Loud cheers were heard from the audience as they heard about the Super Band being in the Finals. The Daniels’ eyes turned to its left corner. They could see the Super Band’s smiles on their faces. The second girl and boy were jumping up high for joy. The first boy’s lips stretched out a smirk. The first girl had a smile on her face as she brought the band in a group hug.

As for the Dazzles, their faces were now in the Daniels’ direction. The Super Band exited the stage as the three girls walked their way towards the family band. With evil smirks on their faces.

“Heh, looks like we won after all,” Jewel said.

Silence. Nothing but failure was plastered on the Daniels faces. Rhea was seen with his head slightly down and her eyes closed. Nothing else but the audience’s cheering flowed in her ears until a hand landed on her right shoulder.

“Come on, Rhea. It’s over. Let’s go,” she heard her dad telling her.

With that, her eyes were opened. They were now sparks of tears begging to come out. The Daniels exited the stage. On the right side.

Once they exited the auditorium-like area, their only direction… was going home.

At home, the Daniels were doing their own businesses. In the master bedroom, Diona was seen, sitting on the bed with her hands on her phone. What she’s doing with it is to search for the list of many successful bands. The reason why she’s doing this… is because she wanted to know what’s wrong.

It’s the same with Ray Daniels. He was found walking in small circles on the area located in Diona’s northeast corner in the nearby distance. His left hand was on his hips. His other hand moved to the nose’s bridge and pinched it. As he did so, his eyebrows furrowed. He was digging into a deep, careful thought.

After about 10 minutes of silence, it was Diona who spoke up. “Baby, I know how hard this is after you hear the results about the finals, but I think you should rest. I’ll figure out the reason why we’re not advanced to the Finals.”

“I can’t, Diona. It keeps coming in my head.”

Silence. Again. Diona’s mind went back into thinking of a way to help encourage her family to never give and that they can still write songs and record it. For fun. Starting with Ray, then, Rhea, then Ralpha.

After about a few minutes, the one thing that crossed Ray’s mind left him no other choice. His right hand let go of his nose’s bridge. His head slightly turned to Diona as he spoke, “I’ll go send Matthew an email.”

Last June 29, Rhea had showed Ray what the poster looked like. This poster consisted of a drum set with the words “THE BATTLE OF THE BANDS” written on the base drum. The background is mostly white. It also said something about the cash prize and the hosts’ email for more info. And since Matthew wrote an email, Ray might as well ask him a question.

With that, Ray sat on his black, rotating office chair, which was located in Diona’s northeast corner in the nearby distance. But this distance was a bit farther than the area where he walked around in small circles. In front of his office chair was the white, rough table with its legs being gray. You can see that on the left laid a carved logo. This logo was the brand of the table. It’s called “Lifetime.”

On Ray’s office table was, of course, his laptop. The mouse was sat beside the laptop on the right. Under it was the small smooth, flat rug that can fit the size of the mouse and how it moved. On each side of the laptop, almost behind it was a speaker. Each of the two speakers are black with the middle being silver. You can see a small stripe of red near the middle.

Ray turned on his laptop and clicked his way to Google Chrome. There, he clicked a shortcut icon below the search bar. This shortcut icon involved a Gmail logo. Once he was accessed to Gmail, he clicked “Compose” on the top left corner. Once the blank email template appeared, it’s time for him to write an email to Matthew.

After typing Matthew’s email, these were the next things he wrote. Starting with the subject…

A Question to Ask You

…then the whole body of the email.

To Matthew Hensford,

There has been a stress clouding in my mind ever since the Super Band is announced to move to the Finals. This image has kept coming in my head. I tried to get it out of my mind, but it’s not working. Then, it crosses my mind to ask you a question. What did we do wrong? Why aren’t we in the Finals?

Thank you for your time to read this and God bless you!

From,
Ray Daniels

After he typed all those words, he clicked the “Send” button and he leaned back on his office chair with his arms crossed, waiting for a reply.

While Ray was doing all this, Diona found herself texting Amanda in the Messaging app. Diona had met Amanda through Ray during his FaceTime with Daniel LaRusso. That conversation happened during the party where the whole Daniels family was celebrating Ray’s graduation after-party. This was also where some of the Daniels — especially Teresa — found out about Diona being Ray’s girlfriend.

Right now, Diona was texting Amanda about the advice she needed to encourage her family to never give up. Even if the contest is over. This was how the text went.

D: Hey, Amanda.

A: Hey, Diona. Is everything okay?

D: No. it’s not. You know about the band we formed a week ago? The D-Tribe? We entered ourselves in the Battle of the Bands Competition. Soon, we made it to the semifinals. But… during the results… we were so close. We didn’t make it to the Finals. I’ve been wondering what we did wrong. At the same time, I need some advice. I need to figure out a way to encourage others to persevere and continue playing as a band. Even if the contest is over.

A: Well… can I ask you one thing?

D: Of course. What is it?

A: Do you have a bassist in your band?

D: No, we don’t. Why?

A: Maybe that’s the reason why you lost. You don’t have the bassist.

D: Yeah, we don’t. So, how do we find the bassist?
A: I’m not sure. Think of someone, whom you know is capable of playing a bass guitar, even if he’s not part of the Daniels family. Why do I say this? Because deep down, even though his/her surname is not Daniels, he/she is still part of the D-Tribe.

D: Thanks, Amanda. I really need that.

A: You’re welcome. If you need anything else, feel free to message me.

D: 👍

With that, Diona turned off her phone and placed it on top of the small cabinet with drawers. The same small cabinet beside the bed. Diona had never thought of this all along. The information about the Battle of the Bands should’ve been revealed a week earlier than June 22.

A few moments passed by. Just as Diona was about to open her mouth to speak up to Ray, a chimed sound beeped in Ray’s laptop. This alerted the grownups. Ray immediately leaned forward back to his proper sitting position. His right hand was on the mouse. Once his eyes were set on the laptop, he found that the email was received… from Matthew Hensford. As Ray clicked the email from Matthew, his eyes widened in shock.

"Ha?"

His head immediately turned to Diona.

“Baby, look!”

“What is it, Ray?” Diona asked as she made her way out of the bed.

Diona walked her way behind Ray. Her body slightly leaned forward to see what caused the beeping sound to burst out. Once her eyes landed on the laptop screen, her eyes widened in shock, too.

“We gotta tell our children,” she said.

Now, let’s take a look at what happened in Rhea and Ralpha’s bedroom. At the bottom deck, Ralpha was seen hugging his T-Rex plush toy in his arms. Gloom and frown were plastered on his face. All he wanted to do was to go to USA and meet the Punzalos again. Especially Silvia. And the Battle of the Bands contest was the great opportunity.

It’s the same with Rhea. She was seen on the upper deck, lying on her left side. Her body was facing the pink curtains with her forearms and hands lying beside the area between the middle of her stomach and the bottom of her eyes. His face was plastered with gloom. Images began to run through her head. From the deal she and Ray made with the Dazzles to the moment where the female trio themselves and the Super Band are called to the Finals. Rhea wanted to know what it’s like to meet and get along with the LaRussos in person. Not only that, but she’s also curious to know what it’s like to meet Robby in person.

This moment didn’t last long until a ringing sound from the top of Rhea’s closet was heard.

“Ate Rhea! Someone’s calling you!” Ralpha called out to his sister above.

No, the word “ate” Ralpha was referring to was not the past tense of eat. Sure, it could be that, but in the Philippines, the Filipino word for “sister” has the same spelling as ate. The only difference is the pronunciation. We all know how we pronounce “ate” as in the past tense of eat, but this “ate” as in the Filipino word for “sister” is pronounced as “a-te” in Tagalog fluency.

Right now, Rhea climbed down the double-decker bed and made her way towards her closet. Her hand retrieved her tablet on top. Once her hands were on her tablet and her eyes landed on the screen, her eyes widened in surprise. Samantha LaRusso was calling her.

Despite that, she tapped the green icon and Sam’s face appeared on the screen.

“Hi, Rhea.”

“Hey,” Rhea replied.

“My dad told me about the contest you were participating. How is it?”

As Rhea heard Sam’s question, she walked her way to the ladder and climbed her way back to the upper deck.

“It’s fine,” she answered gloomily.

Once she made it to the upper deck, her right knee pushed her in the bed. “Are you okay?” Sam asked her as she sat in the middle of her bed. With her legs crossed. “You don’t sound this excited.”

“It’s not,” Rhea muttered.

“What happened? Is something wrong?” Sam asked, his eyes full of concern.

It took a few moments of deep thought before Rhea spoke up. In a clear voice.

“We competed in the semifinals, but according to the results…” Rhea paused. Then her eyes shifted downwards and her head was slightly moved down. “…we didn’t make it.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with the Dazzles cheating their way to victory? Or maybe they cheated through framing us, so that… they can kick us out?”

Silence filled the air. Not even a single word was heard. After a while, Sam’s voice spoke up. “We’ll figure this out.”

Rhea nodded. “Yeah, we will.”

Then all of a sudden, a voice was heard from the other side of the phone. But Rhea barely heard any words and couldn’t make out who that person is. All she knew is that someone was talking to her best sister-friend.

“Oh, I was chatting with Rhea.”

Another voice was barely heard. After a while, Sam responded to the other person, “Oh, yeah. Sure.”

It took a few seconds before a surprised expression appeared on her face. There he was. Right beside Sam. A young, teenage, boy with fair skin, brunette hair with its length laying up until his chin. As soon as his eyes landed on Rhea, his lips stretched out a smile on his face and he let out a light chuckle. Rhea’s lips stretched out a smile and let out a light, closed-mouth chuckle.

“Oh, Rhea, this is Robby,” Sam said, gesturing to the boy. “He’s… a friend and a Miyagi-Do student.” Then, her gesture went back to Rhea. “Robby, this is Rhea. She’s my best friend. My dad and her dad are best friends and texting pals.”

Robby lightly chuckled at Sam’s statement.

When Rhea heard the name “Robby,” a mix of realization and alertness was planted in her mind. Her smile became wider and her teeth were shown. “W-Wait, y… y-you’re…”

She never managed to finish her sentence because of the moment that happened a while ago. One part of her felt unsure if it was really him or not.

Robby let out a chuckle. This time, his teeth were together. “I guess Sam told you about me.”

“Oh, no. Dad told me about you. He had heard of you through Daniel, then he passed the information to the rest of us. Anyways, it’s nice to finally meet you, Robby.”

Robby chuckled lightly. “It’s nice to finally meet you, too, Rhea. You did really well out there in the contest.”

“Thanks.”

Awkward silence filled the air. Rhea’s mind was filled with a lot of things she wanted to talk about. Maybe even ask him? At the same time, her mind felt… blank. It took a few moments before Sam broke it. “I’m gonna…” Her thumbs gestured to the direction somewhere to the right. “…leave you two alone.”

With that, Sam rose from the sofa and she was left out of the screen.

Awkward silence filled the air again. After a few moments, it was Robby who spoke up. “So, what do you wanna talk about?”

“I’m not so sure. I mean, honestly, I have so much to talk about.”

“Well, I can start. What are your hobbies?”

“My specialty is writing stories. I wrote about 42 fanfictions in Wattpad!”

“Whoa, really?” Robby asked her, quite surprised to hear this.

“Really!” Rhea answered. “Anyways, apart from writing, I sometimes do some drawings and I…” As the image of herself, playing keyboard ran in her mind, her wide smile turned into a gloomy, frown. Her eyes were on the left corner of her eyes. Directly to the part of the bedsheet nearby her left knee. Her voice sound gloomy when she continued, “…play the keyboard.”

Robby’s smile was turned into concern. “What’s wrong?”

Rhea’s eyes turned to him. “Lately, we signed up for the Battle of the Bands Competition. Mainly because of the deal dad and I made to the Dazzles and partly because we wanna have fun playing music and singing songs as a band. We made it this far in the semifinals, but in the end…” A pause occurred in her. A moment later, she shook her head slightly as her voice turned into a voice Robby could barely hear. “…we lost and we didn’t make it to the Finals.”

“What was the deal you made with the Dazzles?”

“The one with pink hair. Jewel. She and the other two girls were bullying my other best friend, Celia. Ray and I stood up for her, but in the end, there was a deal. And the deal was settled in the Battle of the Bands contest. If we win, they’ll let Celia go, but if we lose… well, we don’t know for sure, but whatever it is, it can bring danger to her.”

Robby nodded. “I see it.”

Then all of a sudden, a click on the door knob was heard. Rhea’s head snapped to her right direction. It was revealed to be Ray coming in the door, followed by Diona.

“Rhea! Ralpha! We figured out why we— oh!”

His face turned into a surprised expression when he saw how Rhea was holding up her tablet. Her surprised face was turned into a nervous smile as she saw her dad's reaction.

“You’re talking to someone, aren’t you? I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Oh, no. That’s fine. That’s fine. I’ll be down in a minute,” Rhea said to her dad.

With that, she turned her head back to Robby with a nervous chuckle. “Sorry, I gotta go.”

“Yeah. I get it. Wanna talk more sometime?”

“Sure,” Rhea said. She then, made a wave. “Bye, Robby.”

“Bye, Rhea.”

With that, Rhea touched the red icon as they both hung up.

Rhea climbed down the ladder and put her tablet back where she got it. Then, after a few moments, her feet approached Ray, along with Ralpha. And the first expression she saw on Ray's face... was a shocked, yet happy expression.

“You talked to Robby without us? Without me?”

“I… Sam called me and… he just came in and…”

“Why haven’t you?” Ray asked, his left hand, slapping his left thigh slightly.

Both Rhea and Ralpha let out a laugh. After a few moments, the laughter died down.

“Anyways, mom and I figured out a reason why we lost,” Ray told his children.

“What? What is it?” Rhea and Ralpha both asked in unison. Their eyes were full of curiosity as they said this.

“Well... according to what Matthew said in the email..." Ray had his hands on his hips. His head was down and it shook. It moved back to his original position. "...it was originally gonna be us."

Rhea's and Ralpha's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

“It's true. The Super Band was disqualified because of their tricky mischiefs. They bribed Matthew saying that we should not win because every band needs a bassist," said Diona.

"But that's not true. So I told him that not every band has a bassist. Only ninety percent. Then he told me, 'Ah—'" His left index finger pointed upwards. "'—I see that now. You really know a lot about music.' I don't know why he doesn't know, but I decided not to question him."

"That's when Matthew told us that he disqualified that band. One of the judges found out sometime after the results in the semifinals,” said Diona.

Ralpha let out a gasp as a big smile appeared on his face. Rhea also had a smile on her face as she turned to Ralpha.

"So, we're in the Finals, then?" Ralpha asked Ray.

Rhea turned to her dad. The first thing she saw was Ray, nodding with a smile. "Yes, my son. We are in the Finals."

"Yes!" they both said in unison, but in different expressions.

Rhea said this in a whisper anyone nearby could hear. Her right elbow bent and her forearm was raised up until the level of the bottom of her forehead. Her hand formed a fist and tense occured in her forearm. But she did not feel any tense, but her mind was filled with energy. Her left hand was on her hips. Her eyebrows furrowed as she closed her eyes almost tightly and her lips stretched out a slight smirk.

Ralpha, on the other hand, was much more energetic than Rhea. He has the same expression as Rhea, plastered on her face. The one exception is his smirk being wider than hers. His right fist was in the air again with his left fist being on his side of the body. His feet was pushing him off the ground. He did the flying kick position in the left direction before his feet landed back on the ground.

The two siblings turned to their parents.

"So, daddy, what time is the Finals?" Ralpha asked his dad.

"Matthew told us the Finals will start tonight at 8pm." Ray then, moved his left wrist in sight. And on his wrist was a silver Rolex watch with a navy blue color at the center. "Right now, it's 3:30pm." His left arm was moved back to his side of the body. "So, we have time to produce a song for the Finals, practice it, go back to Cru Point to eat dinner and beat the Dazzles in the Finals."

Cheers from the rest of his were heard.

"Alright!" Ralpha said.

"Nice!" Rhea said.

"Yes! Let's do it!" Diona said.

A big smile was plastered on Ray's face. The D-Tribe is back!