*Hey y'all, I'm back with another chapter! This is published on January 2, 2022. If you guys like this chapter, don't forget to vote and spam the comment section! That would be greatly appreciated and I would love to see your guys' reactions. Enjoy!*

Porscha had been acting a bit tipsy.

She'd drank more than she should on those margaritas, Eddie noticed. Eddie didn't drink anymore since the kiss in fear that he might accidentally lean into the toxics of the alcohol and mess his brain up enough to where he would potentially do something stupid.

Porscha, however, didn't think about the repercussions of drinking too many margaritas.

Eddie sighed deeply, looking up at the clock to realize that it's getting late. "Okay, Porscha, it's time to go home."

"No...five more minutes~"

"No, you're going home now," Eddie insisted while helping Porscha out of the barstool.

Porscha leaned over against Eddie with a giggle. "You are so cute~."

Eddie rolled his eyes to realize that she's drunk. "Thanks. Now, let's get you back home. I don't want your dad to kill me if you're not home at a certain time or something like."

"Oh, he doesn't even know I'm gone," Porscha said with a laugh.

Eddie blinked his eyes. "Uh...okay. Well, I'm taking you home anyways."

"I'm getting drunk in a bar

Flying so high, I don't know when to come down."

Eddie wanted to chuckle a little at hearing her singing some random song with giggles in each verse. Admittingly, her singing voice still sounded beautiful even though she's drunk to the point where she couldn't think right.

"Come on, we're almost out the door."

Eddie guided Porscha towards the exit while she pranced out of Eddie's hold and felt the cold wind on her face.

"Porscha, wait!" Eddie ran after her while noticing her dancing on the sidewalk underneath the city lights while the clouds covered the darkened sky and there were tiny sprinkles of rain.

"What a time to be alive!" Porscha exclaimed drunkenly. "Merry Christmas!!! Merry Christmas!! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"

"Porscha, we're not even close to Christmas," Eddie whispered to the female wolf.

"Shh, don't ruin the spirit of the holidays," Porscha whispered teasingly. "Look, Eddie, it's raining!"

"It's sprinkling."

"Did I bring a coat—? Oh wait, I'm wearing my coat. Ha, silly me," Porscha talked drunkenly.

"Okay, let's take you home before your dad kills me," Eddie stated while waving his hand out for a taxi.

Porscha belted out her drunken voice.

"I can drink to that all night,

That's the stuff I like.

That's the kind of party that makes you throw your hands up high, whee!!"

Porscha threw her hands up in the air. The taxi arrived at the curb finally as Eddie opened the door and let Porscha in first. The wolf happily entered the taxi in a drunken giggle while Eddie sat next to her.

"Uh, take us to Crystal Residence," Eddie requested of the taxi driver.

"Which one?" The camel taxi driver inquired.

"What?"

"Which one? There are three," The driver clarified.

"Three?"

"Yeah, one near the theater, one up in the hill, and one on the countryside. Which one?" The taxi driver questioned Eddie.

Eddie looked at Porscha, who seemed out of it. "Uh, Porscha, which house do you live in?"

Porscha was half-awake while not paying attention and singing.

"No matter how much I get.

I'm always craving you~"

Eddie rolled his eyes at her while realizing that she's not going to be able to help with her mind intoxicated. "Uh...let's go to the one near the theater." Eddie mentally crossed his fingers in the hopes that he got the right house.

The driver nodded his head as he drove them towards the residence that was nearly a five-minute walk. It's a one-story house that rested on a small hill, which confused the sheep but he didn't think much of it. Porscha fell asleep on the door as Eddie gently shook her to wake her up.

Porscha didn't respond while snoring a little. Eddie could hear her snore. She must've been sleeping deeply. Eddie pulled her out of the taxi and bid the driver goodnight. After he paid the driver, pulled her out of the taxi, and shut the back door, the driver drove off. Eddie lifted her up while having her on his back so that she could fall asleep on his wool head that's like a pillow with her arms dangling over his shoulders. He grabbed her legs to keep her up as he made his way up the stairs towards the mansion.

"You're so soft," Porscha uttered.

"Can you move?" Eddie asked the wolf.

"This is nice."

"You didn't answer my question. Can you move?"

Porscha attempted to move her limbs while groaning. "No."

"Okay, just hang tight then. I'll get you into the house. Hopefully, your father might help carry you into your bedroom," Eddie stated.

"My father wouldn't be up at this time...would he?"

"I hope he would." Eddie was able to reach the top of the steps, which wasn't as long as other mansions he'd been to. The mansion looked dark inside, indicating that either there's no one home or everyone's asleep. Eddie liked to assume the latter. The sheep rang the doorbell with his elbow in hopes that someone would answer. But no one answered the door. Eddie rang the doorbell again with his elbow and waited for someone to come.

"No one's here...th-there should be a key underneath a brick," Porscha instructed, her words a slur.

Eddie looked down to notice a brick that was out of place as he kicked it over with his foot to find that there's a key. The sheep squatted down while grabbing the key quickly and holding onto Porscha at the same time. Eddie straightened himself back up and used the key to unlock the door.

The door was prompted open as he peeked in to find the mansion just empty with rooms bare. Eddie sighed to realize that no one's home. However, it's better than nothing. Eddie shut the door and carried Porscha through the house while Porscha began to tighten her hold on Eddie in the dark.

"E-Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"C-Could you turn on the lights?"

"Uh, sure." Eddie turned on the light as the lights flickered on and lit up the whole front entrance mansion. "Better?"

"Better."

Eddie smiled softly. "Okay, let's get you to bed."

Porscha nodded while laying against Eddie's wool. "Did you use lemon shampoo?"

Eddie blinked in confusion. "Well, I showered this morning before work."

"It smells good," Porscha said with a hum.

Eddie chuckled and smiled in relief that Porscha was beginning to sober up a bit more. He shut off the light when exiting the room. Eddie carried her on his back down the hall till he got to the room on the right. He turned on the bedroom light and settled the wolf on the bed. She groaned while cuddling up against the mattress.

Eddie noticed her moaning in contentment with a small smile on his face. "Well, I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Porscha."

The sheep shut off the light. When the light shut off, a screech was heard as Eddie turned on the light quickly out of fear to find Porscha clutching on her pillow with widened eyes in terror.

"What? What is it?" Eddie questioned quickly.

Porscha breathed heavily while clutching at her sheets. "So-Sorry...I-don't do well in dark rooms."

"Dark rooms? What do you mean?"

Porscha hugged her legs. "It's stupid."

"No, it's not," Eddie said while sitting on the edge of her bed. "Are you afraid of the dark?"

"I'm just afraid to be locked in here in the dark. You know? I don't know..."

Eddie bit his lips while tilting his head. "Well, you can see in the dark, right?"

"Yeah but...that doesn't make it less scary."

Eddie frowned while realizing something. "Is that why you asked me to turn on the lights for you earlier?"

Porscha nodded her head.

Eddie pondered while leaving the door open. He gestured to her that he'll be right back as he went into the bathroom across the hall. He opened the bathroom mirror and took out a box of Advil. He shut the mirror and returned to Porscha while placing the box beside her on the counter beside her.

"You might have a small migraine in the morning. I'll leave the door opened and the lights on and—" Before Eddie turned to leave, he felt a hand tugging at his arm. The sheep turned to find Porscha gazing at him softly.

Porscha was trembling a little. "Please...don't leave me."

Eddie blinked in disbelief as he tried to wrap his mind around Porscha begging him to stay. Eddie's face went red while trying to shake off the blush.

"Are you sure you want me to stay?" Eddie asked timidly.

Porscha nodded her head.

Eddie bit his lips while sighing. "Okay...but I can't sleep with the light on."

Porscha held onto Eddie as she moved over for Eddie to lay on the bed beside her. "O-Okay..."

Eddie nodded his head slowly as he lay on the bed next to her. The bed was a little big enough to fit both of them but they were on the edges of both sides of the bed and if they move slightly the wrong way, they could fall over on the floor. Porscha hugged Eddie's body while Eddie turned off the light, hoping to not hear another horrifying screech.

Porscha didn't scream this time while holding Eddie tightly and burying her face on his side. Eddie's arms were raised up as he was afraid to hug her back. However, the night was able to put Eddie to sleep along with Porscha. 

~.~

This pillow is so soft.

That was Porscha's first sober thought. The smell of lemon shampoo infiltrated her nose. But the pillow didn't feel like a square-shaped pillow. It felt like a person with a lot of wool. That's...weird. She didn't know anyone with wool unless...her thought process was interrupted when she heard a snore.

Porscha's flicked as she snapped her eyes open to find herself holding Eddie in the bright sunny morning.

Porscha blushed madly once she realized that she's holding Eddie. The wolf also learned that the snore came from Eddie. Porscha checked herself and Eddie for a moment to see that they have their clothes on with a sigh of relief.

At least we didn't get...crazy last night.

However, the kiss she shared with Eddie last night...that first genuine and a bit drunken kiss caught up with her mind. Porscha's head pounded while she groaned. She didn't realize that Eddie was also holding her as well but not as tightly. Porscha shifted her way out of Eddie's hold and off the bed. Porscha held her head while moving around the bed to get to the table counter near Eddie. She noticed a box of Advil right near him as she took a couple of pills and put them in her mouth just to ease her headache.

Eddie snorted himself awake while blinking his eyes into the morning light. He turned his head to find Porscha standing near the bed while swallowing her pills.

"How are you feeling?" Eddie asked while yawning.

"A little headache," Porscha said with her face red.

"I figured," Eddie stated while stretching his limbs. He noticed Porscha staring at him with her tail wagging but she held her tail so that he wouldn't see. However, he did notice her tail wagging for him, which caused him to blush.

Porscha rubbed her arm while lowering her head in shame. "I don't remember last night well...um—" Porscha quickly closed the door so that her father wouldn't come in the room to find them in the same room together. "Do you think you could help me recall what happened last night? After that kiss?"

"Uh...yeah. Um, well, you had too many margaritas and you were...a little tipsy."

"Did I do or say anything that made you uncomfortable while I was drunk?"

Eddie pondered for a moment. "Well, you complimented on my smell but you didn't do anything that made me feel uncomfortable. Maybe it was just the fact that you're afraid of being in dark rooms."

Porscha widened her eyes. "I told you that?"

"Yeah. It's no big deal though—"

"Shh, I think I heard footsteps," Porscha said while flicking her ears around to hear footsteps coming towards the mansion. She heard the door creaked open.

"Porscha! Are you in here?!"

Porscha gasped to recognize her father's voice as she turned back to Eddie to realize that she's actually not back in her home. "Wait, I'm in one of the Crystal Residences."

"Uh...sorry, I didn't know which one you lived," Eddie whispered.

Porscha shook her head. "It's fine, it's fine."

"Porscha!"

Porscha clenched her teeth as she prompted a chair up against the door and opened the window across from her. "Come on."

Eddie hopped out of the window without hesitation as he slipped on the slope near the window and slid downhill with a few grunts. Porscha gasped in worry for Eddie as she leaped over the sill.

"Porscha! Porscha, are you in there?!"

Porscha saw the doorknob shaking as she closed the window and followed Eddie downhill.

Eddie blink in pure confusion while noticing Porscha sliding beside him and held her hand out to help him up on his feet.

"We need to get to the theater quickly," Porscha determined.

"Um...don't you think your dad will find us there?" Eddie questioned Porscha's decision.

"Not if we find some good places to hide. Come on," Porscha urged while they both ran back to the theater. 

~.~

"Guys, check this out!"

Johnny turned his head to find Nooshy holding the newspaper out while taking a break from class within the theater.

Dexter approached beside Johnny and Nooshy with Stan and Barry following him. "Oi, what did you find?"

"It's some little dirty secret about the daughter of Jimmy Crystal," Nooshy said with a chuckle, batting out her eyelashes to impersonate Porscha.

"Let me see, let me see," Johnny urged as he looked over Nooshy's shoulder as the snow lynx was willing to share it with the gorilla.

Johnny gasped while widening his eyes in pure horror and shock. Apparently, there's a picture of Porscha kissing a familiar sheep.

"Eddie?" Johnny recognized with a gasp.

"Who's Eddie?" Nooshy asked.

Johnny pointed at the sheep. "There. That's Eddie."

Dexter, Stan, and Barry peeked over Johnny's shoulder.

"Eddie...as in Eddie Noodleman?" Dexter questioned his son.

"Yeah!" Johnny blurted out for the entire theater to hear them. The gorilla kept silent for a moment until the stage crew minded their business and walked away. However, Gunter and Rosita approached the scene with Ms. Crawly, Meena, Nancy, and Darius following them.

"Okay, we're back on stage—hey, that looks like Eddie," Gunter noted while examining the picture on the newspaper more. "Wait a minute, that is Eddie."

Ms. Crawly blinked her real eye while trying to see the picture. "Wait, what is Porscha doing kissing Eddie?"

"Well, they've been close lately so...I wouldn't say that it came out of left-field," Rosita uttered while shivering.

Meena widened her eyes in horror. "What would happen if Jimmy sees this?"

Nooshy giggled. "That would've been epic to see his reaction."

Johnny shook his head. "I wouldn't get too excited about seeing his reaction."

"Last time, Mr. Moon blacked out after visiting Jimmy Crystal," Ms. Crawly recalled.

"Yeah, I don't want to know what would happen if Jimmy sees that his daughter was kissing our stagehand...especially when she has a fiance," Rosita replied.

Everyone gasped in sudden realization.

"Bloody Mary!" Dexter blurted out, causing the group to shush him.

"What do we do?" Meena uttered in fear.

Gunter pondered for a moment. "We just pretend we don't know anything about Eddie and Porscha's relationship."

"Yeah, and focus on the show," Nancy added.

Gunter nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, let's just focus on putting on a show. We can fake a smile."

"Wait, is this a secret relationship?" Darius questioned.

"I guess so," Johnny answered with a shrug. "Just don't mention anything about them."

They heard the door opening as Johnny grabbed the newspaper out of Nooshy's paws and stuffed it in his leather jacket as the gang turned around to find Eddie and Porscha entering the theater with the door shut quickly behind them. Eddie and Porscha panted as if they'd been running for miles.

Porscha and Eddie noticed the gang staring at them wide-eyed.

Porscha faked a smile. "Hey, everybody! Sorry, I'm late!"

"Yeah...same," Eddie uttered nervously while faking a smile.

The gang plastered smiles at them as if they didn't notice anything unusual except Darius, who's just staring at both the sheep and the wolf for a good while. Then he darted his gaze back and forth between the newspaper Johnny's hiding and then at Porscha and Eddie. Then back to the newspaper as something just clicked in his head.

"OH SHOOT!!!" Darius shouted as if he's got his memory back. "YOU TWO WERE KISSING IN THE PICTURE—"

"Bloody Mary, Darius!" Johnny swooped in to cover his mouth but it was already too late since Porscha and Eddie heard Darius.

Both Eddie and Porscha blushed madly.

Darius widened his eyes in shock while remembering why Johnny was attempting to cover his mouth. "Oops."

Ms. Crawly noticed the stage crew looking at them strangely as she got out her megaphone and turned it off. "GET BACK TO WORK!"

The stage crew quickly went to work while ignoring the situation entirely.

Johnny uncovered Darius's mouth with a deep sigh while looking at Ms. Crawly. "Is there somewhere we could talk about this privately?"

Ms. Crawly pondered while smiling as if she got an idea. "I got it!"

A few minutes went by as the theater gang was in the wardrobe area which was vacant and guarded by Dexter, Stan, and Barry to make sure no one would come in here.

"Okay...you guys need to explain this." Johnny took out the newspaper and showed it to Porscha and Eddie.

Eddie placed a palm against his head while groaning in discouragement. Porscha dropped her ears down in shame.

"I'm sorry," Porscha uttered. "I got drunk and I kissed him without even thinking. I'm sorry."

"Sweetie, if it weren't the fact that you have a fiance, we would've been happy for you two," Rosita stated softly.

"Oh yeah, totally...but...you're also Jimmy Crystal's daughter," Gunter added with clenched teeth.

Meena frowned while rubbing her arm. "Yeah. I mean, we're not trying to compare you to your dad but your father was...well, he's a bit rough on us."

Nooshy scoffed. "Yeah, like how he didn't fire Klaus despite having evidence that he was abusing Johnny and his classmates."

"Ms. Crawly said that Buster blacked out after he visited Jimmy Crystal's office," Nancy stated. "Also, there's this mice army in the sewers that told me while I was searching for Mike that Jimmy Crystal is a madman that killed their mouse leader and crushed half of the performers."

"Wait what?" Johnny uttered in shock.

"I don't know. The leader is a weird guy and I'm confused but I moved on to search for Mike," Nancy stated with a shrug. "He also said to get out of Redshore."

"Uh...do you think we should take his warning seriously?" Meena asked nervously.

"We got a show to perform," Ms. Crawly uttered. "We can't just abandon this show."

Eddie blinked in confusion. "Um...well, Nana didn't like Jimmy that much after what he put her through."

"Put her through what?" Darius questioned.

Eddie sighed deeply. "Nana almost fell off the scaffold and could've died. She sued Jimmy for almost killing her but they turned her case down."

Rosita shifted her gaze up at Porscha. "Didn't you tell me a while ago that you're afraid of Buster getting hurt by your father?"

"Wait what?!" the theater group piped up while looking at Porscha and Rosita.

"Okay, Porscha, do you know something about your dad that we don't?" Johnny interrogated, his hazel eyes widened in shock.

Porscha blinked for a moment. "Well, Dad can get...aggressive sometimes. I mean, when Mom and Dad fought...Dad would punch walls or flip tables over. I'm just afraid that it might get to the point where Buster might get hurt if Dad is angry."

"So, don't make him angry, check," Nooshy determined.

"Then we need to be really careful to not trigger an emotion out of Jimmy," Johnny instructed.

Gunter clapped his hooves together with a grin. "Hey, let's practice for the show before the stage crew gets suspicious."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement as they exited out of the wardrobe except for Porscha and Eddie. They stood there for a while in silence while Eddie rubbed his arm.

"Well, I guess we're going to work on the show now," Eddie uttered awkwardly.

Porscha nodded her head. "Yeah." She gazed at him while he noticed her sad gaze at him.

"Everything okay?"

"I-I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to be drunk or stupid...I just...didn't think about the repercussions of it."

Eddie frowned while scooting closer to her. "You know, that kiss last night. I, um, did want to kiss you back."

Porscha looked up at him, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. But I know you have a fiance and I know that your father already set up this wedding stuff for you but...I like you. Not just plain like but it's...more of like-like. Um—"

Porscha interrupted him with a hug and her head buried on his shoulder. "I care about you...a lot." She broke away from him to gaze into his hazel eyes as she caressed his face, causing him to blush. She smiled at him and stared at him lovingly until the memory of her fiance lingered in her mind, causing her to frown. "I have to go."

"Yeah, yeah," Eddie uttered while nodding his head while she slipped her hands away from his face. "They're waiting for you."

"I know...well...I'll see you around, Eddie," Porscha said while walking out the door. Porscha stopped at the door while turning to look at Eddie for one last time. "I-I love you."

Eddie blushed madly while smiling a little. "Love you too."

Porscha grinned while her heart got a little giddy and she exited out of the wardrobe.

Eddie's smile grew a little more while his heart was warm and fuzzy inside. He tried not to think about it too much but he couldn't help it. No matter what comes his way, his smile was stuck on his face. 

~.~

Buster...Buster, wake up, honey.

Buster fluttered his eyes opened with a groan while his vision was blurry for a moment. His ears twitched to hear a fire crackling behind him but his eyes could see Mizuki sitting on the edge of the couch while rubbing his side. Ash was sitting on the wooden floor beside him with her pretty blue eyes staring at him in concern.

Buster groaned again as he sat up and looked around the living room of a house. "W-Where am I?"

"You're in Clay's house."

Buster felt someone standing on top of his head as he looked up to find Mike staring at him. "Oh, hey, Mike."

"Hey, Moonster. How are you feeling?" Mike questioned the koala.

"Fine, I guess," Buster said while Mike slid off of his head and sat on Buster's lap covered by the soft blanket. "Did you guys talk to Mr. Calloway?"

"Yeah...we did," Ash answered. "For a long while."

"W-What did he say?" Buster inquired.

"He says no," a deep voice grumbled behind Buster, causing the koala to turn his head to find the reclusive lion rockstar sitting on the chair behind him in front of the fireplace.

Buster tried to sit up straighter. "Clay, I know you miss your wife but if we can—"

Clay gave him a stern stare. "I'm sorry but I don't make deals with showmen like you."

Buster shook his head. "I'm not trying to make a deal. I'm asking you to join our show—"

"Back into the Crystal Theater? No thank you," Clay growled while crossing his arms.

Buster looked up at him in confusion. "You knew where we're performing at."

"Your little mouse friend told me," Clay pointed at Mike, who just smiled and shrugged.

Buster sighed deeply. "Look, Clay, I wish we could bring your wife back from the dead but that's—"

"Would you quit yacking?" Clay snarled, interrupting Buster. "Do you have any idea why I don't associate myself in theaters or concerts anymore? Do you ever wonder?"

"Because of your wife's passing. And I'm sorry for your loss—"

Clay shook his head while glaring at Buster. "No, it's because of showmen like you killed my wife. It's showmen like you who took away my voice, screwed with my brain, and made me out to be an insane person. My songs, my records, and my voice don't matter to showmen like you. You don't mourn for my loss. You don't care about her and no one has put up a memorial for her. You don't even know her name. That's how little you showmen cared." Clay began to tear up but he pushed onward to talk without crying in front of Buster, Mizuki, Ash, and Mike. "It's all a game of fame, popularity, and reputation. Showmen like you are cutthroats, criminals, and murderers. Showmen like you don't have a dampened reputation since you all would like to claim you're the greatest. Well, guess what? I'm done dealing with showmen and I haven't associated myself in concerts and theaters for fifteen years. And for good reason."

With that said, Clay stormed out of the house, leaving the four animals speechless and in shock about how much anger and resentment towards showmen.

"This is why they said to never meet your heroes," Ash uttered sadly.

Buster laid his head back on the pillow with a sigh.

How am I going to convince him when he won't listen to me because I'm a showman?

That question was the question that would never get answered until Buster recovered.

~.~

Meena hadn't been eating right.

Her sweet tooth for the strawberry cheesecake ice cream had won over her millions of times. Why was she eating like this? It's not because a certain cute elephant ice cream vendor selling ice cream outside of the theater, was it?

Meena's cheeks flushed when she saw him and she felt bad when she couldn't squeeze the time to talk to him since everyone was going to need her in wardrobe since she's...gaining a little bit of weight.

Darius noticed this habit but would forget constantly and he would also forget that she's fat. However, today was not the day to forget everything at once. Darius saw Meena eating ice cream while staring at the ice cream elephant she'd fallen in love with but couldn't even go towards him due to him being busy with work and her being busy with the show.

"What's up with the ice cream?" Darius finally asked. "I don't know if it's obvious or I'm just forgetting stuff but I noticed that you're gaining a bit more weight...everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Meena stated while the bunnies were measuring her waist.

Darius didn't seem convinced as he shifted his gaze out of the window to find the elephant ice cream vendor unfamiliar to him. "Who's he?"

"His name is Alfonso...he's so dreamy," Meena uttered with a dopey falling-in-love smile.

Darius noticed while smiling in victory. "Aha! So you can pull off a falling-in-love face!"

Meena blushed madly while hiding with her large ears. "Um..."

"No need to explain yourself, Gina. You're falling for...uh, who is this guy? Do I know him?"

"No. His name is Alfonso," Meena repeated even though she told him a minute ago her crush's name.

"Alfonso. Alfonso...Alfonso. Got it. Noted. So...this Alfrenza guy—wait, that's not his name—"

Meena patted Darius's shoulder with her trunk. "It's okay, it's okay. Um...I just...want to ask him out."

"Then, why don't you ask him out?"

"I get nervous."

"You got nothing to be nervous about, Gina. You're smart and beautiful," Darius pointed out with a bright smile.

Meena grinned gently. "Thanks, Darius."

"No problem. Maybe I could give you a boost."

"Wait what?"

"Yeah, I totally got a plan," Darius stated happily.

"Um, won't you forget the plan?"

"Nope, I got it lockdown and secured in my head," Darius stated while pointing at his head with a cocky smirk.

Darius and Meena snuck out of the theater and hid in the bushes where they were spying on Alfonso with Alfonso being blissfully unaware of them watching him.

"Okay, Darius, what's the plan?" Meena asked.

Darius was silent for a moment while trying to remember what his plan was just now.

"You don't remember, do you?" Meena assumed while gazing at Darius softly.

Darius growled. "No, I remembered. Watch." Darius groaned while trying to come up with the memory in his brain dramatically. "By the power invested in me, remember the plan."

Meena stared at him strangely with her brow raised and it slowly turned into worry when he's about the use his 'power' to remember what the plan was by screeching.

The blond yak stopped and sighed heavily in defeat. "I forgot what the plan was."

Meena frowned in pity as she patted his shoulder with her trunk. "It's okay, Darius. You were just trying to help me ask out Alfonso—"

"THAT WAS THE PLAN!!!" Darius shouted in discovery as Meena shushed him before he could bring attention to them by Alfonso.

"Shh, keep it down—"

"Gina, I got a plan on how to get you out of the closet—"

"The bushes you mean—"

"Right, the bushes. I am going to emerge and strut down to where Al Pacino is—"

"Alfonso."

"Right. And then, I'll tell him that I know a cute girl who would love to date him. And that's when you emerged out of the closet—"

"Again, the bushes."

"Right, right, the bushes, and you'll go all suave and say, 'yo, I love you, Alfredo'—"

"It's Alfonso."

"I was close enough. Order yourself strawberry whatever you like and you guys get to skip off into the sunset."

Meena stared at Darius when he used his hooves to point out the horizon with confusion written on her face.

"Um...you sure that this would work?" Meena asked Darius in an unsure tone.

"I'm positive! Wait right here!"

"Darius—"

Darius hopped out of the bushes and strutted towards Alfonso while Meena hid in her ears in fear that he'll mess something up or forget.

Alfonso noticed Darius approaching him.

"Hey," Darius uttered.

"Uh...hey," Alfonso greeted back shyly.

"Um...shoot—" Darius groaned as his brain quickly forgot what he was doing. "Uh...you look handsome."

"T-Thanks," Alfonso accepted the compliment with a confused stare at Darius.

"I know someone who is attracted to you," Darius said while finally remembering why he's standing in front of Alfonso.

"Oh?" Alfonso uttered while blushing madly.

"Yeah, she's smart, cute, and beautiful," Darius uttered while trying to gesture to Meena to come out of the bushes with his hoof.

Meena blushed while she timidly emerged out of the bush.

Alfonso noticed Meena approaching them with a bright smile on his face. "Meena!" The elephant strode past Darius happily while Darius took a moment to think.

"No...her name is Gina—" Darius realized Alfonso was approaching Meena while keeping silent for her to talk.

"Hi," Meena uttered with a blush.

"Hey, you came out," Alfonso pointed out.

"Yeah...I've been busy lately with the show."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I already bought the tickets for the front row seat so that I can see you up there."

"I can't wait to see you there," Meena stated with a loving smile. "Um...Alfonso."

"Yeah?"

"Um...I was wondering if you..." She looked to see Darius giving her a thumbs up with his hooves in supporting her. Meena took a deep breath and gazed into Alfonso's eyes. "Would you like to go out with me?"

Alfonso blinked in almost shock, which made Meena timider than before. Alfonso glanced back at his coworker, who's an ox, giving him a thumbs up.

Alfonso glanced back at Meena and smiled softly at her. "Yeah, I would love to."

Meena smiled giddily while her heart fluttered at Alfonso's response.

Alfonso caressed Meena's face with his trunk. "Tonight at six?"

"Yeah." Meena nodded.

Alfonso smiled. "I'll see you there." He kissed her cheek and headed off to serve a customer with his cheeks going red from kissing her. Alfonso did a silly little dance in a victory that he got to date Meena.

Meena blinked while she felt like she could soar through the skies. Darius patted her shoulder while they both went back into the theater with Meena smiling warmly at the thought of a date with Alfonso.

~.~

Dexter had been keeping a close eye on Klaus while Klaus was teaching Johnny and his classmates how to dance. For every time Klaus raised his stick to hit Johnny or his classmates, Dexter would shoot a deadly glare at the monkey while clenching his fists to show that he'll follow through with his threat. It worked effectively as Klaus backed away from Johnny in particular in fear of having his arm broken. But his growing hatred and jealousy towards Johnny didn't cease. In fact, with Dexter there, it makes him hate Johnny and his family more, wishing that they would die in a fire.

Nooshy watched while seeing that Johnny improved greatly on his dancing skills compared to his dances before. She smiled in pride that she was able to participate in teaching Johnny and his classmates better than Klaus could ever teach. And now that Johnny's family was here and keeping an eye on Klaus, it made her feel safe to know that Johnny won't be harmed further. But she did notice Klaus's fury the more he's constantly stared down and that made her smirk at Klaus since she knew he wouldn't hurt Johnny as long as Dexter was standing there and ready to fight him.

Johnny wiped the sweat off of his brow while smiling from ear to ear at his classmates, who fist-bumped him and encouraged him. Johnny peeked out of the huddle from his classmates to see his father and Nooshy smiling proudly at him. Johnny turned to see Klaus even angrier than before, which kind of scared Johnny a bit. Why was he so upset? Was it his existence? Because if it was his existence, Klaus has to get over it.

The class went on a break as he came up to his gorilla family and hugged them while Nooshy was watching them with a soft gaze. Dexter pulled her into the tight family hug, causing her to tense up for a moment at the tight hug until she melted into it with a cute smile on her face.

Chadwick decided to join in the group hug along with the other classmates giggling and joining the hug while some of them stayed out of the hug and just smiled at each other.

Dexter didn't expect Johnny's classmates to join in as he just shrugged it off and let them join. When they broke away from the group hug, Nooshy slipped out a little to find that it was getting too crowded. She smiled while watching the classmates interacting with Johnny and his family of gorillas with chuckles and laughs.

Nooshy needed to take a breath of fresh air as she went outside just to smell the wonderful breeze. She smiled up to the blue skies with puffs of clouds floating by. Before she could enjoy this break further, someone charged into her. She fell onto the ground with a yelp and was slammed against the wall to recognize that boar from when she first met Johnny. His hoof was wrapped around her throat while pounding her against the brick wall.

"Where's the money?!"

Nooshy choked while trying to kick him away from her. "H-Here." The snow lynx quickly got out the thirty dollars that were given to her by Johnny. The boar took the money and stuffed it in his pocket. "L-Let me go. I paid you fully."

"Not with your life," the boar growled at the snow lynx.

"Wh-What? But you just wanted my money—"

"Not just your money, you're going to expose us if you—"

His sentence was interrupted instantly and Nooshy didn't know why. However, she found her answer quickly when she noticed blood dripping from the side of the boar's mouth. The snow lynx's eyes went wide as the boar loosened his hold around her neck. She breathed heavily while stumbling back away from the boar. The boar collapsed on his knees and fell over on the side, shocking her more than anything. Nooshy looked around to wonder if Johnny or Dexter intervene but she didn't see them. However, she noticed a cougar walking by the boar casually. Nooshy thought it was a coincidence that the boar was talking and growling for one minute at her before the cougar was passed by...but after he passed by the boar, the boar couldn't talk anymore as he fell over...dead on the ground.

When Nooshy moved her eyes to find the cougar, she noticed the cougar looking over his shoulder at her while moving swiftly into the alleyway. Nooshy blinked her eyes as she moved away from the dead body and peeked into the alleyway where the cougar had gone to find that the cougar just disappeared without a trace.

"Bloody Mary!"

Nooshy recognized Johnny's shout as she bolted back to her spot while Johnny and Dexter stared at the dead boar in shock. Nooshy breathed heavily, in fear that Johnny or Dexter was going to accuse Nooshy of murdering the boar.

"Wait, before you guys point fingers, he was choking me and I couldn't fight back. Then, there's this cougar guy walking past the boar and I think he killed him but I don't know how—"

"Nooshy, Nooshy, calm down," Johnny tried to calm the panicking snow lynx.

"I-I paid him, Johnny," Nooshy stuttered. "I was paying back the loan that I owe him but he wanted to kill me because I was going to expose him or something."

"Do you know who this boar is working for?" Dexter questioned.

"I-I don't know," Nooshy uttered while tearing up.

Johnny hugged her. "It's okay. It's okay. Wait...did you say cougar?"

Nooshy nodded her head while breaking away from Johnny and wiping his tears. "I think he murdered that guy. Because afterward, when I looked at him, he looked over his shoulder and disappeared into the alleyway."

Johnny blinked while groaning. "Bloody Mary."

"What? What is it, Johnny?" Dexter probed his son.

"If Nooshy was talking about the cougar...I know who he is," Johnny uttered.

"Who?" Both Dexter and Nooshy questioned Johnny.

Johnny sighed deeply. "That cougar's name is Leonardo. He's from Buster's past...he's there at the nightclub when Buster got...you know."

"What?" Nooshy uttered innocently.

Dexter leaned forward to whisper to Nooshy what the word Johnny was about to say, causing her to widen her eyes in shock.

"Oh," Nooshy muttered.

"I think that's him but there could be other cougars out there. He's just the only cougar I know," Johnny stated with a shrug.

Dexter arched a brow while pondering deeply. "Alright, well, how are we going to dispose of the body before anyone calls the police and suspects us as murderers?"

Johnny and Nooshy glanced down at the boar's body as Johnny crouched down and searched for his pockets until he felt something in his hand. He pulled out a bag full of white powder with a crystal symbol, scrutinizing it.

"Nooshy, does this symbol look familiar?" Johnny showed the symbol to the snow lynx.

Nooshy nodded her head in confirmation. "Yeah, that's it."

Johnny turned to Dexter. "Dad, do you know a gang with this symbol on it?"

Dexter looked at the symbol closely while shaking his head. "That doesn't look familiar at all, son. I don't think I've seen a gang with a crystal symbol on it—"

Dexter stopped himself mid-sentence, his eyes widening in shock.

"Dad?" Johnny uttered questioningly.

Dexter shook his head while looking at his son softly. "Johnny...these drugs don't belong to any gang. That boar wanted to kill Nooshy for a potential fear of her exposing a certain someone in power here. And I think all three of us know who that certain someone is."

Johnny and Nooshy were quiet for a moment while looking at each other in confusion until they looked at the crystal symbol again. That's when it hit them who Dexter was talking about. 

To Be Continued...