El Diablo

As the heat increases, the sun shines brightly over the city of Culiacán - with the cartels rise in power, the culture shift towards the narcos due to increased drug trafficking. Urbanization is driving people to move around, as cities are growing in both economic activity and in cultural relevance.

Relations between the U.S. and Mexico are improving, while the governing political party is beginning to lose it's power as poverty is still affecting lots of people due to the recent economic crisis and the earthquake that affected the city in the last decade.

Marked by rapid growth and an important agricultural economy the capital of Sinaloa, became the stronghold of the Sinaloa Cartel in the late 80s turning into a hub for marijuana and opium production. This went hand in hand with it's other developments as artists began glorifying the drug lords running things. Displays of luxury and violence became more and more frequent instilling both fear and awe in the general public.

Growing up in Culiacán the Reyes family was like any other. Rodrigo and Martina Reyes had three children and were a happy family for a while. Growing up, Ramira spent a lot of time with her father at the local boxing gym, as he had a bit of a reputation amongst the amateur circles while his wife ran a small convenience store alongside her other two kids. Both Emilio and Oriana picked up useful skills from their mother, as she was handy with many things. Fixing stuff, as well as some basic medical knowledge were some of the few things their mother taught them.

They got along with most of their neighbors, including Mr. Díaz who took them every month in the outskirts of the city to shoot and teach about the wildlife. The López family next door was also quite close with them, as Catalina looked up to Oriana like a bigger sister.

Tragedy struck in 1985, when after some bad dealings with the local cartel their father got into a conflict which ended up with both him and their mother in the hospital with grave injuries - dying a few days afterwards due to lack of medical help and the severity of the wounds. Since then Emilio has tried to keep his sisters away from the narcos and any business connected with them.

In 1990 with the rapid global changes, the family finds itself yet again at the center of a new crisis.

On this day, the first of the Santa Muerte killings happened. A bar was discovered where several cartel members were brutally killed. There were a total of twelve dead bodies, that includes the three presumed prostitutes that were also found shot at the scene of the crime.

As three weeks passed since that first incident, two more such incidents occurred around the marginal neighborhoods of Culiacán. Coverage of these crimes has sparked public discourse as some view these incidents as just regular cartel on cartel violence, while have begun attributing it a much more divine origin. Rumors tell about a mysterious figure wielding a bladed weapon going around the streets and delivering justice to the wicked. Folks point to the destruction of the Santa Muerte shrines as another bad omen.

Local police have dismissed such rumors and are treating this like any other crime, official statements being vague and trying, with little success, to calm the denizens of the city.

Some problems don't go away, even if some try to ignore them though - 3 days after the last police statement, several houses suspected to belong to prominent narcos were burnt down with several people hospitalized with severe wounds.

In 1990 the multinational science and technology corporation opened a small office and laboratory in Culiacán and began stress tests of several unknown drugs. Highly experimental, the drugs were supposed to enhance the immune system, combating several deadly diseases and viruses as well as test a new type of PED that supposedly boosted mental faculties for short periods of time.

As a statement against the lawlessness and corruption of Mexico, the Merck branch manager has refused to work with any individual suspected of collaborating with the cartels, which has left the company with quite a small sample size.

A new batch of tests were started, before Emilio convinced everyone to drop out halfway through the experiment due to his concerns for their health. At that time only his younger sister, Oriana Reyes went trough with the experiments regarding the brain enhancement procedures.

In the later half of August, 1990 - two more test subjects were used for the vector-oriented immunological development trials. Both considered successful, before their corporate office and labs were burnt down in an act of aggression from Santa Muerte.

Blackwall arrived, as Emilio was being deceived by Quipu, the Nox agent intervened as they hijacked the entire operation of using the cult. He deceived Emilio into believing he's an angel and that he needs to purge all the sinners.

Emilio, after fighting Santa Muerte went and tried to kill his sister, as him and Ramira went to Oriana's place. The entity attempted to persuade Oriana to accept more deals with it but, encouraged by Catalina, she declined and made a call to the Stone using Alaric's number mentioning an angel.

Alaric managed to arrive at the last second to stop Emilio as he took the siblings and Catalina to a secret laboratory to hopefully figure out how to handle the situation.

As the Reyes family is brought into the secret underground New York facility by Alaric, as they are told about the Rifts, organizations like Palantir and other extra-dimensional beings.

Emilio is treated for his many cybernetic implants that were spread throughout his body using a very risky and painful method.

Alaric offered his support for whatever decision Oriana will make regarding the child, as Catalina's mother was killed as a payback for them interfering with "Palantir's" operations.

After 9 months, Amalia was born and alongside her a new era, where super powered individuals would become common place.

As people were celebrating the birth, Blackwall made his presence known and revealed his hand in the death of Catalina's mother, as well as Alaric's deception. After threatening the Reyes family, Alaric brought in Crimson to train and prepare them for dealing with people on the caliber of Nox.