A/N: Alright, here's chapter 3. Thanks to Fox Teen and Tahnnie26 for the reviews on the last chapter. Let's get to it!

Disclaimer: I do not own A Christmas Carol, or Sing, or any of the characters or songs referenced here. The great Charles Dickens owns A Christmas Carol, Illumination owns Sing and the characters, and the songs all belong to their respective artists and writers.

...

Every fiber of his being protested as Mike slowly inched toward the small kitchenette of his apartment, where the booming laughter was coming from.

"Come in, Mike!" a boisterous voice called out. "Come in, come in!"

Mike gulped and shakily opened the door and gasped at the sight before him.

Inside was a feast that was far too grand for this tiny kitchenette.

There was a large bowl of what Mike knew to be Christmas punch, platters of buttery dinner rolls, a pyramid of fresh fruit, roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, gravy, and all manner of cakes, pies, and other sweets piled on platters.

Mike felt his stomach rumble as he saw two pots of what he knew to be fondue bubbling on the stove, one cheese and one chocolate, and right beside the stove sat a large plate of bits of fruit and bread for dipping.

At the center of all of this sat a massive mountain gorilla clad in a forest-green robe trimmed with white fur and a holly wreath on his head, chuckling merrily with a glass of steaming punch clutched in one hand while the other rested on his knee.

"Come closer and know me better, mouse!" he boomed as his gaze landed on Mike.

"A-and just who are you?" Mike asked, wishing his voice wasn't so shaky and unsure.

"Why, I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present!" the gorilla declared with a broad wave and gesture to himself before scooping up a strawberry from the pyramid of fruit at his side and popping it into his mouth.

"Look upon me!" he exclaimed when he had finished. "You've never seen the like of me before, have you?"

"No, and to be honest with you, I coulda gone the rest of my life without seein' the like of you!" Mike retorted.

"So, I see that heart of yours is still immovable," the spirit sighed as he licked the juice from his fingers and shook his head before taking a swig of his punch. "Very well then, we'll see if we can't remedy that."

"There's nothing to remedy!" Mike insisted. "You wanna spread your holiday cheer hooey, you can do it with someone else!"

"This 'hooey' as you call it isn't be confined to a single mere holiday," the spirit's merry expression cooled slightly. "But in every day of the year, as it should be. And since you will not open your heart to it, you will now open your eyes and see into the hearts of those who do so. Come, touch my robe.

Before Mike could even attempt to escape this madness, the ape spirit had touched his sleeve to the mouse's hand and off the two went.

As they flew high above the streets of the city, Mike knew his churning stomach would reach its limit, and yet nothing happened. Even as the buildings alongside him became blurs.

Soon, the pair slowed down and stopped and the spirit peeked into the window of another apartment building and smiled brightly.

As Mike glanced in as well, he saw Norman and Rosita sitting together and smiling as Gunther danced around the living room and dining room area, flanked by a swarm of tiny piglets, all of whom were emulating the larger pig, who was decked out in all manner of holiday splendor. From the red-sequined tracksuit, the Santa hat on his head, and a necklace of blinking Christmas lights, the porker was a walking Christmas display. The piglets, all clad in little red and green elf outifts, complete with little curled-toe shoes, were trailing about the house, giggling and waving their little arms.

"What in the-? Okay, what gives here?" Mike glared at the spirit, who laughed as he watched Gunther place a sprig of mistletoe over Norman and Rosita. Norman, who caught sight of the bauble first, nudged Rosita, grinned as they both looked up, and gave his wife a passionate kiss.

"What 'gives' is you see here a family who keeps to our ways. They keep to this very special time even with the stresses and strains of sustaining such a large family. They know," the gorilla nodded in approval as he saw the piglets pile on top of their parents in a great big group hug.

"Now, there is still plenty to see," he swept Mike off to their next stop, which happened to belong to a family of elephants.

Mike grumbled as he realized it was Meena's family. The four elephants all sat at a table, enjoying dinner, talking and laughing. But it was the fifth animal, the porcupine that sat at Meena's side, talking animatedly, that surprised Mike the most.

"What is this?!" he sneered. "What, she doesn't have her own family to go to? I get Gunther with him not being from here, but what's her excuse?"

"Ash's family resides elsewhere and she was unable to return home at the moment," the spirit answered, scowling for a moment at Mike. "And so, in keeping with goodwill and the kindness in her heart, young Meena invited her friend to be with her family during this time. And as you see, her family all have embraced this guest as well."

"Heh, buncha soft-hearted bozos, if you ask me," the white-furred but dark-hearted mouse spat.

"The only bozo I see is you," the spirit snorted. "And yet, even still some of them have a spot in their hearts even for you."

"Oh no, not again," Mike groaned as he was once again carried to a place unknown.

He was shocked when they appeared at none other than the mansion of Nana Noodleman.

"Look within," the gorilla ghost gestured to the window and Mike could see into the enormous family room. There stood the tallest tree the diminutive mouse had ever seen, decorated with colored lights, golden tinsel, and what must have been thousands of ornaments ranging from what were obviously handmade ornaments from a child to what were no doubt crystal snowflakes, reindeer, and he even saw a bell or two. At the top sat a glowing gold star that Mike almost had to squint to look at as bright as it was.

All around the room, sat a few sheep, the legendary Nana herself sitting in a chair not far from the grand fireplace. Every now and again, Mike could also see a penguin or two bustling about keeping drinking glasses full and guests comfortable, and even Moon was there, along with Miss Crawly. But so was...

"Nancy! Wha...I don't...hey! What's my girl doing here?!" Mike demanded.

"She sought comfort after your cruel actions previously," the ghost stated bluntly.

And sure enough, there sat Nancy between Moon and Miss Crawly, each of the latter two holding her hands.

"There, there, Nancy," Miss Crawly crooned as she handed the weeping she-mouse a tissue. "It'll all be alright."

"Yeah," Moon was nodding. "Mike just needs time to come around. Give him some space and it'll all work itself out. You'll see."

"Oh, please!" Mike shouted. "That two-bit showman doesn't even know me!"

"Come on, everyone!" Eddie suddenly called out with an excited smile. "It's present time!"

As the group began to unwrap the gifts beneath the tree, each only taking one, Eddie gave a loud whoop as he picked up his.

"Thanks, Nana!" he called. "If this is what I think it is...you're the best!"

"Oh, do control yourself, Edward," Nana sniffed and began fanning herself, but behind the fan Mike could see a smile.

"You guys are so sweet," Nancy spoke suddenly, smiling at Buster. "I don't understand why Mike won't bring me around to see you guys."

"Because they're losers!" Mike yelled.

Suddenly, he felt a painful jolt to the back of his head and stared in shock as he realized the ghost had flicked him with one of those great fingers.

"They can't hear you," the ghost rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to the others.

"I don't know why Moon thinks he knows anything, let alone that he knows anything about me," Mike sneered.

"Buster Moon may have his flaws, but even still he attempts to see the good in others, much like someone else..."

This time Mike didn't protest as he was led to another Christmas celebration in the city. He figured the sooner they got to it, the sooner it would end and maybe this irritating ape would leave him alone.

When the surroundings came into focus, Mike did not see a tree or lights or presents, or anything. All he saw was a bleak, gray building made entirely of brick and stone and steel.

"Where are we?" Mike asked, actually feeling nervous.

"Calatonia Prison," the spirit answered and Mike noticed some of his sense of merriment seemed to have left him. The once pitch-black fur now boasted little flecks of gray here and there.

"Why'd you drag me here?" Mike asked. "I thought you were showin' me more Christmas crap,"

"This is in no way, crap, Sir," the gorilla spoke as the pair made their way to the building. "You are going to see the Christmas of Johnny and his father."

"Now why'd you drag me HERE? What's this got to do with me? It's not my fault the kid's dad's in jail."

"Perhaps not directly, but there is much that does pertain to you here, as you will see."

There, in the bleakly-lit visiting room sat none other than Johnny, but Mike noticed immediately the young gorilla looked a bit worse for wear. His eyes looked tired, one of which had a bruise that caused his right eye to nearly swell shut, his lower lip looked a bit swollen, there was a large knot on the back of his head, and what looked like a scratch along his neck, but it was difficult to tell under his thick black fur.

"What happened to him?" Mike asked. "He get in a fight or somethin'?"

"Johnny!"

Mike jumped nearly a foot in the air as another gorilla, this one much bigger than Johnny or even the Ghost of Christmas Present came striding in from the prisoner's area and sitting down in the seat opposite Johnny's.

This gorilla also had shadows under his eyes and while he looked tired, his entire face seemed to brighten as he saw Johnny and pulled the phone off the hook beside him.

Mike looked to the spirit to see that he too was smiling weakly as he watched the father and son interact with one another.

"That's Marcus, Johnny's father," he informed Mike, not taking his eyes off the scene before him. "Johnny has not seen him in days. Not since the time of your performances, during which time Marcus broke out to see him. Like your father, he didn't understand his son's aspirations. But unlike your father, who never saw the error of his ways and lost his relationship with his son forever, Marcus DID realize his mistakes and is now trying to make amends for them."

"Good to see ya again, m'boy!" Marcus bellowed into the phone. "They said two weeks, but it felt more like two years!"

"Hey, Dad," Johnny gave the larger gorilla a weak smile as he kept his head to the side, trying to hide his bruised cheek and scratched neck. "I'm real glad to see you too. I...I've missed you."

"I missed you too, son. But at least we get to sit down with each other now, eh?"

"Y-yeah," Johnny attempted to sound cheerful, but even Mike could see that the boy was much more upset about the situation than he was letting on. Whenever he thought his father wasn't looking, he'd let his clearly fake smile fall before hastily replacing it when the other gorilla's eyes were once more on him.

"Happy Christmas, Dad," Johnny said, this time unable to keep his voice from breaking slightly.

"Would be if I was on the other side of this glass with ya," Marcus sighed. "I'm not gonna complain about this, though. Ten minutes is better than nothin', yeah? And don't wanna give this lot any excuse to send me back to the hole."

The way he said the last part was clearly meant to be a joke, but Mike could hear the sense of urgency in it. But then quickly shrugged it off. Why should he care?

"Even a convicted criminal like Marcus keeps our ways in his heart, if not for his own sake then for his son's," the ghost spoke, his smile gaining some strength.

Mike rolled his eyes and glanced elsewhere.

When he realized the mouse was not looking, the gorilla ghost frowned and flicked the mouse behind the head once more before grabbing him with one hand and clamping down on him with the other before opening his fingers, giving Mike the impression of now being in a cage.

"Look!" he hissed as the pair before them made what appeared to be small talk, with Marcus saying time and time again that he was fine, when it was clear that the solitary confinement, and the resulting separation from his son, had not agreed with him in the least.

"Johnny, look at me," Marcus's expression became harder as he realized all was not well with his son.

"What's his deal?" Mike asked. "Johnny's, I dunno, eighteen? He can look after himself."

"A true parent never stops seeing their child as just that. And in Marcus's case, he sees something he COULD protect his son from, but he has been prevented from doing so. And he does not know, but this will be the last time he will ever see his child. If these shadows remain unchanged, Johnny will never set foot in this visiting room again."

"What?!"

The spirit shushed Mike and indicated to Marcus, whose face now wore an expression combined of worry and anger.

"Look at me," Marcus said again.

Johnny hesitated.

"You 'eard me, boy," Marcus's tone was brusque but not unkind. Nevertheless, young Johnny flinched before reluctantly turning his entire head to face his father.

Marcus, and now Mike himself even, got a full-on view of Johnny's face. The bruise was nothing compared to the scratch running down Johnny's cheek and on down his neck, disappearing into his shirt but no doubt continuing possibly to his chest.

A dark look now replaced Marcus's smile and his eyes became stormy.

"Who was it?" he growled into the receiver, his grip tightening on the phone.

"Dad, I-"

"Who. Was. It?" Marcus demanded.

"I'm okay! Honest!" Johnny insisted. "I-I didn't see them, they snuck up on me-"

"Don't lie to me!" Marcus was on his feet now.

"It was these bears!" Johnny's eyes had now teared up slightly. "I dunno who they are or why they did it, but the other night they just showed up at the garage and jumped me! I woke up and...and they were gone. They didn't steal nothin' or anythin' so I don't know why they even came by!"

Mike's heart actually sank as he realized Johnny was still lying...sort of. The bears had likely only stolen...

It dawned on him; Johnny had been saving up that money for something...and now Mike realized what he had lead the way for the bears to take.

They'd stolen Johnny's chance of getting his father back. And he had helped them do it.

"Is Johnny gonna be okay?" Mike asked, looking to the spirit and hoping at least something would cure the sickening feeling inside of him.

It was then that he noticed the spirit's shiny, black fur had dulled and gained much more grey than before.

"I see an empty visitor's window and a vacant chair in this very booth," the spirit's voice became hoarse and saddened as he looked neither at Mike, nor at the gorilla family in front of him, instead staring straight ahead. "I see a father with no son, and a piano in the New Moon Theater without a player, carefully preserved."

Mike gasped.

"Y-you can't mean-"

The spirit glowered down at him.

"I can. And I do."

"Did you see their faces?" Marcus was asking his son.

Johnny nodded, but now he looked terrified.

"Dad, if I say anything..." he shook his head desperately. "They...Look, they said they're not gonna come back if I keep me mouth shut, so there's no need to invite trouble."

"Johnny-"

"Time's up, inmates!" the guard overseeing visitation called out and the prisoners said their goodbyes, hung up their phones, and lined up to go back to their cells.

All but one.

"I said time's up," the guard's tone became gruffer as he walked over to the pair of gorillas and glared at Marcus. "Up. Now."

"Could we just 'ave another minute or two, please?" Johnny asked, clutching the phone anxiously. "We were talkin' about something really important."

"Then you should've talked faster," the guard replied coldly. "If it was so important, I'm sure you could've spit it out. Now let's go, 'Big Daddy'."

"Hey! That's the kid's dad!" Mike hollered at the guard.

"He can't hear you," the ghost reminded him.

"C'mon just this once," Johnny was nearly pleading, almost as if he somehow knew he would never see his father again. "It's Christmas!"

"Well, maybe now you know what do ask Santa for, don't you?" jeered a second guard before turning and aiding his colleague in seizing Marcus and forcing him out of the chair. "Alright, now unless you wanna spend Christmas back in solitary, get a move on!"

"Dad!" Johnny cried out, his hands pressed against the glass as his father was marched from the room.

"This isn't fair!" Mike actually gasped softly as Marcus turned back to glance at his son one last time.

As the pair locked eyes, Marcus opened his mouth to say something when a third guard rushed seemingly from nowhere and, along with the other two, forced Marcus from the room.

"DAD!" Johnny screamed once more, not caring that everyone was staring at him as though he'd gone mad.

The teenage gorilla let out a sob as he sank to his knees in despair, staring down at the floor, wishing he could sink down into it and never come out.

"That wasn't fair!" Mike snarled. "How could they do that?! On Christmas, especially?"

"Why does everybody turn into a bunch of saps around the holiday? It's not like it's any different from any other time of the year, is it?"

The ghost no longer sounded, nor looked, very cheerful. His tone was biting and cruel and his fur was much thinner, coarser, and greyer than ever before.

The scene in front of Mike changed once again as the weeping Johnny before him vanished.

When he looked around, Mike saw that he and his ghostly companion were now on a street corner somewhere in the city. But the area around them was dark and deserted. He was still in the gorilla's palm, which was now trembling.

As Mike looked up, he was surprisingly alarmed to see that the gorilla's fur was now devoid of any black fur at all. The comely shine was also long gone and in their place was nothing more than a covering of brittle and matted and dull grey fur that was now patchy here and there.

"Wow, guess you spirits age quickly, don't ya?" Mike couldn't help but snicker slightly.

"My life on this earth is very brief," the gorilla answered in a hoarse and throaty voice so unlike the commanding and larger than life tone he previously possessed. "I shall pass from this life very shortly. At midnight to be exact. And before I leave you, I must ask will you take any heed to what I have shown you tonight?"

"Again with this?" Mike sighed. "Look, I don't see what you're trying to tell me with all this extra stuff. Can't you just be upfront with me?"

A strange smile appeared on the gorilla's face as he set Mike down upon the ground.

"You want me to be more direct? Then by all means. Look!"

The gorilla pulled his robe aside to reveal a pair of children, each one clinging to one of his pants legs. Mike was horrified to see that their furs were matted, tangled, and discolored, their eyes were ringed and wild with what must have been hunger if their emaciated frames were anything to go by. One was a weeping female fox kit, who acted as though she were hanging onto the spirit for dear life. The other was a snarling male wolf pup who snarled and glared at Mike with unfettered hatred, his claws appearing to be sinking into the gorilla's fur and flesh, and yet no blood drew forth nor did the gorilla spirit give any indication of discomfort.

"W-what is this? Who are they? They're not yours, are they?" Mike jumped back as the pup snapped at him, just missing.

"They cling to me for protection, but they belong to all those who deny their existence!" the spirit's voice rang out. It sounded weak but still had enough strength to cause Mike to flinch. "This little kit is Want, this pup is Ignorance. Beware them both, but especially this pup! Ignorance begets ignorance and as long as there are those like you in this world who perpetuate it, this pup shall always be!"

The wolf pup started forward and growled, but quickly withdrew and resumed his clinging to the gorilla as the robe fell back into place.

"But they don't have anyone to take care of them?" Mike actually found that he worried for the animal children he just saw. "I mean, it's not fair that they gotta suffer like that!"

His only response from the gorilla was a dark smirk that bared the ape's canines.

"Eh, what does it matter?" he shrugged. "If a sap or two gets hurt, it's their problem, isn't it?"

Mike bristled as his own cruel words were once again thrown at him and he covered his ears as the words continued to echo around him, even when the spirit and the nightmarish kit and pup all disappeared.

For a moment, Mike wondered if he would wake up in bed again when suddenly, the fur on the back of his neck stood up and he felt a prickling between his shoulder blades, feeling as though he were being watched.

Suddenly, a soft hiss emitted from behind him...

...

...

There was chapter 3. Three down, two to go. Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!