Operation: Moonfall | Jimmy Crystal Revenge & Redemption

The Theater

"I'm back, old girl. You miss me?"

Outside of the New Moon Theater, Buster peered up at the classical but classy marquee and felt a pang of sadness under every beat of his heart. It simply read "Closed." Not closed for rehearsals, not closed for renovations. Just closed. It felt abrupt and finite, like the theater's days were truly numbered. His theater never factored into his "plan" for Redshore, and it showed.

Buster used his keys to unlock the door and was the first soul to enter the New Moon Theater in months. As he stood in the lobby, he was greeted by white marble floors with columns to match, velvet carpeting, the Alice in Wonderland standee, and mostly silence beyond the traffic on Echo Drive drifting through the door.

Approaching the standee, Buster touched it affectionately, smiling at Meena, Rosita, Gunter and Johnny frozen in their costumes, putting on a show the way only they knew how. When he drew his hand back, he found a thin layer of dust on the tips of his fingers and frowned.

"That's no good," the koala said, but seeing part of his troupe gave him an idea. He whipped out his phone and made a video call to Rosita. After a moment, her face appeared on the other end.

"Mr. Moon?"

"Rosita! Is everyone else there?"

"Just about. Do want me to get them?"

"That would be swell."

Rosita called out to the rest of the house, and soon their faces were all bunched together, barely fitting within the frame of view.

"Hey, everybody!" Buster said. "Look where I am!" He turned his phone's camera and swiveled around the center of the lobby, showing off the theater. There was a warm chorus of reactions.

"Home sweet home!" Gunter sang.

Porsha suddenly closed in on the phone and nearly yanked it out of Rosita's grip. "Oh my gosh, is that your theater? You have to give a tour right now!"

"You know what, Porsha? I have an even better idea. How about I give you an in-person tour sometime soon?"

"Really? Yay!" Porsha bounced and clapped.

"How are you doing, Mr. Moon?" Johnny asked. "You know... ever since Crystal got released."

"Don't worry about me, Johnny."

"I could always call my dad and get him—"

"I'm fine," Buster stressed. "How about you? Rosita filled me in on what happened at Crystal's theater... it sounds like she gave you a piece of her mind, so we don't necessarily need to have a talk, but that was a bit out of character for you, wasn't it?"

"Yeah..." the gorilla murmured, rubbing the back of his head. "That was a mistake. I'll be more responsible next time."

"Good, good!" Buster said. Johnny learning from his mistakes was a sign of maturity. It was strange and deceptive for him to sneak off to do something like that, even at Nooshy's behest, and Buster hoped it wasn't his own penchant for lying and deceiving people that gave Johnny the belief that it was okay. Sometimes he forgot he was a mentor figure for his troupe, and that his more unsavory traits could rub off on them. Johnny's father used to be an actual criminal, and it bothered Buster to think that between the two of them, the little showman might be having a worse influence.

"Moon, when are you coming back?" Ash asked, snapping Buster out of his thoughts.

"Soon. Very soon! The theater is my last stop. I'll be back in Redshore by tomorrow, and I'll have figured out how to finally put an end to this Crystal situation."