Despite her being stationed there for the better part of a fortnight, Buster and Florence were both slightly dismayed to learn that Audrey had primarily confined herself to the rehearsal spaces and the staff lounge. So, following this revelation at their mingling session the night before, Buster had gladly agreed to give Becky and the young gorilla a full tour of the New Moon Theatre.
"They always say you should save the best for last, and this right here is my absolute favourite spot in the whole house!" Buster opened the door to the balcony, leading Audrey down to the front row seats.
He clambered up onto one of the seats and patted the one next to him, inviting Audrey to sit down. Audrey hesitated for a moment, but after an encouraging nod from Becky she quietly shuffled her way over and took the seat beside the koala, leaning forward slightly just as he did.
"Wow..." Audrey's voice was soft but no less amazed, and Buster glanced over to see the awed look etched onto her face. "Well, it... I suppose it's quite a view, isn't it...?"
"Hmm, yeah..." He chuckled nostalgically. "Y'know, a good few decades ago, we sat in these same seats, me and my Dad. It was one of Nana's shows, uh... Epiphany."
"Oh yeah, um... Golden Slumbers, wasn't it?"
"That's the one, kid. Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday..." Buster looked down as Ms. Crawly dimmed the auditorium lights, casting the stage in a vibrant blue glow. "Nana was right there, singing her heart out. Really made a little guy from nowhere realise how powerful the theatre can be."
"Really...?" Audrey pursed her lips when Buster nodded. "Hmm... I suppose it's a bit like my Mum said last night, then... none of us would even be here now if it wasn't for Nana..."
"Oh, absolutely." Buster laughed fondly. "Yeah, me and your Mom's generation, kid, we... we owe a lot to Nana and her generation. And I guess your generation does too, in a way."
A brief, fleeting silence passed, lasting for the better part of a minute before Buster spoke up again.
"But y'know, Audrey, I... I really have been impressed with how much you've come out of your shell these past few days. Your Mom's really happy with it, too."
"Eh..." Audrey shrugged humbly, letting Becky hold her hand. "It's all part of the job, Mr. Moon."
"Well, it's funny you should say that, Audrey, cause I um... well, I was kinda wondering if maybe you'd actually want a job." Buster couldn't resist smiling when Audrey's eyes widened. "I talked to your friend Tim the other day about him being one of our new handymen, so I figured it was only fair I ask if you'd wanna be in our troupe here too."
"Wait wait wait... like, actually performing...?" Audrey was still overwhelmed. "Here?! Where... where my Mum performed?!"
"Of course! Yeah, it'd be great to bring some Fletcher genes back into the Moon Theatre Family!" Buster said, before looking over to her carer. "Heck, you're welcome to join too if you want, Becky!"
"Yeah, I um... I'm still undecided on that. And obviously, we'll have to talk to your Mom about it first before we start signing you up, sweetie..." Becky kept her gentle grip on Audrey's hand as the gorilla's face lit up even more. "Still... you think you'd like that, Audrey?"
"What, are you joking...?!" Audrey's blunt response took both Buster and Becky off-guard, before the young gorilla let out an excited, high-pitched squealed. "That would be absolutely amazing!"
Most of the troupe were already gathered at the Calatonia Wharf, preparing for another run through while the crew finished construction on the central section of the set. Florence had arrived to observe the performance - more to simply enjoy them than to properly inspect them - and Caleb and Suki were enthusiastically showing her around the nearly completed stage.
"Like I said in the blueprints, Florence, the middle section really brings the whole thing together. Literally!" Caleb laughed as he gestured upwards to the intricate network of railings and wires, that linked the central stage to the other sets that were already fully constructed. "There's still a few support structures that have to be put in place, so we can't put too much weight on this until then, but it'll definitely be finished before the night of the show."
"Nancy, baby, it's me. Again..." Mike rolled his eyes as he left another message on her answering machine. "Look, this has gotta be the hundredth time I've called ya today, honey, and I've said I'm sorry. So... why don't ya just call me back and we'll hug it out or something, alright? Great... love ya..."
After hanging up, Mike remained fixated on his phone while he dangled off the corner of the stage, glancing across with an annoyed grimace while Tim - following Nooshy's insistence - was sat showing Gunter, Johnny and Meena all the different gadgets that he'd built into his mixing desk.
"So you just got all this from that electricals tent, then?" Meena asked.
"Well, that and some charity shops. And yard sales. And... and the rubbish..." Tim winced a little, before sitting up again. "Still, it's all in good nick. Spot of polish here, bit of new wiring there... does its job just fine."
"Yeah, but why don't you just use the one Mr. Moon's got back at the Theatre?" Johnny said. "He had that one brought all the way from Redshore."
"Ja, and it's like about three times the size of this one, too!" Gunter laughed. "It's like a super total upgrade, no...?"
"Oh yeah, like he'd trust me with that!" Tim snarked playfully, before pulling a nostalgic grin as he caressed the main keyboard of his own device. "Besides, I'm happy with this one. Took a good couple years getting it all together, but I like using it. Y'know, because... because it's mine."
"Yeah... I get that..." Nooshy shot up when she noticed the pig couple and all their little ones arriving. "Oh hey, Rosita's here!"
"Ah, there she is... I'll just be a second, honey..." Rosita left Norman watching their children while she ran over to the younger members. "Meena! Listen, I really need to -!"
"Alright, Ms. Fletcher thinks we should make sure the finale's coming together, so that's you and Porsha up first, Meena..." Suki cut in, still reading through her checklist as she passed the elephant, before looking up and glancing around. "Wait... where is Porsha?"
"Oh, I uh... I don't think she and Ash are here yet..." Meena fumbled her hands awkwardly, quickly glancing over to the main stage where Florence was speaking to Caleb. "Hope they get here soon, though... I don't wanna embarrass Mr. Moon again."
"Don't be ridiculous, sweetie." Rosita's tone was comforting, but still firm. "Speaking of which, Meena, we really need to talk about -"
"Good morning, everyone!" Buster suddenly called out as he ran up and clambered onto the stage, Becky and Audrey trailing not far behind him with Ms. Crawly. "Sorry for the tardiness, folks, but I thought I'd finally let Audrey see the rest of the Theatre."
Rosita rolled her eyes, though the others didn't seem to notice. "Well Buster, I don't think that's the only thing you need to -"
"So how was your tour, darling?" Florence unknowingly cut in as Audrey ran over to her. "Hope it lived up to expectations."
"It was brilliant!" Audrey threw her arms around her mother. "I can see why you always go on about it, Mum."
"Yes, that's wonderful, Miss Fletcher..." Rosita said bluntly before she cleared her throat, standing closer to the koala. "Buster, we really need -"
"Oh hey, Mr. Moon!" Nooshy cut Rosita off, gently grabbing Tim's hand and dragging the confused serval over with her. "While you and Ms. Fletcher are here, I was hoping we could have a quick chat about Tim."
"Me?!" Tim's eyes widened a little as Florence, Audrey and Caleb all looked at him. "I... I didn't do anything, I swear!"
"Yeah, but you can do!" Nooshy laughed, before looking back to Buster. "Look, he's a proper little DJ, he's made some right bangers using nothing but a bunch of old junk. It's bloody amazing, and it's not right for him to just be stuck in the back doing the handyman stuff!"
"You think so?" Buster raised an curious eyebrow. "Hmm... I dunno, Nooshy, that seems like an awful lot of pressure to put on him. I mean, you... you've never performed onstage before, have you, son?"
Tim shook his head. "Well no, I haven't, Mr. Moon, and that's why -"
"That's why I can do it with him!" Nooshy kept her grip on the serval's hand, making his eyes widen even more. "Yeah, he'll do the music, I'll do the dancing... it'd be bloody magic, it would!"
"But it says here you're already performing in Michael's number..." Florence read off the checklist in Suki's hands, before looking back to the young lynx. "It's certainly very ambitious of you, my dear, but we can't ask you to overwork yourself."
"Well with all due respect, Ms. F, I were thinking maybe we could just not bother with Mike's opener..." Nooshy's remark made the others freeze up on the spot, and she couldn't help being slightly amused by Mike's fuming red face. "Seriously though, just listen to one of his tunes, and you won't regret it!"
"You've never said you wanted to perform, Tim..." Becky said, making the young serval even more nervous. "Do you really wanna do it, sweetie...?"
"Absolutely not!" Mike suddenly called out, making Tim jolt a little as the mouse ran right under him and clambered up onto his mixing desk. "Ya can't honestly be thinking of sidelining me for this little nobody, can ya?!"
"Why not?" Nooshy shrugged. "He's a lot easier to work with that you are, for one thing."
"She does have a point there." Caleb said. "Mr. Moon was trying to avoid any drama, Florence, but let's just say Michael has been somewhat -"
"This don't concern you, Mr. Magic Man! But seriously, look at all this garbage!" Mike turned his attention back to the mixing desk he was stood on, putting on a slurred, exaggerated voice when he started pressing all the buttons at random. "Ooh, look at me, I'm Timmy! I'm a nerdy little weirdo! Beep-boop, beep-boop!"
"Stop it!" Nooshy snarled, clenching her fists as her face went a furious red.
"God, and ya call yourself a musician?! PAH! All you do is push buttons, ya little cheat!" Mike grabbed one of the thin antennae at the front of the desk, tugging hard on it until it broke off with a harsh SNAP! as everyone gasped.
"Hey!" Audrey finally spoke up. "Don't touch that, he's spent years making it!"
"You wanna be next, Fletcher Jr...?!" Mike's cutting response instantly making her tense back as he jumped down, still holding the broken antenna and pointing it at her. "Yeah, don't you start thinkin' I forgot about that little mutiny ya pulled before!"
"Mutiny...?" Florence scoffed. "Michael, what on Earth are you -?"
"Just remember I'm the whole reason you're here, ya spoiled little ingrate...!" Mike snapped. "If it wasn't for me, you'd still be stuck in Mommy's shadow, wouldn't ya...?!"
"Don't talk to her like that!" Johnny objected just before Becky or Florence could, making them both briefly flash impressed smiles at him. "You're the reason she was so scared of letting her Mum down in the first place! Audrey's bloody brilliant, Mike, and she doesn't deserve to be ripped down by some mean little bully like you! Neither does Tim, or anyone else!"
Mike stopped for a moment when he realised all eyes present were glaring at him, and no one was going to back him up on this. Nevertheless, he kept his piercing glare on Tim, pulling a wicked grin as he readied the antenna for a big swing.
"So ya think you're the next big thing, huh...?" He snarled as he aimed his impromptu bat right at the leg of the mixing desk. "Well let's see how good y'are without your dorky little doohickeys!"
"Wait, please... NO...!" Tim's desperate pleas, and the objections from everyone present, fell on deaf ears when Mike sliced the bottom of the leg off with a single sharp swoop. The loss of leverage quickly gave way, sending the mixing desk tumbling down with a brutal CLATTER!
A shocked silence settled over the group at the sight of the serval's collection of gadgets and gizmos lying shattered all over the stage floor, while Tim and Caleb collapsed onto their knees and frantically tried to pick up some of the salvageable remains.
"You little -!" Nooshy was overtaken by a burning fury as she lunged at Mike, the mouse stumbling back in a panic before Johnny quickly restrained the raging lynx. "I'm gonna rip you to shreds for that!"
The others were still overwhelmed by what had just happened, only for their attention to turn to the entrance as a red car pulled up to the Wharf, and a familiar but utterly furious porcupine came charging out.
"MOON!"
"Ah, girls! There you are!" Buster sighed with some much needed relief when Ash and Porsha came over, not initially noticing the anxious look that had formed on the wolf's face. "Look, this isn't a great time right now, but -"
"Oh, I'm sorry! Not a good time, huh?!" Ash cut him off, making Rosita's eyes widen slightly when the mother pig remembered the issue she was already planning to discuss. "Well, Moon, when exactly is a good time to talk about you sabotaging Meena...?!"
"Wait... sabotaging...?" Nooshy snapped out of her visceral rage, just as confused by the others about this revelation. "What's she on about...?"
"Ash, what... h-h-how...?" Buster started stammering, before finally noticing the remorseful expression on his honorary niece's face. "Oh, Porsha..."
"I'm real sorry, Uncle Buster, I didn't -"
"Don't you dare apologise to him, Porsha!" Rosita cut in, keeping a tight grip on Meena's hand as she looked over to the others. "Buster told Porsha to spike Meena's water before she went on stage! That's why her run-through went wrong!"
"WHAT...?!" Everyone, including Mike, spoke nearly in-sync, before turning over to the guilty looking koala and hounding him with various questions.
"Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me!" Mike roared. "First, Wolfy here ruins the water stunt, then she turns my girl against me! Then Fletcher's little brat goes behind my back, that scruffy little freak tries to steal my number, and now you're cuttin' off the ones that are actually good, Moon! What, are ya trying to ruin my show or something...?!"
"No, of course not, I..." Buster tried his best to think of an answer as everyone slowly surrounded him. "I was just -"
"You just can't bloody resist lying, can you, Mr. Moon?!" Johnny scolded, prompting murmurs and similar remarks from the others. "Why would you do that to Meena?!"
"I was just trying to keep her safe, Johnny!"
"Keep her safe, or keep her in line...?!" Ash cut in again.
"Ash, please!" Buster objected, trying his best to keep his cool. "Look, if Fletcher got Meena that record deal, she'd have had all kinds of pressure to deal with, and we know how she gets with -"
"Mr. Moon, you need to stop!"
Everyone went completely silent at this outburst, their eyes all widening when they realised it had come from Meena. This silence went on for the better part of thirty seconds, before a harsh, betrayed scowl formed on the elephant's Misty-eyed face.
"You're the one who's always telling us to dream big dreams!" She scolded through her tears, her anger giving her a surprising amount of courage and confidence. "So why would you ruin mine...?!"
"Believe me, Meena, I thought I was acting in your best interest..." Buster said. "Yeah, I could have gone about it better, sure, but I'd have done the same thing for the rest of you!"
"And that's a good thing?!" Suki cut in, shaking her head in disapproval. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Buster!"
"I didn't mean it like that!" He almost whined. "Ugh... you'll back me up, right, Ms. Crawly...?"
The koala's ears lowered slightly as the old lizard remained silent, but he remained confident in his words when he looked back to Meena and the others.
"Look guys, there really is nothing I want more than to see you all live out your hopes and dreams, but I -"
"No, you don't!" Meena snapped back. "This was never about our hopes and dreams, it was about your hopes and dreams! It always has been!"
Caleb's eyes widened a little as he noticed Meena taking a few more steps towards the centre, with the creaking of the floorboards steadily growing louder. "Alright, maybe we should just take this off the -?!"
"Alright, I know I screwed up, but I didn't know what else to do, okay?!" Buster finally snapped. "Look, I know you have ambitions, Meena, but that's not an excuse to walk out on your family!"
"Just because I have my own dreams doesn't mean I'm walking out on anybody!" Meena was going red in the face, her rage giving her a surprising amount of courage. "Families are supposed to support each other, Mr. Moon, not stab each other in the back!"
"Meena, everything I've done for you guys these past few years was to support you, and nurture you, and make you happy!" Buster's own eyes were getting misty-eyed. "And I could do with a little appreciation for that!"
"We've done nothing but appreciate that! But our dreams don't begin and end with you, Mr. Moon! They never did!" Meena stomped her foot down hard as she made a final cutting remark. "And because of you, my dreams are ruined!"
CRACK!
The surface of the stage suddenly split right down the middle, sending both Buster and Meena flying back in opposite directions as a volcano of sparks and splintered wood erupted from the gap. Everyone's eyes widened as the wires above them began to loosen and collapse, loosening and dragging down the railings that linked this stage to the other sets.
"It's coming down!" Caleb called out, his eyes bulging to their widest point. "Everyone clear out! NOW!"
It took the better part of ten minutes for the thick, greyish clouds of dust to clear from the Calatonia Wharf, revealing the completely desolate wreckage that had been left of all the collapsed sets. The high platform for Stephanie's stunt was the only one still standing, but even then it had been heavily destabilised with the destruction of the structures that had been supporting it.
Buster was caked in chalky, dusty debris after he pried himself free from under the remains of the central stage, squinting hard and lightly coughing as he staggered out into the battlefield-like wasteland.
"Hello? Guys...?" He called out, covering his mouth as he coughed up some more dust from his throat. "Is everybody okay...?"
Tim was the first one that he'd spotted, the young serval kneeling in front of the central stage while Nooshy and Caleb sat on either side of him. It was on closer inspection when Buster noticed that Tim was still holding the broken keyboard from his now-destroyed mixing desk, holding it tight to his chest while he sobbed quietly.
"Audrey...? Audrey?!" Buster could hear Florence's anguished voice echoing through the mist right before the gorilla starlet ran past, not showing any sign of a limp despite her black cane now lying in two broken pieces on the ground. "Darling, where are you?!"
"Mummy!" Audrey pulled herself out of Caleb's comforting embrace and ran over into Florence's arms, burying her face in her mother's shoulder as she whimpered and wept.
"It's alright, angel, Mummy's here..." Florence tightened her grip, gently kissing the top of her daughter's head. "That's it, Audrey... you're safe, love..."
"Alright, I think that's all of 'em!" Porsha's voice got Buster's attention as he turned to the opposite direction, where the wolf was helping Norman and Rosita gather all of their traumatised piglets. "Twenty-three, twenty-four, and... oh my gosh, where's Caspar...?!"
"He's here!" Johnny quickly came over with the little one in his arms, gently passing him over to Rosita as the rest of the piglets latched onto their mother and father. "That's twenty-five..."
Buster then looked elsewhere to see Gunter, Meena, Becky and Ash crawling out from behind one of the upturned sets, while Suki was carrying a shaken and overwhelmed old lizard in her arms.
"Ooh... has anyone seen my glass eye...?" Ms. Crawly called out weakly, prompting Buster to notice her old prosthetic lying at his feet, shattered into countless pieces.
It was only then when Buster looked up and realised everyone was staring at him. There were a few sad looks, some even seeming to be sympathetic, but most of them were definitely some degree of angry or disappointed, if not both.
"Guys, I..." Buster hesitated, looking down to the floor as he thought about what to say. "Look, I... I never wanted -"
"Buster...? Hey, Buster!" A familiar voice suddenly echoed from behind him, prompting the koala to turn to the entrance of the wharf as a familiar sheep made his way through the mist.
"Eddie...?"
"There you are, man, I've been calling you all morning! Buster, I gotta... oh, I really gotta... ugh..." Eddie had heavy bags under his eyes, clearly from crying, but the sheep took a moment to stare upwards when he finally noticed all the chaos and destruction that was all around him. "Whoa... what the heck happened here...?!"
"Ugh... Eddie, I'm really not in the mood for this right now, okay, just -"
"No no, but it... it's Nana, Buster..."
Eddie whimpered and sniffled, holding back even more tears as everyone's eyes bulged to their widest point.
"She's gone."
