*Hey, guys!!! I'm back with another chapter of my version of Sing! YAY!!!! This is published on September 16, 2021. If you guys like this chapter, don't be afraid to vote and comment. That would be greatly appreciated! Enjoy!*

At the theater, Buster switched off the lights on the stage and powered off the speakers so that no one could tread on the puddles on the stage and get zapped. While Eddie, Mizuki, Ms. Crawly, Mike, and Nancy carried the speakers upstairs away from the water, Buster attempted to fix it with duct tape. Ms. Crawly walked out of backstage to see Buster up on the ceiling drafts.

"I know a handyman who can repair the rooftop, sir," Ms. Crawly stated.

"It's fine, Ms. Crawly, I appreciate the--" Buster stopped midsentence as if something just hit him. An idea that could blow the audiences. His gaze was shifted upwards towards the grey clouds pouring down rain on his head. He then looked to see buckets of water all around him.

Buster smiled as the idea was slowly coming together in his brain. "On second thought, Ms. Crawly, we could use a handyman! Go ahead and give him a call!"

Ms. Crawly grinned brightly as she took out her phone and called the handyman she knew from a few nights ago.

A few minutes passed by as Buster and Ms. Crawly were near the stage as a familiar lizard walked into the auditorium with his umbrella set aside the doorway.

The lizard smiled fondly as he walked up to Ms. Crawly. "It's good to see you again, Karen."

"You too, Herman," Ms. Crawly replied with a nod.

Out of politeness, Herman, the lizard, took Ms. Crawly's hand gently and kissed it.

Buster tilted his head in confusion until he came to the conclusion that Herman must have been one of her dates.

Herman lifted his head up and glanced at Buster. "And you must be the famous Buster Moon Karen talks so highly of."

Buster smiled and nodded. "Yeah. It was nice to meet you, sir."

Herman grinned politely. "It was nice to meet you too."

"You're a handyman, right?" Buster asked.

Herman nodded his head. "That's right."

"Okay, perfect. I got something to show you!" Buster replied excitedly, going straight to business as he ran up the stage while the old reptile couple waited for the koala showman.

Buster had the blueprint out that was protected from the water as he laid it out on the ground of the auditorium. "Okay, this is something I've been keeping for a while in my office. I want to put on something spectacular. Something that the audience won't forget."

"The talent show?"

"Yes...but the stage needs an upgrade. If you know what I mean," Buster replied with a small chuckle.

Herman glanced up at the hole in the ceiling. "Yes, I see. Do you want me to fix that?"

"Not at the moment...we're going to need that hole."

"Are you sure about this, Mr. Moon?" Ms. Crawly asked as she stared at the blueprint.

"We need something unforgettable, spectacular. And...And this is going to blow the audience away!" Buster replied excitedly. The koala looked at the old lizard. "Do you think you can do it?"

Herman pondered for a moment. "I think I can."

"Great! It's settled then. Let's get to work!" Buster determined happily.

~.~

"I feel bad for Ash," Johnny uttered as both Meena and he were walking down the sidewalk, on their way to Meena's home.

Meena frowned at the thought of Ash crying alone in the cottage after catching Lance cheating on her. "Yeah...I didn't like Lance from the start. In high school, he always makes fun of disabled kids and kids who suffered from a terminal illness."

Johnny glared ahead of him. "What a prickly cactus."

"For real. I hope Ash gets better."

"If she needs us, we'll be right there with her."

Meena nodded her head in agreement. They arrived at the big yellow house that's not two-story at all. It's enough to fit the elephants into the modern home. Meena and Johnny went up the steps of the porch to see that the house went dark.

"Maybe they went somewhere," Meena replied with a shrug as she took out her keys to the house. "Hey, thanks for walking me home."

"It's no problem. You can't be too careful," Johnny responded with a small smile at her.

Meena nodded her head. "Yeah. Thanks, Johnny."

Johnny smiled more widely while watching Meena opened her front door and turned on the lights. It was sudden that the family of elephants jumped out of their hiding spots, causing Meena and Johnny to screech in shock.

"Surprise!!!" The family of elephants shouted.

Johnny peeked inside to see two elder elephants and a woman elephant, which he could assume to be Meena's mother.

"Mom!" Meena yelped.

"Happy Birthday, baby girl!" Meena's mother greeted while hugging her daughter as tightly as she could.

Meena smiled a bit. "Mom, that's sweet."

Meena's mother gasped in realization. "Oh no, I just realized that you must've used your voice today--"

"Oh no, I didn't. We were off early actually since part of the stage flooded," Meena uttered the answer.

"Oh no--"

"Don't worry, they'll get it fixed," Meena reassured her mother.

"That's great. And who's this?" Meena's mother noticed Johnny behind her.

Johnny waved politely. "Hello, Mrs--"

"Just call me Dorothy," Meena's mother, Dorothy, replied sweetly.

"I'm Johnny," Johnny introduced.

"Nice to meet you!"

The elder male elephant came up and moved past his daughter and his granddaughter with squinted eyes. He's wearing glasses and a green sweater while using his cane to get by.

"Are you Meena's friend?" the elder elephant, assuming to be Meena's grandfather, asked.

"Yes," Johnny answered with an unsure gaze at the older elephant.

"Great! You're automatically invited to the party!" The elder elephant took Johnny by the wrist and pulled him inside, earning a surprised yelp from the gorilla.

"Whoa, Grandpa, take it easy," Meena uttered in shock.

Johnny glanced at Meena in confusion as the elder grandfather let go of Johnny's wrist and the front door was closed by Meena and her mother.

Meena gave an apologetic look, to which Johnny gave her a reassuring gaze that it's alright.

"Can't wait for you to try my daughter's chocolate cake!" Meena's grandfather replied excitedly while sitting down at the table with his elderly wife.

Meena's mother, Dorothy, blushed. "Oh, Dad, stop. This is for Meena. I'll bring out the cake for you!"

Meena and Johnny sat at the dinner table with Meena's grandparents.

"So, how did you two meet?" Meena's grandmother asked in curiosity.

"Oh...uh, we met at the theater," Meena answered.

Johnny nodded his head in agreement.

"What's your name again, sonny?" Meena's grandfather questioned.

"Johnny."

"Alright, Johnny, what kind of acts are you doing for the talent show?" Meena's grandfather probed with excitement.

Johnny gave a weak grin while scratching the back of his head. "Well, I play the piano and sing."

"Ooh, I can't wait to see your performance as well as Meena's!" her grandmother replied excitedly.

"I think you both are going to do great!" her grandfather added excitedly. "What's your family like? Are they the musical type or the rough type?"

There's an awkward pause as Johnny's eyes grew comically wide while he darted his gaze around Meena's family. This piqued Meena's interest as she watched the gorilla shift uncomfortably.

Johnny cleared his throat. "Well, mostly the rough type. There are a few that weren't rough at all. Like my mother. She-uh-she used to play the piano and sing for local restaurants back in the day."

"Wow," Meena's grandparents cooed.

"Yeah...she's the one who inspired me to be a pianist and a singer."

With that, Johnny frowned while gazing down at the empty plate. Meena noticed a frown present on her friend's face. However, the family turned to see Dorothy lighting up the candles and carrying the cake. She began to sing as the others joined in singing to Meena, who just blushed.

"Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday, dear Meena.

Happy Birthday to you!"

Dorothy set the cake right in front of Meena. Meena smiled brightly when they finished singing.

"Go on and make your wish, baby girl," Dorothy encouraged excitedly.

Meena smiled while closing her eyes to think of a wish. Her wish was a mystery to the people who were sitting around her, even to Johnny.

Once she made her wish, she blew out the candles with her trunk, earning claps and cheers from her family and her gorilla friend.

"What did you wish for?" Meena's grandmother asked in curiosity.

"I can't say what I wish for. It'll ruin the wish," Meena stated playfully to her grandparents.

Everyone in the yellow house chuckled at Meena's statement as Johnny watched her enjoying her family's presence, envying just a tiny bit of that moment with his own mother. However, the gorilla was happier for Meena than jealous. If he were to make any wish, he would wish to find out what she wished. Maybe she wished for something that can be inherited or...maybe it's a wish that could never be reached.

The party was small and it went a little longer than anticipated with Johnny talking about Meena and Ash and him, just working together. Meena would talk about her boss and how he seemed to be unwell for the past couple of days. Both Johnny and Meena were getting worried about Ash and Buster.

Buster seemed to be in a weird mood today, tensing up and shouting, which he wouldn't normally do. He's probably stressed about the equipment or about the hyenas coming to attack him as well as the others. Johnny wished he could read minds and understand Buster, just to see what was up or what he could do to help. But, that power will never be obtained in the real world.

Ash, on the other hand, just caught her boyfriend cheating on her and practically yelled at him. She had to throw him out of the house along with the other woman he was with. Meena and Johnny wanted to comfort her but she wouldn't let them. She wanted to be alone. Now, they're not sure if she's going to be okay all by herself.

About a couple of hours later, Johnny headed out of the door into the rainstorm.

"I hope you have fun," Meena uttered from behind him.

Johnny nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm sorry to leave so soon. By the way, your mother's chocolate cake was delicious."

"Thank you."

There's a brief pause between the elephant and the gorilla.

"Are you sure you don't want us to give you a ride home?" Meena insisted innocently.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure."

"Grandpa says you'll get pneumonia."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine. If I do end up getting pneumonia, it'll be for a little bit."

Meena gave an unsure frown. "I don't want to force you but...okay...then...I hope I can see you tomorrow."

"Same here," Johnny responded with a smile.

Meena sighed a little bit as she was about to open the door until she stopped for a moment. "You know, your mom must've been a remarkable woman."

Johnny's smile grew softer. "She was."

Meena bit her lips. "Goodnight, Johnny."

"Goodnight."

The elephant hesitantly closed the door as she went back to her family to celebrate further into her birthday.

Meanwhile, Johnny sighed gently and his hazel eyes drifted off to gaze at the rai=n pouring down into the streets, making the cement and the roads glisten in the dimly lit sky. The dreary clouds continued to roll by, pouring the water droplets that sparkled from the lights of the streetlamps. The music was made through the sound of drops from the rain, rolling off of rooftops of houses in the small neighborhood.

Johnny frowned in thought for just a moment. He didn't want to go home, not yet at least. He wanted to do something before coming back home. The teenage gorilla took out his phone before stepping out into the rain and turning it on for it to reveal the location of Gunter's phone. It's still at the warehouse, blinking as if it's tracking it still. The gorilla knew what he could do next.

~.~

On the dark rainy night, Johnny finally arrived at the warehouse with his clothes drenched and fur soaked from being out in the rain. He should've taken a car with him but if he's going to break into a building...just to get a phone out, it's only going to be a short trip.

Or so he thought...

Johnny kept an eye out for the guards patrolling the warehouse as he scanned for an entrance of the building. He spotted the side door entrance to which there was no one nearby.

He skulked in the shadows and reached the side door to the warehouse in the stormy night. The gorilla slipped into the building while shaking the water droplets off of his body, still soaked from the rain. He pulled out his phone, now in a plastic bag to prevent it from getting wet in the rain. When he turned it on, the phone guided him throughout the building.

Johnny heard voices, causing his gaze to wander through the building to make sure that no one was nearby. The gorilla managed to find a basket ahead of him as he looked down and pulled out his phone to see Gunter's phone buried underneath the pile of junk.

The gorilla quickly took out Gunter's phone from the basket and slipped it into the plastic bag. He heard footsteps nearby as he scurried behind the large metal cargos with quiet breaths and a steady heartbeat.

He peeked around the corner to only see a silhouette of a familiar antelope walking with a stranger---Johnny couldn't make out the shape.

"When's the twenty-five million coming in?" He heard a familiar snarly voice question, causing Johnny to widen his eyes at the sudden remembrance of the heist planned. Was Babeesh two steps ahead of them?

"It will come when it comes. Once the gorilla is distracted by doing this 'last' heist with his gang, you can go in and reclaim your lovely girlfriend--what's her name? Mizuki? Am I right?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

Johnny gasped with more wide-eyed shock. Was this heist planned before his father even came across it? More questions lingered in the young teenage gorilla's mind.

"I want to kill Buster Moon too," Babeesh growled. "I want to finish what I started."

There's a brief pause as Johnny shook his head while listening to the conversation.

"Whoa there, boss. The time will come for you to kill him...is it risky? Yes, especially if you are dealing with a celebrity--"

"Moon's far from a celebrity. No one will miss his corpse."

That's not true!!!!

Johnny wanted to shout that so badly but he knew he'll get caught. He began to make his way towards the exit while hearing more and more of the conversation. He didn't pay attention to half the words they say other than 'Buster' and 'others' as he finally made his exit, running through the rain as fast as he could before getting caught by somebody nearby. Unbeknownst to him...the two silhouettes Johnny saw noticed a wet footprint on the floor of the warehouse...someone was definitely here.

~.~

Buster, Ms. Crawly, Herman, Mike, Nancy, Mizuki, and Eddie had been working their tails off in the theater, pounding nails into the wood, using up the glass from each of the rooms to create something amazing, and letting the water from the pouring rain flowed in the pipes to fill up the buckets.

It took hours upon hours to take down the old stage and build a new stage, covering it in huge duvets. Buster had a bright smile on his face as he finally made the finishing cover of the stage. This was going to be a surprise to both the theater gang and the audience who were going to see their shows in a few months.

While everyone was looking up at the stage in awe along with Buster, Eddie didn't seem sure if this idea was the greatest.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Eddie asked logically.

"I've never been so sure in my life!" Buster answered excitedly.

Mike chuckled. "I can't wait to see those people's faces once they saw this."

Nancy tilted her head with an unsure frown. "Don't you think it's going to break if we have one of our heavy performers on stage?"

"It'll be sturdy enough for the heavy performers. Otherwise, it'll flood the whole theater," Herman pointed out.

"That is so much water," Mizuki responded with a small gasp in surprise.

"Don't worry, dear, as long as it's contained, we should be okay," Ms. Crawly reassured the young antelope.

Buster smiled grandly, excited to show the rest of the theater gang. Just need a few finishing touches to make it look spectacular and unforgettable, and the show will be hit just by the stage alone.

"Moon," he heard a familiar voice calling him as he turned around along with his friends.

They watched the tall brown-furred llama walking down the auditorium with a sad gaze.

Buster gasped in realization. "Oh shoot! I'm so sorry, Judith, it's been busy--"

"Moon...I-I got some bad news for you," Judith interrupted him.

Buster tilted his head. "What-What is it?"

Judith lowered her gaze while sighing deeply. "Look, Moon, I work for the bank--not a charity stream...and the bank...they want to repossess this property since you couldn't pay back the loans and you wouldn't settle in your accounts."

"Wh-What?!" Everyone else around Buster gasped in shock.

"You're not serious," Mike scoffed at the llama.

"But...I told them that they need to give you guys time since you are working on the talent show. They said that they will wait till the end of this month for you to either settle in your accounts or they will repossess this property," Judith continued to explain.

Buster lost his hopeful smile as the world around him came crashing down. He didn't know what to say or respond to the news given to him. His mind was in a blank, with the wheels churning in his brain too fast to the point where it wouldn't stop unless someone slaps him out of it. Buster could only see Judith's lips moving but nothing came out of it. Just empty syllables.

"Moonster," Mike was able to snap Buster out of his trance as the koala blinked and looked up at Mike, who cocked his head towards the bank teller softly. Buster blinked again and glanced up at Judith.

Judith frowned. "Did you hear me?"

Buster was frozen. "Ye-Yeah...I-I think so...Wh-What did you say?"

Judith sighed deeply. "This talent show you're working on is either going to be canceled or...you push the performances to the end of this month."

"Wh-What? That's insane," Buster uttered, almost angrily.

Judith bit her lip. "I hate to be the barrel of bad news but that's the way it is."

With a sigh, the llama got up from her seat and made her way toward the exit of the auditorium. She stopped from the doorway as she glanced at Buster.

"I hope you know that I do believe in you, Mr. Moon. Even though your shows flopped, I really do believe in you. But I can't say that the bank thinks the same," Judith replied sadly as she got out her umbrella and opened it when she got outside of the building.

Buster stared out into the rain to see it pouring lightly now, no longer coming down hard. The koala turned around to face his crewmates, who were staring at him with questioning gazes.

"What are you going to do, Mr. Moon?" Ms. Crawly was the first to ask.

Buster frowned with his ears drooped down. "Honestly...I don't know."

~.~

The sun rose to show off the new day, with the pavements covered in puddles and the water drained into the sewers. A new day, a new slate...however, the new slate of a day was linked to what happened last night. Buster couldn't sleep from the sounds of rain on the rooftops and the thoughts screaming at him.

"What are you going to do?!"

Buster's anxiety caused him to be frozen still. His brain worked up ideas. For one, he could cancel the whole show altogether but that's not going to end well since the theater group was just getting started on their roads towards their big dreams and the stage was set up to wow the audience. For two, he could keep the show up but move the show to the end of the month but that option was also not going to go well since it's going to put more stress on the performers and the stage crew. The end of the month is just a couple of weeks away, starting this new week. Wait, that means that the show will be premiered by the end of next week.

Buster groaned in frustration as he just stared up at the wood of his desk drawer. He rubbed his face in circular motions just to get the cobwebs out of his brain.

"Buster?"

Buster heard a familiar female voice coming from outside of the desk drawer.

"Are you awake?"

"Yeah, give me a moment," Buster answered as he got dressed up in a white buttoned-up shirt with rolled-up sleeves. He didn't feel like putting too much effort into dressing himself up. He just left out the bowtie and the blue waistcoat. He opened the drawer and peeked out to see Mizuki waiting for him. He crawled out of the drawer and hopped onto the office chair. He closed it with a frown on his face as he just stared down at his desk.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah...just...I couldn't sleep."

"Me either. But if I know Buster Moon, he always finds a way out of the situation," Mizuki complimented.

Buster smiled genuinely. "Thanks, Mizuki. You always know what to say."

Mizuki went over to one of the chairs and lifted it up to have it seated next to Buster in his office chair. She took his seat next to him. "Are you stressed?"

"No...I mean, maybe a little."

There's a brief pause.

"Alright, I'm stressed," Buster finally answered with a sigh. "I'm stressed about...everything. The show, the performers, the bank, the loans, what songs they will perform---what if the show doesn't work out and the bank is going to repossess this property anyways? What if I...what if I fail in my dreams of becoming the greatest showman? What if the real me...isn't being the showman? I mean, just the fact that I'm still here despite being broke just says a lot of things. What if I'm not the guy my dad wanted me to be? What if I'm just a facade? And...everything I built is going to be torn down...just like everything else in my life."

There's a pause when Buster was forgetting that Mizuki was in the room with him for a moment when he's venting.

Mizuki was silent for a brief moment, pondering about what to say to her boss, who was a dear friend of hers now. "What do you want to be?"

"Hm?"

"You're talking about being this guy your dad wanted you to be...but what about you?" Mizuki asked gently. "What do you want to be?"

Buster frowned while thinking about her question. "I...I've been wanting this since I was a kid. I wanted to be the greatest showman that the world has ever seen. You know when I told you and everybody else about what Dad says...all of this talk of pursuing your dreams and dream big dreams."

Mizuki smiled fondly and nodded her head excitedly.

"Well...Dad never said that," Buster uttered sadly, his blue eyes drifting off on the desk.

Mizuki sat there with a frown on her face. "Does he ever say anything opposite of what you say--?"

Buster shook his head. "No...No, never. In fact, my father was just a person with big dreams that he gave up because of me and Mom. But he never blamed me for anything of that sort. Although, hearing about his dream to become the world's best craftsman and how he longed for his name in the stars...just kind of made me feel like I was a weight. Do you know how I told you and Eddie once that Dad worked hard for twenty years to help me buy this place?"

Mizuki nodded her head a bit more hesitantly.

"Well...I lied about that too. Dad worked at the car wash but he died getting hit by a car before he could know anything about my dreams," Buster replied sadly. "I worked at the car wash for a little while but...it got me involved with bad people. I-I ran away from those bad people and attended college...and that's how I met Eddie. Ms. Crawly was a close family friend of ours and she was willing to help me out with anything I needed. Even if it's being a secretary for the Moon Theater. I paid her back for all the years she took care of me so, I was trying to take care of her as a way to repay her. And...then you came along and we were working on shows that flopped...big time. And then...we're here now."

Mizuki gazed down on the wooden floor while letting the silence settle in. "Is there any particular reason why you lie about your father?"

Buster had his ears dropped down more. "I guess I want to...create this facade that I'm...I'm just this happy-go-lucky person. And if I somehow show any signs of sadness or anything...things tend to take a turn for the worse."

"Like what?"

Buster looked up into her hazel eyes with a sad gaze. "Just...worse things that could happen. Like getting hit by a car...or...be hunted down by those same bad people I left behind."

Mizuki softly gazed at Buster.

Buster lowered his gaze back down at his desk. "For so long, I've been running from...everything. But no matter what...it always catches up to me. I could never outrun it. No matter what I do...I'll never get rid of the pain."

Mizuki scooted closer to the koala while reaching her hoof out and gently grab his hand. Buster darted his glance at his hand being held by Mizuki's then gazed back up into her brown eyes.

Mizuki softly smiled at him. "I don't think anyone could get over the pain until they put it to rest. When Babeesh goes home and drinks every day, he thinks it's soothing the pain but he doesn't realize that it only comes back to him stronger when he's sober. The results were...pretty terrifying. Pain is a funny thing. It could range from physical to emotional. And you don't realize that you're in pain until something so small boils up and you just let your rage go. I'm surprised you've held in this much pain for so long, Buster. I don't think I can be able to hold my pain in longer than that."

Buster sighed while lowering his gaze down to the floor. "It comes back worse...just as you said. But...they come in form of nightmares...sometimes I see my dad just mangled in the street after being hit by a car. Sometimes I see nothing but neon lights. And sometimes...I get flashes of memories of when I was with those bad people. And I never want to go back there."

The crack in his voice at the end of his last sentence caught the antelope's attention. Mizuki frowned when she saw that Buster was trembling, holding in all the emotions. The antelope reached her other hoof onto Buster's shoulder, gentle in her touch as she brought her hoof under her chin and lifted it up to see Buster's eyes starting to tear up. Buster was really trying to hold in all the tears, his body shaking.

Mizuki scooted forward and hugged him, who gasped in shock. Buster froze up, not sure if he should hug her back or not.

"You don't have to hold it in anymore, Buster. It's okay to let them go," Mizuki whispered sweetly while hugging him.

Buster breathed heavily as he clenched his teeth as if he was trying so hard to not cry in front of her. He finally broke as he clutched onto her like a lifeline, crying quietly into her shoulders. He didn't know he needed this release and he never would do this for anyone...not even with Eddie.

The koala was almost breathless from sobbing so much as he felt good about opening up...finally, after all of those years.

Buster opened his eyes a bit while he looked to see Mizuki pushing her head into his. The koala cuddled on her neck as their bodies were wrapped around each other. His body began to calm down as he let out a few whimpers to end the sobs.

Buster smiled as they broke away from each other and gazed softly into each other's eyes.

Out of nowhere, a piece of saxophone music played in the background and both Mizuki and Buster's faces instantly turned red. They quickly turned to see Mike swaying to the music he was playing on the saxophone.

"Mike, I swear I'm going to destroy that thing!" Buster barked.

Mike stopped playing the notes with a giggle. "You'll never know when you need the saxophone for emergencies. Besides, you left your door unlocked again, Moonster."

Mizuki rolled her eyes with a red hue in her cheeks while Buster's face was just as red as hers. Buster noticed that he was still holding her hand as he blushed madly at the contact. Mizuki noticed this as well as they both just let go of each other's hands.

Buster looked away from the female antelope, trying to get rid of the blush on his face while Mizuki smiled a bit at the koala.

In this pause, Buster finally made a decision in his brain that will change his and everybody else's life forever.

"Mizuki...I think I have an idea on how we're going to get out of this," Buster determined. "Since the sun is out...why don't we call everybody out to the park nearby here? Just to get some fresh air."

Mizuki nodded her head. "Yes, sir."

To Be Continued...