02x21: Respawn

The ASG trains for the upcoming field trip where Austin is expected to attack. Yes, the field trip is here too.

RESPAWN

 

     The next day, Kyle and Berna went to school as usual. The Setonian ASG members had a pretty normal day in school too, except for the fact the Austin was still a psychopath but at least they had a sliver of hope now.

     After school, Kyle went directly to the base. He went in and found John writing down something on a piece of paper.

     “Hey, John. Are those the scripts for the training environment?”

     “Yeah, the most complicated one I’ve done so far. Well, I only did two but, yeah…”

     “So, try to get it done as fast as possible.”

     “Sure but, can you do me a favor? I can’t concentrate with your smartass head in here so can you kindly step out for a few minutes while I get this done?”

     “Sure…” Kyle said in a bitter tone.

     “Thanks.”

     Kyle stepped out and found Ernst with Lanz, Jericho, Pocholo, and JB.

     “Hey, Ernst. Is this Group D?”

     “Yeah. Jericho can manipulate his size at will, Pocholo can remove any of your five senses for a limited amount of time, and JB can fly.”

     “That’s all you can do?” Kyle asked JB.

     “Yes…”

     “Call him sir, Kyle, sir,” Lanz whispered into JB’s ear.

     “I mean yes, sir, Kyle, sir!”

     “That’s really getting old, Lanz. JB, don’t call me that again.”

     “Will do si�" I mean, Kyle.”

     Just then, Bambam was on his way to the base.

     “Hey Kyle, what’s up?”

     “Nothing much.”

     “Is John in there?” Bam asked, pointing to the door of the base.

     “Yeah, he’s in there alright.”

     “I’ll go get my guitar.”

     “Ok, just don’t disturb him too much.”

     “Will do.”

     Lanz leaned over to Bambam’s ear. Kyle gave him a glare and Lanz retreated mockingly.

 

Bambam went in the base and found John, still writing the scripts.

     “Hey, John.”

     “Bam! You’re here. Good. Your guitar’s in here.”

     John went to the back part of the room and took an electric guitar out of the stock room. It was a shiny metallic silver color and it looked amazingly badass.

     “This is…, my greatest invention yet.”

     “You say that all the time.”

     “Well, as of the moment, this is…, my great�"“

     “So, how does it work?”

     “Thanks for interrupting me but basically, you play a chord and an equivalent power shoots out of it. For example…”

     “You sure I can play with this in here?”

     “You can… oh, good point. Okay, umm…

     John went to his desk and got a cube which was glowing light blue and had a hole on top with similar spokes as the Dome of Power.

     “This is a U.M.S.C. or an Unlimited Volume Storage Cube. I prefer UnVoStoC but…”

     “Telegun, ‘UnVoStoC, you make great stuff but your names are, uncreative, for a lack of a better term.”

     “Yeah, Kyle thought of the Telegun though.”

     “What was the original name?”

     “Teleporter Gun…”

     “That was probably for the best. Anyway, I’ll play this outside okay?”

     “Wait, here’s your pick.”

     John took out an equally shiny pick and stuck it in between the strings of the first fret of the guitar.

     “And this knob…,” John said, pointing to a third knob to add to the usual volume and tone knobs on the guitar. “…controls the power of the weapon. Better put it to zero if you’re gonna play outside.”

     John twisted the knob counter-clockwise.

     “The Unvostoc only absorbs a single group of connected atoms of the same state. So this pick has to touch the strings to keep it intact. The Unvostoc then combines them into a single atom-sized, well, atom and stores it.”

     “In English, please?”

     “It absorbs the guitar and everything with it.” John aimed the Unvostoc at the guitar and squeezed the sides of the cube. A blue beam came out of the metallic cube and sucked in the guitar.

     “Okay, just squeeze the sides to take it out. Don’t let anyone come in.”

     “Okay, thanks.”

     Bambam left the base.

 

The others were already there. They were sitting in a circle, all 18 of them. Bam sat beside Rico. In the distance, Kyle and Berna were talking to each other. Janella was unusually silent again.

     “Okay, while waiting for John to finish his scripts, how about we sing the campfire song song? Who’s with me?”

     Surprisingly, Janella was the first to raise her hand.

     “I don’t know what came over me but I’m in.”

     Patrick and Sam followed suit, everyone else except Kyle followed.

     “Come on, Kyle,” Berna said.

     “I’m gonna check on the scripts,” Kyle said as he stood up.

     “John said no one goes in!” Bambam said.

     Berna then psychically pulled Kyle back into the circle.

     “What the…”

     “Kyle, we have Austin on December 3. Relax for a while,” Berna pleaded.

     “Yeah, Kyle. Relax for a while!” Patrick said.

     “Okay fine!”

    Bambam squeezed the cube and his guitar popped out. He started playing the song.

     “Let’s gather round the campfire, and sing the campfire song. The C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G song. And if you don’t think that we can sing it faster then you’re wrong. But it’ll help if you just sing along.”

     Patrick leaned over to Kyle and spurted in his face, “BUM, BUM, BUM…”

     “C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G SONG! C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G SONG! And if you don’t think that we can sing it, faster then you’re wrong but it’ll help if you just sing along!” Everyone but Kyle started singing in broad daylight.

     “C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G SONG!” Bambam sang. “PATRICK!”

     “Wait, what? Oh…” Patrick said in shock.

     “KYLE!” Bambam called.

     “What?” Kyle said in frustration.

     “Good!” Bambam said mockingly.

     “It’ll help! It’ll help! If you just sing along! OH YEAH!” Bambam sang. Apparently, everything suddenly became silent.

     “Did we just sing the Campfire song song, with no campfire, at 5:30 in the afternoon?” Ernst asked.

     “Yes, you have a problem with that?” Patrick said.

     “Hey guys,” John said surprisingly. “Great singing, scripts are done. Let’s go to the training room.”

 

They went down to the training room and John turned it into Smokey Mountain.

     “Bam, take out your new guitar.”

     Bam followed orders and put on the strap.

     “Okay, now the knob I turned a while ago controls power. Let’s do 50% right now,” John said before turning the knob clockwise a little.

     “Now here’s the thing, You strum a C chord, any C Chord at all, C minor, C major, C power chord, C 7^th, C augmented, As long as it’s a C, you’ll shoot Ice.”

     “Can I try?”

     “Of course.”

     Bambam formed a C major chord and strummed it. A beam of ice erupted from the strings, not affecting Bambam’s fingers, freezing a mountain of steel ahead.

     “Good work! Now, if you want to make things a little dimmer, any D chord will shoot dark power.”

     Bambam tried this out and the area around the frozen steel mountain was engulfed in darkness.

     “To make things brighter, a B chord is the way to go.”

     Bambam tried this and the frozen mountain was illuminated.

     “F shoots Fire.”

     Bambam tried this and the ice melted off, melting the steel a little bit too.

     “Well, that sucks. Try a G chord to shake the ground up.”

     Bambam did as told and the ground shook up, making the steel mountain fall to the ground.

     “A creates aerial disturbances. At full power it can create tornadoes. Now, it can create a helluva gust of wind.”

     Bambam tried this and the scattered metal flew in different directions. Ernst ran to where the mountain used to be, staring at the flying pieces of steel.

     “That was cool!” Ernst said.

     “You missed one chord, John.” Bam pointed out.

     “I know. Try it out for yourself.”

     Bambam fingered an E minor chord and strummed the guitar. A lightning bolt went straight for Ernst.

     “AHHHHHH! SON OF A B***H, BAM, THAT HURT!”

     “Sorry, I meant it!”

     Ernst put laughing gas in his face to cheer him up. He then dropped to the ground laughing.

     “Okay, Bam knows how to use his weapon, let’s go to the real training session,” Kyle said.

     “Wait, I’ll get my 50 from Bam first.”

     “Oh, right,” Bambam said as he took out 50 pesos from his wallet.

     “HAHAHAHAHA!” Ernst loudly laughed.

     “John, bring us to the platforms,” Kyle said.

     John concentrated his mind on the room as it changed into a new environment.

     They were standing on a floating platform in the middle of an ocean. It was divided into six horizontal segments. At the far end, there were fifteen cannons that looked like they were fresh out of Sonic Heroes.

     “Okay, team, this is how this works. Once John activates the cannons, we have to survive for five minutes. See those cannons? They’ll fire orbs of power at the platform and at us. Each orb is based on a certain spoke. To deflect it, you have to keep in mind that opposites attract and like ends repel. This means you have to target your own power. John, fire a row of psychic orbs for me.”

     John waved his hand across the distance. The cannons then simultaneously fired. A line of purple orbs was fast approaching. Kyle didn’t do anything.

     “Kyle, what are you doing?!” Lanz yelled.

     Five seconds after they fired, the orbs hit the front segment of the platform accompanied by loud explosions. It broke off completely and there were five segments left.

     “Okay, as you witnessed, a mere five seconds after the cannons fired, the orbs hit the platform. There are six segments on this platform. I can then conclude that this platform can be destroyed in 30 seconds provided that the cannons go rapid fire. We have to survive for five minutes. Part of the reason it took John so long in formatting this script is because the gravity here is intensified. This means you fall straight to the water below. If you don’t want to know what happens then, I suggest you pass this on the first try. John, one more row please.”

     The cannons fired another row of purple orbs. Kyle moved his hand across the sky shooting fifteen red psychic orbs in rapid succession. They intercepted all fifteen purple orbs and they never reached the platform.

     “Woah!” Ernst said.

     “No need to get an orgasm, Ernst!” Lanz replied.

     “I didn’t get an or�"“

     “Ernst got an orgasm! Ernst got an orgasm!” Patrick started to sing.

     “GUYS! I just blew up some psychic spheres, okay? No reason to get excited.”

     “Actually,” Lanz began to explain. “The word ‘sphere’ is merely another term for ‘balls’ and, depending on your ‘orientation’ you can get ‘excited’ from balls being blown up, which explains Ernst’s orgasm.”

     “I DID NOT GET AN OR�"“

     “Ernst got an or…” Patrick started again.

     “GUYS! We’re here to train! So we just have to keep deflecting those spheres.”

     “You mean those balls,” Lanz said.

     “Ernst got an…” Patrick once again started to sing.

     “ENOUGH! You just have to blow up those spheres until five minutes is up. Any questions?”

     “I do,” Lanz said. “If you get an orgasm here, will you fall down due to the increased release of hormones in your bo�"“

     “Shut up, Lanz.”

     “…leading to the increased weight causing you to.”

     “SHUT THE **** UP LANZ!”

     “KYLE SAID THE F-WORD! GET THE SOAP!” Patrick yelled.

     “That’s it, if there are no questions then, John, initiate the training session.”

     “Wait, what happens if we hit the ground? I need to know!” Ernst asked.

     “If you wanna find out, all you have to do is jump,” John said.

     The cannons on the far end charged up. Finally, they fired a row of different power spheres heading their way.

     Kyle and Berna deflected all the psychic power spheres. Janella focused on the ice spheres. Patrick focused on the fire spheres. Sam was punching the air and abruptly stopping, causing a ripple shockwave to fire from her hands.

     Lanz was randomly clapping, hoping to be of at least a little help. Michael was shooting at them but his projectiles just either melted, froze, or some other thing besides helping.

     Rico was shooting acid while Ricardo was firing supernovas. Joseph was aiming for the light spheres.

     Bam wasn’t making any rhythm or rhyme because he was playing random but appropriate chords. John was aiming for the more dangerous metal spheres.

     Ivan, Johann, Ernst, JB, Pocholo, and Jericho were pretty much useless. Then, Roey sent out assassins which fell to the water below.

     “NOOO! My assassins!”

     “Don’t worry, Roey, they’ll be back.”

     “Wait, I’ll try my force field!” Cedric said.

     “Wait, Ced, no!” Kyle said.

     Cedric covered the platform in a force field. They stopped firing inside.

     “Don’t stop firing, Cedric, stop that!”

     “I’m trying to help!”

     The spheres outside pummeled the force field Cedric created. The force field was getting weaker and soon, completely blew up, sending Cedric back. He lost his balance and fell of the back end.

     “CEDRIC!” Lanz yelled.

     “He’s gonna be alright, keep your head on these spheres!”

     Then a rock sphere missed by Bam hit the front segment, where Jericho was standing. The segment blew up and Jericho fell to the water below.

     “JERICHO!” Roey yelled.

     “He’ll be fine,” John said.

     “He fell 1000 FEET INTO SOLID WATER!”

     “Solid water? There ain’t no ice down there!”

     John, not paying attention to the spheres, missed a metal sphere which took apart the third segment, JB and Pocholo with them.

     “We’re losing people fast. Hurry, concentrate!” Kyle said.

     After Kyle said this, the cannons stopped firing.

     “John,” Kyle said nervously. “Is that supposed to happen?”

     “Oh, this part, I didn’t tell you about, sorry. Just get ready for an a*s whoopin’.“

     The cannons then pent up all their energy and fired fifteen different, extremely long lasers at the platform. Everyone shuffled to align with their respective beam, Bam aligning with the electric beam. They retreated to the back segment and fired away. The beam shortened little by little as it hit their defenses. Soon, all the beams have been eradicated.

     “Did we win?” Ernst asked.

     The cannons fired another row of spheres and resumed. This time it was a little bit faster.

     “Holy crap!” Ernst exclaimed seeing the rows of spheres flying at them. They let seven spheres through in the front row, making them lose the fourth segment, along with Ivan and Michael. They didn’t take anything from the second row, taking out the fifth segment, Johan, Cedric, and Sam with them.

     “This is it, Ernst. You’re gonna know what it feels to fall down there!”

     The spheres hit their segment, sending them back due to the explosion. They were falling down into the waters below. Just when they hit the sea level, everything became that plain black with white lines training room.

     “SON OF A B***H!” Ernst exclaimed, clasping his back in pain. “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?”

     “Hurts like a b***h, eh, Ernst?” John asked.

     “That’s why,” Kyle started. “I asked you guys to pass it on the first try. We’re gonna do this again. This time, focus!”

     John put them back on the platform.

     “Ready guys?” John asked as they all moaned.

     John initiated the training sequence once again. The cannons started to charge. Then, the first row soared across the air, followed by the other rows.

     The ASG did a lot better this time around. For the first minute and a half, not a single sphere went through. Then, Ernst was so glorified by this experience; he released laughing gas, knocking the others off guard. A sphere hit the front segment as a result of this and they lost JB, Pocholo, and Jericho.

     “We always lose those three, they’re pretty much useless here,” Ernst told Kyle.

     “In this environment, yes, they’re useless. I do have two more ready once we pass this one.”

     They continued their winning streak until another minute or so where another three spheres hit the second segment, taking Rico and Joseph down.

     “Those two were useful! WE’RE DOOMED!” Ernst said.

     “Stop whining, Ernst!” Janella said. Kyle, Berna, and Patrick looked at her. “Sorry, that just blurted out.”

     “I don’t know, that was kinda awesome,” Patrick said.

     “That’s Austin alright, we gotta fix that.”

     Kyle missed a psychic sphere hitting the third segment, taking Janella and Berna down.

     “WAIT! NO!” Kyle yelled.

     “Holy crap, those two are down… What about us?” Ernst asked.

     “Ernst, Janella’s right, STOP WHINING!”  Lanz said.

     “Guys, we got ninety seconds to go!”

     The cannons stopped firing. They charged up again for the big laser.

     “Get ready!”

     “Wait, what about the ice?” Bambam asked.

     “Oh, crap,” Kyle said.

     The cannons fired at the electric beam. Everyone else aimed for their own beam. The ice beam was the only beam unguarded. Michael then turned his hands into rocket launchers and started firing nonstop at the ice beam. It worked for the most part and by the time the ice beam was no more, Michael was out of breath and fell to the ground.

     “We’re almost there guys, the beams came a little later than last time but we got forty-five seconds left!” Kyle said.

     The cannons started rapid firing. They deflected it as best as they can. Lanz shattered the ice spheres well enough. Sam also helped here.

     “Twenty-five seconds,” Kyle said.

     The cannons got faster and faster but so did they.

     “Fifteen.”

     The spheres were basically disappearing halfway from the platform. Lanz got tired and fell to the ground as well. Anyone would collapse after clapping at a rate of 90 claps/minute. An ice sphere made its way through taking the fourth segment down along with Michael and Lanz.

     “I can’t do this alone, Patrick,” Sam said.

     “Okay,” Patrick started. “Kyle, can I fire fireballs at the ice balls?”

     “It’ll be harder for you to concentrate but okay.”

     Patrick aimed at the lines of spheres approaching them. He aimed carefully at all the fire spheres and ice spheres. In one move, he fired a barrage of fireballs at all of them. Then the area changed back to the training room, hitting the walls who absorbed the fire.

     “Aww, come on! I was getting to the good part!”

     “Hey, Pat, at least we passed!”

     “That just sucks!”

     “Pat,” Sam said. “Thanks for the effort though.”

     Sam smiled at Patrick and this made him feel a bit better.

     Kyle went to Berna and Janella.

     “Hey Berna, you okay?”

     “Yeah.”

     “Janella, same with you?”

     “Yup.”

     “Oh yeah, what happened back there?” Berna asked.

     “The thing with Ernst?” Janella asked.

     “Yeah.”

     “He was annoying.”

     The three of them thought about this for a moment.

     “Fair enough,” Kyle said. “We still have to fix your problem though.”

     “Nah, it’s okay.”

     “Hey, John!” Kyle called.

     John went over to them.

     “You know about Janella’s ‘problem’ right?”

     “Regarding the heat and the personality transmission?”

     “Yeah, can you fix that?”

     “Well, you need to lock her in an anti-rad room then suck the heat out of her. I’ll make that gadget tonight.”

     “No, John, it’s okay. I’ll just wait for Austin on the third to take it away.”

     “No, Janella, we have to fix this,” Kyle said.

     “No, I mean, come on, Kyle,” John started. “She’s more fun this way.”

     “Agreed,” Janella said.

     “Fine but if this gets worse and causes you to be the end of all of us, it’s not gonna be pretty!” Kyle said to Janella.

     “Are you threatening me?” Janella asked.

     “No, yeah, right, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Look, just hold him in alright? Don’t let him control you. We’re all counting on you to do that.”

     “Yeah, sure.”

     “Okay, thanks.”

     Kyle turned to face everyone else.

     “That’s it for today, guys. Thanks for cooperating and let’s do the next level tomorrow.”

     Everyone took the elevator up, then headed back to their suites.

 

The next day, after classes, they headed to the base again as usual. Kyle led them to the training room.

     “Okay, this time, let’s make it a little harder. Austin won’t be just sitting around in one corner. He’ll be flying around like crazy. It’s our job to stop him. But first let’s try focusing on his offense,” Kyle said.

     The cannons in the distance shrank into tiny little spheres and flew all over the scenery.

     “Same basic principle, survive for five minutes, deflect the spheres. Or, we can simply destroy the cannons but you’ll have to try a little harder.”

     “Let’s do this!” Ernst exclaimed excitedly.

     John activated the training exercise. The cannons started shooting them and they deflected some of the spheres but when one sphere got through and hit the platform, it was crumbling in a different manner. Holes were being blown through it.

     “What’s happening to the platform?” Lanz asked.

     “I didn’t explain this, did I? Anyway, we have more time. The platform’s divided into twelve so we have at least one minute before being destroyed.”

     “How do we take down the cannons?” Patrick asked.

     “You have to deflect a sphere from it and hit at right after.”

     “Easy enough.”

     Patrick found a cannon that was shooting fire. He fired a fireball at the sphere and fired a fireball straight at the cannon. For a split second, it looked like it was made out of silvery fire after firing the sphere. The fireball hit it and it disappeared.

     “Exploit a code in the system and you can cause a meltdown,” John told Patrick.

     “Right, EVERYONE! DO WHAT I JUST DID!” Patrick yelled.

     The others followed suit and knocked out a few more cannons. Then one cannon fired a psychic beam at the platform.

     “I got this,” Berna said calmly.

     She fired psychic orbs at the psychic beam and it grew shorter. Eventually it reached the cannon and vaporized it.

     “Eight down, seven to go,” Kyle said. “Pick up the pace people!”

     The team continued to take down the cannons. After taking down four more cannons. The three cannons charged towards each other.

     “Guys, I’d like you to meet John’s little surprise,” Kyle said.

     The three cannons fused together and formed a triple cannon.

     “Same thing only you have to deflect three spheres at the same time and fire at it with the correct spheres at the correct cannon at the same time.”

     “Wow, that’s a lot easier!” Lanz said sarcastically.

     The triple-cannon fired three spheres at the platform. No one deflected any of them and it took down three fragments, Jericho, Pocholo, and Cedric included.

     “D****t! Guys! Focus!” Kyle said.

     A sphere caught Kyle off-guard as Berna and Janella deflected a psychic orb and ice orb respectively. Kyle fell down taking a platform fragment with him.

     “KYLE!” Berna yelled.

     “It’s just a simulation, we need to keep going!” Janella said.

     “We got a minute left guys!” John said.

     The triple-cannon fired a fire, water, and electric orb at the platform. Bam deflected the electric orb, Lanz deflected the water orb, and Rico deflected the fire orb. They fired at the triple-cannon but Bambam missed by a meter.

     “BAM!” Lanz said.

     “Sorry!”

     The triple-cannon fired the same pattern. They did the same thing but this time, Bambam hit the mark. The triple-cannon blew up as the scenery changed into the plain training room.

     “Nice job guys!” John said.

     Kyle was writhing in pain on the floor. Berna went to him and kneeled down to him.

     “You okay?” Berna asked.

     “Yeah, just…”

     “Hurts like a b***h?” Berna replied.

     “What?!”

     “John’s words. Anyway, come on, get up.”

     Berna stood up and reached out her hand. Kyle held on to her hand and she helped him up.

     “Okay guys, that was the first try and we have a few hours left. Let’s try the third trial but first, John, the BB Guns,” Kyle said.

     “Oh, right! Everyone, to the elevator!”

     They went back up and John went to the stock room at the back. He took out eighteen devices that looked alike. It had a handle of a pistol, and it was connected to a long cylinder which was connected to a ring by a smaller ring which was connected to another ring through fairly thick beams. It was shiny black all over with highlights of silver.

     “This is a BB Gun,” John said. “BB as in Black Band.”

     John took out a ring that was larger in circumference to either of the rings on the BB Gun. It also fit in the gap between the two rings.

     “This is your ‘magazine’. To load it, just put it through to front ring, into the gap, and then turn clockwise.”

     John did this and turned it clockwise, locking it into place.

     “Now just stick it into the target’s arm and push the release button at the back of the cylinder.”

     John did this.

     “And finally pull the trigger.”

     John pulled the trigger, causing the gun’s silver highlights to glow red. It also caused the beams in between the two front rings to pull the first band inwards. Then spikes went through the band fragments and bonded them together. The spikes retracted and the red lights died out going back to a silver color. John tilted the gun and out came a black band.

     “Each magazine can hold five bands. Each of you gets three magazines. So all in all, we have 300 tries. It is almost impossible to fail 300 times. Let’s try not to waste these bands too much.”

     John led them back to the training room. He changed the training room into a different look than the previous two. It looked like Pasig River with three ferries in the middle.

     “Okay, this is the most different training session of them all. No increased gravity, no cannons, no time limit, just an objective: Cure Austin. You can’t destroy him like the cannons, you can deflect his spheres, and you can also use your BB Gun on him. The plan is weaken, corner, restrain, and cure. Make it count; you got one magazine each for this. 100 tries must not go down the drain. John, activate it.”

     John closed his eyes. Soon, Austin came out of the shadows and attacked them. He was tame compared to the Austin in Glorietta.

     “What’s the matter with this guy? He’s not scary!” Lanz complained.

     Austin suddenly fired a lightning bolt at Lanz.

     “His personality ain’t there but his impulses are, don’t provoke him,” John said.

     “Thanks for telling me in advance!” Lanz said.

     Austin then did something strange. He charged directly at Janella. He fired fire orbs and ice orbs at her.

     “Janella, you have to deflect those!”

     She was acting strange. She couldn’t move.

     “JANELLA! SNAP OUT OF IT!” Berna yelled.

     Janella deflected some of the orbs but got pummeled by most of them. She fell to the deck of one of the ferries.

     “Janella!” Berna yelled. “Kyle, get Austin.”

      Berna flew down as Kyle charged for Austin. The others were firing at Austin with no luck.  Austin fired psychic orbs at Kyle. He deflected them towards Austin and he was weakened. Kyle fired one more at his face and sent him to the ground.

     “I can’t talk sense into you now but I will later!”

     Kyle inserted Austin’s hand into the BB Gun and pushed the release button and pulled the trigger. The band formed on the simulation’s arm and the simulation’s pupils returned. The room transformed back.

     “If only the real deal can be that smooth,” Patrick said.

     “You wish. That’s all for today. Janella, you need to rest,” Kyle said.

     “Okay, I’m sorry,” Janella said.

     “No need to apologize. Just get some rest.”

 

A few more days went by and they went through the three training sessions over and over again. November 30 finally came and all of the training was getting old.

     “Okay guys,” Kyle began. “Including today, we have three days left to train. Let’s make the most of it. John, activate training session three.”

     The room turned into the river setting. Austin rose out of the shadows. It charged straight for Kyle and strangled him to the ground.

     “JOHN! IS THIS SOME NEW PROGRAMMING?!” Kyle shouted as loud as he can.

     “I don’t know what’s happening. I didn’t activate it yet.”

     “ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT�"“

     “Hello, best buddy old pal!” Austin said as he let go of Kyle’s throat.

     “What are you doing here?” Kyle said.

     “I just wanted to supervise your training session.”

     Kyle sent them a psychic message to use the BB Guns.

     “I heard that, Kyle. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait till December 3^rd.”

     All the BB Guns flew out of their hands and into Austin’s.

     “We have a deal, Kyle. December 3^rd, we battle. Don’t get excited. John, I love the design for these.”

     “Thanks,” John said bitterly.

     “Please, Austin. Just save us all the trouble and come back to us now,” Kyle begged.

     “Oh, come on, let me have my fun!”

     “Austin…,” Janella said softly. “Please…”

     “Oh, Janella. How’s the fire going for you? I knew you guys wanted to feel my presence. So I used her.”

     “You used me?”

     “Hey, you’re the one who misses me the most, don’t you?”

     “Well I�"“

     “I thought so. Anyway, see you guys on Thursday!” Austin disappeared.

     Janella went inside the ferry and sat down near the windows. She remained quiet. Everyone went inside as well.

      “Guys, this was definitely unexpected but no worries. We’ve trained for two weeks, now it’s time to store energy for Thursday. Dr. Suarez allowed us to rest for Thursday, well, at least you guys. Me, Berna and Cedric have to go to school still. Don’t worry about homework, they’ll send it to you. Good luck to us all.”

     They all headed back to the hotel.

     For the next two days, they were getting the most rest possible. Tuesday was a straight rest day for everyone. Wednesday too except Janella.

     Around 5:00 in the afternoon, she went out to her terrace and shot fireballs into the sky. She eventually shot ice into the sky as well. She alternated between the two. Soon, there was a knock on the door. Janella went back inside and opened the door. It was Berna.

     “Hey, Janella. You okay?”

     “Yeah.”

     “Just one more night. We’ll get him tomorrow.”

     “I hope so.”

     “Just hope for the best. Pray hard tonight.”

     “I will.”

     “Lighten up, will you? I don’t see Austin showing up.”

     “Let’s just hope Ernst doesn’t screw it all up.”

     “That’s the spirit! Wanna come on down for dinner? The whole ASG is there.”

     “Nah, I’m not hungry.”

     “Oh, well. If you need some company, we’ll be in the ground floor.”

     “Thanks, Berna. You’re a good friend and I’m so lucky to have you guys.”

     Berna smiled and said, “No problem. I’ll go down. Dinner with ASG, like I said.”

     “Dinner with ASG or dinner with Kyle?” Janella said teasingly.

     Berna sighed. “At least you’re a little back to normal. Cheer up for us, okay?”

     “Okay.”

     “See ya.”

     Berna went out and Janella was left alone in silence. She laid down on her bead and stared at the ceiling. She eventually fell asleep.

     She dreamed about Austin blowing up the ferries in Pasig River and killing everyone on board. She couldn’t wake up from this nightmare. Eventually, she did, it was 12 midnight. She laid back down and fell asleep again.

     This time it was much more peaceful. She didn’t dream anymore. She finally woke up again. It was 4:30.

      She prepared her things and changed her clothes. She went on her terrace and flew to the school.

 

She flew to the front of the chapel, Bukidnon’s usual meeting place. She went over to Justin and Queennie.

     “Hey, Janella,” Justin said.

     “Yeah?” Janella said with a sort of sad tone.

     “You’ll get him today, I know it.”

     “I hope so.”

     “Janella,” Sr. Edmond said.

     Janella went to Sr. Edmond and asked, “Sir?”

     “Good luck today. I just know you’re gonna get him today.”

     Janella didn’t respond to this.

     After a few more minutes, they finally got in the bus. Janella sat beside Queennie in the front row. Sr. Leo arrived and went in their bus. Kyle, Berna, Cedric, Patrick, and Sam flew over to the front of the bus.

     “Excuse me,” Kyle said to Sr. Edmond. “Is Sr. Edmond in this bus?”

     “Oh, that’s me. What can I do for you?”

     “Hi, I’m Kyle Gomez, pleasure to meet you.”

     “You’re on the ASG right?”

     “Yeah. Look, we need to stay in a bus. Do you mind if we stay in this bus?”

     “Oh, no problem at all. I’m afraid only the backseats are available.”

     “That’s alright.”

     “Ok, then, step inside!”

     Kyle stepped in the bus along with the rest of the non-Setonian ASG members. They passed by Sr. Leo.

     “Good morning Sir…”

     “Leo. Sr. Leo.”

     “Pleasure to meet you.”

     Sr. Leo sensed something between Kyle and Berna in an instant and teasingly smiled at them. Kyle didn’t notice this but Janella did and sort of smiled at it but didn’t have the time to laugh.

     The bus finally headed for the basement of the hotel. It went down the spiral driveway to the teleporter roundhouse at the bottom floor.

     “Sr. Edmond,” Kyle said. “Austin updated the security settings for the teleporter roundhouse. It needs voice activation.”

     Janella stood up and went to the console.

     “Elizabeth Seton School Main, zero-six-one-six.” She spoke into the microphone.

     The roundhouse activated and the portals rotated. The portal saying ESS stopped in front of the bus.

     “He gave you access?” Kyle asked.

     “Yeah. You have access too.”

     “I didn’t know that.”

     “He didn’t tell you?”

     “No, When did he tell you?”

     “He didn’t. I just…”

     Everything turned white. Janella touched the mutant link and was now in the empty white void.

     “Hey, Janella,” Austin said from behind.

     Janella turned around to face him. He was standing around in school uniform.

     “How are you?”

     “Austin, I’m tired of asking you.”

     “Well, good! That’s because I won’t give you anything.”

     “What do you want?”

     “How’d you know I gave you access?”

     “I just knew.”

     “D****t! He’s taking back control!”

     Austin took his hand and made it ghost-like. He shoved it into his body and dropped to the ground.

     “Austin, what are you doing?”

     “You’re not getting me back today, Janella. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Game over just passed.”

     “You told Kyle it was nothing to worry about!”

     “I told him it involves me. December 1, I locked your Austin deep in. But I still can’t keep him inside. ARGGGGHHH!!!!”

     Austin strangled his insides on the floor as Janella watched in horror.

     “Janella, I don’t like this sliver of hope I sense in you. Better lose all hope.”

     Austin ripped out something that looked like a ghostly projection of Austin but with pupils.

     “Austin, stop!”

     “Say goodbye to him already.”

     He solidified his arm and the projection shattered. Light surged out of his eyes and Janella was engulfed in white light.

     “NOOO!!!”

     “I’m in full control now. Good luck.”

     Austin disappeared but Janella was left there.

     “Wait, what? I’m still here!” Janella thought to herself.

 

Kyle, Berna, Patrick, and Sam were tending to Janella at the back. Cedric was standing guard.

     “Okay, Bukidnon, we’re here at our first destination. Everyone get off in an orderly fashion,” Sr. Edmond said.

     “Sr. Edmond!” Kyle said. “We’ll stay and watch over Janella.”

     “She’s still unconscious?”

     “Yes, Sir.”

     “Okay then. Take good care of her.”

     Sr. Edmond then left the bus. A few minutes later. Kyle made an observation.

     “She’s stuck in there. I can’t sense anything.”

     She then woke up and sat straight up.

     “What?! Where?”

     “Calm down,” Berna said. “They went out. Just rest.”

     “Berna, Kyle, he…” Janella said while breathing erratically.

     “Calm down. Now tell us what happened,” Kyle said.

     “He ripped out this projection of Austin, the good one, from his insides and blew him up. I was stuck there for five hours!”

     “Calm down. How’d you get out?”

     “I don’t remember. I just flew in one direction and I woke up. I’m not sure. I…”

     “Alright, stop. Just lie down for a while. Berna, watch over her for a while.”

     Kyle stepped out of the bus and took out the identifier. It showed the usual two locations. He went back in.

     “The identifier is still showing the same crap.”

     “Let’s just wait for him to come to us,” Berna said.

     After a few minutes, the students got back in. Ernst and Joel went to the back of the bus.

     “Hey, Janella. How are you?” Ernst asked.

     “Fine. You guys ready?”

     “Yeah.”

     “Hey, I got Austin’s print of Zombieland while he was gone, we can watch it later,” Joel interrupted.

     “You what?!” Kyle said angrily.

     “Hey, don’t shout at me. I don’t even know you that well.”

     “This guy is his friend?” Kyle asked Ernst. He just shrugged.

     “Look, okay, I’m sorry. Sheesh,” Joel said as he sat down in his old seat.

     They soon arrived in the second destination, the Shrine of the Katipunan. Kyle, Berna, Janella, Patrick, Sam, Cedric, and Ernst stayed outside though. They didn’t witness any action until the students got back.

     “Okay, guys, we’ll be having a lunch break in Blue Wave,” Sr. Leo said.

     The students cheered. Blue Wave was this place in Pasay City which was full of restaurants.

     “You guys have thirty�"“Sr. Leo raised his eyebrows and focused on the word “thirty”. “minutes only.”

     “Sir!” Joel raised his hand.

     “Yes, umm…” Sr. Leo said, desperately fumbling for Joel’s name.

     “Can we watch this now?” Joel said, raising the DVD of Zombieland.

     “Later. Sit down,” Sr. Leo replied.

     After a while, they got to Blue Wave. Kyle went with Ernst. Janella went with the Patola members: Berna, Queennie, Danie, and Justin. Cedric went elsewhere and Patrick and Sam stayed together.

     “Hey, guys!” Joel yelled to Kyle and Ernst. “Ernst!”

     “WHAT?!” Ernst asked angrily.

     “Can I join you guys?” Joel asked.

     “Yeah sure,” Kyle said.

     “What?!” Ernst asked.

     “What do you mean ‘what’?” Joel asked Ernst.

     They went into KFC for their lunch.

     They saw Janella and the Patola members enter KFC. Justin reserved a seat outside.

     “Hey, there’s Starbucks here, right?” Kyle asked.

     “Yeah, why?” Joel answered.

     “I wanna go there.”

     “Nah, I don’t have any money,” Ernst said.

     “Now, I REALLY wanna go there,” Joel said.

     Rightfully so, after KFC, they went straight to Starbucks. Ernst stayed outside though, just staring at Kyle and Joel, sitting near the giant glass window, sipping their frapuccinos.

     “I kinda feel bad for Ernst,” Kyle told Joel.

     “You think we should do something?”

     “I’ll get him something,” Kyle said.

     “No, wait!” Joel said. “I’ll do that… later.”

     After they finished, Joel went to the straws and got two.

     “What are you doing?” Kyle asked.

     “It’s Christmas season, I’m getting Ernst, straws.”

     “Screw you, Joel. I’m buying him something.”

     “We got ten minutes, I’m leaving.”

     “What an a*****e,” Kyle thought as he went through the door.

     “Hello, Ernst. We got you your favorite thing in the whole world,” Joel said as he took them out. “STRAWS!”

     Joel gave them to Ernst as he just stared at them. Kyle expected Ernst to be sad but surprisingly, Ernst smiled.

     “See, Kyle? He likes it. Let’s go to the restroom.”

     Kyle went ahead and left the two. Ernst opened one straw and stared at it in glee. Kyle looked back at Ernst. He winked at Kyle before returning to staring at the straw.

     “See ya, Ernst,” Joel said, rushing to the restrooms.

     When they got to the restroom door. Kyle stopped and looked back at the two. Joel was looking at Kyle with a face that said, “WTF are you waiting for?” Ernst, however, was licking the straw like a lollipop.

     “Ernst,” Kyle said. Ernst didn’t notice him. Joel turned to watch Ernst lick the straw.

     “Ernst…” Kyle said. Ernst continued. Joel couldn’t hold back the laughter and just blew up right there.

     “Ernst?” Kyle said, in a sort of confused yet frustrated tone. Ernst didn’t mind.

     “HAHAHAHA!!!!!” Joel continued as Ernst appeared to be more and more aroused with each lick. It was like the straw was engulfed in some erotic aroma that only affected Ernst and only he can sense.

     “ERNST!” Kyle shouted. Ernst stopped and looked back at Kyle.

     “What?” Ernst said as if him licking the straw was something that he did every day.

     Kyle didn’t know what to say to Ernst. This was quite possibly the weirdest thing he has ever witnessed and they had went through a lot of weird things already. He just continued into the restroom.

     It has already been forty-five minutes. The three went to the bus. The Patola members were already there. Janella and Queennie were back in the front. Berna sat in the seat behind them. Justin and Danie were near the back. Joel snuck the DVD on to the player and since Sr. Leo wasn’t there yet, there were no objections. Zombieland was now playing on the bus.

     “Enjoy the movie, guys!” Joel yelled as he sat down.

     Kyle went to the front and stood beside Berna’s seat.

     “Is this seat taken?” Kyle asked.

     “Not at all,” Berna answered with a smile. Kyle sat down beside her. Janella and Queennie looked back at the two with a teasing smile. Well, Queennie at least. Janella had bigger problems.

     “What?” Kyle and Berna said at the same time. They looked at each other and just smiled. Janella then covered her eyes and Queennie noticed this when suddenly, a zombie bit off a chunk of flesh in the movie.

     Soon, everyone was back on the bus. The bus was finally headed for Pasig River.

 

When they finally got there, the movie wasn’t over yet. They finished the movie first before getting off.

     “So how was the movie?” Joel asked everyone as they got off like an annoying usher handing out survey forms after a movie.

     They finally got on the ferry as the speaker finally started her boring lecture. Janella sat beside Justin and Danie in the second row from the front. Queennie and Berna were right behind them. Ernst, Joel, and Kyle were near the back.

     The ferry ride was filled with interesting sights like naked children jumping into the polluted river. Children defecating into the polluted river. Grown men urinating into the polluted river. And worst of all, people throwing trash into the polluted river.

     Kyle just stared out of the window. Joel and Ernst were arguing beside him but Kyle wasn’t paying attention,

     Janella was also staring out the window. The speaker was so boring that she wasn’t paying attention anymore.

     Soon, they let people on the deck of the ferry. Janella went out and looked around to look for Austin. He was nowhere to be found.

     She sat back down and rested her head on the window. Each row went on the deck one by one. Janella fell asleep for a while. It was a short nap though since when she woke up, it was only Ernst’s row.

     “When is he gonna show up?” Justin asked Janella.

     “I don’t know.”

     BOOM!

     The back of the ferry just blew up. The superpowered students were not harmed that much and were floating in the polluted river. Lanz stood up and went to the last solid part of the ferry and looked at the drowning students.

     “Oh, s**t,” he said.

     Kyle, Ernst, and Joel went back in the ship.

     “Joel, watch over the front part of the ship. Ernst, Lanz, call Cedric. Tell him to fish those kids out of there. Berna, come with me.”

     Out of nowhere, a giant force field enveloped the top river where the drowning students were at and pushed them downwards. They were desperately pounding on the force field but nothing happened.

     “NO! Lanz! Shockwaves!” Kyle said as he fired red orbs at the force field. Berna did the same thing. It was hopeless, The shockwaves and psychic orbs failed to do anything. When the force field finally disappeared, dead bodies floated to the surface.

     “Oh, God,” Kyle said, staring at the floating bodies.

     “Kyle, we have to get him,” Berna said.

     Kyle jet out of the back of the ferry and flew in the air.

     “AUSTIN!!!! GET OUT HERE YOU A*****E!”

     In front of him, Austin suddenly appeared and fired a fireball in his face. It sent him flying but he got back in the air.

     “Kyle, here’s the big day!”

     “You crossed the line Austin,” Berna said as she flew up to their level.

     “No, that wasn’t crossing the line. This is.”

     Austin fired two explosive orbs at the other two ferries, blowing up the back. Kyle charged at him and they hit the water. Austin hit Kyle in the face with super strengthened fists and flew out of the water.

     “I haven’t crossed the line yet, Kyle. Here it comes!”

     Austin created three force fields, two for the drowning students behind each ferry and one for Kyle himself. Berna charged him and forced him to the ground.

     “This is for the kids on that ferry,” Berna said, rapidly firing psychic orbs at Austin’s face.

     “And this is for Kyle,” she said charging one big red orb aimed straight at Austin’s face.

     “Go ahead, fire!” Austin said, his face bloodied and bruised.

     Berna fired the giant red orb but Austin disappeared.

     “D****T!” Berna yelled. She turned around to retrieve Kyle but Austin suddenly appeared. His right arm turned into a steel blade. He thrust it through Berna’s right arm and flung her into the water.

     “That’s for the facial damage.”

     A fireball hit him on the back. Austin smiled as his charred neck healed instantly.

     “Patrick, I never thought you had the guts to hit me.”

     “Only this time, Austin.”

     Rico, Ricardo, Michael, Lanz, and Cedric all made their way to the ground near the battle. Patrick was flying above Austin.

     “ASG, FIRE!” Patrick yelled. Austin was now being pelted with fireballs, acid, supernovas, RPG’s, Shockwaves, and force fields. Roey joined in and unleashed the most powerful card in the Ninjas and Magic deck, Assimilate. It was a giant beam that headed for Austin. Bam was now firing random orbs at Austin. Pocholo took away all of his five senses. Sam, Johan, Joseph, Ivan, and JB stood guard. The surviving students were watching.

     After they ceased fire. Austin was there on the ground, this time his whole body burned, bloodied, and bruised. But he still had a smile on his face.

     “BB guns, people,” Ernst said, arriving on the scene. “Cedric, fish out those kids.”

     Ernst took out his BB gun and put it in position.

     “Hey, Ernst,” Austin said as the ASG members there jumped back in shock. “I always wanted to say this to you.”

     Austin sat up and pointed his hand at Ernst’s face. “You’re the dumbest son of a b***h in our batch with the dumbest superpower on the entire island.”

     “Hey, At least it’s my choice. You’re the one who was forced to live with all this bullcrap!”

     “Save the speech for when all the ASG members are dead.”

     Sam then hit him in the back. Johan absorbed a rock and hit him across the head.

     “You’re Sam, right? I don’t even ****ing know you!”

     Austin fired a power sap orb at Sam and she was flung back. Patrick rushed to her rescue. Austin fired another one at Patrick.

     “Is this what you p*****s trained for? You trained for SEVENTEEN MOTHER****ING DAYS WHILE I SAT ON MY A*S WAITING FOR THIS DAY! Screw you guys!”

     Austin formed a force field rising sky high around him. The remaining ASG members couldn’t get through even if they wanted to. Austin then formed two force fields above the two ferries without Bukidnon in it. He sunk them down to below the surface. Their screams silenced by their heads being submerged into the polluted river.

     Kyle climbed back on shore, carrying Berna. He rested her on the ground. He faced the sky high force field and charging and firing one red orb after another with both hands. The force field wasn’t going down at all.

     “Cedric, get Jericho.”

     Cedric retrieved Jericho out of the middle ferry.

     “Use your powers Jericho.”

     Jericho grew to a gigantic size and hit the force field with all his might. It started to fade. Jericho hit it again, this time much harder. Austin’s force field faltered as he fell in the water.

     “Get him, Cedric.”

 

Joel was watching from the middle ferry. Janella was unable to think at all. Austin just killed innocent students. Joel headed back.

     “It’s over. Jericho got him. Why the hell didn’t they use him sooner?” Joel said

     “Because the residents will notice?” Sr. Edmond said while still in a state of shock.

     “Wait, Dr. Suarez will kill us,” Sr. Leo said.

     “Janella, can you stand up now?” Joel asked.

     Austin suddenly crashed from under the ferry. He blocked the hole with a force field.

     “Holy crap. We’re surrounded by a force field!” Joel said.

     “This is a private meeting, but there are still some unwanted guests,” Austin said.

     Austin surrounded Joel, Janella, Sr. Leo, and Sr. Edmond in a force field. He stepped out of the field and sent out a shockwave knocking all other students into the river. He took Janella, Joel, Sr. Leo, and Sr. Edmond out of the force field.

     “Now which of you would like to die first?”

     “Austin, stop this,” Sr. Edmond said.

     “Nah, I won’t kill my advisers.”

     Austin engulfed Sr. Edmond and Sr. Leo in a force field and made them float over the water.

     “Now, just me and my two best friends.”

     “Austin…,” Janella said weakly.

     “Yes?”

     “It’s over. Kill me now,” Janella said straight.

     Austin looked at her for a while. Joel saw a glint of hesitation in his eyes. He went in front of Janella, shielding her.

     “That’s all I needed to see, Austin,” Joel said.

     “Joel, what are you doing?” Janella asked.

     “What is this, Joel?”

     “This isn’t you. You won’t kill her and you won’t kill me.”

     “You’re right Joel, I won’t kill you.”

     Austin’s right hand turned into a long, thin steel blade and he impaled Joel’s stomach.

     “Nurse Jen can fix that if you get to her within 3 minutes anyway. You won’t die otherwise.”

     He threw him aside as he approached Janella.

 

“WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING!” Michael said.

     “Wait, John, the Telegun!” Kyle said.

     “Oh, yeah, right! Where is it?”

     “It’s in my pocket.”

     Kyle searched his pockets but the Telegun wasn’t there.

     “It must’ve fallen in the water.”

     “I’ll get it,” John said, pointing his hand at the water. The Telegun zipped to his hand. On the ferry, Austin just stabbed Joel and threw him aside.

     Kyle locked in on the ferry and fired the gun. A portal appeared on the ferry.

 

Austin walked in front of Janella and faced her.

     “You’re still in there somewhere.”

     “One, that’s a cliché, two, I destroyed him, remember?”

     “That wasn’t real.”

     Kyle just arrived on the ferry.

     “Austin, get away from her.”

     “**** off, Kyle. This is none of your business.”

     “What do you mean? I’m your best friend! This is my priority! That’s the girl you love, man! You’re gonna blow her to bits?!”

     “Let me think… Yeah.”

     “A*****E! YOU’RE NOT MY BEST FRIEND! I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE! THIS ENDS NOW!”

     Kyle charged for Austin just as Austin psychically retrieves the Telegun and puts a force field in between them.

     “This is pretty handy. Too bad I don’t need it.”

     Austin crushed the Telegun in his hands and threw the fragments in the water.

     “Now Janella, let’s continue our discussion.”

     Austin lifted left hand in front of Janella’s face while putting his right hand into a fist.

     “Now look at my right hand.”

     Janella, having seen Blaine Estaquilla’s murder, knew this trick and looked at the withdrawn fist.

     “Very good,” Austin said as he put the fist on front of Janella’s face.

     “Austin, I’d like to thank you for putting me out of my misery.”

     “You’re welcome, Good night. Sweet dreams…”

     Austin opened his fist as black dust charged for Janella’s face. Soon everything was black.

 

She opened her eyes; They were almost done with the circuit. She looked around, everyone was still alive. She couldn’t believe it, it was just a dream. She was breathing faster than usual.

     “Janella, are you okay?” Justin asked.

     “Yeah. I just had a nightmare.”

     Janella calmed down and looked out her window. She jumped back, shocked to see Austin there.

     “Janella! Are you okay?!” Danie asked.

     Sr. Leo approached Janella.

     “What happened?  Janella, are you sure you’re alright?” Sr. Leo asked.

     “Yeah, just, I’m okay. I swear. Just don’t mind me. I just need fresh air, that’s all.”

     “Freshen up in the restroom. We’re almost there,” Sr. Leo said before going back to his post.

     Janella stood up and went to the restroom. She looked at the mirror and she looked fine. She turned on the faucet and washed her face. She sort of predicted what might happen. She slowly opened her eyes before looking in the mirror. She didn’t see Austin there. She was relieved and she went out of the restroom.

     She went back to her seat. She looked out of the window again but Austin wasn’t there.

     “You okay now?” Berna asked.

     “Yeah.”

     She looked out the window again. Austin was there again but this time, she wasn’t shocked.

     “Did you sleep well?” Austin asked.

     “Not exactly.”

     “Hey, at least I showed up. Why don’t you come out and catch me?”

     “Because you’re not gonna let me.”

     “How do you know?”

     “Alright, get in here, right now. Let me fix you.”

     “That wouldn’t be too fun.”

     “Just leave. I don’t want to see you anymore. I don’t care anymore.”

     “What if I don’t wanna leave? What if I want you to catch me?”

     “GET AWAY FROM ME!”

     “I’m the only one who can hear you. To them, you’re just staring out the window. Anyway, I will go away. There’s only one place left. You know where to find me.”

     Austin flew away.

     “Okay, we’re back. Everyone form one straight line and move back to the dock,” Sr. Leo said.

     “Janella, I’m so sorry,” Justin said.

     “Why?” Janella asked.

     “You didn’t get him back today. He didn’t even appear.”

     “Oh, he appeared alright.”

     Janella walked back to the dock. She looked at the sky but Austin wasn’t there anymore. She looked back to where she was. A red flame appeared all over her out of nowhere and soon after disappeared. Everything became black.