Cadena de Amor

Cadena de Amor
Book	Trese: Last Seen After Midnight
Issue #	14
Written By	Budjette Tan
Art By	Kajo Baldisimo
Previous	An Act of War
Next	A Private Collection

Cadena de Amor is the 14th case of the main Trese series and the first of four cases published in Trese: Last Seen After Midnight.

Publication history

Advance reading copies of Trese: Cadena de Amor ashcans were sold at the Metro Comic-Con held on August 21-22, 2010 in Manila. Copies of the then-ashcan story along with Songs of the Lewenri were given for free when customers bought Trese books 1 to 3.

Select preview pages of the comic was uploaded to the Trese blogspot on August 20, 2010, a day before the Metro Comic-Con. The entire case was eventually uploaded on October 30, 2010.

It was eventually collected in Trese: Last Seen After Midnight, published by Visprint, Inc, and launched on October 8, 2011.

Plot synopsis

In a neglected area of Luneta Park at night, a man is seen assaulting a woman, but the man was thrown off by vines coming from a plant elemental. The plant elemental, who took the form of a woman, repeatedly asks the man “Where am I?” before strangling the man fatally.

At the Diabolical, a group of men sitting by the bar is approached by a woman with dark hair and bob haircut, who then proceeds to buy drinks for them. Hank, the bartender, refuses to serve the drinks and directs the woman to Alexandra Trese and the Kambal sitting by a table. As she approaches Alexandra, her hairstyle changes to long, dark hair. Her name is Wari, and Alexandra reminds her that all enkanto are allowed into her bar provided that they follow one rule: no magiks. Alexandra questions Wari on reports she received from Capt. Guerrero, about men who said they met the girl of their dreams in the Diabolical and ended up robbed of their money. Wari denies the allegations while changing her look to a schoolgirl with pigtails. Alexandra cuts off one of Wari’s pigtails with the Sinag, accusing her of lying. Wari changes her look back to a long, dark-haired woman and admits her guilt, promising to give back the money she robbed and to never do it again. Alexandra then gives Wari a warning: that the moment she steals money again from men that she fools, she would visit her and make her shift permanently to the ugliest form possible. Alexandra then gets a call from Capt. Guerrero.

Back in Luneta Park, Alexandra, the Kambal, Capt. Guerrero and the rest of the police investigate the corpse of a man strangled by a dried-up plant elemental. Capt. Guerrero believes the victim was the serial rapist he had been tracking, identified by the snake tattoo on his arm. Alexandra asked Capt. Guerrero to clear the area; she then stabs the ground with the Sinag and summons the diwata who protects Luneta Park. A diwata with vine-like hair named Anneta answered Alexandra's summon, saying that she sensed the commotion but was not near the area when it happened. Alexandra then asked Anneta to gather the other denizens of the park for questioning. A myriad of plant elementals including a bamboo-like creature, as well as a kapre answered the call, who all denied anything to do with the death. However, a couple of younger plant elementals told Alexandra that a certain Supling became grumpy ever since Florabelle left them. It turns out that Supling is one of the newer plant elementals transplanted into the park, and that Florabelle is one of the park’s gardeners who took care of the younger elementals, and hasn’t been reporting to work. The younger plant elementals then began singing verses of the song Florabelle sang to them, but their performance was cut short when Alexandra answered a cry for help from somewhere within the park.

At the Rizal monument, Supling is seen attacking the guards who were guarding the statue of Jose Rizal, now covered completely in vines. Supling took the likeness of Florabelle, and kept asking “Where am I?”. Alexandra and the Kambal fought Supling, and the plant elemental was finally subdued with the help of the Santelmo. After the fight, Alexandra receives a distress call from Capt. Guerrero, asking for help at the U.N. Avenue LRT station where Supling has manifested once more, stopping the train and attacking people. Alexandra sent the Kambal to the LRT station, while she talked to Capt. Guerrero who told her that Ms. Florabelle Campos was reported missing for 5 days. Alexandra asked the captain to send men to Florabelle’s house to obtain a picture of Florabelle in the clothes she normally goes to work in.

At the Harrison Plaza, Alexandra sought out the help of Mang Art, a caricature artist. She showed Mang Art the picture of Florabelle, and asked for help in finding her current location. Mang Art then sketched a picture of a ship and an oil drum, informing Alexandra that Florabelle is within the oil drum at the bottom of Manila Bay. Alexandra then called Hank to ask for help from the sirena in retrieving the body, and in calling for Capt. Guerrero and the Philippine coast guard.

The scene shifts to Quirino Avenue where Supling is seen running amok, throwing cars and buses, while the Kambal tries to fight Supling and aid bystanders at the same time. A woman who looks like Florabelle is seen walking toward Supling, singing the song Florabelle sings to her plants. This calmed down Supling and while the plant elemental was distracted, Alexandra threw the Sinag to the ground and cast a spell that put Supling to sleep, wrapping it in vines. The woman was then revealed to be the shape-shifter, Wari.

At the City Morgue, the coroner extracts blood samples from the body of Florabelle. Alexandra uses the blood to summon the soul of Florabelle, who explained how she died. It was revealed that Florabelle was kidnapped and brought to the docks to a ship called Eden’s Star. She and other girls were told that they were going to be brought to the Middle East. She was then brought to the ship’s captain, but she fought back her assailants and was presumably killed.

At the docks, Alexandra and Capt. Guerrero left the Eden’s Star without finding any evidence of the girls Florabelle told her about. Guerrero told Alexandra that the Philippine Port Authority could not hold the ship on the docks any longer, and that they would have to let them go. Alexandra then reassured him that it was okay, and that she promised Florabelle to leave a present for the ship’s captain and crew. The last panel shows that Alexandra left a pot with plant vines growing out of it in the ship captain’s room.

Recurring Characters

• Alexandra Trese
• The Kambal
• Captain Guerrero
• Hank Sparrow
• Spunky Hontiveros

First Appearances

• Wari
• Anneta
• Supling
• Mang Art

Trivia

• The issue title is a play on the plant of the same name as well as the theme of a "chain of love", referring to Supling's connection to Florabelle.
• This is the first and only story in the series to have plant elementals.
• The song Florabelle sings to calm Supling down is entitled "Ang Huling El Bimbo", composed by Ely Buendia and popularized by the famous Filipino rock band, Eraserheads.
  • Ablaze and Avenida editions replace the song with an original verse written specifically for the issue.
• Kajo Baldisimo’s design for Anneta included vines for hair, forearms, and skirt-like lower body, and butterfly-sleeve shaped shoulders patterned after the terno, a traditional dress worn by women in the Philippines.
• The coroner at the city morgue is unnamed but presumed to be Spunky Hontiveros because of his similar appearance.