02x27: A Holiday Without Spirit

A Chapter by RA Fernandez

Austin experiences a depressing holiday season when a one thing too many goes wrong.

A HOLIDAY WITHOUT SPIRIT

Austin had been sleeping for twenty minutes when he heard a knock on his door.

Austin stood up and answered the door. It was Ivan and Patrick.

“Hey, Austin. Hurry up, we got five minutes!” Ivan said.

“Five minutes? For what?”

“It’s December 18 today, Austin. You know what tomorrow is, right?”

“Oh, right!”

“I got the cake!” Patrick said as he brought out a large chocolate cake.

“Pat baked it with Sam’s help.”

“Who else is here?”

“Berna and Janella are rounding up the Patola family. Lanz and Cedric are rounding up the others.”

“Oh, where’s do we meet?”

“Kyle’s front door.”

They went down the hallway and went to Kyle’s door. After a few seconds, Berna and Janella arrived with Mitzi, Clara, Rica, Danie, Sashi, Monica, Kayla, Eloise, Abi, Justine, Queennie and Alyssa.

“Hey, guys!” Janella said.

“Wow, that’s a lot,” Patrick said.

“Everyone, quiet!” Berna said.

“WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME AGAIN, HURRAH! HURRAH! WE’LL GIVE HIM A HEARTY WELCOME THEN, HURRAH! HURRAH!” was resonating from down the hallway.

“Crap, it’s Lanz and Cedric,” Berna said.

“And Ernst. I know that Gaga impersonation from anywhere.”

“THE MEN WILL CHEER AND THE BOYS WILL SHOUT. THE LADIES, THEY WILL ALL TURN OUT. AND WE’LL ALL FEEL GAY WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING�"“

“SHHHHHH!!!” everyone said in unison when the Lanz, Cedric, and Ernst turned around the corner.

“Are you telling me you only got Ernst?” Janella asked.

“No, we’re not telling you. We’re�"“ Lanz began but stopped when Austin gave him a look.

“What the hell’s happening out there?” Kyle said form inside.

“Oh, crap. Everyone in positions!” Berna said.

Kyle opened the door.

“SURPIRSE!!!” everyone who was gathered in front of Kyle’s door yelled.

“Hey! Guys!” Kyle exclaimed.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!” They began to sing as Patrick lit the candles. They continued to sing as he handed the cake to Kyle.

“Well, Kyle. Make a wish,” Berna said.

Kyle did as told and blew out his thirteen candles.

“Happy Thirteenth, Kyle,” Austin said.

“Thanks buddy!”

“Hey, Kyle! This a*****e nearly ruined the surprise! He started singing, When Johnny Comes Marching Home’ and hypnotized us!” Lanz said, pointing to Cedric.

“Hey, you guys sang along!”

“Caught! Red handed!” Lanz retaliated.

“Hey, stop fighting!” Ernst said.

“Peas and rice. Where’s Michael when you need him?’ Lanz said.

“Guys, this is such a surprise!” Kyle said.

“I know, Kyle. That’s why it’s a ‘surprise party’, “ Ivan said.

“He has a point there, Kyle,” Patrick said.

“Come on guys, it’s 12 in the morning.”

“YO MAMMA SO FAT, ALL THE FAT MOMMAS LOOK THIN!” Lanz said.

“WELL YO MAMMA SO FAT THAT MY MOMMA WAS MOMMAFIED BECAUSE YOUR MAMMA’S FLABS MOMMAFIED MAH MOMMA!” Cedric said.

“WELL YO MAMMA�"“ Lanz said before being interrupted by Ernst.

“Can we stop this mindless violence?!” Ernst said

“Shut up, Ernst! YO MAMMA SO F�"“

“Don’t you bring my momma into this!”

“Hey, guys! Stop fighting!” Berna and Kyle said in unison.

Everyone turned their heads to Kyle and Berna and gave them their deadly teasing smile.

“Stop it, guys. Come on. Let’s give the birthday boy a chance to eat his cake,” Janella said while Austin was still smiling at the happy couple. “Austin, come on. Let’s give the lovely couple�" err… the birthday boy a chance to eat his cake.”

“CAUGHT! RED HANDED!” Lanz said while pointing at Janella. He immediately stopped this when Austin gave him that look again. Kyle got a knife and cut the cake and they all had a slice.

The rest of Kyle’s birthday wasn’t as festive as the beginning. Austin rented out the fourth floor lobby for him and his family and friends. Austin however was missing from the action.

He was in his study observing a fragment of the A.R.M. stone in the BioDome through a microscope. He then heard a knock on the door.

Austin stood up and opened it, it was Janella.

“Hey, Austin. Why don’t you join the party?”

“I’m trying to resolve the A.R.M. problem.”

“Come on. Forget about that for a while. Have some fun.”

“Sorry, Janella, this has been bugging me since August. This is one loose end from earlier this year that hasn’t been tied up yet.”

“Well, ok. Can I at least come in for a while?”

“Sure, why not?”

Janella went inside as Austin went back to his study. Janella soon followed.

“What exactly are you doing?”

“I’m trying to find a way to reverse these A.R.M.’s back to their original form. A.R.M. is hard to find but these aren’t genuine A.R.M.’s, they are normal objects whose radiation-supportive field, which is natural in all matter, have been destroyed or absorbed.”

Austin continued to look through the microscope but noticed silence from Janella. He looked at her and she was looking at him like he just spoke an alien language.

“Hey, you alright?”

“Yeah, ‘cept for the fact that I didn’t catch anything you said.”

“TO put it simply, someone’s been messing with the objects around Seton. Since finding out who will take a while, I’m trying to find out how to cheat the A.R.M.’s. You know? Be able to use your powers around them?”

“Oh. Well, that would be nice.”

“Oh yes it will,” Austin said as he looked back in the microscope.

“Is it possible to reverse A.R.M.’s?”

“Yeah, but only the natural A.R.M.’s. These are fragments of the radioactive rock back in the city that have run out of energy. You just have to tap into your power and reverse its polarity. These ‘artificial’ A.R.M.’s are trickier since the field�" you can’t understand what I’m saying, can you?”

“I can, to a certain extent.”

“Okay. Since these ‘artificial’ ones just lost their field, we have to restore said field. This can’t be done by reversing its polarity, you have to sample the radiation-supportive field from elsewhere and replicate it.”

Austin looked back at Janella.

“Alas, that is damn near impossible.”

“Why?”

“The radiation-supportive or RS-field for short, is matter specific. Not just phases like solid, liquid or gas but it’s sensitive down to its very composition. If the RS-field is sucked out of a glass of water, we have to get the RS-field of Hydrogen and Oxygen and integrate them in the same way. The RS-field is different for everything.”

“Can’t John do that stuff?”

“John’s good but I don’t think even he can do this. There are more than a hundred elements and aver a million combinations. Replicating and inputting the data can take years, recognition won’t be enough. It’s impossible and I have been outsmarted.”

“You’ll think of something.”

“How about I find the guy responsible and ask him to go back to the Atlantic Ocean?” Austin said angrily.

“Austin, I’ll help.”

Austin just realized what he had said.

“Janella, I’m sorry. I’ll just loose this s**t for a while. My head hurts.”

“Let’s go have some cake at the party.”

“Sure!”

They went out to the lobby when they were met with a horrifying sight.

“LIKE A VIRGIN! TOUCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME!” Ernst sang as everyone applauded, presumably out of pity.

“Crap! What a warm welcome, huh?” Austin said to Janella while laughing. She laughed along too.

Lanz just entered the party, being met with the same sight as Austin and Janella. He marched onstage and carried Ernst away. He released laughing gas in retaliation.

“LAUGH! JUST LAUGH! LAUGH IT AWAY, SUCKERS! HAHA! TODAY MADONNA, TOMORROW, THE WORLD!” Ernst shouted loudly.

“You’ve drank too much lemonade today, mademoiselle,” Lanz said.

Kyle laughed his way onstage as he grabbed the microphone.

“Okay guys, that was quite a show. Up next is the dance-off. This one is between Patrick Astom and Austin Fernandez.”

“What?!” Austin exclaimed in surprise.

Patrick walked onstage.

“Go for it!” Janella said.

“I wasn’t notified. System error.”

“Don’t be a chicken now, Austin,” Kyle said.

“Who’s responsible for this?”

“I just got a tip from someone with the initials M.E.C. to let you dance. Seeing as you seem to be enjoying yourself in the lieu of the l-word, you ought to impress said devotchka now would you?”

M.E.C., he should’ve known. One subtle hint to him would lead to this. M.E.C. was no other than Michael Edgar Chua.

“Come on, Austin. I’ll give you the Christmas Eve Collection!”

Austin left his mind with the microscope and stepped on stage.

“START THE MUSIC!” Ernst said from the corner as Lanz knocked him out and dragged him back across the hall.

Austin turned back to face Janella, “For the record, I have never done this before.”

“Hey, Kyle, I think the sound system’s broken,” John said.

“What?”

“Looks like Madonna overloaded the system.”

“D****t, Ernst.”

Kyle went back and grabbed the mic. Oddly, it was working fine.

“Looks like there’s no dance-off today, fellas. “

“THIS CALLS FOR AN ENCORE!” Ernst yelled as he knocked Lanz out and headed for the mic. “AND I-I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU-U-U-U!!!!”

BOOM!

The sound system blew up. Janella and Patrick calmly subdued the flames.

“Nice work, Janella, You handled that smoothly,” Austin said.

“Thanks.”

Austin looked over to Patrick who was giving the teasing smile.

“I gotta go back.”

The rest of the day was uninteresting. Sunday was also uninteresting, except for a party at the lobby of the 20^th floor, hosted by Noel Sarossa’s parents. Lanz and Cedric were coming. So was PJ, Arianne, Aiyana, Joshua, an old classmate from Albay, and Ivan Jason Immenzo, Austin’s old nemesis.

Austin arrived with his mom. Patrick had tagged along since his mom was elsewhere for the night.

“Hey Lanz, Cedric!” Patrick said.

The two didn’t mind him though. They didn’t mind Austin either.

“Hey, Lanz, what’s wrong.”

“Austin, not here, please.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hey, how are you guys!” Ivan Immenzo said. Austin turned and he made eye contact with Ivan.

This was one piercing stare. Ivan’s eyes expressed 99% resent and 1 % regret. The scale evened and soon tipped to the other side as Austin maintained his hold. Ivan soon extended his right arm.

“Austin, I’d like to apologize for my actions last year.”

“You were conspiring with the enemy, Ivan.”

“No, it was never intentional.”

“What do you mean ‘never intentional’?”

PJ arrived while Austin and Ivan were having this heated discussion.

“Jelo’s the only one who intended to kill you.”

“Dave was the leader of your little posse? You’re telling me Jelo was the only one who wanted to kill me?”
“Well, I can tell you that I was just keeping my friendship intact.”

“And it still is right now. Congratulations.”

“Hey, what’s happening here?” PJ said.

“PJ, tell him about our deal with the Mastermind.”

“More like deal with the devil,” Austin said.

“Look, Austin. Ivan and I were just tagging along. We’re friends right.”

“PJ, I understand you. Ivan, fine I forgive you, Jelo, he’s an a*****e.”

“Pretty much,” PJ said as he and Ivan laughed. “But he’s awesome man!”

“But what about Dave? Why’d you appoint him leader?”

“Dave had a beef with you last year. Jelo too. We were just tagging along, like I said. That’s all gone this year,” PJ said.

“Jelo’s still an a*****e, though,” Ivan said.

“Haha, good luck, Austin!” PJ said while they laughed.

“Do you have any idea of the magnitude your actions last year had?!”

“Austin, now’s not the time for that,” Patrick said.

“YOU COULD HAVE KILLED EVERY SINGLE PEROSN ON THIS ISLAND. YOU BASICALLY SOLD YOUR SOULS TO THE DEVIL!”

“Austin!” his mother said, “That’s enough.”

“A little anger at me is not a proper justification for last year’s actions. I almost lost a friend.”

Austin just remembered who pushed him into the Dome, causing him to get all the powers, which eventually caused his rampage last month.

“Austin, let’s get some fried chicken,” Patrick said.

“You guys pushed me into the Dome of Power, nearly killing me. I survived but I got all the powers. I had to control them with the black band. I’m pretty sure that you had no idea of the series of event s you caused,” Austin said. He tried to calm down but he just snapped. “YOU INDIRECTLY CAUSED ME TO GO INSANE! YOU ARE THE INDIRECT CAUSE OF THE DEATHS OF NUMEROUS PEOPLE! YOU INDIRECTLY CAUSED THE DESTRUCTION OF GLORIETTA, TALLAHASSEE, AND NEW YORK!”

“AUSTIN!” Austin’s mother said firmly.

“I’m sorry. I can’t be here tonight.”

“Hey, Austin! Long time, no see!” Noel said as he came from the hallway.

“Noel, I’m sorry but I have to go.”

“Wait, why?”

“Austin, I’m sorry!” Ivan said.

Austin turned around and faced Ivan and PJ.

“Ivan, PJ, you’re forgiven. This problem is not yours but mine alone. I have to be left alone to my thoughts. Mom, Patrick, you guys enjoy the party.”

Austin marched to the elevator.

“Austin, get back here right now!”

Austin decided that the elevator was useless in this situation. He switched the black band to Space Manipulation and teleported to the shore.

He sat on the shore, staring out into the ocean. He couldn’t believe that he was like this right now just because of Jelo and Dave and their entire a*****e impulse.

“Hey, Austin.”

Austin looked behind him. It was Joel.

“Joel, what are you doing here?”

“Couldn’t sleep. Ernst’s singing gave me nightmares.”

“Haha. No seriously.”

“No reason. I just wanna see the ocean. Dr. Suarez put us in lockdown while you were gone so I need to catch up on my freedom.”

“I’m sorry.”

This just reminded Austin of how his curse was causing everyone misery.

“You know, Joel. I wasn’t always like this.”

“What? A douchebag?”

“No, I mean, superpowered.”

“Aren’t we all.”

“I mean super-superpowered.”

“Oh.”

“Last year, there were four guys who teamed up with the Mastermind. They made a deal with him. He’d probably spare them if they’d help him. They pushed me in the dome, with hopes that I would die. Turns out I got all the powers.”

“That’s gotta suck. I remember that day, March 6, 2009. I didn’t bother attending the party. Then suddenly there were explosions outside. I looked and there was this war down there.”

“Jeez. When I regained my strength, there was no war to see. Just ruin.”

“They did blow up the hotel.”

“Anyway, I gotta get some sleep. See ya, Joel. Try to forget about Ernst’s singing, alright?”

“Sure, G’Night.”

The rest of the days before Christmas were uneventful. Austin rented out all the floor lobbies plus the main lobby of the hotel itself to the families for Christmas Eve. It was extremely festive throughout the day. Christmas movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Home Alone, and even Die Hard were playing in the theatre. Austin spent the whole day in his room though, fulfilling his destiny of a boring day.

Night finally came. Austin went over to Kyle’s suite and greeted him a Merry Christmas. Same with Patrick and Ivan. When the clock ticked 11:50, Austin went to the tenth floor to greet Janella and Ernst a Merry Christmas. He waited and knocked on Janella’s door.

There was no answer. Ernst then appeared behind him.

“Hey, Austin!”

“Merry Christmas, Ernst!”

“Merry Christmas to you too, Austin,” he mumbled through the chocolate cake in his mouth.

“Where’s Janella?”

“I think she’s with her family on her brother’s floor, the eighth if I’m not mistaken.”

“Okay. Thanks, buddy.”

Austin went over to the eighth floor and saw her with her family. Austin didn’t want to interfere and grabbed a glass of lemonade while waiting for something to happen. Janella soon left her family and went in the elevator. It was going up.

Austin teleported to the ninth floor. It didn’t stop there. He teleported to the tenth floor. She didn’t stop there either.

He stopped on the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, all the way to the twentieth, she didn’t stop. There was only one place left to go.

Austin teleported to the roof. Without a doubt, she stopped there. Austin positioned himself at the edge, leaning on the ledge and staring out into the ocean. Janella walked over to him, doing the exact same thing.

“Beautiful night, isn’t it?” Janella said.

“Hey, Janella. Yeah, gorgeous night.”

“How was your Christmas Eve?”

“Boring, how about yours?”

“It was fun. The food was good.”

“Glad you had a good time.”

Austin was staring at the stars again.

“Austin, why do you keep looking at the stars?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they’re just beautiful. I like looking at beautiful things, you know?”

“Oh,” Janella said as she stared at the stars as well. “They are beautiful.”

Janella stared at the stars as Austin stayed silent. She wondered why and as she looked back at him, he was looking at her.

“What? Do I have lemonade on my face?”

“No. I like looking at�"“

“Haha… Very funny, Austin.”

“I knew I was being cheesy.”

“Hey, Austin, thanks.”

“For what?”

“For everything.”

“Oh…”

They paid attention to the stars once more. It was getting late.

“Hey Austin, I gotta go.”

“Oh, right, bye then.”

Janella headed back to the elevators.

“Janella?”

She turned back to face him.

“Merry Christmas.”

“You’re a fan of making people turn their backs, aren’t you?”

“What? Well, it’s just a coincidence.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

The elevator doors opened.

“Do you mind if I ride along?”

“No, not at all.”

Austin stepped in with her. It was awkward since they both remained silent on the way down. When they finally reached the tenth floor, it was already empty. Janella stepped out.

“I really had fun today, Austin. You should try it sometimes.”

“I’m glad to hear that. The fun part,” Austin said, holding the elevator doors open.

Janella headed towards the hallways. She turned around.

“Austin!”

The doors were closing but Austin forced them open again.

“Yeah?”

“Merry Christmas,” she said with a smile

“Merry Christmas too, Janella. Good night.”

“Good night.”

Austin rode the elevator down to his floor. He went back to his suite and finally slept.

Once again, the remaining days were boring. New Year’s Eve was the next attraction. Austin headed to the outside of the hotel that night, where everyone had fireworks of their own.

Austin saw some creative firework designs. Cedric was holding a Best Firework Design Contest in one corner. Everyone was just having fun.

It was almost midnight and as much as Austin hated to repeat himself, he wanted to greet his friends. He asked some people and they didn’t know where his friends were. Austin was only able to greet Kyle, Patrick, Ivan, Ernst, and Joel. Joel thought he saw Janella in her room.

Austin teleported to the tenth floor. It was empty. He walked over to Janella’s suite and the door was open.

“Janella?”

Austin slowly walked inside. He saw here sitting on the bed, staring into the balcony.

“Janella, are you okay?”

“Hello, Mr. Fernandez.”

Austin knew that voice well enough.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Fernandez, but I’m afraid I’ll have to stick to her for a while longer.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you tormented, Mr. Fernandez, especially after what you did to poor Spike.”

“That was directly his fault.”

“Was it, Mr. Fernandez?”

“Stop calling me that!”

“I will call you what I wish, Mr. Fernandez.”

Austin couldn’t hit her. He was panicking.

“Does it hurt, Mr. Fernandez, to see me control the woman you love?”

“She has nothing to do with this. Let her go!”

“I’m afraid I cannot do that, Mr. Fernandez. I can clearly sense your pain, your anguish, your anger, your dread. Sensing these emotions makes me happy. It will make the information in your brain juicier for when I get it.”

The shell of Janella stood up, her eyes glowing purple. Austin switched the black band to “Dark Power” and charged his hands.

“Stay away from her or I’ll rip your consciousness from her.”

“Is that a threat, Mr. Fernandez?”

“What’s wrong? Feeling threatened?”

He then saw Janella fire a red orb right into Austin, he was sent into the next room.

“Mr. Fernandez, Spike has failed. My previous host has failed. I am tired of these failures. My sadistic desires have long been held back.”

“Aww, The Mastermind has blue balls.”

The Mastermind grabbed Austin psychically as he pulled him closer.

“Can’t move now, can we?”

Austin turned his whole body into darkness and freed himself from The Mastermind’s hold.

“Janella, please forgive me.”

Austin grabbed her head and began to extract the Mastermind. She was screaming at the top of her lungs. It was a high-pitched scream that nearly shattered Austin’s eardrums. It got more unpleasant until he extracted everything. Janella fell limp on the bed. The purple goo had a face in the middle. It continued to scream. Austin engulfed it in darkness and made the whole thing disappear.

He rushed over to Janella’s side.

“Janella, are you okay?”

He wondered, if it was that easy to extract the “Master” Mind from one of his hosts, why would it be much of a challenge to destroy him personally.

“Janella!”

She opened her eyes.

“What? What happened?”

“I don’t think you want to know.”

“I felt terrible, Austin. Tell me what happened.”

“The Mastermind came in here and took control of you. He was trying to get to me.”

“I felt…”

“I know what it feels like, Janella. It’s okay. It won’t happen again, even if I die protecting you.”

She just fell back and laid on her bed.