all a hallucination. He covered his head with his eyes shut closed to knock the hallucination away from his brain but his body was trembling.

"You know you can't hide from me."

Buster gasped as his eyes were snapped open. He suddenly realized that he's no longer in the alleyway of Catalonia that was burning all around him. He's back at the house he thought he escaped from. However, the house was in a better condition than he remembered seeing it last. He stood up with shaky breaths up on his feet. The koala's blue eyes wandered around the darkness as Buster heard a baby wailing from inside. The marsupial's eyes went wider as he went up the porch stairs and saw a lone cradle that contained a baby. He pressed his face up against the screen door to hear the baby wail more. He wanted to go inside to comfort it until he saw a woman koala approaching the scene. She picked up the baby wrapped in the familiar blue blanket while rocking her swaddled baby.

Buster watched the woman koala soothing the baby with eyes wide. For some reason, he could recognize her. Before he could reach out to her, she and the baby disappeared like a flash of lightning. He quickly stepped inside of the house and quickly stumbled over to the cradle to find nothing there. The koala breathed anxiously as he heard the sound of laughter and mumbling. He perked his round ears and turned his head to see the familiar red double doors across from the living room of the house. Buster blinked as he slowly approached them. When he reached the doors, his hands pressed firmly against them and pushed them wide open to see a familiar theater.

Buster's eyes went wide to see all animals, big and small, walking through the theater and taking seats. The koala gasped in remembering the music and even the smell.

The koala felt a shift as he was on the balcony with the beautiful music sung by Nana Noodleman. Buster leaned over to the edge, his eyes widened in fascination. The koala heard small whispers as he turned to see his father with glasses revealing his coffee brown eyes as opposed to the small koala's blue eyes. The six-year-old koala was lifted up over to the edge of the balcony while his father held him back so that he wouldn't fall off over the edge.

Buster became teary-eyed as he watched his father smiling and watching the show. Although, most of his focus was on his son, who turned to look at his father. His father nodded to let him explore the air of his curiosity.

Buster's breath became shaky as his father turned his head to notice him. Buster gasped when he realized that his father saw him, his eyes growing softer at him. It was sudden that the older koala and the little marsupial turned into dust.

"Dad!!!" Buster cried out but his father and his younger self disappeared without a trace. He breathed heavily while he saw that everybody in the theater disappeared without a trace.

"Buster, look out!!!" He heard Eddie's voice as he turned his focus onto the balcony on the left upper corner to see his sheep best friend with Nana, who's growing older than she was when he was younger. The young koala noticed the theater gang below him, getting washed away by the water contained on stage.

The balcony he's standing on collapsed, causing the showman to fall over to the edge and landed straight into the water. He screamed, letting the bubbles float out of his mouth until he's brought up to the surface to witness Eddie protecting Nana.

"Buster! Get out of here! It's going to collapse!" Eddie shouted while pushing Nana out of harm's way. However, the ground Eddie's standing on collapsed, causing him to fall into the water.

"Eddie!!" Buster yelled out his friend's name before he could be dragged right back under the surface.

The water felt colder than he remembered as he tried to find something to hold onto but the current pushed him through the entrance of the theater. He turned to see Meena getting stuck on the small booth for the front desk. Johnny, Rosita, Ash, and Gunter pitched in to help Meena through the booth so that they could get out. Mike tried to swim up to the surface to escape but he kept getting pulled down just like Buster.

Buster lifted his head above the surface as he swam up towards the ledge in the entrance that was supposed to lead him to the balcony. The koala climbed up to the edge as he saw Johnny popped his head above the water.

"Johnny, pull Meena through!!!!" Buster shouted as the water was reaching him.

Johnny didn't listen to him as he held his breath and dove back under the water.

Buster felt the theater breaking down as the walls finally broke, letting the debris fall through the ceilings and almost crushing his little body. Buster collapsed onto the ground while the dust and the debris were falling all around him. The water was squirted out of the building but he couldn't tell if it saved anybody.

He felt dizzy as he lifted his head up to see the rubble of the theater he owned. Buster pushed himself up to see his theater gang. Their bodies were limped as some of their bodies got crushed under the debris. Mike was laying on the debris, not crushed but drowned significantly. Johnny and Meena were crushed by the huge rubble, crushing their once strong bodies into a pancake. Ash, Rosita, and Gunter were under small rubble with Ash stabbed through the chest. Gunter and Rosita had deep cuts around their pink skins, their clothes torn to bits.

Buster breathed heavily in horror as he glanced behind him to see Eddie buried underneath the debris while Nana had her head bleeding from landing her head on a rock. The koala shook his head. That never happened. They were never dead. They were still alive. He turned to see Ms. Crawly being crushed by huge rubble, squishing her to the point where her glass eye popped out and rolled a tiny bit.

The koala shook his head.

"This is not real," Buster managed to say but he noticed bubbles coming out of his mouth. Buster widened his eyes and gasped but he couldn't breathe in. He's not under the water anymore. This didn't make sense...until he realized something.

"Buster!!!" He heard Eddie's voice. The real Eddie's voice crying out to him. Buster tried to respond but he couldn't even breathe, bubbles coming out of his mouth.

I don't know where I am.

The vision of his dead friends and a collapsed theater disappeared without a trace. Buster blinked as he saw that he's underwater still but it's dark.

"Eddie!!" Buster managed to scream but bubbles were still coming out of his mouth.

Please, I can't die here.

Buster felt a hand around his stomach, pulling him out of wherever he was. His vision was blurry as he finally got out of the water, coughing and gasping for breath. The koala's eyes were shut closed as he was trembling in someone's hold.

"Buster, Buster, can you hear me?!" He could still hear Eddie's voice crying out to him.

"We gotta go!" Buster managed to hear Mike's voice.

"Hold on, Mr. Moon!" Johnny's voice pierced through the darkness as he felt someone carrying him away.

Buster could only groan as he fell asleep, unconscious.

~.~

"What happened?"

"I don't know. We found him in the river bank. We don't even know how he ended up there."

"Do you think he saw something?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know...he may have hallucinated something."

"Sweetheart, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that there's something on his neck."

"I know what it is. I got it."

"Whoa, man, how in the world do you know what it is?"

"I used to work for The Rattler Society."

"What?!"

Buster felt a needle on his neck as he began crying in pain when it's sucking something out of his neck, his small body trembling until someone's soft hands were able to soothe him.

"There we go."

"Wait...what is that thing?"

"It's a hallucinogen. It comes from the plant my old boss likes to use to get his opponents off guard."

Buster breathed heavily to hear more voices that were both familiar and new. So far, he heard Johnny's, Mike's, Rosita's, Ash's, Eddie's, Maya's, and Norman's. But there's one voice he wasn't exactly familiar with. Buster tried to flutter his eyes but his vision was blurry to see all the colors blur together.

"G...Guys?" Buster uttered but his voice was weak.

Someone had their soft hand rubbing his head.

"So, all this time we could've gone to you instead of Chester Bellows?"

"I guess."

Buster tried to fight the heaviness in his body so that he could see his friends again. But he's too weak to get up and lift his eyes to fully see them.

"W...What's...What's...going on?"

"It's best if you stay down, Mr. Moon," the koala heard Norman's voice.

"How long does it last?"

"I give it about a day or a couple of hours at best."

Buster breathed heavily as he finally gave in and fell fast asleep.

~.~

Dream:

Buster lifted his tired eyelids as he realized that he's sleeping in his desk drawer as usual. His alarm didn't go off like he thought it would at this time as he was able to push the drawer out so that he could take a peek.

The walls of his office were nothing more than torn wallpaper as if someone came into his office and eradicated it for the fun of it. The skies were cloudy outside of his office and dreary. He heard pounding of the walls and muffled screams from the people he knew. Buster's heart was racing as he saw handprints of people he knew and people he didn't know.

"Um, Ms. Crawly, why is the theater--?"

As Buster headed out of his office, he screamed at the sight of the poor old lizard lady, who usually takes care of the paperwork and of him mostly. A noose was wrapped tightly around her neck while her glass eye fell off of her dead eyehole. Her one good eye was still opened and frozen as if she's been put through the ice. The wind was blowing from the window behind her as her desk was knocked over as if she had enough strength to kick it down.

Buster began to tear up while his small body trembled at the sight.

"Ms. Crawly?" Buster uttered tearfully while breathing heavily.

Ms. Crawly didn't respond, her neck bruised from the rope wrapped tightly.

Buster shook his head in denial, knowing that this is just a dream. "No...no, it's not real."

Buster backed away from the sight of his beloved assistant hanging herself. He ran downstairs, through the darkness, until he came upon the rehearsals rooms where he could see right through the windows of his crewmates. Ash had quills flown all over, breaking the windows in the process with a knife plunged right in her chest.

"Ash!" Buster gasped as he ran to her and shook his head. "Come on, Ash, wake up."

Ash didn't answer, her eyes sealed close while her quills were pricked as if she's ready to kill even though she's dead.

Buster breathed heavily while looking up at the windows, which immediately showed his reflection. However, his reflection wasn't his...it's a different person. Of course, he's a koala but he's much different than him except for those diamond blue eyes. A glare came back at Buster as Buster noticed that this reflection wasn't him...it's someone else who the theater nerd could barely recognize.

"Who are you?" Buster asked while looking closer at his 'reflection'.

"You are nothing but a mistake," his reflection growled at Buster, who stumbled away from the unexpected answer.

You are nothing but a mistake.

Buster turned to see the reflection of the other window but this time...it's Eddie.

"Eddie?" Buster recognized tearfully.

"Maybe it's time to stop thinking and just move on!" Eddie's usual laid-back tone came out more aggressive than he would normally sound.

Buster knew that this was not Eddie. Sure, Eddie was known for his laziness and had said this to Buster at one time but...Eddie would never put his dreams down in an aggressive tone. In fact, his best friend was looking for Buster's best interests when he said this.

"No, you're not Eddie!" Buster barked back.

"You're just a spoiled rich child!" Buster turned to see the cheetah staring back at him like a reflection in the mirror.

"Shut up!" Buster snapped, his tears streaming down on his cheeks.

"Why can't you be like your father?!"

Buster turned to see himself again except it's just him and not a different koala.

"You're a useless son!"

Buster began to hear voices in his head, causing him to press his ears hard so that he wouldn't hear them but...the voices in his head still rang.

You should have never been born.

You should've been a better son.

You're selfish.

You're a burden.

You're nothing but a mistake!

Buster screamed with more tears streaming down on his face. "Stop it! Stop it!"

You're nothing but a burden!

Buster squeezed his eyes closed while screaming out his pain.

~.~

Reality:

Buster gasped awake as he snapped his heavy eyelids open. He breathed heavily as he saw that he's in pajamas while laying on a blue couch in a small cramped living room. His sight was blurry until he could hear the dryer tumbling the clothes. He looked around to see darkness around him. He didn't know where he was or why he's here until he heard someone coming down the stairs with the light flicker on. He turned his gaze up to see that it was Rosita coming down the stairs with a laundry basket full of small clothes that needed to be washed.

Buster couldn't help but etched a relief smile that it was Rosita coming down the stairs. The mother pig turned to see her boss awake as she came up to him with the basket held at her hip.

"You okay?" Rosita asked softly.

Buster's vision was finally cleared as he noticed the theater gang all asleep and snoring a bit loudly. He rubbed his eyes.

"No," Buster blurted out, his voice shaky.

Rosita was calm while she nodded her head in understanding and set her laundry basket aside. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Buster shivered as he nodded his head. "Yeah."

Rosita smiled softly as she gestured for him to come with her. Buster got up from the blue couch as he soon realized that he's in Rosita's apartment with all the toys laying around. The mother pig guided him into the kitchen where no one was sleeping in as she turned on the lights and used the switch to dim on the light so that it wouldn't wake the others. She sat across from him.

"Are you doing okay?" Rosita asked again in a gentle tone.

Buster looked around the kitchen with a sad sigh. "There's something wrong with me, Rosita."

Rosita gazed at her boss with a frown. "Buster--"

"I can't even think straight. I just...I keep seeing my dad...I keep seeing my past. I keep wondering what Dad was hiding from me. Then there's this snake coming after me and Chirea...Chirea! She's...She's trapped--"

"Hey, hey, calm down. I don't know who she is but I'm sure we can find her in time."

"That snake got her...and I just...I just ran. I couldn't save her--"

"That's okay, Buster. It's okay."

"No...I...I--"

Rosita rubbed his arms to calm him down. "Hey, look at me."

Buster glanced into her eyes, not expecting the mother pig to be a tad bit firm.

"You just went through something traumatic," Rosita stated calmly. "You went through series of hallucinations and...well, ran through a lot of mayhem. We don't know what you're hallucinating or why but we know that someone put something inside you to make you hallucinate and...you are reasonably scared. You almost drowned in a riverbank. I'm glad Eddie, Mike, and Johnny found you. My husband happens to know a lot about the Rattler Society since he used to work for them. You just need rest for a few days to get over these hallucinations."

"What about the theater?"

"Don't worry about the theater. Okay, we'll take care of it," Rosita soothed as she hugged him.

Buster trembled in her grasp as he buried his face into her shoulder and let out a tiny muffled sob. Rosita rubbed the back of his furry head like a mother would for their child in distress.

"I'm sorry," Buster uttered.

"Don't apologize. Just let it out. It's okay," Rosita answered softly.

Buster felt another body leaning up against him as he looked over slightly to see that it was Johnny joining in the hug. His sobs must have woke the gorilla up.

Johnny, you're just the sweetest kid.

Buster wanted to say it but he felt like crying more at the fact that there's something he'd been holding in. Those tears didn't stop for one second, convincing him that he had been holding in his emotions just to act like everything was fine when in reality, it's not fine, for such a long time.

He felt another body wrapped around him in a hug. He didn't bother to look to see who it was but he could tell that it was someone about his height. And the two people who were about his height were Ash and Maya. Although, Ash had quills and Maya had her golden hair. Feeling the soft hair up against his cheek, he could instantly tell that it was Maya hugging him. Although he lost count on how many people came up to him to hug him and comfort him, he couldn't help but feel his heart warm up to see how many people he had touched and in turn, touched him.

Buster smiled as he sobbed into Rosita's shoulder. Once his sobs turned to hiccups, everyone broke away from the koala so that Buster could see everyone like Johnny, Ash, Maya, Eddie, Rosita, Gunter, Nooshy, Mike, and Meena gazing at him softly.

"Are you doing okay?" Johnny asked softly.

Buster smiled gently. "A lot better now. Thank you."

Maya grinned a bit. "I'm not sure of what you're going through but whatever it is, we can get through it together."

Buster couldn't help but blush at Maya's words.

Eddie nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah."

Buster felt his heart turned to mush instantly. "Thanks, guys."

The theater group nodded their heads in understanding as the television was turned on in the background.

"Uh...you guys might want to see this," Norman called from the living room. Buster turned around to see Clay, Porsche, Nancy, Norman, Alfonso, Ms. Crawly, and Herman watching the television as everyone gathered around the cramped living room to see the news.

"On today's Dashie News, we have the Rattler Society coming to the Moon Theater this week. They will be attending the upcoming musical performance. We have to wonder if they will outshine better than Rattler Society...just like the Crystal Theater or will Rattler Society be known as the big entertainment? We'll find out once we put the show on live this weekend," The news anchorman, who's a panda, replied in the television box.

Mike gave the television a deadpan stare. "Oh, thanks, thanks. Right when we're trying to recover from their latest attack, you're just going to drop the ball on us. Well, great, great. We're all going to die now."

"That's insane!" Clay growled. "This weekend. We just got here. We just recovered from series of attacks against the Rattler Society."

"And they want us to perform," Ash said in a scoff. "Who do they think they are?"

"They want to see what we're made of," Buster uttered fearfully.

The group glanced at him.

Norman shook his head. "There's no way you're going back there. You just recovered from the hallucinogen drug. You need at least a few days to recover from that."

"Yeah, zhat's going to lead into the weekend," Gunter countered back.

Porsche shook her head. "Okay, my father may have high expectations but this is going too far."

"Oh my, if Mr. Moon can't run the show because he needed to recover, then who's going to?" Herman inquired with a whimper.

"I mean, I would suggest my dad but he's dead," Porsche said with a sigh.

Buster became more determined. "I can still--"

Norman shook his head. "Uh, no. Here's why. The effects of that drug are going to take more than a day to wear off. If you try to even perform, you'll hallucinate things that were not there. It's good to get your rest and your peace before you just move on and direct the theater."

"Then who's going to help us with the show?" Johnny asked urgently.

"We're dead," Nooshy muttered to herself.

"Guys, guys, calm down, we'll figure something out," Buster tried to calm the theater group.

"Oh yeah, like we got less than a few days to figure out stuff now," Mike replied sarcastically.

"Mikey, calm down," Nancy soothed her boyfriend.

"Look, I can help run the show," Porsche volunteered. "I've seen the way my dad does it so--"

"Oh, is it the corruption part or is it proper running a theater part?" Nooshy asked with a bit of snark.

Porsche gave her a withering glare. "Okay, I'm not like my dad."

Nooshy gave the wolf a teasing smirk. "But you are daddy's little girl though."

Porsche rolled her eyes with a growl. "Shut up."

"Okay, okay, let's not start a fight," Johnny panicked as he came between Nooshy and Porsche so that there wouldn't be a fight.

Alfonso, Meena, Maya, Clay, Ms. Crawly, and Herman stayed quiet while the others were bickering back and forth.

From the bickering, Buster began to breathe heavily, trying to ground himself before he could lash out. The koala groaned deeply while turning to the one's bickering.

"Shut up! Just shut up! Please! I need to think!" Buster yelled abruptly, scaring the group into silence. Part of him felt bad for even raising his voice but he knew he must be heard so that he could think properly.

Buster was given a moment to think as he covered his face with another groan. He rubbed his forehead with his thumb and index finger as he tried to think of an idea. A plan to just deliver the show and not let it be horrible.

"I-I can help run the show," a familiar meek voice spoke in the silence.

Buster turned his head to the voice to discover that it came from Maya. Her once soft gaze had determination written all over her face. Her narrowed blue eyes flickered in the light as Buster didn't know how to react.

The koala showman shook his head. "No...Maya, you just got hired in the theater. I can't...I'm not going to put that pressure on you."

Maya softened her gaze. "Maybe I don't have to run it by myself. I don't know half of how to run the theater but I'm sure somebody can help me."

Porsche brightly smiled at the opportunity. "I can help."

The group glanced at Porsche with a distrustful look on their faces.

Eddie blinked a bit with a small sigh. "I can help too. I mean, I know I'm just a stagehand and all but I can help with a few ideas of how we can perform. I also know a few people who could pull a few strings for us if we need it."

Johnny took a moment. "I think I know who else I can get help from."

Buster gasped in shock at how many ideas were generating from the theater gang as he sighed deeply. Before he could say anything, his headache began to pound in his head from even hearing and talking. He took a few deep breaths, fearing that it's going to be like this if he even tried to run the theater.

He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. "Okay...I trust you guys that you can create something big without me there. I trust you guys."

The theater group smiled proudly while nodding their heads in determination.

"We won't let you down, Buster, that's a promise," Maya said while holding his hand to reassure him that everything will be okay.

And Buster couldn't believe that he felt more than relaxed and reassured to have Maya say that to him. 

To Be Continued...