So...It's been a while since I had a flat out musical number in a story, I admit they were one of many things that made my previous stories seem all over the place and unfocused as I tried to cram as much stuff into a story as possible and some of the small stories were me teaching myself a lesson in keeping my stories small (The Twilight Express seems to be the apex of that seeing how popular that story got) but now returning to the Grand Arcs I think it's time to bring back the musical numbers, at the end of the Mutant Riots Quartet I implied that since some of the 'essence' of the Humanimal Universe has bled over into the Turtles Universe perhaps the People of the Turtle's world would gain some of the musical talent of the 'Tuniverse' as Mikey dubbed it, if it has it hasn't yet manifested. But anyway in this chapter we meet two Humanimal Characters from my Fictionpress Stories Maurice 'Bumble' Bounder and Labrador Retriever and his friend Squeeks (That is his actual name) McBones a Naked Mole Rat, their story I feel might me my magnum opus of the Mizzer Humanimal stories,(And it was not delibarate when I gave the two characters their names but I realized their names sound like 'Bubble and Squeak' a traditional English breakfast food) their story last left them when they were elementery school age children now they're teenagers and have begun to establish themselves as spirtual leaders among the Viola Strierra Humanimals creating a compitition with the long standing Shamans, some Shamans are OK with this, others hate it!
Marzipan jumped out of the swimming hole and ran over to her beloved Uncle she had told many stories about him, it was clear he was her favorite family member, as she was his, both of them were 'Mavericks' refused to follow the conventional Mizzer Humanimal life of striving to be human...By being as dull and boring as possible, work a dull, boring office job, do your household chores, don't strive for fame of glory because you should be ashamed of your animal body! Your tail, your fur/feathers/whathaveyou, your muzzle/beak her Mom and Dad alays said when they saw Humanimal on TV that those Humanimals should be ashamed of themselves drawing attention to themselves like that, so it was a great family embaressment when Aparagus, most called him Gus for short decided to pursue his dream of being an actor!
Marzipan ran over to Gus "Are you OK?" She asked "How did you learn to drive a spaceship?"
"I didn't..." Gus sighed as he rubbed his head "...That thing was on auto-pilot with the cordinates set in, we had heard that you had moved to Earth and were living in the Lake District of England so some really smart guys set the cordinates and all I could do was hope the rumors were true..." He smiled "...Turns out they were and I happened to land right next to you...That Old Cheshire Cat luck again!"
Than he noticed she was wearing a white one piece bathing suit with a rainbow on itand that her fur was soaking wet.
"You've been swimming?" Gus said "...I don't reacall you swimming since your swimming lessons!"
(Marzipan and her Younger Sister Emma had taken swimming lessons for safety reasons there had been times of severe flodding in the Green Valley in years past so it was just seen as a good idea to the Cat-People to make sure their Kittens knew how to swim even if most cats don't like swimming)
"Yeah..." Marzipan said "...Just cooling off on a hot say with my new friends."
"So you finally learned how to make friends!" Gus chuckled "...I remember back when you were a kitten you said you would rather play by yourself with your imaginary friends because they were better than real friends, because they can't hurt your feelings."
Marzipan normally loved Uncle Gus's jovial ways but kind of wish he would blab her unpleasant secrets in front of her new friends...
Ichabod ran over, "You're the Uncle Gus that Marzipan has told me so much about?!" Ichabod was feeling like he was in the standing before a Great Celebraty because of the times Marzipan told him what a great actor he was "It...It's an honor to finally meet you Sir!"
For a moment Gus looked at the scrawny gawky human and blinked a few times, "Are...Are you wearing an old timey bathing suit? Like the kind they wore in the 1920s?" He burst out laughing "I'm sorry I just don't know anyone who would actually wear that!"
Ichabod just rolled his eyes but he smiled he recalled the Turtles reaction when they first saw his swimwear they were rolling on the floor.
"My Father gave it to me," Ichabod said "He was never the type to go swimming himself, in the end though it is hard to find swimwear that fits my tiny waist and I am NOT wearing Speedos!"
"What's your name Son?" Gus asked
"Ichabod Crane." Ichabod said holding out his hand
"Really?" Gus said as he took Ichabod's hand "I mean I was named after a character I later played and you really do you...Look like the character...Redhead aside."
"My Father named me, he was very fond of the character..."
"Uncle Gus..." Marzipan quickly said "...Ichabod is my boyfriend."
Gus blinked and a pained expression came to his face then he sighed "I never would have suspected you would have fallen for a human!" He said "Especially after all this...You know..." By which he meant the Wrangler Invasion and the ensueing enslavment but then again on Viola Strierra we have had help from humans, several Mizzer Humans were taken with us, do their best to help us on the sly while not trying to raise suspitions otherwise the Wranglers would brainwash them for sure! But I mean...It has been what? Seven? Eight? Nine years? I realize it would be stupid to think you would never have found love in that time...Still I remember you saying you never wanted to marry so I...I'm sorry I just didn't realize!"
"What are you talking about?!" Marzipan said getting disturbed by how Gus was talking
"I met a Kitten on Viola Strierra, a Boy Kitten who reminded me a lot of you!" Gus said "His name was Kevin, and he told me of the adventures he would have in his imagination, before I left I said if I found you and brought you back I would introduce you to him and hoped you to would...You know..."
Marzipan lashed her tail a bit irritated her Uncle was trying to play matchmaker.
"I'm...Sure you meant well..." Ichabod said trying to smooth things over but already his male protectiveness was flaring up thinking there was another male somewhere who might want Marzipan "I was...I was once betrothed to a girl, a daughter of a friend of my Father's back when I lived on Alderbaren..."
Now Gus knew Alderbaren the other Planet where Mizzer Humanimals were taken had been used as a Penal Colony for other planets (Or put more bluntly, where the other planets dumped their human garbage) And suddenly the last name of 'Crane' made him remmeber stories he had heard about the happenings on faraway Earth.
"Tell me Ichabod..." Gus said his voice no longer Jovial "...Is your Father's name...Jonathan by any chance?"
Ichabod gulped "You know of him?"
"The entire Empire knows of the Gotham Rogues!" Gus said "Ever since the time Joker attempted to drop a Nuke on Gotham City forcing the rest of the Empire to finally take notice of the strange backwater City! The notorious deeds of the Costumed Rogues of Arkham have become the stuff of legends! Their the kinds of things Wrangler Children make scary stories out of to try to spook each other! Marzipan did you know that your boyfriend is the son of notorious criminal?!"
As much as she loved Uncle Gus, Marzipan would not let that stop her stubborn willfulness she said
"Two actually! His Dad is Scarecrow, his Mom is Poison Ivy!"
Gus pulled on his ears "Worse and worse!" He exclaimed "What are your parents going to say when I tell them this?!"
"So what?!" Marzipan yelled "Those two sticks in the mud can jump off a cliff for all I care! Uncle Gus you should know that better than anyone! After the way they treated you..."
That seemed to cool Gus down, his ears drooped he turned around.
"Marzipan, I think there's more I should tell you..." He sighed "...On Viola Strierra although it's hard to get the complete truth from deep in Wrangler Territory where it's not easy to sort out news from propaganda, we...Have herd tales of your adventures, That you have become...The Mage Monarch, that you have magic powers...The Mizzer Humanimals who hear these tales, Humanimals who obviously never knew you personally think you're some kind of chosen one! That if you come to Mizzer you will liberate us all! And the Native Humanimals who have become close to Mizzer Humanimals are starting to buy into their hype as they are not sure about the Chosen Ones of their Phrophacies so they are willing to follow the Mizzer Humanimals because of the Mizzerains speaking our land of peace and prosperity and equality between Humans and Humanimals..."
"Yeah..." Marzipan said "...Peace and prosperity we never got to fully enjoy because we were too busy being ashamed of ourselves because we weren't exactly like humans and even though the humans wanted us to be our equals we kept treating them like Gods we were not worthy to even look at!"
"Things were slowly getting better..." Gus said quietly "...It seemed we were on the verge of a worldwide breakthrough then the Invasion happened..."
"Great!" Marzipan exclaimed throwing up her hands "...So what Matoaka is to all the other Humanimals...I've become to the Mizzer Humanimals!"
At that very moment if only they could have seen it, in the Capital City of Planet Viola Strierra, deep under the bustling Metropolis, hidden from most human eyes where the Humanimals toiled deep underground to keep the High Tech Metropolis running, songs were swelling in the hearts of the Humanimals, the Native Humanimals who had mated and had children with Mizzer Humanimals had become swept up in the enthusiasm as well...The Songs were causing rumblings that could be felt in the Royal Palace, Lady Gloria could feel them, she knew what they meant, and yet words struggle to decribe how little she cared, ever since her son and only child Edward had betrayed the Wrangler cause and joined the Federation and married a Humanimal the heartbreak Gloria felt had been getting worse and worse, at this point she knew the Humanimals were now thumbing their noses at their human masters and she just didn't care, all she wanted was her Son back, this wasn't your typical cartoon supervillain gross incomptence, this was very clearly self sabotage!
Deep underground where the machines turned you could hear the Mizzer Humanimals sing
"This planet is gloomy!" Grumbled a scruffy mongrel dog-man
"This planet is bleak!" Sighed a Pig-Woman
"My underwear got frozen standing here all week!" Shivered a Rabbit-Man
As the Mizzer Humanimals made their ways through the tunnels they had come to know so well they sang "For since the great invasion, our lives have been so gray, thank goodness for the gossip that gets us through the day!"
"HEY!
Have you heard?
There's a Rumor in the Capitol?
Have you heard?
What they're saying on the street?"
An Earthworm-Man popped his head out of his tunnel
"There has come a phrophacy
That a Mizzer daughter shall set us free..."
"The Mage Monarch Marzipan..." Came a Thousand Whispers
"But please do not repeat!" Said the Worm-Man as he ducked back into his hole
As the Humanimals sang their Gossip, one Humanimal, a Teenage Naked Mole Rat-Boy wearing red robes sort of similar to Moses in The Ten Comandments made his way through the crowd and everyone made way for him because the Boy Squeeks McBones was an Oracle who could forsee future events and thus help Humanimals prepare for them
"It's the rumor, the legand, The mystery!
Something whispered in an alleyway or through a crack!"
Squeeks knocked on a certain door and was let in
"It's a rumor that's part of our history!"
An Albino Rat-Woman who was not a Mizzeran but had mystic talents, stroked her crystal ball and sang ""They say the Mystics have had visions of a land..."
"To where we'll someday soon be going back!"
Squeeks had joined his longtime friend, a Lab Dog-Man named Maurice Bounder, most called him Bumble because as a Pup had had been very clumsy, he had gotten over that but he still preferred to be called Bumble over Maurice, he had his own magical talents, very unique ones so respected was Bumble that even at this young age he was seen as a spiritual leader to his people that was rivaling the Suarian Shamans, some Shamans supported Bumble other simply detested him! Here the two Humanimals made their way through long forgotten catacombs that had become a 'black market' here Humanimals and even some Mizzer Humans bought and sold things
"A space buck for this painting," Said a human "It's Mizzeran, I swear!"
Two Pig-Woman sang
"Count Yusopov's pajamas
Come and buy the pair!"
"I got this from the palace!" Grizzled Rat-Man sang holding a lock of fur tied up with a ribbon "It's pink and purple fur..."
Bumble took a sniff with his canine nose to ensure it was indeed cat fur
"...It could worth a fortune, it it belonged to her!"
Bumble and Squeeks took an 'Air Elevator' that took them to an ancient and forgotten tower in the city. There were many such secrets in the city built by more smarter more compitant Wranglers of the past but as the people became more decandant much of their history was forgotten all the better for Humanimals to exploit.
"This is it Squeeks," Bumble said to his longtime friend "The moment we've all been waiting for, so many Humanimals have been having dreams about it...She will come, and we have to do our part to help her along the way!"
Then Bumble began to sing "It's the rumor, the legend, the mystery...It's the Mage Monarch Marzipan who will help us fly! You and I friend we'll go down in history! The Cat will come and play her part and then we'll know it's time! Time for us to all break free! Imagine the Hero's Welcome, when we finally get home...Who else could pull it off but yuou and me?"
"We'll be free!"
"We'll be free!" Squeeks echoed
"We'll be out!"
"We'll be out!"
Then the two friends sang in unison "And the galaxy will have some more to talk about..."
As the two made their way back down to the catacombs they heard the swelling song
Have you heard? There's a rumor in the Capitol? Have you heard? What they're saying on the street?"
They came out of the Catacombs to see Humanimals both Mizzeran and Native singing and dancing in harmony
"Have you heard?
There's a rumor in the Capitol!
Have you heard?
Well now what do you suppose?
A fasinating mystery..."
And jumping onto an old machine Bumble spread out his hands and sang to his people, all of them, both fellow Mizzerans and the born and bred slaves he had come to see as brothers and sisters
"...The Biggest Trick in History!"
The Mage Monarch Marzipan...Alive...Or...Dead?"
"Who knows? Shhhh!"
Yeah so a lot of the lyrics were edited from the original A Rumor in St Petersburg also removed any mention of the word 'Comrade' because Mizzerans are very much American Mizzer was meant to continue the traditions of America after everyone else decided to go back to Feudalism
