Chapter 25: Shadows of Disobedience
The morning heat in Plaridel further inflamed the hearts of the Spanish, who were seething with rage. A large crowd gathered in the town plaza as Spanish soldiers prepared, their rifles raised, their voices dripping with fury as they displayed posters bearing Hustisya's image.
"This phantom of Bulacan, the one they call Hustisya, must be captured!" an officer bellowed, his face red with anger.
"She is why we are losing control of our own territory!" agreed the wealthy Spaniards, sitting in their carriages. Many of them were abusive elite—exploiting the land, imposing excessive taxes, and enslaving the Filipinos.
Amidst their angry shouts, Hustisya appeared atop a statue in the plaza, her pink hair dancing with the wind, her red cape flowing like fire, and wearing her white mask.
"You are the true ghosts that must vanish—demons tormenting my people!" her voice thundered across the plaza.
The police moved to open fire, but before they could pull the trigger, Hustisya unleashed her power—the air spun around, and their guns floated up, hurled into far corners of the street.
The battle erupted as the police charged, drawing their swords. Hustisya descended from the statue, stepping fearlessly into the center of the plaza.
"Capture that native woman!" one shouted. Undaunted, Hustisya vanished from sight, reappearing behind a soldier and dropping him with a powerful kick.
"You cannot defeat me!" she cried, her hands glowing with energy. The soldiers scattered around the plaza, and a group laid out a net to snare her. In a flash, she vanished again, and their capture attempt failed.
On the edge of the plaza, the wealthy Spaniards ordered their men to intervene in the chaos.
"Catch that phantom! I will reward anyone who captures her!" yelled an old Spaniard, his voice full of malice.
His hired men rushed forward, armed with swords and chains, to engage Hustisya. But with every attack, she became ethereal, her spirit-like form rendering their weapons useless.
Moments later, she used her power again, and her opponents' swords floated in the air, while the chains bound the attacking men.
"You are the true criminals in this town!" she screamed, her anger flaring as she hurled one man back into a carriage, sending it crashing into the wealthy Spaniards.
The fight lasted for several minutes, with the number of enemies growing. A group of soldiers successfully threw a large net over Hustisya, pulling the ropes to trap her.
"We've got her!" the leader shouted, but before he could celebrate, Hustisya vanished, leaving the ropes to fall over empty air.
"What? She escaped again?" he stammered. She reappeared atop the statue, her eyes burning with determination.
"You should have realized you cannot fight me!" she declared, waving her hand to push the soldiers back, scattering a cloud of dust.
The battle did not end there. The wealthy Spaniards summoned a stronger force—elite soldiers emerging from a truck, armed with advanced rifles.
"Kill that native!" their leader commanded, unleashing a relentless barrage.
Hustisya enveloped herself in energy, rapidly moving to dodge the bullets, but she noticed some were hitting the homes of Filipinos, terrifying the residents.
"Have you no fear of harming the townsfolk? Prepare yourselves!" she swore, releasing a powerful energy wave that scattered debris and rushed toward the men.
The Spaniards retaliated with a cannon-like device, firing a steel net into the air to ensnare her.
Her eyes glowed as she used her telekinesis, seizing control of the net and redirecting it to trap the wealthy Spaniards.
Chaos ensued as the steel net crushed the Spaniards, and the police quickly rushed to assist.
"You are the ones who should be caught, not me!" she cried, leaping back onto the statue with a stern look before vanishing, leaving the Spaniards fuming in rage before the gathered crowd.
Meanwhile, Erik was hidden on a rooftop, his fists clenched as he watched the battle unfold in the plaza. He knew Hustisya continued to fight the Spaniards in her own way.
"Why can't you see the wrong in your methods?" he whispered, his heart heavy with disappointment.
Since their confrontation, his concern had persisted—his determination to change Hustisya's mind remained unshaken, but his frustration grew with each passing day he failed to convince her.
"I need to find a way," he told himself, his eyes alight with hope but tinged with sadness.
Only a few hours passed. As the young man walked the streets with his basket of carrots slung over his back, he found turmoil in a market district. Filipinos were gathered, their faces etched with fear as the Spaniards abused them—old people dragged from their market stalls, youths shouted at to pay taxes, and women rounded up into holding pens guarded by police.
"What are they doing to the people?" Erik whispered, his heart blazing with anger, but he knew he couldn't always interfere. While walking to find a spot, he noticed a young girl selling flowers—Georgia—struggling with two baskets.
"Miss, do you need help?" Erik asked politely, approaching her and immediately assisting her with her burden.
"Thank you," Georgia replied, her smile full of gratitude as he shared the weight of the basket. Unaware of their true identities as Sugo, at that moment they were merely simple strangers selling goods by the road, their paths crossing in an unexpected encounter.
Georgia noticed the basket of carrots and asked the young man. "Are you here alone? I feel like I've never seen you before," Georgia asked, her tone mixed with curiosity. "Yes," Erik answered, his smile faint but sincere.
"I came from Ifugao to sell my carrot produce. I'm just staying near the church, and I sell carrots in the morning to earn money for food." Georgia gazed at him, her heart touched by the young man's story.
"Your situation is very hard; it's difficult to be alone in this town," she said, her voice soft and full of empathy.
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the police. "Native, give me your payment for the stall!" an officer yelled, his hand outstretched.
"It's only been two days since we last paid!" protested an old vendor, his voice sharp with fury.
"The Governor ordered us to raise the payment for the Natives!" the officer retorted, his face arrogant.
"What? You can't ask us for more taxes—that's not fair!" the old man objected, but their defiance was met with a brutal slap.
"Silence, native! If you don't want to get hurt, just pay!"
The old vendor fell, blood on his face, as the police threatened to jail them for non-compliance.
"Please, have mercy on us!" they pleaded.
Nearby, watching the events, Georgia's anger suddenly flared. "Stop hurting the elders!" she cried, stepping forward to intervene.
The Spaniards' attention turned to her. "Hey, girl, you have the nerve to yell at us?" one mocked.
"You've gone too far—do you have no heart? You're hurting the elderly!" she accused.
"We don't care about them—they disobey the government, so they deserve to be hurt!" the officer sneered.
"You are demons!" Georgia shouted.
One of the police officers grew furious and slapped her. "What did you say?"
Everyone was shocked by the officer's action, especially Erik, who couldn't believe it.
"Double your payment for interfering!" he yelled, raising his hand again, but Georgia remained stubborn, showing no fear of the police.
"I won't pay a single cent to leeches like you!" she declared, her eyes blazing with anger.
"I work to live, not to feed you!" The officer grew even angrier and met her with another powerful slap, causing her to fall again.
"Discipline this girl!" the leader commanded, dragging her toward a police car.
"Where are you taking me?" Georgia asked, her voice trembling with fear as she struggled.
"You need discipline, just like law-breaking natives," the officer mocked with a wicked smile as he forced the girl into the vehicle.
"If you don't have money, you can use your body as payment," he added, pushing Georgia inside.
Fear engulfed her as he grabbed her shoulder, bringing back memories of her mother's abduction and death at the hands of the police.
"No!" she screamed as she fought the officer. "Let me go! Help!" she pleaded.
"Please, help me!" Despite the sunlight, no one dared to intervene—the Filipinos seemed deaf and mute, paralyzed by the fear of helping a pitiful young girl.
But even though he was afraid, Erik stood up. He gathered his courage and rushed the officer to pull him away from the girl. He managed to pull the police officer and knock him down, and the man was so surprised by the boy's strength that he couldn't get up immediately.
"Don't hurt her!" he yelled, quickly pulling Georgia out of the car and urging her to run.
"Hurry, let's get out of here!" he said while running.
"You'll pay, native, if I catch you!" a voice shouted behind them. They ran down an alley, pursued by the police, running until they reached a squatter area, their hearts pounding with fear, unsure where to hide next to escape.
In their flight, they found refuge in an old cabinet inside an abandoned house. They waited there silently, their bodies almost touching in the cramped space.
Erik and Georgia's faces flushed red as their faces nearly met, but they had no choice but to stay there. After several tense minutes, confirming no police were following, they emerged and quickly left.
A few minutes later, Georgia led Erik to her house, offering him a place to rest there.
"Sorry for dragging you into that cabinet," Erik said, his face burning with embarrassment.
"Let's just forget about it," Georgia replied, her cheeks also showing a shy blush.
"Thank you, Erik. If it weren't for you, something bad might have happened to me," she said with a grateful smile.
"Your courage is impressive," Georgia added, her eyes shining with respect. Erik blushed at the compliment but smiled.
"It's nothing—it's only natural to help when someone is in need, especially a girl like you asking for help." But Georgia's expression darkened.
"I wish that were true. I wish everyone asking for help could be helped."
The young man was confused by what he heard and asked, "Why do you say that?"
"You saw earlier, no one wanted to help me despite my pleading," she explained. "No one had the courage you did. They all turned a blind eye for fear of retaliation from the police."
"Why are the people here like that?" Erik whispered.
"Aren't you afraid of the Spaniards?" Georgia asked the young man.
"You could be punished or imprisoned for hurting that officer." Erik was surprised, realizing what he had done.
"They'll imprison me? Wait, I didn't mean to hurt him—I just wanted to help," he stammered. Georgia laughed when she saw his reaction.
"Wait, you did that without knowing how dangerous it was for you? Are you serious? Don't you know anything about the system here in town?"
Erik's face went pale with intense fear. "Oh no, I can't be imprisoned!"
"Haha, you're funny! Be careful next time, Erik—your innocence might get you into serious trouble," she teased.
Despite his fear, Erik insisted, "I just did what I thought was right. It's wrong to stay silent while others are being hurt."
Georgia teased, "Do you think you're a hero?" She nudged him gently, joking, "Or are you just showing off to look cool in front of a girl?"
"That's not true!" Erik protested.
Smiling, Georgia admitted, "But you succeeded in impressing me. You were really cool when you helped me!"
Erik blushed heavily and sat down, looking childish in his shyness. "Me? Cool?"
Erik's sitting down made Georgia laugh even louder. "You're funny to look at when you're shy!" she teased.
"Is this the first time a girl has complimented you?" she joked.
"Yes, my first time being complimented, and I'm not used to hearing it—especially from a beautiful girl like you," Erik quickly replied.
Georgia blushed and fell silent at being called beautiful. "Beautiful? Me?" The surroundings grew quiet, and both felt shy.
The young man noticed Georgia's blushing cheeks and asked, "Wait, is this the first time someone has called you beautiful?"
"No," Georgia denied, "I'm used to other boys calling me beautiful. It's true—I am beautiful!" she boasted.
Erik remained silent amid the girl's boasting, making Georgia even shyer, sitting down to hide her reddening face.
The girl regretted what she said and wondered why she acted so childishly due to shyness.
Their teasing led to a playful debate over who acted more childishly, drawing the attention of the people nearby and increasing their awkwardness toward each other.
After a while, Georgia turned around and invited Erik into her house. "Come to my house," she said.
As a token of gratitude, she offered him temporary shelter, feeling it was the least she could do after Erik's brave rescue.
She told the young man that she couldn't repay him with money for his help, so she wanted to make it up to him in another way.
"Thank you, Georgia. This is a big help, especially since I have nowhere else to stay," Erik said, his smile full of gratitude.
"But you'll sleep in the living room, and don't try to enter our room, understood?!" she warned.
"I don't understand, but no problem," Erik replied with a smile.
End of Chapter.