*Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter of my version of Sing 2. I hope you all have good Christmas. This is published on December 25, 2021. If you guys like this chapter, don't be afraid to vote and comment. That would be appreciated. Thank you guys for supporting this story. The song used is called "Empty Cup" by Citizen Soldier. Enjoy!*

The first week is bad but it will get better.

That's what Johnny told himself countless times. Every time he would go into the wardrobe where Meena was or go to where Ash would hang out alone instead of tailing Buster and Mizuki, he would vent to the ladies about how terrible his instructor was. The girls soothed him by telling him that it's okay and it'll get better after the first week.

The first week passed by...and it hasn't gotten better.

"Wrong steps, Johnny!" Klaus yelled as he smacked Johnny's arm again. Normally, Johnny could endure pain but if it gets to the point where the teacher hits the same spots over and over again, his body would alert more pain than usual.

Johnny groaned irritably as Chadwick stood next to him.

"It's not going to get better, will it?" Johnny whispered to Chadwick as they were doing the steps.

"I have absolutely no idea," Chadwick stated while worrying about the bruises shown on the gorilla's arms.

The classmates around Johnny and Chadwick noticed the bruises as well while their eyes widened in more horror than normal.

"Keep doing the steps! And one and two and three!" Klaus shouted as the classmates were doing the steps.

Chadwick kept an eye on Klaus as the snow leopard noticed that Johnny was doing better in his steps. Just a tiny bit better.

"You're doing good," Chadwick whispered to Johnny.

Johnny shrugged his shoulders discreetly. "Thanks, mate—"

Something smacked the back of Johnny's knee, causing him to trip over and collapse on the ground.

"No talking, Johnny! Again!" The monkey instructor angrily yelled at Johnny.

Chadwick gave Klaus a withering glare. Johnny groaned while getting up from the floor and just bolted out to get a break.

Johnny ran as far away from the class as possible while ending up sitting on one of the crates where Eddie, Ash, Mizuki, and Buster were.

Buster was the first to notice Johnny running towards them. "What's going on? How come you're not in class?"

"I can't do this," Johnny growled but not intentionally at anyone. "That teacher is constantly picking on me! And I couldn't even get the right steps because he keeps smacking me around. What's his deal anyway?!"

"Okay, calm down, big guy," Ash calmed the gorilla while coming up to him and holding his shaky hand.

Johnny's hand began to stop shaking so much since Ash had her small paw on his. He looked down at her while leaning back against the crates with a heavy sigh that he'd been wanting to release since he got out of the class.

Eddie realized what's happening. "Take a break here, dude."

"Yeah, here." Buster gave Johnny a bottle of water to drink from the freezer near them.

Johnny opened the small caps and drank the whole bottle with a few big gulps.

While he's drinking water, Ash began to search around his body to make sure that he wasn't bruised by the teacher.

There were ten minutes of silence as Johnny finally calmed down from what happened earlier in his class. Ash massaged his shoulders to ease his body more, which helped a lot from Johnny's standards.

"Okay, kid," Buster uttered softly. "You got to go back to class before your teacher treats you worse for leaving."

"He's already treating me worse," Johnny groaned. "No matter what I do. Even though I do good, I'll always get treated worse."

"Okay, Johnny, I know that you—"

"No, I'm not going back to that class—"

"It's not a request, Johnny," Buster firmly said to the gorilla. "You need to go back to class now."

There's a stunned silence as Johnny bit his lips and nodded his head.

"Yes, Mr. Moon," Johnny replied quietly.

With that, Johnny got up and left the group to head back to class.

Mizuki frowned while noticing a bruise on his hand that no one else noticed. Her eyes widened in shock while looking at Buster, who's just softening the firm gaze that he gave to Johnny earlier. The antelope began to wonder if Buster noticed that bruise on his hand.

Meanwhile, Johnny headed back into the class and the first thing he saw was Chadwick getting hit by the same stick Klaus used to hit Johnny with. The snow leopard had his ankle twisted as he just fell onto the ground.

"You're getting it all wrong, Chadwick!" Klaus yelled at the snow leopard, who's trying to get up but couldn't.

"I-I think I twisted my ankle," Chadwick uttered in panic.

"Get back up, you imbecile!" Klaus raised his stick high to smack the snow leopard. Nobody in the class took a stand, too timid to even face the teacher. However, Johnny became angry that he strode towards Klaus, grabbed the monkey's wrist, and took the stick away from the monkey. He shoved Klaus away from Chadwick as he broke the stick in half with a snap.

Klaus gasped while his piercing glare was set on Johnny. The monkey growled and headed out of the class. Johnny didn't even care where he went as he helped Chadwick up.

"Can any of you lads get pillows and chairs for him to rest in?!" Johnny called the classmates for help. "That would be lovely!"

The panda classmate went to find the chairs while the leopard went to find pillows.

The boar classmate went off to get the first aid kit from a glass compartment. The panda was able to line the chairs up while the leopard found a couple of pillows for Chadwick to rest both his ankle and his head.

Johnny rested the snow leopard onto the chairs while prompting up his ankle gently to get a good look at it.

"Are you alright, mate?" Johnny questioned Chadwick.

Chadwick nodded his head while gritting his teeth in pain. "Yeah, I think so. I don't know if I twisted my ankle or not."

"Does it hurt when I touch it?" Johnny asked as he gently pressed his fingers against the snow leopard's ankle.

Chadwick yelped in pain. "Yep, yep, definitely hurts."

"Then you must have sprained it," Johnny uttered while examining the ankle. "How about you stay off your feet for a while?"

"That sounds lovely actually," Chadwick stated with a sigh.

Johnny chuckled. "Well, we better call the hospital right away. Is this normal for you to get sprained ankles during class?"

"Yeah, but normally teachers would help you up and make sure you're alright instead of beating you down further," Chadwick answered with a shrug. "By the way, thank you."

"For what?" Johnny questioned with a brow raised.

"For helping me up and breaking Klaus's stick," Chadwick said with a soft smile.

The classmates nodded their heads in agreement as if it's kind of obvious.

Johnny smiled back. "Yeah, I was gone for ten minutes and then I came back to him beating you up."

"He does that with everyone," the panda dancer said sadly.

Johnny frowned while hearing footsteps entering the class. The gorilla strongly hoped that it was Buster coming in to check in on the gorilla.

But it's not Buster like Johnny hoped it was.

It's Klaus with a thicker stick.

Johnny sighed deeply. He knew he'd be there all night.

"Again! Again!!!"

That constant nagging voice echoed through Johnny's head as he ran out of the dance studio as fast as he could with his limbs trembling when nighttime came. Johnny opened his palms to find his hand trembling from the number of hits he'd taken from that dance instructor.

Who knew dancing could be so hard?

With anger in his eyes, Johnny threw his skateboard, breaking it in half. The gorilla took his rage one step further while punching the brick wall in pure rage, not caring if he broke his hands.

He drew his hands back while realizing that he's bloodying his hands and bruising his knuckles. His hands were shaking worse than they had when he got out of the dance studio.

Johnny closed his eyes while looking up towards the blackened sky covered by the city lights taller than him. He could hear the thunder rolling in and spotted a few droplets on the sidewalk he's standing on.

There was no music soothing his anxiety as he finalized his decision. He could not keep coming to the dance instructor. He just couldn't. He couldn't take another bruising from that teacher. He's not teaching, he's abusing his power to his students. And both he and his classmates believed it. But no one will ever take a stand. That's why...he's going to be the first.

Johnny walked through the street with his broken skateboard in hand as he felt the rain coming down on his fur. With grief, he began to sing without any music in the background.

https://youtu.be/B3p3JIIFMKw

"You've put me in a place where I don't belong.

Your expectations caving in on me.

Your madness is pacing in this city.

It's always maddening me."

Johnny could feel the tears in his eyes as he continued to sing softly and music began to creep in the background.

"You hang me up like a frame on the wall

Criticizing till I break and snap."

Johnny wiped the tears away as anger rose in his heart and the rain poured down harder within this maddening city.

"Stained!!!

Blood and Bruises on my shaky hands!

It's raining in this empty city, flooding the streets but never too deep!

'Cause I'll never be what you want me to be.

Can you hear me now?!

Screaming out!

When I say: Enough is enough, this world is breaking!

Let it pour! Cut me up! I'll still be standing!"

There's a pause in the music as Johnny didn't even notice his fur getting soaked. His tears blended in with the rain soaking his face.

"I stand alone, your judging gaze sinking in.

I've always done something wrong in your eyes.

Like I am less than smart to learn my mistakes.

You'll keep abusing me till I snap!"

The music grew more intense as Johnny gritted his teeth as if he's been holding in his anger for far too long and began to press his shaky hands against the sides of his head.

"You hang me up like a frame on the wall.

This time I won't give in, I'm done listening."

That's where Johnny began to release all of the tears and anger he have held in for so long while an imaginary fire lit up all around him and danced in the wind despite the rain coming down to put it out.

"Stained!!!

Blood and Bruises on my shaky hands!

It's raining in this empty city, flooding the streets but never too deep!

'Cause I'll never be what you want me to be.

Can you hear me now?!

Screaming out!

When I say: Enough is enough, this world is breaking!

Let it pour! Cut me up! I'll still be standing!"

Johnny had no idea how loud he was being since the city noises were being drowned out by his own pain and agonized voice while the music played in his ears. The gorilla began to close in on himself while hugging himself tightly as if he felt like something was choking him.

"You hang me up like a frame on the wall.

You hang me up, you hang me up

You hang me, you hang me, you hang me!"

At the last line of the bridge, Johnny's hands were wrapped subconsciously around his neck for a brief moment until he extended his arms out with fists clenched, his face turned up towards the sky with his eyes closed to take in the rain.

"Stained!!!

Blood and Bruises on my shaky hands!

It's raining in this empty city, flooding the streets but never too deep!

'Cause I'll never be what you want me to be.

Can you hear me now?!

Screaming out!

When I say: Enough is enough, this world is breaking!

Let it pour! Cut me up! I'll still be standing!"

After the last chorus, Johnny collapsed on his knees as the imaginary fire disappeared from his mind and he slowly came back to reality. He looked straight ahead of the dark city in front of him. He bit his lips while letting out a shuddering sigh. He sang in a soft tone.

"Can you hear me now?

Enough is enough is enough.

Enough is enough, the world is breaking.

I'm still standing."

Johnny sat there and let the rain-soaked him in his leather jacket, not minding getting sick since it will give him an excuse to not come to class the next day. 

~.~

Saying that Ash was worried about Johnny was an understatement. She paced the hotel room back and forth while the others were asleep. She tried to be quiet about her breathing but she couldn't help it. Johnny should be out of class hours ago. She heard the door open as she turned to find Johnny soaked from the rain outside. Johnny and Ash stared at each other with wide eyes from Ash mostly when she noticed Johnny's bloodied hands and bruised knuckles.

Johnny rubbed his hands a little once he noticed that Ash was looking at his hands. "Um...this room doesn't happen to have a med-kit, does it?"

Ash straightened herself up while nodding a bit. "Yeah. In the kitchen."

Ash led the gorilla into the kitchen as she turned on the light and Johnny tiptoed to make sure that they don't wake up the theater gang.

Johnny sat on the counter as Ash climbed up to the cabinets and reached for the med-kit. Ash turned back to see Johnny taking off his wet leather jacket and white tank top to show his abs.

Ash blushed a bit while realizing that there were a lot more bruises on his abs and his arms than she could count earlier.

Johnny blushed more madly as he closed in on himself. "Uh...sorry, both my jacket and my shirt are wet. Um...I'll go change if—"

"It's fine. I'm just going to look at your hands anyway," Ash said while smiling up at the gorilla. She crawled over by Johnny's side and examined his hands. His once strong hands were now cut up and bruised. "What happened?"

Johnny frowned while letting Ash clean the wounds on his knuckles. "I guess I got a little angry and punched a brick wall."

"A little?"

Johnny sighed and nodded. "That darn teacher. I'm not the only person he's hurting. One student twisted his ankle and he's about to get beaten down further until I stepped in and broke Klaus's stick."

Ash widened her eyes. "Is your classmate okay?"

"Well, he got an immediate ride to the hospital. So, I assume he's fine. I'm surprised you didn't ask about Klaus's stick."

Ash noticed Johnny's smirk as she's wrapping up his hands while pretending to be shocked with a joking grin. "Oh my gosh, is the stick okay?"

"The stick died when broken in half. But Klaus got himself a thicker stick," Johnny said.

"How did he react when you broke his first stick?"

"He stomped his foot like a five-year-old and stormed off," Johnny answered with a small chuckle.

Ash smiled a little. "And the second stick?"

Johnny leaned a bit to show a bruise on his abs. "As you can see, it caused more damage than the first."

Ash clenched her teeth. "That looks like it hurts."

"It does."

Ash sighed deeply and pulled out her phone. With her phone, she took a couple of pictures of Johnny's bruised torso.

"What are you doing?" Johnny questioned.

"Taking pictures for Buster to see. I'm going to bring it to his attention in the morning."

"Do you think he'll listen?"

"Definitely."

"I was talking about Jimmy."

Both of the animals went silent for a quick moment.

"We'll have to see," Ash stated softly.

Johnny frowned with a sigh.

"If Buster and Jimmy work things out, you won't have to go back to Klaus any longer."

"They better work things out. Otherwise, I'll go and find another teacher by myself," Johnny determined.

"Alright, alright, easy there. I'll make sure Buster knows about it."

"Thanks, Ash."

"No problem." 

~.~

Buster breathed heavily. He felt a weight of debris on top of him. He somehow woke up in a collision with a few clanks and creaks noises lurking around. The koala lifted his blue eyes to find his face glued to the cracked floor. He grunted as he lifted the debris off of him with his back. The koala finally lifted the debris off of him while coughing up the dust. The small pebbles rolled off of his back as he dusted himself off. Did he fall? He had no idea but it was dark all around him.

The koala's gaze wandered aimlessly through what he could assume to be the huge stage of the Crystal Theater. Buster shivered in the cold as he walked through the darkness aimlessly. There was no light to guide him out.

"Hello?!" Buster called but there was no answer. "Hello?! Is anyone here?!"

Buster continued to wander aimlessly as he was able to move past the crates. Some crates he bumped into only slightly, indicating that there's an object in his way. The koala maneuvered through the dark maze to smell rotting flesh. Buster's eyes broadened as he followed the smell to understand what's going on. The koala finally reached the end of the maze as his eyes broadened more in horror at this horrible sight right in front of him.

There was a pile of dead bodies belonging to his theater friends and the stage crew with Rosita hung from the cable she's going to use to jump off the platform attached to her back. Meena was slumped forward to the side of the pile, not responsive to the air around her while holding an empty cone that was supposed to have ice cream there. Gunter, Ash, and Ms. Crawly were stuffed in between the stage crew with Ash's quills impaling Ms. Crawly's glass eye. Johnny's limbs were contorted and broken in front of the pile, bruises, and scars all over his muscular body. Mike and Nancy were crushed underneath the rocks the stage crew built that were supposed to be lightweight to bigger animals.

Buster began to breathe heavily and in fear as he collapsed on his knees. He's blinded by tears in his eyes as he sobbed quietly to himself. He glanced over to find two more familiar dead bodies. He gasped when he realized that it's both Mizuki and Eddie. Mizuki was sprawled on the floor with blood surrounding her weak body while Eddie was stabbed multiple times by pipes left and right.

The koala crawled over to his beloved first and tried to wake her up. "M-Mizuki. Mizuki, wake up. Please."

Mizuki didn't respond as Buster breathed even heavier. He turned to find Eddie's dead body as he went over to examine Eddie.

Something's not right. The wind shifted as Buster just heard footsteps. The koala turned his head to find a strange cloaked figure standing in the shadows. Buster stood up while glaring at the assassin.

"Who are you?!" Buster shouted a question at the assassin. "Why are you hurting my friends?!"

The assassin was silent.

"Answer me!!!" Buster cried out with tears in his eyes.

"You're not good enough," the assassin uttered, a voice that sounded familiar yet it was mixed with a deep voice.

"I-I am good enough!" Buster yelled while his knees were shaking.

"Then why didn't you protect them?"

Buster blinked in confusion while he felt something on his hands. He glanced down and noticed nothing but fresh blood on his hands. The koala started to breathe heavier, his arms trembling while he noticed the blood staining on his suit.

"No, no!! This isn't real!! This isn't real!!!" Buster screamed, covering his head and shutting his eyes closed.

Buster...Buster...Buster!!!

Buster snapped his eyes open with a gasp while thrashing his body at anything from laying on the sofa. Luckily, he didn't kick anyone but he almost kicked Ash, who was trying to wake him.

"Whoa, watch it!" Ash barked while putting her arm up to defend herself.

"S-Sorry," Buster uttered while looking around to realize that they're in the hotel room still with everyone else deep asleep.

Ash arched a brow while becoming worried for a second. "Are those nightmares coming back?"

Buster took a moment to breathe while trying to calm down.

All of it was just a dream, Buster reassured himself in his mind. He held up an index finger to tell Ash to give him a minute to recover.

It only took a few seconds for him to finally breathe and realize that it's all just a dream. Finally, Buster exhaled and straightened himself up.

"I'm fine, Ash. Uh...I didn't mean to kick you."

Ash put her fist on her hip. "Well, I've been calling your name for at least ten times today."

Buster rubbed his head. "Wh-What is it?"

Ash prompted herself up on the sofa next to Buster as Buster sat up when he realized that Ash was scrolling through her phone to show him something.

"Okay, so, last night, Johnny came home late from dance classes and...I found a couple of bruises on him," Ash said as she showed him pictures of Johnny's bruised sides and arms. "He also bloodied his fists from punching the wall last night. I wouldn't ask why though."

Buster widened his eyes when he saw the bruises. Flashes of Johnny bruised up and beaten up in his dream appeared in his mind.

"This happened recently?"

"Yeah," Ash answered while looking up at him. "It's been a week and the choreographer that Jimmy hired is not good for Johnny."

"Hmm, he also chose Darius for Meena's partner."

"Oh, is he good for her?"

"No. I mean, I don't think they have any good chemistry. And I promised Meena that I have her dance with someone with actual good chemistry."

"That sounds like a talk with Jimmy," Ash stated with her hands on her sides.

Buster sighed deeply. "Yeah, it's definitely a talk with Jimmy."

~.~

The elevator ringed as the gold doors opened rapidly. Buster shivered in the cold as he stared down the hallway with ceramic floors and golden doors leading to Jimmy's office. He gulped as he made his way down the glimmering hallway. He noticed all the portraits of Jimmy himself as he felt his heart pounding. He never went up to Jimmy's office to make requests before. How was Jimmy going to take it? Buster really hoped that Jimmy would just not care and let Buster do what he needed to do for his own cast since his cast was working for Buster just as much as Jimmy.

Buster approached the golden door to find it larger than life as a lump went down on his throat. He took a deep calm breath and knocked on the door. It echoed into the hallway, despite being only a small knock. The creaking noises from the door caught his attention as the heavy golden door was pulled open ajar. He saw Suki peeking into the hallway and then glancing down at Buster.

"Hey, Suki," Buster uttered nervously. "I'm here to see Jimmy."

"Well, he's busy—"

"Let him in!" Jimmy shouted from behind Suki.

Suki sighed and pulled the door all the way opened. Buster walked into the office with his eyes more widened in pure awe. The white polished floor gleamed in the light and Jimmy's wooden desk was polished, winking at Buster with a sparkle. The office was larger than his was back in the old theater. Part of Buster missed his old theater but this was so much to take in all at once. The red walls held up portraits of Jimmy and his daughter, Porscha, when she's a little girl.

When Buster shifted his glance back up, he noticed Jimmy leaning back against the office chair with his hands folded over his stomach.

Jimmy wore a charming smile. "Moon, you're just the person I want to see!"

Buster smiled while sitting on the white rolling chair. "Really?"

"Yeah, yeah. Scoot on over a bit," Jimmy stated as Buster did as instructed.

Buster glanced behind him for a moment to see Suki closing the heavy door behind them both. However, what Buster didn't expect to see, was Leonardo. He's standing over to the far side, almost like he's standing in the shadows so that he wouldn't be seen.

"You-You wanted to see me?" Buster uttered a question.

Jimmy cleaned his tooth with a claw on his pinky. "Uh-huh." Jimmy flicked his pinky out of his mouth. "I was just going to have Suki come get you, actually."

"For what?" Buster questioned.

"Well, in thirty minutes, we're going to have an interview with the Daily News. They want to interview us both on the show. Have you ever been interviewed by a news anchor?"

Buster became more nervous than he thought he would be of hearing that. But he plastered a smile. "Uh, no."

"Just don't say anything stupid or controversial and you'll be completely fine. If you're that nervous about the news broadcast, just smile and nod. I'll do the talking if it makes you more comfortable," Jimmy insisted.

Buster rubbed his arm. "Um, I want to see you too actually."

"Oh really? You come to say hi?" Jimmy questioned with a teasing snicker.

Buster bit his lips. "Well, I was hoping we could discuss more the show."

"Do tell."

Buster took a couple of minutes to think of what to say and then pulled out his phone. Ash already sent him the pictures of Johnny's bruises, so he had proof that this was actually happening.

"I want to know where you find your people," Buster stated, trying to sound curious but coming out more of a desperate demand.

Jimmy arched a brow, losing that charming smile. "How was that any of your business?"

Buster tried to calm his nerves as he began to talk in a more friendly tone. "You see, Jimmy, um, you said that Klaus was the number one choreographer in the world, right?"

"One of the best," Jimmy added.

"Well, you see...Klaus had been beating up one of my castmates during class. He left a bruise on Johnny." Buster pulled up the picture of Johnny's bruise on the torso and showed it to Jimmy.

Jimmy leaned forward to examine the bruise. "What are you showing me, Moon?"

"I'm showing you that Johnny has a bruise on his torso and it's not just his torso but also on his arms and hands." Buster swiped the pictures to let Jimmy see it further.

"It's hard to tell. Your little worker has dark fur."

"I can see the bruise as clear as day. And frankly, so can my other workers—if you want to call them that," Buster stated while pulling his phone away from Jimmy. "On top of that, one of Johnny's classmates twisted his ankle from that choreographer you hired."

There's a stunned silence from Suki and Leonardo.

Buster sighed deeply. "In conclusion, I want to fire Klaus Kickenklober and hire a new choreographer that will actually teach the cast how to dance, not smack them around for whatever the reason is."

Jimmy pondered for a second while sternly staring at Buster. "Do you have proof that a student had twisted his ankle? A picture, perhaps?"

Buster blinked for a second. "No."

"Who told you that someone twisted his ankle in class?"

Buster tilted his head. "You wouldn't tell me where you get your people but yet you want to know where I get my resources from. With all due respect, sir, that sounds a little hypocritical to me."

Suki turned her head sideways to see Leonardo hovering his hand over a pistol while glaring up ahead. At first, she thought he's going to hurt Buster but she realized that his glare was not on Buster. It was on Jimmy Crystal himself.

Jimmy chuckled a little. "Well, you're not bad at talking business. However, I have a little problem with your sentence. When you asked for my information, I have a right whether to give it to you or not since you do not own me. However, you are forgetting that you are working for me. Anything I say goes. Wherever you get your little resources from are false because you failed at providing me concrete evidence that someone actually twisted his ankle in the classroom. You didn't give me the name. How am I supposed to know what you are saying is true?"

"But I gave you concrete evidence that he was abusive towards Johnny—"

"Anyone wouldn't be able to see the bruise on that ape's side at first glance," Jimmy stated while getting up from his seat.

Leonardo gripped the pistol but didn't draw it out yet.

Jimmy sat on the edge of his desk, right in front of Buster. Buster lifted his gaze up to see the wolf staring down at him. "However, I did receive a report that your little ape cast attacked the teacher."

"W-What?" Buster stuttered.

"Oh yeah. He broke his stick in half. And Klaus showed me the evidence by his broken stick."

"But—?"

"You need to get a better control of your little ape friend," Jimmy referred to Johnny. "Otherwise, his actions are going to reflect badly on you."

Buster took a moment to think about this.

Jimmy sat back, smirking discreetly. "Anything else you want to ask?"

"What about the bruises?" Buster repeated his question from before.

"What bruises?"

"On Klaus. Were there any bruises on Klaus?"

"Oh yeah, a bunch of them," Jimmy stated with a shrug and a giggle. "Your little ape friend is cast right as a warrior cause man, that guy could punch."

Suki shook her head in disbelief while Leonardo kept his eye on Jimmy and Buster.

"Look, your little ape friend is going to have to suck it up since he's much bigger than Klaus and only suffered little injuries," Jimmy said with his arms crossed. "He'll do just fine."

Buster felt like his world had been turned upside down. He didn't think Johnny would be so violent unless someone he cared about getting hurt during class. And if someone he cared about did get hurt, he could understand why Johnny would get violent. But this was preposterous. If Buster didn't know any better, he'd said that Johnny wouldn't hurt anyone unless he had to defend himself or other people or both. Johnny would never go as far as to hurt someone else for the thrill of it.

"So, any more questions?" Jimmy inquired, ready for another round of questions from Buster.

Buster gazed up at the wolf. "Well, the reason why I asked about where you get your people from is because of the choreographer. And Darius."

"What's wrong with Darius?"

"Nothing. I mean, there's nothing wrong. He just doesn't have good chemistry with Meena. And I promised Meena that I would find someone with—"

"Big mistake," Jimmy interrupted.

"What?"

Jimmy brought up his tea and sipped it. "I said that's a big mistake coming from you. You shouldn't have promised her anything at that moment. You know, there's a piece of really good advice that I learned a long time ago that might be beneficial for you to hear." Jimmy set the teacup aside and leaned forward close to Buster's face that Buster could smell his breath. The wolf smirked and continued in a whisper. "Never make a promise you can't keep. Otherwise, you'll end up breaking the promise you were supposed to keep. And that's the cause of most dramas, my friend."

Buster blinked at the words spoken to him as Jimmy leaned back away from the koala. Buster's mind went down into a spiral through thoughts and feelings about what was said or taken place.

Jimmy smirked while hopping off the desk. "We have ten minutes now to get ready for the news broadcast. Let's go."

Jimmy went off, leaving Buster completely befuddled.

Buster took a deep sigh while trying to figure out what he's going to tell his friends. Maybe some news broadcast could help distract him for a moment. Before he could get off of the chair, Suki approached him while blocking his way.

"Whatever you do, don't let Jimmy get into your head," Suki whispered a warning to him.

"Wh-What?"

"Don't let him get inside of your head. Do you understand me?" Suki warned urgently.

Buster blinked in utter confusion but he nodded his head without understanding what's going on.

"Okay. Also, during the news interview, don't you dare talk. Just smile and nod and let Jimmy do the talking. He loves to talk," Suki replied in a whisper. "If a question is directed at you, don't say anything controversial or anything that makes Jimmy look bad. Do you understand me?"

Buster nodded his head. "I do. I do."

"Good. Go before Jimmy grows impatient."

Buster nodded his head again in fear as he hopped off the chair and sprinted towards the exit where Jimmy headed. Suki could only stare off in fear while Leonardo skulked in the shadows to keep watch. 

To Be Continued...