Alcor stretched his arms and yawned as he got out of bed, almost hitting his hands on the bunk above him. It had been almost a year since he moved into the agency’s dorms and he still wasn’t used to them, especially in the mornings. Luckily no one slept in the bed above him; Alcor, Gino, and Cana all slept separately in each of the three available bunk beds.

The Ursufuzz turned and smiled at the four little succulents sitting on the windowsill beside him, still doing well and soaking in the morning sun. Out of all of Alcor’s little hobbies, taking care of these plants was the easiest.

Gino was already wide awake. How he managed to wake up every morning without bothering the other two was a mystery, considering the mess in the kitchen from making his own breakfast and already playing video games when it was barely 7AM. Though the only reason was Cana would nag him if he played them when they could be practicing in the afternoon, or when they could be sleeping early and getting their rest. The Fluffpaxa had no room to complain when he didn’t even wake up until 8, so Gino was free to do whatever he wanted until Cana was ready for the day.

Alcor put Gino’s dirty dishes in the sink before making his own bowl of cereal and sitting next to the Rootax to watch him play, hoping that would at least give Cana one less thing to complain about first thing in the morning.

“Good Morning Gino.”

“Morning Al.” Gino responded, not taking his eyes off the TV.

Cana lumbered into the kitchen and shortly after, and sat himself right on the couch. His eye mask was still sitting on his head, but the rollers were already out of his hair (and it was looking great, as always). He didn’t really care for whatever it was Gino was playing, but he idly watched the TV anyway, his breakfast tea needed time to steep. Cana’s ear twitched when a kitchen timer went off and he got up to grab his caffeine. He barely took a sip when his phone went off on the counter.

“Hey guys?” He called out to the other two. Gino paused his game and Alcor turned around on the couch. “Our manager says we’re having an urgent meeting in a bit.”

Gino and Alcor exchanged glances. “Did...did he say what it’s about?”

“Nope.”

Alcor’s heart thumped with anxiety. “I hope it’s not bad news, our first big concert is only a two weeks away. Y...you don’t think it’s about..?”

“Well,” Cana sighed and put down his tea. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Regulus leaned back languidly in his chair, feet up on the glass table of the meeting room that overlooked the city. He didn’t have a reason to be early. Living in the penthouse just a few floors above simply made it hard to have an excuse to be late to company meetings.

“Sir,” a secretary addressed the Kyagrowl. “Your father and the others are here.”

Regulus didn’t bother to move, simply nodding his head. Everyone who entered the room sat themselves at the table, the only one sitting in either of the seats next to Regulus was the Albino Xeldron, President Arrakis.

Across them were three others, a Luputrix, a Bovitaur, and behind them was the agent who had scouted them. Or rather, the agent Regulus had asked to scout them personally. The Luptrix, Sirius, was looking all over the room. It was fairly empty, but perhaps he was taking in the pristinity of it all. The Bovitaur Corona just looked annoyed. She just wanted to know why she was here. Regulus briefly exchanged glances with President Arrakis before the dragon cleared his throat to speak.

“As my secretary should have filled you in, as of tonight, my son Regulus will be the lead in his new band. And the two of you,” he pointed to Corona and Sirius, “are its new members.”

Sirius chuckled. “Apple fell pretty far from the tree, eh? I’m flattered, really, but I ain’t exactly agency-worthy talent.”

“My son thinks you’re the best in the city, he has quite an ear for music. His specialty is in singing, just he wants you two to back him up on the instrumentals.”

Corona scoffed, her husky voice, while not totally a surprise, made Sirius flinch in his seat. “And why should we play along with your little rich-kid’s game?”

Regulus grabbed a black metal briefcase that sat by the foot of his chair. He handed the case off to the secretary who in turn, placed it in front of the skeptic recruits with an unexpected heft to it, clunking onto the glass table. The secretary clicked the locks and opened the case, revealing dozens of rolls of golden coins inside. Corona’s eyes lit up, Sirius couldn't even begin to count how much money was in the case.

“Because that,” Regulus smirked ever so slightly, “is what you’ll earn just for saying ‘yes’.”

“Ya mean we get to split this case just for joining?” Sirius raised an eyebrow.

“No.” Regulus held up a second black suitcase, jostling it lightly to prove it sounded just as heavy as the first one. “You each get your own case.”
Sirius whistled, impressed.

Corona’s eyes narrowed. “So what’s the catch, kid? We gotta assassinate someone? We gotta dress up in some synth-pop vapor wave laser BS?”

Regulus sat upright in his chair and leaned forward. “Have you heard of the group ‘Asteria’? The boyband from Comet Productions.”

Sirius thought about i. “Hm, I’ve seen ads with ‘em in it. Nice kids, kinda noobish, makes me wanna cheer ‘em on though.”

“I want to crush them out of the music industry.” Regulus’ claws grazed the glass, barely keeping in mind not to leave any marks on it, unlike last time.

“Oh.”

“So you want us to beat them up?”

“No, not literally crush them,” he sighed, leaning back into his chair and taking a second to calm down. “I want to beat them at their own game. I want them to know they can’t get away with mistakes just because they flash a cute smile and bat their eyes and make empty promises. I want us to outshine them at every opportunity we can and show them they can never have what it takes to be on top.”

“Hmm, an’ ya need us ta do that.”

“Yes.”

There was only a second of silence before Corona heartily laughed. “Kid’s got a beef with some other brats, not my problem. If we help, we keep getting paid?”

“Of course. The better we do, the more bonuses. If we take their spot in concerts, interviews, ad shoots, whatever, I’ll double your salary for that day, too.”

“And Papa’s got no problem with this?” She looked to the dragon, who simply smiled and shrugged.

“Regulus has a talent for working in the music industry, even if it’s just his gut feeling. Whatever he spends, he could earn back twice as much back.”

“Confident, huh? Fine. I’m in, Kid.” Corona smiled almost wickedly. Cause a little trouble for a hefty sum? How could she refuse. Sirius seemed to agree.

“Same here! Where do we begin, boss?”

Regulus smiled with relief and success. President Arrakis smiled too, standing up to leave the room and dialing numbers on his phone. “No work for now, we’ll call you when we’re ready to begin. But as of tonight, after I make some calls, you’re officially our company’s newest group. Congratulations.”

The president and secretary left, along with the agent, just leaving the three to themselves.

“By the way,” Sirius spoke up, “what’s the name of our band?”

“It’d better not be something stupid.”

“How’s this? ‘The highest point in the night sky straight above anyone looking at it, the pinnacle, insurmountable: Zenith.’ ”