Aztek #2: "Vanity Knights"

[markymark261]

Aztek
Issue #2: “The Ultimate Man - Part 2 of 7: Vanity Knights”
Written by Ted Kendrick
Cover by Bill Benedict
Edited by Mark Bowers

“Here's to the lone and wayward sun,
For to love is to leave.”
- “Destroyer Of The Void” by Blitzen Trapper

Gotham City

Deep below Wayne Manor, there is a cave of wonders. In this cave, a brilliant man who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of justice monitors hundreds of places and people all at once. This cave is one of the greatest hubs of information on the planet, next to that of the Justice League Watchtower and the Department of Extranormal Operations. This man, known to the world at night as Batman, has something on his mind this morning and he cannot for the life of him figure out what seems so familiar about it.

“Master Bruce?” An elderly man walked down a flight of stairs with a kettle of tea in hand. “It's six o'clock in the morning. You're surely not still working, are you?”

“Crime never sleeps, Alfred, and neither does Batman.”

“What, dare tell, could be keeping you up so late this time?”

Batman pointed towards a computer monitor. A blond-haired man with dark skin could be seen running out of a LexCorp facility with a superhero in his arms. “The LexCorp Genetics Devision in Vanity, Washington had a bit of fun last night,” Batman said.

“What could be so important all the way across the country in Vanity that would demand so much of your attention?” Alfred questioned.

“Keep watching.” A few seconds after the blonde man disappeared off screen, a man in a half-orange, half-black mask, all too familiar to Batman, appeared.

“My God!” Alfred cried. “Deathstroke! What could he have wanted with these two characters?”

“That's what I'm trying to figure out,” Batman replied. “The fallen superhero I identified as Aztek, but I can't identify the rescuer.”

“That mask... It looks vaguely familiar. Like something I've seen in a dream.”

“You recognize Aztek's helmet?” Batman asked. “From where?”

“I'm not sure,” Alfred said, walking away from Batman and the computer. “Let me check something upstairs. I'll be right back.”

Moments later, Alfred returned with a large scrapbook of photos from Bruce's early childhood. Alfred and Bruce opened the book and looked at the photos. In one photo, Martha Wayne was laying on her back, holding Bruce up in the air, both mother and child grinning at each other. In another photo, Thomas Wayne was dressed up in a makeshift vampire costume at the annual Wayne Manor Halloween party. Martha was dressed as a cat and little Bruce was dressed as a cowboy. Behind them were many other partygoers, but one man in particular stood out.

“Ah, ha!” Alfred said. The man in the photo was wearing the golden helmet of Aztek. He had a long red cape trailing out behind him. He stood there, speaking with other guests.

“Alfred, do you know why this man was here at my parents' mansion all those years ago?” Bruce asked.

“Not off the top of my head, Master Bruce. It has been many years since that party,” Alfred replied. Bruce then suddenly stood up and made his way towards the Batplane that was parked nearby on a circular landing in the cave. “Master Bruce? Where are you going?”

“To Vanity,” Batman replied and jumped into the cockpit. “I think I know why that man was at my parents' party all those years ago. If I'm right, I need to speak with Aztek before it's too late!” Batman powered on the Batplane and took off out of the cave.

*****

Vanity

Sebastian Mallory slept soundly in his bed. He would have to wake up soon to start the day. An up-and-coming business executive at LexCorp had to earn his keep, after all. Fortunately, Mallory was still very much asleep so he did not awaken when little footsteps pattered on his marble floor.

The Piper had sent three of his little pipe minions out to do some reconnaissance work. Uno, the clone who had rescued Emilio from Deathstroke the night before, was not able to remember much from before his fight with Deathstroke. Then again, who would have expected him to? It would have been like asking a baby to remember its birth. Uno was new to the world and life in general. It was amazing that he had been able to pick up speech and intelligent thought as fast as he had, much less remember the name Sebastian Mallory.

The Piper was researching why that may have happened. After all, Curt Falconer used to be a doctor before he became the supervillain known as the Piper. Ironically, his job now as an informant to Aztek payed much better than his job as a doctor. The Piper sometimes wondered about the origin of those finances. He wondered about a lot of things in his life now, actually. When did everything get so weird?

One of the pipes motioned to the other two to follow him. Sebastian was snoring very loudly. He would let in a growl of a noise and let out a high pitched whistle as he slept deeply in the early morning. “Hey, pst!” the head pipe whispered to the others.

“Stop making noise!” one of the other pipes yelled back. “We are supposed to be sneaky!”

“How the %@&* else am I supposed to get your attention?!” the leader pipe hissed in return. “I mean, come on. With the Piper back in HQ, you wouldn't think that I would have to lead this operation, but no-”

“Guys, cut it out,” the Piper said telepathically. He was able to link his mind directly into the pipes so he could direct them from his home headquarters. “You need to find any information that you can on Uno and why he was created.”

“On it,” the bossy pipe replied.

“But shhh!” the other pipe whispered back.

“Shut your %&@ and get to work!” the head pipe shouted. Sebastian Mallory turned over to his side and groaned. The pipes all froze and waited to see if they had woken him up. Mallory began snoring once again and the pipes all relaxed. They were fine.

“Stop yelling at us!” the third pipe told the head one. “If I had known this gig would have been so stressful, I would have stayed as one of the Shade's shadow monsters!”

“Or part of Shadow Thief's suit!” the second pipe said. “That wasn't a bad gig.”

“No, not at all,” the third pipe replied.

“Yeah, it was okay,” the head pipe said. “Anyways, I'm sorry for yelling. Let's just get to work, okay?”

“Okay,” the rest of the pipes agreed. They split up and began looking around Mallory's room. There had to be some papers or something there. Even though Sebastian was one of the top suits at LexCorp – Vanity, he still had very juvenile working habits. He had papers and work thrown every which way. He was not organized, to say the least. It was a wonder that Mallory had achieved the level of prestige that he had.

“Hey, I think I found something!” the third pipe announced.

“Shhh!” the second pipe stressed. “Do not wake him!”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry!” the third pipe apologized. “Check out this paper though.”

“Let me see that,” the head pipe said and grabbed the paper from out of the third pipe's hands. The paper was a standard piece of printer paper but still about three times as big as the pipe himself. They were pretty small projections, all things considered, but that helped in their sneakiness. “Well,” the lead pipe said, “this is good. Very good work.”

“Thank you -” the third pipe began, but got cut off by the head pipe.

“Of course I will be taking credit for it. I am the leader here,” the head pipe said.

“Who appointed you leader?!” the second pipe cried. “No one ever said that you were -”

“What? Who's there? What's going on?” Sebastian Mallory muttered. He began to sit up and rub his eyes.

“Now you've done it!” the lead pipe snarled. “Even with all your 'shhhing,' you were the one to wake him up! Nice job, moron.” As Mallory stepped out of bed, the three pipes vanished into a puff of smoke and whisked themselves away, back to the Falconer residence in the suburbs of Vanity.

*****

As the pipes materialized into the Falconer home, the Piper rushed to their side. “What did you find?!” he exclaimed, “Anything useful?!”

“Some idiot woke Mallory up!” the lead pipe shouted.

“Why you...! I oughta…!” the second pipe said and shook his fists towards the first. The two pipes then lunged at each other, throwing punches and shouting obscene names at one another.

“I don't remember much of it,” the third pipe told the Piper while the other two fought, “but I do remember a little bit.”

“Well, let's hear it!” the Piper said.

“Uno is one of thousands of clones that make up the Ultimen,” the pipe began.

“The Ultimen?” the Piper asked. “What does that mean?” Meanwhile, the first two pipes still twisted and turned, both attempting to kill the other.

“Sebastian Mallory comprised a short list of seven human beings whom he considered to be the most powerful in the world. These Ultimen are cloned from them so that each soldier can be the ultimate man. They could be the most powerful army on Earth,” the pipe continued.

“Did you see which seven men that they were cloned from?” the Piper asked.

“I'm sorry, Master,” the third pipe said. “I only saw one name: Deathstroke the Terminator.”

“Interesting,” the Piper replied. “This actually confirms a few of my theories. I was curious as to how Uno could have defeated Deathstroke so swiftly, so the fact that he is six times more powerful than Deathstroke would be the indication.” The two fighting pipes both ran into the Piper's foot by accident and the head pipe bit down. “Yeooow!” the Piper cried. “Alright, that's it! The both of you are gone!” The two fighting pipes then disappeared into a cloud of smoke and slowly floated back inside the Piper. The cloud of smoke wafted into the Piper's nostrils.

“Master,” the third and only remaining pipe said, “do you have any ideas on who the other six people could be?”

“No, I don't. At least not yet,” the Piper said. “We need to run some more tests.”

A few hours later, Uno and Emilio walked into Falconer's home. “Hello, Piper,” Emilio said.

“Greetings, Emilio and Uno,” the Piper replied. “I have some news to tell you both.”

“You've been researching LexCorp's genetics experiments, haven't you?” Uno asked. “What have you found out?”

“I can understand how stressful it must be not knowing who you are and where you're from,” the Piper said, “but I have found a few answers that might ease your mind.”

“Let's have them,” Emilio said.

“Well, first of all, Uno is one of thousands of clones that make up an army called the Ultimen. Each clone was genetically engineered from seven of the most powerful human beings to be an ultimate man, therefore creating the most powerful army on Earth,” the Piper said.

“I see,” Emilio said. He turned to Uno and saw that he was in a deep thought. “Do you know who any of the seven people are?”

“Deathstroke is the only one that I know for sure,” the Piper replied.

Emilio gasped, “You don't think that LexCorp sent Deathstroke there to test out the Ultimen, do you?”

“That's exactly what I think!” the Piper announced. “Do you remember what Deathstroke said to you, Uno?”

“He said that his employer told him to go all out against me,” Uno replied. “So that was a test of my abilities?”

“That's what it looks like,” the Piper said. “I don't think LexCorp intended for you to get away but they certainly aren't finished with you. We'll keep an eye out for you.”

“Soon he will be able to take care of himself,” Emilio said. “I am going to train Uno to take my place as Aztek.” Emilio took Uno aside and bid farewell to the Piper. “Thank you for your help, Curt. We will see you later.”

Emilio had driven his car to the Falconer home. It was about a fifteen minute commute, but it wasn't too bad. The two men stepped inside and drove off towards Emilio's apartment. The sun was just beginning to rise above the city. “Why didn't you just fly us in your suit?” Uno asked.

“You mean those crappy little wings that sprout out of my suit?” Emilio asked. “Those barely carry two.”

“Isn't the armor of Aztek powered by 4-dimensional energy?” Uno replied. “You could access that and basically do just about anything. You could create stronger wings made of that energy.”

“I...,” Emilio began, “I can't access it. I never have been able to. I fought with my fists. That's what I knew. It's what worked for me.”

“I see. I am sorry,” Uno said.

“Don't be, Uno,” Emilio replied. “After all, it seems like I was never supposed to be Aztek anyways.”

The two of them arrived back at Emilio's apartment. Katrina was already gone. Ever since she had been laid off from her job at LexCorp, she had been job searching all over Vanity. So far, nothing had panned out, but she remained hopeful. Emilio picked up the helmet of Aztek and handed it to Uno.

“I want you to put this on,” Emilio said. “Only those with a sharp mind can access the powers of the helmet, but I have the uttermost confidence in you, Uno. If you focus hard enough, you can access a pocket dimension within the helmet where you will be able to commune with Quetzalcoatl.”

“Quetzalcoatl is the sun god whom we work for, correct?” Uno asked. “He is the reason that Aztek exists.”

“He is the reason that we fight, yes,” Emilio replied. “Now, put on the helmet of Aztek and focus.”

Uno did just that. He put the helmet on and closed his eyes. Suddenly, the apartment was gone and he was whisked away to another world, another dimension. There was a slight film of fog around him and the place was dark. However, suddenly a hole of bright light tore through and a serpent figure slithered out and into the world.

“Raaaaaaarrrrghhh!” the serpent roared and flew down towards Uno. Uno, wearing the helmet and suit of Aztek, reared back and conjured up a shield of 4-dimensional energy. The serpent hit his head against the shield and rolled back away in pain. Uno then created wings of golden energy from the red spheres on his shoulders. He soared into the air and touched the red sphere on his chest. A wave of golden light erupted from his chest and rammed into the serpent.

“Stand down!” Uno cried. “My name is Uno. I am here to talk.”

“Ahhh... you're Uno,” the serpent responded. “I have been expecting you.”

“You attacked me!” Uno said.

“Just to test your merit,” the serpent said. “My name is Quetzalcoatl. I guard the Sun. I guard the Earth.”

“Emilio sent me here,” Uno said. “He desires a life with his love, Katrina. We found each other and he is now training me to become the new Aztek. I am to be your warrior, Quetzalcoatl.”

“I know,” Quetzalcoatl said. “I destined the two of you to meet, Uno. I am not a malevolent god.”

“You destined us to meet? How could you have known?” Uno questioned.

“I am omnipotent, my warrior,” Quetzalcoatl said. “I know how things have been, are, and will be.”

“Can you tell me who I'm cloned from?” Uno asked. “I have so many questions!”

“Stop!” Quetzalcoatl roared. “You will find out all that you need to know in due time. What purpose is having all the answers when you skip the journey to find them? I assume Emilio is giving you all the training you need? You wielded the power behind the suit well. Even Emilio was incapable of that.”

“Emilio is training me,” Uno replied. “We are journeying to South America soon to meet with the Q-Society.”

Quetzalcoatl paused for a moment. The large serpent's eyes were red and glowing, but not unkind. He lifted his head and craned his neck. “Be wary of the Q-Society,” he warned. “They have drifted far from their original purpose.”

“What do you mean?” Uno asked. “Why do you talk in riddles?”

Quetzalcoatl roared again but it was a roar of laughter. “You still have much to learn, Uno.” The serpent god curled up into a pile and hissed softly. “Return now to Emilio and prepare for your journey. Keep your eyes open and your mind clear. Be the hero that you were created to be.”

And with that, Uno was spat out of the pocket dimension. Quetzalcoatl disappeared and Emilio's apartment stood in his place. Uno was laying on the floor, helmet still securely on. Emilio extended a hand to pull Uno back up to his feet.

“How did it go?” Emilio asked. “Not many people can say that they spoke to a god on the first day of their life.”

“Why is he stuck in the helmet?” Uno asked. “Why do we have to train to do his work for him?”

Emilio looked at Uno. He wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't even sure that he knew the answer to that question. “Well,” Emilio said, “who are we to question the actions of a god? All I know is that something happened centuries ago to Quetzalcoatl, something awful.” Emilio picked up a box of fish food and sprinkled it into his tank. The three pet fish that he and Katrina kept bobbed up to the surface of the water and nibbled at the food. “And ever since,” Emilio continued, “he has stayed in that pocket dimension and we have followed his orders.”

“They feel trapped,” Uno said.

“What?” Emilio asked.

“Your fish,” Uno replied. “They want the oceans. That tank is not big enough for them.”

“Oh, so you speak to fish now?” Emilio asked. “Maybe Aquaman is one of the people you were cloned from,” Emilio joked.

“This isn't a laughing matter, Emilio,” Uno said. “I'm... not like you. I'm not human, not a real man.”

“No, you're not,” Emilio said. “You're Aztek, the Ultimate Man.”

Hours passed away as Uno and Emilio talked about everything and anything. Uno had siphoned off only so much knowledge from Emilio. He still had questions and thoughts of his own to process. However, roughly around six o'clock at night, the doorknob began to wiggle as someone entered the room.

Katrina called out to Emilio and Uno, “Hey, guys! I'm back and you'll never guess what happened!”

Emilio walked over to her and picked her up in an embrace. He hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. “What happened, love?” he asked.

“Well, while I was walking back from an interview at Kord Industries, I literally ran into – well, first of all, I had tripped on an oddly built piece of sidewalk. I'm not clumsy, you know – anyways, I literally ran into Bruce Wayne! You know, the head of Wayne Enterprises?!” Katrina exclaimed.

“Wow, really?” Emilio asked. “Bruce Wayne, hmm? What was he doing all the way out here in Vanity?”

“He said that there are plans underway to open a new branch of Wayne Enterprises here in Vanity!” Katrina exclaimed. “And he hired me as his secretary right then and there!”

“Wait, what?!” Emilio cried. “Just like that? That's extremely unusual. I had to go through an interview with this grumpy wannabe Lex Luthor type of guy when I applied for my security guard position at LexCorp. He didn't just - ” Emilio stopped talking. His mind had just made an important connection.

“What is it, Emilio?” Uno asked.

“I just remembered... Sebastian Mallory was the man that conducted my interview! He is also the only name you remembered from before last night!” Emilio deduced. “We even got the Piper to look in on him this morning, remember?”

“Of course,” Uno said. “We found that he had plans for the Ultimen project. You don't think it's just a coincidence, do you?”

“I don't know,” Emilio trailed off. “Anyways, Katrina, congratulations on your new job! I am very excited for you!”

“Thank you!” Katrina said, holding Emilio's hands in her own. “When are you and Uno going on your trip?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Emilio replied. “We are driving to California and meeting Richard by the coast. We are going to get some extra training done during our voyage.”

“Sounds good. I hope you are all packed up and don't need - ” but Katrina was cut off as well. Her attention was focused on the television now. “Emilio!” she said. “Do you see this broadcast?”

There was an anchorwoman squatting behind a car. Explosions and fire erupted everywhere and people ran in all directions, screaming for their lives. She yelled in the microphone, “- here at the Vanity City Hall! Mayor Vane is trapped inside with an enraged Bloodtype! Why has our powerful plasmatic hero gone rogue?! Stay tuned to VNN, Vanity News Network, to find out!” Then a commercial began to play, “Are you overweight? Do you suffer from depression? Do you feel like the city of Vanity is psychologically oppressing you? Well, maybe you can file a lawsuit!”

“Damn, it went to commercials,” Katrina said. She turned around to speak to Emilio and Uno but caught her breath. They stood there, dressed up as superheroes, ready to jump into action. Uno had already placed the helmet of Aztek on his head. This was going to be his first night in action. Emilio had dressed up in some sort of black garb with a long cape. He had a cloth mask tied around his head and a white sun shaped emblem sewn on his tunic. His metallic gauntlets and boots completed the new costume. “Emilio!” Katrina cried. “You're not going out there, are you?”

“I have to,” Emilio said. “Uno is not fully trained for the job and what better way to learn than being in the field?” He began to walk away.

“But you said that you gave up being Aztek!” she cried out after them as they took off out the window.

“I'm not Aztek, Uno is!” he cried back. “We can't do this now, honey. Just call me the Evening Star or something!”

“The Evening Star?” Katrina asked, sarcastically. “What's that even supposed to mean?”

“It's what they called Quetzalcoatl's brother – look, I don't have time for this! I'll see you when we get back!” He extended the coil of his rope and prepared to swing away.

“I'll be watching you on the news!” she yelled back at him. Aztek willed a pair of 4-dimensional wings to appear from his suit and took off into the sky. The Evening Star swang from rooftop to rooftop, not far behind him.

Katrina walked back to the couch and scoffed, “How does he think that no one is ever going to see him fly away from our apartment window?”

*****

Vanity City Hall

“Come here, you little worm, so I can wring your neck!” Bloodtype cried as he sprayed his flamethrower all around him. The entire city hall was alight with fire. Bloodtype had let just about everyone leave from the burning building. Everyone except the mayor.

“Stay away, Mark! You don't know what you're doing!” Mayor Vane said from his hiding place behind a desk.

“I'm killing you for doing this to me!” Bloodtype cried. “You are the cause of all my problems! You are why Death-Doll and I lost our patriotic personas!”

“I never killed Mister America and Liberty Lass!” Mayor Vane said. “You and Lisa gave up those personas for the pursuit of personal prejudices!”

“You are a monster!” Bloodtype cried. “Maybe nobody else can see it, but I can! Your grandfather may have founded Vanity but I think he cursed it as well!”

“What in blazes are you talking about?” Mayor Vane said. “Let's get out of this building before it -” Suddenly, the roof caved in. Debris fell all around the two, but so did a large man in a black cape. His pointed cowl lifted itself up as the man glanced up at Bloodtype and the mayor. They both gasped as they looked into the eyes of Gotham's Batman.

“Put him down,” he glared at Bloodtype. “Or I'll put you down.”

Bloodtype held on tightly to his target and growled at the Batman. “Stay out of this!” he roared.

Batman threw a batarang in Bloodtype's direction and the mayor fell out of his hands. Mayor Vane jumped up and ran towards the exit of the city hall. Batman then lunged towards Bloodtype and the two of them ran into a glass window. The window broke and the fight began to fall twenty stories down to the sidewalk. Batman grabbed Bloodtype by the neck and shot out a grapple. It caught the roof of an adjacent building and the two of them swung away from the harm of the fall.

Punches were being thrown from both parties. Batman blocked most of them, but Bloodtype was very good at dodging Batman's blows too. The Dark Knight eventually pushed Bloodtype against a ledge. With a slight lean, he caused a ten foot fall to the dark of an alleyway. What started in a burning government building ended on a cold alleyway floor.

Bloodtype landed on his back while Batman glided to a safe landing. He ran over, picked Bloodtype up by the neck and held him up against the wall of the alleyway.

At that time, Aztek and the Evening Star had spotted the fight. They landed down in the alleyway and rushed towards the fight.

“Why did you attack the mayor?” Batman questioned.

“I'm not tellin' you nothin', Bat freak!” Bloodtype spat out.

“Bloodtype!” Emilio yelled. “Talk to him! You told me you didn't want to be a psychotic vigilante!”

“I...” Bloodtype muttered, “I... Did I?” Then, a yell whooped down the alleyway. Rounds of bullets began to fire towards Emilio, Uno, Batman, and Bloodtype.

“You're the Batman?!” Uno exclaimed as the four of them ran for cover.

“We'll have time for introductions later,” Batman replied. “Who is our attacker?”

“Honey!!” a voice yelled. “I'm here! No need to worry!”

“Death-Doll!” Bloodtype yelled. He ran towards her, arms outstretched ready to embrace her in a hug. As Bloodtype ran, Aztek and Batman began to chase him. Death-Doll was still firing rounds at the heroes, causing them to duck and dodge to avoid getting hit.

“Let's get out of here!” she cried. “Piper?” Suddenly, Death-Doll and Bloodtype vanished in a cloud of smoke. They disappeared from sight and Batman, Aztek, and the Evening Star were left confused and bewildered.

“Did she say... Piper?” Emilio questioned aloud.

“We can deal with that later,” Aztek replied. He turned to Batman, “What are you doing here in Vanity?”

“I came to speak to you, Aztek,” Batman replied. “I am aware of your exploits here in Vanity and I have some concerns.”

“You're aware of my exploits!” Evening Star said. “I am training this man to be the new Aztek now.”

“Is he the next in line that the Q-Society picked?” Batman asked.

“Well, no, he – Hey! What do you know about the Q-Society?” Emilio asked, defensively.

“I know that you need to watch your back, friend,” Batman said. “Don't trust them. They have their own agendas.”

“How do you know so much about my organization?” Emilio asked. “Almost no one is even aware of their existence.”

“Ever wonder where they get all their funding?” Batman asked. “They approached my father thirty years ago, asking him to be a donor. He dismissed it, thinking it was all nonsense, until he met his friend Giovanni Zatara who convinced him otherwise. By then, the Q-Society had cut away all traces my father could have tracked. They had found another donor and no longer needed him.”

“So they disappeared from sight and no longer needed your father?” Emilio asked. “If only quitting was that easy for me!”

“My point is that you don't know who you're working for,” Batman said. “You don't know who funds the Q-Society!”

“We fight for Quetzalcoatl,” Aztek replied. “What do you know about who funds the Q-Society?”

“Nothing yet,” Batman replied. “But I'll start looking.” And with that, the Dark Knight teleported away via a Justice League Watchtower beam and left Aztek and Emilio alone in the alleyway.

*****

Aztek and the Evening Star decided to swing by the Piper's house before returning home. For one thing, Emilio was not quite ready to see Katrina after their argument, and for another, Death-Doll had said that the Piper had rescued them from their fight. Aztek and the Evening Star marched up to the Piper's door and knocked on it.

Mindy Falconer came walking to the door. She opened it immediately, saw that it was two grown-up men dressed as superheroes and didn't want the other neighbors her age to think she was weird. “Hurry inside!” she said to them.

“Is Curt here?” Emilio asked.

“Of course, Daddy's in his HQ,” she laughed to herself.

“Piper!” Evening Star yelled as he ran into the Piper's headquarters, which was really just a room that he used as an office. “Did you aid Bloodtype and Death-Doll in escaping us tonight?!”

“Emilio! Uno!” he cried. “I... Yes, I had to!”

“Why did you do it?” Uno asked him. “You're supposed to be working for us!”

“I am working for you!” the Piper pleaded. “You want me to be a credible street villain and give you the important intel? Well fine, but that means I'm going to have to do villainous things every now and then!”

“You expect us to just let you get away with that?” Uno asked.

“Uno,” Emilio paused. “We have to. He has a point.” Uno glared at Emilio. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It seemed as if this union between the Piper and them was so tainted and evil.

“I took both Bloodtype and Death-Doll somewhere where I can keep an eye on them,” Piper said. “At the first sign that they are causing trouble, I will tell you where you can find them and arrest them.”

“Fine,” Uno said, sternly. “I don't like this though.”

“I wish it didn't have to be this way,” the Piper said. “But this is Vanity. Things never go how we want them to.”

Uno and Emilio left the Falconer's home and flew back towards Emilio's apartment. Uno wondered whether or not they could ever truly trust the Piper. Emilio thought about the Q-Society and how much of their history he really knew. Both Emilio and Uno would find answers to their questions soon enough.

From across the street, Batman watched the two heroes drift away into the night. A beeping sound began to go off in his utility belt. He put down his binoculars, pressed a button, and spoke, “Yes?”

“Ah, Master Bruce,” Alfred, his butler, said. “I'm just calling to remind you that Bruce Wayne has to appear at the opening of the Wayne Enterprises – Vanity branch tomorrow morning. They can still expect him, can't they?”

“For now,” Batman replied. “Azteks, both old and new, are leaving the country to see the Q-Society soon. I may stick around a little longer to see what I can dig up without their interference.”

“So your plan is working? You were able to speak to Aztek?” Alfred asked.

“I warned him about the Q-Society, yes,” Batman said. “Now, hopefully he will see the same ill intentions my father saw!”

To be continued in Aztek #3!

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