Chapter 22

"Alright, welcome to all you newcomers! You're just in time to meet a teenager who was recently dumped by her boyfriend." Buster announces. The crowd awws, and a few boo the male porcupine.

"She was cheated by her ex!!!!!" A voice yells from the wing. Ash looks over to see her close friend looking at Buster with a stern expression, which looks really funny as she is still on crutches.

"Correction, cheated by her ex-boyfriend, thank you. But, she's gonna chase those blues away with a song of her very own." The cast looks at the porcupine who is wearing the pop princess purple dress with her red leather jacket, Becky's old heart shaped sunglasses, and, of course, her guitar. "Allow me to introduce the singing sensation: Ash!" Said animal makes her way to the center of the stage, and Eddie cues up the sound system. Ash plays her first chord, which comes out louder than everyone expected. It only lasts a few seconds though before the squeal of feedback forces the most sensitive of ears to try and block it out. Everyone looks to the right wing, to see that the bank worker llama had pulled the plug. "Judith!?"

"You are all trespassing on private property and you will leave right now." She orders.

"What? No-no-no, Judith—" Buster tries to explain.

"---All of you!" She stares down at the koala. The whole area is quiet with an awkward silence until Ash starts stomping her right foot on stage. *Boom! Boom! Boom!* Soon everyone in the crowd joins in, Buster is watching in awe. Now that she has a beat she begins to sing.


"I've followed my heart into the fire
Got burned, got broken down by desire
I've tried, I've tried but the smoke in my eyes
Left me blurry, blurry and blind."


Ash throws off the sunglasses and starts to attempt to play the electric guitar regardless if it's plugged in or not.


I've picked all the pieces up off the ground
I've burned all my fingers, but that's gone now
Got the glue in my hands and stickin' to the plan
Stickin' to the plan that says, I can do anything at all
I can do anything at all."


Judith marches away, threatening to call the police, as she does. Eddie and Buster shrug at the threat and the latter grabs the cord for Ash's guitar. Ash glances off stage as she feels the tug on the cord. Buster bows before plugging her back into the sound system. The guitar screams to life and Ash lets loose to rock out.


"This is my kiss goodbye
You can stand alone and watch me fly
'Cause nothing's keeping me down
Gonna let it all up
Come one and say right now, right now, right now."


In Lance's apartment, the TV showing Ash goes static before turning off. Becky and Lance are sitting on the couch, Becky's arm raised with the remote in her hand. Lance is still staring at the screen stunned. "Urgh! Seriously? She's not even that good." Becky complains as she tosses the remote aside and leaves the room, disgusted.

"Yeah, yeah. Totally." Lance agrees half-heartedly. He waits till the door shuts before turning the TV back on.


This is my kiss goodbye
You can stand alone and watch me fly
'Cause nothing's keeping me down
Gonna let it all up
Come on and say right now, right now, right now.
This is my big hello
'Cause I'm here and never letting go
I can finally see, it's not just a dream
When you set it all free, all free, all free."


Ash gets carried away with an absolutely killer guitar solo. As she plays, she releases her quills. The audience and even Eddie take cover. Backstage, a still sulking Johnny and comforter Karla are just lucky enough that the quills barely miss the gorilla. Judith, still trying to exit the property, turns around only to get hit by a quill right on the nose. Ash slides back to the microphone to finish her song.


"This is my big hello
Cause I'm here and never letting go
I can finally see, it's not just a dream
When you set it all free, all free, all free."


She finishes with an impressive knee slide. The silence is deafening. Ash opens her eyes to find the audience had hidden behind their seats. She slowly gets to her feet. "Uh......you guys ok?" She asks into the mic.

The J-pop panda group runs up to the stage, giggling and chanting Ash's name. The porcupine's surprise turns to delight when he realizes just how much better she is without Lance. Buster walks on stage in a state of bewilderment, completely unaware of the quills sticking out of his head. "What about that? Hahaha! We just witnessed the birth of a genuine rock star!"

"Moon. You got something stuck here." Ash says, pulling one of her quills out from his cheek.

"Ow!"

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