Operation: Moonfall | Jimmy Crystal Revenge & Redemption

The Response II

Buster retreated to the suite's extravagant bathroom. He downed a water bottle while Miss Crawly tried her best to combat his sweat with a towel.

"Did you see the way everyone looked at me?" the koala whined.

"Outbursts make good TV," Miss Crawly said, dabbing away at his fur. "They should thank you for the ratings they'll get."

"I'm trying to save my reputation, not their ratings!" After emptying the water bottle, Buster said, "Miss Crawly, I don't think this interview was a good idea. Is it me, or is Kilborn... I don't know... taking Crystal's side? I'm not imagining things, am I?"

"I can finish the interview for you if you're not up to it, Mr. Moon."

Buster laughed, but when he turned to Miss Crawly, she was gone, towel abandoned on the porcelain floor.

"Uh oh." She could be fast when she wanted to be. Buster raced back to the living room area where the interview was being staged and found her taking his seat. "Miss Crawly, no!"

"Mr. Kilborn, I'm ready for my closeup," she said to Kilborn's empty chair.

The cheetah working the lamps readjusted the lighting in a way that caught the iguana's glass eye and reflected it back at his face in a concentrated beam of searing light.

"It's burning!" he screamed, hitting the floor. Buster hid his face in his palms as the other staffers came to the cheetah's aid.

They already think I'm a jerk, he thought. Now I'm going to be banned from the show for life.

Kilborn came out of one of the bedrooms with his phone pressed to his ear, shook his head disapprovingly at the chaos, and ducked back inside.

Then it hit Buster, such a monumental shift in realization and perspective that it landed like a slap to the face: Crystal bought Kilborn. That was his people Kilborn was talking to on the phone, confirming the further ruination of Buster Moon. That's why Jerry was on deck for a rebuttal. This was an elaborate trap and Buster didn't just walk, he ran into it... like an impulsive little idiot.

No... no, that's ridiculous. Walter Kilborn is a respected interviewer and journalist. Why would he throw his hat in with Crystal? Kilborn did appear genuinely concerned for him at times. But Buster couldn't explain why the capybara seemed so much more sympathetic toward Crystal. Maybe something more sinister was going on here...

Or maybe it was just paranoia.

"This interview can't be over soon enough..."

---

"I apologize," Buster said, once the interview continued. "I'm not normally that... volatile. I have unresolved feelings with what happened between me and Crystal. It wasn't fair to take it out on you."

"It was never my intention to upset you," Kilborn said. "Are you sure you're okay to continue the interview?"

Buster nodded. "I am," he responded, feeling a bit drained.

"Moving ahead from the first time Jimmy Crystal allegedly tried to kill you... another one of his claims is the performance of Out of This World was completely unsanctioned. After a near death encounter like the one you described, most people would flee the city or at least contact the police. Can you shed light on why you decided to seize Crystal's theater instead?"

"I wanted to run, but I fought back that overwhelming urge for one simple reason: we all worked our butts off on that show. I wasn't going to let Crystal snatch away our dreams like that."