03x39: A Lighter Hell

A mysterious substance is injected by Landers into Austin. Meanwhile, the batch's cheering competition entry is spruced up while the DigiPelikula festival takes place.

A LIGHTER HELL

February 15 - 18, 2011

 

     He was heading closer into the Base, disguised as Nurse Jen.

     He stepped in and went to the male ward. Austin was asleep on the bed.

     Landers transformed into Kyle and held him down telekinetically. This woke him up.

     “Kyle, what are you doing?!” he said.

     Landers didn’t speak a word as he put the syringe into Austin’s arm. He couldn’t move.

    “HELP! HELP!” he yelled.

     It felt like searing metal being injected into is veins. Granted, he had never felt searing metal being injected into his veins yet but this is a close approximation of what it would feel like if it, heaven forbid, actually did happen.  Unfortunately, heaven did not forbid enough.

     Landers took out the syringe and took out a Telegun. He aimed it into the air and went through the portal. It closed shut and Austin could move again.

     Immediately, the first thing he did was try his powers. They worked. He felt immense pain in him though.

     Kyle soon burst in the ward.

     “What happened?!”

     “Oh, nothing, you just burst in here a few seconds ago and injected me with some painful crap!”

     “Oh, s**t. John! Security breach!”

     John stepped in the room and gave both of them a look that said, “no s**t, dumbasses”.

     “You know what guys, I just realized something. It has been something I have been thinking about for a long long time but only today have I deliberately arrived at this conclusion: Our security f*****g sucks.”

    

Kyle and John moved out, using the Identifier to look for some unusual stuff. All they found was someone in the basement of the hotel.

     “We should still check it out,” Kyle said.

     “Let’s go.”

     They went down and Kyle sensed pounding on one of the doors getting weaker and weaker by the second. When they opened it, there was Derek, bound and gagged on the floor.

     They took out the handkerchief shoved down his throat and he began to speak.

     “They used Isaac’s solution on me.  Oh s**t, Scarlett and Erika.”

     “Whoa there, Derek. You’re powerless. We’ll check for you.”

     “We have to go NOW!”

     “Calm down, d****t. We have enough problems on our hands,” John said.

     “Like the security?”

     “Seriously, what’s the deal?!”

     “GUYS!” Derek yelled.

 

They rushed up to their suite. Everything was normal.

     “Scarlett, did anything odd happen lately?!” Derek asked.

     “No… why?”

    “When was the last time you talked to me?”

     “You were in the basement, fixing up something in a closet.”

     “It might have been a bomb,” John said.

     “If it was a bomb, I would have sensed the thermal energy. It’s one of my side powers,” Derek said.

    “What if it isn’t a thermal based bomb? What if it is an antimatter bomb?”

     “Oh, not again. We took weeks last time that happened.”

     “We need Austin.”

 

They went back to the Base and told Austin the situation.

     “Well, what are waiting for? Let’s do this!”

     They went to the basement, Austin still feeling a bit sore.

     Austin did a quick search of the area and found nothing.

     “There’s no bomb…”

     “Sure?” John said.

     “It’s your turn to fix the basement if that is so,” Kyle said.

     “There’s no bomb.”

     “John, what did they inject into Austin’s bloodstream?” Kyle asked.

     “I’ll have to do some tests but I can figure it out soon enough.”

      They went to the Base and got a blood sample from Austin. For all intents and purposes, life continued as usual.

 

The next day, the morning rehearsals were all about the TUBIG verse.

     Sr. Geck was also looking for singers.

     “Only two?” he said. “Out of two hundred and fifty-two students, only two want to join the singers?”

     A few more kids raised their hands.

     “Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve… Twelve only?”

     No one else raised their hands.

     “You!” Sr. Geck said, pointing at Anton, “Try singing.”

     Anton coughed.

     “Oh, he’s sick. Come on, guys. When I say singers, I don’t mean sing. You’re just going to guide the others with the proper chanting. Anyone?”

     “Ernst, want to?” Austin said, in a ballsy act.

     Bianca was absent so the mischief of this trio was put on hold. It was now the Disastrous Duo’s job.

     “Hmm…”

     “You won’t have to attend practice in the hot, sizzling, sun for a few hours…”

     “Sure! But not because of the sun.”

    The answer was clear, Maan was a singer. Sadly, Autumn was not.

     “Sir, we would want to join,” Austin said.

     “This is a pleasant surprise. Anyway, if any of you want to join, just go to the DDS room after eighth period. You will be under Jasmin Buensalida.”

     “OH S**T!” were the first two words to come into Austin and Ernst’s mind, immediately after the name was said. Jasmin was the epitome of a leader type, maybe all too much. Austin was the leader once of their “choir” for a music project. What Jasmin did was take over everything. Austin didn’t want to offend her or make her break down into tears because it wasn’t his style and Janella was in the same group. Now, things have changed big time.

     “Anyway, there will also be DigiPelikula this week. First years will have their chance later, you guys tomorrow, Juniors on Thursday, and Seniors on Friday. Good news is, everyone’s schedules are screwed up!”

     Back in class, the first subject of that day was English. Things between Austin and Marise were quite awkward for reasons that don’t exist.

     Eventually, they did talk near the end of the period. Austin started it by going to a subject that was familiar to him, the Gong Dong Che script. All is well…

     Computer was turning into a routine with them finishing their Databases ASAP and playing either Donkey Kong or Pacman.

     During Lunch, Austin was so happy that he wanted to buy TEAGS a whole pizza. Sadly, he didn’t’ have enough money and he didn’t want to abuse his executive position (even though it was relatively insignificant).

     He also joined in the Patola table for a while.

     “Austin, I have to tell you something,” Nica said.

     “What?”

     “Never mind, you won’t care about it anyway.”

     “What?”

     “It’s about Janella.”

     “What?” Janella asked.

     Nica was right, he didn’t care.

     “I’m gonna tell anyway: Joel gave her a gift for Christmas.”

     “Yay for you. I’m off.”

     Austin went back to the TEAGS table.

     Ernst and Austin were walking in the food hall, waiting for their pizza bars when all of a sudden, they saw Cyril with Lester.

     To make things better, Jack passed by one way and Lanz the other, to which Lanz yelled.

     “HOY, BAWAL UM-L-MOVES DITO!” (Hey, L-Moves is prohibited here!)

     L-Moves of course referred to their teacher whose name begins with an “L”.

     During the practices, Sr. Geck also asked Austin about Charge. He tried teaching him but it didn’t stick.

     During Math class, after Lunch, Sr. Geck returned to   his Indian/ Vampire/ Nosferatu/ Unorthodox accent. Laughter was had once more. During Filipino, Austin sat beside Autumn this time (Aldwin was elsewhere) and their topic: movies.

     She was one of the only students he can have a decent chat with regarding movies aside from Sean, Ernst, Owen, Alyssa, and Rica. That might be one of the reasons he developed feelings for her. It just… clicked.

     During AP, the game was played by the name of “The Boat is Sinking”. In case you are not well acquainted with the rules, it goes like this: The players are scattered and one host says “The boat is sinking, group yourselves into x” such that x is a number that they can group into with a remainder. Those who can group into said number stay in the game. Those who were not as lucky are eliminated.

     Now they knew what Sr. Leo meant by “Friendships lost, relationships torn.” For one, Clutch’s group had one extra and he sure as hell was not sacrificing himself. Hence…

     “RENZ! KICK HIM OUT! KICK RENZ OUT, ANG TABA TABA EH! (Taba = Fat) TANGGALIN SI RENZ!!!!! (Remove Renz!)”

     “Clutch!” Alecz said, having already been eliminated.

     “Concerned?” Sean asked.

     Alecz gave him the typical Alecz look.

     Finally, it was down to Rachel, Karla, and Giannina. All for4 a few additional points in the next quiz…

     Moving on from that unnecessary game, they went to the DDS room as Janella passed by.

     “Austin? What are you two doing?” she asked.

     “Don’t you know? We joined the singers?”

     “Weh?”

     “Well, we’re going in here, aren’t we?” Ernst said.

     “Haha, good luck.”

     The singers were there. Surprisingly, Justin Pucyutan was there. A few other unexpected faces were there too.

     Jasmin was not as unpleasant as expected. It was a fairly desirable time.

     Sr. Geck was also fixing up the drums. The band was also in the DDS room by the way. Quianna Baterna and Miguel Sese were the drummers and Sr. Geck was cooking up a wicked rhythm.

     After this, they went back down and Abi Cusi, new president of DOR, was tutoring CV regarding the moves for the APOY verse.

     Austin caught on quickly but Renz had to be tutored personally.

     During the official full rehearsals, they gave Sr. Geck a disappointing performance. The voice was the main problem, quite ironic since the singers were exquisite.

     They moved to the Acacia Lane. Still, the voice was the problem. To alleviate the aforementioned dilemma, Sr. Geck gave them a vocal exercise.

     “Just give me one loud shout, ‘BALUT!’ On three: One… two… three…”

     “BALUUUUUTT!!!!!” The batch yelled. The folks at the bridge stared.

     “Ano? Patingin-tingin kayo diyan? Ha?” Paulo Tuason said. (What, you’re gonna look here, ha?)

     They gave Sr. Geck this synchronized yell a few more times until everyone was pumped up for another round.

     They also formed another formation, The Yin-Yang, wherein some would be wearing black shirts and some would be wearing white shirts to show the pattern.

     In the end, it was a very productive day.

     On the way home, Austin passed by Ms. Mac talking to Basti, Aldrich, and Froilan.

     “HI MISS” Basti yelled through the Megaphone he was holding.

     “Just put that back already.”

     “OKAY MISS” Basti said with a smile.

     Miss proceeded to talk to Aldrich as Froilan butt in.

     “Oy, Aldrich, halika na! Aldrich! HOY!” (Aldrich, let’s go!)

     “Kinakausap, diba?” Ms. Mac retorted (I’m talking to him, am I not?!)

     Laughter was had and home followed.

 

The next day (Day 144) was their DigiPelikula day. That morning, Sr. Geck made a little speech in the second floor gym to the batch.

     “Recently, I have received some messages and heard some things. Let me just make it clear right now that I will never leave you guys. I won’t do that. This job was given to me, I will fulfill it. I just can’t accept that some people don’t believe that we can do it. They are surrendering as early as now.

     “To get to the point, all I want is pride and loyalty. I want you to be proud of your batch. I want you to be loyal to your batch…

     “In fairness, we have already broken a few rules. Your cheer, I did not make that. I showed my initial draft to a teacher and he took some of my words and made his own. Your music? That came from Sr. Chris. Your teachers are also working very hard. Sr. Ben, even though he is barely around, is working hard on your costumes…

     He enumerated some of the teachers and what they were doing.

     “I have also received reports… Look, I don’t want any of this getting out. You will not talk about this, clear? Is that clear? Anyway, for those people who want to follow someone else, go ahead. I am not stopping you but for the rest, follow me…

     “There was a time when I thought you could win but not anymore. So now, I don’t care if we win the cheering or the Intrams. I just want one thing: Most Disciplined Batch. If you get that, even just that, I’ll be happy. So now, ibabalik ko na ang angas ninyo. Ibabalik ko na rin ang kaartehan ninyo….”

     There was a short pause.

    “Let me just make this clear: I am not mad at all of you. I am just mad at the negative minded people, those who do not believe that we can do it.

     “Right now, the first years and third years are looking good. The fourth years are hiding themselves. They are working underground.  From now on, we will also be working underground.”

     A few late arrivals were showing up.

     “Aw, look. Now I have to go from the top.”    

     A few people laughed at this. Sr. Geck reiterated a few points and was in a bit of a better mood.

     After a while, the conversation degenerated to:

     “Sisterettes, I know of you. Also, there’s the Animals Group.”

     “What? Who?” the batch murmured.

     “Yes, there is such thing as the Animals. What other groups do we have in the batch?”

     “Patola,” Mo-on whispered.

     “What? Vanitiez? Maan, Yara? Ahh….. the elite group, haha,” Sr. Geck said.

     “TWP,” someone said.

     “Well of course. TWP.”

     Everyone fell dead silent.

     “Oh, now you’re all scared? They might be intimidating as a group but on their own, they’re nothing.”

     “OHHH!!!” the batch yelled.

     “Their girls, when alone, they’re crybabies…”

     “OHHHH!!!!”

     “The boys, sus, mga torpe ‘yan.”

     “OHHHH!!!”
     “What else? Basti, Team Manager, what about your group?”

     “Sir!”

     “What do you call it?”

     “Sir, we don’t have a name.”

     “So essentially, you’re also TWP? Tropang Walang Pangalan?”

     Cue Laughter.

     “Sir, naman…”

    

English was once again their first period. On their way to the AVR, Austin told Jib about Autumn.

     “Oh, man. Don’t you know? Cleto gave her flowers last Monday?”

     No, I will not let my life shatter again, especially in the hands of"

     “No, really?”

     “Yeah. Ask Aldwin.”

     “Nah…”

     “Aldwin, Cleto gave Marise a rose, right?”

    “Yeah,” he said.

     “See?”

     When they went in AVR 2, a few of the boys teased Marise regarding Cleto. Austin sat near the front, a few chairs away from her.

     Ms. Mags was in charge in yet another LIBRARY ORIENTATION DAY.

     Also, whenever a latecomer would arrive, Mo-on would yell, “LATE! LATE!” Ms. Mags suggested that he be the gatekeeper.

     During Math Time, something particularly odd happened. This event marked the opening of the Student Council Campaign.

     Maynard Chua from the Juniors appeared at CV’s imaginary doorway.

     “Sir, may I campaign?” he asked.

     “Sure. What party?” Sr. Geck asked.

     “Umm… none sir.”

     “Okay then.”

     This was the first time Austin saw someone run independent.

     Long story short, Maynard did well despite being independent and he was practically sold as the new… vice president.

     This was bad. If he won, their batch would have very little hold over the decisions.

     Austin was a bit depressed, feeling like he was at another loss. This picked up during Art time when they continued practicing for the play.

     During Bio, TORCH campaigned. The things that kind of lost Austin’s inclination towards them was this weird-a*s song at the end.

 

The itsy-bitsy spider went up the butterfly

Down came the rain and washed the spider out

Up came the sun and dried up all the rain

And the itsy-bitsy spider went up the butterfly

 

     They were forced to sing along… 'Nuff said.

     Finally, it was the DigiPelikula time. They went to AVR1 with some of the other sections.

 

FIRST FILM: 9 (Short Film)

     9 was a very bad film. It had little to no plot. If it did, it had no coherence. Its characters were non-existent.  Its theme was also technically non-existent. The acting was stale and crappy. The Direction was boring. The music was clichéd. The cinematography was horrid. Overall, a terrible film.  Quadruple F-

 

SECOND FILM: December (Short Film)

     December is a fairly better attempt than 9. The characters exist, even though they are one dimensional. The conflict and theme were present as well. The acting was decent and the direction was inventive. The music was ok and the cinematography was okay. Overall, it’s average. D

 

THIRD FILM: Totoong Kaibigan (Music Video)

     It’s a music video so it has to be judged a bit differently. The underlying plot is fairly difficult to interpret. The music choice is bland. The direction is choppy but the cinematography is fine. Just an F.

 

 

FOURTH FILM: Comrades (Short Film)

     It failed to live up to expectations (partly due to it being a cut version, a “theatrical version” per se). The characters existed despite being one-dimensional. The plot tried out something different, A FRAMING DEVICE. It was nice to see this attempted really. The idea was good. Sadly, the execution left much to be desired. Once it gets to the main action, the film goes all over the place. It’s incoherent and when it finally gets back to the main timeline, the resolution is unsatisfying and the ending is somewhat clichéd.

     The thematic material in the film is basic war movie themes. The music choice was good. The direction was above average for a student film. The cinematography was also above average. Overall, the best short film out of all the short films.

     Also, near the end, their freshman CCF teacher, Sr. John, made a cameo appearance. Overall, C

 

Lunch followed this.  For some reason, Austin told Janella about his dilemma (hey, that kinda rhymed).

     “Why don’t you cour4t her as well?” she said.

     “Well…”

     “If Cleto can do it, I believe you can do it.”

     “Oh, you should know. We all know how that went,” he thought.

     They eventually went the Bridge. Lately, Janella has been hanging out with them a lot, playing Charge, joining the conspiracy to defeat Ernst. Thus, this followed.

     “Janella, I have three words to say to you,” Austin said. “Welcome to TEAGS.”

     “No really?”

     “Yeah. You hang out, trip on Ernst. That’s all you need.”

     Anyway, back to DigiPelikula, AVR 2 this time:

 

FIFTH FILM: Titser (Feature-Length Film by Batch 2003 of Seton)

     The plot, characters, and theme are all present because it is an adaptation of a Filipino novel but the direction handles it very poorly. The cinematography is also very dull. There are some scenes where the camera focuses on two people talking with only one angle throughout the whole scene. To add insult to injury, it is usually a very dull angle. The actors were okay. There was also barely any music. Overall, D+

 

This film was a bit too boring for Austin that he immediately dreamt of making a film next year, dreaming of Kubrickean angles to use while shooting the third floor.

     The film was also a bit too boring for Sean because he was already asleep by the time they cut the film. Once again, CV showed no mercy.

    Everyone went out of the room, leaving Sean all alone in the AVR until DOR went in. He woke up in a big surprise and quickly rushed out. Hilarity ensued.

     They finally got back to AVR 1 where they watched, arguably the best film of the festival. This was made by one of the candidates for President of the Student Council, Philip Dela Torre.

 

SIXTH FILM: Linlang (Feature-Length Film)

      The characters here aren’t by any means three-dimensional but they are at least two dimensional. The plot, reminiscent of Scream and classic 80’s horror flicks,  is a bit absurd considering the setting but if those movies get a pass, I’m pretty sure this can. The reveal, however, is where it becomes weak. The actors are very good and the direction is very good as well. The music is a bit similar to 9’s but it is used a lot better. The cinematography was also good. This is also the most professional looking film out of all of them. B-

 

They were supposed to watch another movie but Sr. Geck called for them for practice.

     The key part was their absolute unity by the end of the day, teachers and students. They capped it off with a prayer by Cesar Quilantang.

     “Lord, please guide us in our practices and please guide us to not commit mistakes. Please forgive us for our since and also, please guide us for our cheer and the practices. Please guide us in our everyday lives and please guide us, tomorrow and forever. Amen.”

     Although there was a bit too much usage of the word “guidance”, it was still a solid prayer.

 

The next day was pretty strict to routine.  One welcome change was Sr. Martin subbing for Ms. Becky. Jib was actually RECITING during Filipino time. After Sr. Martin left, he whispered to Austin, “Tangina, napagana utak ko doon, ah!” (---, that made my brain work!)

     Also, Austin tricked Dory into saying she preferred Family Hub to Christmas Dance but that’s insignificant.

     KABIGKIS campaigned in AP time, cutting short Sr. Leo’s excessive forty minutes.

     During CCF, they went to AVR 1 but barely did anything. Austin had 40 minutes of heaven sitting beside the person he wanted to sit beside the most.

     During Biology, the 40 minutes was doubled in the AVR.

     Finally, they went for practice. For some reason, they were singing the song in “Dirty Dancing” a lot. “I’ve had the time of my life.” Sadly, this version was the newer, “stolen” Black Eyed Peas version with the techno s**t. It didn’t get old however.

     Austin, Lance, and Johan were pulled out and they were to solve some problems. One of them went like “there is a stack of logs. The top layer has one log; the second has two and so on and so forth. The bottom (tenth layer) has ten. How many logs are there all in all?”

     Lance got pretty excited and answered 45 logs. He forgot the ten so Austin made illustrations of the number ten cursing Lance for life while professing its love for Austin, Johan, Owen, and Ernst.

     Finally, they got to the Infinity formation. That was kinda dull except for Autumn being in front of Austin in the formation.

     On his way home, he was right behind Autumn. Then, he heard a familiar voice behind him, Cleto’s.

     His heart was pounding at this moment but for sure, anyone else who saw it would have thought, “eh, three people walking. boring…”

     When they finally reached the gate, she turned around and he waved. She said good-bye but not to Austin. It was to Cleto. Austin rushed to the Anonymous and drove back to the Hotel.

    

The next morning, Austin juxtaposed the actions for the HANGIN verse to the tune of “The Time”.

     Also, the SC Elections took place that day. In the end, Maynard won in CV. In the scoreboards, he won overall with a staggering 592 votes. As Austin was checking out the scoreboards, he noticed that he was standing next to Sr. John.

     “Hey there, Sir John. Congratulations on Comrades.”

     Sr. John took his hand, gripped it firmly and shook it. Austin was happy for it was a true honor for him.

     Sr. Geck banned Charge. Yes, or at least during practice time.  To alleviate this situation, Austin created a game called energy surge where you play Rock-Paper-Scissors; best two out of three and the winner gets to hit the loser as hard as he can.

     During AP, it was their final report. Austin and Ymara took the helm.

     They split the topic but the grandiose conclusion of the final report (FINALLY) in Araling Panlipunan II went to Austin.

     It was one of the most passionate conclusions he had ever and will ever deliver in his entire life. This was so awesome that some people gave him a standing ovation. All he wanted to get from this, however, was Autumn’s applause. In short, he got what he wanted.

     They also had a practice in Clutch’s building in the city for the play. Hopefully, a lot of people would come.

     During practices, Austin and Janusan played the game to death. When Rudi-Anne played however, she absolutely pulverized Janus.

     Finally, when almost everything was set up, Sr. Geck made a “Mock spiel”.

     “Mula sa ikatlong palapag ng gusaling Mindanao, heto na ang mga batang walang magawa sa buhay. Gusto nila manalo pero hindi nila alam kung paano. Aba, nag-rhyme un ah!” (From the third floor of the Mindanao Building, here are the kids with nothing better to do in life. They want to win but they don’t know how. Hey, that rhymed!)

     The band failed epicly but this was easily forgiven. What was not easily forgiven was Michelle Napa essentially verbally abusing the band for failing and threatening to take Rica’s face with a smile on her face (And these rhymes are a disgrace!)

     On his way home, he saw Mo-on in the transport car line beside Cyril and Lester of all people.

     “Hey, why do you look pissed? Except for the obvious reasons?”

     “Rica’s in a bad mood.”

     “Oh, damn, I saw what happened. Napa, well...”

     “I know. I know…”

     “This line is long… and uncomfortable. Wanna ride in my car?”

     “Fine.”

     One the way back to the hotel, John stopped them, coming out from the Base.

     “Austin! I know what they injected in you. Come take a look.”

     They went in for a while as John showed them a microscope.

     “I triggered a certain reaction in them. Now you can clearly see what they are.”

     “No, I cannot.”

     “Here’s a tip, use something psychic on them.”

     Austin switched the band to psychic and zapped them a little. The little “cell” like structures opened up and spurted out little golden globules.

     “What is this?”

    “The golden globules are your powers, Austin. Those little cell-like things? They are now containing the main heart and soul of your powers. They are specifically designed to allow psychic power to absorb them. This was probably reverse engineered from Isaac’s blood.”

     “But Isaac’s blood negates powers.”

     “Yes, precisely.”

     Austin thought of this for a while. Then it hit him.

     “They mixed it with the Mastermind’s blood.”

     “That’s not all. The reaction would be that the power part of the Mastermind’s blood would just be negated. They sent a power-sap current through the blood when this was happening, turning Isaac’s blood into a conductor. The merging succeeded. Now, he’s ready to take your powers from you.”

     “He said twenty-six days last Monday. It’s been four days. We have twenty-two days left.”

     ”Thanks for the arithmetic, Einstein,” Erika said, entering from behind. “You guys get Team Alpha to train. If the Mastermind is going to come for you, he’s not going to do it lightly. If I know him, he’ll send an entire army just to get you. But I know what to do.”

     “Alright, Erika. Let’s hear it.”