Detective Carlino Soza from the Interpol Spanish division is to lead a team to track a local thief by the name of Max “Uno” Juez of Las Ramblas, a now booming haven for thieves in the outskirts of Barcelona. Known as a man of a very few words by everyone around him, the veteran officer was given the diminished task of tracking this “local” thief. But even though the old detective was tasked to catch a small-time criminal, he knew that this petty thief had done something out of the ordinary to be included in Interpol’s list of wanted criminals. Detective Soza’s colleagues would think that catching this petty local criminal was just a waste of time, but not for Soza, never once did he discriminate against any task that was laid upon him. Small or large, the war veteran was in it for the thrill, breaking some bones and God willing, some skulls and backs to catch crooks. “Why do I need to catch these lowlife scums?” without hesitation he repeats the same response over and over again, with a short and precise sentence. “I'm a hunter, and these scums are my prey”.
The veteran Interpol thirst for the thrills, the need to feel it flow in his veins, to feel the adrenaline shooting all throughout his body. Detective Carlino looks at the thick folder profile of the suspect placed on his desk. Never once he opens it. Because his colleagues knew he didn't work that way. He doesn’t need to complete profiling any target, he doesn't need to. He works with his gut instinct, all he needs is the recent sighting location of the suspect and he’s on to the target like a bloodhound finding its scent. Some of his colleagues would think he’s a freak of nature on the kind of methods he uses to track down his suspects. As if he does it for the challenge, treating it like a game, thriving his egotistical drive. A condensed focus that the Interpol’s methods have never been seen before. Detective Soza catches his man, sooner or later. And that’s all he’s good at. Nothing more nothing less.
“Detective Soza, we have Juez’s location. Just waiting for your orders Sir!” radioed the voice from the dispatch. Soza’s eyes lit up, a sparkle seemed to emanate from it, maybe it’s the excitement of finally catching his prey. The same excitement he feels every new prospect pops up on the list for him to catch. “Finally” his dark brown eyes glaring after hearing the voice on the radio. “Order; take him down quickly” he said, speaking into the microphone with his right muscular arms holding the tiny piece of technology attached to his chest. Detective Soza possessed the aura of a hardened man who had witnessed plenty of action a newbie enforcer would ever dream of. In fact he would be equivalent to a skilled decorated general in terms of experience. He had the dark gray hair to show his tenureship in the field of action. And the scars to show that he wouldn’t back down in a fight.
“Affirmed, we are now at the alleyway within the vicinity of Eglesias De Sta Ana, we have surrounded the target's premises'' said the voice from the transmitter. Detective Soza entered his 4 x 4 ragtop vehicle and proceeded to the exact location. His gaze builds into an intense focus as his grip tightens on the steering wheel.
Uno left the apartment perplexed, just realising he was now standing in the middle of the street, after reading the weird message he received from one of the stolen phones. Uno looked forward, noticing the place was eerily silent and sensed something unusual. He knew something was off, a feeling that always never betrayed him. A feeling he gets every time someone is out to get him. “A blitz”, he would call it. An intense beat of his heart that warns of him of danger. Out of the corner of his eye, Uno caught a sight of a man walking slowly towards him. That’s when he confirmed his good old intuition, “Blitz never lies” he thought. The man appearing out of nowhere was wearing a tactical vest, He looked to be about in his middle age years, very well built, tough looking fellow. His entire head was gray, which was the color of his hair. As the man was getting closer, Uno eyes “Interpol” written on his black tactical vest. “Mr. Juez, Your team is disposed of and I think you ought to join them” said the man as he came closer. Uno looked stunned, his alertness heightened immediately. "The Interpol?" he thought as they finally caught up with him with the crime he knew that would get him in this mess. There was only one thing that came to mind at that exact moment. "Escape".
Detective Soza saw his suspect turn his back on him and with that single movement he grabbed his microphone and barked an order as he began to run towards the runner. “Pursue!” he shouted as he saw Uno running into a more secluded narrow alleyway. A group of tactical teams with their high powered weapons stormed in, appearing almost out of nowhere, coming out from their hiding spots to catch the target. They saw the figure disappearing from their sight, his shadow leaving the dim light reflection from the night lamppost to the brick stones on the ground. Uno used his athletic agility to climb the old houses and utilized the shadows to hide himself from his pursuers. After all, Uno was a skilled cat burglar and could hide in plain sight, even more effective in the darkened alleyway.
The team leader of the tactical interpol team looked at the narrow alleyway and his face turned red in fear. Something he knew too well that he couldn’t afford any mistakes under Soza’s command. “Shit” he said. They lost their suspect and failed to cover this route, allowing their man to get away. Detective Soza approached him, looking at him with glaring eyes. “I apologize sir, We have miscalculated the premises and failed to secure this area…” pointing to the narrow dark alleyway. Detective Soza stared at the team leader, his eyes not looking away from the team leader’s face “You are relieved,” Soza said. The team looked at their leader and walked off in disappointment. They knew the reputation of the Detective, No one can afford a mistake, and if you do make one, you’re basically off the team. The officers noticed Detective Soza’s aura change. They felt his anger, feeling his frustration that a lowlife scum would be able to escape him was very unacceptable. In his career, the detective had never failed to catch a criminal, let alone, a small timer like Uno. “First and last” he thought as he walked away, leaving his men, completely muddled. “Detective Soza, we have attained an address of your target.” said the voice on the vehicle radio. Soza walks towards his vehicle and picks up the radio, talking through the mic. “Send the location, now”.
Uno swiftly and stealthily jumped on the roofs of Barcelona’s old structured homes, free from the sight of the police. The ex burglar seemed to be tip-toeing on the ceramic roofs, leaping gracefully from houses to houses. With his acquired catlike agility, Uno was able to escape the police without difficulty. “Interpol” Uno thought, quite surprised. He knew sooner or later he had to pay for his past crimes and how it’s already catching up to him. Uno recalled that day when he received a job hosted by an unknown client. At first sight glance, he thought the job to be odd and to decline it was the only option. But when he saw the offer he couldn’t pass on as he needed the money. The job was to obtain an ancient artifact from a secret location, in Egypt. Then he realized that this was not an ordinary heist, but a difficult mission into a very tight guarded underground bunker that holds thousands of top secret materials of unknown sources. Uno was told to obtain an artifact and was only given limited details, almost none. He was just told that it was a scroll of some sort. Little did he realize that the scroll was a very tight guarded artifact, hidden within vaults of vaults. “This is the kind of job where people could get killed” he regretted taking the job. And to top that, he later found out that the person who hired him was his former cellmate from juvenile, Tion, which was now the head of the Galicians, a notorious drug syndicate. Uno thought the job would pay his debt and settle the score between him and Tion. A debt that was forced by Tion during his stay in that prison. “Security measures” said the leader of the prison. Uno feels he never got past Tion, but instead the final deed opened up a whole new string of problems, a tangled web of trouble.
Uno slipped back to his warehouse, heading immediately towards his cluttered room, reopening a hidden crevice within the wall. Inside the hole, Uno pulls out a black gym bag covered in thick dust, brushing some off with his hand. While shaking his head, he never thought he’d be removing the bag out from the wall this early. He has been saving it for dire emergencies, and it seemed right now was sufficient enough to be considered as an emergency. And he took a last look at the stash of money he had collected over the years from the jobs he had taken. “Yeah, still here,” he said, counting the money. Uno checked the last stack, when a sudden strong gust of wind along with a strong gleam of lights blew up in the room, “What the heck'' he yelped covering his eyes from the bright lights. “They’re here” Uno thought expecting the police to find his address. But with a second look, Uni instead saw a round spinning bright light forming in front of him. It was moving in a slow motion circle which looked something like a portal he watches in the movies. The light was appearing in the middle of the room. As he looked closely, he saw a familiar figure coming out from that weird bright circle. Uno is flabbergasted as he sees the old russian man walking towards him, his slight limp on the right leg noticeable. ”Now, look what we have here” said the old man, his voice croaky and irritated. “Wanted by the police and here he is, jumping like a ballerina on the roofs” he said sarcastically. “What the...?” said Uno, sounding annoyed and petrified with what he just witnessed.
“Who the hell are you?” he asked. “Didn’t I already introduce myself? I must have forgotten, I’m Mr. Barnes” said the old man with the russian accent. “Do you like running for the rest of your life from the police?” the old man asked, or are you going to get on the agreement?” he asked once again. “What agreement?” he thought. With that, Uno then heard sounds of a helicopter propeller getting stronger circling around the building, along with powerful lights covering the darkness of the warehouse. “Max Juez! This is the Interpol. Please remove yourself from the premises with your hands up. You are given a chance to surrender” said the loud voice on the megaphone.” “Your date has come to pick you up, decide quickly” said Mr. Barnes firmly. His smiling old eyes glanced at Uno at which the young crook looked back at Mr Barnes scornfully, as he never did like taking orders. “Make your decision! I don’t have all night, Are you in or are you not?” insisted the old man, who was now opening another one of them bright light portals, with a wave of his hand. Mr. Barnes began to walk toward it, while smirking at Uno’s worried face. “Look at that Durak face” he said as he disappeared in the bright portal. Uno was hesitant, still undecided. But when he heard the Interpol busting open the warehouse’s metal door, eventually filling up the spacious building with armed and fully tactical geared officers, he needed to make a quick decision. “Uggh, What the heck...” he finally agreed. Uno grabbed his bag full of money and ran towards the bright portal where Mr. Barnes had already entered and disappeared into. Uno jumps in and the portal closes behind him. The interpol enters the warehouse and finds it empty, leaving them once again, confused.
Uno drops to the ground stomach first and he lets out a gasp of air escaping his lungs from the impact. He feels a grainy substance over his body. “Sand?” brushing it off his front torso. He lifts up his head and tries to figure the unfamiliar location. Where are we?” he finally asks. “You are back in Egypt. I’ll clue you in, to make it easier on you. We are to gather all your creations, I mean all of them, you hear me?” asked Mr. Barnes. “Yes, I hear you,” said Uno, still trying to catch his breath without even understanding what the old man was talking about. As he was shaking off dust from his clothes, Uno heard a stern voice talking in the distance. “Where is the money?” said the voice in a local accent. Uno stood up carefully, avoiding to create a single sound. Eventually finding a spot, crouched behind a large stone boulder. Looking over from his hiding spot, he saw a group of masked men pointing their Ak-47’s to a kneeling man who had his back from the rebels. “Why are we here about to watch an execution? Look, you brought me here for this? They’re going to execute him,” his voice coming out as whispers. “Not unless you give them their money” said the stale face of Mr. Barnes as he pointed to the bag full of cash. “What? Why would I give this to them, it’s my money, not theirs'' said Uno sternly, clutching the bag tight towards his body. Mr Barnes was standing straight, unbothered with the rebels seeing him. “Crouch down you old chimuelo” snapped Uno. “Why in the world would I take you here then if I didn’t know you had any purpose? Durak!” replied Mr. Barnes, ignoring Uno asking him to crouch to hide. “They can’t see me. If they see me then I want them to see” he replied as he walks around the boulder. Uno looks at the bag with hesitation, thinking of money that he had to save up from stealing. The times where he almost lost his life, the numbers of heists he had to take and the dangers it came with just to fill up the bag with all that money. “It’s not your money anyways. It’s from the people you stole it from. Besides, if they kill him then it’s on you” added the old man still walking carefree around Uno. Uno bows his head in shame and hesitantly hands the bag to Mr. Barnes. “Here. I don't want anyone to be killed” he said, pushing the bag to the old man, who just gave him a blank stare, his face still unresponsive. “Give it to them, over there Durak” said Mr. Barnes in his thick russian accent. Uno heard the men's shouting getting louder, and more aggressive now “I will give you five seconds, If you have no information where our money is, your head will surely miss your body” said the rebel wearing a brown camouflage jacket. He lazily held his gun pointed on the man kneeling down. Behind him, the other rebels were swinging their machetes, as they gave out a mocking laugh. The rebel leader with the brown jacket begins to count.
“Five…. Four…. Three…. Two….”.
“Here’s the money, don’t shoot him” shouted Uno as he came out from behind the rocks. The rebels alerted, quickly pointed their guns at Uno and signalled him to come over. “Throw the bag on the ground, now!” demanded the rebel. Uno threw the bag with closed eyes, regret as he heard the bag of money dropped on the sandy ground. Uno held his hands up in the air. “Years of crime, just to save a stranger” he thought, very irritated. The rebels scurriedly grabbed the bag and opened it excitedly, “Euros?” asked the rebel leader, holding a roll. Uno shrugs, aggrieved with losing his money. The rebels nod, smiles and kicks the kneeling man down on the ground. One of the rebels opens the bag and counts the money infront of Uno and the kneeling man. He finishes, confirming the payment with a smile showing his rotten teeth. “Let’s go,” said the leader, ordering the others to enter their vehicles as they drive off into the dark. Uno walks over, and sees a balding man with thick eyeglasses, wearing an old suit and tie. Uno asks, “How much money do you owe them that they wanted to kill you?”. “3200 pounds,” answered the man, fixing his broken eyeglasses. Uno heard and his face instantly turned pale. “British pounds?” he asked, his voice raised. Uno felt sick, trying to comprehend what had happened. He couldn’t understand the muddled emotion he was feeling that moment. He slumped on the sandy ground, a numbing feeling spreading throughout his body, as if his body was going against him for what he had done. “That was five million Euros, more than the required amount” mumbled Uno, staring blankly in the dark Egyptian desert. “No, I owe them in Egyptian pounds,” the man answered. “Thank you by the way, Uno” said the man with the glasses. Uno looked at the man with contempt, ignoring his gratitude for saving his life. All he wanted to do at that moment was beat the man to a pulp for giving away his money.
Mr. Barnes appeared in front of them, bending over to meet the sulking Uno on the sand. “This is Nathen Hosny, do you not recognize him?” Mr. Barnes asked. Uno looked at Mr. Barnes despicably. “No, who is he?” Uno asked, still lost, staring blankly at the desert horizon. “Well, look at him you silly man. Can’t you remember?”. “No, I don’t want to remember. What I know is I gave away everything, when all it took was a small amount to set him free” thought Uno, speaking to himself, really upset about losing his money. “Why did you give it all away then? Oh, I know. Because you’re a Durak” said Mr. Barnes firmly, with his thick accent, giving out a mocking smile. Uno had nothing to respond to that. “What do you want from me?” shouted Uno, that was all he could muster. His voice echoed into the desert, howls of wild creatures followed after his outburst. “Stand your Baboso butt up and follow” ordered Mr. Barnes. Uno saw the man with the glasses, Nathen following Mr. Barnes as he walked into the pitch black desert. “What is this? Why am I with these people?” talking to himself as he picks himself to stand. He walked heavy, his breathing difficult as he followed the two dark shadows in front of him. All he could think about is the money that he lost. Mr. Barnes took them through the desert, examining the night sky, using the stars as trackers. He eventually led them to a monumental ancient manor in the middle of the Saharan desert. A majestic manor made out of limestones. The same mighty stones the Pyramids of Giza are made of. Uno even though still heavy with his monetary loss was caught by surprise by the vast structure before him. “This doesn’t make any sense, How can you have a deserted manor in the middle of nowhere, let alone a desert?” he asked. “Absolutely necessary. This is tradition. I have one for each country. It’s handy for times like these” said Mr. Barnes proudly. Uno wondered, “Times like these?” he asked. “Yep” replied the old man, as he positioned himself to sit down on the manor’s high back chairs. Uno then realized that they were already inside the manor’s massive hall room without noticing it, without entering any doors.
Mr. Barnes was already pouring himself a drink while fire lit itself up in the fireplace with a sounding whoosh. The fire torches burned and lit itself too, providing light across the massive halls. Uno saw a gigantic room full of books stacked on tall shelves. “Oh, Five. Please run the electricity, I’ve just installed it so we can experience it here in the middle of the desert” said Mr. Barnes. Uno looked at the man curiously Mr. Barnes was talking to, “Five. A person who also has a number for a name” said Uno. Mr. Barnes looks at Uno while spinning his liquor in his glass goblet, eventually sipping it and smacking his lips with satisfaction. Mr. Barnes puts down his liquor glass and after wiping his lips with his handkerchief, he throws four crumpled papers, landing perfectly in the center of a round white oak table. Uno walks over and takes one paper that has“Five” written on it. He quickly uncrumpled it and saw a drawing. Uno examines the drawing some more and he remembers it now. This was the same drawing he had created years ago. Nethan “Five” Hosny, the character that he created in his prison cell. Uno sees the other three crumpled papers. These are the characters that he made together, he made Four characters “Heroes” he calls them. Uno looks at Nethan, his mind getting blurry at the moment with the revelation.
“Max “Uno” Juez, You’re brought here not because of your special skills of burglary. You are here because you are the descendant of Gadreel, the angel of the book of life. And Gadreel had the power to write down who was to enter God’s heaven”. “Who?” asked Uno, cutting off Mr. Barnes sounded uninterested with what he heard. “Let me finish! Durak!” said Mr. Barnes, his eyes lighting up with fire. “Gadreel had the power, given to him by God. And that power will be handed down to the lineage of something million of years. I don’t remember the exact amount of years but you get it. And so, the bloodline will have the chance for redemption” said Mr. Barnes. As he finished talking he took a sip of his liquor. “What redemption? I don’t want anything to do with this redemption!” said Uno this time sounding displeased.
“Five!” ordered Mr. Barnes. Nethan stood up and a wave of current began to emerge from him, invisible waves lighting up the monitor screens attached on the walls of the manor. The whole manor was now running on electricity. Uno then remembered the powers he had created for this character. A character he drew on paper but now is standing before him.
Uno remembers the day in the cell when he was creating his final hero. A hobby he discovered that helped him kill time in that prison. He remembers writing down the name of his character. Nethan “Cinco” Hosny. “What do I give this one? What kind of powers?” he asked himself, talking to the wall of the prison cell. At that moment Uno misses his girlfriend. How he wanted so badly to connect and talk with her through a cell phone. And that's how Uno created his hero. By giving his hero powers that can manipulate frequencies, electrical signals, and also control electrical powered gadgets. Enter the internet and gather any information from it. “That would be very useful if ever I would want to transfer money to my bank account. Just a blink of an eye” Uno thought, laughing with amusement.
Uno looks at Nethan in wonder, looking at the man that seemed that he created. “What made you come up with Five’s powers?” asked Mr. Barnes, giving a hearty laugh. “Hey, I was seventeen at the time,” he answered. Uno recalls the thousands he's created drawing all sorts of characters. He then froze with fear. He remembers aside from the four “Heroes” he has created. The rest of his drawings were evil, and with incredibly powerful abilities. Or if not that, monsters and other creatures he could think of. Thousands and thousands of them he made during his three years in juvenile prison. “You mean to tell me, All the characters I’ve created will come to life?” he asked, worried in his eyes. Mr. Barnes looked at him with his eyes fully opened.
“Ah..Yes, finally. Some wisdom has fallen upon you. Those characters you’ve made are slowly coming to life. This is a certainty. Now, you know how much pain in the buttocks you are?” said Mr. Barnes. As Uno finally comprehends everything, he still can’t believe the story of him being in a lineage with angels. But as witnessed, contradicting his disbeliefs in angels, his character came to life in “Five” and he wouldn’t want to find out that the other creatures he has created could potentially end the world. “How do we stop them then?” he asked. “ We would not be an option in the equation. I’m not a participant in any of these quests you are about to partake,” answered Mr. Barnes. “Then what are you then?” asked Uno. “I’m a mediator, I arrange for you to gather your “Heroes”, and with those you can seek help with your redemption. Perhaps show you safe passages, if I feel like it. That is all.” said the old man. Uno looked at Mr Barnes who was fiddling with his liquor glass, smiling at it. “But how do I stop the creatures?” Uno asked again, interrupting his enjoyment. “I don’t know, you’re the one who created them. Perhaps you know their weaknesses?” said Mr. Barnes with a dull tone. Uno then thought hard of the characters he created. “ I’ve made weaknesses I know I did” he thought. “Enough of this, and let’s talk business,” said Mr. Barnes. “I need your confirmation through a contract that you will accept to go forth with the redemption” Mr. Barnes said. He lifts up his hands and with a wave of his fingers out of thin air, appeared scrolls in front of them, Uno saw on the front of one of the scroll and it read;
Contract for Redemption
Max “Uno” Juez
Sign here
“Your contract only expires when you lose your life within the process of redemption. If ever you do lose your life, the next lineage will continue with the task that you’ve failed. But.. I reckon that the next one wouldn’t have the chance for that, with all the creatures and evil monsters you’ve conjured, the world will cease to end before the next turn lineage comes” said Mr. Barnes. Uno stares at the contract and looks back at the grumpy Mr. Barnes. “So, the time period is my life? I lose my life, I lose the chance at this redemption” said Uno. Mr. Barnes nods and smiles. “Getting smarter mister bookkeeper”. Uno signs his name, after thinking that he has nothing better to do. The Interpol is after him, and besides, the world is in danger. Upon signing his name, the scroll vanishes with a sharp flash. The light floats a few seconds in the air and shoots directly at Uno’s face. Uno falls back with the impact dropping on the marble floor of the manor. He looks up and sees his reflection on the mirror walls of the manor. A mark is visible all over Uno’s face, covering his face entirely. “What is this?” he yelled. Mr. Barnes looks down at the lineage keeper, looks back to his liquor and says, “That’s the mark of your agreement. A tattoo, to remind you. My personal touch.” “What? Not on my face!” Uno shouts. “Remove it!”. Mr Barnes looks at Uno and smiles. “I apologize”. The mark then removes itself from Uno’s face and flies to his forearm. Uno examines the mark which is now glowing bright orange on his arm. He looks up at Mr. Barnes, “What now?” he asks. The old man glances on the crumpled papers on the white oak table and says, “You will need all the help you can get”.