THE OWL'S NEST 2

Chapter 1: Sepia and Gasoline

The Gunman who's got all of the foreigners hostage inside the tour bus has grown tired of all of the shallow bargaining of the negotiator.

Reporters from every news station, even Tulfo, were there. Even in the rain, they were dead focused on recording all of the events happening.

The Gunman just wanted to be reinstated again. A while back, he was dismissed from service after trying to plant drugs on the car owned by a hotel chef. All he wanted was a fair hearing but it all escalated to this point. He hijacked a bus full of Chinese tourists. Armed to the teeth with a rifle and a belt full of tear gas, he went all out and tried to take matters into his own hands.

The nation's best team decided to move in after witnessing smoke filling up the insides of the bus. The Gunman had popped open a can of tear gas, suffocating the passengers.

The SWAT team clumsily tried to enter the bus, but it was unfortunately taking too long. Shots were being fired both from inside the bus and from the outside.

News reporters all around were having a ball, this is the best story ever.

Reporter One: "bigla kaya dadating ulit si Senator Agila? Tunay na buhay na Cardo yun e!"

Denise, the reporter, was there too and heard this comment from another reporter. She felt angry that this could actually happen. Some dumb actor who wants to run as a senator may come here at this unfortunate moment and try to be the hero. "That's how politics works here in the Philippines," she muttered.

Just as these words ran through her mind, her favorite hero flew down from the trees and slammed through the roof of the bus breaking it in half.

Because of that, the wind and rain carried the tear gas out. As he stood up, all The Gunman and the hostages could hear was the rain and the clicking shutters of all of the news crews outside. The SWAT team were in shock, staring at Manila's Ghostly modern myth.

One of the young officers muttered, "yan ba sha?"

The Gunman quickly took a young girl and used her as a human shield.

"WAG KANG LALAPIT! PAPATAYIN KO ITO!" He warned the Owl.

"Hindi mo gagawin yan." The Owl calmly replied.

"Itigil mo ito and sumuko. Babantayan kita." The Owl reassured the Gunman.

"Di mo ko ma babantayan sa kulungan, Kuwago. Pag sinabi ng Presidente na ipa patay ako, mangyayare yun." The Gunman replied. All of which were true. Everyone that the new government deemed evil gets killed almost immediately.

Unfortunately, the gas was also starting to get into the Gunman's eyes. But he was a soldier and it will take a lot to make him break.

Up until the Owl took him up in the air.

It was all in one smooth move. The Gunman didn't even notice that he was already out of the bus. Metallic talons were embedded through his kevlar vest, pinning him down on the asphalt.

With rain washing away his sweat and tears, The Gunman finally gave in.

One year later, The Gunman, Mr. Wolf, Is still in jail. In the news, he watched in amazement as The Owl saved a young woman falling out of an exploding helicopter.

"Kung ako sa kanya, mas malinis dapat yung execution." He boasted. "Tandaan mo anak, pag may mga kelangan kang gawin, walang mashadong collateral damage. Wag mo ako gagayahin." He told his daughter.

"Hindi naman ako mang ha hi-jack ng bus tulad mo." Eleanor told her Father. Although she resented his actions, she loved her Father more than anything in this world.

"Mag paka bait ka nalang para naman magka milagro buhay natin." She said. Eleanor is in her early 20's. Her time growing up as the daughter of the infamous bus hostage taker made her demeanor rigid. This is accentuated by a long scar on her left eye.

Across the town, Will and Kate are together sitting on massage chairs. 20 pesos for 6 minutes of mechanical relaxation.

"Tapos babe, poof! Ni-ninja ko silang lahat nun. Ayos ba?" Will was talking about the time he was able to disappear in front of all the Police in that Bus hostage incident exactly one year ago.

Life was a bit stressful for them both recently. Will had been having trouble with his work for being late all the time. Kate just really wanted to get back down to earth, have a relaxing afternoon.

She appreciates the fact that he had saved countless lives for over 2 years, but she can see that his health has declined. They weren't getting any younger. Pretty soon they'll have to think about their futures.

"Okay, hero, wait lang, patalastas. Kamusta yung mga hinanap natin sa Jobstreet nung isang gabi? Di ba sabi mo lilipat ka na?"

Will has been trying to avoid this subject. "Yeah wala pa tumatawag e." Will simply said.

The massage chairs finally stopped and the two got up and continued on with their date.

"Makaka sama ka ba sa Christmas eve namin mamaya sa Pasig?" Will asked Kate. "Hahabulin ko yung paper ko sa Stat e. Baka after Christmas day pa ko maka labas ulit." Kate said. "Sige sige, dadalawin nalang kita Christmas day sa inyo." Will said.

The two kissed and parted ways to go back to their families.

That night, Kate was rushing orders for her personally crocheted Jughead beanies. She hadn't had time to work on these since she has been working on her paper at school. Kat hasn't slept properly in weeks just trying to balance her school work and all her home based work. "This will all pay out.. One day.." she told herself as she worked on through the eve of Christmas of 2017.

Meanwhile, Will and his family are all just about to open their presents at his Aunt's house in Pasig.

Will did his best to take a video of them opening presents. He was planning to create some sort of time lapse video out of it.

A few blocks away, a group of teenagers and their families were all having drinks. One of them had bought a new motorcycle. A beautiful black and orange Raider 150. One of the boys had a little too much to drink, but he still knew that he should be going home soon. One of his older friends let him borrow his new bike. Being a rider himself, the drunk boy was elated to have the opportunity to drive a new machine, on the night of Christmas eve no less.

"Oy wala ka dalang helmet?" the older friend asked the drunk boy as he went shambling towards the bike."Mabilis lang ako" the drunk boy said as he sped off.Kate had finished her 7th Beanie. She was going to have a video call with Will at 12:30 that night. She was excited. They've talked about living together but opted not to until they get married. They decided not to be like modern couples today that live with their parents. Although Will was a bit against it, they still decided to do this.As Will's Dad and their whole family were driving home, they got a call from his Aunt. "Na iwan nyo yung Fruit salad nyo. Balikan nyo nalang ba bukas?" Since their family usually goes on a road trip during Christmas day to Cavite, they decided to go back for the salad.As they were turning left back to the compound somewhere in pasig, a speeding boy on a motorcycle slammed onto the right fender of their Corolla, driving them on the sign post.