*Hello, peeps! Who here has seen the SING 2 trailer?! Raise your hands!!! YASSS!!! Okay, my personal review of it is that there's some deep stuff going on with that poor old lion dude and I think that wolf guy is going to be a twist villain. Hahaha! LOL! Anyway, this chapter is published on June 24, 2021. If you like this chapter, don't be afraid to vote and spam the comment section. It'll be much appreciated. The song used is called "I don't wanna" by Beck Bennet and Scarlet Johansson(you heard me, Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff). Enjoy!*

At night, Buster was on his way home, his frown present on his face. He exited out of the theater, already locking everything up. His tired eyes were drifting off somewhere else as he heard a beautiful tune playing in the streets in the dead of night. Buster was intrigued by this tune as he followed the sound and peeked around the corner to see a light shining down on a small mouse with a worn-out red suit and red bowler hat. He's playing the saxophone beautifully without a care in the world. Some people tipped him and some didn't. But it didn't make a difference to the mouse playing the saxophone.

Buster could watch the mouse for hours and hours. Maybe he should hire that mouse on the talent show.

All of the sudden, a group of cats walked by the mouse with a snicker.

"Heh, look at that, it's the pipsqueak playing on the world's smallest instrument again," the lead cat with black-furred pointed with a laugh.

The mouse rolled his eyes and continued to play the saxophone.

"Hey, why don't you squeak out the notes instead of playing it?" the other cat insulted him.

The mouse put his saxophone down with a glare up at the cats. "Look, if ya want to harass a street performer, you're picking on the wrong one."

The cats laughed at the tiny mouse.

"Get him, boys!" the lead cat shouted as the cats began to attack the small mouse, kicking him in the stomach and punching him in the face.

Buster watched this with eyes widened in pure shock at this moment. He drew his brows together as he strode between the cats and the mouse, leaving injuries on the mouse such as a black eye and scratch marks.

"Hey! I already got the police on the phone! I can report you for harassment!" Buster threatened. Obviously, he lied about his phone being on for the police but the cats were too dumb to not believe it.

"Oh gosh! Run!" the lead cat scurried with his group.

Buster growled. "The nerve of people sometimes."

The koala turned to the mouse, as the mouse tried to get up by himself.

"Here, let me help you--"

"I don't need your help. Thanks, but no thanks. I've already dealt with enough big animals for today," the mouse snarled, getting up finally up on his two feet and picking up his broken saxophone and stuffed it in his briefcase.

Buster blinked for a second. "You played beautifully on the saxophone."

The mouse snorted at that comment. "Yeah, I know. But nobody will ever accept real talent unless you're a giraffe."

Buster watched the mouse limping into the lonely sidewalk, he couldn't just leave the mouse going home all beat up and injured. "Hey, if you want, I got first aid kits to help treat the scratch marks. Maybe it's safer if you stay the night at my place."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I got my own place," the mouse responded while showing the box that he's living in. Before he could even enter it, a fat hippo fell right out of the window of a bar and crushed the boxes with his weight, destroying the mouse's home instantly.

The mouse immediately frowned and a bit taken aback. With brown eyes rolled, he gazed up at Buster. "Ya got room for one more?"

Buster smiled a bit that the mouse took his offer. "Yeah. Come on."

Buster began to guide the mouse through the dark streets while the mouse was carrying the case with the broken saxophone inside.

Buster had no idea how to start the conversation with the total mouse stranger. "So...what's your name?"

The mouse glanced up at him with a shrug. "Eh, it's Mike." The mouse rolled his arm to let it pop. "What about you?"

"Buster Moon," Buster introduced.

Mike widened his eyes. "Hey, I've heard about ya! You're the owner of the Moon Theater!"

Buster smiled at the mouse recognizing him. "Yeah."

Mike, the mouse, blinked in confusion. "Wait a minute, what are you doing here with the common folk?"

Buster shrugged. "I was on my way home when I heard your saxophone. It's beautiful how you play the notes."

Mike chuckled. "Aw, shucks, you don't have to compliment me."

"No, I'm serious. I was thinking of having you on my show."

Mike had his eyes widened in shock. "Wow, I never knew performing in the streets is gonna get you anywhere. I didn't think hitting rock bottom is going to have some kind of an effect."

Buster smiled brightly as they continued to walk across the intersection. "And do you know what's great about hitting rock bottom? There's only one way left to go and that's up."

Mike nodded his head. "True. True. Or just stay there till you die."

Buster chuckled at Mike's answer. "You can do that too. But I wouldn't advise it...Here we are!"

Buster showed Mike an old apartment on the bad side of town, earning wide-eyed shock from the mouse.

"Geez Louis, I imagined you being rich," Mike muttered mostly to himself but Buster heard it.

"Nah, I'm broke. Come on in." Buster led the mouse up the stairs of the apartment while the apartment below them was having some sort of a party.

Mike smelled the smoke in the air that made him feel a little lightheaded. "Oof, what are they even smoking down there?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Buster said as he unlocked the door to his house. "Home Sweet Home."

Mike looked into the apartment. It looked somewhat decent, better than living out into the dangerous streets. The mouse set his saxophone case aside and looked around the shabby apartment to see bills scattered on the round wooden table.

"Wow...This is not what I expect from a famous showman," Mike mumbled.

"It's not much but it's home." Buster climbed up the countertops to get the first aid kit as the mouse explored further into the apartment. It's mostly empty except the living room and kitchen. Mike noticed pictures on the fireplace mantel as he climbed up to the wood and stared at the pictures of a once young koala with his father and his mother, standing right in front of the theater in the early dusk.

"You look really cute in those pictures, Moon," Mike pointed out while smiling.

Buster chuckled. "Thanks."

Mike chuckled while looking at the weird picture of what he could assume was a distant relative staring at Buster's mother like he was either intrigued or...yeah, just intrigued. "Who's this weirdo staring at your mother?"

"Uncle Roy," Buster answered while making tea in case his guest want some.

"Oh, what a weirdo," Mike responded while Buster approached the mouse with the first aid kit.

"Eh, he died before I was born," Buster responded while sitting down next to Mike.

"Geez Louis," Mike muttered under his breath.

Buster began to tend the mouse's wound, thinking up a conversation to have Mike's brain veer off from the wounds. "Tell me more about yourself, Mike."

"Eh, nothing interesting. Just the fact I'm dirt poor. What about you?"

Buster shrugged while cleaning off the fresh blood seeping out of the cuts. "Besides being a showman, nothing really interesting."

Mike blinked in disbelief. "Well, that I found hard to believe. Here, I expected you to be like a millionaire but you live in some shabby apartment. There's bound to be something interesting about you."

Buster chortled at the comment while wrapping the bandages around Mike's arm. "Eh, just an ordinary guy becoming a showman. Nothing interesting. Are you new to Catalonia?"

"Nah, I've been here for five years," Mike answered while clenching his teeth a bit to feel the sting on his wounds.

"Sorry." Buster noticed the mouse flinching a bit but he continued to conversate. "Five years, huh?"

"Yeah."

"And...besides being beaten by cats, how do you like Catalonia?"

Mike guffawed at the question. "Funny you should ask. I wanna become something big. So, I thought Catalonia is a good place to dream big but then it just came crashing down. I tried to look for jobs but they're all discriminatory since I'm--"

"A mouse?"

"Short in stature. But it's also that."

Buster twisted his mouth into an unsure frown. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Eh, life is life. It can kick you while you're down. Once you get back up, life decides to kick ya down further. Sometimes it'll tease you of the good things until it decided to take it away from you."

Buster chuckled. "That's one way to look at it. Are you a glass half full or glass half empty person?"

Mike shrugged his small shoulders. "Eh, I would try to fill up the glass all the way to the top. Leaving it half-empty was never enough."

Buster blinked a bit at the answer but let it roll by while tightening the bandage around Mike's arm. "There, all better."

Mike moved his bandaged arm a bit to stretch it. "Thanks, Mr. Moon."

"No problem."

~.~

Eddie snored in his pool house, sleeping on his couch bed while the sun was rising steadily over the surface. But the sheep didn't open his eyes as someone just mysteriously entered the poolhouse quietly.

"Eddie," a voice with a German accent called quietly.

Eddie snored out loud, ignoring the voice until the music began to blare throughout his pool house. This caused him to yelp while snapping his eyes open wide and falling off the couch.

"Good morning, fitness partner!" the familiar voice responded loudly.

Eddie groaned while looking up to see a flamboyant pig in gray sweats and a gold sparkling shirt with a bright smile. "For goodness sake, Gunter, don't do that!"

Eddie turned off the phone that played music randomly. "Dude, you don't just break into random people's houses and wake them up by playing Cascada! You are aware that my parents live right next door."

Gunter, the flamboyant pig, didn't let his smile wither away. "You vere supposed to be aht der gym ahn hour ago."

"Wait, what?!" Eddie glanced at the clock with another groan and laid back down on the couch bed. "Five more minutes."

"Vhat?! No, you--"

Eddie was already asleep by the time Gunter protested. Gunter rolled his eyes at the lazy sheep until he cornered another mischievous smirk, turning the music back on his phone. Eddie groaned as he put his pillow over his head to ignore Gunter's musical taste. Gunter twisted the corner of his mouth downwards as he turned the music off.

"Plan B," Gunter muttered to himself as he got out the air horn and blew it up against the sheep's ear under the pillow.

Eddie screeched and fell off his couch bed. Gunter quickly moved the pillows and blankets off the bed and restored the bed back to a normal couch while Eddie was on the floor with wide eyes in shock.

"Come on, Eddie, der life coach is not going to be happy vith you missing ahn entire hour aht der gym," Gunter implied with his arms crossed.

Eddie rubbed his head. "Dude, do you have to blow that thing in my ear?"

"Vell, it keeps you avake. Now, off ve go!" Gunter determined happily.

Eddie rolled his eyes as he stood up on his feet. "Okay, I'm driving."

"Driving? Bah! Are ya joking? Ve're going to verk out by jogging in der cool early morning!"

Eddie groaned deeply. "Fine. But light jogging."

"Okay!"

As soon as Eddie got on his workout clothes, he went with Gunter out of the poolhouse and started to jog.

~.~

The first day of summer had really kicked off for the shy elephant named Meena. Her timid green eyes shimmered in the light as she walked down the street with her headphones covering her big ears. Her bright blue sweater made her stand out in the crowd full of dark-colored shirts and pants, looking down at their phones while she gazed up at the sky.

Her brown short pigtails stood up on her head while she strolled through the city with a hum until she bumped into someone riding on the skateboard. She stumbled onto the concrete but was caught by someone holding onto her sleeve.

"Oh, bloody Mary, I'm so sorry!"

Meena glanced up to see the gorilla in a black leather jacket and a green t-shirt pulling her by the sleeves. His skateboard drifted off and bumped against the building behind him.

Her eyes went wide as her cheeks immediately became red. She hid behind her big ears while getting back up on her feet. "Oh no, it's fine. I should've been watching where I'm going."

The gorilla smiled politely while letting go of her sleeve. "Oh no, it's totally me. I was the one riding on my skateboard without care."

Meena chuckled a bit while hiding her face behind her big ears. "Well, it's totally fine and I'm okay."

The gorilla gave her another polite grin. "That's good. Well, I'd best be off. I'll see ya later."

Before Meena could catch the young gorilla's name, he picked up his skateboard and skated away from her. She blinked for a second while putting her headphones back on.

He's cute.

Meena immediately shook the thought out of her head and continued onward toward her day.

~.~

Mike slept on the coffee table through the whole night, snoring quietly while Buster was curled up on the sofa. The first thing they both heard in the morning was a loud abrupt knock.

Mike immediately sat up with eyes shot wide. "I'm awake!"

Buster gasped while snapping his eyes open. "Ugh, what the--?"

Another knock came up as the koala and the mouse glanced at the front door.

"If it's those darn cats again, I'm going to die," Mike uttered as he hid behind the books on the coffee table.

Buster prepared himself, his shirt off while putting on a blue robe around him. He walked towards the front door and opened it. To his surprise, it's his antelope intern, Mizuki, standing at the front door with a bouquet of yellow roses.

The koala's eyes gleamed when he saw Mizuki while smiling brightly. "Mizuki, hey. I wasn't expecting you here."

"Oh, you weren't at the theater," Mizuki explained.

"Oh no, I'm late--"

"It's okay. You're fine. Here, Ms. Crawly told me to get these for you," Mizuki replied while handing the roses to Buster. "Since you got her the yellow rose yesterday, she thought of giving these to you."

"Oh...uh, thank you, Mizuki," Buster accepted the bouquet of yellow roses with a small red hue on his cheeks. He shook it off before Mizuki noticed. "Why don't you come in? No need to stand out there in the cold."

When Buster turned to lead Mizuki into the apartment, he saw Mike giving the koala a smug subtle smirk up at both him and Mizuki.

"Oh, do you have the bathroom? I gotta go," Mizuki added urgently.

"Oh yeah, down the hall to your right," Buster pointed down the hall.

When Mizuki left to go to the bathroom, Buster earned a purr from the smug mouse.

"Rawr, who's that?" Mike probed with a taunt at the showman.

"Oh, she's my intern and she's pretty great at her job," Buster responded with a wistful sigh until he tried to snap his thoughts back to normal. The koala glanced up to see the mouse nodding his head with a stupid smug smirk still.

"I bet she's doing fantastic at her job," Mike replied with a wink.

Buster gave him a deadpan stare. "She's in a relationship, Mike."

"What makes you think I'm talking about your relationship with her?" Mike responded with a smug grin.

Buster's face immediately went red from Mike's tease. Mike chuckled while searching for his clothes and putting them on. Rolling his eyes skyward, he immediately got dressed behind the sofa as Mizuki emerged out of the bathroom.

"Okay, I feel better and---who are you?" Mizuki asked while noticing Mike on the coffee table.

Mike played a coy smile up at the antelope. "Name's Mike. What's yours?"

"Mizuki," Mizuki introduced herself happily. "How did you crash into Mr. Moon's place?"

"One word, racism. Tall creatures hated my guts since I'm--"

"A mouse?"

"Shorter than average animals. But that too. Anyway, Mr. Moon saved my butt and helped bandage my wounds. I mean, if you're ever injured, Mr. Moon is good at bandaging your wounds," Mike implied a hint of smugness that both Buster and Mizuki noticed.

"Um...I have a boyfriend," Mizuki uttered nervously.

"What makes you think I'm implying that you're in love with Mr. Moon?" Mike responded, acting offended. "I'm offended that you would think I would suggest something as dirty as cheating on your boyfriend."

Mike, at the moment, was clearly teasing Mizuki and Buster. Although their faces grew bright red as Mizuki saw Buster emerge from behind the couch, all suited up for work.

"Well, are we ready to work, Mizuki?" Buster skipped the subject.

Mizuki nodded her head. "Yep."

"Perfect. Hey, Mike, you can come with us to the theater if you want. If you don't want to--"

"I ain't passing up. I'm coming with ya...just as long as you guys can protect me from the cats," Mike determined while running up between Buster and Mizuki. The three of them exited the apartment.

~.~

Meena, the shy elephant, approached the small restaurant, putting her headphones down. The rock music blasted through the air. She smiled at the thought of her friend, who did rock gigs with her boyfriend. Although, the elephant didn't really like her friend's boyfriend that much.

Throughout high school, Meena didn't like him since he was the one who made fun of disabled kids and kids suffering from terminal illnesses. Although her friend never saw those moments.

Meena knew that today her friend will be performing with her boyfriend, which made Meena's stomach turn into knots.

The elephant groaned deeply as she took a seat at the center table. The small stage was set and she recognized her short porcupine friend up on stage with her boyfriend, who's also a porcupine. The rock song began as the male porcupine began to lead.

https://youtu.be/Z3SvwJOnuAE

"One, two, three!

One, two, three, four!"

The porcupines were strumming their rock guitars, immediately breaking the windows of the small restaurant. Meena mostly paid attention to her friend next to the male porcupine, who was singing her heart out from the back-up vocals.

The male porcupine began to sing.

"I don't wanna talk to ya!"

The female porcupine followed after her boyfriend with the back-up vocal.

"What did you say?"

The male porcupine took over the microphone, leading the song.

"I don't wanna walk with ya!"

"Out of my way!"

"I'm not gonna fight with ya!"

"Don't wanna play!"

Meena watched as the two porcupines began to sing the chorus. The female porcupine tried to fight for the microphone with excitement but her boyfriend nudged her away to sing the chorus.

"I don't need anyone else!!"

"I live my life for myself!!"

"I can't stand a thing that you say!!

I'm not listening anyway!!"

"YEAAAHHH!!! Yeah, Yeah!!"

Meena smiled brightly when the female porcupine sang that part so hard that her voice cracked, somehow leaving her big ears satisfied until a cord was unplugged. That's when the porcupines stopped their performance and glanced at the polar bear in a red Hawaiian shirt.

"Oh my gosh! That is horrible!" the polar bear snarled in irritation.

Meena rolled her eyes at the polar bear's judgment as the porcupines were immediately discouraged and put their guitars away in their cases.

Meena got up from her seat and clapped her hands, making the only sound in the small restaurant.

The porcupine girl smiled at the sight of Meena. "Meena, you came!"

She hugged the elephant, who hugged her back tightly while watching for the quills.

"Of course, I came. I wouldn't miss any of your gigs!" Meena replied excitedly.

The male porcupine rolled his eyes at the girls as they were walking out of the restaurant. "Ash, babe, for future reference, I'm the lead singer. Just stick with the backup vocals, kay?"

Meena couldn't help but roll her eyes at this boy her friend fall for. However, Ash, Meena's friend, immediately picked up her guitar to follow her boyfriend with an embarrassed blush.

"Sorry, Lance, I got carried away," Ash replied nervously.

Meena smiled softly at her friend. "Honestly, I think it's perfect."

"Thank you," Ash received the compliment with a small smile.

Meena seemed shy to say this but she thought about saying it anyway for her friend's sake. "It wouldn't hurt to have Ash lead every once in a while."

Lance shot a withering glare at the elephant, who immediately hid behind her huge ears and regretted saying that. "What do you mean by that?"

"Lance, don't start," Ash groaned while rolling her eyes.

"What? I want to know why your little friend decided to say something," Lance responded in a little snarl at the elephant.

"Because she has a voice just like everyone else," Ash argued a bit. "Besides, I didn't even hear what she says that got you so riled up."

"Oh, just the fact that she hates my guts and wished I'm dead," Lance answered with a casual shrug, an obvious lie to get Meena in a bad place.

Ash chuckled at that. "Okay, I know Meena a lot longer than you and I know that she would never say a thing like that. Right?"

Meena nodded her head nervously. "Yes...and that's not what I said. I just thought it wouldn't hurt to have Ash do the lead vocals every once in a while. Just to share the spotlight."

Ash shrugged her shoulders in a wave. "Eh, I'm good doing with the backup vocals."

Meena rubbed her arm. "Well, I would like to hear you sing something by yourself. You have a pretty voice."

"Ugh, get a room you two," Lance groaned while rolling his eyes skywards and moving forward ahead of the girls.

Ash shook her head in discouragement. "Sorry about Lance, Meena. He can be impolite sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Meena questioned Ash's words.

"Yeah, maybe we need a better singer than--wait! I got an idea!" Ash turned to her tall elephant friend. "Why don't you join our band?"

"What?!" Both Meena and Lance shouted at the same time.

"Well, think about it, Meena has talent that she can expand on something other than choir back in high school," Ash explained with a bright smile.

Lance rolled his eyes. "Ash, babe. This is our thing. We're not putting your friend you've known since childhood in a rock band that would interfere with our style."

"But Lance--"

"It's fine, Ash," Meena responded while hiding behind her ears. "Thank you for the offer. I-uh-I gotta pick up something for Mom. I'll see you later, Ash."

"Okay, Meena," Ash said as Meena walked away from the porcupine couple. That's when Ash sternly gazed at her boyfriend. "What is your problem?"

"What problem?"

"Come on, you obviously have a problem with Meena. First, you lied to my face about what she told you, and now you wouldn't let her join the band. Didn't you hear what that polar bear said about our singing?"

"Ash, babe, if you want to go run away and do a band with the gentle giant, I don't care. But you're pretty much screwed without my music. That's all I can say," Lance responded while continuing to walk through the streets.

Ash groaned deeply and followed her boyfriend.

~.~

Johnny skated all the way to the pawnshop, with a valuable watch in his leather jacket pocket. He picked up his skateboard and entered the pawnshop, ringing the bell to alert the pig artisan at the front desk.

"Hey, Johnny, good to see you again," the pig greeted the gorilla.

"Hello, Norman," Johnny greeted back.

The pig, Norman, noticed Johnny taking a silver watch out of his pocket. "Is this something to sell?"

"Nah, it's valuable to...a friend of mine. He told me it belonged to his father but it's broken and I was wondering if you can fix it."

Norman chuckled a bit. "Of course, I can fix it. But what part of the watch do you want me to fix?"

"Well, it hasn't been tracking time."

"So, it has something to do with the mechanics?"

"Yeah."

Norman nodded his head in understanding. "Well, since it's not that fancy of a watch, let's go with two hundred dollars."

Johnny nodded his head and took out his wallet. He used two hundred dollar cash and gave it to Norman, who marked the hundred dollars to ensure himself they were real and put it in the cash register.

"Thank you so much, Norman," Johnny thanked the pig artisan.

Norman nodded. "Anytime."

Unbeknownst to both the gorilla and the pig, Buster, Mizuki, and Mike walked past the pawnshop without being aware of Johnny being in there.

"So, let me get this straight. Your theater is in dire danger and you can't pay back the loans to the bank. And you thought of what save your theater would be...the talent show?" Mike questioned Buster and Mizuki as they strolled down the sidewalk toward the theater.

"Yeah," Buster answered as they approached the theater.

Mike smiled widely. "You know, I wanna participate in that."

"Cool, we're just gonna have to figure out a date," Mizuki determined as the three of them entered the theater.

Mike's eyes go wide as he saw the vastness of the theater with all the empty seats in rows and balconies. His jaw dropped in awe of the lights, the stage, and the smell. He could picture himself performing on stage on the tallest cardboard building, playing the saxophone, and everyone...everyone would be looking up at him in pure awe and fascination. Maybe they'll see him as more than just a random mouse playing saxophone in the streets. His name will be in the lights, and everyone will cheer when they hear his name.

Of course, it's a fantasy that the mouse wanted to live in. He would not get bullied, harassed, and beaten up for being small in the street. He would be the one to show everyone that he's...he's talented in many ways despite being small.

He was led by both Buster and Mizuki up the stairs backstage and into the lobby where Buster's office was right next to Ms. Crawly's desk.

"Top of the morning, Ms. Crawly!" Buster greeted his old secretary.

"Good morning, Mr. Moon. Mizuki," Ms. Crawly acknowledged. "And good morning to you, stranger."

"Oh, Ms. Crawly, this is Mike," Buster introduced the mouse to the iguana.

"Hey," Mike responded while sticking closer to Buster with a judgmental gaze at the iguana.

The three animals entered Buster's office, causing Mike's eyes to go even wider in seeing the huge office.

"It's a nice place, Moon," Mike managed to compliment.

Buster smiled. "Thanks. Now...back to the talent show." Buster directed his conversation to Mizuki. "I'm thinking that we could hold the auditions for the talent show in the next few days. Maybe have our chosen contenders in the final performance for everyone to see."

"Well, we can definitely do that. How about five dollars per audition?" Mizuki suggested to the koala.

"Five dollars? Geez, louis, I thought auditions were free," Mike criticized a bit with a shrug.

"Well, Mike has got a point," Buster pondered about it. "Hmm, how about we vote on who are the best singers to go on into the big leagues?!"

Mizuki smiled brightly. "Well, that's an idea, Mr. Moon!"

"Who are the judges?" Mike asked with an arched brow.

Mizuki began to list out the names. "Well, it's gonna be me, Mr. Moon, and...who else do you think will qualify to be the judge?"

Buster pondered about that. "I think Eddie is going to be best suited as a judge. He's been to Chicago."

Mizuki nodded her head in agreement. "That sounds good!"

"Great!" Buster began to tap on the call button on his phone. "Ms. Crawly?"

"Yes, who it is?" Ms. Crawly answered innocently.

"It's me...Mr. Moon...your boss--"

"Oh, hello, Mr. Moon!" Ms. Crawly greeted while turning her face towards the window.

"There we go!" Buster replied excitedly. "I'm going to need a huge favor from you. I need you to make the flyers containing the talent show. Here, write what I say: The talent show will be performed at the Moon Theater. Auditioners, we have a sheet where you can put your names on it. Make sure you figure out a song you want to sing or an act you will be performing."

Ms. Crawly was typing slowly on the computer as Mizuki came into her office to check the iguana's progress.

"Ooh, Ms. Crawly, you got a few typos," Mizuki pointed out politely as she helped the old iguana fix her grammar mistakes while Buster saw the ladies typing out the flyers.

"How are the flyers going, ladies?" Buster asked.

"Pretty good, we're almost done!!" Mizuki explained.

"Great! I'll give someone a call!" Buster determined while dialing someone's number.

Meanwhile, Eddie heard his phone ringing when he's working out in the gym with Gunter. He immediately picked up his phone to see that it was Buster calling him. Eddie smiled brightly but realized he can't exactly take calls unless it's an emergency...that's easy to solve.

"Hello?" Eddie answered the phone, in a tone that sounded desperate and out of breath.

"Hey, Eddie, would you mind coming to the theater? I'm gonna need you for something," Buster talked from the other end of the line.

"Oh no, is Nana okay?"

"Why are you talking about Nana---? Wait...you're trying to get out of a gym."

"What's her condition, Ma?"

"Yep, you're trying to get out of a gym. Well, it's an emergency and you need to get here right now."

"Okay, I'm on my way," Eddie responded desperately and hung up the phone.

"Vhat happened?" Gunter asked behind Eddie.

"Oh, my Nana, she isn't feeling well. I got to get down to the hospital immediately. Bye!"

Eddie sprinted out of the gym and sped through the city.

~.~

Eddie arrived at the theater, covered in sweat as he quickly ran up the stairs backstage and leaned up against the doorway to Buster's office. Buster looked up at his sweaty friend with a chuckle.

"Did you just sprint all the way over here?" Buster questioned Eddie as he sat down on the chair.

Mike glanced up at Eddie with a brow arched.

"Yeah...had to...get out...somehow," Eddie breathed between words while resting on the chair from running.

Mike opened his case while trying to fix his broken saxophone out of boredom.

Buster giggled a bit. "Well, I'm glad I can be the ticket to get you out. Okay, I got something for you to do."

"Alright! Anything!" Eddie determined, wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Hey, could someone help me with this saxophone?" Mike asked while showing his broken saxophone to both Buster and Eddie.

"Here, I know what to do." Eddie gently took the saxophone and scrutinized it. With a few tight turns and adjusting the knobs, he handed it back to Mike. "Here."

Mike blew in his saxophone but there's still a problem with it...although he could fix it easily. Mike blew hard into his saxophone as a piece of a nut came out of the tube of his small saxophone.

Mike caught it with a smile at both of the men. "Thanks, fellas. Is it okay if I can sign-up first for the talent show?"

"Sure, Mike," Buster replied.

"Alrighty." Mike marched into the lobby to sign up for the talent show.

Buster blinked for a second as he glanced at Eddie. "Okay, back to the subject, I need your help. Do you mind being the judge for the auditions to the talent show?"

Eddie had his eyes widened in shock. "Uh...no."

"Awesome! Here's the plan! We're going to have the sign-up sheets for the auditioners to show off their talent and the talent they will be doing! And we can judge who may be best fitted to be in the final show with a live audience!" Buster explained to Eddie.

The men heard a beep.

"Oh, Mr. Moon, we got the flyers printed and ready to go!" Ms. Crawly informed the speaker.

Buster smiled at the news. "What do you say, Eddie? Are you in?"

Eddie nodded his head. "Yeah. Just tell me where to put the flyers."

With that, Buster smiled at his friend.

To Be Continued...