03x15: Further Acceptance

Austin goes out witht he Patola family, also taking out the Anonymous for a test drive. He also announces his plan about starting a team.

FURTHER ACCEPTANCE

 

     “Stupid! Stupid! You’re a stupid coward!”

     Austin was shouting at himself a few hours after arriving from yesterday.

     “You know nothing about love, or making girls feel good. You’re a retard! You had a chance and you blew it!”

     He sat down on the bed.

     “Okay. Pssh… Calm down… It’s okay. She likes you, you like her. You care for her. It’s all good. Those b******s will get their karma; you’ll have your happy ending. This is…”

     Austin dropped into a lying position.

     “Pointless, I gotta wake up early tomorrow.”

   

The next day, Austin went to the base when he woke up, which was around 7:30 in the morning.

     He went the basement and started manipulating one of the walls. He was making a passageway from the basement to the outside world.

     He worked on it for a while, using his metal manipulation powers, and finished around an hour later.

     He took out the Anonymous and started it up like a normal car. He didn’t use any of his powers.

     He drove it to the trigger platform and the opening he installed opened.

     “Stage One, Check.”

     He drove into the opening and the sides took hold of the car. He stepped on the gas and the car moved forward the path, which was shaped like an upward spiral.

     “Stage Two, Check.”

     He kept driving until the final part where he passed another trigger platform. The opening at the end opened up and the side supports let go, sending Austin and the Anonymous to the outside world.

     “Stage Three, Check. Success. Alright, time to go to Rica’s house and get this party started.”

     Austin switched to Space Manipulation and held the Power Shift (The bar that you needed to hold for the car to absorb your powers) and put it in the space loop.

     It was the most fun experience he had driving, which he didn’t have that many of. He went to ESS in the city and went out of the Space Loop.

     He activated the cloaking device, disguising the futuristic design of the Anonymous into a Honda City and making it look like an adult is driving from the outside.

     He drove over to Rica’s house and parked in the alley near their house.

     He stepped out and locked the car (using his ID, which the car scanned and locked when he closed the door.)

     He rang her doorbell and she told him to go in. Kyle was already there.

     “Hey, Austin,” Kyle said.

     “Hey, guess what?”

     “What?”

     “I brought the Anonymous with me.”

     “What?”

     “The car.”

     “Oh! Are we gonna ride it?”
     “Yes we are. It’s got a cloaking device that makes it look like it’s a normal car and that an adult is driving. I also have a fake driver’s license and I can just morph into the person on it.”

     “This is illegal, isn’t it?”

     “Well, technically, our very presence in here is illegal,” Rica said.

     “Point taken,” Kyle replied.

     Someone rang the doorbell after this.

     “GUYS! HURRY UP! IT’S HOT OUT HERE!” Mo-on yelled.

     Rica used her psychic powers to open the door and let Mo-on inside.

     “Why are you all wet? You look like you went through a rainstorm!” Austin asked.

     “I walked…”

     The three of them just looked at Mo-on in awe.

     “I used the portals in the basement but I walked all the way from the tenth floor, to the basement, using the stairs, to the school portal, to here. The sun was shining very brightly.”

     “I never took you for the exercise type,” Austin said.

     “Oh yeah, Kyle, this is Mo-on. Mo-on, this is Kyle.”

     “Hello,” Kyle said.

     “Hi. So… do you mind if I change my shirt in your bathroom?”

     “Yes I do,’ Rica said. “Kidding! Go ahead.”
     Mo-on went in her bathroom and changed.

     Rica told them to transfer to the other room (the same room they were in last August 26) while they waited for Justine.

     Eventually, Justine did arrive and they were set but Justin wanted to check some things out on Facebook first.

     “So you’re the admin for Oreo’s fanpage!” Austin said.

     “Yeah!” Justin replied.

     “Why do you keep on looking at p*****s?” Kyle asked.

     “What?!”

     “Cats… P***y cats.”

     “Kyle, you pervert,” Rica said.

     “Did I mention your socks are branded ‘Dickies’?”

     “Where’s Berna when you need her?” Austin said.

     “Oh, she and Nica will go straight to the mall,” Rica said.

     “Rica even has a stuffed toy shaped like a bird. Get it? Birdie?”
     “Kyle, are you drunk?” Austin asked.

     “What? I guess my leader complex last year caused me to miss being a carefree�"“

     “Pervert?”

     “Hey, look who’s talking. You haven’t accessed that side of you in years!”

     “Oh, Kyle, A few weeks back, I took my guitar to the canteen and sang a song about balls. Ask Ernst.”
     He did, he only didn’t think it was worth mentioning here until now.

     “Look, there’s a pillow shaped like a bone. I guess you of all people should know where I’m going?”

     “Boner?”

     “Exactly.”
     “Are you guys going to talk about this all day cause I really want to get going in Austin’s new car,” Mo-on said.

     “Right. Justin, finish up your update on the p***y fanpage and let’s go,” Austin said.

     “I am so telling Berna about this,” Justin said.

     “Hey, that was Austin!” Kyle said.

     “You started it.”
     “Hey, guys, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” Austin said.

     “But we’re not in Vegas!”

     “We’re in my house, that’s better than Vegas!” Rica said.

     They walked out to the Anonymous.

     “Why is it called the Anonymous?” Rica asked.

     “Well, first of all, I couldn’t think of a name and ‘the Nameless’ sounded retarded.”

     “I agree,” Kyle said.

     “So I chose ‘The Anonymous’ instead since it sounded cooler.”

     “Oh…”

     “Another reason came after I named it. It is a master of disguise so you wouldn’t know that it was the same car unless you saw me change it into another model. I can also change its size so I can turn it into a van, literally.”

     “Can you right now?” Mo-on said.

     “Sure!”

     Austin unlocked the car (using his ID again) and changed the cloaking settings. It was now a van.

     “Okay, let’s get in,” Austin said.

     “Dibs on shotgun!” Kyle said.

     “You should totally ride b***h!” Austin said. “Kidding!”

     Kyle sat shotgun and Austin took the driver’s seat.

     “Can we leave the door here open?” Rica asked.

     “Sure, we’re cloaked so they’ll see you, Kyle, and a polished twenty-something man on the driving seat,” Austin said.

     Austin backed up the car and drove to SM Southmall.

     Mo-on said hello to random people on the road and on the street. Everyone was laughing at his random comments. He randomly shouted “VOTE KYLE GOMEZ FOR PRESIDENT!” once. It was epic.

     They arrived and some guy gave Justin flyers for a fitness program. Mo-on decided to put it to good use by displaying it in front of McDonalds, presumably pissing off a few loyal patrons.

     After this, they went straight to the cinema area on the top floor.

     Rica was on her phone. After she put it down, Austin asked her in false hopes.

     “Who was that?”
     “Nica. Why?”
     “Oh… no reason…”

     Justin knew. She definitely knew.

     After a while, Nica finally arrived with Berna.

     “Hey, Berna. Long time no see!” Rica said.

     “Yeah…” Kyle said.

     “So, how’s Woodridge?” Austin asked.

     “It’s fine, we checked it out one morning and no one was there. That place is definitely deserted. We didn’t even find the remains of the power sap chamber.”

     “That place is a friggin maze anyway.”

     “So, what about Mitzi?” Rica asked.

     “Mitzi’s going to be here?” Kyle said.

     Mitzi was from all the way back to Albay, Grade 6. She was the “father” of the Patola Family.

     “So… Berna… what about Janella? Did she say anything about coming?” Austin asked.

     “No she didn’t. She volunteered to stay and watch.”

     “Aww… someone’s missing someone else…” Nica said.

     “The place is deserted! Why is she staying to watch?!”

     “Hey guys!”

     “HI MITZI!” Rica said.

     They all went behind Austin to greet Mitzi. Austin turned around.

     “Hey, long time no see,” Austin said to Mitzi.

     “I know right?”

     “Hey, let’s pull a prank on the ticket booth. There’s strength in numbers, right?” Rica said.

     “Everyone give me your money, I’ll buy the tickets and I’ll stay at the back. Let’s all line up. When you get to the counter, stay for a second with a blank expression on your face and walk out. When it reaches me, I’ll buy the tickets,” Mo-on said.

     They lined up and performed the prank. It ended well with hilarious results.

      They went in the theatre. Austin sat beside Mo-on who sat beside Rica who sat beside Justin beside Berna beside Kyle (obviously) beside Mitzi beside Nica.

     They had a lot of laughs during the movie and it was one of the best movie experiences Austin ever had since he was with friends.

     During the movie, Janella texted Austin again after what seemed like a lifetime.

     “Hi. Whatcha doin'?”

     Austin was overjoyed at this.

     “We’re watching the movie. I miss you…”

     “Haha. Sorry I wasn’t able to go with you guys. I’m just resting. Can you tell the others that I’m sorry?”

     “It’s okay. There’s always a next time. And yeah, I’ll tell them.”
     She didn’t reply after that.

     After the movie, they walked around the mall a bit, taking pictures. After that, they went to Storyland, a small amusement park in the mall.

     “Patola tradition is just a coaster ride then bumper cars,” Rica said.

     “Let’s ride the coaster first,” Nica said.

     They went the coaster and waited for their turn. Kyle sat beside Berna, Austin sat beside Mo-on, Rica sat beside Nica, and Mitzi sat beside Justin.

     It was a pretty tame coaster but it was fun nonetheless, especially at one point where they were in a dark tunnel and there were STARS everywhere.

     “You know, Owen, right Kyle?”
     “Yeah.”

     “Well, if you see him, mention ‘STARS!’. I swear, it’ll be awesome.”
     Speak of the devil, Owen walked past them along with Sean, Jasvir, Justine, Addi, Rudi-Anne, and some other guys

     “STARS!” Kyle yelled at Owen. He didn’t mind him. “Wouldn’t that be awkward? He’d be thinking like, ‘Who the hell is this guy?’ Haha.”

     They stood in line for the bumper cars. Kyle and Berna sat it out, however, instead deciding to just talk. It was another fun ride

     They went out and the guys with Owen recognized them.

     “Hey, Austin!” Sean said.

     “Sean, nice to see you over the… well it’s not the weekend.”

     “Yeah.”

     “And Jasvir too!”

     Jasvir gave Austin a high five.

     “And of course, Owen!”

     Owen gave Austin a fist bump.

     “Anyway, we gotta split,” Austin said.

     Berna stayed awhile, talking to Rudi-Anne. Austin walked out of the waiting line (there were very few other people there).

    

After this, they went for some McDonalds. Austin sat with Justin, Kyle, and Berna. He ordered a burger with a regular coke and fries. The guys on the other table ordered coke floats. Even Berna ordered one. It then came to Austin’s realization that he never had a coke float yet.

     He told the people at his table about all the stuff that happened when she was gone. Basically, a lot of these stories involved Ernst.

     “And he licks the straw. I didn’t witness it myself but, damn, if I did, I would have caught it on video and posted it on YouTube!”

     “Didn’t you?” Justin asked.

     “I was a psychopathic psycho ravaging the streets of wherever. I’m sorry, bad time reminisce bad memories, eh?”
     “Agreed,” Berna said.

     Unfortunately, there was a lot of awkward air between Berna and Kyle here. Mo-on noticed this, even after only a few hours of knowing Kyle.

     “Come on, you two. You rarely see each other!” he said.

     “Trust me, they’ll be seeing a lot of each other,’ Austin said. “Guys, I would like to announce that I am once again, forming a team. It’s just in case.”

     “We can’t name it the ASG since we’re not searching for you,” Kyle said.

     “Any suggestions?”
     “The Anonymous Group,” Kyle said.

     “Any good suggestions?” Austin said.

     “Ouch, Austin, haha.”
     “Shall I tell the story about the Dickies and the Bone Pillows?”

     “No you shall not.”

     “It was a fascinating story, Berna, you should hear it sometime,” Justin said.

     “The Z-Men. It’s like X-Men only two letters forward!” Kyle said.

     “No, Kyle.”

     “Let’s think of a name later. Who are the members?” Berna said.

     “Good idea. Well, for starters, you guys!”

     “I’m in!” Mo-on said. “I want to give Barrage a good beating for what he did to me.”

     “So am I,” Nica said. “I missed out on all the action last year, this year I’m gonna make up for what I’ve done.”

     “I’m in, in case you need more psychics,” Rica said.

     “Of course we’re in,” Berna said, referring to her and Kyle.

     “Justin?”

     “Sure, why not?”

     “Mitzi?”
     “Sorry guys, first of all, I’m too long distance and I’m not trained in combat.”

     “We’ll train you,” Kyle said.

     “Next, my power’s kinda weak.”
     “Turning 2D figures into 3D. That saved our asses last year!” Kyle said.

     “And I don’t even know what we’re fighting against.”

     “First and foremost, the Mastermind. His plan is to kill Austin, get all the sweet stuff from his brain to maximize his psychic powers and sink the island, killing us all. Next, he will rebuild the planet the rocks came from and make conditions here unbearable, forced everyone to migrate to the new planet. He’ll then self-destruct the entire planet, executing the largest mass genocide of all time.”

     “Damn, that’s not even possible! At least not scientifically possible,” Mitzi said.

     “Wait, Austin, you never even went into this much detail before!” Berna said.

     “It’s about time. He’s building an army, one he can control completely. Barrage and his buddies? They’re just rebel pawns who want their lives to go back to normal. Apparently, my little… accident…”

     Austin felt that painful feeling of regret again. He put himself back together.

     “Back to what I was saying, they might be planning to avenge his death as a side dish to getting back normal. Maybe, they’ll just be curing the restraints the Mastermind put on them to make them free from his control.”

     “So what are they attacking us for?” Berna asked.

     “My best guess would be for diversion. Look, I snuck back into their base and arranged a meeting with Erika Sanchez, Accel’s sister.”

     “You what?!” Kyle said.

     “It’s next week. I took your suggestion and decided to offer help in exchange for information. When I spied on them, she appeared to be the most level headed. And she’s like fifteen so…”

     “Wait, you said she got money for Decel’s funeral but she can’t have a job?”

     “I guess she stole it or something. The point is, she’s the youngest one and will most likely be the easiest one to talk to.”

     “She’s still older than you,” Nica said.

     “I need to get as much info as I can, alright?”

     “Tom’s World?” Rica asked.

     “Agreed,” Nica said.

     “So Mitzi, final decision?” Austin asked.

     “I’ll think about it.”

         

They went to Tom’s World, an arcade and Austin tried to win a prize for Janella in the skill crane.

     He kept failing, spending a lot of his hard earned cash.

     “Why don’t you just psychic it up?” Mo-on said.

     “I have this anti-power clause when it comes to anything involving my relationship with Janella.”

     “Oh, so you’re winning a prize for Janella, eh?”
     “Yup.”
     Austin couldn’t win at the game and looked for another option. Then he saw it: Skee Ball.

     He tried playing Skee Ball and wasn’t very good at it at first but got a bit better after time. After a while, he was really racking in the tickets.

     He saw Kyle winning a prize from the Skill Crane and giving it to Berna.

     Everyone put their tickets in the Patola fund. Austin didn’t get to get Janella a prize and only now did it sink in that she wasn’t with them.

    

They walked out of Tom’s World and Mo-on and Rica noticed this.

     “Hey, what’s wrong?” Mo-on said.

     “I just realized..., I mean fully realized, that Janella isn’t with us...”
     “Oh…”

     “I wanna bring her something, you know?”

     Mo-on told Rica and she stepped to Austin’s other side and spoke.

     “Austin, you aren’t leaving here without a gift to Janella. Guys, we’ll meet you at National Bookstore. Austin, Mo-on let’s go.”

     They went the bottom floor. Austin was low on money so he had to buy something here. Still, nothing.

     Ironically, he was sadder now than he was when he was rejected by Justin and Abi or losing his regular ranking in Math and Mo-on and Rica didn’t tell him not to cry. He wasn’t on the verge of tears or anything but still, it was a good time to lighten the mood a little.

     They went to National Bookstore. They looked around a bit and decided to leave.

     “Well guys, gotta get back Woodridge, bye,” Berna said.

     “Me too, gotta split,” Mitzi said.

     “No worries, I’ll drive you guys,” Austin said. “But first…”

     Austin rushed into McDonald’s and bought a Coke Float. He signaled them to follow him.

    “You really bought a float, eh?” Kyle said.

     “Hey, the Anonymous has cup holders too, ya know.”

     Austin switched to darkness control and shrouded the Anonymous in darkness. He switched the cloaking setting off but still retained the van shape. He also changed the color to black for better disguise.

     “Now you get to see the real interior of the Anonymous,” Austin said.

     “Wow,” they all said simultaneously except for Kyle, since he already saw it.

     Kyle and Berna sat at the back and Mo-on, Rica, Nica, Justin, and Mitzi sat in the middle.

     “There are two seats in front. Anyone wanna sit double shotgun?”

     “Nah, we’re royalty. Can you make this a limo?” Rica said.

     “Yeah but not here! Anyway, Rica, where to?”

    “My house.”

     “Mitzi?”

     “Just drop me off at,”

     “I can put in the address in the GPS locator.”

     “Okay then.”

     Mitzi put in her address in the GPS locator and Austin took note.

     “Berna goes to Woodridge. Hey, is it okay if you go last? I wanna talk to Janella and it might take a while.”

     “Sure, no problem.”

     Cue Screech Tease, most of it from Nica.

     “Nica?”

     “Island.”
     “Everyone else to the island?”

     “Yup,” Kyle, Mo-on, and Justin said.

     “Okay, we’re all set.”

     Austin switched to Space Manipulation and put them in the Space Loop. The shroud of darkness disappeared as they took off.

     He stopped in front of Mitzi’s house and dropped her off. He went back in the space loop and stopped at Rica’s house. He dropped her off. Back in the space loop and they ended up on the Island.

     “Kyle, aren’t you gonna go down?” Austin asked when he refused to go.

     “I’m gonna go with Berna.”

     “Okay then.”

     “Have fun you three! Give my regards to Janella!” Nica said.

     “Don’t worry, I will,” Austin said.

     Nica laughed hard as Austin closed the doors and Austin went back in the space loop.

     “You do know that didn’t come out quite right, right?” Kyle said.

     “What do you mean?”

     They arrived at Woodridge and Austin switched to Darkness Manipulation. He shrouded the car in darkness until they were in front of their building.

     Austin took off the shroud and parked the car. They went to the elevator and took it to the second floor. Berna knocked on the door and Janella answered.

     “I am impressed that they can fit this all in the second floor,” Kyle said.

     “There’s a reason why there are only two floors, you know?” Berna said.

     “Hey guys! Austin?”

     “Hey…” Austin said.

     “Kyle, nice to see you again. Come in.”

     Kyle and Berna sat on the couch as Janella went the Balcony. The place surprised Kyle because it was even bigger than the suites at the hotel. The ceilings were very high and there were stairs to a second floor of the loft (on the second floor of the building) leading to the rooms.

     They looked out into the distance before Austin broke the silence.

     “I know it’s a bit too late for this but it’s a very nice place I got you, eh?”

     “Yes… yes it is…”

     Silence followed.

     “Anyway, how was your day?”

     “It was fun… only you weren’t there.”

     “Haha…”

     “I’m serious.”

     It was starting to annoy him that Janella didn’t take him seriously when it came to things like missing her and her being beautiful.

     “Well, I missed you guys too.”

     “What did you find out today?”

     “Nothing really. I spent most of my day sleeping. This week was stressful you know?”

     “Yeah, especially since there’s a Pig A*s ravaging the streets of Davao Del Norte.”

     “Haha.”

     “Anyway, it was really nice to see you today.”

     “Yeah…”

    Austin walked towards the door.

     “Kyle, let’s go.”

     “Bye,” Berna said.

     “See you sometime,” she replied.

     They stepped out the door but Austin remembered something.

     “Janella!”

     “Yeah?”
     “Nica sends her regards!”

     “Haha, send mine as well.”

     “I will, good night!”

     “Good night too!” Kyle said.

     “Good night,” the girls said as they closed the door. They headed back to the car. Kyle rode shotgun.

     “So this meeting with Erika Sanchez, when did you set it up?”

     “The night after you suggested we help them. I need to end this so we can focus on finding the Mastermind’s base and destroying it. If he was being serious about those jack s**t motives, he’s gonna be building machines to piece back that planet and make the atmosphere in this one unbearable. I need to prevent him.”

     “What about the team?”

     “I form it this week. When I get the coordinates for the Mastermind’s base, we strike it a week later.”

     “Why?”

     “We need a good plan first.”

     Austin switched to space manipulation and teleported the Anonymous back to the basement.

     They stepped out and headed for the elevator.

    “Kyle, training session starts on Thursday, be there.”

     “Of course.”

     They arrived at the Base and walked out.