*Heyo! I'm back with another chapter of Past Troubles Remake!!! EEEEHHH!!! This is published on July 25, 2021. If you like this chapter, don't be afraid to vote and spam the comment section. That will be greatly appreciated! Enjoy!*

A familiar rattlesnake and his wolf henchmen approached the grand mansion as the doorbell was rung by his tail. When the door was prompted open by the penguin butler, the guns were raised while the snake slithered his tongue in and out of his mouth.

"Let us in," the rattlesnake growled.

The butler backed away to let the snake in with his wolf-henchmen.

"Oh look, it's Serpent Rattler, looking to talk," a familiar woman's voice spoke as the rattlesnake glanced up to see Nana Noodleman coming down the stairs in her elegant purple dress.

"Ah, the famous Nana Noodleman. The beauty in the theater and still a beauty to this day," Serpent, the rattlesnake, greeted with a sly smile.

Nana rolled her eyes while fanning herself with a purple open fan in her grasp. "Please, don't use such flattering dryly. I know you're here just to talk and not kill me with one of your dogs."

The wolves growled at the sheep, who just smirked.

"Huh, I guess wolves and dogs aren't so different after all," Nana muttered to herself.

Serpent slithered as he approached the bottom of the stairs. "I hear you funded for the show a couple of days ago. A splendid way to waste your money on a small local theater that wasn't supposed to exist."

"Are you here to talk business or make a threat? Because you're failing in both of those categories so far," Nana said with a deadpan stare at Serpent.

Serpent slithered as he let his large scaly body fit into the building. "I'm here to understand your reasoning. Your reason for behind buying back that theater that was supposed to be non-existent. Your reason for letting your little theater group go bigger than they should. Your reason for letting them out-perform me."

"Oh, I see what this is. You're just jealous because of how good the show is compared to your nasty ones. What's up with those poor girls dancing on those tiny little poles? Was that your idea of entertainment?"

"Entertainment is...subjective. What one could find entertaining would also be disgusting by the other. I make entertainment to trap families in a state of awe and fascination. The men liked to see women and be able to control them. The women liked to be flawless and wake up perfect. The children...well, don't they want something mind-numbing to escape from all the world's real problems? Heaven forbid, we want people to actually think when all we want was to make them addicted to what they see in front of them."

As Serpent was talking, the penguins were hiding in secret, getting out guns to protect their boss from the dangerous rattlesnake.

"Your little theater friends are running around, tampering with the way entertainment must be. Your grandson's little friend...what was his name? Buster Moon. He should've faded away but he...he didn't give up that easy."

Nana glared at Serpent. "And you're coming to me because?"

"Oh, Nana, you shouldn't ask questions you already know the answers to," Serpent replied with a cackle as the wolves raised their guns up at Nana.

Nana guffawed at the sight of the men pointing guns at her. "Oh, Serpent, you should know that I don't fear men who hid behind their weapons and their henchmen."

"Oh, I know that very well, dear Noodleman. But you would make an interesting model. Especially for an old sheep."

The wolves set their sights on the old sheep as Nana chuckled.

"Interesting model? I'm not the type to be controlled like your little puppet."

"Well, the offer still stands because I'm sure you don't want to join your petty theater friend's and family's death...or should I say execution? Execution should be a more fitting term. It's just for entertainment in front of a live audience though...and I'm sure that the people will never know that their bodies were ever real."

"Won't you get caught if you were to execute them?"

"Don't worry, the police is right under my tail." Serpent showed his tail with a needle sticking out.

Before anything happened, the penguin servants came out with guns loaded at the wolves and Serpent.

Nana gasped quietly in shock at the servants but she had to keep her unphased gaze on Serpent to make sure that she's not wavering any emotion in front of her enemy.

Serpent giggled. "Who's hiding behind their henchmen now?"

"As I can recall, I'm not the one who had the men so close," Nana said. "Here am I without a weapon or men to protect me. My servants here were just doing their civil duties."

Serpent smiled coyly. "Well, that's a mistake."

The wolves shifted their aim at the penguins and began pulling the trigger. The penguins fought back against the wolves to protect Nana from Serpent. Serpent's body was too large for Nana's beautiful mansion as Nana smirked a bit to herself. However, out of the corner of her eye, she ducked her head to see the rattling tail swung over her with a needle that almost landed on her shoulder if she hadn't been paying attention.

Typical.

Nana made her way back upstairs to her secret lounge room before Serpent could get his tail towards her.

Serpent hissed and made his way up the stairs, his body cracking the walls when he pressed against it.

Nana quickly approached the phone on her desk and dialed the number, hoping that number was still working.

The phone rang on top of a small wooden drawer next to Clay's bed in the hotel room he's staying at. The old lion groaned awake as he sat up and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Clay? You still have that old phone number?"

"Nana?...uh, yeah. What's going on?"

"Clay, listen to me very closely," Nana's petrified voice uttered, shocking Clay for a moment to see his once lover who wasn't afraid of anything to be all of the sudden afraid. "Serpent Rattler is the head of the Rattler Society. He's coming after everyone who had any connections with the Moon Theater. Including family members. You have to tell the others about this before they get captured too."

"Nana, where are you? Where do you live? I'll be there right now--"

"No, Clay, they're after you too. They're going to get you. Please, tell the others at the theater. Tell Buster Moon about everything that's going on. Now!"

"Nana!"

Meanwhile, at Nana's mansion, Nana hung up the phone and heard someone pounding on the door to her secret lounge. Nana took her small glass plate while sipping her last cup of tea before somebody broke in and put a cloth over her face, knocking her out and caused her to drop her glass plate and teacup, shattering it on the red luxurious carpet.

~.~

"Nana!!" Clay shouted as the line went dead. He breathed heavily as he hung up the phone and put it in the pocket of his red leather jacket. The lion heard something pulling up to the hotel he's staying in. He quickly looked out of the window to see the car with the symbol of Rattler Society.

Clay stepped away from the windows before the henchmen could spot him. He quickly got out of his hotel room and hurried down the hall, hoping to find the emergency exit. He heard noises of gunshots rumbling through the walls as Clay gasped in fear and turned to see the men's bathroom. He quickly closed the men's bathroom door and barricaded it immediately with a crowbar he found nearby.

The lion backed away from the door with deep breaths as he heard running footsteps. He stayed silent as the footsteps passed by the men's bathroom without anyone stopping. The coast was clear when Clay couldn't hear the footsteps.

The lion took a deep breath as he dialed the number quickly to Ash's phone. He waited through the ringtone until something picked up.

"Hey, this is Ash, leave your name and your number and I'll get right back to you. Peace out!" Clay heard Ash's voicemail while breathing deeply in horror.

"Ash, this is Clay. If you get this message, I might be captured by the time you call me back. Listen, the boss for the Rattler Society is called Serpent Rattler. And he's coming after all of you. Okay, they got Nana and now they're coming for me. They'll come for you and your friends. Whatever you do, don't hesitate to get out of the city as far as you can. Okay? Make sure you keep each other safe. I can't talk right now."

Clay hung up with a deep groan as he heard more footsteps, he knew they were lurking. He knew they weren't stupid enough to assume the old lion escaped by speed. When the lion couldn't hear any more footsteps, he dialed another number in his expanded contacts...hoping and praying that it would be answered this time.

~.~

Alfonso sat in the passenger seat of Meena's mother's car with Meena's mother driving and his girlfriend's grandparents at the back.

"I can't wait to see the look on Meena's face when we visit her in the theater," Alfonso started the conversation in a chirp.

"Ooh, such a lover boy," Meena's grandfather teased.

"Dad!" Meena's mother scolded playfully. "I think you two are cute together."

"Thank you," Alfonso said in a nod.

The young male elephant heard the phone ringing suddenly as he looked around the car and picked it up. It's an unknown number from Meena's phone...she must have forgot her phone in her mother's car when she's been taken home. Alfonso picked it up with some form of hesitation.

"Hello?"

"Alfonso?"

Alfonso recognized the voice instantly. "Mr. Calloway? Is everything okay--?"

"I don't have time to explain, you need to tell your girlfriend that the boss is called Serpent Rattler from Rattler Society. He's coming to get you and your girlfriend. He's coming to get your friends and family...pass this on!"

"Whoa, slow down, Mr. Calloway--"

"Just call me Clay."

There's an intense pause.

"Clay...what exactly is going on?"

Alfonso heard a pounding door in the background, earning a gasp from someone on the other end of the line.

"Alfonso...tell Buster Moon what I just said."

"Why didn't you just call him?"

"Because I don't have his number."

"Oh...well, that makes sense."

Alfonso heard the door breaking down from the other end of the line with a small gasp.

"Tell him now!" Were the last words Clay had said on the phone before the line went dead.

Alfonso gasped in horror as he tried to reach the number to realize that it's dead. He stared up ahead with enlarged eyes and shrunken pupils.

"What's the matter with you? You look like you've seen a ghost," Meena's grandfather snapped Alfonso out of his thought as Alfonso glanced up at Meena's mother.

"I hate to rush you. But you're going to need to go faster. We need to get to the theater right now."

"Whoa, Alfonso, we know that you're anxious to see Meena--"

Before any arguing or counter-arguing could start, a body plummeted right in front of Meena's mother's car with a splat, causing the elephants in the car to screech and Alfonso's girlfriend's mother to slam on her brakes hard. The car jerked to a stop in front of the body.

The elephants were breathing heavily as Alfonso and Meena's mother got out of the car to check on the body while the grandparents stayed behind in the car, paralyzed by fear.

Alfonso got closer to the body than Meena's mother while examining it. It's fresh and the blood surrounded the dead body on the concrete from the impact of the fall.

"Mom! Dad!"

Alfonso quickly turned around to see Meena's mother protecting her own parents against the wolves working with the Rattler Society. Alfonso gasped as he saw Meena's mother sedated by one of the wolves just like they did with her own parents, dragging their sleepy bodies out of the car. The wolves glanced to see Alfonso, who's frozen in fear at them.

Move, you idiot!

Before the wolves could attack the young male elephant, two arrows were shot towards two of the front wolves, stabbing them in the hearts and electrocuting them in the process. Alfonso gasped in shock as someone took his wrist. He turned to see an older male elephant with a rifle gesturing him to follow.

"Come on, kid!" The older elephant shouted as he shot at some of the wolves coming after them.

Alfonso didn't hesitate to follow him since there's not a lot of safe options opened to him. The men made a run down the alleyway as more arrows were shot towards the wolves and blowing them up in the process. Alfonso glanced back to see a mysterious male porcupine shooting arrows that were made from his quills.

Alfonso and the older elephant stopped by a huge white van as both of the elephants got in it. The older elephant took out the keys and jabbed them into the ignition. Once the van started, he shifted the gear to drive while readying his arms.

"Hold on tight, kid. We're going to get your friends." the older elephant began to press his foot on the gas and sped his way out of the alleyway, bumping into trashcans and overturning dumpsters in the process.

~.~

Meanwhile, in the theater, the theater gang couldn't practice without thinking about that cheetah and Buster. Was she always this dangerous or was it because of the hallucinogen?

Before anyone could say anything, they heard rumbling coming from underneath the stage. The animals, including Johnny's father, Barry, and Stan gazed at the opening of the trapdoor, not sure what the noise was coming from.

They readied their stances as the noises came closer and closer until the hatch under the stage opened to reveal Rosita's piglets.

Rosita smiled brightly. "Kids!"

The kids were sniffling and some were to go as far as sobbing. Rosita instantly knew in her mother's instincts that something was wrong.

"Kids? What's wrong?" Rosita cooed as she came towards her twenty-five kids and soothed them.

"Daddy was taken by meanie heads," Gail, the youngest piglet, sobbed.

"Yeah! Dad told us to avoid anything with this symbol on it," Caspar, the oldest piglet, replied while showing his mother a pin with the Rattler Society on it.

Rosita looked at the pin with a gasp while the theater gang surrounded her and their eyes widened along with hers.

"They got Norman," Johnny muttered to himself.

Nooshy blinked. "That's...wow. What's going on? Why did they take Norman?"

"Didn't he say that he used to work for them?" Porsche recalled.

Ash took her phone out to see a missed call from Clay. She's able to access the voicemail on her phone as she began to listen to it, having it on speaker mode for everyone to hear.

"Ash, this is Clay. If you get this message, I might be captured by the time you call me back. Listen, the boss for the Rattler Society is called Serpent Rattler. And he's coming after all of you. Okay, they got Nana and now they're coming for me. They'll come for you and your friends. Whatever you do, don't hesitate to get out of the city as far as you can. Okay? Make sure you keep each other safe."

Ash gasped when the message ended instantly. The porcupine glanced up to see the others listening to it as well with broadened eyes.

Johnny blinked. "We have to tell Mr. Moon."

Before anyone could object, Johnny rushed up the stairs to tell his boss what he heard.

"Vhat are ve going to do?" Gunter asked timidly.

Johnny's father looked around the theater to hear sirens wailing outside. "Bloody Mary, it's the cops!"

"Whoa, whoa, what did we do wrong?" Mike replied defensively while holding his mistress by his side.

Porsche twitched her pointy wolf ears to hear the cops walking outside. The party expected the cops to knock on the door and showed them a warrant. But...in this case, they heard gunshots breaking through the glass.

With a gasp, Johnny's father ran across the auditorium as he barricaded the door. His gaze lingered out of the round window on the doors of the auditorium to see the cops were not really...cops. Well, they had their blue uniforms but Johnny's father had been in prison for quite a while. Most of the cops there were rhinos and pigs...but not these guys. These guys are wolves with guns pointed everywhere.

"Make sure to bring them out of this theater alive," one of the wolves ordered as Johnny's father gasped more. He quickly climbed up to the balcony and barricaded the doors that lead into the balconies. Even the special guest balcony was closed off.

Johnny's father went back to the group with urgency. "Barry, start the truck!"

Barry nodded in obedience as he rushed out of the theater through the back door.

Johnny's father looked to Rosita and her twenty-five kids and then to Stan. "Is there another car where we can fit the kids?"

"Yeah," Stan replied with a nod.

"Good. Get it out of the garage. Quickly!"

Stan nodded as he rushed off after Barry.

Ash noticed the doors pounding while glancing at her friends. "What's happening?"

"I think we just need to run for our lives," Nooshy muttered to herself.

Meanwhile, Buster and Eddie glanced outside to see more cops showing up from Buster's office.

"Chirea...I think the cops are after you," Buster uttered in fear.

Chirea sat up from the couch. "The cops?"

"Yeah."

"Buster...the cops worked for the Rattler Society," Chirea replied.

Buster and Eddie glanced at each other in shock. Before either of them could question how or why this was the case, Johnny entered the office.

"Mr. Moon, the Rattler Society is after us! They got Nana and Clay and now they're coming after us," Johnny informed urgently.

"They got Nana?" Eddie's voice was shocked that they even got to his grandmother.

"And Clay! And Norman! We need to go!" Johnny replied with a sense of fear.

Chirea tried to stand up while her legs wobble. "I...I can fight them off."

She stumbled almost fell to the ground as Johnny caught her and lifted her up off of her feet.

"Yeah, you're going to need more than an hour to recover," Johnny replied.

Chirea groaned deeply while arching a brow. "How are you lifting me up? I thought I was heavy."

"Eh, you're not that heavy," Johnny said with a shrug.

Chirea smirked at Eddie. "You're weak."

Eddie rolled his eyes at Chirea as Johnny ran out of the office with Chirea in his arms. Buster and Eddie followed after them.

Meanwhile, Maya and Ms. Crawly were back from the tea shop while noticing the cop cars right in front of the theater.

"Uh, oh," Ms. Crawly uttered as they both looked into the broken-through entrance of the theater to see the cops pounding the doors. They turned to look at Maya and Ms. Crawly.

"Are they going to hurt us?" Maya whispered to Ms. Crawly.

They saw the cops' hands on weapons.

Ms. Crawly nodded her head. "Looks like it."

Maya took Ms. Crawly by the wrist and ran away from the theater before the cops could pull out their weapons to shoot at them.

Maya and Ms. Crawly sprinted down the alleyway as the red door that led backstage was prompted open. Johnny appeared while having Chirea in his arms. His father was right behind as the young gorilla got out first.

Johnny's father got out his shotgun and began shooting the police chasing the women as the theater gang made their way out of the theater and ran as fast as they could down the alleyway.

The black truck, driven by Barry, awaited them by the end of the alleyway as Johnny was the first to climb in and placed Chirea in the pick-up. Ash, Eddie, Mike, Nancy, Nooshy, and Johnny's father reached Barry's truck as Stan arrived with a huge green truck. Herman turned to see Ms. Crawly and helped her by grabbing her hand and led her to the green truck with twenty-five piglets rushing up to the huge truck. They all fit inside of the truck as Rosita, Porsche, Meena, Herman, Ms. Crawly, Milla, Milla's bodyguards, and Gunter joined in the green truck with Stan.

Buster and Maya sprinted towards the black truck while Eddie grabbed them and buckled their seatbelts at the back of the truck.

"Go! Go!" Johnny's father demanded as the disguised police cars began to chase them.

Barry pressed the gas pedal hard and the vehicle veered off with Stan following them in the green truck.

~.~

The cars swerved through the streets as Johnny was in the pick-up with Eddie, Ash, Mike, Nancy, and Chirea along with his father. The Rattler Society cars were chasing them as Stan was driving his green truck through the traffic.

Johnny's father glanced over at Stan and folded his hands around his mouth. "We need to split!"

He used his big hands to motion Stan to separate as Stan nodded his head in understanding and swerved away from Barry's truck. Milla's bodyguards, Tim and McGraw, had their handguns out as McGraw stayed with Milla to protect her while Tim was shooting at the wolves coming at them with sleek black cars.

Rosita turned to her kids in Stan's truck. "Kids! I need you to duck your heads and cover them!"

The kids obeyed their mother as they did as instructed. Rosita peeked into the back window to see half of the cars chasing Johnny and the others in Barry's truck while the other half chased after them.

"Stan, go faster!" Gunter shouted.

"This is how fast I can go!" Stan yelled back as the bullets ricochet against the green paint of the truck.

"Oh, dear!" Ms. Crawly gasped in panic.

Stan swerved the truck into the alleyway while Tim shot one of the wolves driving the vehicle, causing the vehicle to tumble down the street. However, another car came by them, colliding them by the side.

Meena, Porsche, Milla, and the kids screeched in panic as one of the men in the car pulled his gun out from the driver's seat.

Out of nowhere, a white van crashed right into the sleek car. Stan quickly steered the wheel move out of the way so that the van could crash the car against the building, breaking the front glass of the shop. Luckily, no one got hurt.

Stan stopped the car with a brow raised at someone helping them.

Meena gasped when she saw Alfonso in the passenger seat, who smiled at her in excitement.

The older elephant was driving the white van as he came beside the green truck and rolled down the window.

"Follow me!" The older elephant shouted as the van zoomed ahead of them. Stan pressed the gas pedal and followed after the white van without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Barry drove the streets of Catalonia like a crazed maniac as Johnny's father was shooting at the cars chasing them from the pick-up. Johnny had his head ducked down while watching over to see if Chirea was alright. Eddie and Ash looked up at Johnny's father in shock while Nooshy couldn't help but smile up at him.

However, Johnny's father ran out of bullets for the shotgun, causing the huge gorilla to groan deeply.

"Barry, are there any more bullets?!" Johnny's father shouted but Barry couldn't focus off the road.

Buster heard the question as he unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed up to the passenger side. He looked through the dash and opened the compartment to see that there are no bullets.

"Oh no."

Before anyone could think, an arrow flew through the air and penetrated the car, blowing it up in the process. Everyone on the truck looked around as a mysterious porcupine archer landed right on the truck.

Ash gasped when he removed his mask and revealed his mohawk quills. "Cliff?"

"Who?" Nooshy uttered in confusion.

"Hey, Ash," Cliff replied in a friendly tone as he took out two arrows and pulled back his bow with them attached to the strong string. He released the arrows towards the cars behind it. They landed on the ground as the cars passed through it, electrocuting the vehicles and blowing them up in the process.

Maya unbuckled her seatbelt as Buster approached her.

"Who's shooting arrows?" Buster questioned.

Outside of the truck, hooded assassins hopped onto Barry's truck next to Cliff. However, Cliff was able to fight them off by sticking one of the arrows to neutralize one of them and kicked the other one in the gut. He knocked both of the assassins off of the truck, causing them to tumble onto the street.

Barry was driving near the dock as he zoomed towards the water and swerved to drive along the edge, hoping that the Rattler Society won't follow them there.

Buster and Maya opened the back window and climbed into the pick-up with the rest of the gang.

"Watch out!" Mike shouted as everyone looked to see the black van crashing into them by the side, pushing them towards the ocean water.

Out of quick reaction, Cliff shot the driver as the van lost control and ended up veering off the edge along with Barry's truck to plummet into the ocean water. The truck crashed into the water along with the van, immediately submerging under the water.

Buster held onto Maya while the truck floated down towards the sandy base. Johnny picked Chirea up and swam up from the pick-up while Mike and Nancy were carried by Nooshy to get out of the water. Ash was helped by Cliff while Eddie quickly carried both Buster and Maya and quickly swam up towards the surface. Johnny's father swam around the truck while yanking the door open and helped Barry out of the truck.

Johnny was the first to popped out of the water while crawling towards a nearby beach and carrying Chirea into the shore. Nooshy swam up the water while carrying Mike and Nancy, who were shivering in their clothes.

Ash and Cliff swam up to the shore while Ash had disbelief look in her eyes at Cliff. After the porcupines, Eddie carried Buster and Maya while stepping into the shore, his legs wobbling as he collapsed onto the shore with the koalas in his arms.

Johnny's father and Barry emerged out of the water while shaking the water off of them.

Nooshy was freezing to death. "That was fun."

"I know right," Johnny said while shaking his head to get the water out of his ears.

They heard oncoming vehicles as they all turned their heads to see a familiar green truck and a white van coming towards the shore.

Johnny gasped and recognized the older elephant. "Derek?"

Derek, the older elephant, leaned from the driver's side. "Get on! All of you!"

"Where are we going?" Buster asked the older elephant.

The older elephant, Derek, smiled softly. "To a safe place."

To Be Continued...