03x21: Triple Threat

CV continues to search for forgiveness after what happened yesterday. Meanwhile, Austin and the rest of the team argue if Erika's "meeting" is a trap or not.

TRIPLE THREAT

 

     “It’s a trick, I swear!”

     “Come on, John. We might get some information that would be more than essential to our�"“

     “Half-assed assault? Look, Austin, last year, all I ever did was lead four people, bring random cool s**t into the playing field and kick some a*s but now, I will be the first to say that going to this meeting is one of the most retarded things that a person could do.”

     “Really? Why?”

     “For one, who the hell is Erika anyway? I mean I know who she is but do you even know her, what she’s like? Last time you went on a friggin date�"“

     “It wasn’t a date.”

     “Whatever it was, her sister popped in and screwed you up for a good few hours.”

     “Please don’t do that again. Depressed you is extremely depressing,” Kyle said.

     “I swear, that attributed to my harsh criticisms during the try-outs,” Ernst said.

     “I thought those were because of the pancakes,” Berna said.

     “How’d you know about that?!”

     “That would be my doing,” Janella said.

     “Guys, please, anyway, second reason, for these psychos, family comes first. Look at Norman Bates and his mother!”

     “I haven’t even seen Psycho.”

     “Neither have I but Wikipedia provides all the time, especially for quick research. Back to the point, before anything else, Erika will be thinking of her family and all they want is your head on a stick.”

     “Is that all?”

     “Third reason, Barrage is a complete badass. He knocked out both of us and if my previous two points prove to be true and they bring those power disabling darts, we are screwed.”

     “Your points are poorly strung together. The chance of this being a trap is about two-thousand to one.”

     “Never tell him the odds!” Ernst said. Everyone glared at him. “I’m sorry. I needed to supply the obligatory fanboy-ish Star Wars reference. Please, continue.”

     “He makes a point. There’s always an obligatory Star Wars reference,” Kyle said.

     “Austin, open your eyes! It’s more like two to one.”

     “If you’re so confident that this is a trap, why don’t you just come with?”

     “Look, she wants to meet in a mall. If your stories about sixth grade are true, this might be the third time we blow up a mall, directly or indirectly.”

     “I can confirm those stories. I was there,” Kyle said.

     “And we all know that third time’s the charm.”

     “John, she said if I doubted her, I can bring friends.”

     “So what? So they can pick all of us off?”

     “Why would they do that? From what we know, we have the same enemy.”

     “Fine. Fine. You use that to convince them. We’ll go with you, maybe have some drinks. Maybe see the Social Network.”

     “Nope, MTRCB’s pushing it back to make way for a sequel, or something else that’s mainstream and therefore, crappy.”

     “D****t,” Ernst said.

     “But drinks on you since we wouldn’t even be there if it wasn’t for your little mistress.”

     “She’s not my… Look, what’s the deal, John? You’ve been acting not like yourself recently.”

     “Oh yeah, about that. I’m kinda pissed off regarding your ship. When I said it was ready, what I meant to say was that it was not ready because…”

     “Because?”

     “Because I have not finished it, duh. I’m trying to find out how you made the power absorbent… thingy.”
     “Oh, the 'power shift' technology. Yeah, that was a real b***h for me too but I can do that part.”

     “I wanna figure it out but I just can’t. It sucks!”

     “Look, we aren’t gonna attack for at least another week so if you wanna figure it out, you have at least a week. But when we’re gonna attack, I’m sorry but times up.”

     “And stop acting like a d****e. Seriously,” Ernst said.

     John glared at Ernst.

     “Hello?”

     “I’ll get it,” Austin said.

     Austin went outside and saw Justine there.

     “Hello, Mr. President. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

     “The Apostles presentation? It’s on Friday.”

     “No kidding?”

     “Nope. It’s going well but…”

     “No problem. Tell them to expect me on Wednesday and Thursday. I will be observing their performances. “

     “Great. Thanks!”

     Austin went back in the Base.

     “What was that?” John asked.

     “Oh nothing. Our Apostles presentation is on Friday.”

     “Well, good luck, I gotta go.”

     “Yeah, it’s getting late,’ Ernst said.

     They all stood up and left the base. Austin bid Janella farewell as she used her own personal Telegun to go back to Woodridge. He went with the others to the hotel.

 

Tuesday’s quote was the somewhat appropriate, “This is your life and it’s ending one minute at a time,” from Fight Club.

     They had Science early in the morning the next day. CV’s day instantly hit rock bottom. Sr. Jojo expressed so much non-verbal hatred during the period. Eventually, the subtle hatred just wasn’t enough when the class still wasn’t affected enough and didn’t listen to the lecture.

     Before Sr. Jojo left, he said seven words that destroyed the class.

     “You know what? I hate this class.”

     He left without another word and there was silence. They sat in their seats for a while despite being recess time.

      The rest of the day just felt empty after this.

 

Wednesday was a bit lighter since Science wasn’t until after Recess. That day’s quote was “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know, what you’re gonna get,” from Forrest Gump. Sean reacted by saying, “I know damn well what I’ll get, more chocolates!”

     They watched a video in English class about the story of Shakuntala.

     The class laughed at it, whether it was the video’s intention or not. One of the reasons was the catchy tune in the beginning of, “Once upon a time in the east!” repeating over and over.

     Another thing they laughed at was the animation. When the narrator said, “She rushed outside.” The animation showed her slowly walking outside. “Slowly” was a gross understatement.

     It was still educational. That was what Austin loved about classes, humor and learning should go hand in hand more often since it sticks in the students’ heads. That is also why Sr. Jojo was such a good teacher and it was extremely depressing to be his most hated section.

     Regarding Ms. Sharon, Austin was lending her some Quentin Tarantino films. She personally loved Inglourious Basterds. That day, he lent her Reservoir Dogs, Austin’s personal favorite film of Quentin’s.

     This led to a friendship between him and Ms. Sharon. Austin could go all out about his view on cinema and he would get the reactions he wanted. The only other place he could talk like this to was on the flame war, troll-infested, forums of IMDb, which he wanted to avoid usually but his love of cinema drew him back a couple of times.

     .During Art class, Sr. Philip brought in an unfamiliar face to observe. He was supposedly taking his place next week as their art teacher. This saddened CV because Sr. Philip was one of the most fun teachers around.

     He also continued to rent from Austin (rent is a misnomer since it was for free). He usually rented Judd Apatow films (40 YOV, Knocked Up, and Pineapple Express).

     Austin’s rental business was going pretty smoothly. Jib was his star client, giving him a wishlist of movie to be rented at any time.

     His wishlist actually had some great movies on them and Austin was happy that there was at least one person out there who had similar taste in movies.

     Marise was also one of his star clients. Her common rentals were some of the best movies from the 21th century as well as the 90’s.

     Mo-on’s rentals were book adaptations, mostly the Harry Potter movies. He firmly believed that the books were always better and he had been confirmed thanks to Austin.

     Science time was back to normal. They paid a lot more attention but Sr. Jojo was cracking very little jokes. It was odd since their lesson was Gametogenesis and it was boon for a lot of jokes for thirteen to fourteen year old boys and girls to enjoy.

     The CV party was also on that day and their band was still sloppy. Since they didn’t get an AVR reservation again, they spent the time practicing for the party.

     They reserved the Lunch time for the party as well so it could last for two hours.

     Austin begged Mo-on to switch around the schedules since he and Rica put the music group right after Justine’s opening speech.

     When the party finally hit, Mo-on enthusiastically introduced their nameless band (Austin jokingly suggested “The Stagnant Stones” because their awesomeness factor was the awesomeness factor of The Rolling Stones multiplied by zero.)

     They attempted to play the song but Renz screwed up too much and they took too much time. Ms. Anne wasn’t mad but still disappointed. She called off the party, giving everyone another week to prepare.

     They spent the remaining time practicing again. Austin was majorly pissed off at this point and just wanted to relax a little.

     When the period ended, it was Kinesthetic time. They continued the Palarong Pinoy (They made a cheer: “Manalo, Matalo, Dahon kami!” It translates to “Win or lose, we are leaves!” which was referring to Sr. Jojo’s joke a few weeks back. Sadly, it was in bitter taste today).

     Ms. Mac talked to a few of the students: Maan, Justine, Austin, Sean, and Ymara. They were talking about how CV is slowly falling apart. As mentioned a few weeks back, Sr. Leo complained about their behavior worsening. Now, Sr. Jojo was mad at them.

     “Every time Sr. Jojo gets mad, you guys run to me and say, ‘Miss, Sr. Jojo got mad and we got scared. What do we do?’”

     “Say sorry?”

     “And then you reply, ‘But miss, we’re scared.’ I find myself laughing because what will I do then? You shouldn’t be afraid to apologize.”

     A few people suggested that they do a “martial law plus Iron Fist” treatment for a few weeks until discipline is learned but that seems to be a little too much for them.

     After the talk, Austin went down and CV and DDN were facing off in “Agawang Panyo” where the commissioner (in this case, Sr. Dhani) would hold up a handkerchief and call a player’s number. The two players of that number from each team would now try to grab the handkerchief before the other one does.

     Austin didn’t know whether to cheer for Janella or CV so, to settle the tie and to lighten the mood, he shouted, “Go, Sir Dhani!”

     Nobody reacted and this was sort of a good thing. He sat down, watched the rest of the game, and just waited for something good to happen.

     The game was over and the next two sections went in and the CV girls took a break.

     “That was intense, wasn’t it?” Sean asked them.

     “Yeah, there are some really fast people in DDN!” Marise said.

     “Speaking of DDN…’ Austin said.

     “Yes, speaking of DDN. I took it easy on Janella, haha,” Marise said.

     “Haha, I guess I should say thanks?”

    “No problem. But that didn’t help much, did it?”

     “No s**t, dudes. WE WON!” Sean exclaimed.

     Austin stayed later for the rehearsals. He just sat down in front of them (Their stage was the stairs to the second floor but on Friday, they would be performing on the stairs in the Bridge).

     He sat there with a pissed off expression on his face because the boys wouldn’t settle down for the rehearsals.

     After a while, he stood up and said a few words.

     “Now, I apologize since this is the first time I have attended these practices but I trust that Justine has been doing an excellent job along with the other producers. Anyway, I only ask for one thing, don’t disappoint me.”

     He sat back down and watched Justine do his work. He was a good director of actions, cues, and scenes but his weakness was in the acting.

     After they did a run, the most surprising actor was Owen who completely blew everyone else out of the water as Judas Iscariot.

     Austin supplied a few suggestions in the final scene but his major contribution was in the acting department.

     “I love the direction, really. You guys already know what to do. We firmly established what’s going on and who are you guys but my problem is how you guys depict you guys.”

     They had confused looks on their face due to Austin’s retarded execution.

     “Fine, I’ll be straightforward, acting. We have to improve the acting. Owen, Basti, you guys are great. As for the rest, your range from okay, to mediocre, to just plain bland but I know you guys. You can definitely be the next De Niro’s and Pacino’s. I need emotion, I want you guys to forget who you are and remember that, ‘I am Simon Peter,’ or, ‘I am James, son of Zebedee.’ Give me another run, since this is theatre; feel free to exaggerate a bit.”    

     They gave him another run and the acting kinda improved.

     “Sean, Joven, Renz, Clutch, you guys improved a lot. Congratulations. Owen and Basti, keep it up,” he said. Then he decided to go for the relatively morally grey and…, “Okay, here’s the deal. The top three actors, I’ll buy you guys a drink.”

     There were audible gasps from some of the audience.

     “No, not that kind of drink. Just a Coke or a Sprite. Jeez…”

     They gave him another run. While watching, Austin switched to Space Manipulation. When it was finished, Austin sat in his seat, silent, as the cast looked at him in anticipation.

     He stood up, closed his notebook, and said, “Owen, Basti, Joven, congratulations.”

     “Hey, I want a Coke!” Owen said.

     “Sure,” Austin said as he teleported away.

     He teleported back with a Royal for himself, three Cokes for Joven, Basti, and Owen.

     Then, he told them to take a break and something happened that made him somewhat happy.

     Jade and Jib approached him.

     “What am I missing?” Jib asked.

     “What all of you are missing: emotion. Like I said, you aren’t Jib, Jib. You are… John, the Beloved Apostle.”

    Jade looked at him.

     “Same with you Jade. You can do it! I believe in you.”

     They went back and the three best actors finished their drinks.

     “Give me one more and we’ll call it a day.”

     They ran through it again and there were two fairly hilarious screw-ups. Froilan forgot to say his last lines before returning his post so he tripped but stopped himself halfway, turned back to the audience and said, “My name is Matthew!”

     The other one was when Renz finished his speech about himself, Thomas, and did a military style about face, sending everyone watching into a laughing fit.

     “That was good, guys! Let’s polish it tomorrow.”

 

Thursday’s quote was “No fate but what we make,” from Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Again, it was sort of appropriate since the fate everyone wanted would be made if they apologized as one class.

     That morning, Austin, Sean, and Ibarra wrote names backwards on the board. Since practically everyone in the class knew about Renz’s crush, they wrote, “Znerechim dna Ennaira” on the board and boxed it.

     “Haha, that’s cool. They’re like… an old Egyptian couple,” Sean said.

     “Looks like Cleopatra has competition…’ Austin said.

    When Sr. Geck arrived to aboard full of backward names, Austin realized what he had done and erased everything. After the morning assembly, Sr. Geck spoke a few words.

     “As much as possible, refrain from using the board for unnecessary purposes.”

     He looked behind him and saw the quote of the day (which he had been noticing for the past few days).

     “I can still allow this. Let me guess, this is from Austin.”

     It was an easy guess since Austin was the movie consultant of the class.

     “I knew it.”

     After the first two periods and recess, Austin passed by DDN and saw Sr. Leo fencing with Jolo and Luis with foam swords. It was a small thing that kind amused him, one way or the other.

    

Later that day, during Filipino time, Austin was bored and Ms. Becky was not talking about Florante at Laura at all but just telling stories that were very loosely connected to the central themes of said literary “masterpiece”

     He decided to talk with Marise who was definitely just as bored.

     “Hey, you bored?”

     “Hmm… let me thi�" of course!”

     Just as he predicted…

     “So… how’s this seating arrangement going for you?”

     “It’s fun.”

     “What’s the best seating arrangement this year so far?”

     “I’d say this one, what about you?”

     “Any arrangement but the second one. As in the before I got sick and Sr. Jojo switched you guys around while I was recovering.”

     “Oh, that one.”

     “Dory and Yara were extremely fun to torture and you’re fun to talk to and Jasvir, Aika, Basti, and Owen are here so…”

     “Agreed.”

     “Why this one?”

     “Similar reasons as you. Jasvir, Aika, Basti, Owen, and you’re my seatmate.”

     This took Austin by surprise a little.

     “Why, am I special or something?” he asked awkwardly.

     “I mean, yeah but..., 'cause I can relate to your movie addiction and you’re fun to talk to. Like I said, similar reasons.”

     “Oh…”
     Cue awkward silence.

     “Well… I have one complaint,” Marise said.

     She glanced to her right for a split second.

     “Marise, you deserve a high five,” he said as he gave her a high five.

     “Like I said, similar reasons.”

 

During AP time, Sr. Leo had the foam swords, claiming that they were having a sword fight during his class.

     During CCF time, Ms. Mac finally spoke her mind to the class. She said that what she felt was beyond anger and that they were too happy all the time. They were too relaxed.

     They lost a good eight minutes of their lunch but they more than deserved it. Austin, depressed, marched the canteen to sit with the rest of TEAGS.

     “My ***…, we’re orphans…” Austin said in his depressed/pseudo-drunk tone.

     “Why?” Bianca asked.

     “Our daddy has left us and our mommy is beyond angry at us. Your mommy is disappointed at us and Sr. Geck pointed out indirectly that I use the black board unnecessarily too much.”

     “Well, Sr. Edmond’s mad at us. I also heard DOR is going through the same thing,” Ernst said.

     “Why? What happened?” Austin asked Ivan.

     “Umm… Ms. Sharon got mad at us for being too loud and Sr. Geck removed all our officers from their posts. We have no officers anymore.”

     “Damn, what is this? Orphan week?”

     “I also heard that Sarangani�"“

     “NO MORE ORPHAN TALK! I wanna eat lunch in peace… and depression…”

     Austin got so depressed that he went off before the others and walked around the second floor north wing for a while. He decided to buy some comfort food but on his way down, he passed by Sr. Jojo and waved at him slightly. He gave him a very vague smile as he passed by.

     Austin bought his pancakes and went back the second floor of the north wing, on his way to the library.

     He finished off his comfort food and sat down in the library. He sat with Janella, Ernst, Bianca, and Johan.

     After a while, the depression returned since everyone in the table was also depressed. Austin spoke in his depressed/pseudo-drunk tone again.

     “This week is a disaster… Advisers and their sections’ relationships going awry. Everything else going haywire… In fact… I was going down the stairs earlier in a futile attempt to subdue my depression but I passed by Sr. Jojo and I didn’t know whether to say hello or apologize personally, despite the fact that I did bring my codon wheel which was the catalyst for this entire shitstorm of a situation anyway.

     “I waved, that’s it. I don’t know if it was the right choice but it doesn’t matter. My entire life is going to hell anyway and you guys are all I’ve got. We don’t have a name for the team yet. I don’t know if John’s right or wrong about the whole Erika thing… I mean not the dating thing, we’re not I assure you, she’s part-evil. I mean about the possible ambush thing. I mean jeez…

     “The part that sucks the most is that nobody ****ing cares anymore. Our entire class is falling apart and, although everyone wants to do something about it, we can’t just get together and do something about it. The sad part? I’m part of those people who won’t and I hate it!”

     Austin stared into space for a while. Ernst, Johan, and Bianca were silent while Janella was slouched down onto the table with a sad expression on her face.

     “You know what? I love you guys… Despite all this s**t...., happening to all of us, we stick together and I know this is all trite and clichéd but it’s not any less true. I suggest we have a few drinks.”
     They remained quiet but presumably not because of his comment about drinks.

     “No, not that kind of drinks. I meant iced tea. You know what? Forget it. Let’s just�"“

     RING!!!

     “Great, let’s head back. Good bye and good luck.”

     Sr. Jojo started cracking jokes again but when they would laugh, he would ask, “What’s so funny? Are we cool yet? No we’re not…”

     Luckily, Music class and Guidance were a bit more fun than usual but like all other measurable things, fun is relative.

     The rehearsals for that day were a bit more disappointing than yesterday and Austin would rather not remember it. It got better by the end since Jasvir asked him what was missing and he delivered, landing the third best actor award. Yes, he bought drinks again.

     Another notable moment was when Owen said his line, “I hanged himself,” with a somewhat animated face that Austin inadvertently burst into laughter, causing Owen to burst into laughter.

    

Friday (the quote was “Every man dies but not every man truly lives,” Braveheart’s tagline.) finally hit and Sr. Jojo was a bit better that day. He wasn’t as angry as before but still pretty angry. It was also just in time for Jib’s birthday.

     Before CCF time, they were given time to set up at the bridge. The apostles had to create their own props and Austin was looking around. He was pleasantly surprised.

     “Austin! Austin!” Froilan called. He went to him. He was carrying a box of taxes.

     “What?”

     “Should I let go of this box when I raise my hands when I say, ‘I stood up and followed Him,’?”

     This hit Austin like a bullet to the brain.

     “Good idea, Froilan. Yes, let go! You are letting go of your previous life. Good!”

     After a while, Jib’s pizzas arrived and Austin and Ibarra guarded them at the back as the presentation unfolded.

     There were two pillars on the sides (made from cloth and two people standing behind them) and a tarp (made of cloth again) on top of the stairs. Justine walked to the middle and introduced the play.

     “No I present to you, Compostela Valley’s presentation: The Apostles of Christ!”

     They applauded as Justine sat back down.

     Sean emerged from behind. He was met with applause and cheering.

     “I was born in Bethsaida. By profession, I am a fisherman. My father is named Jona. My brother is the apostle Andrew. We were fishermen in the Sea of Galilee. I was one of three apostles to witness Jesus’ transfiguration. Some people consider me the "Prince of the Apostles… My name is Simon Peter.”

     He sat on the stairs as Joven went out. Austin was very much impressed.

     “I was first a disciple of John the Baptist. I took my brother, Peter, to meet Jesus. I am called Protokletos or the First called because I was the first apostle to be summoned by Jesus into His service. Me and my brother were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee… My name is Andrew.”

     He sat on the other side from Sean. Jade emerged from the tarp.

     “I am a son of Zebedee and Salome and the brother of John the Apostle. Me and my brother were called the Sons of Thunder. I was one of three apostles to witness Jesus’ transfiguration... My name is James and I am called James the Greater to differentiate me from James, son of Alphaeus.”

     He sat down as well. Jib emerged holding the Holy Bible in his arms.

     “I am known as the Beloved Disciple. I am a son of Zebedee and Salome. I am also the brother of James the Greater. We were called the Sons of Thunder; I was the last survivor of the Twelve Apostles and the only one to die a natural death. Christian tradition says I wrote the Gospel of John, and the book of Revelations. That’s right, I am an evangelist. I was also one of the three witnesses to Jesus’ transfiguration… My name is John.”

     He turned in a good performance. He sat down as Jeffrey emerged. He was welcomed with applause. Austin was so proud of the cast.

     “Jesus called me as His disciple as he was leaving Bethany after His Baptism. I was from Bethsaida. I should not be confused with Philip the evangelist but I did know him… My name is Philip.”

     He sat down as Jasvir emerged.

     “It has been suggested that I am the same person as Nathanael. My name means ‘son of Talemai’ which was a Hebrew name which shows I am from Hebrew descent. Very few mentions of my name occur in the New Testament. Very little is known about me, and I intend to keep it that way... for now… I am Bartholomew.”

     Austin was proud of Jasvir. He kept his quality from yesterday and even pulled it up a notch.

     He sat down as Froilan emerged.

     “One day, Jesus was walking and saw a tax collector. He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ That tax collector was yours truly and I stood up and followed Him.”

     Froilan raised his hands and dropped the box of taxes.

     “My name means gift of the Lord… My name is Matthew.”

     He was surprised that Froilan could actually act.

     He sat down as Renz came out with a walking stick and a rolled up piece of paper.

     “I am best known for disbelieving Jesus’ resurrection when first told of it. I am most famous for how I am depicted in the Gospel according to John. I first appear as a symbol of strength, encouraging the others to follow Jesus to Judea where death awaits. Later I express doubts about following Jesus…”

     Renz slammed his stick on the floor, waking up anyone who happened to be asleep as well as catching everyone by surprise. He raised his hand revealing the rolled up piece of paper with scribbles on it.

     “I am Thomas but because of my actions, I have also been called, Doubting Thomas.”

     He bowed his head in shame as everyone, Austin included, was in awe at the best performance so far. They couldn’t hold it in so they gave him a standing ovation.

     He sat down as Migz emerged.

     “I am rarely mentioned in the New Testament. Two times to be exact. I am clearly distinguished from James, son of Zebedee… They call me James the Lesser. I am also known as

James, son of Alphaeus.”

     He sat down as Aldrich emerged.

     “I am clearly distinguished from Judas Iscariot. I am sometimes called Jude. I am sometimes also called Lebbaeus… My name is Thaddeus.”

     He sat down as Clutch emerged.

     “Good day. I am a Zealot. I am one of the most obscure among the apostles of Jesus. Little is recorded of me aside from my name… I am Simon the Zealot.”

     They all stood up and formed a semicircle. The music changed to a much mellower tune. Basti emerged from the back of the stairs, in white clothes, Jesus’ transfiguration attire to be exact.

     He stood in the middle of the semi-circle.

     “I am Jesus Christ, the son of God,” he started.  He told his story about his crucifixion (actually, Austin didn’t write this part so he didn’t know it by heart). He ended with, “These are my apostles: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, and Simon.”

     They stepped forward as their name was called. They all took a bow before the music changed to a much more grim tone. Owen walked in, wearing a blood red hood.

     “Who are you people?! Who are you?”

     The others stepped back and he went to the center.

     “Who am I?”

     He removed his hood and raised his hand which was holding a bag of coins.

     “I am Judas Iscariot. I am best known for my betrayal of Jesus. I am also the treasurer of the apostles. This was how I was bribed with thirty pieces of silver. “

     Everyone jumped back slightly, physically or otherwise, when Owen suddenly dropped the bag of coins, causing them to scatter on the ground.

     “I gave in to the temptation and after I betrayed Jesus, I hanged myself.”

     His performance was even better than before. If you looked real hard, you could see tears forming in his eyes as his face was flushed with regret.

     “I hanged myself… I hanged myself!”

     Austin didn’t even think of bursting into laughter. He, and pretty much everyone else, was genuinely terrified and taken aback by his performance.

     He stepped back as the music ended.

     Everyone gathered around Ms. Mac as she thought of something to say.

     “Okay, I’m going to try not to be biased here. Truth be told, yours is the most dramatic one so far. The other sections had a much more different approach.”

     Of course this didn’t mean they were the best. After all, The Godfather Part III is more dramatic than Back to the Future, that doesn’t mean it’s better.

     “Now, let’s talk about the acting. First, Sean. The moment he emerged from the tarpaulin, I did not see Sean, I saw Simon Peter.”

     They applauded Sean and he was smiling.

     “Next, when Joven first spoke, that was it. I was sold.”

     They applauded him as well.

     Summarizing Ms. Mac’s general comments:

     “Jib, you were really good.

     “Jeffrey, I never knew you had the capability for that amount of seriousness. Great job!

     “Jasvir was astounding.

     “Jade was also really good.”

    A bit more in-depth comments:

     “Froilan, you were really good. I also loved the symbolism of you dropping the taxes. I know for some of you that was just a simple gesture but, I don’t know if it was intentional or not but that was really good symbolism.

     “Renz, I cannot express through words how good you were. I think from this day forth, you will no longer be known as just ‘Ngiting Guioguio’. Great job!

     “Clutch, honestly, wow…”

     She also commended Migz and Aldrich and noted how serious these usual “class clowns” could be.

     Then she got to the two leads.

     “Basti, you are truly the one who deserved this role. You actually personified Jesus Christ! Good work, Kuya Basti.

     “And last but not least, our very own Judas Iscariot. The very second you walked onstage; I felt the mood change instantly. When you began to speak, I literally felt goosebumps. And at the end when you were saying, ‘I hanged myself,’ I could see the regret in your eyes. Needless to say, amazing job, Owen.”

     They all applauded.

     “Anyone want to say something?”

     Austin raised his hand.

     “Austin, go ahead.”

     “Okay guys. I’d just like to say what has already been said and thought: You did great! I am just so proud of you guys from the props committee to our very own director, Justine Olaivar, let’s give him a hand!”

     They applauded Justine.

     “And especially to the cast. Even though I was pretty much a monster during the practices, you guys pulled through and I’m just so proud to have worked with you. If I become big in Hollywood, look for me if you want to do something great.”

     Austin sat back down.

     “Anyone else? None? Okay. Now let’s talk about your problem regarding Sr. Jojo. You know him, we’ve been friends from a while now and when he gets mad, a while later, he just laughs it off. Which is why I’m wondering what you did to cause him to be this angry. My suggestion: talk this between yourselves and apologize to him.”

     They thought about this for a while…

     “Okay, if that is all, let’s greet Jib a happy birthday.”

     Songs were sung and greetings were exchanged. They used the speakers to play party songs and they ate the pizza.

    

Later that lunch, Austin saw DOR practicing their play. Alyssa and Rudi-Anne mentioned that they would be taking a more comedic approach.

     Sr. Geck also noticed how CV was changing for the worse and recommended that they go back to the basics.

     Aside from these, nothing interesting happened for the rest of the school hours.

     After school hours however, Austin went back to the room for no particular reason and saw some of the guys kicking around a pair of underwear. They didn’t care that Ms. Mac was in the same room.

     “Boys, who owns that?” Ms. Mac asked.

     “We don’t know. Nobody’s claiming it,” Jib said.

     “Then throw it away already.”

     Froilan took it and literally threw it away… at Jib’s face.

     “Son of a�"“

     He remembered that Ms. Mac was in the room.

     “FROILAN!”

     Jib crumpled the briefs in his hand and Froilan took off into the hallways. He chased after him.

     “Ms. Mac, may I ask you a question?” Austin asked.

     “Yes?”

     “Am I a good director? I mean Justine did the scenes but the acting�"“

     “Yes, you are good but try to lay off the martial law, okay?”

     “Haha, sure. Thanks Miss!”

   

That Saturday, he announced that his group would be required to go with him to the Power Plant Mall.

     “Dude, why?!” Bianca asked.

     “I thought that I could get to know you guys better.”

     “Know us guys better?! Need I say why you don’t need to know Janella any better? And Ernst, Ivan, and Patrick. Mo-on is one of your best friends in CV and do I have to justify myself? And Marise, she’s your seatmate dude. You seriously gonna bring us along?”

     “Do you want go with us or not?”

     “Of course I wanna go. I’m just�"”

     “Then there should be no complaints.”

     Austin also invited Mo-on over to watch Kill Bill Vol. 2. Long story, short: He loved it.

 

Fast forward to Sunday at 1 PM. Austin, Kyle, Berna, Janella, John, Ernst, Ivan, Patrick, Mo-on, Marise, Michael Chua, and Bianca were at the cinema area, top floor. They got to the mall using the Anonymous.

     “So, what exactly should we be doing?” John asked.

     “Did Erika even point out where exactly to meet her?” Michael asked.

     “What are you doing here?!” Patrick asked Michael.

     “Sitting down, waiting for something to happen.”

     “Hey, which one to watch? Kat Heigl and Josh Duhamel or that new Wes Craven movie?” Ernst asked.

     “Oh, now I remember why I’m here,” Michael told Patrick. “Shut up, Ernst!”

     “Ah, good ole’ Michael. Have you learned how to turn your arms into pork swords yet?”

     “My hands turn into ranged weapons you dumbass.”

     “Pork swords can be ranged. You just gotta stimula�"“

     “That’s it, I’m outta here,” Janella said.

     “Agreed,” Berna, Bianca, and Marise said. They stood up and went off to the snack bar.

     “Touché, De Vera. Very well played,” Michael said. “Sadly, you must present tangible proof that you got that information from a first-hand source.”

     “Burn,” Ivan said.

     “Hey, Austin, freeze time so I can show legitimate proof. D****t, I have had enough of this.”
     “That’s my Michael versus Ernst limit. You guys want anything from the snack bar?” Austin asked.

     “Screw this, I’m going with you,” Kyle said.

     Austin, Kyle, John, and Mo-on went to the snack bar.

     “Hey,” Austin said to Janella.

     “Finally had enough of that conversation?”

     “You do not want to know how far it went.”

     She looked at him oddly.

     “That didn’t come out right, did it?”

     “Nope, haha.”

     “Hey, you want Popcorn?” Bianca asked.

     “Are we watching something?”

     “Do you really need to be watching something to eat popcorn?” Marise asked.

     “I agree.”

     “Popcorn’s on Bianca!” Janella said.

     “What?!”

     “RK!” Kyle said. (RK meant “Rich Kid”)

     “Hey, drinks are on Austin! Are we forgetting that?!” John said.

     Those who weren’t present at the meeting last Monday night gasped audibly.

     “No! Not that kind of drink. I meant, oh forget it. What do you guys want?”

     “Popcorn,” Patrick said.

     “Had enough of that conversation?” Bianca asked.

     “You do not want to know the lengths they have reached.”

     Austin and Kyle burst into laughter.

     “Don’t even ask. That definitely did not come out right,” Austin said.

     “Count me in,” Ivan said.

     “Had enough of that conversation?” Kyle asked.

     “Are you kidding me? That conversation just retreated into an extremely thick forest of darkness.”

    Nobody laughed at this.

     “Wow, those jokes got old and forced real quick,” Kyle said.

     Austin bought some drinks and they just drank away. After a while, they checked back on Ernst and Michael.

     “Seriously, Ernst, if you like having them in your mouth, I think you should just come clean and get all this over with.”

     “Stop being a hypocrite. You… well you…”

     “What’s the matter dickbiscuit? Run out of comebacks?”

     “C**K SANDWICH!”

     “That is the lamest comeback in the history of comebacks. For the love of Freud, the world’s smallest fish has a bigger dick than you.”

     “Fish don’t have dicks.”

     “Exactly my point!”

     “Guys, public area. Have some discretion,” Austin said.

     “Hey, Austin,” Erika said, entering the area.

     “Finally, you came.”

     Ernst and Michael laughed at this.

     “Anyway, look, I’m really so�"“

     John saw Barrage walk in from the right side of the theater and stood on guard.

     “Why?”

     “Austin, I’ll gloat in your face later but we have to go,”

 John whispered in his ear.

     “They threatened to kick me out if I didn’t and…”

     Erika began to tear up.

     “Family comes first,” Barrage said from behind them. They all turned to face him.

     “Austin, let’s go. Now,” John said.

     Austin turned to Erika.

     “How could you?!”

     “I’m sorry. I did my part; I won’t fight any of you.”

     Erika disappeared as Accel walked into the area.

     “Let’s go, now,” Janella urged.

     “If you go now, we’ll blow up this whole place. Your choice.”

     “Look. I know you want revenge.”

     “More than that,” Accel said.

     “But Derek�"“

     “Don’t call me that!”

     “Fine, Barrage, I am not the enemy here. We have a common enemy. We have the same enemy.”

     “No, Austin. I already told you,” Accel said. “You started this entire conflict by creating the Dome of Power. The Mastermind was simply waiting for that to happen to set his ridiculous scheme into motion!” Accel said.

     “I had no intention of destroying anyone’s family when I created that Dome. I was simply saving everyone who was affected from any fate worse than what we already had. You think that it was my intention to lead to a mountain of deaths? The Mastermind’s entire plan is to murder the planet!”

     “No, you’re just trying to save your own neck!”

     “Why won’t you open your eyes?!” Austin said as he switched the band to Pyrokinesis.

     “Don’t do that. Don’t even try that on me.”

     “Kyle, take Patrick with you. Go to the basement parking and take the Anonymous up here.”

     “Right now?”

     “Wait for my signal.”

     “If you’re gonna blow this place up, I gotta be ready to prevent any unneeded casualties.”

     “Tell Berna to get everyone out of here.”

     “It’ll be all your fault anyway,” Barrage said as he charged his hands.

     “Now!”

     Kyle flew up and Patrick fired up and they blasted to the basement. Barrage fired an explosion beam at Austin, sending him flying backwards. He hit the railings and fell down. He ignited his bottom half as he flew back up.

     He landed back at the cinema area where people were now running towards the cinemas and the rest were battling Barrage and Accel.

     “Momentum! Knock him down!” Barrage yelled as Momentum burst out from the crowd. He slowly put on his body armor as Austin rushed into the battle.

     Momentum charged for them but John turned his body into metal and smashed Momentum in the face, redirecting him towards the escalators. He destroyed the boundaries and fell to the second floor. He continued to smash through the ground here, finally landing at the first floor. John shot two spikes from his body and made them revolve around him, creating a magnetic field. He used this to hover down to where Momentum was.

     “Mo-on, go with him. You can stop Momentum.”

     Mo-on rushed downstairs.

     “Guys, take Accel. I’ll handle him by myself,” Austin told the rest of them.

     “No you won’t! I’m not going anywhere,” Accel said.

     “Janella, do it.”

     Janella fired an ice beam at Accel, freezing her. She froze the ice beam and levitated the ice. She threw it down to the first floor as the others followed.

     “It’s just you and me,” Austin said.

     “No, it’s all me.”   

     Barrage fired two explosion beams out of his hands and fired them at Austin, forming a double helix pattern. Austin would be knocked back by two explosions at a time.

     Austin switched to Darkness Manipulation and fired a dark orb at Barrage, shrouding him in darkness.

     “What the hell is this?!”

     “Just some grim thoughts I have. I’m pretty sure you’re thinking the same towards us. Now you know how terrible it feels.”

     An explosion happened inside the shroud of darkness and Barrage was back on his feet.

     “Don’t do that again.”

     Austin fired a dark beam at Barrage as he fired an explosion beam at him. The two made contact as the dark beam stayed where it was despite the numerous explosions.

     “You have no idea how depressed I am right now, Derek…” Austin said in an emotionally blank tone. “A good play isn’t enough to cheer me up after four days of complete s**t!”

     Barrage retreated and jumped out of the way of the darkness beam. Austin realized what was happening and he switched to psychic powers.

 

John and Momentum were in a pretty intense fight, exchanging hard and brutal blows.

     “John, I’m taking you two to the roof. It’ll be easier to push him off the edge.”

     “Wait, no!”

     Mo-on reversed gravity’s pull upwards on the two of them as he floated up to the second floor.

     Momentum tried pushing John to the hole but John jumped out of the way and he went straight on. John shot a spike at his leg, causing him trip and fall upwards into the hole.  Mo-on pointed his palm at him. He was drawn to the glass window of a nearby store.

     “I’m taking you to the side! Jump in after him.”

     “This is insane!”

     “I know right?!”

     John jumped down and Mo-on also moved him the side.

     He kicked Momentum, who regained consciousness. They fought on the sides of the stores, breaking the glass displays.

     “Use the glass to stab him!”

     “Don’t you think if I wanted to do that, I would have used my own skeleton?”

     “What are you trying to do?”

     “Beat the living hell out of him!”

     Momentum then grabbed John and threw him at Mo-on, reverting gravity back to normal. Mo-on quickly regained consciousness.

     “Why don’t you just put him in anti-gravity?” John asked.

     “You won’t be able to hit him since that’s obviously not what you’re going for.”

     “Okay, follow me to the end of the hallway.”

     John and Mo-on ran to the end.

     “Follow us you b*****d!” John yelled at Momentum, who followed them.

     “I get what you’re trying to do,” Moon said.

     “Wait for my cue.”

     “There’s only one thing wrong. The other end is made of glass.”

     “Oh, right…”

    

The others were beating down on Accel who was putting up a good fight. They had to use long range since she was expelling an extremely powerful gust from her body. Fire couldn’t get through this defense.

     “Hit me if you can!”

     “Ivan, try super speed. Run around in a circle around her,” Berna said.

     Ivan tried this but Accel fired an extremely strong gust at him, knocking him to the first floor basement where most of the restaurants were.

     “Michael?”

     Michael shot a small rocket at Accel but she deflected it.

     “D****t,” Bianca said. “Wait, I have an idea.”

     Bianca charged Janella, Michael, Berna, and Marise with her power.

     “What about Ernst?” Janella asked.

     “Let him�"“

     “Not now, Bianca!” Ernst said.

     She charged him as well. They tried fighting the wind current and the wind particles just bounced off of them.

     “No!” Accel exclaimed as they knocked her out.

     “See Ernst? You were of no assistance,” Michael said. 

     “That was anticlimactic!”

 

Austin was covered in a psychic shield as Barrage fired a non-stop explosion beam at him.

     “You should’ve stuck to the other one, Austin!”

     Austin considered this and tried reached for the band. He switched back to Darkness control and dissolved at the spot. He turned down the lights in the cinema area.

     “Fancy trick but that won’t stop me from blowing this place up!”

     Austin emerged from Barrage’s shadow as he turned his entire body into a dark mass and impaled Barrage through the stomach.

      “AHH!!!”

     Barrage wasn’t bleeding but was still yelling in pain.

     Austin returned to his senses and pulled out his shadowy blade, turning his body back to normal.

     Austin switched to Cosmic Power and tried to pull himself together.

     “What was that?!” Janella asked.

     Barrage fell to the ground, a bit pale. There was no bleeding hole in his abdomen.

    “I tried the darkness control spoke. It always worked on the Mastermind but it worked too well with people who aren’t him.”

     “You freak!”

     “How do you feel?” Austin asked Barrage.

     “You have the guts to ask me that?! I felt dead when you thrust that thing through me. Dead!”

     “Look, that won’t happen again if we form a truce.”

     “I’m not forming a truce with you! You’re just like the Mastermind only with worse powers! You can make a person feel dead while alive but he can only give us a splitting migraine!”

     “I didn’t mean to.”

     “I’m pretty sure you didn’t,” Accel said, standing behind them, pointing a gun at Janella.

     Everything happened too fast. Before he knew it, Janella fell in his arms, a dart sticking out of her neck. It was the same dart that cost him to lose his powers.

     “Austin…, I don’t feel too good,” Janella said.

     “I’m right here. It’s going to be okay.”

     Berna, Marise, and Bianca were now in combat against Accel who turned her body into air. Marise heated her up, forcing her to return to her normal form. Berna then unloaded on her.

    

“Mo-on, now!”

     Mo-on changed gravity’s pull on Momentum, causing him to fall towards the other end of the hallway. He tried holding on to one of the stores but lost his grip as he plummeted towards the other end.

     He hit the other end and the glass shattered and he was thrust into the rain. Mo-on returned him to normal, causing him to crash into a construction site just outside the mall.

     “Oh, crap, he’s gonna wreck the construction site!” John said.

     “Want me to make you fall down there?” Mo-on asked.

     “No thank you.”

     John shot two spikes again and used it to blast towards the construction site.

     When he got there, he was ambushed by Momentum who hit him with a steel girder. He hit the ground and reverted back to normal.

     He repelled the metallic girders away from him when momentum attempted to land another blow.

     He then pulled the girders towards him, grabbing it from Momentum’s hands. He then hit him with it but the girder was bent. Momentum grabbed the other end and broke it off using his strength. He then hit John’s other side. John pulled the other half towards him as well.

     Momentum pulled the two girders apart, bringing John closer to him. He then switched his grip to where John was holding gripping his hands and one end of each girder.

     “Shame being a tin man on a rainy day, huh?” Momentum said. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. I’m gonna pull these two girders, your hands included, apart, ripping you in half. You can either allow that to happen or you can turn into metal and let us both find out what happens.”

     Momentum started to pull apart as John looked him in the eye.

     “You giving me the stink eye?”

     “You don’t seem to understand my powers very well.”

     John fused with the girder on his right and went out from the other end.

     “Transporting through metal is just one of my insane abilities. Here’s another one.”

     John pulled the two halves of the girder back to him and fused them back together. He threw it at Momentum and wrapped it around him, incapacitating him.

     “I don’t think you understand my power,” Momentum said.

     He tried busting out of the metal binders but John was still holding on the metal.

     “John!” Patrick yelled. “I’m sorry you couldn’t ride shotgun but that doesn’t matter. Get in!”

     Kyle drove over to the construction site and John went in the back.

     “Now you behave, alright?” John told Momentum as Kyle drove the car into the mall. He held on to the Power Shift and flew up to the third floor.

     “Get in.”

     “What took you so long?” Ernst asked.

     “We couldn’t find the car ‘cause people were rushing downstairs and I couldn’t just burn them, right?” Patrick said.

     “Please Accel!” Austin said. “You think I intended to become this freak cursed with the paranoia that at any time, I could become some psychopath? Do you think I wanted to kill Isaac? That was self-defense. If I never existed, the Mastermind would’ve found another way to make his plan a reality but if the Mastermind never existed, everything would have been okay!”

     Accel began tearing up.

     “Look, I can fix you guys. I can help you fight back.”

     “I tried e everything, Austin… I couldn’t reverse the S-21 component.”

     Accel broke down in tears.

     “Look, Scarlett, I can help you with that. I’ll help you guys get back at the Mastermind. “

     Austin turned to Janella who was barely conscious in the seat behind him.

     “Can you get to the car?”

     “I don’t think so.”

     “Come on, let me help you,” Berna said, aiding her telekinetically.

     “How about it?” Austin asked Accel. Everyone else was in the car at this point.

     “Fine.”
     “No!”

     An explosion knocked Austin down to the floor.

     “I will not let you turn me into the enemy in her eyes! Scar, let’s go!”

     Barrage fired his Telegun into near Scarlett.

     “Derek,” Austin said.

     “DO NOT CALL ME THAT!”

     “Just let me fix you guys then we will never bother you again.”

     Barrage walked in and the portal closed. Austin sat in the back with Janella.

     “Don’t forget Ivan!” Ernst said. “First floor basement.”

     Kyle flew down to the basement as Austin attended to Janella.

     “Hey, how are you feeling?”

     “My head hurts…”

     They brought Ivan in the van.

     “How you doing, buddy?” Austin asked.

     “I got a few broken bones I think.”

     “We’ll fix you up when we get back.”

     Austin turned back to Janella.

     “You have the flu. You’re burning up. I’m gonna go to the wheel for a while, okay? So we can get you to the Island faster.”

     “Space Loop…” she murmured.

     “Oh, right. Guys! Hang on!”

     Austin switched to Space Manipulation and put all of them in the Space Loop. He took them back to the Island where Austin took Janella to the female ward immediately.

     “I won’t leave your side, you hear me? I’ll be right here.”

     “Austin, what can we do?” Ernst asked.

     “Get me a needle. Janella, I’m gonna take a blood sample, okay? I’m gonna ask John to try to find a cure again.”

     “Go ahead.”

     Ernst came in with a needle. John was behind him.

     “John, take a blood sample.”

     Austin switched to psychic powers and disabled the pain receptors in her left arm. John took a blood sample and Austin took off his arm.

     “I’m not gonna rub it in your face anymore. Just stay here,” John said.

     “Thanks John.”

     John went out.

     “Anything else?” Ernst asked.

     “Get some rest… all of you…” Austin said as Janella fell asleep.

     “I’m staying with you guys,” Bianca said.

     “Ernst, you can call her friends. Also, call Nurse Jen fro Ivan.”

     “On my way.”

     “Hey, Ernst…”

     “Yeah?”

     “Thanks. I really appreciate your help.”

     “No prob, brother.”

     Ernst went out as Austin and Bianca sat beside Janella’s bed. He realized that these people were truly all he had since this past week had almost nothing but complete disaster.