Becoming NeAccapella

     “I guess,” Darling said, biting their hoof in anticipation, “I just...This is the first time I’ve ever gotten a chance to see them in person, let alone perform for them.” Gryffon nodded, “And we’re gonna be with you every step of the way. Okay?” Darling hesitated for a minute, then nodded and replied, “Ok...I feel a little better.” “That’s the spirit, DD!” Gryffon replied, then as she got up she announced, “Alrighty! Now let’s all rest up because tomorrow is the big day!” They all said ok and went off to bed. That night, Darling had trouble sleeping, as they kept tossing and turning like crazy. Their Babaa, Cozy, went to comfort them by snuggling next to him. Darling smiled, their tension starting to lower a little, “Thanks Cozy.” They then looked at their Babaa and whispered, “Oh Cozy, I’m just so nervous, but at the same time very Very excited! I get to sing in front of my all-time favourite boy band ever! I rarely get that opportunity to be up close and personal with them.” Cosy bleated in reply, leaving Darling chuckling, “I know, my fluffy little cutie! I know tomorrow will be great!” They snuggled with their Petpet and, slowly but surely, went to sleep.

     It was the very early morning of the competition, and every one of the Fantasian family woke up early, getting ready for their big day! Charles was coming to his mane in the bathroom, Jay was warming his vocals, Gryffon brushed her bang, and her fluff, Blazer was stretching his mouth for the song, and Darling was in the kitchen making everyone’s breakfast while warming their vocals. They all gathered around at their dining table when breakfast was served and sat down, discussing the big day. “Well everyone,” Gryffon announced to her family, “Today’s the big day! Are we all ready for the competition?” Everyone at the table nodded as they were eating, and she nodded too, continuing, “Good. so in 30 minutes, we’ll head to the radio station and get in line for the audition.” She then looked to Blazer, “You have our chairs, just in case we need to rest our legs while waiting?” Blazer pointed to five coloured lawn chairs, “Right here, big sis.” “Good,” Gryffon replied, then turned to the second youngest, “Jay? You have the music?” “Yep,” Jay replied, “I arranged the notes all myself.” Gryffon nodded, “Awesome!” Then she turned to Charles, “Charles? You got all the things to entertain ourselves while we wait?” Charles pointed to their small toys, Charles’ video game system with portable screen, and Blazer’s choco violin, “Even got the bags just in case we go in the studio.” “And I got snacks as well,” Darling said, holding up five bags of snacks, “for when we finish with our song.”

     Gryffon nodded and replied, “Great! We’re all set! Now after we finish eating, we get dressed and go straight to the station. We have to be there early so that we don’t wait too long.” “Or be the last one there,” Darling added, “That is when they decide to leave.” Gryffon nodded, “Right. Just enough time for us to go in there, do our thing, meet with M*YNCI, then go. Okay?” They all said “Right.” and then finished eating their breakfast, which wasn’t as big as they usually get because they don’t want to feel bloated going there to sing. As soon as they finish, they put their plates away and start getting ready to go to the contest. Exactly 30 minutes later, everyone is at the door, doing a quick stock check, saying goodbye to their Petpets, and are out the door to go to the radio station. An hour later, they show up at a big radio studio at the Neopian Plaza, the label NCent 103.6 right on the top. They are also greeted with a seemingly long line, but not too long as the shortest line is near the door. Gryffon turns to her siblings, who seem nervous, “See? Told you it wouldn't be so bad.” She then turns back to the station and says, “Now all we have to do is wait.” More Neopians entering the contest show up as time passes by, warming up their voices and practising their choice of song. By the time they reach the door, they could hear a group of Neopians before them finishing the song, ‘Music of My Heart,’ very beautifully. This made Darling very anxious, looking at their medley paper and tearing up just a bit.

     Gryffon sees this and puts her paw over their shoulder, whispering, “Hey. It's alright. We’re gonna do great!” Darling looked up at their big sister and whispered back, “I hope so...We worked so hard on this, I just don’t want them to think we’re unoriginal.” “It will be fine,” Gryffon whispered, “We’ll go in there and show them who we are.” Darling nodded and replied, “Ok.” The group before them, which are a trio of Zafara brothers: one striped, one biscuit, and one pink, all go out the exit door, smiling and happily chuckling because they just finished a song that they have loved since forever. The producer who was standing near the door, who was a female spotted Techo, looked at all five of them and said, “Are you the next group up?” When Gryffon replied yes to her, the producer said, “Alrighty. Right this way please.” The producer leads them into the studio, where five microphones were placed, three at the top, and two at the bottom, with both chairs in front.

     They go in and right behind the screen they see not only their favourite radio talk show host, Bennis JJ the Tyrannian Grarrl, but also the whole crew of M*YNCI behind him. Bennis pressed a button on the mixing machine to speak to them, “Hey hey hey, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to 103.6! What are your names and where are you from?” First Gryffon went, “Gryffon Majesty,” then Darling, who was still a bit nervous, “Darling Dash,” then Charles, “Charles Charmin’ sir,” then Jay, “Jay Bass,” and finally Blazer, “Beat Box Blazer, and we are from right here in Neopia Central” His sibling’s eyes went over to him as he said this, then Bennis chuckled and replied, “Alright Alright, good to see some local pets here in the studio, Fyora know we needed it.” Everyone in the producers' lounge laughed, while the family chuckled nervously, “Now let's see what you got for us today!” Darling gulped, seeing that their favourite boy band was right there in front of them, but then took a deep breath and exhaled to calm down, as the rest of their siblings did, and then got to do their medley.

     As they were doing the medley, everyone in the producers' lounge were nodding their heads, very interested in what they were doing, Even the producer was liking their medley. By the time that they were done, everyone in the lounge was clapping for them, and Bennis exclaimed, “Y’all, I am just BEYOND stunned. No one in the history of Neopia could ever do what you guys did just now! Y’all straight up nailed it!” Every one of the siblings were overcome with joy, and then Joey, one of the boys in M*YNCI, came up to the mic and replied, “You guys, if we could we should have you guys singing with us at our next concert!” Then Lance came to the mic and said, “Too true! I never heard anyone who can go as low as you can with the double bass,” mentioning Jay, “You rock!” Then Justin, the tenor of the group, came to the mic and spoke, “In all honesty, I say that angelic voice over there,” he points to Darling, “should be the one leading. I see you in almost every one of our concerts in the front row. You have an amazing voice.” Darling couldn’t help but fawn silently at Justin’s response since that IS their celebrity crush. Benny clapped his hands and said, “Alrighty, we have a lot more contestants to enter, but thank y’all so much for that outstanding acapella session, especially that vocal percussionist with the stars,” mentioning Blazer, “You literally put the beatbox in Beat Box Blazer with your skills, my man!” He then waves to them as they walk out the door and says, “Alright now, see y’all soon!”

     When the family left out, everyone sighed of relief, including Darling, who nearly fainted, and Charles caught them. “Oh..My...Fyora..” Darling said, out of breath, “I can’t believe it! We just got praised by M*YNCI themselves!!” Gryffon added, “Not only from them but also Bennis JJ, the hottest radio host of Neopia Central!” “See Double D?” Charles said to his big brother, “We told you that it was gonna hit good!” Just then, the producer lady stepped out and asked, “Pardon me for asking, but what was your group name? They were wondering who you were because they needed to write it down..” Everyone looked at each other in confusion. They were so focused on doing the performance, they didn’t even come up with a group name. But, being the musically inclined brother that he is, Jay stepped up and told her, “We’re NeAcapella.” “NeAcapella?” the producer asked, “Is that the name you’re going for?” Everyone looked at each other for a moment, murmured in agreeance, and then Darling said, “That’s what we’re sticking with, ma’am.” The producer nodded, “Ok, then. I will let them know.” She then walked back into the studio, everyone who was behind the family had their jaws drop right in front of them. The family then decide to exit, Blazer telling the next singer after them, who appears to be a male camouflage Jetsam, “Good luck!” before they close the exit door.

     The next day, Darling turns on the radio in the kitchen, and everyone gathers around the radio for the announcement of the winners for the contest. “Hey hey hey NC, Its ya boy Bennis JJ here with NCent 103.6,” Bennis announced on the radio, “Welcome to another day in the Neopian sunshine as it is another beautiful afternoon in Neopia Central!” As Bennis continued, everyone in the house waited patiently for the big announcement, “Now if you hadn’t heard all you M*YNCI fans, there was a special contest hosted by the very talented boy band in Neopia (and about the only boy band in Neopia) to see if you had the talent to wow the boys into performing for your part of the world other than in the Tyrannian Plateau-” Suddenly there was a knock at the door as Bennis was refreshing listeners about the contest and the awards, and Gryffon exclaimed to whoever was at the door, “It’s Open!” Dashie, the now Mystery Island painted Pteri, and Zach the red Zafara, entered the door. “Yo! What’s good everybody?” Dashie exclaimed, “What’s everyone doing at the radio?” Charles turned to his best friend, “Oh hey, what’s good bruh! We just waitin’ for the winners o’ dis contest we entered in.” Darling shushed the both of them as the announcement was coming on, “Quiet! It's starting!” Just then, Bennis began to announce, “Alright y’all! Here are the runner-ups for this contest. The third runner-up for the M*YNCI contest will be playing right now.”

     Everyone listens in anticipation as the first song of the contest is played, which is the cover of ‘Music of My Heart.’ When the cover of the song ended, Bennis spoke, “Yes sir, this talented young male, who goes by the name Whittaker Pine, a woodland Lenny with a clear passion for singing, sang his heart out on this song!” Some of the family had tears in their eyes as they listened, “He told us that his mom inspired him to sing this song as she has gone on to a better place, Fyora rest her soul. Thank you for participating, Whittaker, we will send you the 5,000 neopoints to have with you! Have a wonderful afternoon, son! Now!” Everyone wiped their tears as they gathered around the radio again for the next runner-up to be announced, “This next runner-up will leave you wanting to slow jam with your partner, doesn't matter who, just give this a good listen!” The next song they heard was a female doing a cover for ‘This I Promise You,’ which Darling sunk their head in, uttering, “I knew it!” under their breath. Gryffon pats Darling’s back and tells them, “It's ok. You knew someone was going to pick this song, so you don’t need to worry about it.” Darling looked up to their big sister and replied, “Yeah. I guess so.” As they listened, Zach was holding his blue Bori stuffie, as if he was holding the partner of his dreams. By the time the cover ended, Bennis came back on, “Yes sir, this female Cloud Usul named Sarah Boriales, definitely picked the right song for her. She sang this as a shoutout to her partner for life Maywether Bay, so Mayweather, if you’re hearing this, the love of your life just won you 10,000 neopoints and a trip to M*YNCI’s next concert after their performance at the winner’s area.”

     Everyone was sitting down near the radio, waiting patiently on the last runner-up to play when Bennis came back on, “Alrighty, here are your second-place winners playing right now on NCent 103.6.” The next song played is the cover of ‘Gone’ sung by what sounded like an all-male group, but it only had four males. Darling smoothed their mane with both their hooves in anxiety as they hear this, not knowing if the family had done enough to hear their voices on the radio yet. Everyone else waited nervously when the song ended for Bennis to announce the winners as he spoke, “Haha, yes sir yes sir, these four males known as the Sennec Brothers: Vincent, Josh, Keenan, and Xavier all got to do this piece because it was a rendition of what used to be their basic love lives now gone from them. Now these Gelert brothers sang their song and got 100,000 neopoints, and exclusive VIP passes towards a single luxury booth sitting atop the balcony of their concert after the winner’s performance. Speaking of which, I am about to put on what I call an original, most insane thing you will ever hear ladies and gentlemen!”

     Everyone leaned in as he was about to play the winners' voices on the radio, nervously fidgeting around. Then it happened. With a shocked and excited look on everyone’s face, their medley was played! Everyone in the house shouted for joy as they heard their song on the radio, indicating that they were the winners of the contest! Darling yelled at the top of their lungs, “WE WON!!! WE FLIPPING WON!!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!!” Dashie was just as excited as every one of the Fantasian family, “Yo! This is the next level of craziness here, man!!” “I know, man!” Charles exclaimed to his best friend, “I can’t believe we actually won this!!!” When their medley ended, everyone then stopped cheering as Darling shouted, “Alright alright! Quiet! We’re about to see what we won!” They all listened in as Bennis announced, “Man I tell you, even M*YNCI was impressed by this group of siblings known as NeAcapella, which is composed of one girl and four boys, the sister Gryffon Majesty being the oldest, The brothers being Darling Dash, who I thought was a girl at first, but hey, no judgement here with that angelic voice they had, Charles Charming, who is indeed quite the charming face of the group, Jay Bass, who has the same last name as Lance, yet I’m surprised they aren’t even related!” Everyone laughed, then silenced themselves as Bennis continued, “And finally the young Acara who put the beatbox in Beat Box Blazer, no seriously, that’s his name!”

     They all were so giddy with excitement that Bennis mentioned everyone in the house that performed their original medley of songs, then they listened back to the radio when Bennis continued, “Yes sir, they were all like, ‘Why just one song when you can do them all at once?’ as these talented young singers sung a medley of M*YNCI’s Top Songs on the charts from their greatest hits album. NeAcapella, get ready to have your minds blown away because not only will you get 500,000 neopoints and have them perform for you here in Neopia Central, which is on the 25th day of awakening which is their free day from the Tyrannian Concert Hall, but the boy band would like you to start their concert as special guests with that exact medley!” Darling fainted as they heard this, having Charles, Dashie and Zach all catch them at once, then Bennis continued, “I know y’all are gonna go places someday with your talents, and I hope you do! Because I want you guys to come back soon here on NCent 103.6.” Darling came to when Bennis finished off the announcement, “Alright y’all, it’s back to our local radio time now. But before I sign out, I want to thank all y’all for participating, y’all had some amazing singing voices, and I also want to thank M*YNCI for joining us in the studio, very happy to have you here with us at the station this week!” Bennis then ended with his signature line: “And we’ll see y’all later On NCent 103.6: Home of Neopia Central’s hottest hits! Peace out from Ya boi, Big Benn! Have a good day everyone, and it's back to your regular music station!” Every one of the Fantasian family was elated as the news of their success aired throughout all of Neopia Central’s famous radio stations as they shouted for joy when the speaker signed off. When Darling came to after fainting, they were beyond dazed but were still overjoyed about the exciting news.

     They stammered a bit as they spoke, “I...I can’t believe we did it! We actually won the contest!!” “I know, right??” Gryffon said, overjoyed as well, “Now we finally get to showcase our talent to all the Neopians all across Neopia!” Charles budded in, “We’d even have our own day to perform at the Tyrannian Concert Hall!!” Gryffon looked over at her younger Ogrin brother with excitement as she agreed with him, “That’s right! Neopians from all over flock there to see good music!” Darling then spoke out, “Well what are we standing around for? Let's get to practising for the big day!” Every one of the Fantasian Residence nodded as they went to the practise room, then Darling turned to Dashie and Zach, “Zachy~? Can you make posters for us to let everyone in Neopia Central know we’re performing for M*YNCI?” Zach chuckled at the nickname Darling gave him and replied, “Sure thing, D! I'll get started right away!"

     The End.