*Hey, I'm back with another chapter of Past Troubles!!! EEEEEEEHHHHH!!!!! This is published on July 10, 2021. If you like this chapter, don't be afraid to vote and spam the comment section. It'll be greatly appreciated!!! Enjoy!!!*

Buster and Maya went back to the theater on the bicycle as they entered the building. They walked through the auditorium to find Meena setting up the stage with Eddie checking the soundboard, Rosita pacing back and forth, and Ash writing out new music.

"How's everything going, Meena?" Buster asked the teenage elephant as she helped set the stage up.

"It's going good, Mr. Moon. I might need an extra hand though," Meena uttered.

"Perfect! Meena, do you mind if you teach Maya about the stage?" Buster offered Maya to help the elephant.

Meena smiled brightly. "I don't mind at all!"

"Great! Maya, I'll see you later," Buster replied happily.

"Hey, Mr. Moon," Maya uttered before the koala showman left. Buster stopped to make eye contact with her. "Thank you. I needed that...distraction."

Buster smiled softly. "It's no problem. Maybe we could do it every once in a while."

"That would be nice," Maya said with a small blush.

Buster nodded his head. "Will do then."

Maya turned and walked away to help Meena with the stage as the elephant was able to guide her on what parts of the stage to use.

Buster couldn't take his eyes off of Maya...no matter how hard he tried. His dumb smile was present on his face as he just watched her handle the stage so elegantly. She made some flaws but Buster didn't note any of them. She's just too perfect at making sure the theater was being well taken care of by her and Meena.

"Buster. Buster!" He heard Eddie's voice but he didn't pay attention.

"Bustie--"

Buster turned around right away to give a withering glare at his sheep friend. "Your use of that name is getting annoying."

"Well, how else can I get your attention?" Eddie asked with a shrug.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe tap on my shoulder--"

"Already tried that."

"Snapping your fingers in front of my face."

"Did it twice."

Buster blinked. How did he not notice Eddie trying to get his attention? Was he really that lost and fixated on Maya? This new assistant who was only supposed to be there for a few weeks had done nothing but made his whole axis just spun around and around until he got lost. How could that happen to the famous Buster Moon?!

Buster shook his head. "Maybe not calling me Bustie would be a great start."

"I'll try not to."

"Where's Johnny?" Buster noticed people missing. "And Gunter? And Nooshy? And Mike?"

"I didn't see them walking in today," Eddie answered with a shrug.

"I hope they're doing okay," Buster uttered with a worried tone.

"I'm sure they're alright. If they don't come in by ten minutes, we can check up on them," Eddie responded while walking away to do the sound setting.

Buster could only stand backstage idly.

~.~

In the morning, just a couple of blocks away from her hotel, the famous Milla Star was having her coffee with chocolate mixed in it at a corner coffee shop called French Bros, outside. She was in a pink dress with dark purple flowers on it while her koala ears were sticking out. She didn't feel like hiding it for today. Strangely, she's in her workout clothes with the limo parked right out front while her two bodyguards sat with her at the coffee shop. Her bodyguards were of different species. One was a tiger and the other was a polar bear with black suits and dark sunglasses, who she conversed with not because she's bored but she enjoyed their company.

"Milla Star!!"

Milla glanced behind her to see Nooshy approaching the cafe and hopped over the small fence just to get to her. Her smile brightened as she turned to see the young lynx. "Hey, Nooshy, right?"

Nooshy screeched like a fangirl. "You remember my name!"

Milla giggled and nodded her head. "Of course, I do."

Nooshy couldn't stop being excited until she remembered why she was looking for the superstar hybrid. "Oh, I got something to ask you!"

"Ooh, okay. Have a seat," Milla offered the empty seat between her and her tiger bodyguard as Nooshy slowly sat down and savored the moment.

Milla smiled a bit while introducing her bodyguards. "Oh, these two are my bodyguards, Tim and McGraw. Guys, this is Nooshy from the Moon Theater."

"Sup?" Tim, the tiger, nodded his head to Nooshy.

"Hey," McGraw, the polar bear, greeted the young snow lynx.

Milla turned to Nooshy. "Do you want anything to drink or eat?"

Nooshy smiled even wider. "Uh...I'm fine."

Nooshy's stomach rumbled in disagreement with her statement.

"Oh no, you're definitely hungry," Milla cooed while getting out her wallet.

Tim, the tiger bodyguard, put his hand on Milla's to stop her from getting out her wallet. "Hold up, I'll take care of it." He turned to Nooshy. "Do you want anything to drink or eat?"

"Uh...I'll get a banana sundae," Nooshy uttered meekly.

Tim nodded his head while taking out his wallet. "I'll be back with that."

Tim got up from his seat and walked away from the table.

Milla shrugged. "Oh well, I tried. So, how are you doing?"

"I'm...amazing," Nooshy sputtered with a smile growing more on her face.

"I'm glad to hear that. What's something you want to ask me?" Milla inquired.

Nooshy smiled dumbly until she's reminded of something she came to see Milla for. "Oh, right! Sorry, um, I had something to ask you and now I'm forgetting it."

"You go ahead and take your time," Milla said while waiting patiently.

Nooshy took a moment to finally remember what she's going to ask the superstar. "Right! Okay...Milla Star. I know this answer for a while but I want to hear you say it...um, is that your real name or your stage name?"

"Oh, that's my real name. I mean, it's on my birth certificate...so, I think it's real," Milla answered with a nervous chuckle.

"Okay, I just need to hear you say it. Sorry--um...since you're a hybrid, do you happen to be related to someone named Arthur Star?"

Milla smiled more awkwardly while messing with her koala ears. "Um, well, I would say yes because...again, on my birth certificate--"

"Okay, okay, hear me out...I think you might be related to my boss," Nooshy responded as Tim came back with her banana sundae.

"Here you go, kid." Tim gave her sundae as she began to eat it.

Milla tilted her head in confusion. "You mean Mr. Moon?"

Nooshy nodded her head in confirmation.

Tim leaned over to McGraw, the polar bear. "What did I miss?"

"You almost missed the plot twist," McGraw answered in a whisper.

"Oh, we're just gettin' starting then," Tim replied while taking out popcorn he got from the front counter of the cafe and shared it with McGraw.

"Definitely," McGraw answered as he dug his hand into the bag that was offered just to grab pieces of popcorn and eat it.

Ignoring her bodyguards, Milla perked her koala ears to listen to the snow lynx.

"I'm afraid I don't follow," Milla uttered, baffled in her tone.

Nooshy gulped her piece of the sundae while scooting closer to Milla. "Okay, hear me out. You're gonna think I'm crazy but it's true. So, Arthur Star...who's your dad...changed his name to Arthur Moon...and had Buster Moon. Therefore, you guys are siblings...well, half-siblings since you might have a different mother than him. I literally connected the dots."

Milla blinked in disbelief. "Okay...so...you knew this...how?"

"You see, we're trying to figure out why Mr. Moon is being hunted down by a bunch of people and Ms. Crawly theorized that it might have something to do with his father. And then I didn't tell the group but I thought of you when I heard the last name Star. And given that you have koala ears, that tells me that you are related to Arthur Moon, who had a son named Buster Moon."

Milla had her eyes widened. "Mr. Moon is being hunted?"

"Yeah."

"By who?"

Well, we were told about the Rattler Society--"

"Shh!" Milla shushed the young lynx and glanced up at Tim and McGraw, gaining their attention. "Get the limo ready. We need to get to the theater. Asap."

"Yes, ma'am," Tim said as both he and McGraw got out of their seats and headed towards the limo in the front of the cafe.

"What's going on?" Nooshy asked innocently.

"I'll tell you everything. Come with me," Milla guided Nooshy out of the cafe with Tim and McGraw starting the limo. When the ladies got into the limo, the limo took off and sped down the road through Catalonia.

~.~

Johnny arrived at Lloyd's, which was shut down and abandoned in the horrible side of town. Johnny was armed in case any intruder decided to jump him.

"You must be the one asking about Arthur Moon, I assumed."

Johnny whipped his head to notice an older elephant leaning up against the brick wall of Lloyd's, staring at him with green eyes.

The gorilla nodded his head. "That's me. You must be Derek?"

"Yes," The elephant, Derek, replied. "I know this looks shady but it's the only place I know of that we could talk without being watched. Come with me, kid."

Johnny followed the older elephant into the rundown restaurant as Derek gave him a small little tour.

"I used to work at this place before I got into this Rattler Society business. Ever know why they shut down this place?"

Johnny shook his head.

"Because it's worthless to the Rattler Society. I don't know what it is about the people in Moon Theater being gone for a couple of months but Rattler Society began to grow more popular in the city of Catalonia. It gained famous showman's attention such as Jimmy Crystal and Taylor Longhorn. Chester Bellows and...the one they hated most...Arthur Moon."

Johnny twisted the corner of his mouth. "So, what does that have to do with my boss?"

"Your boss is Buster Moon, I presumed?" Derek inquired.

Johnny nodded his head.

"It's not normal for an employee to worry about their boss like one would about their family member. But I respect that greatly. However, your boss is related to Arthur Moon and Arthur Moon and the Rattler Society had an interesting history. As far as I know of him, he borrowed money from the Rattler Society like all showmen do before they become big and famous. But there's one problem."

"And what problem is that?"

There's a pause.

"The Rattler Society was also a showbiz where people come to perform and no showman in the history of the animal kind would receive just as much attention as the Rattler Society until Arthur Moon came around."

"But...Mr. Moon told me that his father was only working at car washes--"

"He got the money from the Rattler Society and they believed that he wasted it by passing it onto his son, your boss. However, they think your boss is easy to erase and...well, forgotten easily."

"Mr. Moon isn't like that though. He's not a quitter."

"And that's what they don't like about him," Derek pointed out to Johnny. "That's what makes them tick. And that's why they want to get rid of him."

"I don't understand. Why do they care whether he did well or not?"

Derek frowned. "Because they're a big company. Had been for...what? Thirty years. Imagine being a big-name company for thirty years and all of the sudden, there's this small short guy running the show. As a big company, you could sit there and roll your eyes at the small little guy until he gets bigger and bigger. Eventually, he played in the big leagues where it's supposed to determine whether your name will be written in lights or not. Imagine having that little guy performed the best out of everyone in big-named theaters and have his name written in lights."

"But to the point of killing someone?"

"The theater is a cruel environment. In all honesty, kid, I'm sorry that you got dragged into this."

Johnny blinked for a second. "What if we're doing the next show? What would happen?"

"You won't be able to do the next show since the Rattler Society thought you've all done enough," Derek commented. "On top of that, they'll keep you on your toes so that you wouldn't perform."

Johnny sighed deeply. "Are they that greedy?"

"Yep. Greed is a dangerous thing. It can make do worst things morally impossible," Derek answered while wiped the dust off of one of the tables. "You know, the best advice I could give you is to leave the theater as soon as possible. Get out before you get hurt in this."

Johnny shook his head. "No, I'm not going to sit there and let those...maniacs hurt the people I get to call family. I'm not leaving them."

Derek cornered a small impressed smile. "You got spirit, kid. I don't think you'll listen to my advice but it's the best one I could give you."

Johnny frowned. "I'm sorry that you couldn't give me any better advice."

"Well, from dealing with Rattler Society, I left as soon as I could. I let them go as far as to separate me from my family. I think my wife was pregnant with a child but I don't really know because they didn't let me come visit them."

"But you're out of it now...you can visit them," Johnny said in a hopeful tone.

Derek shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not sure if they want to see me."

"Well, you'll never know until you try...right?"

"Yeah...right."

Johnny felt his phone vibrate as he immediately answered. "Hello?"

"Johnny?"

Johnny gasped when he recognized Buster Moon's voice. "Oh, Mr. Moon. Hello."

"Hey...are you going to be at the rehearsals today?"

Johnny groaned deeply as if he forgot something. "Oh, that's right. I'm so sorry. I'll be there right away."

"O-Okay, I just want to make sure you're okay," Buster's voice spoke from the other end of the line.

"Oh, I'm fine, Mr. Moon. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Okay...see you then."

"See you," Johnny replied while hanging up the phone and gazing up at the older elephant. "My boss. He's getting worried about me."

"That's fine. But just remember what I tell you, kid," Derek remarked.

"I will."

With that said, Johnny and Derek went on their separate ways. Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from the shadows.

~.~

Gunter heard his phone ringing but he ignored it since he's walking with Porsche through the city of Catalonia just to take her back home to Redshore City.

"So, der subvay should be able to take you to der airport. From zere, you can go back to Redshore City ahnd go back to your normal life," Gunter explained as he guided her towards the subway.

"That would be nice," Porsche muttered to herself in a wistful tone.

Gunter and Porsche were waiting on the subway as Porsche scratched the back of her head.

"Well, I never got to tell you theater freaks this but...I would like to say thank you for...well, saving me, I guess," Porsche struggled to find words to say she's grateful.

However, Gunter knew that from being an entitled person, she's slowly working on swallowing her pride. "It's no problem. Ve zeater freaks got to stick together. Ahm I right?"

Porsche smiled with a small blush. "Yeah."

Gunter and Porsche exchanged smiles as they waited for the subway train to take her back home.

Porsche frowned at the thought of leaving Catalonia. "I'm not exactly attached to this city but...maybe if I come back later, you can show me what's there to know everything about this city."

Gunter smiled brightly. "Of course, ahfter ziss issue is resolfed, I vould lofe to show you eferything zere is to know about ziss city."

Porsche grinned innocently. "Thank you, Gunter."

Gunter nodded.

What both the pig and the wolf were unaware of was that the shadows were ready for their attacks at both of them.

Gunter heard footsteps as he glanced behind him just in time to meet a fist slamming against his face, pushing him into the tracks.

"Gunter!" Porsche cried out but was held back when she attempted to save the pig from falling into the tracks.

Gunter looked up to see two wolves holding Porsche back and dragging her away. The flamboyant pig climbed back up onto the ledge and charged at one of the wolves holding Porsche hostage. When Gunter tackled one of the wolves, Porsche was able to elbow the other one in the throat and shoved him away from her.

Gunter and the wolf were wrestling each other as the wolf was stronger than the pig, pushing him towards the edge that led to the train tracks while Gunter held onto the arms of the wolf. The pig fell back, his head was leaned towards the tracks while his upper back felt the edge. The wolf took out a knife to jab at Gunter but it was held up against the pig's throat.

Porsche was able to handle the other wolf by pushing him down the stairs exiting out of the open-air subway. The female wolf turned her head with her yellow eyes widening in shock at Gunter's situation. She flicked her gaze at the incoming train, calculating that Gunter's head would be decapitated if he's stuck there for too long. With determination in her gaze, Porsche sprinted towards both the wolf and Gunter, pushing the wolf right over Gunter and into the tracks. She quickly pulled Gunter up to his feet as the wolf sat up on the tracks and was too late to dodge the incoming train as the train just run over him without stopping.

Both Gunter and Porsche had their eyes widened as they glanced around to see more wolves and hooded figures with guns. Porsche took Gunter by the wrist and led him out of the subway, running down the stairs to the exit. Their hearts were racing as they ran right back into the city of Catalonia. They sprinted through the sidewalks, taking sharp corners in streets that they don't remember and speeding down alleyways. The wolves and hooded assassins were chasing behind them as Porsche was able to lead Gunter towards another sharp corner while running through the citizens.

"Get somewhere safe!" Porsche shouted as the citizens were all looking at her in surprise. The citizens were shoved aside by the wolves as Porsche and Gunter knew they couldn't stop running. An idea sparked in Gunter as he noticed the theater ahead of him, across from the sidewalk they were running on.

"Porsche! Zis vay!" Gunter yelled to the wolf. It's his turn to guide the female wolf away from those other wolves. They crossed the street while cars were screeching their brakes when one of them hit one of the wolves chasing them. Porsche and Gunter hurried down the alleyway between a building and the theater as Gunter pulled her aside towards the back door, entering the backstage before the wolves could figure where they're going next.

Gunter and Porsche shut the back doors and blocked it as they peeked out of the windows, seeing the wolves running through the alleyway they just got out of. Their breaths were heavy from running through the city until they sighed in relief once the coast was clear.

"At least I got my daily exercise in," Porsche replied with a laugh.

Gunter chuckled. "Zhat was intense."

"Gunter!"

Gunter and Porsche glanced up to see Buster watching them with blue eyes widened in shock.

"Is everything okay?" Buster asked worriedly.

Gunter nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm like totally fine."

"Okay...I was just worried because you didn't answer your phone," Buster implied while taking out his phone to show Gunter.

Gunter smiled innocently. "Oh, that was you?"

Buster gave him a deadpan stare. "Yeah, I was wondering where you are." The koala glanced at Porsche. "Hey, Porsche...wait! I heard you were kidnapped."

"Yep...I was," Porsche said with a nod in confirmation.

Gunter stepped in. "I was only trying to take her back home. But we ran into a mishap."

Buster blinked his eyes. "Well, Porsche, you can stay here as long as you like."

Porsche smiled gently. "Thanks."

"Moon!" They heard Nooshy's voice as Buster turned to see Nooshy with Milla Star.

"Ah! Ms. Star! Great to see you again!" Buster stated happily.

"Um, Mr. Moon...can we talk somewhere private?" Milla requested the koala showman urgently.

Buster nodded his head awkwardly. "Uh, alright. Sure."

Buster led Milla upstairs towards his office while the others were left down there, clueless except for Nooshy.

~.~

Buster and Milla entered his office as he shut the door.

"Okay, Ms. Star, what do you want to talk about that's private?" Buster asked as he hopped onto his office chair.

Milla took deep breaths as she sat on the chair in front of his wooden desk. She bit back her words and breathed only a vowel, rethinking her words meticulously.

Buster arched a brow while waiting patiently for Milla to say something.

Milla sighed deeply. "Well, just today...I just discovered something that I think you should know too. You might not believe me or think I'm completely crazy but...I found out that I'm...that we--"

Buster blinked while tilting his head. "We what?"

Milla took another breath. "We both have the...same dad."

Buster blinked again but it's incredulously. "I'm sorry...I don't follow."

"Well, my dad's name is Arthur Star. That's on my birth certificate. However, I found out today that he changed his name to Arthur Moon, and...you were related to him. So...technically...we are half-siblings," Milla explained carefully, earning more confusion coming from the koala.

Buster not only blinked once but twice to understand what he's hearing. "I-I don't remember having a sister--"

"Dad...well, he left before I was born," Milla responded. "I don't think he knew that he got my mother pregnant."

Buster squinted at her with a brow raised. "Okay, so...you're saying that Dad got your mom pregnant---wait, how old are you?"

"Twenty-six," Milla replied.

"Wait, he must've got your mother pregnant way after I was born. That's...weird," Buster said while tapping on his chin. "So, Dad left before you were born because--"

"I don't know. I wasn't given a reason," Milla uttered sadly.

Buster tried to wrap his mind around it. "If we have the same Dad, then it's out of character of Dad to hook up with random girls and...well, leave the baby without a father. He's a kind and loving soul. Like, why would he do something like that unless he doesn't know that your mother is pregnant with you? But then again, why hook up with some random girl in the first place? Ugh, this is so hard to wrap my mind around."

Milla frowned sadly. "Sorry."

"No...it's fine. You did nothing wrong. I guess I don't know my dad as well as I thought I did," Buster said this with a low groan mostly to himself.

There's a pause. Before Milla could say anything to ease his conscience, Eddie entered the office.

"Hey, Buster, I--" Eddie paused to see Milla with his eyes wide in shock.

Buster immediately glanced up to see his sheep friend with a plastered smile. "What can I do for you, my perfectly best friend?!"

Eddie blinked and ignored Buster's compliment. "Uh...one of the fuses broke--"

"I'll get right on that!" Buster determined loudly as he rushed out of the office to clear his head.

There's a pause as Eddie turned to Milla.

"You told him something shocking, didn't you?" Eddie probed with a brow raised.

Milla nodded her head with her teeth clenched.

Eddie shrugged his shoulders. "Give him a day or two before he can wrap his brain around it."

Milla smiled a bit as she got up from her seat. "I hope he can wrap his mind around it."

Eddie walked beside Milla with a small smile. "He will if I know Buster."

Milla scooted closer to him, not to the point of touching him but to the point where she's in his bubble by a little bit. "Thanks--"

"Eddie," Eddie introduced himself.

"Eddie," Milla replied in a fond smile and walked past him, leaving the sheep in a blushing mess.

Eddie shook off the blush and followed quickly behind the snow leopard and koala hybrid. 

To Be Continued...