Morning After — BDE Hotel Suite, Makati
Gold drapes, cold breakfast.
Big D sat by the window, phone in hand, replaying the same clip—
Lamel sliding, Lars gliding, the crowd screaming.
Every replay ended the same way: laughter.
Zo stood behind him, suitcase packed.
Rico leaned against the wall, hood down.
No one spoke first.
Finally, Big D chuckled—soft, almost proud.
Big D: "You hear that sound?
That's the world still talkin'.
Long as they talkin', we ain't dead yet."
Lamel winced.
Lamel: "They're not talkin' good, Pop."
Big D: "They talkin'. You learn from the bad, son.
You let it sharpen you."
He set the phone down and sighed.
For once, his voice dropped lower than the cameras ever caught.
Big D: "I started this brand 'cause nobody wanted to believe in us.
Thought if I made it loud enough, they'd have to listen.
Maybe I got stuck in the volume."
Rico looked up.
Rico: "You meant well, Dad."
Big D: "I meant love.
But love gets messy when it's scared."
He turned to his sons.
Big D: "You don't owe me a show.
You owe me honesty.
If ball ain't it—find what is.
Just don't stop workin'."
Rico nodded, quiet.
Rico: "Already did."
Big D: "Good. Then finish it."
Montage — Across Manila
Music — soft piano beat, low bass.
– Lamel alone in the practice gym, replaying Lars's move, slipping once, then nailing it clean.
He laughs at himself.
He posts the clip: "Lesson learned. Respect to Flowstate."
– Zo in a barangay court, teaching kids to box out with empty plastic bottles as cones.
No cameras.
Just sunlight.
– Big D packing merch boxes himself, no crew, no speech.
A note inside each box reads: "Keep Dribblin', Stay Kind."
Flowstate Dorm — Same Day
Phones buzz again—
but this time it's messages, not memes.
"Respect."
"That crossover was art."
"Lamel owned up."
Renz grinned at the screen.
Renz: "Guess we flipped the algorithm."
Coach Alvarez smiled faintly.
Coach Alvarez: "Didn't flip it.
Just reminded it what rhythm sounds like."
Thea looked up from her laptop.
Thea: "BDE just posted a collab invite.
Exhibition tour — 'No Losers, Just Learners.'"
Bornok laughed.
Bornok: "He really called it that?"
Thea: "He really did."
Night — Harbor Drive
The city hummed soft and clean again.
A breeze carried the sound of a street band covering Rico's new track, "Silence."
No branding, no sponsor—just a verse about rhythm, balance, and second chances.
Rico's voice played through a cracked speaker:
"It ain't the fall that made the noise,
It's standin' back up quiet."
Big D listened from a car window, smiling.
Big D: "That's my boy.
Didn't build an empire...
but built a heartbeat."
He rolled the window up.
Rain tapped in time with the beat.
Final Scene — Flowstate Gym, Cubao
Renz, Bornok, and Lars running drills.
Teo watching from half court.
Coach Alvarez fixing the old banner on the wall.
Thea writing stats in pen again.
A single ball bounced to Rico standing by the door.
He caught it, spun it once, and smiled.
Rico: "Mind if I run with you?"
Renz: "Only if you keep it quiet."
Rico: "Promise."
The camera pulled back—
old gym, new energy, same beat.
END OF PART VII — "ECHOES."
(Next — Final Epilogue: "The Sound That Stayed.")