I do not own the movie Sing. I only own my OC, Jason.
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Jason was starting to get used to this whole "waking up earlier" thing.
Heck, he didn't even need Stephanie to give him a wake-up call. Thanks to the events of last evening, he was in a much livelier mood when he arrived at the Moon Theatre. The moment he'd arrived home, he'd been bombarded with all kinds of questions from his sister about Ash. What she was like, how they met, if they'd kissed yet. Though somewhat disappointed when Jason assured her that it was just a friendly hangout, Stephanie was nonetheless ecstatic for him. Even Craig and Alex were slightly impressed.
For over a full hour, he'd happily chatted with all the contestants (except for Mike, of course). And he was midway through a conversation with Johnny on the staircase when the familiar sound of the fire door opening rang in his ears. Smiling to himself, Jason turned to see Ash come through the door. The porcupine got up from his comfy spot on the stairs and made his way towards her.
"Hey there, Ash." He said benignly. His smile faded somewhat as it seemed like she hadn't even heard him. She just walked past him and down the steps, staring down at the floorboards. Clearing his throat, Jason tried again.
"Hi, Ash." He said, slightly louder this time, though not so loud that he came across as rude. Finally lifting her head slightly, Ash turned to look at him. Jason's smile disappeared completely when he fully saw the glumness in her expression. She didn't even crack so much as a grin.
"Oh. Hey, Jason." She replied jadedly as she slowly chewed on a piece of gum.
"Ash, are you feeling okay?" Jason asked, placing a concerned paw on her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Came her downcast reply. "Just… tired. That's all."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I didn't get that much sleep last night but I'll get better as the day goes on." Ash responded, gently brushing Jason's paw off her shoulder. "You don't have to worry."
"If you say so." He replied, albeit very doubtfully.
"Excuse me, can everybody come backstage please?" The elderly voice of Miss Crawley suddenly sounded from behind the curtains. "Mr. Moon has a special announcement to make." Their interests peaked, every animal, Meena included, made their way backstage, past all the many ropes and levers. Ash trudged along with them as Jason subtly looked in her direction.
"I was wondering when he was gonna show up." Mike muttered, shoving his way past the various feet in his path. Jason merely rolled his eyes at the rodent; at this point, he was used to his rudeness. The moment everyone was backstage, Mr Moon spun around to face them, a roll of blueprints clenched tightly in his fist.
"Now listen up!" The koala declared, "Tomorrow we're gonna have a full preview of the show, and our audience will be none other than Miss Nana Noodleman!" The moment that name was spoken, Jason along with everyone's expressions lit up with a mixture of anxiousness and amazement, complete with gasps and wows. He'd heard stories from his grandpa about Miss Noodleman but to have a stage legend actually here judging their performances was incredible. And quite nerve-wracking.
"Nana Noodleman? She's still alive?" Mike asked with an "are you serious" laugh.
"Oh, yes, and believe me, she's got some pretty high standards." Buster replied with an excited smile of his own. "So today we're gonna have a full dress rehearsal! And I wanna see you light up the stage, folks!" With that, everyone quickly began making their way to their rehearsal rooms to prepare while Buster asked Miss Crawley and Meena to come with him.
The moment Jason entered his own room, that's when the nerves kicked in; he was expected to perform one of his songs for a celebrity audience member and he hadn't even fully mastered any of them. If he tried to perform any of the high notes, he'd make a complete fool out of himself. But he couldn't just choose not to perform at all.
"Two minutes, everybody!" Moon's voice bellowed from the stage area. Snapping out of his worried trance, Jason grabbed his CD from the chair in the corner and studied each of his songs on the case:
All-Star by Smash Mouth
You're Welcome by Dwayne Johnson
If You Can't Rock Me by The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Crash by The Primitives
Into Yesterday by Sugar Ray
Find Yourself by Brad Paisley
Crocodile Rock by Elton John
Paradise by Coldplay
Careless Whisper by George Michael
Friends by Blake Shelton
I See Fire by Ed Sheeran
Though the frustration at Moon's song choices for him briefly returned to his mind, Jason pushed it aside and scanned each title again.
Screw it. He thought, finally settling on Friends. Opening his rehearsal space door, the porcupine stepped out into the corridor where Gunter was practicing his dance routine, adorning his glittery gold jacket with matching pants. As Moon rushed past to head up the stairs to his office, Jason looked to see Ash sitting on a stool against the wall, finally wearing that stupid 'popstar princess' dress.
And still looking very fatigued.
Frowning, Jason moved over to her and gently placed a paw on her back. She flinched slightly at his touch before looking up at him.
"Ash, are you sure you're gonna be okay to perform today?" He asked firmly, "You don't have to push yourself, y'know."
"Yeah, I'll be fine, Jason, honest." Ash replied, that dejected tone still clear as crystal in her voice, "Can I just… be alone for a minute?" With that, before Jason could protest, the female porcupine got up and made her way backstage, finally choosing to sit on the bottom of the metal industrial steps that led up to the rigging.
"Real smooth there, Spike." Grimacing, Jason looked down at Mike who'd been leaning on the corner listening the whole time. He was dressed in a snappy purple suit with a matching hat, complete with a diamond-topped cane in his paw.
"If that's how she's gonna be onstage, that's one less loser to worry about." The mouse replied in that unbearably smug tone of his.
"Not if I punt you across the amphitheatre." Jason muttered to himself, moving away from him. Spotting Johnny out the corner of his eye, his bad mood softened slightly. Before he could even open his mouth to start a conversation, however, the gorilla had rushed past him and straight towards the exit, frantically pulling on his leather jacket.
"Wait, Johnny! Where are you going? We're about to start the rehearsal!" The porcupine called.
"Family stuff again, I'll be back in time, I promise, see ya in a bit!" Johnny called back hastily before slamming the door shut behind him.
Jeez, must be really important family stuff.
"Okay, everyone! As of now, the dress rehearsal is in session!" Moon's bellowing voice sounded from the stage area. "Mike, let's see your act first!" Shrugging, Jason made his way backstage to the wings and leant against the wall as Mike swaggered onto the stage. The porcupine didn't even pay attention to anything he was singing. He was too busy looking across at Ash for the entirety of the song.
"Hey, Rosita, does Ash seem a little… off to you this morning?" He murmured to the pig sitting on a crate next to him. Following his gaze, she pressed her lips together in thought.
"She told me she was just feeling a little tired. Apparently she didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
"That's what she said to me." Jason replied, still keeping his eyes fixed on the female porcupine. "But… I dunno, that's just not what it looks like to me."
"Well let's just see how she handles things onstage. Maybe she'll be a bit more active then." Rosita assured him, setting her handbag down next to her. Then, as if on cue, the backing track to Mike's song finished following by the sound of Miss Crawley's applause.
"Bravo, Mike! Nana is gonna love that!"
"Aww, you're too kind, Mr Moon." Mike replied, twirling his cane in his hand and confidently sashaying his way offstage.
"And I myself am loving the new suit, sir." Jason groaned at the koala's compliment. "Alright, can we see Ash next please?" Barely looking over her shoulder, Ash slowly clambered down from her spot on the metal stairs.
"Ash, let's get you out here!" Moon called again as she trudged towards the lit stage, still gazing down at the floor.
"Oh, stand back. Moody teenager coming through." Mike teased, stepping out of her way as Jason shot him a glare.
"Good luck, Ash." Meena whispered, giving a small thumbs-up as she adjusted the lighting with her trunk. Smiling towards her, Jason and Rosita both got up from their respective seats and moved so they had a good view of the stage from the wings. Ash finished adjusting the microphone to her height as the high-energy opening notes of Call Me Maybe began playing from the speakers.
At first, judging from the somewhat subdued way she began singing the lyrics, Jason assumed she was either still tired or still unenthusiastic about the song itself. But as it went on, both Buster and Miss Crawley's expectant smiles faded into confusion as Ash's voice started to falter. Her lips quivered as she blinked rapidly as if to stop tears from falling. By the time it got to the chorus, Ash was no longer in any shape to sing. Her trembling vocals finally collapsed into painful, heaving sobs as Rosita, Jason and Meena all stared in concern. The porcupine barely made it halfway through the chorus before she fell to her knees, clutching the microphone feebly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay, enough of that!" Moon finally called out, before making a cutting motion towards Meena in the wings. "Cut it, cut it." Taking action, Jason also signalled for the teenage elephant to cut the music before running onstage and gently pulling the microphone away from Ash. As the music finally stopped, the porcupine continued with her agonised crying while Jason tried to somehow look into her clenched-shut eyes.
"Ash? What's the matter?" He asked softly, trying to make himself heard over the sobs.
"Okay, Ash, um…" Moon started, carefully approaching the edge of the stage. She didn't even acknowledge the koala or Jason. "Hey, come on, Ash… What is it, do you not like the dress?" Jerking her head to the left, Jason flinched as a few of the crying porcupine's quills launched out and embedded themselves in the stage. And Moon's face.
"Ow." The pained koala plucked one out as Ash ran off the stage and past Rosita and Meena, still crying her eyes out.
"Ash, what's wrong?" Rosita called worriedly as Jason pursued her. Leaning on the edge of a flight case, Ash buried her face in her arms as her body convulsed with each sob. Jason placed a cautious yet comforting paw on one of her heaving shoulders.
"Ash, what's the matter?" He gently asked again. "You can tell us." Her crying somewhat subsiding, Ash took her head out of her arms and looked at him, though tears still gushed from her eyes like a pair of waterfalls.
"Come on, Ash." Rosita said in that motherly tone of hers, propping herself up on the box and patting the spot next to her. "You'll feel a lot better if you tell us what's bothering you." Giving a loud sniff, the porcupine finally nodded and pulled herself up onto the box. Jason sat on the box's corner as Rosita fished a handkerchief out of her handbag, which Ash accepted.
"I… I-I went back inside my apartment last night... after I'd had c-coffee with you, Jason." She explained tearfully, wiping her eyes, "And… a-and when I got inside… Lance was cheating on me!" Meena, Jason and Rosita's eyes widened.
"He didn't." replied Jason, his tone a mixture of shock and utter disgust.
"Uh-huh." Ash sniffed, stopping to blow her nose loudly. "H-He and this other girl were singing together and about to kiss!"
I knew there was something I hated about that guy! Jason thought, grimacing at the memories of Lance's insufferably smug face. Deep down, he resisting the urge to blurt out to Ash 'I told you so'. But now was most definitely not the time for a comment like that.
"Oh, Ash… I'm so sorry." Meena said, kneeling in front of the crate and gazing at the porcupine with sympathetic eyes. "That's horrible." Ash furiously wiped at her eyes as more tears starting flowing.
"I kicked them both out but I just… I entered this contest for us! I thought he cared about me! And then he goes and does that behind my back! What did I do to deserve this?"
"Ash, sweetheart, you did nothing wrong." Rosita objected, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly, "What Lance did was terrible but don't you think for a second that any of this was your fault."
"Yeah, he's nuts if he didn't consider you a good girlfriend." Ash's miserable expression greatly contrasted with the corner of her mouth curling up the tiniest bit at Jason's comment.
"That was a very mature thing you did, telling us about this." Rosita continued, "And if you ever need us to help you through this, we're here for you, Ash." As she blew her nose one last time, Jason gave Ash's arm a reassuring rub.
"If you ask me, you're better off without that… that…" Jason tried carefully to choose a description that wouldn't offend either Meena or Rosita. Thankfully Gunter popped out of nowhere to offer him one.
"Zat total super jerk dinkle-shplat!" The German pig finished in disgust. At first raising an eyebrow at the accurate-yet-odd insult, Jason quickly nodded.
"Yeah, what he said."
"Rosita! Gunter! You're on next!" Moon called from the amphitheatre, snapping them all back to reality. Meena quickly took her spot back by the lights panel as Gunter rushed onstage, an excited spring in each step he took. Before she got off the crate, Rosita quickly plunked her handbag onto Ash's lap.
"Here, there should be some gum or some candy in there somewhere, just help yourself." She said kindly before following her rotund partner as Ash gave a tiny grateful grin. Jason couldn't help giving a smile of his own; in just a matter of days, despite competing against one another for a pretty big prize, they'd had become a very tight band of friends. Well, aside from Mike, but still.
The sound of the exit doors banging open made Ash and Jason flinch in surprise as Johnny came running in, out of breath.
"Rosita, Rosita, Rosita, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" he cried as the mother pig stopped to look at him. "Can I take your place please?"
"Sure, Johnny, go ahead." She said without a moment's hesitation. Johnny smiled in gratitude until the opening of Shake It Off began playing over the speakers and Gunter was already getting a head start on the dancing.
"Okay, get ready cos I'm warning you! Zis stage is about to explode with major piggy power!" He cried, stripping down to his red leotard beneath his sparkling gold clothes.
"I'm so sorry, I have no control." Rosita murmured, making her way onstage with her mike as Johnny glanced at his watch with an impatient groan.
"Johnny, are you okay?" asked Jason, watching the gorilla fidget anxiously. "Did you take care of that family business?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, it-it's fine. You don't need to worry." Came the fretful response. Cocking an eyebrow but ultimately deciding not to pry any further, Jason and Ash turned their attention back to Rosita. At first, she started out well enough with nice vocals and a little bounce in her step. Until she face-planted onto the floorboards, earning a sympathetic wince from both porcupines. The moment Gunter helped her offstage and Moon advised them to work on their routine, Johnny had already wheeled his piano onstage and hastily sat down to perform his song.
"You can't just sing, you've got to show ze fire und desire!" Gunter explained, giving a little shake of his shoulders for emphasis.
"The fire went out a long time ago." Rosita replied, rubbing her sore snout.
"Vat?"
"Look, I can't even keep count of the steps!" She cried stressfully.
"Ugh, counting schmounting. She thinks too much vis her head, right?" Gunter asked, staring at the others. Meena gave a sheepish nod, as did Ash as she chewed on some gum from Rosita's handbag. Jason, thinking back to Rosita's stiff dancing on the coloured footprint paper, gave an "eh, kinda" shrug and nodded as well.
"Ja, ja, see?" Gunter said, giving a little shimmy on the spot. "Forget ze steps and just, like, let ze music take control of your body parts!"
"My body parts are not responding, okay? It's never gonna happen." Rosita said sadly, grabbing her handbag from Ash and slinging the strap over her shoulder. With a heavy sigh, she turned on her heel and made her way to the exit.
"I should just be getting groceries." She muttered in a broken tone.
"Rosita, wait a minute!" Jason protested along with everyone else, but the pig was already out of the doors. The porcupine looked around at the others whose expressions saddened further as the doors shut with a clank. Even the usually-plucky Gunter looked downtrodden.
"Hey, come on, Gunter." Jason said, climbing down from the crate's edge and placing a paw on his shoulder, "She's just under a lot of pressure right now, I'm sure she'll come back. I doubt she'd just abandon the competition altogether." Letting out a deep breath through his nostrils, Gunter gazed at him out of the corner of his eyes.
"Ja, I guess so." He replied, though his expression didn't change. Jason gave a comforting yet sad smile before turning his attention to Johnny's cover of All Of Me. As much as Johnny's vocals were superb, the occasional wrong note on the piano made him wince in sympathy. It wasn't until he got through the first chorus that the gorilla stopped despondently.
"Johnny, uh, I know I'm asking a lot of you..."
"Mr Moon, I'm really trying, I promise." Johnny replied in a pleading tone.
"Mmm, what about your backup song?" The koala asked, looking at his note as Johnny checked his watch anxiously. "Have you practised that?"
"Umm… well, not yet."
"Well why don't we go back and work on that one, okay? I mean, look, if you play like that in front of Nana Noodleman..." Buster didn't get the chance to finish as when he looked back toward the stage, he saw only a spinning piano stool. Johnny thundered past the others and out of the exit doors.
"Johnny sure is running a lot these days." Jason quipped, staring at the slowly-closing doors.
"Yeah, I hope he's okay." Meena replied with concern.
"Umm, alright then. Jason, let's see you next!" Jason froze at the koala's words. It wasn't until now that he realised how quickly the other rehearsal performances had gone by. Two choices pounded in his mind: Stay in the wings and refuse to go onstage altogether. Or go out there and risk making a complete fool of himself.
How about option three: bury myself beneath the floorboards?
"Jason, you're on." Ash's sweet voice, complete with a tap on the shoulder, snapped him back to reality.
"Right. Yeah." The porcupine replied uneasily, making his way towards the lit stage.
"Good luck." That little vow of support from Ash at least made him pick up the pace a little bit. Once onstage, Jason hesitantly adjusted the microphone to his height while Meena quickly pushed the piano off to the side and took her place back at the controls. The fear kicked back in once the opening twangs of a guitar sounded from the speakers.
"When you're ready, Jason." Moon called over the gradually-loudening instrumentals. Swallowing his terror as best as he could, Jason began with the first verse of Friends. Looking out the corner of his eye, he could just make out an air of enthralment in Ash's face. Remembering her statement that she hadn't heard him sing yet, it was clear she was wishing she'd heard him earlier. Feeling a little better, he added more of a jokey Southern twang to his voice as the verse continued.
Once that finished and the chorus started up, however, that's where things went pear-shaped. He got through the first two lines okay until it came to the line "kickin' up dir-r-rt". He tried as best as he could. But that didn't stop Moon, Miss Crawley, Meena and especially Ash from wincing as his attempted high note came off akin to a strangled parrot.
"Sorry, sorry, stop the music! Stop it, please!" Jason cried out, facepalming as he blushed scarlet beneath his fur. Quickly, Meena hit the pause button on the music, leaving no sound in the amphitheatre except for Jason's uneasy breaths. He didn't dare look at Ash's face after that fiasco.
"Ummm, well that, uh, started off very nicely, Jason, but, uh…" Moon began before Jason interrupted him.
"I know, I know, you want me to hit the high notes on this song because it's too late to switch and try learning different songs this late into rehearsals and I'm so sorry I messed it up!"
"Hey, hey, don't be like that. It's fine." Moon replied, trying to make Jason's situation seem not as disastrous as it was. "So you still got some tweaking to do on that particular song, but at least your other songs are coming along okay, right?"
"Uhh… no, not exactly…" The additional blaring sound of Jason's Axel F ringtone cut the conversation short, startling everyone in the theatre with its volume. Quickly fishing his phone out of his pocket, the porcupine glanced at the avatar of his mother on the screen as the ringtone carried on. Cursing himself for forgetting to turn it off, he quickly looked back at Buster and Miss Crawley with an embarrassed smile.
"Uhh, sorry, Mr. Moon. Lemme take this quickly." He said, quickly answering it and holding it to his ear. "Mom, this really isn't the best time… look, I'm in the middle of a rehearsal. Can't it wait until af… What?" The others looked at each other curiously as Jason's confusion melted into shock.
"No…" His voice barely reached a whisper. "I'll be right there, hang on." Hastily stuffing the phone back into his jeans, the porcupine made a break for the wings while both Miss Crawley and Buster watched in bafflement.
"Jason, wait!" Ash grabbed onto his arm, gazing into his face with concern. "Where are you going?"
"Uh, my mom, she, uh… needs some more milk. The car's broken, so, uh… See ya." At those stumbling words, Jason wrenched his arm out of Ash's grip and bolted out the doors. Then the Moon Theatre. Sprinting down the street as the last dreadful words from his mother on the phone rang in his ears:
"It's Grandpa. He collapsed in his home. And now he's in the hospital."
*I do not own the rights to the movie Sing. All rights go to Illumination Entertainment