Fanon:Rachel's Race to Fame (fanfic centered around one of Nate's future kids)

It's the present year of 2023, over 3 decades after Nate Wright's 6th grade adventures. So how's it going for the guy we all knew as one of the most rebellious 6th grade characters around? Well now he's married to Ruby Dinsmore (his crush/girlfriend from Big Nate Blasts Off), both age 43 (based upon the start date of the comic). They have two kids, Rachel (age 13) and Maxwell (age 9).

Let's focus on one of the kids, Rachel. She's in 8th grade, and due to P.S. 38 getting dismantled after falling apart beyond repair (no surprise, since that school was over a century old), the school she goes to is Cole Academy. Nate says that even though his "detention rival" used to go to that school, it's a much better school than his school's rival Jefferson. Rachel's birthday is June 30th. She likes to pull small tricks on her brother Maxwell, though none as harsh as the ones her aunt Ellen used to pull on Nate. She knows how much of a prince their parents treat Maxwell as.

Nate cares about Rachel's occasional problems, and the often concerned Ruby sometimes tries to make Rachel be as calm and low-key as her. Ellen lives in a huge house in a different city not too far from Rackleff. Ever since divorcing from Gordie, Ellen has been writing romance novels, which sell a lot, so she makes lots of money, which she gives some of to Rachel for her birthday, the only time Aunt Ellen comes by besides holidays.

Ellen also visits her dad (Rachel's grandpa) Martin at the hospital. He is 80 years old and suffering from a severe illness, so he's expected to go any time. His younger brother (Rachel's great-uncle) Ted is conveniently a doctor in the hospital Martin is in. After his parents (Rachel's great-grandparents) passed away from old age, he finally got the courage to get a job and enough money to have his own home.

Anyway, one weekend, Ruby has to take Maxwell to a dental appointment, so Rachel stays home with her dad Nate. Rachel and Nate have a small talk, and when Nate mentions something about when he was in a rock band, that interests Rachel. She likes listening to metal music and enjoys bands like Black Veil Brides, Avenged Sevenfold, Metallica, and Iced Earth. Rachel asks Nate to tell her more about his band.

Nate goes to the attic, with Rachel following him. He takes out a scrapbook that he titled "Enslave the Mollusk". Rachel finds out that's the name of Nate's middle-school band, and although she thinks that's a stupid name, she does not say that, and she finds the band really cool. It features Nate as drummer and backing vocalist, with best friends Francis on electric guitar and Teddy on keyboard, as well as Artur as lead vocalist. Rachel asks what happened to Enslave the Mollusk, and although Nate was slightly hesitant, he tells her.

The last few months of 7th grade for Nate and his friends were highly turbulent. Artur had to leave the band to focus on schoolwork and eventually move back to Belarus. Francis' girlfriend Sheila was killed in a car crash, and he left the band to have some time to cope with the grief. There were recent news about slavery in the country, and Martin was concerned about Nate performing in a band with the word "Enslave" so Martin suggested changing the word "Enslave" to "Fear", an idea Nate hated. Teddy agreed with Martin on that one, and Nate left the band due to Nate's refusal to change the name, along with burnout.

Since then, Nate's friendship with Teddy and Francis started fading, and by sometime in high school, he lost all contact with them. After telling Rachel the story of Enslave the Mollusk, Nate tells her a small moral, "Being in a band can be cool when you're young, but the coolness fades away when you get older."

Just then, Rachel finds something peeking out of a box. It's a keytar! Due to her low muscle tone, Rachel is not good at playing the guitar, bass, or complex drum kits. The only instrument she doesn't suck at playing is the keyboard. She tries the keytar, and she totally rocks it! Much more than when she was playing the keyboard. She exclaims, "Wow, Dad! Do you own this?"

"No, Rachel," Nate responds. "It's your mother's. She was a one-hit wonder before you were born."

Rachel is amazed about Ruby having her own keytar, but doesn't know what "one-hit wonder" means. "One-hit wonder? What's that?"

"Ask your mother. And ask her for permission to use it."

Later, when Ruby and Maxwell come back home, Rachel asks Ruby, "Is it true, Mom? Were you once a pop star with this awesome keytar?!"

"Oh yeah!" Ruby replies. "I was Ruby Pink, one-hit wonder! Want me to explain what that means?"

"Sure!"

"Well, a musical act goes to the top of the chart with a catchy tune and meaningless lyrics. Then they throw a big diva tantrum, lose their label, then fade to obscurity. Before they know it, their song ends up as elevator music. Years later, they have a reunion concert, and after that, they never sing again. And no one remembers them. That basically was my entire pop star experience, and once you were born, I gave up on that dream."

"Wow... So may I please have your keytar?"

"Of course, but don't get too carried away with your dream. After all, I gave up on the fame before it could have the chance to take over me."

"OK, thanks Mom!"

Rachel can play the keytar like a professional rock star, and she can perform keytar covers of songs from her favorite metal bands. Inspired by this along with her musically talented parents, she decides to make her own rock/metal band. She can't ask Maxwell to join because Ruby believes he's too young to be in a band or even listen to the bands Rachel listens to.

Rachel decides that she will ask her friends to join her band. Rachel's friends are Vanessa Rosa and Sonja Lappalainen. Sonja is an exchange student from Finland, and not only can she play bass guitar, but she can also sing in operatic soprano, inspired by her favorite symphonic metal vocalist, Tarja from Nightwish. Vanessa can play guitars. At school, Vanessa and Sonja accept Rachel's offer to join her band. Then in music class, Rachel's crush Todd Spyro performs an impressive drum solo, so Vanessa suggests to Rachel about adding him to the band, and that's what she does, despite her reluctant embarrassment.

So the band has been formed, an operatic pop rock/metal band named DreamStars. They practice in Vanessa's garage every weekday after school. However, "popular" school bully Julianne Godfrey would often insult Rachel, her friends, and their band, saying something like, "DreamStars? More like DreamSTINK! Get some freakin' lives, losers!" Fortunately, Rachel and her friends have a thick skin when it comes to insults, so they won't let Julianne verbally bring them down.

DreamStars' rehearsals go on for a couple months, and they've made a few songs. But as the rehearsals go on, Rachel starts to notice that she and Sonja are always the first ones to leave at the end of band practice, with Todd staying behind. One Saturday, before Rachel starts heading home, she asks Todd, "How come you keep staying behind?"

"Oh, I just need to make sure I don't forget anything from my drum kit, that's all," Todd answers.

Rachel enquires Vanessa, "Does Todd really need help getting all he needs from his drum kit?"

"Don't worry about it," Vanessa says. "I can always give him a hand."

Though a bit suspicious, Rachel starts walking with Sonja. Near Sonja's home, Rachel notices a flier on a pole advertising a buskers competition downtown. Excited, she shouts, "Sonja! We have to do this!"

Sonja sees the flier. "Awesome! We still have a couple more songs we should make and learn, but I think we can do it. Go tell Vanessa and Todd about this!"

Rachel runs back to Vanessa's garage. "Vanessa! Todd! We gotta do..."

Her voice trails off, shocked and speechless, having noticed Vanessa and Todd on the couch, about to kiss! Before they could, she screams, "WHAT THE HECK?!? What are you two doing?!"

Vanessa is confused. "Uhh... Dating???"

"Oh my God... You never told me you've been dating my crush!"

"That's because you never told me he's your crush!"

"Uh, I have to go now," Todd mutters. "Don't wanna be late for dinner."

After Todd leaves, leaving his drum kit behind, Vanessa yells at Rachel, "YOU FREAKIN' JERK!!! You just had to ruin our date!"

"You just had to ruin my crush!" Rachel snaps back as she slaps Vanessa in the face. Vanessa shoves Rachel into Todd's drum kit, ruining a few parts, though Rachel only suffered a small cut on her elbow as a result. She hits Vanessa in the shin with the keytar.

"OWWW!!!!" Vanessa shrieks in pain and holds her leg. "You know what!? I don't wanna be in your stupid band anymore. Just get out!"

"What?"

"GET OUT!!! I've had enough of you!"

"Same here."

So that marks the end of Rachel and Vanessa's friendship, and that also means, only Sonja is left as Rachel's bandmate. That is, until a week later, when Sonja tells Rachel some shocking news; Sonja's dad lost his job, and she and her family might have to move back to Finland in the summer. That also means, she has to quit the band in order to focus on her eventual move. And that marks of the end of the band. Rachel is upset about losing her friends and her band. Her life is screwed.

Rachel decides to get in contact with Aunt Ellen, who's an expert at school/friendship stuff. However, since she's often busy with her romance novel writing, she's unable to help. She cries on her bed about Aunt Ellen. Ruby hears her cries and offers her some snacks.

"Thanks, Mom," Rachel says as she takes a snack.

The next day, Rachel and her family have to go to church. However, Rachel is nervous because that's the same church Vanessa (whom they hate each other now) and Julianne (who would do her usual verbal bullying) go to. Rachel is about to go to the restroom and try to stay for the rest of the day, when she is stopped by someone calling her name, "Rachel?" It's Vanessa! She's wearing a dress that covers the knees but shows a bit of her shins, one of which has a band-aid from that keytar hit. Rachel starts to feel really bad about that.

"I know we are fighting," Vanessa says. "But why are you here?"

"Going to church," Rachel responds. "Why else would I be here?"

Rachel regrets freaking out on Vanessa and having that small fight with her, so not wanting to screw things up further, Rachel apologizes to Vanessa for all that and tells her about the crush Rachel has on Todd, on the condition that the crush be kept secret and that Rachel would let Vanessa go out with Todd.

"I understand," Vanessa says. "Thanks for being a good sport today, Rachel. But it seems like our fighting upset Todd. He wants a break from us and the band."

Rachel doesn't know if it would be a good time to share her own stunning news but ultimately decides to do so. "I have some shocking news too. Sonja and her family might be moving back to Finland this summer."

"WHAT?!?!"

"Yeah. Because her dad lost his job. She also had to quit the band to focus on her move."

"NO WAY!!! Sonja has the best singing voice in school, possibly in town! There's no way anyone can sing as beautiful as her! And also she's a great friend to us."

"Yep. Hey, at least we just became friends and are not fighting anymore. Otherwise, our band would be dead."

"True that. After this, we gotta go convince Todd to join the band again."

A familiar voice behind Rachel and Vanessa asks, "Todd, did you say?!" It's Julianne!

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Rachel snarls.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that Todd's one of the hottest guys in our school! If there's anyone who really should head out with him, that would be me! M-E, ME!!"

Vanessa grumbles, "Oh my God, why do you all have a crush on my boyfriend?"

"HEY, don't use the Lord's name in vain! We're in a holy place. Now let's fight over Todd."

"Hey!" Rachel shouts. "You just said this is a holy place. We can't fight in here."

"Fine. Then let's take this to the back parking lot later. See you losers then!"

As Julianne walks off, Vanessa whispers to Rachel, "Are you sure this is a good idea? She might pulverize us!"

"Don't worry, Vanessa," Rachel replies. "She's not usually a physical fighter. And besides, my grandpa taught me to stand up to bullies so they end up backing down. Not sure if that will work, and my dad doubts that it would, but it's worth the risk."

After church, Rachel, Vanessa, and Julianne meet at the back parking lot, ready to start the fight. Rachel and Vanessa charge towards Julianne. However, Julianne trips Vanessa, causing Vanessa to fall, bend her ankle backwards, and scrape her hurt shin more than before, losing the band-aid. Rachel gasps at the sight of Vanessa having her leg messed up on the road, and charges toward Julianne in full fury. She manages to piggyback Julianne, who then throws Rachel off her. Rachel hits the back of her head on a car, and while it is painful, she only has a slight bump. Julianne starts choking Rachel!

"L-Let go of me!" Rachel wheezes.

"You should've gotten out of my way, Rachel!" Julianne growls as she starts squeezing tighter.

"HEY!!!" a familiar voice yells. It's Nate! "Let her go, or I'll call 911!"

Julianne drops Rachel who's now coughing from that strangle and rubbing her head bump. Julianne tries to fake an excuse, "Oh, it was just self-defense. She shoved me and bit me! It hurts so bad!"

"Don't you lie to me, missy! I saw all that happened. I know you're the granddaughter of this psychotic social studies teacher who used to bully me when I was in middle school, and now I'm standing up to a Godfrey so I can protect my daughter and your friend. Now get out of here!"

"OK then, but you shall all pay later!"

As Julianne storms off, Rachel thanks Nate. "You really saved our butts, Dad. I had never realized how vicious this "popular" bully Julianne can be when she has a crush on our friend Todd."

"No worries," Nate responds. "Good things can often come around bad things. It's all I can do to keep you and your friend safe. Really cool how your friend is the granddaughter of my art teacher."

Nate takes Rachel and Vanessa to the hospital. Due to a mild concussion from the bump, Rachel has to take it easy for a week and not watch any TV or read any books during then. She also has to wear a scarf around the marks on her neck from the strangle. Vanessa has to wear a cast for her broken ankle for over a month, and wear bandage on her scraped shin during a fraction of that period. That also means that she has to take a break from Rachel's band.

By Saturday, Rachel's head is feeling better and she isn't concussed anymore. Ruby decides to take the family on a one-day road trip and motel stay. Normally, Rachel does not like road trips, but she finds out that the motel is close to the place where the buskers competition will be held that night. So she brings her keytar with her. She has a good devious plan...

During the motel stay, at midnight, while Nate, Ruby, and Maxwell are asleep, Rachel sneaks out of the motel with her keytar, heading to the buskers competition. Over there, she performs her keytar like a boss and earns a lot of money. She's having the time of her life...until Nate and Ruby show up at around 1am, worried and furious, and take Rachel back to the motel room, leaving behind her money bucket.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE'VE BEEN!?!" Nate yells.

"When that cop came to our room and said you were out there in the dark on your own, I almost died!" Ruby cries.

Nate sighs, "I'm very disappointed in you, Rachel. Even I didn't sneak off outside in the middle of the night when I was a kid."

So after the family return home from the motel, Nate and Ruby ground Rachel for a week. During then, she can't leave the house except for school, watch TV, or listen to metal music. She also has her keytar confiscated until further notice. That means her band really isn't meant to be. Vanessa still has her messed up leg, Sonja might have to move back to Finland, and Todd is unsure about joining the band after that earlier fight Rachel and Vanessa had. What can she do about her band now?

After that week is Rachel's final exam, and thanks to her focus on studying during her grounding week, she passed the exam and can graduate from 8th grade and middle school! Of course, there aren't any pranks, she's not as much as of a prankster as Nate was when he was in middle school.

Another week later, it's Rachel's 14th birthday! She has a nice birthday lunch with her family at a pizzeria. After eating Rachel, while paying the bill, Nate tells Rachel, "You know what? Since you've successfully graduated from Middle School and your behavior has improved, your mom and I decided that we will give you back your keytar when we get home."

Rachel smiles excitedly. "Really???"

"Yep," Ruby answers. "It's all yours again!"

"YES!!! Thank you both so much! You've made my birthday-"

Nate's phone rings, interrupting the conversation, and he picks it up. "Hi, Ellen... What's wrong? You seem so... Uh-huh.... Oh dear... OK.. We'll get there soon."

After Nate hangs up, Ruby asks, "What is it, dear?"

"Everyone, we have to go," Nate announces. "His time's almost up."

"Whose time?" Rachel enquires.

"Your Grandpa."

The family head to the car and drive to the hospital. They enter Martin's ward and see Ellen and a couple doctors by Martin's side. Martin's life is weakening and he's barely awake.

"If any of you have any final words you wanna say to him, say them now," Ellen suggests.

Rachel volunteers. "Hi, Grandpa."

"Well, if it isn't young Rachel," Martin mutters, his voice fading. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I just graduated from middle school and I'm in my own band, though it's unstable in activity."

"That's nice. Listen, this may be my last time seeing all of you here on Earth, but I just wanna say, based on what your father told me, you're one heck of a brave girl. I would've discouraged you from getting into a fight or sneaking out at night, but what matters is, you're still around, and your parents know very well how to raise you."

"Thanks, Dad. I love you."

"I love you too. And let your father and your Aunt Ellen know that I love them too, with all of... my... heart....."

Martin has a heart attack, and the heartbeat monitor flatlines.

Rachel, with her eyes full of tears, mutters, "Grandpa?"

One of the doctors declares Martin's time of death, "1:28pm", which is coincidentally the same time Rachel was born exactly 14 years ago. Everyone breaks down in tears.

The following week, Rachel, her family, Ellen, and Ted all have a funeral and burial for Martin. Since then, Nate has been visiting Ellen to help her cope with the grief. They also decided to collaborate with each other in Ellen's romance novels. Ellen writes her novels, while Nate does some illustrations. It's the kind of sibling chemistry they didn't have when they were young.

Also, while Ruby is out taking care of her own work, Rachel is in charge of taking care of Maxwell. It's not as easy as she thought it would be. In times when Rachel wants to watch TV, listen to metal music, or play her keytar, Maxwell wants her to play some games with him. Rachel has to listen to Maxwell on any safe thing he wants. The better Rachel's brother-sitting skills are, the more likely she will get paid.

Then one day, Vanessa shows up. Her scraped shin is fully healed, but she still has to wear her foot cast and crutches.

"Sup Rachel!?" Vanessa shouts. "I haven't seen you in a while!"

"Hi, Vanessa," Rachel greets Vanessa. "How's your foot?"

"Still broken, but it will be fully healed in a few weeks. Anyway, I just came by to show you this." Vanessa shows Rachel a flier for a Battle of the Bands competition, that's happening on August 11, with a registration fee of $50.

"Wow, Vanessa! This must be a sign for us to restart the band."

"I know, right?! This will be awesome as sh-"

"SHHH... Not where Maxwell can hear."

"Sorry. Anyway, there's still a couple major issues with our plan."

"Sonja will be moving back to Finland, and Todd is still upset with us?"

"Yep. And there's also that pesky registration fee. Having to do a job to earn that much money seems like a lot of work."

"Actually it's quite easy peasy! I just need to take care of Maxwell and make sure he's safe and having fun. My mom will pay me any time my brother-skills are high-quality."

"I'm glad you're doing the main work, Rachel. Thanks! Need some help?"

"Sure. But nothing inappropriate, OK?"

"Gotcha."

So Vanessa starts hanging out with Rachel and Maxwell. Vanessa sits on the sofa, with her broken ankle resting on the ottoman, while Rachel and Maxwell play with a Hot Wheels set.

"Watch this car go zoom!" Maxwell exclaims as he zooms his toy car through a loop-de-loop track. The toy car launches off a ramp and bounces on Vanessa's foot cast.

"OWW!!!" Vanessa screams in pain.

Fortunately, Maxwell has the good manners to immediately say "sorry". Nonetheless, Vanessa gets up with her crutches and starts heading out.

"I think I better go now," Vanessa says, wincing a bit from the pain surge. "Gotta make sure my foot doesn't get messed up."

As Vanessa exits the house, Rachel calls out, "Come back later!"

"More Hot Wheels?" Maxwell asks Rachel.

"Sorry, bro," Rachel replies, while putting away the Hot Wheels set. "That's enough Hot Wheels for today. Let's find something else to do."

The next day, Rachel gets a text message from Vanessa, "Hey, Rachel! Come to my house! There's someone I want you to talk to."

Rachel texts back, "OK, but can I bring Maxwell along? It's against the babysitter's code to leave the kid home alone."

"Yeah, of course!"

Rachel and Maxwell go to Vanessa's house, and to Rachel's surprise, she sees Todd.

"Oh, hey, Todd!" Rachel greets him. "So, anything new?"

"Hi, Rachel," Todd responds. "Not much. Vanessa told me you wanted to start our band again."

"That's right."

"I'm up for that, but I don't really want you and Vanessa fighting over me."

"Yeah, sorry about that. You probably already know by now that I have a crush on you, but I know you and Vanessa are dating, and I should respect that and be a better friend."

"Thanks, Rachel. Now where were we, Vanessa?" Todd and Vanessa look at each other and start kissing.

Rachel is a little grossed out at that, especially when Maxwell is around. "UGH!!! EW! Let's go home, Maxwell! Nothing to see here! Gotta go, Todd and Vanessa, bye!"

The next day, Rachel is determined to raise more money for her babysitting, in order to get enough for the Battle of the Bands registration fee. She asks Ruby to pay her extra for babysitting Maxwell.

The usually calm Ruby turns mad and yells, "What do you mean extra?!? He's your brother!!!"

"So?" Rachel answers back. "It would make my job more worth it, and I would learn more about the value of money."

Nate overhears and steps into the conversation. "Ruby, if Rachel wants to train for a job, then let her do it. It's a good responsibility."

Ruby switches back to her calm self. "OK, you're right, Nate. Rachel, we can pay you extra, but only if your dad and I are both out for at least an hour."

"No problem," Rachel says. "Thanks, Mom and Dad! I won't let you down."

So Rachel continues babysitting Maxwell while Nate and Ellen continue their romance novel collaborations and Ruby takes care of her own work, and any time Nate and Ruby are out for more than an hour, Rachel gets paid extra.

Then one day, Rachel checks on Maxwell but he's not around. She keeps calling his name, but no response. She goes to her room and starts to cry, thinking Maxwell is gone, her parents won't trust her again, and her life will be screwed. But then she notices her bedroom window open, a "boing" sound like a trampoline, and Maxwell appearing and disappearing up and down. He had set up a trampoline outside under Rachel's bedroom window and jumped out the window onto the trampoline, and he's bouncing on it.

"Hey sis!" Maxwell exclaims. "Look at me jump!"

Shocked, Rachel runs outside, bounces on the trampoline, catches Maxwell, and lands safely on the ground. Rachel puts the trampoline back in the garage.

"That was very dangerous, young man!" Rachel scolds Maxwell. "Now let's get back inside. You had me worried!"

"I understand. Sorry, sis," Maxwell says and hugs Rachel.

Rachel accepts that hug. "Your safety is my responsibility and what I need to earn money. So no more dangerous stuff, OK?"

"Got it."

Right around then, someone knocks on the door. Rachel opens the door and sees Sonja.

"Oh, hi, Sonja," Rachel greets her.

"Hey, Rachel!" Sonja exclaims. "It's been a while since I last saw you. I noticed your brother jumping high on that trampoline, that's really cool."

"Yeah, but also highly risky! He won't be doing anymore of that when I'm around. So what are you smiling about? Don't you have to move back to Finland sometime this month or the next?"

"It was a false alarm! My dad's company determining that it was the "wrong call" to fire him, and now he's back onboard. So now I can stay in this country and rejoin your band!"

"YAHOO!!!!!" Rachel cheers. Then she shows Sonja the Battle of the Bands flier.

Sonja reads the flier and says, "$50 to register for a Battle of the Bands? That seems quite pricy, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, that's why I have to be paid to babysit my brother, and I still don't have even close to enough for that fee."

"Hey, maybe I can help you out via busking."

"I don't know. I'm banned from busking after that incident, and Vanessa's foot still need to heal."

"True, but I can definitely impress any people passing by with my beautiful singing, so much so they'll have to pay me a lot!"

"I guess that can work. Thanks, Sonja!"

"Sure thing! When you don't have to watch your brother, come and listen to me some time!"

Once Ruby comes back home and pays Rachel, it's time for Rachel to head downtown and watch Sonja perform. Some of Sonja's favorite symphonic metal songs that she performed are "Canvas of Life" by Epica, "Nemo" by Nightwish, "Memories" by Within Temptation, and "My Immortal" by Evanescence. Indeed her vocals are so serene that she ends up earning a lot of money.

Now that Rachel and Sonja have enough money to register for the Battle of the Bands, they head to the community center to pay the fee. With that, DreamStars is ready for the Battle of the Bands. On their way back to their neighborhood, they discuss their plan for a month of the band practicing to prepare for the Battle of the Bands. However, they don't know that someone's been walking around, eavesdropping on their plan. It's the stealthy Julianne, thinking of a good plan for a wicked prank!

A couple weeks later, Vanessa's leg is fully healed, and the band can start practicing together again. Alongside the songs Sonja were singing while busking, the band was also covering "Swamped" by Lacuna Coil, "Let Go" from Piggy: Book 2, and "Bad Apple!!" by Alstroemeria Records, along with a few original songs. After a couple weeks of practice, they're ready for the Battle of the Bands!

At the competition, Rachel and her band are performing, with her family watching in the audience. But then Nate notices someone in the platform above the stage. It's Julianne, getting ready to dump 3 buckets of goulash, each on one of the 3 girls! Nate, remembering when he had to save Principal Nichols from Bentley (in The Legend of the Gunting), sprints up the stairs to the platform and confronts Julianne.

"You're not gonna ruin my daughter's moment of glory, young lady!" Nate yells as he grabs Julianne's wrists, like a cop apprehending a criminal.

During her struggle to get free, Julianne headbutts two of the buckets of goulash off the platform above Sonja and Vanessa. Fortunately, the goulash misses them, and they didn't notice. Julianne finally breaks free from Nate's grip and grabs the 3rd bucket, getting ready to dump it on Rachel. However, Nate tackles Julianne, causing the bucket of goulash to be flung upward in the air. Nate rolls out of the way as the goulash lands on Julianne, all over her face and clothes. She let out a loud ear-piercing shriek in disgust.

Nate lets out a quiet gasp. "Oh wow.... I actually fought a Godfrey... And I won! Who's the mighty one now, missy?!"

Julianne starts screaming at Nate, "YOU FREAKIN' FREAK JUST CAN'T EVER GET OUT OF MY WAY!!! YOU JUST CAN'T RESIST RUINING EVERYTHING, CAN YOU!?! YOU FREAKIN' FREAK!!!! WHEN WILL YOU LEARN!?!? WHEN WILL YOU LEARN NOT TO SCREW UP MY LIFE!?"

"Don't you talk to me like that, girl!" Nate yells back. "If you ever mess with me, my daughter, or her friends again, I'll make sure your parents, maybe even your Grandma Clara, find out about your bullying and punish you. God, it feels good saying my former social studies teacher's first name. Now get out of here! And take a shower at home, you have stinky cafeteria mush all over you."

Julianne, defeated and covered in mush, storms off in a huff.

Nate hears someone shout, "Hey, try not to make so much noise! I wanna hear this band perform."

Nate responds, "Sorry about that, it was- OH MY GOD! Teddy, Francis, is that you? I haven't seen you guys in so long!"

Nate rushes down the stairs, back to the crowd. That's right, it is Francis and Teddy, all grown up!

"It really is you guys!" Nate exclaims. "I thought I would never see you again."

"I know, right?" Francis replies. "When I saw the poster for the Battle of the Bands, I felt like watching it to bring back memories of our former band."

"Same here," Teddy says. "It's crazy how we all see each other for the first time in decades, right in the same place! Small world, am I right?"

"You know what, guys?" Nate asks. "I think since we had all the time away to let go of the earlier trauma, after my daughter Rachel and her band finish performing, then would be a great time for us to reform Enslave the Mollusk. What do you say?"

Without hesitation, Francis answers, "I'm up for it! Alongside my career as a mathematician, I've also spent some time as a underground rock guitarist. I even wrote a song in memory of my late girlfriend, titled 'Oh Sheila, My Sheila' that should be performed with a full band."

"I have a career as both a stand-up comedian and a mall piano player," Teddy explains. "So yeah, I can definitely join the band! The only thing I would ask you to do is change 'Enslave' to 'Fear'."

"Eh, I can live with that," Nate says.

When Rachel and her band finish performing, the host announces, "Thank you, DreamStars! Now let's all vote for who wins the-"

"Wait!" Nate interrupts. "My two reunited pals and I would like to make a last-minute registeration to the Battle of the Bands. Please? I'm the father of the DreamStars' keytarist!"

The host thinks for a moment and says, "OK, you guys are in, but the limit is 10 minutes, tops. Now do you have a lead vocalist?"

"Do we have a-" Teddy repeats then face-palms in realization. "ARRG! We forgot about a lead singer!"

Francis gasps. "Artur is still away in Belarus! Now who's gonna sing?!"

A voice behind them says, "I can." It's Ruby!

Nate is stunned. "Ruby???? I thought you were retired from your popstar days as Ruby Pink!"

"Yeah, but I decided to un-retire for this occasion," Ruby responds. "I can always be there to help, and a little more fame can't hurt me. I also brought my Ruby Pink outfit in my purse just in case."

"OK then, you're all in," The host says. "Now before you begin, what's your band's name?"

Nate thinks about what Teddy suggested and answers, "Fear the Mollusk."

After Ruby changes into her Ruby Pink outfit in the restroom, she, Nate, Francis, Teddy get on the stage. Nate uses Todd's drum kit, Francis uses Vanessa's guitar, Teddy uses a keyboard that one of the earlier bands had, and Ruby uses Rachel's keytar, all promising to return the instruments to their respective owners after the performance, and to buy their own with the prize money if they win it.

The 3 songs the band performed are Ruby Pink's one-hit-wonder "Sparkle With Me", Francis' song "Oh Sheila, My Sheila", and a classic from the band, "You're Never Alone in the Fitness Zone". Rachel is in the crowd with Maxwell, Vanessa, Sonja, and Todd, and she enjoys those songs so much, thinking Fear the Mollusk is way better than any of her favorite metal bands, and can possibly surpass her own band. If the studio versions of those songs come out, she would definitely want to hear them in a playlist.

After the performance was over, the host announces, "Thank you, Fear the Mollusk! Now let's all vote for who wins the Battle of the Bands! Anyone who likes DreamStars, raise your hands."

Everyone raises their hand except Rachel, Maxwell, Vanessa, Sonja, and Todd.

"OK, now anyone who likes Fear the Mollusk, raise your hands."

Everyone raises their hand INCLUDING Rachel, Maxwell, Vanessa, Sonja, and Todd.

"All right, then congratulations, Fear the Mollusk! You win $50,000!!!!!"

Everyone starts cheering, especially Rachel, Maxwell, Vanessa, Sonja, and Todd.

So the band that Nate, Francis, and Teddy started, Fear the Mollusk has officially reunited, with Ruby Pink as their lead singer. The band returned the instruments to their respective owners and spent part of the winning money on new instruments that they can use as their own. They also recorded the songs they performed professionally in a rented studio as a demo EP, which Nate gave a copy of to Rachel.

Rachel cries tears of joy when she receives her copy of the EP. "Dad... Thank you...."

"No, thank you!" Nate responds. "I finally get to play again!"

The band members continue raising their respective children and having their usual jobs while keeping the band alive, and whenever Nate and Ruby are both out, Rachel babysits Maxwell and has her usual pay for doing so. She even lets him listen to her band perform, but not the bands she listens to. Ellen finds Gordie and they both starting date. It should also be noted that Todd is Gordie's nephew. Vanessa and Todd's relationship is stabilized. Then Rachel and her friends start high school quite smoothly, because of how much praise they're getting as a band, with requests for some DreamStars shows, and because Julianne is too scared to bully them anymore. Rachel will definitely survive high school with her parents' music and great friends. An exciting new era for her awaits!

THE END!!!