Music Practice

After signing up for the contest, Mariposa led Luca, Alberto, and Giulia back to her house to start practicing playing their music.

"So, this is my room..." Mariposa opened her room, revealing to be big room with a bed, and a lot of stuff, like clothes, jackets, books, musical instruments (maracas, tambourine, harmonica, 2 acoustic guitars, 2 bass drums, and one piano), and stuff toys all over the place. On the bed was a goldfish plush toy, and another plush toy that was sitting on a shelf looked like a smurf, "It's a little bit messy since I have a lot of things."

"Wow," Giulia looked around amazed. Her room in Portorosso was small, and a little bit crowded, almost knocking off a table with a record player on top, and the other one Genoa was not so crowded than in Portorosso, but she didn't have a lot of stuff as Mariposa has, "You're lucky to have your own bigger room."

"Some of us share, so I didn't. Sometimes, Elizabeth and I share a room, but sometimes, she likes to stay in her own room," Mariposa explained, "Okay, so, in order for us to perform on stage for the singing competition, and according to the criteria, participation is important, which means everyone should participate, and that also means everyone should play music. So, since the two of you can't play music much, I can teach you how."

"Really? Do you have time for that?" Alberto groaned impatiently.

"We have time to train for the Portorosso Cup race for a week," Giulia reminded.

"Plus, the contest was just 6 days away, we have time. Now, I have to start with the drummer first. Drums are important for the band. It gives the beat and the pace of the music," Mariposa said as Luca sat on a stool behind one of the bass drum sets, and held a pair of drumsticks, "Okay, Luca, let's get started. Now, drumming is simple, but the part that's complicated is keeping a steady beat. So, to practice, follow my lead and clap to the same beat as I'm clapping to."

Mariposa then began to clap out a rhythm as Luca looked at her confusingly, trying to mimic the beat, but was struggling.

Seeing him struggle, Mariposa suggested, "Don't think about it too much. Just let it flow naturally and it'll come to you."

Luca loosened up and allowed himself to naturally feel the beat before he began to clap in unison with Mariposa.

Mariposa smiled, "Great job! Now, before you can practice it on the drums, you need to know which drums is which," she pointed each part of the drum set, "That's the good old fashion snare drum, these two are your tom-tom drums, this big one is the bass drum, and these are your cymbals. The key is that you don't want to play it too roughly or too fast or else the beat will fall apart. Keep a calm and steady pace, like, uh... if you were going swimming. You guys live near the sea, right? Imagine each rhythm counts as a wave crashing into the shore. Go ahead and try it."

Luca grabbed onto the drumsticks and started to tap each one slowly, getting a feel of each drum before he slowly drummed out the same beat from earlier, getting more confident about his ability to drum, "Hey, look! I'm getting the hang of it!"

"Great! Now, I have to clap, and you'll follow, okay? Try to level it up a bit," Mariposa then began to clap a more complicated beat for Luca to follow, which he did his best to imitate, but fell out of beat. Mariposa noticed this and advised, "Not bad, but try not to focus on how fast you're tapping. Here, it's all about keeping the beat."

Luca stretched his hands out, "Okay, but it's not easy, especially some of the claps that you're doing."

Mariposa thought for a minute before getting an idea, grabbing a small metronome and pressed a button that turned it on, making the pendulum on the metronome move back and forth while ticking a slow beat, as she said, "Instead of focusing on trying to do the beat as a whole, break it down. Start by doing the simple beat that the clap is based on, and once you're steady with it, then slowly add on the other parts. This metronome can help you remember the beat if you get lost. Now, let's try it again."

Mariposa began to do the complicated clap as Luca listened to the metronome before starting to do the basic clap, mimicking its beat. Once he got it down easily, he then started to slowly ease int the other clapping motions that Mariposa was doing and soon, he was doing the same exact clap she was, making Luca say, "Yes! I did it!"

"Excellent work. Now, try it out on the drums, but take it slow."

Doing as he was instructed, Luca slowly started to tap the beat out on the drums before he was playing it perfectly, the beat making Alberto bop his head while Giulia tapped her foot.

"Sounds really good, Luca," Alberto commented.

"Keep practicing, Luca, and while doing that, I have to teach this big guy right here," Mariposa pointed her thumb at Alberto, whose eyes widened when he realized it was his turn to be taught a lesson about playing the guitar, "Alberto, playing the guitar is a bit challenging, but everyone loves to play, and you might be too," Mariposa then took one of her guitars from the corner, and handed to him, Now, to play it, you just use your fingers to pluck the strings and create a sound. Start with the string on top; that's your A chord. Then, pluck each string going down to get a feel of their sound. But not too hard, you don't want to break them." Alberto slowly plucked each string while Mariposa guided his hand along the neck of the guitar as she said, "You use your fingers on the neck to press down and hold the strings you want to make the sound you desire."

Alberto soon slowly got the hang of it and was soon able to play the electric guitar without hassle, making him say, "This is easier than I thought, and a lot of fun"!

Mariposa sighed as he stood up from her bed, "Okay, I think you two almost got it... and I think we need a bigger space to play some real music... like playing a song... just a small practice. You can't get it right for just one lesson. Let's just see if you two play with the lessons and tricks you've learned today."

"Okay, so where would we practice?" Luca asked.

"Maybe in the backyard. It has a big space for us to practice, especially from this crowded house."

"Good idea," Giulia nodded.

Mariposa took her own acoustic guitar form under her bed, headed towards the door, and opened it as the quads saw all of Mariposa's siblings and cousin were making chaos around the hall all the way, and the stairs were just at the other side of her bedroom.

"Well, this is what you get to grow up in a big family, you guys, and I like it," Mariposa sighed happily.

"How can you reach for the stairs to go down to your backyard with... this?!" Alberto exclaimed.

"Allow me to demonstrate, Alberto. I've been in this situation like this before, so let me handle everything, and you three just follow me, and don't get involved," the Filipino girl said confidentially.

"But what happens if you don't get what you want?" the young Italian boy questioned.

"Well, we'll have other options, but the backyard is closer. So, let's get going!" Mariposa said as she stepped out of the bedroom the trio followed her from behind, holding their musical instruments. Luca held the drumsticks, the snare drum, and the tom-tom drums, Alberto rolled the bass drum while carrying guitar with his spare hand, and Giulia held the cymbals and the guitar.

Just then, Ligaya was in front of her and Divina's bedroom door, and asked, "Hey, Ate Mariposa, you wanna hear my poem?"

"I do, but my friends and I need to practice," Mariposa answered.

Rizalino then stopped the quad in their tracks with a flower on his shirt, "Ate Mariposa! Smell my new flower!" the flower squirted water, but Mariposa dodged just in the nick of time

"Ha! Did you really think I'd fall for-" before she could finish, water suddenly squirted from the butterfly mark of Rizalino's headband right into Mariposa's mouth.

"It's not easy being this good," Rizalino laughed as he walked off, holding a wire and a button that was connected to his headband.

"Clear the track! Comin' through!"

Mariposa heard Renaldo's voice coming as she spat out the water from her mouth, and pushed herself and her three friends against the wall to avoid Renaldo, who was running while kicking a ball, and crashing it against another wall ahead.

"SCORE!" Renaldo cheered.

Mariposa tried to continue leading her friends towards the stairs, but stopped Tala, who was holding a camera.

"Teka lang, Mariposa. Please picture me with my best look so I can be qualified for showbiz in the future," she requested.

"I would, Tala, but I really have to-" Mariposa tried to make an excuse, but she was cut off.

"YOU TAKE A PICTURE OF ME, OR I'LL TELL NANAY YOU WERE KISSING PICTURES OF EDDIE GARCIA ON THE TREE AGAIN!" Tala shouted.

This made Mariposa blushed in embarrassment, especially now that her new friends heard that. It has been her embarrassing secret, now Luca, Alberto, and Giulia knew she was kissing a picture of a famous actor. She can't let Tala tell their parents too. Mariposa took the camera from Tala, and started taking photos of her as Tala posed for the camera, "Work the camera! Uh-huh! That's it! Show me what you got! Who's the star?"

Then, Jayjayappeared, carrying a small plastic bag in his hand, "Mariposa!"

"Hey! I'm working here!" Tala scolded.

"Would you let me get some stool samples from your friends?" The smart brother asked.

"What does that mean?" Luca asked curiously.

"That means he needs your poop!" Mariposa answered embarrassingly as she ran behind Giulia, and pushed all three Underdog members towards the direction of the stairs before shouting at Jayay, "NO, YOU WON'T! WE GOTTA GO!"

Then, Ligaya appeared, slouching against the newel, "Now?"

"Still busy!" Mariposa answered with Luca, Alberto, and Giulia ahead of her as the four carefully ran down the stairs.

With three moved aside when they noticed Elizabeth sitting on one of the steps and writing her music piece and lyrics for a new song with a quill, ink, and paper, Mariposa leapt over her, and reminded, "Don't forget to put rest!"

Down the stairs, the four then ran past the living room, and towards the kitchen where the backdoor was.

"Mariposa, have you seen my measuring tape?!" Imelda asked loudly, looking at the drawer next to the couch. Mariposa then found the measuring tape inside the couch, and threw it to Imelda when she passed it, "Thanks Mariposa!"

"Does anyone here get me an egg?!" Divina requested as he was mixing ingredients in her bowl.

Mariposa stopped as she opened the fridge, took out an egg, and gave it to her youngest sister.

"Salamat, Ate!" Divina said happily.

The Underdogs almost reached the backdoor, but his oldest brother cut in front of them, and refused to let them out, "Beat it, twerp."

"Come on, Kuya Boyet! No fair! I was here first!" Mariposa groaned.

"Well, I was born first, and I have dance practice for my performance tomorrow!" Boyet pointed out as he went out, and shut the door.

As Mariposa groaned in defeat while stomping her foot, Luca, Alberto, and Giulia noticed Ligaya walked over.

"It looks like you have time now," She said as Ligaya took out a piece of paper behind her, and commenced a poem, "Time, what is used to define it? A word? A sentence? A phrase? For the feeling of it seems obscure as I count down the days. For some, they think there's not enough, while others believe that there's too much. For time can tell us what's currently in store, what we've had, and if there'll be more. Time is a journey that needs no gas, for the only fuel is the memories that'll last."

"So, could we take that other option?" Luca recommended.

"Well, I know where," Mariposa said.

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Later, Mariposa took her friends to a river place where it was peaceful and quiet as they used Mariposa's wagon to carry the instruments. She then spotted a flat portable wooden stage near the river as she declared to have their practice there. Luca, Alberto, and Giulia looked down at the river nervously. They were afraid if Luca and Alberto might get a small drop of water on their skins, it would be a doomsday for them

"This is perfect! Peace, quiet, relaxing! Ha! And we're near a river!" Mariposa laughed loudly as she couldn't imagine hearing her voice without her noisy family blocking it, "Well, let's get to practicing."

With the lessons they learned so far from Mariposa, Luca and Alberto started playing their instruments while Giulia and Mariposa followed since they already knew how to play the guitars, but they had to follow Luca's drum beats for pace. Mariposa even sang a song that might be fit for the competition.

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After a few hours of practice, and the Underdogs still stayed focused practicing, Paolo, Crispin, and Yolando were riding on a motorcycle with Paolo driving, and his two goons were behind him.

"Oh look, kasama, the catch of the day!" Paolo chuckled evilly as he twisted the handle forward, speeding it up towards the Underdogs.

Mariposa heard a motorcycle coming as she looked forward, and gasped, "Oh, no! It's Paolo! Let's get out of here!" She stood up with her guitar and ran off.

Alberto and Giulia grabbed their guitars as the two jumped off the stage, but they noticed Luca was still standing behind the drums, figuring out how he could escape with the drums.

"Luca! Let's go!" Giulia exclaimed.

"I can't leave the drums!" Luca whimpered in panic.

"Leave the drums!" Alberto shouted.

But Luca couldn't. Groaning frustratingly, Alberto and Giulia jumped back on the stage to help their friend carry the drum set.

The motorcycle was getting closer with an evil smirk of Paolo's face. He didn't care if he would crash himself and his two friends, only thing he cared was to harm the three Italian kids.

"Paolo?" Crispin spoke as a warn that they were about to crash.

Luca, Alberto, and Giulia froze in panic. They didn't know how to engage an escape anymore as the motorcycle was getting closer and closer.

Crispin has his limits, despite liking to bully along with Paolo, but he didn't like killing anyone. Crispin grabbed the left handle, and turned it, driving the motorcycle to the left. One of the wheels hit a big puddle, causing a big splash towards the trio. Luca and Giulia jumped behind the drums and under the portable stage, but Alberto caught himself wet, transforming him back to his sea monster form. He exclaimed in fear as he jumped down the stage with Luca and Giulia hiding.

"Crispin!" Paolo shouted at one of his friends.

"I... I slipped," Crispin stammered.

"Ano ba yun, Paolo?!" Mariposa exclaimed angrily.

Behind the drums, Giulia found a dry towel next to her, figuring this might dry off the water from Alberto.

"Quick, dry up!" Giulia was about to give the towel to her adoptive brother, but accidentally elbowed his face, and fell into the river, "Oops!"

Paolo heard a loud splashing sound as he suspiciously turned to Luca and Giulia, only to find out that Alberto was missing

"Hmm, where did the tall one go?" He stood up on his motorcycle, and stared at the two while looking for the Alberto.

Luca and Giulia stood up, trying to block Paolo's sight of Alberto, who was hiding deep into the river so one could see him.

Before Paolo can stretch himself a little higher, he felt himself shaking as he looked down to see Mariposa shaking his motorcycle

"Paolo! Paki iwanan mo lang kami!" Mariposa shouted as Paolo fell down his vehicle, but he landed on his feet, and his bandana slipped from his neck to the small puddle of mud.

"Panyo ko! Mariposa, I just cleaned it!" Paolo scolded as he took his muddy bandana before showing it to his two friends, "Can you even believe her?!"

While the four Filipino humans were distracted, Luca and Giulia pulled Alberto out of the river. But then, they saw Mariposa coming this way as Luca and Giulia quickly covered Alberto with a towel.

"Luca? Alberto? Giulia? Are you guys okay?" Mariposa asked when she found them behind the drums

"Um... uh..." Luca and Giulia stammered as they didn't know how to answer, but Alberto stood up, removing the towel as he was all dry.

"We're good! Good, good, good," he grinned casually.

"Well, I think that's enough practice for today," Mariposa announced as she took the tom-tom drums, and dumped them into her wooden wagon

"Yeah. Agreed," Luca agreed as he grabbed the drumsticks and the cymbals.

"Yup," Alberto nodded as he and Giulia rolled the bass drum while carrying their guitars.

"Si," Giulia added.

When they finished putting the instruments into the wagon, the four started to leave by pushing the wagon. It was easier and faster when all four of them pushed together than one of them could do it.

Paolo then turned to see the Underdogs leaving as he mumbled at Crispin and Yolando angrily.

Back at the apartment, Daniela and Lorenzo were cleaning the windows and floor with a soaked cloth while wearing gloves and boots to protect their hands and feet from touching anything wet.

"I think cleaning is the easiest job, right?" Lorenzo stated.

"Yep," Daniela agreed.

Just then, Charo came in from the door, and noticed how the married couple cleaned up the place, "Ooh, the windows look spotless!" she touched the window with her finger, "If you keep this up, I might pay you more."

Daniela and Lorenzo smiled casually as Charo turned to count the money she earned. While she was doing that, Lorenzo proceeded to polish the floor with a wet cloth, until he slipped down, and tripped over a bucket of soapy water. The water splashed all over Lorenzo, revealing much of his green scales. Daniela silently yelped in panic as she tried to help her husband up, but she slipped down as well with her skin touching the spilt water.

Charo then spoke without looking at the Paguro couple, "You know, living in a new country was not easy, but you can adjust to it if you let that. Your life would feel easier if you adjust to a country you visited and stayed for a couple of weeks or months."

While Charo was talking, Daniela and Lorenzo moved in panic to find a way to dry themselves up to hide the scale. Through the window, a boy with a popsicle noticed them with their unhidden scales. The boy just stared at them, but he shrugged and didn't care as he walked off, eating his ice cream. The two sighed as they still tried to find something to dry the water droplets from them. With no way out, they used the curtains to wipe the water droplets off.

"If you ever have a chance to visit the Philippines again, you won't have any trouble fitting in if you practice adjusting and learning more about the Philippines. Manila is a good start," Charo finished as she turned to see Daniela and Lorenzo, who were fully dried, standing with their sheepish grin, and spilled water under their boots, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, yes," Daniela nodded.

"I... uh, slipped," Lorenzo said nervously.

"Be careful not to break anything," Charo smiled as she headed upstairs.

The two sighed in relief as they continued to clean without making any mistakes or accidents.

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Special thanks to 

The scene where Luca, Alberto, Giulia and Mariposa avoided the obstacles that Mariposa's siblings and cousins made while the latter handled them one at a time was a reference from the Loud House: Bathroom Break.

Since Giulia has a Donald Duck toy in her room, I figured Mariposa should have a smurf toy, interestingly, Jacob Tremblay, who voiced Luca, played the role of Blue Winslow in The Smurfs 2 (2013).

Since I was looking in Google maps, and there were hardly any peaceful and quiet places near the rivers in Manila, I just created one, and I wasn't if there's any back in 1968.

Translation(s);

Filipino:

Teka lang – Just wait
Nanay – Mother/Mom
Ate – Big sister/older sister
Kuya – Big brother/older brother
Salamat, Ate! – Thank you, big sis
Kasama – guys
Ano ba yun, Paolo?! – What was that, Paolo?
Paolo! Paki iwanan mo lang kami! - Paolo! Please just leave us!
Panyo ko! - My handkerchief!

Italian:

Si - Yes

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