Carmine lay face-down in his bed and cried into his pillow. To make it worse, not being able to hear the sadness in his now absent voice as he cried only made him cry more. Not even Fluffy could cheer him up in this scenario.
The fact that his voice was gone, it was impossible for Carmine to grasp. Words couldn't begin to describe how he was feeling right now. He looked at himself in the mirror and tried to speak again, only for no sound to come out of his mouth.
Tears welled up in his eyes and quickly fell as he saw yet another reminder that he literally had no voice.
Carmine sat on his bed again, covered his face, and cried. The mere of thought of never being able to talk or sing again... he couldn't bear it!
"Carmine?" said a familiar voice.
Carmine looked up only for a moment to see that Susy had come to see him. She looked concerned Having been separated from her son for six years, she probably worried even more about Carmine now than she did before. He'd been forced to grow up sooner than he should have, even at the point where he didn't even have a parental figure left to guide him, and he, aside from his wife, had to figure out everything else on his own. But in this case, it was not going to be a moment he could handle on his own.
Susy sat by Carmine's side and hugged him.
Carmine did nothing and just continued crying. Susy then got Carmine to look at her and wiped his tears away.
"Baby, it's going to be okay." Susy said, kissing her son's head. "I know it hurts now, but you're not going through this alone. You've been through tough times before, and yet you pulled through. I've seen you do amazing things since the moment I met you, including things you didn't need to use your voice for."
Carmine's face clearly said, "Like what?"
"Well, you make beautiful music on so many instruments. Do you remember what you told me your neighbor Mrs. Hanshaw always used to say?"
Carmine looked unamused this time, as he couldn't speak to say that he remembered what his neighbor used to say.
"Oh, sorry. Now I'm forgetting you can't speak. Well, remember... your neighbor always used to say this: 'each instrument has a voice, and like people, every voice is different. And each unique voice can bring many feelings and stories to life. And you play more instruments than any student I've ever seen in my entire teaching career."
Carmine still looked down and started crying again.
"Oh, Carmine. Don't cry." Susy said, hugging him again.
Susy could tell she was going to need some help cheering Carmine up. So, she decided to get some help.
Both of Carmine's biological parents came and hugged him as he cried. It didn't do much, but Carmine welcomed the hugging anyway.
"Don't worry, Carmine. We will find a way to get your voice back." Qui-Gon said. "I don't know how, but we will not stop until we do."
"We are all here for you, Carmine." Shmi said.
"All of us," said Caroline, giving her husband a kiss.
Anakin and Kara couldn't stand to see their little brother so upset. They had to figure out a way to cheer him up before they could do anything else. Anakin had an idea.
Anakin dug through the pantry to find some powdered sugar while Kara put the ready made cookies into the oven. When Carmine was little, Grandma Miranda spent a lot of time making things by hand. When she took Carmine in, she knew money had to be a strict priority, seeing as taking care of a baby required supplies. Fortunately for her, Qui-Gon had purchased most everything she would need when he brought Carmine to her, knowing she didn't have much money. He'd initially offered to help her in that area any way he could, but she rejected on account that the Jedi might find out and Qui-Gon would get in trouble.
Miranda was smart enough to know that it wouldn't be easy to make money at home; she couldn't get an outside job now that she had a baby in her apartment. she often had to make do with what she had, and that included food. Since eating out was a luxury she could never have, she taught herself how to cook, and turned out to be really good at it, and she had Carmine to be her little taste tester to prove it. So, she decided that she would make a plan to eventually start her own bakery.
Every year for his birthday, Miranda always made a lovely little cake for her grandson. He especially loved when she made one of his cakes into the shape of a bunny rabbit; if there was one thing lots of kids loved, it's food made into fun shapes. Carmine was no exception. Even when she cooked veggies, Miranda always made them into fun pictures on Carmine's plate. Dinosaurs, a rocketship, a flower, even writing Carmine's name in food. Carmine always cleaned his plate in response to that.
Out of all the things Miranda had ever baked in the sweet family, lemon cookies were Carmine's favorite. On special occasions and as a special reward sometimes, Miranda would bake a nice batch of her special lemon cookies. And luckily for her other grandchildren, Carmine kept her special book of recipes, which had a specially marked section Miranda labeled as Carmine Cuisine.
While the cookies were baking, Anakin and Kara started cleaning
"Look at that," said Anakin. "She has a whole chapter of recipes dedicated to Carmine."
"Our grandmother sure loved Carmine, didn't she?" Kara said. "The way Carmine speaks of her, she was a wonder."
"From what Carmine said, she saw him as a second chance too. She never got to raise Dad, but she decided she could best make up for that by raising his son."
The oven dinged at that moment, and Kara took that as her cue to take the cookies out of the oven while Anakin got a plate for them to give to Carmine.
"Hopefully these make Carmine happy."
"What's cooking?" Wrecker said, walking in as soon as he smelled food. "Cookies!"
But Kara quickly stopped Wrecker before he got his hands on the cookies.
"These aren't for you, Wrecker. They're for Carmine." Kara said.
"Aww!"
Wrecker gave a pleading look to Kara, and she decided to give a little.
"Alright, Wrecker. You can have one cookie." she smiled, giving Wrecker a cookie, which he immediately gobbled up.
Carmine still wouldn't stop crying even as everyone gave him a hug.
Diamond even jumped onto the bed and lay her head on Carmine's lap. It didn't do much.
Kara and Anakin walked in with a little plate of lemon cookies.
"Carmine," sang Anakin. "We have something that might make you feel better."
"We made you some of your favorite cookies." Kara smiled.
The cookies smelled delicious, but Carmine just turned away and cried into his knees.
"Well, that didn't work."
"Carmine doesn't need to eat his feelings away, Ani." Shmi said. "Maybe some fresh air will do him some good."
"Good idea." Anakin said, remembering how it usually helped his kids when they were tense or upset. "Let's go for a ride."
Anakin got Sapphire and Harmony, and each mare took her rider and took them on a nice walk down one of Naboo's most beautiful streets where there were lots of people were walking, and there was lots if natural life growing nearby. Padme came along too, borrowing Maybelle to come along.
Carmine didn't look at anyone or really do much of anything the whole ride. He still looked sad.
Anakin looked at his twin and felt sad too. There had to be something he could do to cheer him up. What kind of things make Carmine happy? Anakin stopped to think.
Carmine loved music, and he loved dancing too. He also loved trying on new clothes, especially jackets of all different colors. And, there happened to be a clothing store nearby.
"Hey, Carmine. Wanna go in and try on what's new?" Anakin smiled.
But Carmine just steered Harmony to go back to the palace.
Anakin sighed.
"What's it gonna take to help him?" Anakin wondered out loud.
"Anakin, you have to remember." Padme said. "Carmine has lost so many things throughout his life. What if you were in his position? Having the thing you love to do the most just taken away like Carmine did?"
Anakin knew his wife was right. Carmine loved singing more than any musical act ever. For him, it made him feel alive whether he was singing on stage for crowds of thousands, or if he was just singing a song for his family.
Anakin didn't need to have the same face as Carmine to have the same feelings he did for certain things. He would be devastated if he could never work with machinery again.
"You know, I think I know just what Carmine needs." Anakin said.
Carmine sat on the couch and moped, Kara and Harmony trying to help cheer him up.
Kara hugged her little brother and gently patted him on the back.
"Cookies didn't work, hugging didn't work, not even Caroline's kisses worked." Kara said. "What else can we do?"
"I know something that might cheer you up, Carmine." Harmony said, placing down a flute she'd been holding in her mouth, alongside a couple of violins.
Harmony made her horn glow, tapped her hoof twice, and conducted the instruments to play Ode to Joy. Carmine didn't even look up; he just wiped his eyes again.
The kids looked especially sad to see Carmine so sad.
"Poor Uncle Carmine." Gabby said, a rain cloud appearing as tears came to her eyes. "Seeing him so sad is making me sad."
"I don't need to read Daddy's mind to see what you mean," said Lamenta. She didn't like seeing her father so upset either. "But I think it's more than not being able to sing that's got Daddy upset."
"What do you mean?" Omega asked.
"I think maybe he's mostly sad because of Charlotte."
Lamenta looked at her baby sister as she was laying down in her little play area in the baby twins' playpen. While she couldn't remember it right out the top of her head, deep inside Lamenta's core memories held distant ones from when she was that small. When she was in Caroline's tummy, Carmine would talk to her a lot so she would get to know her father's voice, and then after she was born, he would sing her a lullaby every night. And for the six years after that, Lamenta continued to know the sound of her father's voice whenever he spoke or sang. But, Charlotte was still barely more than a newborn; she'd only gotten to know her father's voice for a short ti,e. If he couldn't even talk anymore, would she even be able to recognize him anymore? Sure, Anakin had pretty much the same voice as Carmine, but hearing her uncle's voice just wasn't the same.
"If Daddy doesn't get his voice back, Charlotte will never know his voice like we all do. And that's not fair to her, or Luke, or Leia."
"Lamenta's right." Boba said. "We gotta do something."
"I think we gotta get your uncle out of his funk first." Goldie said. "Something tells me if we wanna get his voice back, he needs to be up and focused."
"But nothing's cheering him up."
Omega then had an idea.
"Maybe we can get him up and dancing. Uncle Carmine loves to dance." Omega said. "He always uses music to cheer us up."
"Good idea." Lamenta said. "Boba, Omega. Get out your pom poms. I think we're gonna need back up for this one."
So, while the three younger kids went to get whatever they were getting for Lamenta's idea to cheer Carmine up, Boba and Omega approached Carmine in their cheerleading uniforms.
"Hi, Uncle Carmine." Boba said.
Carmine looked up at his nephew and niece and was confused at first. Last time he checked, school didn't start for another two months. So, why were the twins dressed like they were getting ready for a pep rally?
Boba and Omega decided to take turns cheering. Boba went first. He clapped his pom poms together and did a dance of cheer moves with a special cheer just for his uncle.
"1, 2, 3, 4, please don't be sad anymore! 5, 6, 7, 8, we love you and think you're great."
Omega gave her brother a look that said, "Really?"
Boba shrugged as if to say that was they best he could think up on the spot. Omega shrugged and went next with the best she could think out the top of her head.
"1, 2, 3, 4, Uncle Carmine, we adore! 5, 6, 7, 8, you, we all appreciate!"
"9, 10, 11, 12!" Boba added. "You teach us to be ourselves."
Carmine watched the twins and slowly started to stop crying. And together, the twins cheered a big finish for him.
"Give me a C! Give me an A! Give me an R! Give me and M, I, N, E! What's that spell? Carmine! Don't be sad! Cheer on up! We love you! Go Carmine!"
Carmine kept watching as the twins did their special routine for him, and he slowly started to feel a little better.
And the little girls came along, all dressed like ballerinas. Carmine wasn't sure what they were up to, but Lamenta played some music on her phone, and the three girls danced the dance of the little swans from Swan Lake. Goldie struggled a little since she didn't have as much ballet experience, so she and the others just started improvising and dancing whatever ballet move came first to mind. It was actually pretty adorable.
Carmine didn't need to say anything; it was all clear in his eyes, and the fact that he was actually starting to smile.
Lamenta was happy to see it was working, so she quickly danced her way over to her father and took his hands.
"Come on, Daddy. Dance with us!" Lamenta said.
Gabby decided to turn up the music to be more upbeat, and Lamenta got her father up from the sofa and danced a bit. Carmine felt the rhythm of the music and started to move to the music with his daughter. And soon all the kids were dancing, and then Carmine even got Kara up and dancing with him.
Everyone was laughing and having a good time dancing about so much that Carmine started to forget about being sad that he couldn't speak, and Anakin and Padme soon arrived and saw what was happening by the time Carmine was on the floor and playing with the kids like he always did whether he was babysitting or just spending time with them.
"Looks like the children have been busy," chuckled Padme.
"Whatever they did worked." Anakin smiled. "Carmine's smiling again."
Carmine got up when the kids got off of him, and Lamenta hugged him, which Carmine returned.
"I take it you're feeling better now?" Padme said.
Carmine nodded.
"Turned out all we needed to do was get him up and dancing." Kara chuckled. "You don't need to talk to do that."
"Well, you know what they say." Padme said. "Actions speak louder than words."
"And voice or none," said Gabby. "Uncle Carmine is still the best dancer we know and love whether it's at home or on stage."
Suddenly, Carmine looked scared.
"What's the matter now?" Anakin asked.
Carmine started pacing around in circles.
"Obviously, he's distressed about something. But what is the question." Padme said.
Carmine stopped pacing for a moment and then tossed his hair around until he changed it to pink and covering his face.
"Uh oh!" Lamenta said. "Count Crescendo can't perform without a voice."
"Oh... so you're worried that you'll have to end your career as a singer?" Anakin said.
Carmine shook his head, and then pulled something out on his phone. A flyer for a big charity concert where Count Crescendo was performing... tonight! Inconveniently, Caroline rushed in with the very news.
"We've got a problem!" Caroline said. "Count Crescendo has a concert tonight, and he has no voice!"
"Oh, that's right!" Anakin said, remembering. "The big charity concert."
"That isn't good. Count Crescendo can't perform without a voice."
"Can't you just tell everyone you have laryngitis and can't sing?" Omega suggested.
"Yeah," said Goldie. "Or postpone."
Carmine shook his head.
"Count Crescendo has never once missed a concert," said Caroline. "And there are a lot of important dignitaries attending this concert."
"What charity is it for again?" Boba asked.
"It's a charity to raise funds to build a boarding school for orphans, and to buy new school supplies for the children in that school and in underprivileged schools."
"That does sound important." Padme said. "But how can there be a concert with a singer who can't even talk, much less sing?"
"This is one thing I haven't prepared for in my entire talent managing career." Caroline said. "We'll need to come up with a solution."
The entire royal family, the Bad Batch, and the Heartwoods all gathered and tried to come up with a solution to the Count Crescendo Caper.
"So what if he misses one show?" Crosshair said. "Don't celebrities skip out on things all the time?"
Carmine looked offended by that.
"Not Count Crescendo." Caroline said. "He's one of few superstars who's kept his humility and prioritized coming through on his promises from attending a concert to caring for his family."
"Won't your fans understand if you just say you're sick?" Mariposa suggested.
"If he does that, then the charity might not get enough money, if any at all." Lamenta said. "Remember when Tara Drift couldn't make it to the Save the Star Whales concert? They barely got half the funds needed because so many fans were disappointed they didn't get the performance they were promised."
"Couldn't he just lip sync the song?" Pinto suggested. "I hear a lot of artists do that."
"No!" Caroline said. "Count Crescendo is an honest performer. Besides, what if the speakers glitched and then exposed that he was lip syncing?"
"Yeah." Gabby said. "And that's a tough scandal to get out of. It ruined Micah Duboi's career forever when everyone found out he lip synced because he couldn't carry a tune to save his life."
"Well, what if someone else sang in his place?" Anakin suggested.
"That might be difficult." Caroline said. "Last-minute performers are hard to come by even for lesser known singers. Getting a celebrity to do a last minute performance would take a miracle."
"What if someone dresses like Count Crescendo and performs in his place?" Kara suggested. "No one knows who he really is."
"That may also be a challenge. We would have to find someone who knows Count Crescendo's dance moves, his songs, and can carry a tune and sing loudly."
"Where are we gonna find a match like that?" Hunter said.
Suddenly, everyone started to look at Anakin, who suddenly became uncomfortable.
"Why is everyone looking at me?" he said awkwardly.
Carmine got Anakin standing up with him. Sure enough, they were the same height and had the same figure. Carmine smiled at his brother and begged with his eyes.
"No, no, no!" Anakin said. "I can't perform as a big pop star."
"Don't tell me you still have stage fright." Boba said.
"No! But, I'm not nearly as flexible as Carmine, and people are bound to notice I sound different than he does."
"That is true." Qui-Gon said. He looked at Boba's horse. "Remix? Do you know how to work voice changing microphones?"
"I use auto-tune for deejaying all the time." Remix said. "That's the most fun part of the job... aside from spinning tunes, of course."
"There's a bigger issue, though." Garrett said. "Crescenda is still on the loose, and Carmine surely won't be her only victim."
"What do you mean?" Goldie asked.
"Crescenda can only steal and control one voice at a time, but she can carry many in that shell of hers."
Garrett pulled up Crescenda's profile and what information he could access on what the authorities could dig based on her attacks before being arrested. She mainly targeted people with powerful singing voices. The more on-key the voice was naturally, the more powerful Crescenda became when she stole it and used it as her own. She didn't care if it was a male or female voice; it just needed to be a powerful voice. But, she could only take their voice if she could get the spell into a victim's mouth, that being discovered as one would-be victim covered their mouth before Crescenda could get to their voice, and she was unable to get the spell in. Hence, she used her flute to put people in a trance long enough to steal their voices, but this victim who'd covered her mouth was hard of hearing, so the spell didn't work as well.
Suddenly, the kids all got some notifications on their phones. All of some rather distressing news.
"Uh oh!" Boba panicked. "I think you spoke too soon."
According to many news reports, people in lots of different places suddenly lost their voices in a Little Mermaid style vocal theft. Everyone who'd lost their voice reported (by writing it down) that they'd heard someone playing a flute and then singing with an angelic voice, and the next thing they knew, they couldn't talk anymore. Among the victims were famous singer Tara Drift, Professor Adeline Chaikovska at Melody Academy, and all members of rock band the Red Hot T's! That made it personal for Carmine. But it wasn't just famous singers who had their voices taken, or even music teachers. Civilians with powerful voices had their voices taken too, mostly at karaoke places, street performance frequents, even at theaters.
This was getting serious! Carmine then thought of something. No one knew who Count Crescendo really was... so Crescenda likely didn't know that she had Count Crescendo's voice, and any fan of his knew that he had perhaps the most powerful singing voice in the galaxy. If Crescenda wanted a powerful voice, then this was what they needed to lure her into a trap.
Carmine knocked onto the table with his fist to get everyone's attention, and he signed that he had an idea, which Tech translated.
"If Crescenda wants a voice, then let's make Count Crescendo her next target."
