THE CASHIER TREMBLED IN FEAR WHEN THE “HAMMER GANG” STORMED INTO THE STORE.
SHE COULD ONLY CRY, KNOWING THE GUARD SHE FED FOR FREE WAS “WEAK” AND ALWAYS ASLEEP OUTSIDE.
BUT THE ROBBERS TURNED PALE WHEN THE DOOR SUDDENLY LOCKED FROM THE OUTSIDE.
It was four in the afternoon. The Emerald Pawnshop & Jewelry was quiet.
Jenny, the cashier, stepped out briefly to hand a Siopao (steamed bun) to the security guard, Mang Berto.
Mang Berto was 60 years old. He was thin, tottering, had poor eyesight, and was always leaning against the wall snoring. His uniform hung loosely on his frame, and he looked as if he wouldn’t even know how to hold a gun.
“Mang Berto, wake up. Here’s a snack,” Jenny roused him.
“Oh… thank you, child…” the old man replied, looking as if he struggled just to stand up. “You’re a good kid.”
Jenny went back inside. “Oh dear,” she thought. “Poor Grandpa. I hope we don’t get held up because surely Mang Berto won’t be able to do anything. He might even faint from fear.”
Ten minutes later…
CRAAAASH!!!
The glass display case shattered. Four men wearing helmets and masks entered. They were carrying large hammers and guns.
“THIS IS THE MARTILYO GANG! NOBODY MOVE! GET DOWN!”
Everyone panicked. The gang leader struck the display case with a sledgehammer.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The leader grabbed Jenny. He pulled her hair and pointed a .45 caliber pistol at her head.
“OPEN THE REGISTER! FAST!” the robber screamed.
Jenny cried. “It’s empty, sir! It was just deposited!”
“Liar!” He struck her on the cheek with the gun.
Jenny glanced outside. She saw Mang Berto’s chair. The guard was gone.
“Mang Berto probably ran away,” Jenny thought, trembling. “It’s over… this is the end for me…”
The robbers were gloating. “Where is your guard?! Asleep?! Hahaha! You people are so easy to victimize!”
They were about to leave carrying the jewelry and Jenny as a hostage when suddenly…
KLANNNG!
BEEP-BEEP-LOCK.
The steel roll-up door at the main entrance crashed down, and the thick bulletproof glass door automatically locked.
“What happened?! Why did it lock?!” shouted the leader.
They tried to smash the glass with the hammer. It wouldn’t break.
They looked outside.
Standing in front of the glass was Mang Berto.
But he was no longer the tottering old man from earlier.
He stood perfectly straight.
His face was emotionless.
His eyes were sharp and alert.
In his right hand, he held his service firearm with expert precision. In his left, he held a baton. And in his ear, he was wearing a tactical earpiece.
“Open this, old man! Or I’ll blow this woman’s head off!” the robber yelled.
Mang Berto pressed a remote in his pocket. The speaker inside the pawnshop turned on.
Mang Berto’s voice echoed. It wasn’t shaky; it was deep and terrifyingly cold.
“Release the girl. I’ll give you five seconds to surrender. If not… I’m coming in there.”
The robbers laughed. “Hahaha! Grandpa, you shake just holding a fork! You’re coming in?! Go ahead!”
The robber fired his gun at the glass. BANG! But it was reinforced glass.
Mang Berto sighed. “Time’s up.”
Berto pressed the emergency smoke release.
PSSSSHHHHHH!
Tear gas filled the pawnshop. The robbers coughed violently.
“Argh! My eyes!”
Suddenly, the side door opened.
Mang Berto entered. He wasn’t walking fast, but every move was calculated.
A robber with a hammer rushed him.
SWISH! THUD!
In the blink of an eye, the robber’s wrist was broken by Berto’s baton. He kicked him in the knee, and the man fell immediately.
The leader rushed in and shot at Berto.
BANG!
Berto dodged incredibly fast, like in a movie. He grabbed the leader’s arm, twisted it, and seized the gun.
CRAACK!
Berto struck the leader’s jaw with his elbow. Lights out.
Within 30 seconds, the four members of the feared Martilyo Gang were lying on the floor—bloody and broken.
Jenny, sitting in the corner, was stunned.
Mang Berto approached her. He handed her a handkerchief.
“Are you okay, child? I apologize for the delay. I waited for all of them to enter so no one could escape,” Berto said gently. His grandpa voice had returned.
The police arrived. They were even wearing SWAT gear.
But when they entered, they saw the fight was already over.
The Police Chief saluted Mang Berto.
“Colonel Berto!” the Chief greeted. “Mission Accomplished, Sir!”
The Chief approached Jenny.
“Miss, you are lucky. Your guard is Col. Roberto Diaz. A legend in the Scout Rangers and Special Forces. He’s retired, but he volunteered for this undercover mission because we’ve been hunting this syndicate for a long time. This pawnshop was the bait.”
Jenny’s jaw dropped.
“You’re Special Forces?!” Jenny asked Berto. “But… why are you always asleep? Why do you shake?”
Mang Berto smiled and winked at Jenny.
“That was just acting, child. In war, the strongest weapon is Surprise. When the enemy thinks you are weak… that is when they become careless. That is when you finish them.”
Berto patted Jenny’s shoulder.
“By the way, thanks for the burger earlier. That gave me strength.”
From then on, people didn’t call him “Mang Berto,” but “The Legend.”
And Jenny? She felt completely safe, knowing the Grandpa Guard outside was tougher than an entire battalion of soldiers.