Chapter 2: Memories; Brutal, Tearful Memories
[Outside. Noon. Equihua District.]
[Manny and Rasta are walking to the Mayor's office in order to understand the changes he heard from the civilians. Just then a television from a storefront blares the day's news]
TV: This is Channel 3's Miracle City's News with anchorwoman Esmeralda DeLise and nobody in particular! (a dejected woman speaks up off screen)
Quintina: It's Quintina Equihua, idiota!
TV: Whatever! And now, Esmeralda!
[We are then shown Esmeralda, in alluring attire, telling today's news with her sexy voice]
Esmeralda: Hello, my beautiful viewers. This is MCN. Bringing you all the news we have for today. Then after that, we have the cooking segment with chef D'Angelo Suarez, my beautiful esposo. And after that, our Fashion Tip of the Day! And then we end our show with The Flaming Sombreros, Miracle City's latest rock band, sponsored by our magnificent government!
Quintina: Yeah, Esmeralda. (clears her voice) Okay, in today's news, 20 more people in Old Miracle City have been attacked by our police in what was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration. And the chief of police has insisted that the cantina they targeted was full of members from the terrorist organization, Free Miracle City Army or the FMCA. The police…
Esmeralda: Okay, Quintina. That's enough! Nobody's interested in such boorish news like that! We know why we watch the news? (elbows Quintina)
Quintina (deflated) & Esmeralda: Free puppies!
[Suddenly, puppies surround the news station while Quintina looks at the camera, annoyed. The camera then shifts to Esmeralda holding a chihuahua puppy and stroking it]
Esmeralda: Days like this are what makes life special. Not fake news or other garbage my assistant here spouts.
Quintina: Uh, no! I'm your co-anchor!
Esmeralda: (condescending) You. Are. My. ASSISTANT! And so you shall be! OK, IDIOTA!
[Quintina sighs and slams her head on the news platform]
Esmeralda: Good. In other news, Old Miracle City was the site of another attack by those horrid homosexuals. Our brave police did their best to cancel their hideous parade and they replied by gunfire. Such a shame! This is why men marry women. To prevent disasters like those. (turns around and speaks silently) Maricones. (looks toward the camera) Anywho, speaking of police, our brave, strong men were the recent target of the rogue vigilante, El Tigre. This criminal is one of the remaining members of the vilified Rivera family after their previous member, Rodolfo Rivera, aka White Panthera, went from the shining hero of the city to another lowlife criminal. El Tigre is said to have killed 50 - 600 MCP and SWAT members in a cold,vengeful passion. (shudders) I hate to see sweet, innocent boys become violent sociopaths. (bored) In more boring news, gravesites in Monterrey have been dug up and yada yada yada. (energetic) Now time to hear from our beloved MP Rodriguez.
[TV turns off.]
[Several pedestrians stop and look at Manny, some weeping and some disgusted, as he looks at those in tears with a grin. As they approach an intersection, the light signals turn red. Manny then strikes a conversation with Rasta Vampiro, in disguise.]
Manny: Hey! So I know people might recognize me and give their opinions, but why the old man mask?
Rasta Vampiro: Because, youngblood, people can't find out about Vampiros. Our strange appearances and blank faces may frighten outsiders and several may resort to unnecessary violence without thinking rationally. Also, like those bumbling cops, we need to lower the body count to net zero. This mask is the only thing towards normalcy without raising suspicion. Besides, remember what happened the last time we forgot our masks?
Manny: (awkwardly) Oh, right. (somber) That day in Tijuana. What a fucking disaster!
[Several flashbacks involving screaming women and gunshots. Manny keeps yelling "They're friendly!" and "Put those fuckin guns down!" Suddenly, a Whilheim scream sends Manny back to reality]
Manny: (chills) Never again!
Rasta Vampiro: Exactly, child!
[Signals turn green. But before both cross the street, construction noise far away distracts Manny as he tries to see what the noise is all about]
Manny: (flabbergasted) What the fuck is this boondoggle? What happened to the apartment my Grandpapi rented? (walks to the place, in a huff) Miracle City Sewage System? Why would they desecrate a monument for a clean toilet?!
Construction worker: (yelling through a megaphone) WELL! WHERE ELSE ARE SUPPOSED TO THROW OUR POO! OUTSIDE!
Manny: (outraged) This was home to people! Part-time employees. The sick. The injured. A diabetic woman lived on the 3rd floor. Her left leg was amputated, but had the heart to walk down flights of stairs! My grandfather lived here when he retired from supervillainy. My grandfather's place was right here on the first room of the first floor! He was kind to his neighbors, even when he pickpocketed from the part-time employees. How can you just desecrate a house for this, this, this EYESORE!
[While Manny was explaining to the construction employee his outrage, flashbacks show several silhouettes of the building's tenants. One who arrives late at night at work opens the door and is greeted by his upset wife. Their argument then wakes up their babies. They then stop the argument to put their children to sleep. Next, we see a man with an oxygen tank who leaves the front door open to take a stroll around the block. Then, a female tenant from the 3rd floor goes downstairs with only one leg. Afterwards, the landlord appears and greets everyone while stealing a tenant's house keys.]
Construction foreman: LOOK BUDDY! I WAS ASSIGNED BY MUNICIPAL PRESIDENT RODRIGUEZ TO TURN THIS DUMP INTO AN "EYESORE". SO SUE ME FOR "DESECRATING AND INSTITUTION"!
Manny: Ok! You asked for it, mutafuka!
[Just then, Rasta Vampiro drags Manny away from the construction site, before he turns into El Tigre, while the foreman laughs at him for "running away"]
Construction foreman: HAHAHAHA! THAT'S RIGHT, CAMACHO! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY LIKE A PUSSY! YOU'RE ALL BARK AND NO BITE! HAHAHA!
[Still fuming, Manny instead scolds Rasta Vampiro and vice versa]
Manny: That was uncool, bro.
Rasta Vampiro: You lucky I was there! Imagine you actually went all El Tigre and slashed his face and megaphone? We'e trying to regain the people's trust here! You can't just harm random people everywhere for petty squabbles! Heroes fight for the people, bumbaclots fight for themselves!
Manny: PETTY!? That asshole had the balls to turn my grandpa's place into a sewage facility! Imagine if they decided to convert La Equihua Centro into a shopping mall!? (humbly breathes) Look, I don't mean to yell at you like that. But, I lost many friends and family from my past. Seeing remnants like that being demolished just sends the wrong message, you know.
Rasta Vampiro: (still upset) I know, child! I understand what you're feeling inside. But, you were reckless today! I can't have you thrown in jail by this city's babylon! This city needs someone to look up to and you are the only person I know who isn't a sellout! Like those imbeciles! (points at a billboard) What nasty foofoos! How dare them imbeciles treat you like that! Where's their shame? Where's their integrity!
[A billboard with several "generic" heroes reads: If you want to save your city, but don't want to be a "FILTHY RIVERA", join the "League of Heroes" today!]
Manny: (jokingly) I'm pretty sure those "sellouts" traded it for money.
Rasta Vampiro: (amused) Haha! Real funny, child. But seriously, a true hero helps others not for quick cash or fame but because it's the right thing to do. An elderly citizen had their money stolen, the hero comes in, stops the thief, returns the pesos, and walks away. That's that. That said, them heroes on the billboard are fakes! They do all those things and expect the metaphorical elderly citizen to pay out of pocket with interest. Or rely on the pigs to save them from the crook and get arrested for "aiding a fugitive"? Shame on those pigs! Why else do we train you for the inevitable?
Manny: I don't know? Why did you make me take my medicine?
Rasta Vampiro: You know that answer already. The day? Remember?
[Suddenly, flashbacks of screams, gunshots and whippings appear while someone yells "estupido camacho","dress like a little girl, stupid" and "If you act like a woman, then you better satisfy me (creeply) like a woman". As the flashbacks end, Manny starts to tremble and get disoriented as he then pulls out a joint, puts it in his mouth, flicks his claws, and smokes it immediately]
Rasta Vampiro: (worried) Starchild? You okay? You're shaking again? Starchild? Starchild? Starchild?
Manny: (panting) Yeah! Yeah! I'm fine! (composed) Just…had a bad thought.
Rasta Vampiro: (sternly) This is why I want you taking your meds! You have PTSD. And we know, you are beyond antidepressants or therapy. This herb is the only thing keeping your mind and body composed! Without it, you would make howling monkeys want to quit their jobs! At some point though, you need to lower your dosage, to prevent dependency, but until that day happens, remember to take your medicine, starchild.
Manny: Right. We should get to the mayor's office before this happens again!
Rasta Vampiro: Not yet, man. We need to eat. You smoke meds, you get real hungry rapidly. Let's find a taqueria fast, man.
Manny: (grinning) No way! I can handle it.(eyes turn pink and stomach rumbles) On second thought?
[Manny and Rasta head to a small taqueria, Jorge's Pastor, to eat. Manny's table has piles and piles of empty plates while chewing on his 50th al pastor taco and a bottle of tequila. Rasta, on the other hand, has eaten his 76th guisado taco (nopales con salsa verde) and a giant jug of agua de jamaica (hibiscus tea) while onlookers are astonished by the two, even the owner who gleefully takes the gold bars to care. Both leave satisfied with tacos in hand]
Manny: Yo! I thought I would never finish my meal! That was an impressive lunch, bro!
Rasta Vampiro: Righteous, my youth! (takes a bite of his taco) Thank goodness that owner accepted our payment.
Manny: Yeah. (takes a bite of his taco) I think the last time we tried that, it was in Morelia, Michoacan. That owner was really rude to us. "You guys are thieves," he said! "I'm calling the police," he said! "That's my liver", he said. What a load of garbage that place was!
Rasta Vampiro: You said it, youth. (takes another bite) And the food. Super dry shit. What taqueria in Michoacan serves dry carnitas!? In Michoacan, you either serve carnitas moist and juicy or chop your hands, fry them, and call it carnitas!
Manny: You got that right, bro! Can't believe they let me drink and keep this tequila. (finishes his taco and swigs the last drop of tequila) Should I throw it or keep it?
Rasta Vampiro: Keep that bottle! (Finishes his taco) We can't risk this bottle being ignored like the rest of the city's trash system (pans out to see piles of garbage uncollected) or worse littered outside the city. No. We can take this and find some conservational use for it. Even this glass bottle has its uses. Like a flower pot. A candle. A fancy vase. Or an emergency water bottle.
Manny: Yeah! I can carry it around and chug my "tequila" while my enemies are wondering why I'm not drunk already.
[While continuing on their destination, a random hooded bystander bumps into Manny]
Manny: Yo, homey! Watch where you're walking.
?: (pissed) Fuck off, dingus!
Manny: (unfazed) Eh! Your call!
?: You should watch what you say! This dump will be torn down to make way for Sergio's grand vision of the future!
Manny: (unfazed) Whatever! Man, what a douche!
Rasta Vampiro: (enraged) What a rudeboy! Some disrespect he had to say to you! Who is this Sergio? And what plans does he have in this city!
Manny: I don't know who this Sergio is either. But he sounds like someone who's very disappointing.
Rasta Vampiro: He also sounds vile and repulsive! Something tells me you should keep your guard up. This Sergio fella might have some screws loose or something. Here we are!
[They arrive at Miracle City Hall, R. Gutierrez District. Both enter a massive hall with postcolonial architecture and are approached by the secretary]
Secretary: Hi. Welcome to Miracle City Hall! How may I help you?
Manny: Yes. I am here to see the mayor!
Secretary: Do you have an appointment?
Manny: Do walk-ins count?
[Secretary pauses and then responds oddly]
Secretary: Does not compute! Do you have an appointment?
Manny: Uh? Excuse me?
Secretary: Does not compute? Does not compute? Does not compute? Does not compute?
[Secretary keeps repeating this again and again until her head starts smoking, causing Manny to sound alarms]
Manny: Get your head down!
(Explosion)
[Out of the explosion, the area the secretary was explodes into smithereens and the secretary is revealed to be an android]
Secretary: If you want an appointment please call at this (powering down) number. (flickers and dies down)
Manny: (bemused) An android? (scoffs) Haven't seen one of those since Japan! I missed those days.
[Flashback to Neo-Tokyo. 1 year ago. Manny arrives at Neo-Tokyo, excited, looking for a ramen stall]
Manny: Hey! Is this place open?
Izakaya owner: (in Japanese ) "Go away. There is no ramen today. And there never will be!"
[Slams door]
Manny: Huh!? What's wrong with this place? (taps bystander) Hey buddy? What's wrong with this place?
Bystander: (in Japanese) "Run away! Stay out of Neo-Tokyo! The Cyber Samurai is on to you!"
Manny: (unamused but offended) Well! The nerve of some people! ("I wonder if there any of that sake I read on this pamphlet")
[Unbeknownst to Manny, numerous shadows begin running in the alleys fast. Eventually, they catch up to him in a part of the Sangenjaya District]
Manny: (annoyed) Hey, idiot! I know you have sake in there! Let me in!
Sake store owner: (in Japanese) "I can't open the store. I am terrified of the vengeful sword of the Cyber-Samurai. Forgive me, fellow drinker!"
Manny: (in Japanese) Baka! Hoshi no wa o sake dake! (notices the shadows and pulls a katana made of bone out of nowhere) Dare ga soko ni ikimasu ka? Okubyomono o misete!
[The shadows reveal to be nindroids, ninja androids, and proceed to throw shurikens at Manny. Manny, however, dodges them but not without taking some scratches to the face. Said scratches bleed but heal rapidly. Manny then swings his katana at the nindroids, slicing them in half while another nindroid attacks his left side. Manny turns his katana on his right and taps his handle on the nindroid's head and it explodes completely. Manny takes a breath of silence as he puts his katana back to where he got it, his spinal cord. Afterwards, he's met by slow clapping from the shadows as the individual shows itself, Cyber Samurai.]
Cyber Samurai: Well done, stranger! I see you disposed of my retainers. Not surprised, though, they were an inferior design. A little tweak here and a little tweak there and perhaps they wouldn't get slashed by such a blade.
Manny: So? You're the samurai that everyone here keeps babbling about. The one who made Neo-Tokyo ideologically safe, at the cost of its thriving culture. No wonder this area lacks what I'm looking for. Too many eyes, not enough privacy.
Cyber Samurai: Culture? Before you even stepped foot here, this city was a lawless place. Full of gamblers, prostitutes, drinkers, and deliquents. The minute I came to this city, I cleaned up the place! I made sure everybody followed the rules! I got rid of bad behavior! I even made it illegal to watch television with a slouched back! Of course, there were "those who rejected my proposal", saying it violates ethics and it's impolite. I burned those "rules" to ash and sent them to be educated! If you ask me, culture is what makes crime happen. If everybody was as well-behaved as the citizens in Neo-Tokyo, crime would've been extinct. (spits at Manny's face) That's what I think of your "culture"!
[Manny then breathes in and out. He sits down, meditates, and reveals to Cyber Samurai what he's dealing with. His back begins to release black tendrils that form into wings. Those tendrils then start to change into link chains that emit blue flame. Manny then stands up and grins at the nonplused samurai]
Manny: (in Japanese) Watashi wa anata ga osore ga nandearu ka o shitte iru koto o nozomimasu ka? Anata ga sore o motometanode!
[Flashback ends. We then see Manny and Rasta walking away from city hall, more confused than before]
Manny: I don't get it. Why have an android be the secretary? What's wrong with having a human run the desk?
Rasta Vampiro: You know how things work, child. Humans want things in order to work. Benefits, pensions, vacation time, retirement. Some people in big businesses prefer having machines do all the work than to put up with all that. And they let the big boys keep their wallets fat. If you ask me, they should use those machines to fix society's problems like infrastructure, energy, and public transportation instead of replacing the common man's job. Like this here.
[Rasta and Manny see the remnants of the Miracle City Railroad, once a bustling transportation system, now in ruins set to be demolished by Municipal President Rodriguez for Highway I145.]
Manny: (nostalgic) The Jorge G. Gutierrez Train Hub. I used to remember my Grandpapi took me here for my first train ride.
[Flashback to 14 years ago. Manny was a toddler and his Grandpapi, Andreas Rivera, aka Puma Loco, rode the train to the countryside.]
Grandpapi: You see nieto. See that patch of land. One day soon, I'm going to buy acres and acres of land and give it to you when you grow up.
[Manny shakes his head]
Manny: I will own that much land? What will I grow there?
Grandpapi: Whatever you want, mi nieto.
[The train then rode into the sunset and the flashback ends. Manny and Rasta are then sitting on top of an apartment roof looking at the sunset. Manny begins to tear up.]
Manny: (sniffle) I missed those days. Before the horror. I wished I could've stopped it from happening.
Rasta Vampiro: There was nothing you could've done, child. You were young and clueless to understand the ramblings that were happening. My only regret was not finding you before he did those things. (notices a condemned building) Hey child, wasn't that your old home?
Manny: Not anymore. Not since that day, when it happened, when my world shattered.
[The condemned building is then blown up by a demolition crew, led by the same foreman who insulted Manny earlier.]
Foreman: OKAY, GUYS! LET'S HIT THE CANTINA! DRINKS ARE ON ME, THIS TIME!
Manny: Well, time to find a place to stay!
Rasta Vampiro: Where do you suggest, youth?
Manny: Let's see. (pulls out a tablet and searches for a vacancy) Here's one! 2 rooms, full breakfast, and it's in OMC.
Rasta Vampiro: I see what you're pulling. You just want to visit the gay district. Ok, youth, we go there tonight!
Manny: (excited) Great! Last one there has to buy me a drink!
Rasta Vampiro: Sneaky, child! Very sneaky
[Manny and Rasta then parkour the rooftops of R. Gutierrez District while another flashback takes us back 13 years ago. A group of Vampiros are traversing the landscape in the dusk sky while one of them spots something in the garbage heap]
Rabbi Vampiro: Oy! I found a kid! He's badly injured! He needs medical treatment immediately!
British Vampiro: What is it, sire!
Rabbi Vampiro: It's a child! Lift him in the stretcher!
[Both Vampiros take Manny to a base camp far away from the city. There, Manny is hooked on IV's while several Vampiros try to figure out his status. When Manny wakes up, he notices several IV's in his body and a heart monitor. He proceeds to take off one of them but is stopped by a Ernest]
Ernest: No no boy! You need that to live!
[Manny screams at the top of his lungs as his vitals start skyrocketing. Several Vampiros rush in as they sedate Manny. He wakes up again only to have Jim-Bob appear and reassure him]
Jim-Bob: I'm so sorry for that jumpscare. We need you to wake up but also we need you to not remove these things. You were in critical status if it hadn't been for us saving you. I know you miss you mom and dad but rest assured we will find them and explain…
[Just before Jim-Bob was finishing his sentence, something triggered Manny to scream once again and skyrocket his vitals. Vampiros, again, rushed in and sedated him. Manny wakes up and instead of talking, Jim-Bob, Ernest, Rasta, Mexican and British Vampiro hug Manny, to assure him they mean no harm. Manny, however, starts to cry. Not in fear but in relief. Afterwards, Manny calms down and talks with the Vampiros about his situation]
Manny: And then I was beaten to a coma and (sniff) thrown to the dump. That's why I can't go home! He's going to beat me up! (sniff) And it's all my fault! (sniff) I…
Rasta Vampiro: That's enough! There's no need to cry. You can stay with us. All we ask is for you to help us.
Ernest: And in return, we will give you a home.
Jim-Bob: And a bed. I made it with my own two hands
Rabbi Vampiro: And food to eat. Enough to satisfy your stomach.
Mexican Vampiro: And music. We can have lots of fun if you say yes.
Shaolin Vampiro: And training. It helps keep your mind and body in check
Priest Vampiro: And prayer. Love is kind and patient. And you need more love than ever.
Rasta Vampiro: And medicine. Your body needs time to heal. But you need to say it now or we vanish. Well, what do you say? Want to stay with us, child?
[1 year. Several Vampiros are celebrating with a campfire after a hard day of work. Manny is there with Rasta Vampiro as the Mexican Vampiros sing]
Mexican Vampiros: Who shot the hole in my sombrero? Who could do something like that? Was it Jorge from San Jose? Is he mad because I squished his cat?
Manny: (cracking his back) Oooh! What a back breaking day of labor in the fields!
Rasta Vampiro: You finally mastered the ways of the tractor. And to think it took you 893 times to figure out the mechanics.
Manny: (arrogantly) In my defense, 432 of those tries were faulty wiring. So there!
Rasta Vampiro: You found any water yet?
Manny: No! (scoffs) But I'm gonna. I just need time and more ribeyes to traverse this place.
Rasta Vampiro: Hahaha! Even if I let you leave with those, you wouldn't even survive 1 week let alone 1 month looking for water. Hahaha!
Manny: I would too! And many of you would let me wake up till 11am to do my chores!
Rasta: Youth. Are you seriously going to find water in the desert?
Manny: AS MUCH AS THE HORSE WITH NO NAME!
[1 year later. Manny is with Rasta, alone, laying in the desert]
Manny: Hey, Rasta. Umm. Do you ever wonder if our meeting was circumstance?
Rasta Vampiro: Nah, my youth! The stars never lie! Even if it was circumstance, we still meet. We are destined to look each other right in the eye.
Manny: Yeah! I thought so!
[Manny then proceeds to hug Rasta and vice versa]
Manny: Rasta. Promise me you'll stay with me!
Rasta Vampiro: As long as you are breathing, we will be inseparable.
["Selassie is the Chapel" plays in the background]
End of Chapter 2