Chapter 0: Birth of the Successor (IV)

Last time…

Darius Lucifugus made a visit to Roberto Vazquez at his house. Darius revealed that he knew everything about Roberto and Maria which led to a direct confrontation between Roberto and Darius. Roberto fought bravely and gained the upper hand over Darius, their battle destroyed multiple houses. Roberto was about to put an end to Darius, but Darius showed that he captured Maria and Daniel. This led to Roberto accepting defeat and the Vazquez family disappeared that night…

In the military base owned by Darius, Uriel wakes up and he is encountered by Skeleton Masked-Man. Uriel acting aggressively gets cut in the stomach and he is left for dead...As the moon begins to turn Crimson...A man dressed in a Charro suit mounting a horse appears in the Horizon…

Military Base located several Kms away from Sun City...

Roberto is hanging from the ceiling with chains holding his arms, he is covered in blood and barely conscious. A portal opens once again and the man with the mask presents himself in front of Roberto. He removes his mask revealing to be Darius Lucifugus as he says:

"Buenas noches Roberto, how are you doing?"

Roberto regains consciousness and asks; "Where are we?"

"In a military base 100 miles away from Sun City, you can call it my evil layer...HAHAHA"

This causes Roberto to react with anger trying to break free screaming:

"SON OF A BITCH, let me go or I´ll kill you"

"Like father, like son I see. I just had a chat with your kid in the other room and he reacted the same way as you, but neither of you can understand the position you're in...So, I have to silence him..."

"You what?"

"Relax...he will live...I hope so…"

Darius says it while laughing, he presses a button on the wall and four monitors begin to light up, revealing his family. Maria is guarded with two men unconscious with special seals in her chair that sealed her manna. Valerie is unconscious as well with a guard looking at her. Daniel is conscious being tied in a chair. Uriel is conscious lying on the ground with water and blood.

"I´ll let them free if you cooperate with me, deal?" Darius says to Roberto causing him to lower his head and reply:

"I´ll do it, ask me what you want" He says it with a low voice as Darius laughs at him.

"I need the location of the 7 cities of Gold, I know they are located in this region and I need to find them. Your organization knows it now help me find them and you will be free," Darius says with an arm behind crossing his fingers.

"Why do you want the gold? You are already rich, so why?" Roberto asks with a confused face.

"We need them to be enlightened", Darius replies with a demonic smile.

Roberto closes his eyes and thinks about his family and nods his head saying:

"I only know a few so I will tell you" Roberto says calmly. Darius opens a giant map of the region and says: "Now show me"

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In the entrance of the base, two guards where having a chat and one of them begins to yawn saying:

"Man, nothing fun happens here" The guard on the right says it causing the guard of the left to reply:

"I know, I wanted to go inside to have fun with that sexy woman or the cute girl... HAHAHA." The guard says it laughing with the other.

"I know right, man, what a bad night to be assigned as guards... HAHAHA"

At that moment when the guards where laughing a silhouette of a man in a horse with a great round hat and a Mexican jorongo appears in front of them and begins to laugh as he says:

"HAHAHA, you are right, this is a bad night for you, and you are not a gentleman, pervertidos de mierda!" (Perverted Shit)

The two guards put a frightened face and point at him saying:

"Hold it! Who are you stay where you are or will fire you"

"Go ahead" The man replies as his eyes begin to glow red, and his horse begins to move slowly towards them.

(PIU PIU PIU PIU PIU PIU)

The guards fire at the man but the bullets do not have effect on him. The bullets connect him but he does not stop. The man takes out a sword and swings it in front of them. The guards stop shooting wondering what happened.

(SSLLLAASSHHH)

"What did you do, are you joking with us?" The guards ask the man with a frightened expression. The man puts his sword away and says:

"I already cut you, Descansen en paz!" (Rest in Peace)

The guards see blood from their bodies that were cut in half. The whole gate and parts of the building are destroyed causing a huge explosion on the generator and the energy of the base goes off.

"Where are you muchacho?" The man talks to himself, as he looks at a door located at the end of the base and says:

"I found you muchacho, don't worry, today is your lucky day."

The man climbs down of his horse, and opens a portal in front of them and says:

"Good job amigo, you can rest now" The man says to his horse. The horse passes the portal and the man closes it. As he closes the portal more guards appear shooting at him. The man takes out a sword with his left hand and a pistol in his right as he screams:

"THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN HAHAHA" the man laughs as charges forward.

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"Haa...ha...ha…" Uriel slowly opens his eyes, he has his face lying on the ground, the room is empty and he only sees darkness.

"Where am I?" Uriel asks to himself as he tries to stand up, he slowly lifts his body but he feels something strange. He can't move his arms or legs, he looks at them and notices that he has chains.

Uriel, with a frightened tone begins to say; "Why am I chain up, what's happening?"

(BAAADDUUMMPPP)

Uriel feels strange, he feels extremely weak that causes him to fall once again. That night is so cold that he can see his breath, he breathes heavily as he notices a warm liquid coming out of his head.

"What's this warm feeling?" Uriel looks at the ground and sees a red color liquid, suddenly he raises his body one more time and sees a puddle of blood, the boy than sees that he is bleeding from his head and his stomach.

He remembers that he was cut by someone wearing a skeleton mask. Uriel begins to shake and tears come out from his eyes.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME, SOMEBODY, I DON'T WANT TO DIE! HELP!"

Uriel cries as he once again falls completely to the ground feeling very weak. Tears dont stop falling as he cries with fear.

"Mama, Papa, Valerie, Daniel...where are you…"

Uriel´s vision begins to get blurry as he breathes even heavier.

"Why is this happening to me, why did it have to be today...Why was I so weak that I couldn't protect my little sister…"

Uriel slowly begins to close his eyes as he thinks:

"Mama, Papa, Valerie and Daniel, I am very sorry but this is the end for me…"

There is silence in the room, Uriel stops breathing as his blood loss was too great. Uriel begins to feel as if he is floating; "It's so warm and peaceful…"

Suddenly, everything turns red...The boy opens his eyes and sees a giant black figure. The figure is blurry and it appears to be changing its shape.

"YOU CAN'T DIE YET… YOU MUST AWAKENED...YOU ARE THE SUCCESSOR…"

Uriel is left speechless as the shadowy figure expands, covering turning everything black, the boy who is really scared turns around and sees a giant skeleton face.

"HAHAHA, YOU SURE ARE WEAK, NO WONDER YOU´RE FATHER WAS DEFEATED, NOW I WILL GO AHEAD AND MAKE MY WA TO YOUR SISTER, I BET SHE CAN HANDLE MORE THAN YOU…"

He opens his eyes full of determination, he begins to crawl towards the door as he begins to think:

"I won't let you hurt my sister, even if I die, I will die protecting her…"

(BBBOOOMM, CCCRRRAASSSHHH)

"RUN AWAY, THAT GUY IS DANGEROUS, WE NEED REINFORCEMENTS….AHHHHH…"

He hears loud noises, followed by gunshots and explosions. He stops as he wonders what was going on. The explosions get closer to him, the boy with fear of what was going on outside continues to crawl slowly as he knows that he doesn't have much time left.

(SSSSSLLLLLAASSHHHH)

Suddenly, the door collapses in half, a red light shines in the room. A dust cloud begins to fill the room completely. The boy breathes heavily as he looks up and sees a figure approaching him. The dust cloud clears or reveals the silhouette of a man. The man is wearing a Mariachi attire with a mariachi sombrero covering his face.

Uriel is frightened as he sees two red eyes looking down at him. He is left speechless as he coughs up blood.

"HAHAHA, DON'T TELL ME YOU ARE DYING, MUCHACHO" The man says with a joyful tone, he looks at him with a blurry vision as the man continues to speak.

"NOW, NOW, DON´T TELL ME THAT YOU ARE AFRAID OF ME… ANSWER ME THIS QUESTION, DO YOU WANT POWER?"

Uriel sees a man with red eyes glowing. Uriel tries to get away crawling with the little strength he has left, but the man begins to laugh and says:

"HAHAHA...Where are you going muchacho, I am no bad guy. I came to rescue you and your family so don't worry." The man says with a smile on his face but Uriel does not believe what he says, however he is very weak to move and asks the man:

"Why? I don't even know you, do you know my dad?" Uriel asks the man and he replies:

"Yes, I know him. Now I will free you muchacho"

The man pulls his sword out causing Uriel to close his eyes. The man lifts the sword and makes a swing.

(SSSLLLAASSHHH)

He immediately cuts Uriel's ropes off, freeing him.

"There you see muchacho, don´t be a scaredy cat." The man laughs at Uriel and he changes his expression to a more serious face and says:

"Muchacho do you want to be strong, Do you want power, Do you want to save your family?" The man asks Uriel, causing him to have a suspicious face. Uriel suddenly remembers what happened to him last night:

"Tomorrow, I will come to you...and we will begin the ceremony…"

"What ceremony?"

"The ceremony for you to become my successor…"

Uriel begins to lose consciousness as the man looks at him with a serious face:

"ENJOY TOMORROW, MY SUCCESSOR, BECAUSE TOMORROW WILL BE YOUR LAST DAY…"

"You're the one who helped me save Alejandro…"

"That's right Muchacho, I see you remembered…"

"And I made that promise to you…"

"You're not going to fall back right? That would make you a big COBARDE" (Coward)

"No..I did promise you that…"

"Right now you are weak, but you have potential. You are my successor and I need to pass this power down, so what do you say?" The man asks Uriel as he stretches his arm to him.

Uriel sees in a puddle of water his beat-up face. He feels pain in his body and feels frustration. He sees that he is slowly dying. Uriel feels rage and remembers the man with the skeleton mask beating him up.

Uriel thinks about his family and makes a determined face:

"I agree, but you need to help me save my family"

The man smiles and replies; "Very well Muchacho, but there is no turning back okay"

Uriel nods with a determined expression, the man laughs; "Excellent, just like your father…"

The moon turns Crimson, illuminating the sky in a beautiful red color.

"The time is right…" The man brings out a knife and makes a cut in his right hand, and then grabs Uriel´s right hand and make a cut on his as well and grabs his hand with both uniting the blood and the man begins to chant in latin:

"Et faciet foedus, vincula non conteram Fatum meum tuum est imperium, et virtus mea"

(Translates: I make a pact, the chains of fate will not break, my power is yours, and your power is mine)

At that moment rain starts to pour down non-stop while the crimson moon is still showing. The lightning flashes at the base, and at their feet a large red magic circle forms with the words: Bellum,Sanguis, Foedus, Equitem

(Translates: War, Blood, Pact, Horseman)

In the middle of the circle the symbol of flames appears, suddenly chains appear from the four points and slowly begin to wrap their hands. The right side of the man's face turns into a skull, and the right side of Uriel´s face turns into a skull as well. The man says to Uriel:

"Prepare yourself muchacho; this is going to hurt"

He grabs Uriel´s hands harder and begins to chant:

"Mitto ad te his summis"

(Translates: I pass this crest to you)

The circle begins to shine brighter. The symbol of a flame in the right foreman of the man begins to spread red veins that go down into Uriel´s foreman.

"AHHHHH" Uriel screams in pain causing him to kneel down and cry in suffering

"Bare with me muchacho it's almost over." The man screams at Uriel as he does not let go of his hand. The man chants one last time:

"Et beneficium Tuum fatum finem huius"

(Tanslates: I end this ritual of fate)

The ritual was completed. The man lets go of Uriel´s hand and their faces turn back to normal. Uriel sees his foreman and the symbol of a flame appears as well. His eyes turned red with the corneas black as well. Uriel breathes heavily and the man begins to laugh:

"HAHAHA, it is done muchacho, you are now my successor. Bienvenido a la familia, I am El CHARRO NEGRO but you may call me Juan de la Trinidad."

The man says with a great smile causing Uriel to open his eyes wide because he does not believe what happened. The famous folk tale of "El Charro Negro" was real.

"I'll skip the details for another time, right now let's save your sister and family that are captive as well." Juan says to Uriel who changes his face with a more serious expression, he then says: "Let's go!"

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Uriel and Juan de la Trinidad run into Building "B" where Valerie, Daniel and his mother were captive. They run into the hallway and hear a loud scream:

"GGYYHHHAHHHH, HELP ME PLEASE!"

Uriel recognizes Valerie´s voice and runs faster to the door. Juan slices the door in half. Uriel sees a guard touching Valerie´s legs, and licking her face trying to rape her.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" Uriel screams with fury. "Hey muchacho you should watch your strength, you don't want to set the al-"

(PPPPUUUMMM)

Juan was trying to warn Uriel, but Uriel with a great speed punches the guard in the face causing him to pass through the wall going through the room where the other guards were. Uriel lost sensitivity of his right arm because of the force he used, and lost his strength.

"Damn it, I can't move," Uriel says while he is lying down.

"HAHAHA, you need to listen to me muchacho but leave this to me okay"

Juan pulls his gun and shoots with great speed to the guards and he kills all of the guards including the one that Uriel punched. He unties Valerie and says:

"This is bad, she was not raped, lucky us, but they did touch her, she might get traumatized...don't worry." Juan says as he touches Valerie´s forehead and chants:

"Memoria Perdida"(Lost Memory)

This causes Valerie to forget about her horrifying experience with the guards. She opens her eyes and sees Uriel who got his strength back, and his eyes are back to normal. She quickly runs and hugs Uriel and says:

"Uriel, big brother, thank goodness you are okay."

"I´m glad you are alright Valerie, thank you for being brave." Uriel says it while he hugs her tightly. He looks at Juan and says to him; "Thank You"

"Don't thank me yet muchacho, we still need to take your brother and your mother, remember." Uriel stands up and holds Valerie´s hand and says:

"Be brave , hermana." in which Valerie nods saying : "I will"

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(SLAAASSHHH)

Juan de la Trinidad slashed the door open where Uriel and Valerie´s mom and Daniel were. In the room Maria was unconscious and tied to a chair. Daniel was in a bed sick of fever.

Juan untie Maria who fell to the ground. He tells Uriel:

"You got 5 minutes to talk to your mother, okay I'm going to take care of the other guards."

Juan leaves the room. After he leaves, gunshots are heard with explosions:

(PIU PIU PIU PIU PIU)

"Mom, Mom wake up please" Uriel and Valerie yell to their mother trying to wake her up.

Maria slowly opens her eyes to see her children. She quickly gets up and hugs them, she then begins to cry saying; "Forgive me, please, forgive me, it's my entire fault my children. I am sorry."

"Don´t worry mama, we are okay." Valerie says as she hugs her. Maria feels a sting in her arm coming from Uriel´s side. She sees Uriel and notices Uriel´s eyes.

A guard appears with a gun and yells; "Nobody move"

At that moment he gets stab from behind, causing an instant death. It was "El Charro Negro" who came to the room saying:; "Time´s up muchacho, let´s go"

Maria puts on a frightening face and with a shivering voice as she says; "Y-Y-You, why are you here?"

Maria looks at Uriel´s forearm and sees the flame symbol. She begins to cry and says:

"WHY, WHY DID YOU, WHY?

"I´m sorry Mama I had no choice, I needed to save you." Uriel says to his mom with a determined face. Maria begins to cry and hugs him; "Uriel, you don't know what you have done to yourself…"

"Relax Maria, the only thing he did was to save himself from dying at the hands of Darius Lucifugus...you should've seen him bleeding...he looked so cute...hahaha…"

(COUGH COUGH COUGH)

Daniel coughs intensely. Valerie goes to him and hugs him saying; "Please don't die brother."

Juan touches Daniel´s forehead and says "I can stabilize him if you want."

Maria grabs Daniel and says: "Don't touch him, you demon."

"HAHAHA, Demons are useless compared to me." Juan says it by walking away and says:

"If you want him to die just let him be, he won't last until morning"

Maria doesn't have enough manna because of the manna draining chains. She looks at Valerie and Uriel, making her agree to Juan´s help; "Very well...please...save my son...I beg you…"

"No need to beg me...I would do anything for my successor…" Juan puts his hand on Daniel´s forehead and says: "Curacion" (Healing)

A small yellow light comes from his forehead lowering his fever and making him wake up.

"Where Am I?" Daniel asks Maria who is crying of joy and says; "Don't worry hijo, rest okay"

Maria touches his chest causing him to sleep. The five of them leave the building and run for the exit. Juan"El Charro" runs in front taking down the guards that appear. Uriel runs holding Valerie´s hand and Maria carries Daniel in her back.

"We need to find Roberto…" Maria says to Juan; "I know that...but unfortunately, he is with Darius Lucifugus right now…"

"Darius Lucifugus?" Uriel asks Juan. Juan smiles; "That's right, the man who caused all of this to happen…"

Everyone gets outside as they see a huge explosion in the main building where Roberto was located.

Stay Tuned for the conclusion of the story arc...Birth of the Successor V...on the next Volume…