Although the big, beautiful theatre they were standing in was as real as could be, it was still hard for everyone to believe that they were actually back here again.

It had been just over a year-and-a-half since their sci-fi spectacular took Redshore City by storm. While it had been rather eventful with a lot of big changes for all of them, particularly their newer recruits, the time seemed to have flown by much quicker than the New Moon Troupe had realised. But after various ups and downs and even a couple major discoveries, they once again found themselves standing on the stage of one of Redshore's most popular venues.

"Alright, if we could just have a little quiet, please!" Suki shouted over the others, which prompted the cast and set crew to cease their chattering, before she turned over to the table where her boyfriend was standing. "Right. Floor's all yours, honey."

"Ah! Thank you, Suki..." Buster got up on his tiptoes to give her a quick kiss on the lips, before holding his microphone upright and bellowing into it. "Okay, so uh... good morning, everyone!"

There were a few murmured acknowledgements and greetings from the others present, though everyone's attention gradually turned towards the unseen display on the table beside their diminutive showman, still concealed under a thin white cloth.

"Well, to start off with, I'd just like to say it really is fantastic to be back working with all of you here at the Majestic Palace Theatre. About a year ago, I'd have thought getting asked to perform here just once would be the greatest moment of our lives, but to asked back again... well, it really is an honour..." Buster said, pausing a brief moment to take it in all in, before gesturing back towards the hidden display. "Now, I know after our first show, audiences were practically begging for more right out the gate. So, after a few months of brainstorming and soul searching, my good friend Gunter and I have decided it's time to give Redshore's audiences exactly what they want!"

He then pulled off the cloth, prompting various awed "oohs" to echo across the stage when everyone finally saw the glittery, colourful diorama that it had been covering. It was much more detailed and ornate than the more crude scrapbooks that Buster himself had made back in Calatonia, and a concept logo for the new show burst off the front cover in big, red and purple letters - OUT OF THIS WORLD 2: REVENGE OF THE TOXIC TYRANT.

"And once again, I'd like to thank Steve over here for spending the last week building this model for us! Great job, buddy!"

Buster sent a quick thumbs-up gesture towards the short, paint splattered bloodhound that was stood with the other set designers. And since he wasn't nearly as overworked or exhausted as last time, Steve was much more alert and able to acknowledge the applause and praise that he was getting from his fellow crew members.

"So yeah... Out Of This World 2! A brand new outer space odyssey..." Buster turned the page, revealing a model of a familiar chrome spaceship and a tiny but equally familiar figurine dangling off of it. "Featuring the return of our very own, very beloved, Captain Rosita!"

"WHOO! YEAH!" Porsha was by far the loudest when Rosita's name was mentioned, though the others weren't far behind, which prompted the mother pig to blush a bit as she stepped forward and took a small bow. "We love ya, Rosita!"

"Hmm... thanks, sunshine..." Rosita chuckled warmly, before trying to turn everyone's attention back to the display. "So, uh... what's the story this time, Buster?"

"Ah, yes! Well, it goes like this..." Buster turned the next page, showing a model where Rosita and Gunter - along with all but one of their established castmates - were stood on what appeared to be the Planet Of Despair, surrounded by the other locations from the first show. "Rosita and her robot sidekick -"

"That's me again!" Gunter briefly interrupted.

"Uh-huh... they set off on another adventure across the cosmos to track down a fearsome, intergalactic warlord!" Buster emphasised a dramatic tone of voice for this, something the others present found both amusing and genuinely intriguing. "Along the way, they team up with some new faces and the entourage of aliens from their last adventure, with our wonderfully talented cast all reprising their roles!"

"Oh, except for you, Ash!" Suki suddenly cut in, prompting the troupe members - especially Porsha - to go wide-eyed with shock. Despite this, Suki sent a reassuring wink Ash's way, before continuing as Buster prepared to turn the next page. "Since the missing space explorer from the last show found what he was looking for, we've decided to give our resident rock star a brand new part..."

"Indeed we have, Suki!" Buster said proudly as he finally revealed the last model, showing what appeared to be a porcupine shredding a spike-covered guitar while dressed in a sinister red and black outfit. "And that's why, Ash, we're gonna be counting on you to steal this show as our breathtaking new baddie, the Toxic Tyrant herself!"

"Wait, seriously?!" Ash laughed, though it was clear she was overwhelmed and overjoyed by this news. "Well damn, it took you long enough, Moon! I've always wanted to play the bad guy!"

"Well, Ash, you can scratch it off your bucket list, because you are perfect for this evil, conquering villainess!" Buster chuckled. "In a good way, I mean!"

Ash shook her head with an amused smirk, taking a step back towards Porsha as her roommate knelt beside her. "Guess I'm gonna be getting my Mom and Dad up here after all, huh?"

"Aw yeah, they're gonna love it!" Porsha giggled, before pulling the porcupine into a quick but very tight hug. "You're gonna be awesome, buddy!"

"Alright, so we're looking at a premiere date about six months from now. And I've already seen what this incredible production staff can do with just three weeks!" Buster's remarks prompted a few flattered laughs and cheers from Mason and the rest of his set crew. "So I figured an early start was just what we needed to make this show the best it could possibly be. And what's the best way to make a great show...?"

"TO DREAM BIG DREAMS!" Everyone's voices echoed through the auditorium as they all repeated the iconic Moon Mantra, before they all dispersed from the stage to their assigned work stations.

"So, you're sure you're gonna be okay overseeing the set construction again, Ms. Crawly?" Buster said, looking down at his trusty old assistant while she nodded with a frail, shaky smile. "I don't think we're gonna be needing full drill sergeant this time. We just gotta keep things in order while me and Gunter hammer out the last few numbers."

"Right away, Mr. Moon, sir!" Ms. Crawly stood straight with a salute, before grabbing the megaphone off the table and heading over to bark some orders.

Buster placed the cover back over the diorama and let Suki help him down from the table, before glancing over to spot the gorilla and lynx that were walking away with the others. "Hey, uh... Johnny, Nooshy! Wait up a second, you two!"

"Oh... something up, Mr. Moon...?" Johnny stopped walking and turned on the spot, prompting Nooshy to do the same as they both looked down at the koala.

"Ah, well, this was kind of a last minute arrangement, so we couldn't get it onto Steve's model, but I've been talking to Klaus about one of the battle scenes for this new show, and I think it could really -"

"Wait wait wait... Klaus Kickenklober?! That Klaus?!" Nooshy scoffed when Buster nodded. "You can't honestly tell me you asked him to come back!"

"Well I wasn't planning to, Nooshy, but Klaus actually came to me..." Buster said, almost laughing at the lynx and gorilla's reactions to this revelation. "Yeah, I know, right?"

"Klaus wanted to work with us again? Even after last time...?" Johnny looked slightly nervous as he rubbed his arm. "Don't really know if I should be glad or worried about that, Mr. Moon..."

"Oh, don't you worry, Johnny, that's all in the past!" Buster chortled. "See, he's been training this new girl these last couple weeks, so he was thinking maybe you guys could do a number with her for the show."

"New girl? Hmm..." Nooshy cupped her chin, seeming more intrigued now. "She's not here today, is she?"

"Yep, she's called Marilyn. Comes from Calatonia, as it turns out!" Buster had a skip in his step as he led them both onward. "Come on, she should be over in the rehearsal hall!"

Before they knew it, most of the cast were sat in the dance studio, watching a vibrant neon light show while their new recruit performed a rather provocative song and dance to accompany it.

On the front row, the troupe had noticed a clouded leopard sat beside Suki and Buster. She seemed to be in her thirties or forties, wore circular, green-tinted glasses, and a professional but still very flattering black turtleneck with beige pants. They were certainly curious about this new individual, but since the performance was already going on when they arrived, they hadn't been able to introduce themselves to her yet.

While the others were enjoying the impromptu show, Nooshy glanced over to the far corner, where a familiar old proboscis monkey was leaning against the wall.

Klaus was paying no attention to his new prodigy while she performed, and instead seemed more focused on his phone. His eyes suddenly bulged to their widest point, and Nooshy couldn't tell whether it was just the light from the screen or if his face really had gone ghost-white, but after a moment Klaus quickly shoved the phone into his pocket and looked back over to his new recruit's performance.

Sitting here eating my heart out waiting
Waiting for some lover to call

Dialled about a thousand numbers lately
Almost rang the phone off the wall

This beautiful young gorilla was in her early 20's, and was quite energetic and acrobatic despite her stockier figure. She had an aura of model-esque glamour, despite only being clad in a blue tank top and purple sweatpants, and while she was perhaps a little more over-the-top than the Moon Troupe had expected, they couldn't help admiring her enthusiasm as she performed.

Looking for some hot stuff
Baby, this evening

I need some hot stuff
Baby, tonight

I want some hot stuff
Baby, this evening

Gotta have some hot stuff
Gotta have some love tonight!

"Woo-hoo! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Buster hollered as he climbed down off his chair, leading the others in a round of applause while the new recruit stepped away from her small stage and put her jacket back over herself. "You were terrific up there, Marilyn!"

"Well, what can I say? I'm a natural talent." Marilyn smirked, then fished out her phone and began texting someone while she stepped towards a chair beside Johnny. Moments before sitting down, she quickly jolted up with a small shriek when she nearly sat on a tiny piglet that was already there, letting him climb down and run away. "What on earth was that?!"

"Sorry, that was just Caspar." Rosita chuckled as the little one ran past her and went to re-join his siblings. "One of my kids."

"Kids? Oh yeah, I nearly had one of those a while back..."

Marilyn's remark made everyone present - with the exception of the clouded leopard - go slightly wide-eyed as she sat down. She reached into her jacket pocket and put on her sunglasses - blue-tinted to match her eyes, with a small diamond right in the centre of the frame - and leaned a bit closer to the other gorilla sat beside her.

"So, big fella... you must be Johnny."

"Oh, uh... y-yeah, I am." Johnny straightened up a bit in his seat, thinking for a moment about what to say. "So, Marilyn... are you, um...?"

"Ah, I know what you're going to ask, and yes, I am indeed that Marilyn..." She then held up her phone screen, letting Johnny and Nooshy see one of her various social media profiles. "Pending celebrity heiress, current popular influencer, 71K followers on Quacker. None of you lot have Quacker, do you...?"

"Oh, um... no, I can't say that we do..." Johnny answered. "But I was actually gonna ask if you had any -"

"Ooh! I used to have a Quacker profile..." Porsha cut in, while Ash pulled a mildly disgusted grimace at the sight of the yellow duck logo on Marilyn's screen. "Yeah, had a few weirdos following me, but most of them were real nice."

"Wait..." Marilyn squinted a bit as she studied the wolf's face, before her eyes widened with the realisation. "OMG, you're Porsha Crystal! Yeah, I followed you before you deleted your profile. Wow, there's a whole cast of superstars here, I'd better put this on the timeline! You lot wouldn't mind if we all got in a picture?"

"No no, it's fine. But you should probably know she's actually going by Porsha Frangipane now..." Ash said, sending a small smile her roommate's way. "It's her Mom's name."

"Oh, that's lovely... yeah..." Marilyn stood in front of the cast, all of them pulling exaggerated smiles while she took the photo, before she handed her phone to Porsha. "Are you alright typing it out? I don't want to spell it wrong, so..."

"You never told us you were on Quacker, Porsha..." Rosita sounded somewhat concerned, while the young wolf spelled out her surname on Marilyn's keyboard. "I heard it's really gone downhill since Elon Muskrat took over."

"Yeah, it's a right cesspool..." Marilyn was rather deadpan as Porsha passed her phone back. "Hate speech, conspiracy theories, all that jazz. Total nightmare."

"Oh..." Rosita pursed her lips. "Well, if it's so bad, Marilyn, why do you still have it?"

"Uh, because how else am I supposed to communicate with my 71K followers?" Marilyn scoffed, pulling an expression that suggested it was an obvious observation, before she lowered the phone and glanced around.

"Well, anyway... what I was actually gonna ask, Marilyn, was if you had any experience." Johnny cleared his throat. "That is, um... in terms of dancing, I mean."

"Oh-ho, don't you worry, big fella, I'm plenty experienced in other places!" Marilyn sent a flirtatious wink Johnny's way, making the other gorilla blush a bit. "But to answer your real question... no. Not officially, anyway. I mean, I've never performed onstage or anything like that, but I've always been into music and theatre and stuff. So when my parents cut me off, KC thought I could make a career out of it."

"Casey?" Ash raised an eyebrow. "Who's Casey?"

"Um, it's actually KC. As in the letters. Yeah, Marilyn likes to use my initials..." The clouded leopard finally stood up and made her way to them as everyone looked to her, pulling a small smile while she adjusted her glasses. "You can all just call me Kaya."

"Oh, it's lovely to meet you!" Rosita said, quickly stepping forward to shake Kaya's hand. "Are you Marilyn's agent?"

"Agent?!" Marilyn scoffed. "No, she's my nanny."

"Governess, actually..." Kaya cut in, the annoyed rolling of her eyes indicating that she was used to making this correction.

"Nanny, governess, butler, same difference... point is, she takes care of me..." Marilyn giggled while the clouded leopard playfully ruffled the top of her head. "Anyway, like I was saying, we came over here to Redshore and I got signed up for Mr. Kickenklober's dance studio, and... well, here we are now, so..."

"Ah... well, it's wonderful to have you girls on board!" Buster chuckled. "So, does Klaus have any moves planned out yet?"

"Don't think so..." Marilyn shrugged, which Kaya further supported with a nod. "Yeah, he said he was gonna leave that to, um... oh... I'm sorry, darling, what was your name again? Uh... Nookie, or something?"

"It's Nooshy, actually." The lynx stifled a laugh, then lounged back a bit. "But yeah, I've been brainstorming a couple ideas for what we could do. If you don't mind me saying, mate, you're pretty well built, so I think we'll definitely have you doing a Planet of War bit."

"Oh, but don't use any pointy spears, though!" Porsha cut in, gently rubbing her left forearm as Nooshy froze up a bit. "Yeah, we kinda had a little, uh... accident, a couple months back."

"Hmm. That's probably for the best, then." Kaya said. "You always get reckless with stuff like that, Marilyn. Remember that time you played pirates with -"

"Hang on a minute..." Johnny suddenly sat up, glancing around while everyone looked to him. "Where did Klaus go?"

"What do you mean, mate? He's right -" Nooshy cut herself off as she looked back to the far corner at the other side of the room, which was now completely vacated. "Oh... well, he were there before."

"Wait, Klaus? You mean the monkey with the beret?" Ash pursed her lips as Johnny and Nooshy nodded. "Yeah, I saw him walk off after Marilyn stopped singing."

"Hmm... y'know, I did think he were being a bit quiet." Johnny said. "Knowing him, he's usually got something mean to say..."

"He were on his phone, last I saw him." Nooshy said. "Looked like he was worried about something."

Kaya chortled, removing her glasses to clean them. "To be honest, Mr. Kickenklober never struck me as the kind of fellow who'd even have a phone. Very traditionalist."

"Well, maybe he just got some bad news..." Rosita said, her usual compassionate tone in her voice as the others murmured in agreement. "Look, I know we don't have the best experience with Mr. Kickenklober - especially you, Johnny - but whatever he's going through, we can at least give him some privacy."

"I know, Rosita, I know..." Johnny sighed. "I just think it's a bit weird. I mean, what sort of thing could be making him act all -"

"OMG!" Marilyn's eyes bulged to their widest point as she and everyone around her looked at her phone screen. "Madame Jument's gone into end of life care!"