Alejandro Cortez snuck into the mansion of his mortal enemy, Rafael Montero. Twenty years before, Montero had killed Cortez's best friend, Jaren, in an attempt to draw out Cortez, whom had worked for Montero before and was believed to be the spy that brought about Montero's downfall. Cortez swore revenge on Montero before he was captured by Montero's men who held him prisoner for twenty years before he escaped, having learned that Montero had returned to California.
Montero had long believed that Cortez had perished in prison and expected to hear nothing about him for the rest of his life. As he met with his security chief, Captain Harrison Love, he walked to a part of the room where Cortez hid himself in the shadows.
"I said I'll find him," Love was saying. "That means I will."
As Love finished speaking, Montero was walking directly in front of where Cortez was hiding. Seeing his advantage, Cortez drew his sword and pointed it at Montero's throat.
"Perhaps I can save you the trouble," he said.
Seeing that Montero had a sword to his throat, Captain Love made to grab his gun. Before he could fully draw it though, Cortez yelled at him, "Go on, reach for it, Captain!" Love hesitated, sensing that he would not be able to move fast enough.
"Who are you?" Montero asked.
"I warned you long ago, Rafael, you would never be rid of me."
Montero was suddenly hit with a realization. He hadn't heard that voice in twenty years and recognized it at once. "Cortez?"
Cortez stepped out of the shadows and stared into the eyes of his enemy. "Rafael," he said in acknowledgment.
"So, my men lied to me in order to protect you. They told me you were dead."
"I imagine it must have been difficult for them to keep track of who had been killed and who hadn't. They couldn't remember whether or not they had killed me so of course they told you that I was dead."
"Either way, it's of little consequence. Events have been set in motion which you cannot stop."
"I'm not here to stop you."
"Then what do you want?"
Cortez paused before answering. "You cannot imagine, Rafael, how I have dreamed of this moment, night and day, twenty long years. I'm here to take my revenge on you for taking my best friend away from me."
"Really? I haven't given you or Jaren a second thought. If I die, Cortez, the truth dies with me about what happened."
"We shall see," Cortez replied before taking his sword away from Montero's throat. He then turned to Captain Love. "Harrison, I see you're still working for Montero. Tell me, are you only working for Rafael this time, or are you still passing information to the authorities like last time?"
"What are you talking about, Cortez?" Rafael demanded.
"Well you see, Rafael, your most trusted advisor was the one who betrayed you, not me. You knew you could trust Love here for anything and he told you that I was the one who betrayed us. In reality, it was him. Love was working with the authorities the whole time and I imagine he still is."
Flushed by anger, Rafael drew his sword and threw it at Love. The sword impaled him the chest, killing him. Rafael then grabbed his sword out of Love and turned to Cortez, who was wearing a smile of satisfaction.
"Let us finish it, Rafael," he said. "Let us finish what we started, the night Jaren died."
With that, Rafael leaped forward and attacked Cortez. Cortez blocked his attack and pushed his enemy back. The two fought for some time, neither able to gain an advantage. At some point, Cortez lost his sword and was unable to reach it. As a result, he was forced to fight only with his hands.
Eventually, Rafael began to wear down. After missing Cortez, he raised his sword to strike down upon Cortez, which created an opening. Seeing the opening, Cortez punched Rafael in the stomach, distracting him long enough for Cortez to reach for his sword. He punched Rafael's elbow, releasing the sword Rafael was using. Cortez caught it and then lunged the sword through Montero's chest. Montero suddenly stopped as the pain within him registered. Cortez glared at his enemy as Montero collapsed to his feet, knowing that Jaren's death had been avenged.
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