DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTES: I don't own any of the characters associated with Lucha Underground, but I do own any original characters that appear later on. My story begins at the end of Ultima Lucha Tres Part 4, except Dario contacts Catrina instead of his father in this version.
Dario Cueto was on the brink of death.
The notorious proprietor had centered his entire life around the theme of violence and made countless enemies along the way, so it was only fitting that he should meet a violent end. However, in the seconds that passed between Agent Winter telling Dario he would "be dead" and the actual shooting, the latter couldn't help but feel as shocked as he was betrayed. It was a tragedy to die while only in middle age, and there were so many goals he had yet to achieve...
As he slumped back in his chair, Dario clutched both his wounded stomach and the red bull sculpture that had once saved his life. He clung to the piece as if it could miraculously spare him a second time. An alarming amount of blood poured from the two bullet holes and through the gaps between his fingers. The numbness that had hit him along with the bullets was rapidly spreading throughout his body, and shivers wracked his slight form as he began to go into shock. The metallic tang of blood travelled up his throat and into his mouth.
Dario was too weak to hang on much longer, but he wasn't ready to die, either, so he called out to someone he was confident could save him. The question was, would she? It was a chance he had to take.
"Catrina..." Dario croaked out the name around the blood he was choking on, his Spanish accent barely audible to him since his hearing was muffled. His ears hadn't stopped ringing from the gunshots. No matter how much they loathed each other, he believed the otherworldly woman would somehow overhear his plea and find her way to him. "Catrina, help..."
Sure enough, Catrina teleported into Dario's office in the blink of an eye, the lights flickering to announce her presence. She was holding his salvation in her right hand: a mystical rock capable of reviving the dead, concealed in a silky, wine-colored cloth.
Dressed in a catsuit, her long, black waves hanging loose for a change, Catrina resembled a stereotypical dominatrix as opposed to the ghostly being she was. At the moment, however, Dario saw only the dark angel who had come to his rescue. He stared at her hopefully through the gray veil that obscured his sight.
"I know why you called for me, Dario. I sensed that you were dying." She cocked her head as she studied the blood-drenched hands holding the bull, impassive save for the smirk on her lovely face. Her usual sultry, methodical manner of speaking was maddening under the circumstances. Dario would likely die before he could strike a deal with her. He coughed as he struggled to make his request.
"Please...Please save me..." By now, his voice had been reduced to little more than a whisper. Anguish filled his features as he met Catrina's hazel eyes. He had made a bitter enemy out of the woman whose assistance he now sought, and he was petrified that she might choose to simply watch him die with no intention of resurrecting him.
Catrina's ridiculously high heels clicked as she walked around the desk to stand at Dario's left side. He flinched when she traced a sharp, painted fingernail along the contour of his cheekbone and leaned in close to murmur in his ear, "I will give you what you want-for a price."
"An-Anything," he promised desperately, wanting nothing more than a second chance at life. They could work out the specifics later.
Through his increasingly limited vision, Dario thought he saw Catrina's smirk widen, and that's when he knew she would keep her promise. If his body and brain hadn't been shutting down, he would have questioned what, exactly, had motivated her to revive a man she despised.
"Then we have a deal. Close your eyes, Dario. It won't be long now."
Dario tried to relax, knowing that his impending death was only temporary, but he was simply too frightened to follow her instructions. The darkness was already closing in on him, and he wanted no part of it. When he failed to comply, Catrina swept her hand over his lids and did it for him. He tipped his head back against the chair and waited for the end.
An ominous feeling accompanied Dario Cueto's final heartbeats.
At first, it was a relief to stop fighting a battle he couldn't win, but then a terrible blackness swallowed him, and he knew it was time to start paying for his sins...
Agent Winter smiled to himself as he exited the Temple.
Thanks to him, that incompetent madman Dario Cueto was either dead or dying and the gauntlet would soon be secured. Also, because of his actions, someone handpicked by the Order would be in charge of the Temple from now on...Finally, he'd had the presence of mind to collect a very important piece of paper from Dario's desk just before leaving him to die.
The "new management" he had informed Cueto about would undoubtedly be pleased with the FBI agent's accomplishments. He was certain he would be generously compensated for everything he had done lately to support the cause.
Agent Winter paused outside the exit door to take a peek at the project Dario had been working on. He reached into a pocket on the right side of his suit jacket and retrieved a folded sheet that had been torn off a memo pad. Upon unfolding the paper, he found himself looking at a list of names printed neatly in black ink.
He noted that the other man hadn't made much progress. But, to be fair, Dario had received his latest-and final-assignment from the Order shortly before his untimely demise...Only two names out of nine had been crossed off so far.
Dario was supposed to use his knowledge to narrow the list down to a handful of the most qualified candidates. With him out of the picture, Agent Winter intended to share the list with the Temple's new proprietor and offer his assistance in researching and selecting the right individuals. The first success would dictate who was next in line, and he couldn't wait to get started...
He folded the paper in half again and slipped it back into his pocket before going on his way.
Everything that had been weighing on Catrina's mind lately-her undead state, losing her debut match against Ivelisse, King Cuerno stealing Mil's gauntlet, Fenix's relationship with Melissa Santos-faded to background noise when she saw Dario bleeding out.
She could have happily ignored his cry for help...Hell, there was still time to renege on their agreement and leave his body somewhere to rot and his soul to suffer eternal torture. But bringing him back would give her infinite power over a nemesis with much to offer, which was an opportunity too good to pass up.
Her mind made up, Catrina scooped Dario into her arms-he was lightweight even as a corpse-and envisioned the dark, cramped apartment she called home.
Moments later, the purple lamp sitting on a side table flickered and turned on automatically when Catrina-with Dario-teleported into her living room. She laid the short, slender man's body down on a black leather sofa, then removed the red bull gripped in his hands and set it on the coffee table. It simply wasn't practical to resurrect Dario at the Temple when she didn't know who or where his killer was. But nobody knew where Catrina spent her spare time...Not Mil or Jeremiah or even her mother. Dario would be safe as long as he remained here.
He had only been dead a few minutes, but it must have felt like an eternity to him. She shuddered to think what kind of torment he was being subjected to on the Other Side. Someone so brutal in life would not be allowed to escape punishment in death, but Catrina nonetheless couldn't help but feel that Dario was one of the lucky ones. He would be fully alive again in mere seconds, whereas she was perpetually trapped between life and death.
"It is time to awaken from your eternal slumber, Dario Cueto, and rejoin the land of the living." Catrina held the stone above Dario's face as she stood next to him, dangling the supernatural-infused relic just inches from his forehead. The large rock emitted a brilliant emerald green glow through the burgundy cloth she had wrapped it in, indicating the magic flowing through it. Her hand tingled from the immense power she held.
Seconds later, Dario's eyes popped open and he gasped loudly, drawing in the air he needed once again. Catrina stepped aside so the wild-eyed man could sit up. His frightened gaze darted around, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings, but his posture relaxed after he saw the array of candles, the Cueto family heirloom, and his black-clad savior.
He touched his bullet hole-riddled shirt in wonder before a grin slowly spread across his handsome face. "I knew I could count on you, Catrina."
She shrugged. "I told you: we had a deal."
"About that..." He grimaced at the reminder and sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, then reached for the sculpture that had graced the desk in his former office. "I..."
Whatever Dario intended to say died on his tongue when Catrina's eyes flashed a warning against backing out of their Devil's bargain. She hadn't expected gratitude from someone as arrogant as Dario Cueto-and she wasn't going to waste her time waiting for a proper thank you-but he would be wise to remember that he was literally a dead man without her.
He licked his lips nervously. "I just wondered what you wanted in exchange. That's all." It was clear that Dario hadn't forgotten exactly how dangerous the enigmatic woman could be.
Catrina mulled it over. She wanted so much from Dario Cueto-things that would infuriate him and things that would shock him out of his skin. But, no matter how appalled he was, his fear of dying again was so great that he would ultimately comply with every single one of her demands.
"We can discuss the terms of our agreement later." She perched on the arm of the far end of the sofa and crossed one leg over the other as she studied Dario. He was watching her in return, as wary as she was curious. Predictably, his gaze strayed now and then to her feminine assets, enhanced by her daring choice of outfit. "Who shot you?"
He narrowed his cold, black-brown orbs-which bore an eerie resemblance to Catrina's own irises-at her. "It doesn't matter. You wouldn't know him, anyway."
Him. So much for her theories about Black Lotus seeking revenge or a woman who rejected his advances..."One of your 'friends' from the Order, then?" she guessed, and Dario looked panic-stricken in response. Catrina gave him a fleeting, smug smile. "I am familiar with the Order and their...supernatural ambitions."
He sighed heavily. "Of course you are. All right, yes, it was one of them-and I assure you the son of a bitch will be dead soon." The hand that wasn't holding the bull clenched into a vengeful fist.
Catrina thought that a man destined to be haunted by ghosts shouldn't kill off yet another enemy, but she knew Dario was too stubborn to heed her advice-and it wasn't like she actually cared about his welfare...She opted to keep her thoughts to herself and let him learn that lesson the hard way.
He played with the large key that always hung from a cord around his neck. "Is it true that dying changes you? That you can see and hear the dead afterward?"
She nodded. "Those of us marked by death will always have one foot in the grave. The spirits who have stayed on the Other Side will stop at nothing to get you back."
Dario, understandably, looked truly shaken by this chilling information. "I am alive," he said after a long, contemplative silence, and waved a hand as if to dismiss her alarming statement. "That is the most important thing. And now, I have business to attend to..." He stood abruptly, and Catrina had to guide him back to the sofa when he swayed on his feet.
"You need to rest."
"My killer is still out there," he protested, making a face when he realized how odd the sentence sounded. "And my baby brother needs me." He briefly raised his torn shirt just high enough to reveal the dried blood covering otherwise unblemished skin. "Besides, I've already healed. See?"
"Don't be foolish. You can barely stand, let alone walk," she pointed out. "You will stay here until I decide it is safe for you to leave."
He frowned. "But my brother-"
"I am sure that Matanza can survive one night without you around." Catrina somehow managed to resist the intense urge she had to roll her eyes. Dario sometimes talked about Matanza as if he were still a young boy and not a grown man possessed by a god. "We will check on him in the morning-together.
"Do not test my patience, Dario," she snapped when his features grew resentful. "I may decide you're more trouble than you're worth and throw you to the wolves."
"I understand," he answered swiftly, looking away before adding in an anxious tone, "Mil doesn't know about this place, does he?"
"No one knows." She had no intention of sharing their secret hideaway's location with anyone else, but it was better if Dario thought she might let it slip if he stepped too far out of line. Mil Muertes had unrequited feelings for Catrina and a nasty habit of maiming any man who expressed interest in her, and learning that Dario was staying with the woman he loved would be enough to set Mil off.
"Good, good." He cradled the red bull against his chest and stroked it like a beloved pet before leaning back against the arm of the sofa. Dario's gaze rested on the ceiling and he said nothing for awhile-no doubt because he was busy creating a mental list of all the diabolical things he intended to do once he was a free man.
If those plans involved running the Temple and retrieving the gauntlet-and Catrina was positive they did-Dario was in for a rude awakening. But she decided not to flaunt her considerable power over the man just yet. She wanted him to be fully coherent when she started throwing her weight around.
The look on his face when that happened would be priceless...
"I'm sorry about the-about Mil's gauntlet," he said after some time had passed. When he turned back to Catrina, his expression was grave. "It is important that you get it back as soon as possible."
Get it back or back to you, Dario? she wondered, knowing he would never see the gauntlet again. She intended to teleport the coveted prize straight to her mother in exchange for the other half of the Piedra Immortal amulet. That was something she had been waiting a long, long time for...
"Catrina?" Dario's sexy Spanish accent intruded on her thoughts and she raised her head.
"Don't worry. I will," she assured him, but she needed the element of surprise on her side. Cuerno would be expecting her arrival tonight. She needed to make sure he was either asleep or otherwise preoccupied.
A relieved Dario nodded, and Catrina noticed that his eyelids were drooping. It seemed that the adrenaline rush from being resurrected had finally worn off. "You forgot to give me the Lick of Death," he informed her with a smirk, a statement that surprised a throaty laugh out of the dark-haired woman. "Am I not worthy?"
"Death did come to you tonight..." she mused, and decided on the spot to indulge him. She had licked many people far less attractive than Dario Cueto, and at least he wasn't wearing a sweaty leather mask...
Catrina sauntered over to Dario and took his face between her hands, trying to ignore the giddy spark in his eyes-eyes now so dark that the irises were almost black. As it had with Mil, death had indeed left a physical mark on Dario alongside the traumatic supernatural changes that inevitably resulted from dying and resurrection.
She swiped her tongue over his chin, dragged it up his lips and nose, and continued the lick all the way to his hairline. He shuddered at her touch, and she could taste an intriguing blend of fear and lust on his skin. She pulled away from him somewhat reluctantly and returned to the spot where she had been sitting.
"That," Dario declared with a tired grin as he stretched out across the sofa, "was worth dying for"-and immediately passed out. Catrina smirked as she watched him sleep. She was used to having men drool over her, and having an attractive man around to provide eye candy for her was a nice change of pace. Her attraction to Dario was only skin deep, however: he was emotionally scarred and corrupt to the core, and-judging by some of the rumors she'd heard-his treatment of women in the bedroom was appalling.
Fortunately for him, he was also useful.
"Sweet dreams, Dario," Catrina whispered sardonically, knowing he would be plagued by nightmares from now on.
He would also soon discover that his suffering wouldn't cease once he awakened...