"Uh... Mr. Moon, are you sure this is safe? GAH!"

Stephanie shrieked as she lost her footing, only just managing to catch herself from plummeting into the dusty, desolate darkness below. The wolf's hands and legs both latched onto the rickety wooden beam that she'd previously been walking on, her tail now hanging limp below her, and she carefully crawled along this makeshift bridge until she reached the slightly safer platform at the other end.

Her new koala acquaintance seemed to have made a far easier job swinging and manoeuvring around the nooks and crannies of the theatre's rafters - presumably due to both his experience and his ancestry - and he had been difficult to keep up with as a result, but he had at least been courteous enough to stop and wait for her a few times.

"Ah, there you are!" Buster said in his usual chipper tone as Stephanie finally caught up, apparently not even noticing the flustered expression on her face while he gestured to his left. "After you, Ma'am..."

"Huh...?" Stephanie raised an eyebrow, before the bright light ahead caught her attention, and she looked over the edge of the platform to see the wooden floor of the stage right below them. "Wait... we're not gonna jump, are we...?!"

"Jump...?! Oh no no no, I'm not that crazy!" Buster stifled a laugh, before heading over to the large, gold-painted crescent moon that was dangling from a cable right above the top curtain. "I know I'm a little on the light side, but it should be strong enough to hold two..."

"Hold? Wait, you... you wanna...?" Stephanie stammered. Although she'd been trying her best to keep up a friendly tone throughout their meeting, it was at this point where she finally decided to speak her mind in the bluntest, most deadpan manner possible. "There is no way in hell that I'm goin' down on that thing, Mr. Moon."

"I assure you, Miss Frangipane, it's perfectly safe..." Buster clambered onto the prop, taking a moment to let it steady itself, then sat down on it, patting the space he'd left beside him while placing his other hand on the switch. "It's quicker than the stairs, anyway..."

Stephanie clenched both her fists and bit her bottom lip, hesitating while she internally wrestled with herself over what to do. After a good few seconds, she finally let out a sigh before climbing across onto the prop moon, carefully moving her backside to avoid getting poked by the corner of the crescent as she sat down beside the koala.

"Okay... okay, you've got me on your little moon thing, Moon, so let's go down nice and sl-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Buster hadn't warned her when he had flicked the switch, prompting the prop moon to plummet straight down. Stephanie gripped the crescent corner with both hands while she screamed, narrowly moving her head to dodge the counterweight as it flew up past her.

The moon finally came to a stop with a loud, forceful YANK!, nearly sending both its passengers flying off, but now it just quietly creaked while it hovered inches off the stage floor, allowing them to safely disembark.

"See? Ooh, watch yourself!" Buster quickly grabbed the very dizzy wolf's hands while she shakily got back to her feet. "Y'okay...?"

"Uh-huh... y-yeah, I'm... I'm all good..." Stephanie groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose until her vision finally cleared and she could stand straight again. "No offence, Mr. Moon, but I think ya just put me off tall heights for life..."

"Ah... right, yeah, that... that's understandable..." Buster let out a nervous chuckle, though he regained his usual bravado as he gestured towards the door at the end of the auditorium. "Shall we...?"

The lunchtime bell had barely begun to ring when Johnny hurriedly shuffled out of his chemistry class, keeping his new keyboard clutched close to his chest as he bolted down the already-bustling corridor. The young gorilla hadn't felt entirely confident with the idea of bringing his new instrument to school, despite - or perhaps because - his mother had gotten it specifically for him to do so. But even with all his objections about how his friends or other students would react to it, Mary had insisted her son put his newest Christmas gift and his long-held love of music to good use.

A large, orange banner was still hung over the door to the music room - BAND PRACTICE - and the volunteers sheet that had been stapled to the wall was completely covered in names, including Johnny's own. The eleven-year-old felt his heart pounding even harder in his chest as he got closer and closer to the door, and he stopped for just a moment to take a final, very deep breath, before he finally latched onto the handle.

"Alright..." He whispered to himself as he shut his eyes. "No turning back now..."

The faint conversations that he'd heard from the other side all ground to a unanimous halt the moment Johnny entered the room, and he slowly opened his eyes to see every student in the room was now looking directly at him. The expressions on their faces - at least most of them - seemed to be more curious than hostile, but even despite the wide variety of both animals and instruments that were present, the complete absence of any other gorillas made the newest arrival stick out like a sore thumb.

"Oh, um... h-hello, lads...?" Johnny broke the brief silence, giving a small wave with his free hand, though no one seemed to respond. "Uh... right, okay, guess I'll just... um... y-yeah, alright..."

Keeping his instrument tight to his chest, Johnny carefully trod around the back of the group, trying to spot a suitable space for himself to sit. Whenever he saw one, it always seemed to immediately be taken by someone else, or the student beside it would simply make it clear that he wasn't welcome to sit there. After about a minute of fruitless searching, the gorilla began to silently accept that he'd either have to stand up or sit on the floor for the entire session, though he was beginning to seriously consider bolting out of the room and never thinking of music or singing ever again.

"Um... y-you can sit here with me if you want."

A soft but rather familiar voice snapped Johnny out of his thoughts. He briefly pondered where he'd heard this voice before - mostly recognising the slight lisp caused by the braces on her teeth - though he finally looked down to see where it came from when the girl spoke up again.

"So, uh... do you wanna sit down or what...?"

Despite the porcupine's rather frumpy looking appearance - her slightly oversized clothes, the old wooden guitar that was clearly too big for her, and the overly-sparkly metal pieces in her big toothy grin - Johnny was immediately drawn to her bright blue eyes, which were only magnified more by the red-framed glasses she was wearing. But after realising that he'd been gazing at her for much longer than was probably appropriate, the gorilla then turned his attention back to the empty seat she was gesturing to.

"Oh... uh, y-yeah, that'd be brill!" He said, quickly sitting down while he unfolded his keyboard to set it up. "Thanks."

"Yeah, no worries..."

The porcupine kept her warm, welcoming tone while she sent a smaller, more intimate smile his way, before she looked back down and refocused on tuning her own instrument. Though he pretended to still be focused on his keyboard as he finished setting it up, Johnny couldn't help but steal another few quick glances at the girl beside him, pondering her vaguely familiar features until it finally clicked.

"Hang on a minute... you're that girl from Halloween!"

After blurting this out, Johnny quickly covered his mouth, while some of the other students looked over at him again. He noticed a faint blush beaming on the porcupine's cheeks from his realisation, but she seemed more flattered and amused than embarrassed of offended.

"Yeah, I um... I'm sorry I knocked you up..." He said in a quieter tone, though his eyes bulged wide when he realised he'd just made another slip up. "OVER! I mean knocked... knocked you over."

"Yeah, it's okay..." The porcupine girl struggled playfully, while a slightly mischievous grin tugged at her lips. "I kinda thought you'd recognise me straight away, though."

"Well, to be fair, mate, you look right different without your Sonic outfit..." Johnny smiled sheepishly, before pursing his lips. "Hang on, Sonic's the blue one, isn't he...?"

"Yeah, my buddy Katy went as Sonic. I was Shadow..." She chuckled after correcting him. "Y'know, I'd think somebody dressed as Spider-Man woulda been harder to recognise, but you weren't wearing the mask..."

"Oh yeah, I know... I were watching these younger kids that night, and I didn't want them to not recognise me, so..." The gorilla tried to remain confident, though after a moment of hesitation, he suddenly extended a hand to the porcupine. "I, um... I'm Johnny, by the way..."

"Hmm... nice to meet you. Well, y'know, officially..." The porcupine brushed some of her loose quills aside as she gently held his hand and shook it. "I'm Ashley."

Though Stephanie had hoped the elevating prop moon would be the most exciting yet terrifying experience she'd have to endure that day, the bike ride wasn't much better. Buster's so called "classic" - presumably his euphuism for old, rusty and barely standing - two-wheeler was clearly built to only hold one animal as it was, and the reckless way that the koala cycled through the traffic was nothing short of death-defying.

"And here we are!"

Stephanie was snapped out of her traumatised trance by the sound of Buster's voice - which had lost none of its energy or enthusiasm, despite the perilous journey they'd just embarked on - and she looked up to see the very sophisticated establishment in front of them.

Though the wolf had only ever been to Les Calmers on one occasion - attending a special meal with the Mayor, along with Nana and the rest of her old troupe - it didn't seem to have changed much in the years since. The floor was a checkered black and white, not dissimilar from what she'd seen at the Noodleman Mansion, and instead of walls, the sides of the main restaurant were comprised of large, clear blue water tanks, filled with at least two hundred floating squid of varying colours.

"So, uh... I guess ya still got cash to burn if you're eating out this fancy, Mr. Moon..."

"Well, kinda..." Buster sounded slightly nervous. "But you know what they say, Ma'am. When you get to the big leagues, you've gotta enjoy it!"

"Uh-huh. And who exactly says that...?"

"Oh, um... well, I just... uh... oh, there he is!" Buster picked up his pace - though Stephanie's longer legs made it easy to catch up with him - as he approached the table in the middle of the main room, where a surprisingly familiar sheep was sat waiting. "Miss Frangipane, allow me to introduce my good friend -"

"Eddie Noodleman...?!" Stephanie's eyes widened a little as she blurted this out, making the sheep shoot up when he heard his name. "Oh God... this all makes so much sense now..."

"Wait, you..." Buster climbed up onto the seat opposite Eddie, glancing back and forth between his newest acquaintance and his equally confused old friend. "You guys know each other...?"

"Uh... I guess so...?" Eddie shrugged, sending an anxious look Buster's way before he looked over at the wolf who was still standing up. "Yeah, I'm not exactly good with faces, so uh... I dunno, can I get a hint or something...?"

"A hint? Oh yeah, uh... r-right..." Stephanie cleared her throat, then quickly grabbed a chair from the empty table behind her as she sat right between them in the middle. "Yeah, a couple years ago I had lunch with you and your Nana. Y'know, you uh... oh, let me think... um... ah, that's it! Y'were talkin' about your fantasy football team, remember?"

"Ugh... baseball..." Eddie crossed his arms as he sat back in his seat, though other than this minor offence it seemed he'd finally processed what she was telling him. "Well anyway, uh... what exactly are we doing here?"

For the next five minutes or so Stephanie was sat quietly in her chair, looking through the menu of elegant but extortionately expensive dishes while the diminutive showman beside her launched into his enthusiastic pitch for the Moon Theatre's debut show.

"I'm telling you, it's gonna be spectacular! There's gonna be sword fights, dance fights, and I bet if we get a good demolition guy, we'll even pull off some real, honest to God explosions too!"

Stephanie glanced around to see a few of the other animals sending annoyed glares the koala's way, and though she certainly wanted to find his excitement irritating, there was something oddly infectious about it as well.

"These folks think they know War Of Attrition, oh-ho, they got another thing coming!"

"Wait... War Of Attrition...?" Stephanie finally spoke up as she lowered her menu, nearly letting out a harsh-sounding laugh. "Ya mean that old black and white movie from Schnitzeldorf?"

"Yep, that's the one! A good old classic! Great book, too!" Buster nodded proudly. "And, might I point out, pretty relevant to what's going on over there now, wouldn't you say...?"

"Uh-huh..." Stephanie was unenthusiastic as she raised an eyebrow. "And you think puttin' dance fights and big explosions in there is the best way to go about that kinda thing...?"

"Oh..." Buster's eyes slowly widened and his ears went limp when this realisation finally hit him. "Huh... that actually is pretty poor taste, isn't it...?"

"Yeah, it's definitely gonna be pretty damn awkward... plus, ya gotta think about the budget and stuff too!" Stephanie said, being surprised by the somewhat dumbfounded looks on both Buster and Eddie's face. "I mean... this is gonna be your first show, right...?"

"It is."

"Yeah, so why are ya blowin' all this money on fancy crap that most folks probably won't even wanna see?" She continued, now leaning forward a little and propping her elbows up on the table while she looked at Buster directly. "Look, Moon, when ya get to the big leagues, the last thing ya gotta do is look like you're compensatin' for something. Y'know, ya gotta... ya gotta start out small and work your work up to it! Be uh... dammit, what's the word I'm lookin' for... um... ooh, practical! That's it!"

"Hmm..." Buster cupped his chin while a curious expression formed on his face. "Well, forgive me if I'm intruding, Miss Frangipane, but um... I can't help getting the feeling you're saying this from experience."

"Experience? Oh, um... w-well yeah, I... I guess ya could say a got a little... a lot, actually..." Stephanie cleared her throat again, anxiously gripping her tail as she lay it down on her lap. "Yeah, I um... before Porsha came along, I did a ton of gigs over in Redshore, so..."

"I'm sorry, but who's Porsha...?"

"Hmm? Oh, she's my daughter..." Stephanie noticed a more neutral but uncertain look flashing briefly on Buster's face after she'd said this, but he quickly regained his smile while prompting her to continue. "But yeah, I uh... I kinda had to work my way up. Y'know, it was mostly smaller venues to start off with... bars, speakeasies, stuff like that, but then I got noticed by -"

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Eddie suddenly cut in, pointing directly at the wolf he finally recognised. "You're the one who left that Jimmy Crystal guy!"

"You were married to Mr. Crystal...?!" Buster's eyes bulged wide as he straightened up, going from curious to outright amazed as he looked over to Stephanie again. "Wowza!"

"Oh God..."

Stephanie pinched the bridge of her nose. While she had been expecting her new acquaintance to already know from the moment they met, it had been a welcome and pleasant surprise when he seemed oblivious, which only made it even more frustrating for him to find out this dirty little secret after all.

"Ugh..." After a good few seconds of silence and hesitation, Stephanie finally managed to look Buster in the eye again, speaking as deadpan. "Yeah... it ain't exactly a big deal or nothin' like that, but... b-but yeah, I... I was married to Jimmy Crystal... that's uh... that's Porsha's Dad."

"Boy, this uh... well, this is great, actually!" Buster laughed, excitedly drumming his open palms on the table. "I guess you know the ins and outs of this business after all, Miss Frangipane!"

"Well yeah..." Stephanie scoffed. "Y'know, that's kinda the whole reason I was plannin' to buy the place, so..."

"Ah, of course... of course..." Buster held his chin again as he lounged back in his seat, a smile forming on his face as a new idea formed in his head. "Hmm... y'know, I think we can work with this..."

"Assistant Theatre Manager and Co-Producer...?" Rosita sounded genuinely awed while she read off the scribbled on napkin Stephanie had passed to her. "Wow... so you just walked right in and he had a job waiting for you to take, huh...?"

"Waiting for me to take...? Ha!" Stephanie scoffed bitterly, crossing her arms while she lounged back on the couch. "Come on, Ro, that's like the most made-up name for a position ever! He just made it up on the spot, like all the other stupid ideas he was sproutin' off. It's nothin' but a jumble of words he pulled right out of his -!"

"Stephanie!" Rosita cut her off with a raised eyebrow, gesturing towards the seven-year-old wolf pup who was sat in front of the TV a few feet away. "But seriously, though, I really don't get why you're being so negative about this, Steph. Cause y'know, Mr. Moon didn't have to be so nice to you."

"Oh yeah, real nice of him..." Stephanie snarked. "Bad enough he steals the theatre from under me, now he's offerin' me a pity job! Ugh... I tell ya, after all the crap me and Porsha have been put through, the last thing we need is pity! And that's all this so-called job thing is!"

"Hmm..." Rosita then tilted her head with a small smile. "So why do you look like you're considering it...?"

"Well... w-well, I dunno, I..." Stephanie hesitated, struggling to make eye contact with the pig before she looked down to the floor. "I guess he was just pretty convincing..."

"Hmm..." Rosita then packed up her things and headed over to the door, playfully ruffling the top of Porsha's head on the way. "The ball's in your court, Steph. Whatever you do with it's up to you."

"Right... right..." Stephanie nodded slowly while the pig left and closed the door behind her, still eyeing the napkin on the table while Porsha watched her cartoons. "Hmm..."