Chapter 11 – The Rival

Buster's next few days were spent getting Roxy up to speed, helping her coalesce with the troupe and the show. It was right before a costume fitting that Porsha came to Buster, his phone in her hand and worry etched on her brows.

"It's Cassidy," she said, an ominous ring behind her voice.

Buster let out a quick laugh as he took the phone. "Oh, she's probably just checking in, seeing how Roxy is doing." Porsha didn't look convinced, so Buster casually answered the phone right there.

"Miss Cassidy? Hello! Roxy's doing just fine if that's what you were wondering about."

"That's good to hear," Cassidy said, "but that's not why I called. Your rival arrived last night. Now that's he's settled in, it's time to detail the competition. Come up to the Crystarium suite right away. Bring your troupe. They're a part of this, too."

"Yes, Miss Cassidy. We'll be there right away."

"What did she want?" Porsha asked after Buster ended the call. "Was it bad?"

"Porsha, get the troupe together. It's time to fight for our future."

Once the private suite of Jimmy Crystal, the Crystarium was taken over by Celeste Cassidy. When the Moon Troupe arrived, they understood why.

"This isn't a suite; it's a penthouse!" Rosita gasped.

The Crystarium was somehow more immaculate and luxurious than the other Crystal Tower Hotel rooms. Part of the room replicated a smaller version of the lobby décor, decorated with crystalized trees bursting with fluorescent leaves the color of cherry blossoms. A small stream dotted with lily pads snaked along the floor. They followed the stream to the lounge area, where Celeste was sitting on a pristine white couch. Next to her was a long table filled with snacks, finger foods and drinks, stationed by some of the hotel staff.

A few of the new security sentinels were posted around the room, unflinching and statuesque. Nooshy felt a chill slink down her spine. Something old and suppressed was trying to claw its way to the surface.

Celeste got up and came over to greet them. "Nothing less than disgustingly lavish from Jimmy Crystal, eh?" she said. "I always thought the crystal theme was tacky, but at least it pays some tribute to nature. Go on, eat up. This is all for you."

"As much as we appreciate this," Buster said, "I think we'd like to get business out of the way before pleasure." Behind him, Gunter quickly replaced the red velvet cupcake he took and backed away from the table with a sheepish grin.

"I can appreciate that. Let's get to it."

Nooshy playfully put up her fists. "Give us your best shot! We're ready."

"Let me introduce you to your rival. Aiden? Aiden, come out here."

"Aiden?" Buster echoed, brows furrowed. "It can't be..."

Stumbling out of the crystalized bushes was a ring-tailed lemur in khaki pants and an avocado shirt with the phrase "The Write Stuff" framed at the center in cursive. "Sorry, this place is so big. I got lost trying to find my way back."

"Everyone, this is—"

Celeste never finished her sentence. Buster zipped past her and pulled the lemur into a hug.

"Aiden!" he cried. "You're in Redshore!"

"Hey Buster," Aiden replied. He peered over the koala's head. "Eddie."

Eddie gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Hey Aiden."

"I shouldn't be surprised that you know each other," Celeste said, though she didn't appear as amused as she sounded. "You both come out of the Calatonia theater circuit, after all. Though Aiden never said anything about knowing you before now."

Aiden offered the cougar an apologetic grin. "I wanted to see Buster's face when he found out. Thought it would be a good surprise."

Buster finally broke off the hug but held onto the lemur and pointed at him enthusiastically. "Hey, everybody! This is Aiden Toliver. We go way back. We were both theater kids in school!"

The lemur was overwhelmed by all the new faces that came to greet him. It felt surreal.

"This is... ridiculous," Aiden said in a trance-like murmur. "I remember when kids used to call you Moonhead. Now you're doing shows with Roxy Sin and Clay Calloway. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to compete with this."

"Don't worry about that," Celeste said. "Let me get straight to the point and explain how the competition will work: I want each of you to develop and write an original stage show for the Crystal Tower Theater. You're going to take a pivotal scene from the script and stage it for me with all the bells and whistles. You'll have access to all the same resources," the cougar's eyes swept across the troupe as she emphasized, "including a shared talent pool. Whichever show I like best will win the competition and be the next big thing to headline the theater.

"For the sake of fairness, the competition won't officially begin until after Out of This World finishes its run, so you both have plenty of time to prepare. And because I don't like seeing talent go to waste, whichever one of you doesn't win will be brought on to the show as co-director. So mingle, argue, trade notes. Do whatever it is you need to in order to find a way to coexist, because you're going to be spending a lot of time in the same space from this moment forward."

Aiden nudged Buster. "They say competition breeds excellence, right? I'm not afraid of a challenge."

"Not the first time we've gone head-to-head. I'm almost feeling nostalgic." Buster took Aiden's hand and shook it. "Let the best mammal win!"

"Don't worry; I will."

Buster lowered his voice and asked, "Hey, you want to go get a drink or something downstairs and catch up for a bit?"

"Sure. There's something I wanted to ask you about, but I wasn't sure if you were comfortable talking about it in front of all these people."

"Aiden and I are going downstairs to catch up for a bit," Buster announced. "We'll be back soon. Don't let that stop you kids from getting this shindig started."

Aiden visibly cringed. "Shindig? At least I know the city hasn't changed you. You're still as corny as ever."

"Wait until I tell them about all the embarrassing things you've said and done," Buster threatened with a laugh as they began to leave the suite.

With the celebration back on, Gunter moseyed his way back over to the abandoned red velvet cupcake but as distracted by something outside. "Look! Zhere is a hot tub on zhe balcony!"

"What? No way. Sick!" Ryan said and raced Gunter to the balcony.

Celeste let out a contemplative hum while splitting her attention between the koala and lemur pair leaving and the chaos spilling out onto the balcony. She hoped giving Buster a second chance and bringing Aiden on as a backup plan worked out, or the eventual backfire might make her look like an even bigger fool than Crystal.

Nooshy waited until her friends were done gawking at the hot tub and the view from the balcony to find some privacy there herself. She couldn't help looking out over Redshore; rarely had she seen the city she grew up in from this angle. The perspective of rich, self-proclaimed gods permanently looking down on the rest of the populous. Something about it made her feel powerful and dirty at the same time.

She was lost in thought, but not too lost to feel a presence on the balcony with her.

"Long time no see, Vivace."

Whipping around, Nooshy's sight filled with the image of a lioness sentinel looming in the doorway, her eyes flickering with the intensity of a predator cornering its prey.

"You must have me confused with someone else, mate. The name's Nooshy."

The lioness let out a dismissive chuckle. "Is that how you're going to play it? Alright. I heard you turned back into a street urchin and started dancing for coins. Never thought you'd end up in a real show, though that shady koala has so many rumors of fraud surrounding him that it sounds like he'd hire anyone."

Nooshy tensed up. The lioness's position was strategic; she wasn't just going to let her go. "What's this all about, Rima?" she demanded.

"Oh, so you do remember me."

"Like a bad aftertaste."

"That's rich coming from someone that turned her back on everyone."

"Turned my back on...!?" Reflexively, Nooshy's claws were out without realizing it. "I was the one that took the fall! I was the one that got the blame! Where were you when my life fell apart!? Where were any of you!?"

"You only have yourself to blame! No one told you to go that far! And we weren't going to get dragged down with you!"

Straightening up, Nooshy relaxed and unleashed her tension through a delayed laugh, as if she finally understood an old joke. "You know what? That was a lifetime ago. It doesn't bloody matter. I ain't been that girl for years."

"I wonder if those guys in there would feel the same way if they knew?" There was a dangerous quirk to Rima's grin. "Don't worry, your dirty little secret is safe with me. But this little game you're playing, trying to be a superstar on the stage... someone's bound to recognize you. Then it won't be much of a secret anymore."

"Have a nice life," Nooshy said, pushing past Rima with her shoulder. "Stay outta mine."

Johnny watched Nooshy storm back into the suite, and though he couldn't make out their conversation, the body language between the two girls spoke volumes. "We got trouble?"

"Nope," she replied, tapping his shoulder with a light punch. "Just a case of mistaken identity. Let's get some of this food before Gunter inhales the whole bloody table."

A/N

Aiden is finally here, and he's going to have a big impact on the plot going forward. He was even namedropped back in Operation: Moonfall. Do you remember? (probably not) I wanted to shake up the conflict of a theoretical Sing movie. Usually, Buster tries to put on a show while forces conspire to stop him (usually as a consequence of his own actions, but I digress). Here, he'll have to go up against someone just as qualified and talented, and because they have access to the same resources, it's going to be harder for him to lie or cheat his way to victory.

Also, Nooshy's past is starting to bubble up again. She'll have to confront it sooner rather than later.