Author's Note: Nothing's changed.

Sing: I Knew You Were a Weirdo

I - Just Another Day

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"Hoooo, it was hot on that stage huh?" Nooshy said, running her hand through the fur on her forehead as she exited through the backstage door.

"No kidding," Ash said, scratching her quills, following after her.

It was nearly midnight at the Gateway Theater in Newark, New Jersey. The Moon Group had just pulled off yet again another big hit which earned yet another standing ovation from the audience.

Ever since the showing of Out of this World in Redshore City, the notoriety of the Moon Group had become global. People from several countries, especially business people, had moved up their appointments just so they could see the show.

It would have been exhausting if the Moon Group weren't passionate in their work.

"Did you ever think your life would turn out this way?" Ash asked, reminiscing on the past year.

"You mean did I ever think I'd go from a street dancer to an international star just by agreeing to give dance lessons to a lovable weirdo?" Nooshy shrugged her shoulders. "Probably not."

"Huh? Weirdo? You mean Johnny?"

Nooshy nodded with a mischievous grin. "Yup."

Ash laughed as though she had just let in on a private joke she didn't already know. "What did he do?"

"Well, it was on the day we met. I wasn't sure about just following him to his dance rehearsal, a guy I knew nothing about. So right there, in the middle of the ice cream parlor, he belted out and sang Nothing Holding Me Back." Nooshy motioned dramatically with her hands for effect in a similar fashion that Johnny did when they met.

"He did huh? Sounds like something he'd do. And he took you out for ice cream?"

Nooshy nodded. "Yeah, pretty much bribed me with a Volcano Ice Cream Smoothie," she leans in to whisper as though sharing a secret, "with extra chocolate lava."

Ash's eyes widened. "Whoa, I hear that one is really expensive. Makes sense Johnny would pay for that. That Kickenklober really showed him no mercy."

Nooshy frowned. "I saw." That big nosed bleeder. I'd have half a mind to feed his hat to him.

Ash paused in thought for a moment. "So why do you refer to Johnny as a weirdo?"

"Started off as a joke, now it's more of a pet name if nothing else." Nooshy also paused in thought as well. "Actually no, it didn't start off as a joke."

"Whaddya mean?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nooshy rubbed the back of her neck, almost shamefully. "Well...when he approached me for the first time, he asked if he could buy me a coffee. I thought he was asking me out or something like it."

"Oh," Ash said. "That makes sense." She chuckled. "That big goof."

Nooshy laughed. "That he is. Well, see you back at the hotel." She started walking down the sidewalk.

"Are you going somewhere? It's pretty late."

Nooshy shook her head. "Nah, just a stroll." She pulled out her phone. "I wanna try out this new album before I hit the sack. See ya Ash."

"See ya."

Nooshy walked along the main street which led away from the theater. She put her earphones on and put her hoodie up, and she was about to put on the new album she said she was going to listen to but instead thought better of it and put on an audiobook titled Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carrol.

It was one of her favorites, ever since she was a little girl, not that she'd tell anyone this, not even Johnny Egerton, her best friend.

Grinning to herself as she listened to her childhood favorite, Nooshy skipped down the road, like she used to when she was a little girl. Completely lost in her own world, silently lamenting the plight of the little oysters as they were being tricked by the Walrus and the Carpenter, Nooshy crossed an alleyway.

And without warning, she felt a pair of strong hands grab her from behind. One hand covered her mouth to keep from her screaming while a thick arm wrapped around her body.

Eyes wide with surprise and fear, which was immediately replaced by furious anger, Nooshy lifted a leg and with great swiftness, in a 90 degree motion, the toe of her booted foot connected with the face of her attacker.

There was a wet crunch, a pained yelp, but instead of letting go, the attacker, now in a rage, threw her into the alleyway.

Nooshy hit a few trash cans, causing foul smelling garbage to cover her and the alleyway.

She tried to push herself up, but she was dazed from the collision and could not see straight.

And then the wind got knocked out of her when a savage kick got her in the stomach.

Gasping for air and in pain, Nooshy was holding her stomach.

She opened one eye, and though it was dark, she could see the attacker clearly as he was illuminated by a lamp on the wall of one of the buildings.

The attacker was tall, with a massive build, dressed in black with a white undershirt and a gold chain around his thick neck.

He had deep bronze fur with black spots and venomous green eyes.

And he appeared to be bleeding from his black nose, which was slightly bent to the side like that of a boxer.

Hope that hurts you creep.

"Well, look at you," The leopard said in a sultry voice as he grabbed Nooshy by the hair as he tried to lift her to her feet.

Nooshy, feeling the attacker's claws digging into her head, cried out which caused pain to her ribs, and almost in instinct grabbed onto his arm and dug her own nails in, deep and hard.

The thug growled, more in anger at Nooshy's defiance rather than in pain.

With a powerful left hook, he punched Nooshy in the right ribs.

Nooshy blocked the punch with her elbow, which lightened the blow but still injured her considerably.

She almost screamed but was stopped when her attacker grabbed her by the throat with both hands, lifted her off the ground, pinned her up against the brick wall to his left and began strangling her.

"Still got some fight in you? Guess I'll have to choke it out of you."

"Get your…" Nooshy said, finding it harder to breathe by the second. "...hands...off me...don't...touch me!"

"Such a pretty one." The thug slammed Nooshy against the brick wall again.

Nooshy kicked wildly, but the attacker paid no attention. He was focused on her and the look in her eyes.

"I scare ya? Good." He tightened his grip and Nooshy coughed and wheezed.

The edges of Nooshy's vision were starting to blacken. She was terrified beyond belief for her life but she channeled the fear into a drive to survive, a technique which saved her on more than a few occasions.

She grabbed hold of her aggressor's thumbs and with the physical pain she was in and the fear and anger augmenting her strength, she removed his thumbs, loosening his grip.

Finally breathing, and the black spots beginning to depart from her vision, Nooshy acted swiftly.

She kicked hard into the thug's chest, which caused him to wince his pain. She pressed a knee to his face, pushing him further away from her and while standing on top of a window sill, Nooshy grabbed a flower pot on the window sill above her and with both hands, smashed it on top of her attacker's head.

Dazed, the attacker stepped back, his balance ebbing, his head covered with dirt and a discarded sunflower.

Grabbing a 2x4 wooden board from a trash can to her right, Nooshy broke it across the man's face.

The impact caused the man to spin around. He would've fallen if he hadn't caught himself on a metal railing on the brick wall.

Looking down, he saw a glass wine bottle.

Nooshy tried to run but was stopped when the man grabbed her by the hood of her hoodie and he smashed the bottle on top of her head.

Nooshy almost passed out from the impact and the sharp pain in her head before she spun around and delivered a powerful knee to the place where men do not like to be kicked. The man bent over in pain, giving Nooshy just enough reach to grab his head and deliver another knee to his face.

The thug lurched to the brick wall nearest to steady himself. Quick as she could muster, Nooshy reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled what looked like a small flashlight.

It was more than a flashlight.

Flipping a switch and pressing a small button, the device crackled with blue electricity.

And then she jammed the active taser into the attacker's left armpit.

The attacker jolted and went erect.

And then he went down.

Nooshy stopped to catch her breath and to keep herself from hyperventilating.

As the girl stood up on wobbly legs, she used a brick wall to support herself and she walked out of the alleyway.

Her vision became blurred and the pain returned full force to her sides, stomach and head.

The adrenaline that augmented her ability to stay alive was wearing off.

And now the extent of her injuries hit her like a ton of bricks.

Her head felt like it was in a vice. Bolts of pain shot through her ribs every time she took a breath. Her vision was blurred in and out as though everything was unreal and warped, like she was underwater

Nooshy winced, inhaling sharply through her teeth. Using a lamppost to keep from falling, she pulled out her cellphone.

Have to...call for help. Need...doctor.

Cursing inwardly, she found that her cellphone had a cracked screen and the power button was unresponsive.

It...must've broke when I hit those trash cans.

Finding her phone destroyed was alarming enough. Seeing red droplets appear on the broken screen was a fresh scare for Nooshy.

The dancer felt something running down her head. Pressing her hand which held the phone to her forehead, Nooshy then held it in front of her face and she gasped to see she was bleeding, quite profusely no less judging by the steady flow of blood.

"Ohhhhhh mannnnn," she wheezed, the pain in her ribs impeding her ability to speak.

Nooshy looked about the street, trying to determine where she was, but her vision was too blurry and her head was swimming.

Why did I just wander off on my own like that? At night of all times? What was I thinking?

Nooshy's legs finally gave out and she went to her knees. The impact caused further pain to her ribs and head. She dropped her phone and it clattered into the street.

I...just need to...rest for a second.

Nooshy breathed slowly, trying her hardest to remain awake. From what little medical experience she possessed, staying awake is key to keep from succumbing to a concussion, which she was certain she had.

She gritted her teeth. That...that...maniac. Was he...waiting...in that alley...knowing...I'd come this way? Or...was it...a coincidence?

She forced herself to her feet. Have to...get away...from here. In case…he wakes up.

"Nooshy?"

The street dancer didn't have the strength to turn quickly, so very gradually, she turned her head.

And there standing on the corner of the sidewalk was the punk rockstar, her friend, Ash Johannson, looking quite alarmed and rather shocked.

Nooshy managed a relieved and pained smile. "Hey...why the long face...short stuff?"

Nooshy's smile faded, her face relaxed as though she were in a trance, and she fell face forward to the pavement.

"NOOSHY!" Ash screamed as she ran to her friend's side.

Ash fell to her knees as she examined the unconscious dancer's condition.

She covered her mouth when she saw that there was blood streaming out of the top of her head.

Tears fell from Ash's eyes as took off her jacket and applied it to the wound in an effort to stop the bleeding.

Holding the jacket to the wound with one hand, Ash fished for her phone out of her pocket with the other.

As she dialed 911, the battery signal to her phone went off, indicating that it was running out of juice.

"No no no no no!" Ash cried as the shutdown sequence began. "Nonononono! Not now!"

The phone went dark.

Ash hit herself on the head with her phone, emphasizing her despair with every word with every time she had hit herself with it. "No! No! No! NO!"

Dropping her phone, she looked to Nooshy who didn't move an inch.

She looked like she was dead.

"Nooshy," Ash said, as she gently nudged her. "Nooshy, can you hear me?"

Nooshy did not reply.

Ash took one of her hands and felt for a pulse.

It was very faint. She's alive at least. But who could've done this?

The porcupine examined the condition of her friend and she saw that Nooshy was hurt real bad. She was bleeding from the top of her head as though she'd been struck hard.

And judging by the short wheezing gasps, it was clear she was either choked or worse, she suffered injuries to her ribs.

Ash cried deep wounded sobs. "Oh Noosh." Then she took a deep breath and screamed from the pit of her stomach as she had done nearly her entire young adult life. "HELP! HELP ME! SOMEONE! ANYONE! HELP!"

Her voice echoed throughout the block and luckily, the acoustics of the area was just efficient enough for her cry for help to reach someone's ears.

Several actually.

Windows and doors to apartments opened to reveal certain mammals of many species who poked their heads to investigate the sudden disturbance either to see what was up or to silence it.

"Quiet! We're trying to sleep here!"

"What's all this?!"

"Pipe down kid!"

Ash called out, "Please help! My friend's hurt really bad!"

The Newark resident who was nearest, having heard this, came rushing out.

It was a golden cougar, at least 10 years older than Ash or Nooshy.

Upon seeing the condition Nooshy was in, the woman gasped in horror. "I'll call for an ambulance!" She turned to the crowd that was evidently gathering around the fallen girl and her small friend trying her best to tend to her.

"Back up everyone!" The cougar cried. "Please give the poor girl some air!"

"Isn't that Ash Johannson from the Moon Group?" one passerby said.

"And the one who's down, that's not Nooshy Wright is it?" a deeply concerned older woman, a coyote said.

Ash snarled at the gatherers. "HEY! GET BACK ALL OF YOU! MY FRIEND IS HURT AND YOU ALL CROWDING HER ISN'T HELPING!"

The crowd were struck dumb and stunned by the diminutive porcupine's angry outburst.

"Ash?" a familiar British voice cried out.

Ash gasped. "Johnny?"

"Excuse me, excuse me." The voice was getting closer.

Ash lifted Nooshy up so her head could rest in her lap as she saw a familiar dark hairdo make its way past the crowd.

"Excuse me, please excuse me."

And there was Johnny and as soon as he saw what all the hullabaloo was about, an icy void formed in his heart, his eyes grew huge and his mouth dropped open in shock and dumb confusion.

There was a tearful Ash cradling the head of an unmoving Nooshy.

And Nooshy's face and clothes were covered in blood.

As though she had been murdered.

"NOOSHY!"

Johnny rushed to both Nooshy and Ash's side, not quite believing what he was seeing.

"What happened?" Johnny asked, his voice distraught.

"I don't know," Ash said through her tears. "I just found her standing in the street bleeding, and then she fell."

"She was jumped!"

Ash and Johnny turned to see a young chestnut gazelle in her nightdress. She was holding a smartphone out.

"I saw it all from my apartment. I already called the police and I videotaped the whole thing. They should be here any minute now."

Johnny stood up. "Who jumped her?" His voice sounded cold.

The sound in Johnny's voice scared Ash. That didn't sound like Johnny at all.

The gazelle in the nightdress pointed towards an alleyway, where a very large leopard in black was lying unconscious on the ground.

Johnny gaped. Then he looked at Nooshy. Did she do that?

Then there were sirens that could be heard. All present turned to see several emergency vehicles coming their way. Several police cars and an ambulance.

Johnny and Ash breathed a sigh of relief.

The young pianist stood up. "Make way everyone!" He shouted, motioning his long arms to make room as the paramedics jumped out of the ambulance and rushed to Nooshy with a stretcher and medkits in hand.

"Move move, let us through!" One of the paramedics said.

In less than a minute, Nooshy was put on the stretcher and very gently, was loaded into the ambulance.

"Here," Johnny said, handing Ash his phone which had a full battery. "Call the others, I'm going with her."

Johnny went towards the open door of the ambulance only to be stopped by a younger paramedic, a goat.

"Please," Johnny practically begged. "She's my friend."

"I'm sorry sir but-"

"Hey Tim!" Another paramedic said sternly, an older orangutan. "He's one of Buster Moon's group. He and the girl are always seen together. Let him in."

Tim slumped his shoulders. "Alright, but only one."

"Thank you, thank you so much," Johnny said as he came aboard.

The doors closed and the ambulance drove forward, turned a corner and was out of view.

Ash watched them go, hands clasped as though she were praying.

Please...please let her be ok.

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Buster Moon had just finished making a few remaining signatures to some important pieces of paperwork concerning any future performances.

He was tired but he didn't care. The Moon Group was on a roll.

He was living the dream and the fact that others were living their dream as well made it all the more sweeter.

The Moon Group received invitations to do a show from all over the country, and now there were even few invitations to perform in other countries.

Before Moon let it all go to his head, he silently told himself, slow it down. Don't want to put my people up to something they're not ready for. The last two fiascos may have worked out but those were too close calls.

Buster gulped as he remembered his near death experience when James Crystal tried to drop him to his death, twice.

If anything happened to any of my friends, even my new ones, I could never live with myself again.

He heard his phone vibrate, which was on his hotel bed. Buster didn't bother to answer just yet, as he was just completing one final fill out.

The bathroom door opened, and emerging from a mist of steam was Clay Calloway, famous rockstar and newest addition to the Moon Group (seeing he was lacking anything better to do anyway).

He dressed in bathrobes and slippers, having just taken a much needed shower.

He walked by Buster's bed to his own until he stopped to see the text message on the screen of Buster's phone.

The message came from Johnny.

They were in uppercase letters with many exclamation marks.

But when Calloway saw what the message was, his eyes widened a fraction.

NOOSHY IS HURT BAD! PICK UP!

"Moon," Calloway said curtly.

"What's up Calloway?" Buster said without turning.

"Take a look at this," the old rockstar said as he placed the phone in front of Buster's face.

As soon as Buster saw the message, he gasped.

He read and reread the message.

And finally he took the phone and speed dialed.

"Buster!"

"Ash? Where's Johnny? What happened to Nooshy?"

"She was jumped! She's already on her way to the hospital! Johnny's with her and he gave me his phone so I could call you."

Buster could hear that she was crying.

"Ash, are you hurt?"

Buster heard a sniffle. "N-no. I found her. She was bleeding really bad."

"And the one who jumped her?"

"The police arrested him, but he's being taken to the hospital too." Buster heard Ash give a mirthless chuckle. "Apparently, N-Nooshy did a number on him before she went down."

Buster almost laughed but the seriousness of the situation held him back. "I bet. Ok Ash, where are you? So I can come get you."

"On the corner of Branson and Milton."

"Ok, don't move. Stay with the police and I'll come get you, ok?"

"Ok."

Buster ended the call.

"Get dressed fast Clay, we have to-"

"Way ahead of you."

Buster turned on his swivel chair and his eyes widened when he saw Clay Calloway fully dressed with his motorcycle keys in hand.

He tossed a bike helmet to Moon, who caught it uneasily.

"You're going to need that."

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Nooshy laid unmoving, aside from the steady rising of her chest, which indicated that she was still breathing.

Johnny's breathing however was short, labored, yet steady. He was afraid but he had to remain calm. Panicking would do Nooshy no good and he knew it.

"Female," the younger paramedic said, talking over a phone as he gave the details of Nooshy's condition they could surmise so far from their examination. "19 years old. 5 foot, five inches. She has a concussion and three ribs on her right side may be broken, some possibly cracked. Also, she has a nasty cut on her head, blunt trauma. And there's bruising around her throat, possibly from strangling. She may need surgery."

Johnny choked back sobs when he heard this. He took Nooshy's hand in both of his hands and held it as though if he let go he'd never get her back.

He cried. He couldn't help it. This was too much to bear.

How could this have happened?

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

"Mr Egerton?"

Johnny looked up to see the older paramedic look at him with both pity and sadness.

"I'm sorry but we're almost at the hospital so you may need to give us some room, alright? Your friend may need to go into surgery immediately."

Johnny nodded, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater. He had to discard his leather as he had gotten blood on it.

Her blood.

"Which hospital?"

"East Orange General Hospital, on St Agnes Ln and Central Ave."

"Can I borrow your phone?" Johnny practically pleaded.

"Of course," the paramedic said, removing his elastic gloves and then handing his phone to Johnny.

Johnny dialed fast. He put the phone to his ear as it rang.

"H-Hello?"

"Ash."

"Johnny?! Omigod, where are you?"

"We're heading to East Orange General Hospital. It's on St Agnes Ln and Central Ave. Are the others with you?"

"Yes, Buster, Clay, Rosita, Gunter, Meena and Porscha, we're all here. And we're coming over now."

"Good."

"How's Nooshy?"

Johnny covered his eyes. "T-the paramedics say she has to go into surgery immediately."

Johnny could hear sobbing on the other end. From more than one person actually.

And then the ambulance stopped.

"We just arrived," Johnny said. "I'll see you guys later."

"Y-yeah, see ya soon."

The ambulance doors opened and Nooshy was rolled out and into the ER.

They were met by a few orderlies and nurses.

Johnny followed but was stopped by a nurse, a golden retriever who was about an inch taller than Johnny.

"I'm sorry sir, but you'll have to stay in the waiting room."

"She's my friend, m-my best friend."

"I'm very sorry sir, truly. But from what we know of her condition, any operation we'll have to perform will be an extremely delicate procedure. We can't afford any distractions of any kind."

"Sue," a doctor, a turtle, said from the door leading to the operating theater. "We have to go."

"Again, I'm very sorry."

With that, the nurse exited the waiting room, leaving a somber Johnny staring at the doors as they closed.

The doors locked automatically and the monitor reading Surgery in Progress turned on.

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