5 Years Ago; January 30th, Sun City

5 years ago, on the hills located in Sun City. Two boys played around, having fun like any other day.

Those boys were Uriel and Alejandro. They were always dressed in strange outfits as they called themselves the “The Super Space Rangers”

Uriel and Alejandro were close friends, they were always close to each other. On January 30th, one day before the fateful events. The boys played outside of Uriel’s backyard, however, fate had other plans for them…

“PIU,PIU, I got you Space Ranger Red.”

Alejandro plays with his toy gun, Uriel fakes his death:

“Oh, I died, no…curse you….Silver Space Ranger…”

“Hahahaha” The boys smile as they begin to throw mud balls.

Uriel Vazquez was a 12 year old boy with brown skin, his hair had a bluish tone, and he had green eyes. Uriel also has a thin body and average height and weight; he likes to play soccer, and videogames.

Alejandro Sanchez at that time was a 12 year old boy who had brownish short hair, his eyes had an orange color, a thin body and his skin color is white. He was always next to Uriel's side and was his best friend from 3 years back. Alejandro had complete trust in Uriel. The two were close,almost like brothers.

Alejandro points towards the hills:

"Hey Uriel, let's go and explore the hills over there…"

Uriel looks at the hills and feels fear:

"I don't know, Alejandro, my mom says it's dangerous…"

"Aww, don't tell me the baby is scared?"

Alejandro begins to make fun of Uriel dancing around. Uriel gets angry and replies:

"I am not a baby!"

Alejandro runs to the fence; "Well then, let's go…"

“Uriel…I want to go too…” A little girl with purple hair runs towards them. Uriel stops her; “No…Valerie…it’s too dangerous for you…”

Valerie Vazquez was a young girl that was 10 years old at that time. She has pale colored skin with blue eyes and light purple colored hair. She was always following both Uriel and Alejandro and liked to play with them…

Valerie begins to cry; “Wahh…I want to go too…” Uriel sighs with his eyes closed. Alejandro walks towards her; “Come on Valerie…don’t cry…you have a very important mission here…”

Alejandro wipes her tears, Valerie stops crying; “Really?”

Alejandro smiles; “Yeah…remember that you are the Pink Space Ranger…you must protect this house from the evil doers…right?”

Valerie smiles at him; “Yeah…I’m strong…I can help you…”

“Good…then please protect this house…we’ll be right back…” Alejandro pats her head, Valerie blushes; “O-O-Okay…but please…be careful…”

Uriel smiles at her; “We will…bye-bye…”

Uriel and Alejandro left the house to go and explore the hills…

******************************************************************************

Uriel and Alejandro decided to walk down a hill to unexplored areas…As they walked, Alejandro decided to ask Uriel a very personal question...

"Hey Uriel, can I ask you a question?"

Uriel jumps through giant boulders; "What is it Alejandro?"

Alejandro changes his expression to a serious one and asks:

"Do you...like Marjorie?"

Uriel doesn't understand the question and replies:

“Of course I do...she is a great friend, like Victoria and Angela...¨

¨That's not what I meant...¨ Alejandro stops walking and looks at Uriel clarifying on what he meant:

“What I meant was, are you in love with Marjorie?”

“...” Uriel looks at Alejandro without saying a word, he takes a deep breath as he knows that Alejandro has always been in love with Marjorie. Uriel looks at Alejandro and smiles:

“No...I don't…”

Alejandro smiles and replies:

“Good to hear”

He walks slowly passing Uriel, Uriel lowers his head as Alejandro thinks:

“Uriel, you´re a great liar...I know that you are lying only because I told you that I like Marjorie...¨

Alejandro stops:

“Hey Uriel, be careful with Aleister...I know that you are a good person but he hates and you know it…”

“I know that...but I think he might be a good person even though he bullies us a lot…”

“You sure are dumb...you know that?” Alejandro laughs and both of them continue to walk.

It's getting dark, and the mountains create shadows where the sun does not hit...As they walk by a small creek, the boys find out something strange…

"Hey Alejandro, I found something, come quick…"

Uriel waves at Alejandro from the top of a hill. Alejandro quickly runs up towards Uriel's location.

"What is that?" Uriel asks as he looks with his eyes wide open. Alejandro, who is standing next to him, is also in shock:

“I-I-I don’t know…but…”

Alejandro smiles at Uriel; “Let’s go down there and see…”

“Wait what?” Uriel looks scared. Alejandro heads towards the tomb, with Uriel following him with a frightened expression.

“Whoa…check that out…” Alejandro points with excitement.

Both of the kids look at a graveyard, it is surrounded by a wood fence. There are seven tombs in that place. Six of them are in a position that creates a circle surrounding one that is in the middle.

The graveyard has a gate with a sign that says; "CIBOLA"

"That's incredible, let's get close to have a better look." Alejandro begins to walk forward.

"Wait, I think it's a bad idea…" Uriel says with a frightened tone.

"Come on, don't be a chicken…" Alejandro begins to make fun of him by making chicken sounds.

"Shut up, I am not a chicken" Uriel approaches him with an angry expression.

Alejandro chuckles; "Man, you're so easy to read…"

Uriel looks down, feeling embarrassed; "Shut up…"

The boys decided to walk closer to the graveyard. Ignoring the warning sign behind them that said: "Peligro" (Danger)

The boys slowly approach the graveyard, they stand at the entrance of the graveyard.

"There...you saw it up close...now let's go…" Uriel turns around, Alejandro grabs his shoulder:

"Wait...do you see that in the center?"

Alejandro points at the tomb in the center, the tomb has seven skulls. Uriel begins to notice that there are skulls on every tomb.

Each tomb has a number of skulls going from 1 to 6. The sun is almost gone creating a twilight in the sky.

The mountains cover the area creating giant shadows covering the area. The cold suddenly hits harder, dropping to a freezing sensation.

"Uriel, I want to go in…"

Alejandro's eyes turn shallow, he begins to walk forward and enters the graveyard. Uriel grabs his hand:

"Alejandro...wait…"

(BADUMP BADUMP BADUMP)

Uriel begins to feel pain on his chest and on his head. He breathes heavily as he falls into one knee:

"Alejandro...wait...don't go…"

Alejandro reaches the center. He looks at the tomb, beneath it, there is a golden box.

(CAW CAW CAW)

Crows begin to fly around Alejandro; "What's going on?"

One of the crows scratches Alejandro's arm causing him to bleed.

Stolen story; please report.

(DRIP DRIP DROP)

Drops of blood fall to the golden box. Suddenly, the golden box begins to shine. The other tombs shine as well, the light begins to connect with each other in the ground creating a symbol.

"Uriel,what's going on?" Alejandro looks frightened, Uriel feels weak thinking:

"Move,move, help him…"

(BBBBBOOOMMMM)

A pillar of golden light shines to the sky…

Meanwhile…

It’s a peaceful afternoon in the Vazquez house...

“Papa...catch me?” A young boy with reddish hair plays with a man with blue hair. He is Roberto Vazquez, Uriel’s father.

Roberto Vazquez,was 32 years old, is wearing a black colored suit, with a red tie. He has white skin, bluish hair and green eyes just like Uriel. He also has a beard and mustache. He always liked to play with his children during his free time…

“Alright Daniel…time for you to fly…” Roberto lifts Daniel in the air with one arm; “WOW PAPA…YOU’RE SO STRONG!”

Daniel laughs and moves around, Roberto smiles too; “Haha…I’m the strongest dad in the world…”

Daniel Vazquez was an 8 year old boy. He had white skin, red hair and greenish eyes. He wore glasses and always had a tablet with him… He was a really happy boy who was really close to his siblings…

“Be careful dear…you don’t want to drop him…” A woman walks towards them; “Dinner is almost ready dear…would mind calling the boys to come help me?”

“Of course Maria…give me a moment…”

Maria Vazquez was a 32 year old woman who had light brown skin with red hair, she had reddish colored eyes, and she had a well developed body…she was Uriel’s mother, she was a very gentle and caring mother…

Roberto goes outside calling for the boys; “URIEL…ALEJANDRO…COME INSIDE!” Roberto looks around and notices Valerie sitting on a slide, looking at the hills. Roberto walks towards her:

“Valerie…are you alright?”

Valerie looks at him and smiles; “Oh papa…I am just guarding the house…”

“Oh you are…well…have you see Uriel and Alejandro…”

Valerie opens her eyes wider; “Papa…what is that?”

At that moment, a pillar of golden light shines in the sky, coming from the hills…

Roberto opens his eyes wider; “Valerie…where are the boys…”

“They said they would go and explore the hills…” Valerie, with tears in her eyes, points at the light.

“It can’t be…” Roberto takes a step forward. Maria goes outside; “Roberto…this mana…”

“Maria…the boys…they’re in danger…”

“Go Roberto…bring them back…” Maria nods in agreement. Roberto begins to run as fast as he can towards the light.

At a distance, a man wearing a charro suit smiles:

"So it finally appeared, the forbidden tomb showed itself and my successor is in that direction as well, fate sure is cruel…"

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In the graveyard, the light stopped shining, the two boys are left paralyzed as they do not know what happened…

“What was that?” Alejandro looks down and sees that the box has opened; “Uriel…the box…it’s open…”

Alejandro sees that inside the box there is a golden key, he smiles and turns around:

“Uriel, come quick, there is something here…”

Uriel begins to run towards Alejandro entering the graveyard. -BBBAADDUUMMPPP- Suddenly, Alejandro opens his eyes wider as he witnesses something horrifying:

“UUURRRIIEELL BEHIND YOUUU….”

Alejandro screams, Uriel feels a presence behind him, he turns around and sees a beast behind him.

The beast is a “Sombra” that has the figure of a bat with a black body and orange circle patterns.

(RRRRAAAWWW)

(BBBBBOOOOMMM)

The Sombra flaps its wings and blows Uriel away. Uriel hits his head with one of the tombs. Alejandro panics:

“UUURRRIIIEELLLL!”

Uriel bleeds from his head as he breathes heavily; “A-A-Alejandro…run…”

The Sombra begins to walk slowly towards Alejandro. Alejandro looks at it frozen in fear. Uriel tries to crawl towards Alejandro:

“A...A...Alejandro...you must run away…”

Alejandro doesn’t move, he begins to look up to the Sombra’s eyes. He trembles in fear as he says with a shaky voice:

“U...U...Uriel...help me…”

“BOY I LIKE YOUR SMELL, YOUR MANA IS GOING TO BE DELICIOUS”

The Sombra grabs Alejandro with both of his arms. Uriel tries to move but he is very weak due to his head injury:

“NNNNOOO LEAVE HIM ALONE”

“AAAHHHHHH”

The Sombra bites Alejandro’s neck, and suddenly a silver aura emerges from Alejandro’s body. The Sombra sucks away Alejandro’s aura completely. Alejandro's eyes slowly close as he loses consciousness.

The “Sombra” let’s Alejandro go, Alejandro falls to the ground.

“AAAALLLEEEJJJAANNNDDDRROOOO”

Uriel slowly begins to stand, he looks at the Sombra with anger. The Sombra laughs:

“HAHAHA…YOUNG BOY…YOU’RE NEXT!”

Uriel with tears in his eyes takes a deep breath; “I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU! I WILL HELP MY FRIEND!”

The Sombra walks towards Uriel; “YOU’RE MANA SMELLS MORE DELICIOUS…IT’S ALMOST HEAVENLY…LIKE AN ANGEL…I SHALL ENJOY THIS…”

(BANG,BANG)

Without warning, Two bullets hit the Sombra from behind.

“HEY YOU, MONSTRUO (MONSTER), LEAVE THE MUCHACHO (KID)ALONE…”

Uriel is in shock as he sees a man on top of a hill. The man is dressed in a Mariachi outfit, he has a sombrero and he is mounting a horse.

(RRRRRAAAAWWWW)

“DAMN YOU...WHY ARE YOU HERE…”

“Why am I here you say? Well, you attacked this muchacho and that pissed me off…” The man lifts his head. Uriel is in shock to see that the man had red eyes.

The Sombra charges towards the man, the man chuckles and draws his sword.

(SSSSLLLLAAASSHHH)

In a blink of an eye, the man cut the Sombra in half. The Sombra slowly disappears, turning into mana. The man puts his sword away and chuckles:

“You are weak, idiot monster.”

Uriel is surprised as he thinks to himself:

“What just happened? That was awesome...”

(COUGH, COUGH)

“ALEJANDRO!” Alejandro coughs, Uriel notices and goes towards him. He looks at Alejandro, he is barely conscious however, his feet begin to turn into stone. Uriel holds him:

“Alejandro, stay with me...what happened to him?”

“Muchacho tonto (dumb kid) , it’s no use, your friend is going to die…” The man walks towards Uriel and continues to speak; “Unfortunately, your friend’s life force was sucked out of him, without it, he will die in minutes…”

The man stands next to them, he sees the object in the box and smiles:

“So, he was the chosen one… I must say, fate is really interesting…”

“There has to be a way to save him...there has to….” Uriel holds Alejandro and with tears in his eyes he tries to think.

The man laughs; “Well, there is something I can do for him, it’s risky, but I can save him…”

“You can?” Uriel looks at the man, the man chuckles:

“Of course I can, but why should I? I mean I don’t know the boy and to tell you the truth, I am not a good guy…”

Uriel slams his head on the ground begging, he continues to bleed but he doesn't care:

“PLEASE...PLEASE...HELP MY FRIEND, I BEG YOU...PLEASE…”

“Whoa there muchacho, if you continue to do that...you’re the one who’s going to die…”

“I don’t care, I just need to help him…”

“riel...Uriel…” Alejandro opens his eyes and sees Uriel covered in blood:

“Alejandro don’t speak, I am going to help you okay…”

Alejandro, breathing heavily, looks at him:

“I’m sorry Uriel, this time, I got you into a mess only because I wanted to explore…”

“That’s not true, I followed you because I wanted to…” Uriel holds his hand tightly.

“Uriel please forgive me for being so stupid...I just wanted to have fun with you because I see you like a brother…”

“You idiot, you’re not going to die, I will help you…”

“Uriel...I don’t…” Alejandro closes his eyes, the lower half of his body begins to shine. Uriel panics:

“NOOO… WAIIITTT….”

“Time is ticking muchacho…” The man approaches Uriel. Uriel begs one more time, but this time the man grabs his hair and lifts Uriel:

“You idiot, a man must never lower his head...never...now ask me in the eyes…”

He lets Uriel go, Uriel looks at the man’s eyes. He feels fear but he is more worried about his friend. He raises his voice and screams:

“PLEASE HELP HIM…”

“Excellent, now that is how a man asks things...sure I can help him, but you need to promise me something…”

“What is it?”

“I will save his life, but you will give me your soul…” The man smiles at him, with his red eyes.

“...” Uriel is left speechless, the man continues to speak:

“I understand that you need time to think, but your friend is dying and my offer is simple, you will become my successor...now then...”

Uriel interrupts the man; “I accept…”

The man in the Charro suit laughs:

“Wow, you only doubted a second...now that’s more like it...you are just like your father…”

“My father?”

The man puts his hand on Uriel’s head. His hand begins to shine and Uriel’s bleeding stops and the blood disappears:

“Now then, we have a deal, although you will have to save him with me...are you ready?”

“Yes I am…”

The man draws a circle with a triangle surrounding Alejandro. He looks at Uriel and explains:

“Now then, in order to save him, we must replenish his manna or life force. In order to do that, you must pass some of your life force to him…”

“Okay, so how do I do that?”

“It’s simple, you must have direct contact with his inner self, in other words you must kiss him…”

Uriel is left speechless and cleans his ears, asking:

“Did you say kiss him?”

“I’m afraid so...if you want to save him…you just need to do that and I will do the rest...”

After a few moments, Uriel panics:

“WWWHHHHAATTTT, OH COME ON, ARE YOU SERIOUS!”

Uriel exclaims with his face red. The man looks at him with a serious expression and nods in agreement.

Uriel begins to sweat as he looks at Alejandro thinking:

“Aww man, but I like girls, plus I wanted Marjorie to be my first kiss…”

(BADUMP BADUMP BADUMP)

Uriel slowly approaches Alejandro as he takes a deep breath; “Here goes nothing…”

As soon as he is about to kiss Alejandro, the man bursts into laughter:

“HAHAHA, I’M JUST KIDDING, YOU SURE HAVE BALLS MUCHACHO…”

“WHAT THE HELL, THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER HERE…” Uriel exclaims with his head boiling in anger. The man pats his head:

“Sure, a kiss is an effective way but he is already turning into mana… now then.. since he didn't lose blood like you there is another way that’s more effective and less embarrassing…”

Uriel looks at him angry; “Okay, spill it already…”

The man makes a cut on Alejandro’s hand, Uriel panics; “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

“Calm down muchacho…Now then, grab his hand…”

Uriel grabs Alejandro’s hand, the man continues to explains:

“Now then, focus your mana, just imagine water passing through a river and when you do that imagine the water going to a lake. The moment you do that, your mana will flow and transfer to Alejandro, I will stimulate it with mine, now do it…”

Uriel closes his eyes and rapidly makes his mana flow to Alejandro.

(BBBAADDUUMMMPPP)

“Wow, you sure are a gifted manna user…”

The man grabs Uriel’s head and transfers mana to Uriel making the process faster. Uriel shines bright, Alejandro also shines and slowly the process begins to revert, turning Alejandro back to normal.

Five Minutes Later...The treatment was over....

Uriel breathes heavily as he looks at the man who smiles:

“Congratulations, your friend is now safe…”

Uriel says with excitement; “Thank you, thank you…” Uriel hugs Alejandro, who is unconscious.

The man smiles as wind blows in the valley:

“Now then, your soul will be mine…”

“I understand…” Uriel looks at the man with a determined face. The man notices Uriel’s determination:

“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…”

The encounter in the cemetery was the beginning of the end for Uriel Vazquez…

Stay tuned…Next Volume…