At last, the final chapter of volume I! The author's notes after the chapter will go into detail on what's next, followed by a collection of behind the scenes factoids I couldn't think to put anywhere else.
Chapter 27 – The Epilogue
Comprised of the loudest colors in the rainbow, the suitcase twice Buster's size mocked the koala in its chromatic silence. He was determined to get it to the threshold and made another push. After a minute or two of pure physical endurance, Buster pushed the overstuffed luggage all the way through to the villa's foyer. He wiped the sweat from his brow with an exhausted but proud grin; all victories should be celebrated. Then Johnny appeared with two more even larger suitcases nestled on his shoulders and set them down nearby with minimal effort.
"Great work, Johnny," Buster said, straining to keep up his spirited grin. "Just amazing."
The gorilla gave him a quizzical look. "Thanks?"
Porsha came out of her room with a shoulder bag, dressed in turquoise shorts, a bright pink top, a sun hat, a pair shades, and her phone pressed to her ear. Beneath her clothes were hints of a neon bathing suit.
"Okay, daddy. I'm coming out now," she said before hanging up. So far, Jimmy was sticking to his commitment to change, the first notable act being to spend more time with his daughter. They'd vacation for a week in Hawaii, just father, daughter, and assistant... Jerry was tagging along, too. Buster didn't give that too much thought, he was just happy Porsha was reconnecting with her dad.
"I appreciate this, you guys," Porsha said. "The limo's here so you can take them out now."
"No worries," Johnny said, though Buster let out a quiet, almost deranged laugh.
"By the way, daddy wants to talk to you, Mr. Moon."
Buster nearly jumped out of his shoes. Old habit. "He, uh... he does? What about?"
Porsha shrugged, then gawked. "Oh no! I almost forgot!" She raced back to her room.
Getting the luggage to the street was, thankfully, much more manageable. Buster used the incline of the driveway to ride the bag all the way down to the limo. Johnny was right behind him but much more wary in his approach. Seeing the black limo glistening under the sun gave him both a sense of dread and relief.
Jimmy Crystal was sitting in there, parked right outside their cozy abode, and apparently had no intention of harming them. But Johnny couldn't help but wonder how long the truce would last. Crystal certainly had plenty of reasons to go after them if everything fell through with Out of This World again. The deal Buster struck got them working again, but at what cost? They were right back in his clutches. Johnny couldn't deny he felt a little bitter; he wasn't too comfortable with the arrangement, but Buster called the shots. He always did.
One of the tinted windows of the limo slid down and Buster, on the tips of his toes, teetered on the curb to see inside. Jimmy was dressed in a dark business suit as usual save for a pair of shades with frames covered in an obnoxious splash of color that had to be Porsha's handiwork. Sitting next to him was Jerry who, much like Porsha, was ready to hit the beach at any moment in his teal Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts.
Before either of them could say anything, Porsha burst out of the house with her Narly the Narwhal plush clamped to her shoulder bag. Jimmy finally noticed the menagerie of luggage and nearly climbed out of the window as he did a doubletake.
"Porsha! It's just one week!" he complained.
"Some of us have a wardrobe that's not just all business suits, ya know!" Porsha shot back.
"I'm not wearing the suit on the beach!"
"I'll believe it when I see it."
Jimmy resettled into his seat and finally noticed the koala beaming up at him. "Moon."
"So, uh... you wanted to see me, Mr. Crystal?"
"A certain kid of mine may have mentioned that your people have some reservations performing at the Crystal Tower Theater again. Or more specifically, working under me."
"Well, yes... but can you blame them? Either way, I'll have everybody on board by the time the show is up and running again."
"I'm letting you know you won't have to worry about answering to me, okay?" Jimmy removed the shades so Buster could see into those intense pools of cerulean. "This is extremely sensitive information so if it gets out there, I'll know it was you that shot your mouth off, but... when I get back from vacation, I'll start getting my affairs in order. I'm resigning from the company."
Buster nearly fell off the curb. "Holy moly! You'd do that for us?"
Jimmy quirked a brow. "No, I'm doing it for me. I'm serious about becoming the best version of myself, and right now trying to run Crystal Entertainment is more of a distraction. Or maybe I'm the distraction." Something heavy lingered in the air after that. "I also realized the level of power I had enabled some of my worst behaviors. I think I need to learn new ways to handle my problems."
"I wish you luck."
Jimmy snorted. "Right. I know you're cartwheeling on the inside right now."
"No, really. On some level I envy that you can make such a bold decision in order to better yourself, and I hope it works out for you."
Normally Jimmy would want to wipe that sincere smile off that koala's face, but now there was another layer of pressure there knowing that even his ex-nemesis was waiting to see what would become of him.
"Don't get the wrong idea. This is transitional. When the new and improved me gets here, who knows what'll happen next? I conquered Redshore, maybe next time I'll take over the world."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Cheeky bastard.
Once the driver loaded Porsha's luggage into the trunk, the wolf girl hopped inside the limo, then climbed over Jerry and her dad to wave through the window.
"Bye you guys! Don't start the show without me!"
"No, never," Buster said. He and Johnny waved as the limo pulled off on its way to the airstrip where Jimmy's private jet was waiting. Once the limo was out of sight, Buster nudged Johnny's leg.
"Still think this was a bad idea?"
A slight panic showed up on the gorilla's face. "What? I never said..."
"You don't have the best poker face, Johnny."
"I'm glad Porsha and her dad are reconnecting. I always knew they could. It's just... I'm not a pessimist, all right? But if Mr. Crystal is stepping down, who's gonna run the company? Who do we answer to now?"
"I understand your uncertainty. But remember—mystery is just the name of the precipice overlooking a brand-new adventure!"
"Did you just make that up?"
"Sure did!"
Johnny followed the koala back into the house, though with considerably less pep in his step. There was still that lingering, nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right, but he wasn't going to let that consume him. Out of This World was back on again, and his energy was better focused on rebuilding the Moon Troupe's reputation.
A gaggle of reporters and news media gathered in the lobby of Crystal Entertainment. Jimmy Crystal, fashionably late to his own press conference, walked up to the podium with Celeste Cassidy by his side.
"Today is a historical day for Crystal Entertainment," Jimmy began, quieting the room with just the sound of his voice. "Over twenty years ago, I started this company with my late wife Mercy. We ran it out the spare bedroom at our apartment. We didn't even have a logo when we got our first client. Mercy told me to scrawl my signature down on a piece of paper out of the blue, and she ended up making a logo with that. She said that signature would be famous, that it would be a symbol of what we were trying to accomplish. She had no idea how right she was. Or maybe she did."
Jimmy paused, a faint smile on his face. Somewhere in the crowd, Cleo sifted her way through the bodies so she could watch firsthand, and they made eye contact.
"But you didn't come here to hear me reminisce," the wolf continued. "The reason I called this conference is because, by the end of the day, I'll no longer be running Crystal Entertainment. I'm resigning."
The room erupted into a cacophony. Jimmy waited for the crowd to die down before he started again.
"A few years ago, I didn't think mental health was a real thing. But some people very close to me helped me realize I haven't been taking care of my own for a long time. I need to focus on me. I need to... become the best version of myself. And I can't do that while putting all my energy into the company, and the company needs someone that can give it their undivided attention. And that's why Celeste Cassidy is officially my successor. I'm letting her take on the company, and now I'm letting her take over the mic."
As Jimmy stepped aside and Celeste moved forward, he said under his breath, "This company is like my other kid. I'm handing the reins over to you; don't make me look like a fool for trusting you."
"You don't need my help to look like a fool," Celeste replied.
As the cougar took the podium, she could feel her nerves trying to get the best of her, but something else took over entirely: Excitement. It was finally her time to shine. "Some of you may have seen me before but don't quite know me yet. My name is Celeste Cassidy, I handled the company during the recent crisis, and I fought like hell all my life to get to where I am today. Jimmy took me under his wing years ago as his protégé, and it was from him that I learned what to do... and what not to do."
A few laughs bubbled out of the crowd. Jimmy looked like he was in agony as he forced a charitable smile.
"I have plans for this company," Celeste continued. "It's a new dawn, it's a new day. I'll clean up things around here until Crystal Entertainment finally has the sparkly sheen its name has suggested all these years. You'll see ingenuity, talent, and success pour out of this company like never before as I sand down the crud of the old regime. Once the gunk and grime that's been holding this company back has been powerwashed off the face of the Earth, I'll—"
Celeste was suddenly pushed away from the podium by one of Jimmy's broad shoulders as the wolf retook it.
"That's enough of that. Save the enthusiasm for tomorrow, will ya?" he said with a pitchy chuckle. "Anyways, I won't be here physically, but my signature is still on Crystal Entertainment. That accomplishment, that history can never be taken away. But just you wait! When you see me again, you'll be looking at Jimmy Crystal 2.0. Bigger, better, and ready for what comes next. I guarantee my next chapter will knock you off your feet.
"But tonight, I'm going to the proper, official premiere of Out of This World at the Crystal Tower Theater to watch my daughter show Clay Calloway how it's done. I know some of you in the media have been skeptical about how this arrangement came back together after all the drama in the news. I know talent when I see it. I discovered this show, I gave amateurs a shot in this city when no one else would. And after Buster Moon personally groveled and begged me for forgiveness, what was I to do? Seriously, there was singing and crying and everything. You should've seen him."
Cleo rolled her eyes. "Reel it in, Jimmy."
"Being the bigger man, I forgave him, naturally. And then we discussed business like rational adults. Bringing Out of This World back where it belongs is my final gift to the company. We're doing great work together. I'm going to be at the red carpet. Are you?"
Eddie did so many three-sixty-degree rotations he was making himself dizzy. To call the backstage of the Crystal Tower Theater a madhouse right before a show would be an understatement. Massive props, LED walls several stories tall, and an army of stagehands, engineers and performers all scrambling to bring it together before the curtain raised. To think Buster originally wrangled this behemoth in record time with someone like Jimmy Crystal breathing down his neck.
Faces new and old went by like a whirlwind, and Eddie tried his best to match what Buster told him back home to the people he was meeting for the first time. Eddie saw Johnny dressed as part of some apocalyptic dance troupe, along with a lynx and tiger he came to know as Nooshy and Ryan. He came across Rosita suiting up as the space explorer with Gunter as her robot assistant. Meena gave an embarrassed grin as her scene partner Darius introduced himself with a reputation that had not, in fact, preceded him. Meeting Porsha while she was in that alien costume should have been absurd, but she pranced around and wore it like a second skin. Clay Calloway was practicing for his climatic duet with Ash as if his presence there was the most banal, expected thing.
And then there was Jimmy Crystal. Eddie hadn't met him personally, but he did witness him earlier with his own eyes. He saw the wolf out there on the red carpet sucking up all the light and attention like a narcissistic black hole. Buster may have arranged a truce with him, but that didn't mean Eddie had to be okay with it. Just thinking about how the almost-killer of his best friend trotted up and down the red carpet started to make his blood boil, and he wanted to...
"Eddie! You made it!"
Eddie looked down at the koala that hugged his legs together. "You know it, buddy!"
Buster backed off and circled the sheep as he looked him over. "Dressed to the nines there, aren't you?"
It was rare for Eddie to get this dressed up for any occasion. He sported a black tuxedo that glistened with a fresh sheen under the light, with a scarlet boutonnière pinned to his lapel. He wore a broad grin, soaking up Buster's admiration like a sponge.
"Had to go all out for my best bud's big night, didn't I? It's not every day you get a VIP invite to a re-premiere in Redshore City."
"I'm so glad you're here! Wait until you see the finale when Rosita and Gunter—"
"Hey, spoilers, buddy! I'm already here, you don't have to sell me on the show."
"You're right! It should be starting soon. The staff will take you to VIP seating. After the show I'll properly introduce you to everybody, all right?"
"Everybody? Dude, you have Clay frickin' Calloway here!"
"I know, right!?"
Eddie left to find his seat. The throne area Jimmy had for the benefit concert was converted into a VIP section. He, Jerry, Cleo, Taiga and Celeste were already seated when Eddie arrived. Eddie's annoyance with the Jimmy grew once he realized he was sitting near him, and he thought about all the things he wanted to say until Jimmy's eyes suddenly locked onto him.
"You got somethin' you wanna say to me, Lambchop? You've been staring since you got here."
"Yeah, I do!" Eddie retorted, but all the wind was sucked out of him as he tried to maintain eye contact. "Uh, Lambchop was a girl, actually."
Jimmy looked thrown for a loop. "Does any part of me look like I care?"
"Don't mind him," Celeste said. "He's suffering from PPS."
"PPS?" Eddie asked.
"Perpetual Prick Syndrome."
"Kiss my ass, Cassidy!" Jimmy snapped.
"Case in point."
"You can tone it down, Jimmy," Cleo complained, gesturing toward Taiga, though the child was too engrossed in his handheld game to notice the conversation.
"Okay, whatever," Jimmy grumbled. "Go to hell, Cassidy. That better?"
Cleo sighed. "Barely."
The bickering only truly ended when the lights went out and Out of This World started proper. As the Planet of War scene began to play out, Celeste drank it in with intensity, a plan forming in her head. Where others saw spectacle and talent—the height of Buster Moon's genius—Celeste saw liability. With Jimmy out of the way, this was hers now, and she was none too pleased having that koala dumped in her lap. She had no intention of feeding off Jimmy's scraps. Before the show was over, she came to one ironclad conclusion.
Celeste Cassidy would leave her mark emblazoned on Redshore City.
And she'd squeeze Buster Moon and his troupe like a lemon to do it.
- End Volume I -
A/N
The future of Moonfall
You may remember that way back when I started this thing, I said the Moonfall saga would be a trilogy with the potential of branching stories. We're finally at the point where I can elaborate on what's next. There will actually be two stories immediately following Operation: Moonfall. The direct canon follow-up, the second volume of Moonfall, is called Blankish Slates. The other story is a branching "what if" tale called Jailbird Rhapsody. I'll go into more detail below.
Blankish Slates is going to pick up a few months after the epilogue of Operation: Moonfall. Jimmy and Cleo have stopped pushing dominos but that doesn't mean they've stopped falling. Celeste Cassidy is desperate to make her mark on Redshore and she'll use the Moon troupe to do it in ways they won't like. Meanwhile, Porsha is forced to step up and mature when she takes charge of her father's rehabilitation. Yes, Jimmy Crystal is finally going to therapy. Not to give too much away, but expect enlightenment on some character backstories, including what Nooshy refuses to tell Johnny and the moment Buster decided to become a liar, as well as flashbacks to the event that made Celeste Cassidy go from revering Jimmy to hating him, and maybe flashbacks to when Porsha's mother was still alive. Oh, and progress on that Jimmy/Jerry pairing. Can't forget about that!
Jailbird Rhapsody is for everyone reading this story (or having watched the movies in general) that thought, "What if Buster was truly held accountable? What if he DID go to prison?" I brainstormed and outlined all three parts of Moonfall pretty early on in the writing process, so I already knew the broader story beats and character arcs all the way to the end. I knew Jimmy was going to back off on sending Buster to prison, if only for his own sake, but I couldn't help but wonder how intriguing a story it would be if Buster didn't get out of that. There's a wealth of potential there, and I'm not ready to overlook it. So this story is an alternate continuity to the main Moonfall canon, a timeline that branches out of the Operation: Moonfall epilogue where Buster does indeed get sentenced to hard time and must survive in prison the only way he knows how – by putting on a show! The Moon troupe struggles to accept their new reality without their leader and decide to appeal to Jimmy to use his influence to get Buster out. Can Porsha get through to her dad? Should he even consider it?
A "behind the scenes" collection of factoids arranged in no particular order:
The reason I had Jimmy decide to begin his redemption when he was back at the height of his power is because I wanted it to be a personal revelation for him. A lot of redemption stories tend to have a character hit rock bottom and then present them with a choice of getting their act together or face perpetual suffering. When you think about it, that's not much of a choice, and it's not entirely realistic. Also, with Jimmy basically being the other side of the same coin as Buster, a darker counterpart, I thought... if Buster can consistently wiggle his way out of the consequences of his own actions and keep trucking, why can't Jimmy? I wanted to present a world where Jimmy could realistically survive while still being morally bankrupt. He holds on to his power and influence but ends up sacrificing personal happiness in the long run by hurting everyone and everything that's ever really loved him.
Suki wasn't originally going to be in the story. She doesn't have a large role, but it felt weird to me that she had no presence and I had to rectify that. As such, Chapter 9 (The Scout) got added to the story and I shuffled some plot details to accommodate it. Originally, Porsha was supposed to deduce that Cleo was pulling the strings. Appropriate changes have been made for the next two volumes to incorporate their relationship.
I didn't plan on doing Jimmy/Jerry at first; Jerry would have still been a simp for Jimmy, and Jimmy may have come to appreciate him more, but there would never be any reciprocation. But the more I started embracing things that probably wouldn't happen in the movies, the more open I was to it. The development and growth that would have to happen between these two characters for that relationship to be anything but toxic and tragic helped me work out plot and character arcs in the back half of the saga. Also, I just want the little chonker to be happy. I know some people don't like the idea of the pairing, but I felt like the arcs it would put both characters through makes this a better story in the long run.
There was a dropped Celeste Cassidy subplot where Jimmy's limo driver in Calatonia was her "spy" that overheard about the blackmail in chapter 25 and would report it back to her. Celeste would have to decide if she was going to use that information to push Jimmy out of the company. Ultimately, I dropped it because it felt pointless. The blackmail plot only lasts around three chapters and works itself out, making any involvement from Celeste irrelevant.
A really early version of the Moon Theater portion of the story where Jimmy confronts Buster actually had the whole troupe there. Instead of a one-man apology show, Buster would have (barely) managed to convince them all to help put on an act together. It still would have failed to win Jimmy over. I didn't like the large amount of characters and logistics of conveniently getting them all there before Jimmy surprised Buster. Those chapters work much better with just Jimmy, Buster and Cleo, and I didn't want Porsha seeing her dad before chapter 26.
Operation: Moonfall now has a TV Tropes page courtesy of BlackLiquidSorrow!