03x48: A Brighter Future

Austin finishes some unfinished business as the year comes to a close.

A BRIGHTER FUTURE

March 23 " 30, 2011

 

     Austin stayed the night in his house back in the city. He spent most of the next day sleeping.

     The day after that was the day of their farewell party but before that, Austin took John and Renz to the Island.

     “The base should be around here somewhere,” Austin said, searching the place. It looked like a flattened patch of land with some familiar rock formations along the shore.

      “Alright Renz, excavate this part in front of us. Make the hole from about… make it a ten meter radius.”

     Renz drew the earth up from a ten meter radius and soon, Austin was able to see the corner of the roof of the Base.

     “A little over there!”

     Renz moved the hole towards where the roof was and soon, the Base was in a hole below sea level.

     Austin went over to the hole in the ceiling which was plugged up with earth. Renz pulled it out before Austin, John, and Renz jumped in.

     They brought in flashlights and the place was pretty much intact.

     “The rapid flow of earth must have plugged up that hole. Looks like the defense mechanisms you installed worked after all,” Austin said.

     “Well of course.”

     “Now about the rest of the Island. The school is easy enough and the hotel, simple as pie. The thing is, I was planning to revamp the Base.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “I’m going to put the usual base above ground and make about a hundred subterranean floors.”

     “A hundred! For what?”

     “E.N.I.G.M.A. Headquarters. Renz, thanks for your time. You want a ride to Seton? I’ll meet up with CV there.”

     “Sure.”

     “John, I’ll drop you off at Seton.”

     “Wait, so you’re gonna use the dome again? Get more power.”

     “No, f**k! No. I am never going in there again. From now on, I am limited to operating that thing. I won’t use it. I’ll find someone who’s willing to go in there to help with the construction.”

     Austin created a shadow vortex in the floor.

     “Feel free to jump in.”

    They went out in the usual entrance to the ESS-INTELSS. It must have been destroyed when the crater was being formed but probably nobody paid it too much attention.

 

Ernst was in Seton, finishing up a few things.

     “Hey buddy, are you okay?”

     “Yeah. I don’t even feel like I was ever shot. Hey, about the Island.”

     “You’ll see.”

     Austin took out his DS with a LeafGreen cartridge inside.

     “What’s that?”

     I’m playing all of the Pokemon Games all over again. A speedrun if you will. I finished Pokemon Blue in ten hours.

     “You’re not too good at speedruns, are you?”

     “I’m not exactly trying to speedrun. I waste time every now and then. For example, I’m now in Viridian Forest trying to look for a Pikachu.”

     “Oh, good freakin' luck with that.”

     After a while, Ernst left and Austin was with Maan and Aika. He was just waiting for some more people before they went in Maan’s parent’s car and they drove them to Clutch’s building.

     They went in the bar on the ground floor called Batch ’93. Mo-on kept on inquiring about why it was named Batch ’93.

     Austin sat with Ibarra, Sang Woo, Ms. Mac, and Sir Jojo. The party started with singing via the karaoke machine. This actually lasted for most of the party.

     After Sang Woo sang “My Love” by Westlife, they forced Micherenz to sing “My Way” by Frank Sinatra, a song that has gained urban legend status from where they’re from.

     Afterwards, Jasvir sang, albeit with a slight pitch fail. Owen sang next followed by Ms. Mac.

     Afterwards, Marise initiated a “choir” session with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”. It was a really happy moment to hear everyone in CV singing the same song. Sir Jojo then made a lighthearted remark saying “Parang nasa tono sila, no?” (As if they’re singing in the right pitch, right?)

     Afterwards, they went upstairs to the rooftop to play a game. Everyone sat in a circle. The mechanics of the game were the following: one person would start by either tapping his/her left shoulder with the right hand or vice versa. The person to the direction he/she tapped towards would then follow. Every seventh tap, instead of tapping one’s shoulders, they would tap their head. If anyone made a mistake, they would get a handful of powder to the face.

     Sir Jojo was an expert in this game and no matter what they did to get him to mess up, he did not.

     When someone screwed up, Ymara, Maan, Ms. Mac, or some other person would put the powder on the offender’s face but most of the time, it was Mo-on who stood up shouting, went towards the powder, put a crapload in his hand, ran over to the offender, and smothered his/her face with the aforementioned powder.

     That one moment Mo-on screwed up, everyone who was there cheered. Ms. Mac personally saw to it that Mo-on looked like Ghostface afterwards which Marise immediately pointed out.

     After the game, they had the most the most heartfelt open forum ever. One by one they said a message to everyone else. Most of them said that CV was their only family and their escape from home. Everyone said thanks.

     Sir Jojo and Ms Mac’s messages were filled with love and everyone was close to tears.

     Justine requested that Austin play a sad song after the open forum. He settled with Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up”. People got a bit pissed off that the song succeeded in heightening their emotions.

     Austin gave everyone a high five and asked for a hug from anyone at all. He got hugs from AD and, oddly enough, Owen. That hug was one big hug indeed.

     “This is it. I have to make a move tonight,” Austin thought as he saw Marise head downstairs slowly with the rest of them.

     Austin went down and caught up with everyone else. He saw Mo-on and Marise hug each other goodbye as Mo-on went on his separate way.

     “Marise!” Austin said. She turned to face him. “See you in June. Thanks for everything.”

     “D****T! Why can’t you strengthen up?!” he said to himself.

     “No problem. Thanks for everything too.”

     She gave him a high five as he went back to his house.

 

He was definitely going to miss CV. It had been his best section since Albay.

     The following days passed by. On March 30, they would get their report card.

     Austin went to school and got his. Overall, it was pretty uneventful except when Ernst accidentally knocked one of Sir Rommel’s papers and he and Sir Alan teamed up on him.

     Austin said farewell and went on his way home using the Anonymous, which was still intact.

     He went over to Kyle’s place and picked him up to talk.

     “So about next year…”

     “Yeah, I’m coming back.”

     “What?!” Austin said in surprise.

     “I know right? After three years, everything is finally back to normal.”

     “Not exactly but that’s great! I hope we’re classmates!”

     “That would be the best thing ever.”

     “I can’t wait for June!”

     “Hey, don’t rush. Enjoy the vacation. You sure as hell need it.”

     “Don’t we all?”

    “Got any plans?”

     “None really. Movie marathons mostly.”

     “Oh…”

     “Anyway, how are you and Marise?”

     “Friends as of the moment… Hey, I gotta fix some stuff up. See you whenever.”

     “Haha, yeah whenever…”

     Kyle went out of the car as Austin drove it back to his neighborhood. He held on to the Power Shift and put the car through a shadow vortex.

     He ended up on the Island where he parked near the crater which contained the Base. He jumped in and went to the Mutant Bond.

     He opened the lid and a light erupted from the lid. Pretty soon, the jar was empty and all that was left was dust. He tapped the jar upside down on the table and the dust was now in a neat pile on the table.

     Austin put a new fragment he got from the school grounds and placed it in the bond jar. He screwed it shut and placed it back on the shelf.

     He put the dust in a fabric pouch and started a fire. He burned the pouch with the dust in it.

     “Relic from a time of darkness…” Austin thought as he went back in the main room. He glanced at the Dome and was tempted to use it but he stopped himself.

     He hopped out of the hole and saw Derek, Scarlett, Erika, and Nelson there.

     “Hey, what are you doing here?” Austin said in a friendly tone.

     “Just checking to see if there was anything left,” Derek said.

     “The Base survived.”

     “I’ve noticed,” Erika said.

     “So, what’s next?” Austin asked.

     “Scarlett and I are getting married,” Derek said.

     “I’m going to enroll in Seton next year,” Erika said.

     “Are we gonna be batchmates?”

     “No. Technically, I’m a senior. We got the papers. I’m gonna have to catch up in summer school though so I’ll be in Woodridge. I missed on most of the year.”

     “Well, good luck.”

     “Hey, Austin, if you ever need anyone to fall back on, we’ll be here,” Erika said.

     “Thanks.”

     “And one more thing,” Derek said, handing Austin one of the darts. “That’s the last one. All the rest got lost. Use it wisely.”

     Austin held on to it and asked, “Can’t we reproduce these?”

     “Maybe when you repair the Base but right now, just hold on to it, okay?”

     “Okay. See you then,” Derek said with an outstretched hand. Austin reached out to shake it. When he was faced with Erika, she gave him a hug.

     “See you whenever,” Erika said before letting go. Derek fired the Telegun and they went through.

     Austin went back in his car and put the dart on the glove compartment. He looked at the Island and sighed in relief.

     “Well, here’s to a brighter future,” he said out loud before putting the car through another shadow vortex and taking it back to his house.