Chapter 9: Superstar
We messed around on the ship for awhile before we went to the Moon. After such an eventful recording, we thought it'd be best to rest for a bit. The Mafia Boss was still on the ship, and explained that he wanted to stay there.
I wouldn't've allowed it, but the kid did. Eventually, we each looked through the telecope to the Moon and landed on a small podium. DJ Grooves was waiting for us.
"Welcome to the first day of shooting, darling!" He greeted the kid, "We need to transform you into the biggest star the bird world has ever seen! You need to become... a diva!" She gave him a very excited look, and I smiled. "That's why I called for a press conference here on our moon set. You need to get out there in front of the cameras and electrify the public, darling!" He explained, "Get 'em really up and going for your movies!"
"What about me?" I asked.
"Don't worry, you'll be in this too," The penguin answered, "Once you've got them going crazy, come back here and we'll show off our new prop!" She gave him a questioning look. "That's right, we'll unveil our new movie prop to the masses!" He explained.
He then pointed ahead, and the kid jumped down in front of some waiting Moon Penguins, who stared at her. I could see her immediately resume her normal, timid self. "Oh, hi there!" She peeped nervously, and I jumped down and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You've got this, kiddo," I reassured her, "You think a prestigious director would hire a kid, let alone he's just met that isn't his own kind just out of the blue like that unless he was dazzled? I think not."
She smiled and nodded, then walked forward. I saw a token that looked like the penguin's face sitting next to a fountain, and grabbed it. It span around rapidly and disappeared.
"You called, darling? Looks like it's endorsement time!" A familiar groovy bird exclaimed.
Oh. That makes sense. A camera crew focused on us and DJ Grooves jumped down next to us.
"All you penguins out there know my name: DJ Grooves, and I'm here to tell you that this young girl and tall guy are the next hot thing, guaranteed!" He said grandiosely, and the cameras pointed upward.
I looked at what they were recording, and saw a suspiciously familiar dog cutout on top of the fountain. "Just look as they'll help eachother climb the statue to rescue the poor puppy that has gotten stuck!" He exclaimed, then nudged me in the stomach. "Right, darling?" He asked, and I nodded.
I knelt down and whispered my plan to her, and she nodded at me with a confused expression. I picked her up.
"Ready, kid?" I asked.
"Yep," She said.
"Okay. 3, 2, 1, go!" I whispered, then tossed her upward toward the dog. She landed on the statue next to it, but stumbled and smacked right into it, causing it to fall to the ground and break into multiple splinters.
"Look at that! She helped the puppy down, safe and sound!" DJ Grooves lied, "Too bad it ran off and definitely didn't break into multiple pieces. These are truly superstars I can get behind! Let it be known that this duo is all about animals! Make sure to join their fanclub! DJ Grooves, OUT!"
The cameras turned off and the kid jumped down, landing elegantly on her feet. We walked away until we were under a balcony. A flash stunned us, and I shielded my eyes with my arm.
"Thank you!" A moon penguin exclaimed, and I looked to see them holding a camera.
"Give me a copy of that picture," I demanded, and they did so. Not exactly a stellar photo. Almost my entire face was covered by my arm, and what little of it you could see was turned into a scowl. The kid's face was stuck in a flinch.
I showed her the picture and she giggled, then I put it away and we ran off. I saw another endorsement token near an alleyway, and she grabbed it.
"You called, darling? Looks like it's endorsement time!" The DJ called, then landed next to us. "All you penguins out there know my name: DJ Grooves, and I'm telling you, this young girl and tall guy are the next hot thing, guaranteed!"
I waved to the camera relaxedly and the kid smiled.
"Look at how street-smart this superstar is. He's standing in a sinister alleyway, right next to some potential wrongdoers!" He exclaimed, and we turned to see two Moon Penguins stop arguing and look at us with confusion. I smirked at them and they gave me a look of suspicion. "Danger is his middle name, and they're both not afraid to step out of their comfort zones! Make sure you join their fanclub! DJ Grooves, OUT!"
I chuckled. These endorsements were pretty strange. After that, we walked around, talked to some Moon Penguins, collected pons and some yarn, and snapped some photos. These photos turned out much better.
Me diving with the kid on my back in a superman pose. The kid posing and smiling on my head. The kid blowing a raspberry while I look on in amusement. The kid bothering a Moon Penguin while I observe. These photos were perfect, picture-perfect.
We also explored the rooftops, where we saw a token in what seemed to be a nest/poker table. I grabbed it.
"You called, darling? Looks like it's endorsement time!" DJ Grooves beckoned. That was beginning to get slightly annoying.
"All you penguins out there know my name: DJ Grooves, and I'm here to tell you that this young girl and tall guy are the next hot thing, guaranteed!" He started, "Watch as they beat these hard-boiled card players at their own game, on their first try!"
"What do you think it is, kiddo?" I asked, and she whispered into my ear.
"Black 3 of spades," She said, and I raised an eyebrow. That seemed pretty specific. I smirked smugly at the camera.
"Three of spades, black," I exclaimed, and the card was put down. It was that exact card.
"Wow! Fantastic! Incredible! The answer was indeed 3 of spades! Folks at home, you have just witnessed the stunning intuition of a true superstar," He shouted, "Make sure you join their fanclub! DJ Grooves, OUT!"
"Such strange endorsements," I muttered, and she nodded.
"Well, birds probably have different interests than our own," She considered, and I nodded slowly. Probably. We continued on, until we found a token next to a fish stand. She grabbed it.
"You called, darling? Looks like it's endorsement time!" DJ Grooves exclaimed.
"Wonder what this'll be," I muttered under my breath. He turned to the kid in a secretive way.
"Now, darling, I have to mention this," He said sternly, "Cooking show hosts have a terrible track record of getting angry and swearing on screen. So, try not to say... the P-word. Don't say... P-E-C-K."
"But we've heard the Conductor say that a million times," I grumbled, "What's so bad about p-" A flipper covered my mouth. DJ Grooves seemed heavily displeased.
"The Conductor is... old fashioned. He throws that word around a lot. It'll get him in trouble someday, but for now, let's keep our show clean," He advised, then cleared his throat and turned to the cameras. We did the same.
"Hello, viewers! Even the biggest celebrities need to eat, and I've got with me the biggest celebrities of them all!" He greeted, then turned to the kid. "Now tell us, darling, what kind of condiment do you like on your tuna sandwiches?" He asked.
The kid adopted a look of deep thought, but I could sense the mischief immediately. I knelt down to her level and gave her a deep look of disapproval.
"Kid. Don't. You. Dare," I hissed, and she just ignored me. I got up, looked away, and shook my head.
"PECK!" She shouted, and someone took a photo. The DJ seemed horrified.
"DARLING!" He yelled, and she began giggling. I could barely keep the dumb smile off my face. "I-I mean, fellow viewers! Look at the mouth on this young girl!" He babbled, and I cracked. Seeing him so flustered and uncomfortable, that made me lose it.
I began rolling on the floor laughing like a child. I eventually got up and slowly stopped laughing, but I didn't stop snickering.
"She's really something, they both are," The penguin muttered, then turned to the kid and gave her a nasty look. "Now, shoo! Get out of this endorsement as soon as you can, before the older penguins watching TV notice what just happened!"
We took off, me laughing again. What a disaster, a happy disaster. Eventually, we heard a P.A. system turn on.
"The audience is going crazy, darlings! Come over here and show off our new stunner: our new prop!" DJ Grooves announced through the system. Hearing this, the kid grinned and we took off for the stage where we originally landed. She jumped elegantly up onto the platform and somersaulted into the Time Piece, grabbing it with ease.
She did a pose and many penguins clapped. I walked up to them.
"Anything else you want us to do here? Or are we done?" I asked.
"You can leave, darling," He answered, and thus we left.
When we were back on the ship, I looked down at the kid and smirked.
"I guess we're the superstars now, eh, kid?" I muttered, and she grinned from ear to ear.
"I just hope he doesn't make us sing," She grumbled.
"Nah, he won't. This is a movie, not a musical. At least, I hope so. My singing is bad enough to break glass and my dancing bad enough to make your eyes bleed," I confessed, and she giggled.
"What a surprise," She said sarcastically and quietly.
"I heard that!" I grumbled, "Well, if you're one to judge, why don't you sing right now? Honestly, I'm curious."
She scratched the back of her head nervously. "I-um..." She said timidly.
"You're self conscious about your voice, aren't you?" I asked, and she nodded sadly. "Is that why you don't speak to people you don't know?" She nodded again. I knelt down to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Kid, I've only heard you speak and I know your voice is amazing. If you're truly that anxious about it, you don't need to, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or nervous. But give it a shot sometime," I suggested, and she sighed.
"I guess," She said tiredly, "I'll sing for you if you sing for me."
...
"You don't wanna hear my singing voice, kiddo. It'd be an unfair deal," I explained.
"Then it's settled," She grumbled and walked away. She seemed upset. I ran after her.
"Hey, kid, if I upset you, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Honestly. I had good intentions. If I realized you were that sensitive about your voice, I wouldn't have mentioned it," I apologized, "So, I'm sorry, kiddo."
She sighed and looked up at me, then smiled. "It's okay," She said, "You didn't know." I smiled back. She's so kind, forgiving, and merciful. Her maturity level was higher than some adults I think I knew.
Something popped into my head.
"Oh, right!" I exclaimed, "In a week's time, we're gonna go down to the nearby movie theater to view the movie premieres."
"Okay," She responded, "When do we record next?"
"The day after the movie premieres," I answered, and she nodded slowly. It was still mid-day, so we decided to rest, and did so. I was playing games when an alarm boomed throughout the ship.
I heard the automated voice declare: "Emergency! Time Rifts detected on the surface."
I have no idea what the hell a 'Time Rift' is, but I can tell by the alarm that it is not good news.