Aztek #1: "Uno"

Six months ago

Her toes were bare and wrapped around the edge of the roof. She was dressed in her favorite party dress, a deep red satin gown that flowed behind her like a river of blood. She bobbed up and down on her feet, unsure of her next move. She wanted to jump so badly. She was trapped in this horrible town with no job, no money, and no hope. She imagined the freedom of the wind around her face as she fell to her death. She only needed to take one more step forward...

“Katrina!” a voice called out to her. Katrina Rodman turned her head to see Vanity's savior superhero Aztek. He stood behind her radiating a golden light of heroism and virtue, not often seen in this city.

“You can't save everyone, Aztek!” she called back to him. “Do you know what I've been through?!”

“Yes,” Aztek replied. “I know that you've given up all hope. You got laid off from your secretary job at LexCorp and now you believe that all is lost, that you won't be able to provide for yourself.”

“How do you know so much about me?” she asked him. “Who do you think you are?”

“I'm a friend,” Aztek replied. “Katrina, please. Don't jump. It's not worth it.” Aztek put both hands on his golden helmet and lifted it off his head, revealing his true identity.

“Emilio?” Katrina asked. “You're Aztek?”

“I am,” Emilio said. “Believe me, Katrina, I've loved you since the day that I met you. I won't let you kill yourself. I'd never let anyone hurt you.”

“Yes, you never have,” Katrina replied. “Like the time Sugar Glider kidnapped me and other employees at LexCorp last year and you had to rescue us.”

“Or the time the Pelican issued a bomb threat on the building,” Emilio added. “I've always been there for you, Katrina.”

“Yes, you have!” Katrina cried. “I'm... I'm so sorry!” Emilio threw his helmet aside and held Katrina for what felt like hours but was only a few minutes.

“Let's get you down from this rooftop,” Emilio said. He put his helmet back on and held Katrina in his arms. The two of them glided off of the building and flew away into the night sky.



Now

Emilio couldn't fall asleep. Even with Katrina's head rested on his chest, he was not at peace. He had been lying in bed, trying to figure out what was wrong, when he finally realized that he had to stop being Aztek. Ever since he had helped the Piper rescue his daughter, he had felt that something was not right. He had to speak with Quetzalcoatl once and for all and tell him his intentions. It would not be fun, but it was necessary. Emilio ZiCoatle no longer desired to be Earth's protector against the Aztecan shadow god, Tezcatlipoca. He wanted to be with Katrina and not have her worry for his safety every night.

Emilio put on the helmet and armor of Aztek and flew out of his apartment window and into the night sky. Since it was so early in the morning and still very dark outside, many of Vanity's buildings were abandoned save for a few nightclubs here and there. Aztek glided over onto the top of a building not too far from his apartment and allowed his consciousness to enter into the helmet.

He stood face to face with the serpent god once again, this time determined to sever his duty to Quetzalcoatl once and for all. “My lord, Quetzalcoatl,” Emilio said, his head bowed to the serpent.

“My warrior,” the sun god replied, “I hope you have thought long and hard about your priorities.”

“I have,” Emilio answered. “I can no longer be your champion. My heart is with Katrina. I am sorry for forsaking my duties.”

The serpent god arched his back up and let out an enormous growl. He slithered his neck down so that he was eye level with Emilio. “It is of no concern to me if your head or another bears my helmet!” Quetzalcoatl roared. “However, my Q-Society has trained you since your birth! Do you think that they will be as forgiving as I?”

“I do not know, my lord,” Emilio said. “I just know that I can no longer keep the love of my life awake at night waiting for me to come home.”

“You know that there must be a worthy champion!” Quetzalcoatl said. “Tayanna is still too young. She is not adequately trained to bear my helmet and has many more years to go.”

“I realize that finding another warrior this soon will be tough, if not impossible-” Emilio began to say, but got cut off by the sun god.

“No, there is another,” Quetzalcoatl said. “But know this, Emilio. I cannot have a warrior who is second-guessing his mission because of an insecurity like love. The next time you put on the helmet will be your last.”

Then, the inner world of the helmet began to fade and Emilio found himself back on the rooftop that he had flown to. He suddenly felt sick and bent over, throwing up vomit all over the roof. He wasn't sure if it was the sudden ejection from the mental plane where he was communing with Quetzalcoatl or if it was the apprehension of the curse that the sun god had laid on him.

The next time you put on the helmet will be your last. Emilio remembered the sun god's last words. Would that mean that Emilio would die if he ever wore the helmet again? He did not know, but he didn't want to leave Katrina alone for too much longer. He flew back towards his apartment, anticipating whatever might happen next. He needed to find a replacement to bear the mantle of Aztek, but who?



Mindy Falconer was one of those dangerous teenage girls who got herself into too much trouble just because she had a pretty face. Not too long ago, she had accidentally become involved in a plot to blackmail her father and get rich quickly. Of all people, the superhero team called the Vatmen had been the ones to spearhead the plan. This confused Mindy greatly because, as a child, she had always considered the Vatmen to be among the city's greatest heroes. Something was happening that was changing the citizens in this town. Something was causing everyone to grow darker.

Her father had recently become a pretty-renowned supervillain, to be fair. He robbed the First National Bank the other month and, even though he was stopped by Aztek and Bloodtype, he had received an enormous amount of publicity. Later that day, he even defeated the Vatman known as Vox. Yes, Curt Falconer was beginning to be feared in the city of Vanity. The Piper was a force to be reckoned with.

Mindy fixed two bowls of Cheerios for herself and her father as a midnight snack. He didn't go to work anymore. He was fired from the hospital so his job now was to be a twenty-four-seven informant for Aztek. Mindy walked over to one of the spare rooms in their house. Mindy and Curt had turned it into an office that served as a hub for his supervillain activity. He would keep tabs on the villain community in Vanity and alert Aztek of any tips he would pick up. Sometimes Mindy would help him. Or at least keep him company.

Being a supervillain paid to collect information for a superhero had its ups and downs. For downs, it could be physically stressful because he had to sit behind a chair and desk for the entire night. On the other hand, through digging around, the Piper had already discovered that Aztek was in fact Emilio ZiCoatle. Since the Piper felt guilty about this, he had tried to delete all the records from the internet that had helped him reach his conclusion and admitted it to Aztek. The two had actually become close companions from their small time working together. To say the least, the partnership was really working out well. It gave Curt Falconer a purpose and helped make Emilio ZiCoatle's superheroing job much easier.

“Damn it!” Curt Falconer yelled at no one in particular.

“What is it, Daddy?” Mindy asked and handed him his bowl of Cheerios. “I poured you some cereal.”

“Thanks, honey,” the Piper replied, “I don't mean to yell. It's just that I was so close to getting a good lead on the Pelican!”

“That weird bird villain guy who always does bird-related crimes?” Mindy asked. “Total Penguin rip off. Cobblepot should sue him.”

“Pelican's small scale,” the Piper replied. “You know Vanity's supervillain scene is nowhere near as high as Gotham or Central City's.”

“That seems to be changing,” Mindy said under her breath.

Suddenly, the computer monitors began to beep repeatedly. The Piper smiled and pointed to a monitor. “Mindy, do you see that?”

“Yes, dad,” she said. “Someone's breaking into LexCorp's genetics department?”

“Precisely!” the Piper cheered. “Isn't that exciting, dear?!”

“Whatever,” Mindy said, walking away from her dad. She teased him, she disobeyed him, but she loved him. Even if she had blackmailed him not too long ago and still owed the Vatmen a debt, but he didn't have to know about that.

Curt Falconer's eyes were glued to the screen. He picked up his phone and dialed Aztek. It rang for a moment and then Aztek answered. “What do you have for me, Piper?” he asked.

“There's something going on at LexCorp's genetics department!” the Piper cried. “I'm looking at it on a live feed right now. Someone's definitely breaking in!”

“I'll be right there,” Aztek replied. “Can you identify who the culprit is?”

“I can try,” the Piper answered. “Give me one minute.” The Piper moved his mouse and began to click and edit the feed. He zoomed in, focused on the crook, and cleared up the feed a bit. Then the Piper froze. He gasped for a moment and was speechless.

“Piper?” Aztek asked. “What's going on? Who is it?”

“It's... it's...” the Piper stammered. It was no one that either of them wanted to run into. They were certainly not prepared for a threat like this.

“Spit it out,” Aztek said. “Who is it, Piper?”

“It's... it's Deathstroke the Terminator!” Piper burst out.

Neither of them said a word. Aztek had been operating for roughly two years now in Vanity and he had never had to face a threat like Deathstroke before, but if Emilio ZiCoatle was anything, he was a hero and he wasn't going to back down now.

Deathstroke was arguably one of the most dangerous people in the world. He was a mercenary and would work for anyone if paid enough money. Someone very powerful must be paying him to break into LexCorp.

“Are you going to fight him?” the Piper asked over the phone.

Emilio had just flown back to his apartment. He had taken his helmet off and was about to slide inside and go back to sleep with Katrina, but the Piper had called him so he spoke to him on the window ledge. The next time you put on the helmet will be your last, Quetzalcoatl's words rang out in his head. Emilio looked down at the helmet in his hands and realized that he didn't have a choice. He was still Quetzalcoatl's champion and he would have to fight.

Aztek put the helmet back on his head and spoke into his communicator, “Of course. He's a guest here in Vanity.” Aztek jumped off the window again and extended his arms, catching the wind. “I aim to welcome him to town!”



Emilio knew the way to LexCorp well. He worked there as a security guard after all. He was at the genetics department in no time and burst in through a glass window. Shards of glass fell down like acid rain and Aztek landed on the floor in a shattering shriek. He looked around and saw no security alarms, guards, or anything really which Emilio knew to be odd, since he was on the security team there.

The Piper and Aztek had a two-way communication broadcast going on that the Piper was able to rig through Aztek's helmet. “Deathstroke must have disabled the security,” the Piper said.

“Alert the authorities,” Emilio replied. “I'll need all the help I can get!”

“If you last that long,” a voice said from out of the shadows. Deathstroke the Terminator lunged forward, his sword in hand, and slashed at Aztek. Aztek quickly jumped out of the way and the sword came down on the ground next to him and stuck in the floor. Deathstroke let go of the sword and quickly drew out two large knifes. He began twirling them around, spinning and whirling around Aztek in a frenzy.

They say that the average human uses ten percent of their brain. Deathstroke used ninety. Aztek was not ready for a fight of this measure. He had never even encountered a costumed hero or villain anywhere near the notoriety level of Deathstroke. Emilio looked around the room, trying to find some sort of tool or item that he could use to help him. There were many tanks lined around the walls. Each tank had a number above it and, inside the tanks, Emilio thought that he saw people floating around!

Aztek jumped away from Deathstroke, trying to lead the fight over to the tanks where he could get a closer look. After a few frantic dodges and leaps, Aztek was near enough that he could tell that there were people in the tanks! “Ah, I see that you have found the clones,” Deathstroke said.

“Is that what you broke in here for?” Aztek asked, dodging to the left and catching one of Deathstroke's punches.

The Terminator had a grip on Aztek's hand as well, however, and flung the hero up into the air. “You think you've figured me out, but you haven't,” Deathstroke replied. Deathstroke pulled out a small machine gun and fired it in Emilio's direction. The burst of gunfire tore into Emilio's shoulders as he took two bullets to the chest. Emilio fell down on the ground and clutched his wounds. “This would be way too easy,” Deathstroke said. “I could gut you like a fish.”

This is it, Emilio thought. Quetzalcoatl warned me that the next time I wore the helmet would be my last. Deathstroke is going to kill me. Emilio braced for the killing stroke and closed his eyes.

Deathstroke raised his long knife over the top of Aztek's head, ready to slice through his neck. Then the Terminator put his arm down. “But I won't,” Deathstroke continued. “My employer explicitly told me not to kill you. He has plans for you.”

“Who is... your employer?” Emilio murmured. His wounds hurt a lot and it was difficult to speak.

“I'm not one of your two bit D-list villains, Aztek,” Deathstroke replied. “I'm Deathstroke the Terminator. I don't do the whole evil monologue thing.”

Suddenly, a hissing noise made both Aztek and Deathstroke turn around. Every person in the tanks - Aztek assumed they were all clones like Deathstroke had said but of whom, he didn't know - wore black shorts and had light brown hair. The tank with the number one above it began to open. Mist poured out as a pair of eyes opened up and a man tore out of the tank.

“Rarrrgghh!” the voice of the clone roared as he attacked Deathstroke. He began throwing punch upon punch and not giving Deathstroke a moment of reprieve. Emilio lifted his head high enough to watch the fight rage on.

“Emilio!” the Piper yelled in his ear piece. “Hold on tight! Police and ambulances are on their way!” The clone and Deathstroke fought each other tooth and nail, but the clone was surprisingly getting many hits in that Deathstroke couldn't deflect.

“No...,” Emilio gasped. “It's... it's too late for me.” Emilio closed his eyes and prepared himself for death. He regretted that Katrina would wake up and see his murder on the news. He regretted that he wouldn't be there to grow old with her. He regretted that he would not be able to save the world from the shadow god, Tezcatlipoca. Emilio closed his eyes and embraced the nothingness.

The clone continued to put up a fight against Deathstroke. He possessed a super-strength of sorts and a mind so cunning and brilliant that it was able to keep up and outthink Deathstroke himself. The clone was definitely engineered with a cutting edge. He was an Ultiman clone. He represented the best that humanity had to offer, all combined into one person, but he was not aware of that yet. At that moment, all the clone knew was that there was a man with swords and he was hurting another man and trying to hurt him too. He would not stand for that.

Deathstroke had pulled his pistols out now, deciding to take no prisoners. “My boss told me not to harm the hero if he showed up,” he told the clone. “But he told me to go all out against you.”

“You'll need to,” the clone said as he sent one super-strong punch towards Deathstroke which met him straight in the jaw. Reeling back in pain, Deathstroke fell to the ground, hurt but not defeated.

The clone ran over and scooped Emilio up. He looked Emilio deep in the eyes and, somehow, he knew where they needed to go. Somehow he knew everything. The clone, with Emilio in his arms, ran out of LexCorp, leaving Deathstroke in a bloody pile on the floor. Emilio did not know how the clone could have beaten the Terminator, but he did not care. All that mattered at the moment was getting to safety.

“Emilio,” the clone said while they ran.

“How... how do you know my name?”

“I'm taking you to your apartment,” the clone said, as they ran in the streets.

“How do you know where I live?!” Emilio questioned.

“I...” the clone stammered. “I... do not know. I saw it in my head.”

Emilio's world then went black. He had lost consciousness due to his loss of blood. He did not know how much time went by, but slowly and surely, the clone, Aztek's savior from Deathstroke's attack, brought the fallen hero back to his home.



Deathstroke had picked himself back off the floor just as the sirens began blaring outside. The mercenary pulled out a grappling gun and shot it towards the roof. He quickly zipped away as cops and firemen rushed inside the complex. After getting himself far enough from the genetics department, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

A voice answered, “Ah, Deathstroke. How did the test go?”

“How did it go?!” Deathstroke yelled into the phone. “You didn't tell me how damn powerful the clones would be!”

“A minor detail, one of which I'm sure didn't incapacitate a man of your abilities,” the voice replied. “I assume by your tone that they... kicked your @$%, so to speak?”

“He. Only one of them got free,” Deathstroke replied. “What are you playing at? Creating your own private army?”

“You never know when one might need a private army,” the voice said. “I'll deposit your check in the same account, Slade. Again, always a pleasure.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Deathstroke said. “By the way, I planted that microchip onto Aztek's helmet like you asked. We'll be able to keep tabs on him now.” Deathstroke hung up the phone. The Terminator began jumping along buildings and made his way back towards his private helicopter, anxiously awaiting the opportunity to leave Vanity as quickly as possible. Slade Wilson hated Vanity.

Meanwhile, in the bottom of an underground Metropolis bunker, Lex Luthor hung up the phone as well. His personal servant clone of the late Mercy Graves walked over to him and scratched her head.

“What was that about, Lex?” she asked.

“Well, dear,” Lex said. “Remember Sebastien Mallory's little Ultimen project?”

“Sure,” Mercy said. “What about it?”

“They're finished. I hired Deathstroke to give them a test run but I did not entirely anticipate Aztek's involvement, however the irony of it only sweetened the results,” Luthor said.

“What do you mean?” Mercy asked.

“The Ultimen are cloned from whom I consider to be the seven most-skilled human beings in existence today,” Lex replied. “I wanted Deathstroke to test the clones because, Mercy, he is one of the seven men they are cloned from. The fact that he was beaten so swiftly means that these clones really will be the Ultimate Men. And Aztek -”

“What are you going to do about the one that escaped?” Mercy interrupted.

Lex smiled and kissed her on the forehead. “What makes you think that wasn't part of the plan?” he laughed. Lex Luthor was always two steps ahead of everyone else.



Emilio opened his eyes up to see Katrina, the clone, and the Piper looking over him. “Ughhh... what... what happened?” Emilio moaned.

“We thought you were a goner!” the Piper yelled.

“The clone rescued you from that mercenary last night!” Katrina told him. Obviously, the Piper had filled her in on the details of the previous night. Emilio didn't like to scare her too much with stories of his exploits.

“His name is Uno,” the Piper said. “At least, that's what we have all decided. You found him in the very first cryogenic chamber, so the name stuck.”

“Umm...,” Emilio said, looking at the clone. “Uno, thank you for saving my life.”

“Of course,” Uno said. “Our minds made contact, Emilio. We know each other.”

Emilio considered this for a moment. The clone was right, when they had made eye contact, thoughts and ideas had been exchanged between the two of them. In an instant, the clone had secured everything that Emilio knew about life, leaving behind only the memories and personal thoughts of Emilio's. Otherwise, the clone would have believed himself to be Emilio.

“You're right,” Emilio said. Then, Emilio got an idea. Uno had been powerful enough to beat Deathstroke in a fistfight. That was a feat that not many people were able to claim. What if, by some incredible miracle, Quetzalcoatl had pushed Emilio down a path where he was destined to meet Uno. What if Uno was meant to take over the mantle of Aztek? He was certainly powerful enough.

“Has anyone called LexCorp to tell them that we have Uno here?” Katrina asked.

“No, we can't do that!” the Piper interjected. “I saw through my video feed in Aztek's helmet that these clones were only being bred to make an army. We need to keep Uno here with us! For his sake!”

“Or as the new bearer of the helmet of Aztek,” Emilio said.

The Piper raised an eyebrow at Emilio and Katrina gasped, “Are you serious?! You're giving up being Aztek?!” She ran over to Emilio and embraced him in a hug.

“Yes,” Emilio replied. “I believe that Quetzalcoatl destined me to meet Uno. I think that Uno is supposed to be the new champion of Quetzalcoatl.”

The room was quiet as they contemplated the idea. It was an incredible suggestion. They had only just met Uno, but he seemed trustworthy. In fact, he seemed like a complete blank slate, waiting to be molded. It would be Emilio's task to sculpt him into an instrument of justice.

Emilio handed the helmet of Aztek to Uno. “Last night was the last time I am ever wearing that helmet,” Emilio said. “It's yours now, Uno. Accept the duty of Quetzalcoatl's warrior, if you dare.”

Uno thought to himself for a moment. By connecting with Emilio, he realized the incredible duty it would be. He knew the risks and he knew the sacrifices that would be asked of him. “I accept,” Uno said. He was still new to the world and did not know what his purpose was. He hoped that Emilio would teach him well. Aztek would be a noble purpose indeed.

“Good,” Emilio replied. “The training starts immediately.”





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