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I've spent some hours working on this art, that depicts an important chapter from my current story project (called IXIPTLA - from the nahuatl "impersonator"). I hope you like it!

TL;DR version: from left to right, these OCs are:

PACHAKUTI (from the quechua "he who changes the earth" named after the 15th Century Inca ruler), cyborg general of Antisuyu (a region from Andes up to portions of Ecuador and Colombia);

ICHNEUMON (from the greek "tracker", named after the family of parasitoid wasps), cyborg general of Chinchaysuyu (the northern peruvian coast);

CATEQUIL (named after an Inca thunder god), secret identity Choque Illa, a cyborg who disguises as the public relations manager of Tahuantinsuyu's industrial development council

PARIACACA (named after a pre-Inca rain and water god), a cyborg general in charge of Tahuantinsuyu (named after the Inca Empire)'s navy fleet

And they're fighting the running lizard known as CUETZPALIN PAYNALTON (from the nahuatl "Fast Lizard"), protagonist of the story (previously titled "In Lak'Ech").

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  In the evening of May 1st, 2009, the super-fast lizard-man who claims to be Cuetzpalin Paynalton ("Fast Lizard" in nahuatl ), who has came to be known, since at least seven months before, as an "eco-terrorist" because of actions such as sabotaging of industries, plants, factories and establishments related to wildlife devastation (mining, paper, new dams, oil and gas pipelines), animal exploitation (animal agriculture, pisciculture, factory farming, animal farming, slaughterhouses, fishing, hunting, fur, animal testing, trafficking), threatening of indigenous' lands' rights (monoculture, food corporations, traditional landlords, State's military, bounty hunters) all across the American Continent - from South to North - has once again crossed the Brazilian/Antisuyuan border in the Amazonian rainforest. Antisuyu (from where the name Andes derives) is the northernmost region of the Republic of Tahuantinsuyu (named after the pre-hispanic "Inca Empire", it's name comes from the quechua word meaning "Four Regions"), and spans areas from Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

THE FOUR REGIONS
In this story, a series of succesfully organized rebellions in Peru took down an authoritarian neoliberal regime in 1969, and the self-proclaimed Peruvian King, Urco Verbo, an ally of the CIA's demands, has been publicly executed - giving way to the establishment of a new regime under the "Communist Party of Tahuantinsuyu", led by a figure who claimed to be Tupaq Amaru III (named after the late 17th century Inca ruler, Tupaq Amaru, and the later 18th century indigenous resistance leader, Tupaq Amaru II). The inevitable ascension of the party reshaped the weakened Peruvian State into the Socialist Republic of Tahuantinsuyu (naming it after the pre-colonial, or pre-invasion government) and promised not only to attend the demands of the working class, but also of the traditional inhabitants of the realm, including a huge portion of quechua speaking peoples, and other "indigenous" peoples as well. More than that, Tupaq Amaru III didn't exactly took the position of executive power in the country - occupied by his ally Umaq Granado - instead, he and his allies continued his work on organizing guerrillas to expand the reach of Tahuantinsuyu into the territory of other states controlled by foreigner corporations, such as Bolivia, Chile and Colombia. Surely, the difficulties met by Tupaq's supporters were great, and elsewhere, the corrupt media has done anything to prevent the inevitable outcome, when Tahuantinsuyu was finally acknowledged as a sovereign nation and member of the UN (replacing Peru and Ecuador), ten years later.

  That wasn't the end of the conflicts, however, Tahuantinsuyu's been involved with the organization (or rather coopting) of armed resistance among the Mapuche people in northern Chile and Argentina by 1981, a dark time when Chile was controlled by a CIA-satellite, neoliberal dictatorship under the infamous and repugnant Pinochet (The Mapuche have been resisting the absurd colonial and supposedly post-colonial governments for a while, but it's always important to remember they're traditional enemies of the Incas since pre-hispanic times, and a forced union between indigenous peoples and nations sounds unfeasible). The employment of NATO, british and american soldiers on Argentinian and Chilean soil has shown what was at stake - lands with precious minerals, inhabited by its traditional inhabitants, who were going to be destroyed by capitalists if no one did anything - the UN surely wouldn't. Tahuantinsuyu's forces, however, were unnaturally more powerful - despite private american military company ABEL Inc had just shown the world their latest products: the ALPHA, GAMMA and EPSILON super soldier armors - they had on their side the MALLKI Cyborg Generals (Mallki is a quechua name used to refer to the royal Inca mummies), including the mysterious ICHNEUMON, whose likeness reminisced the ABEL personnel about the BETA armor, sold to the japanese military, but later stolen by a missing vigilante supposedly executed. The possible links between the vigilante and ICHNEUMON remain unknown to this day, what's known is that several cities in northern Chile and Argentina have become part of a provisorial government, and later, of the Qollasuyu division from Tahuantinsuyu, which also encompasses part of Bolivia, and is overseen by the Mallki Mallku (Aymara name for the Condor bird and for traditional aymara authorities).

  Tension had already risen when Tupaq Amaru III has officially become the Tahuantinsuyuan President - with elections held, in 1979, and then from each five years, he managed to continue his terms, and his party practically controlled the entire State (from behind the scenes, however, it was largely supported by a foreigner, intergalactic company - the Saqraruna Organization - which public mask is the Tahuantinsuyuan council for advanced scientifical, technological, industrial and energetic development), as already in his first term, he moved the capital from Cusco, the "Empire City" (where Verbo had his seat of power) to Moche, a seaside city in the state of Trujillo, in Chinchaysuyu (Northern peruvian Coast), at the time, "underdeveloped". In few years, it became a huge metropolis, and the seat of power, Intihuaca ("Huaca of the Sun"), a truly futuristic, pyramidal technological marvel. The expansion of Tahuantinsuyu, however, has stopped since the eighties, and other than that became just a constant, sensationalist threat on right-wing "post-truth" tabloids of other latin american towns. Tupaq has remained in power, extending his terms up to 2000, when he suddenly disappeared from the spotlight, three years after tension has returned - this time, because a supposed union of Cuban and Tahuantinsuyuan military forces were patrolling a Mexican island with rich oil and gas reserves, that was also a subject of interest to american companies. In the outcome, Tupaq has disappeared and the Socialist Republic of Tahuantinsuyu turned into the Republic of Tahuantinsuyu. New elections were held, and the Communist Party still retained major influence, despite in 2006 a social-democrat party would win for the first time, and purpose a series of economical reforms.

  That is, until Tupaq Amaru III literally returned from the nothingness, in March 28th, and four days later, on April 1st, has been admissed as Prime Minister of the Republic of Tahuantinsuyu, following a suspicious resignation of the social-democrat president Urco Huanca, which placed Tupaq's ally Sinchi Herrera in the executive power, forming once again an alliance which guaranteed the Communist Party's sovereignty - despite international reaction to this move has been mixed, Tupaq assured the State would keep "the mixed economy policies adopted in the last decade".

GENESIS
  As for Paynalton, his actions began in August 2008, on empoverished towns across the Brazilian states of Acre and Rondônia, but it took some time for them to be identified - during actions, he also slaughtered people, making no distinction between workers, bounty hunters or landlords and bourgeois, whenever he had the chance, otherwise he knew they'd force their hands over non-human animals. And on some occasions he left clear messages (about non-human liberation, the indigenous resistance, critique of mass society and industrial civilization, the State, bureaucracy, corporativism) with the authorship of "Cuetzpalin Paynalton". This has built up a narrative, he claimed to be an ancient non-human member of an almost extinct species of reptiles that used to coexist with humans in pre-hispanic times - needless to say, igniting series of conspiring theories across the world, concerning the existence of aliens, as well their influence on ancient civilizations, but that was never his point: he tried to make people question their notions of human supremacy, and let go of the sacredness of the common sense concepts of civilization, progress and species. It also wasn't like he was doing "vegan activism", as indeed vegan activists, both independent and enterprises, tried to disassociate them from his violent acts - his messages were more like threats to next targets, or provocations. As more and more cases of his acts came into public knowledge, and his existence became undeniable, what began as a domestic threat to Brazilian governments escalated into a worldwide case that employed public and private security/militias/mercenaries - including the AXIS Academy, NATO's, CIA's forces and INTERPOL in strategic spots - but so far failed to get to him. His coming into being and his super speed were all mysterious, to the mediocre citizen up to the military intelligence, none had any clue about his origins, and the public lack of knowledge led to conspiracies taking over factual information, and troubling detective work.
The term "eco-terrorist" make no justice for the Cuetzpalin Paynalton, whose main interest doesn't concern a metaphorical "ecosystem", instead it is to liberate sentient, non-human animal individuals from suffering, and to reduce the impact of most people's lifestyles by actually doing something, rather than waiting for comfortable answers and minor, individual changes that still keep the system ongoing. For that, he could be considered an antinatalist and even an antispeciesist (he may claim to be vegan, but the fact that he kills humans makes that untrue, according to some). He considers himself to be an anarchist, because he gives no shit for governmental bureaucracy, social order, laws and private property, and also because he fights slavery - even though some people argue his actions increase hunger - to those, he answer that what increases hunger is creating more people that will neccessarily and naturally hunger, as a planet cannot acommodate as many people in a sustainable way, where life quality will be a common good. Some also consider him a primitivist, inspired by luddist principles, something which he has more or less accepted as a political position. It's not like he can't use technology like machine guns, radio, vehicles, that kind of equipment, if he can use these to hurt where it hurts the system, he'll do it.
Above all, his actions have influenced a state of mass hysteria on the American continent, forcing Tahuantinsuyu and the US, as well all their allies, to cooperate despite the odds - and Tupaq's untimely return to politics. But Paynal's threatening powers had also helped him to uncover secrets from his enemies, including the fact that Tupaq Amaru III isn't human at all (he's some sort of the incarnation of some god of darkness), and is associated to the Saqraruna, an alien company using the Republic of Tahuantinsuyu as a mining satellite which plans for Earth aren't clear yet. This company, however, is associated with the extinction of the Cuetzpalin race during the spanish invasion of the Americas - despite Paynalton isn's as ancient as he claims to be, the Cuetzpalin have existed, and after him, some more have come into being, just not as fast, but stronger and more resilient than any human. But who truly is Paynalton?

METAMORPHOSIS
First of all, Cuetzpalin Paynalton wasn't born as a Cuetzpalin (from the nahuatl "lizard", in this story also the name of the non-human kind of reptiles that coexisted with some pre-hispanic mesoamerican populations. Originally not native to Anahuac [Earth], but to the realm of AZTLÁN). His secret identity is the 14 years old William Mattoni, a 1st year high school student (since 2009) from Brazil's southeastern state of São Paulo. He first acquired the power to transform into a Cuetzpalin on August 8th 2008, one of the last days of his holidays, which he was spending with his parents in a town from the State of Rondônia, where other relatives lived. That was the farthest he went from his hometown, and from there he had, at last, some contact with the Amazon Rainforest he grew fascinated with since childhood, due to the frequently watched, albeit sensationalist nature documentaries (that despite full of the "in nature it's kill or die" false dichotomy, in line with a simplistic, biocentric narrative generally used by some environmentalists to justify actions against some animals, were all contact William had with wild animals in youth, other than the profit-driven prisons called zoos). Unfortunately, though, in an empoverished neighborhood bordering the forest, William saw more of the same: encaged birds, forcibly grown in small spaces, fated to die before their possible lifespan, for unnecessary needs - to feed someone that didn't even need to eat them. How could an environment of abundance, and the knowledge of practices such as agroforestry, that should be enough to make people living without harming others (most non-human animals have either physiological, structural and/or behavorial characteristics which make them sentient , capable to feel, and some also have consciousness, that alone make them qualify as individuals, or persons, in the measure that they have self-interest, or will in not suffering), still house people ignorant enough to prefer working on these exploitative, expensive practices, instead of working on better, less destructive agriculture methods (surely, monoculture isn't an alternative)? What make them so ignorant, what keep the empoverished poorer, and the wealthy wealthier? What make them work for others, and involve other individuals on their enslaving methods, to reach ends which they don't need, trepassing the barrier of respect towards another's will? What makes people procreate, increase unnecessary suffering to others and die?
Willing to right these wrongs, William, who has quit meat for months back then (but, because he was never allowed to cook, still ate other things which included eggs and milk), decided to use whatever opportunity he has to break animals free from their torment. When his relatives were getting back in town, at evening, he separated from the group, and, masked with an extra shirt, and using a pliers, set to liberate the birds (he hoped to have a place to keep them safe after that - the jungles beyond the river wasn't an option, and he wasn't able to pilot any truck, or didn't have any contact with people who could take care of these birds for the rest of their lives, knowing they wouldn't get killed to feed anyone). But, caught in action, he has been persecuted by the slavers (or "ownwers"), who shot at his arm, when he fell into a greeny, muddy lake after some hours running. Bleeding and shot, left for dead, he didn't hope to make it when he closed his eyes, and fell asleep. The waters brought him to another marsh, when, at the late night, he opened his eyes again.
He realized he wasn't human anymore, but a green reptile, stronger, and much faster - he could see the droplets of rain falling in slow motion - after some time he realized it wasn't a dream, it was true, and his enhanced physical abilities, including vision (night vision) were real, as he spent more hours in the night, adapting to his new form, and also taking a look at the wildlife, when he started to hear the sirens, of forest guards - possibly looking for him. Eventually, he found out his family was desperate in looking for him, and while the thought of seeing them again crossed his mind, he didn't think he could - or even that he ever needed - to be human again. Whatever he was now, he was wild, he didn't need a name, he didn't need to go to school, to pay bills, to become part of anything, he was free, and freeing others from slavery never sounded more like a mission as much as it did now. It was when these thoughts crossed his mind, that he felt a transformation - and he was human again, deeply saddened like waking from a dream, when he was able to turn into the reptile once again, at will - learning that the transformation take some relatively short time, but can be "activated" by his own will, and as it seemed, it was a power he got during his sleep. He even considered the possibility that he had died and was reborn, but for now, he just imagined - he could still be human at day, and become this super-fast reptile at evening, go home, get to school, then leave, save some animals, get back home, and start again - then he just had to meet his family again, possibly endure some sermon, then start a new life. And that's just what he did, he surrendered himself to his family, made up a story in which he went into the forest for being closer to nature, and eventually got lost. The police guards didn't even remotely linked his disappearance to the reported "chicken thief". His parents and relatives, alongside him, have returned to town, where he should pack his things up, as they would return to their home, in the far southern state of São Paulo, to his home, the country's biggest metropolis, a place of chaos and unrest, for the sake of someone else's progress. That night, however, he'd learn yet more about his powers...

METEMPSYCHOSIS
While at his room, packing up his things for an hours long travel back to the big stinking city, William started to hear things in his mind, words... from a language he only remotely knew, and through an unearthly, hard-working study: the nahuatl language, as if someone was speaking an old version of this language in his head: it sounded like a 50 years old man, but despite the language itself not helping, it even had an accent, it sounded like a little more "hissing" than it should. After hours, he realized it wasn't stopping, and while about to despair alone, in his own, noisy consciousness, he began to pay attention to the words, when he started to fully understand a forming dialogue: the voice, it was introducing itself as Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, the late Mexica ruler from the time of the Spanish Invasion. According to this "Moctezuma", he "wasn't in William's mind, but in his body, and he saved him in the lake. Since then, they were living symbiotically, sharing the same body - and a telepathic link, so that they didn't need to vocally speak, they could communicate through their own will, and it didn't mean one could read another's mind - they had to use their will to communicate with another. Yet, afterall, Moctezuma has been the responsible for allowing William to transform into a Cuetzpalin, and a super-fast one, that is - just like Moctezuma himself could do".
William couldn't help but panic at first, and later apologize for his family for acting weird, when he finally tried to get rational again, and start a conversation with the voice in his head, starting by asking "Moctezuma" where he was located "in his body", learning that Moctezuma has been a Cuetzpalin, a species of lizardfolks from Mesoamerica that coexisted with the macehualli (commoners, people) of the Fifth Sun Era (the age of the Mexica, and still now), and the same that - valiantly fought the dreaded invaders, dying honorably in battle (contradicting the general belief that he was stoned by a revolted population, or the belief that he's, in first place, human. That is, if by claiming to have been a Cuetzpalin it necessarily meant he wasn't a human, otherwise, he could be just like William was now - a human able to transform into a Cuetzpalin). He continued, stating that he's now a Tonalcoatl (from the nahuatl words for fate [or alternately time and even heat, or radiance] and snake), the first and last stages of a Cuetzpalin's life, after it hatches from the egg, and up to when it leaves the body, it sheds it's skin for a last time. A Tonalcoatl can extend its life, if it lives symbiotically in an "ixiptla" (nahuatl word for impersonator) another animal - human or not, as long as it's a vertebrate with enough size and energy to accomodate the new inhabitant, and that symbiosis allows the host to turn into a Cuetzpalin itself, what worried William - could the symbiote ever take over the host? and where exactly was this Tonalcoatl located inside his body, or how was its size? Moctezuma answered he was wrapped somewhere in William's central nervous system, or in his spineshank, and it measured as much as a common slug, he also told he can't take over William's mind, but it's better to live in symbiosis with someone than alone on it's thoughts: Because he believed in the traditional pre-hispanic Mexica religious tradition & worldview, Moctezuma expected, after dying in battle (against some horned centaur brought by the spanish), to have his Tonalli (a vital energy from the Mexica cosmology, one out of the three, present in the head during life and related to the sun) accompanying the sun on its travels from east to west, alongside other warriors - the Macuiltonaleque, or Ahuiateteoh - stopping by and feasting at the paradise of the southern region (Huitztlampa), ruled by the Sun itself (actually, Huitzilopochtli, god of war and patron of Mexico, who happens to be the fifth Sun as well), before turning into a bird after four years. It happens, though, somehow Moctezuma's Tonalcoatl body hasn't died, and apparently, has been carried away to a far land.
Skeptic as ever, William didn't believe in all this being claimed to be, however, Brazil is located far south from Mexico, and the possibility someone carried the remnants of a Mexican ruler able to turn into a lizard that far sounded as unreal as it does, even though it could have a reason. It still didn't explained how he could have lived for so long, or the fact that no one knows about the Cuetzpalin, and people can't see them anymore (implying they actually numbered more than small groups, and that people who could turn into them weren't as limited in quantity as those accused of being naguals ) - when Moctezuma realized the Lake he was preserved in was a source of Atl-Tlachinolli (a concept that can either mean warfare, blood, boiling water, or holy water. What Moctezuma means, in this case, is specifically a substance present in Cuetzpalin blood, that derives from another substance originated from ancient giant beings - the Quinametzin - and that could be found in select places of nature, before they were mostly destroyed by wasteful usage of water, or pollution, common among the ignorant, "uncivilized" colonizers) that preserved him, explaining that while in Cuetzpalin form, William could regenerate faster from wounds because of this substance. There are even more properties hidden in it, that William didn't dream of - and Moctezuma didn't find a way to explain yet.

SYMBIOSIS
For days, William improved his communication with Moctezuma, and tried to investigate whether or not his claims could be scientifically and historically backed up - luckily, while most people of his age were worried with videogames, soccer, celebrities, small talk, he had great interest in pre-hispanic cultures, their preservation, their worldview, their civilizations, and also some languages. This saved a lot of time in finding out if Moctezuma was really who he claimed to be, or not. But yet, independently of who he was, William was increasingly let himself believe he had a purpose by finding that power, otherwise anyone else could have earned it, intentionally failing to acknowledge it was mere chance. The reason, it seemed, is that, like no one else on the reach, he cared for animals as individual sentient beings who deserve freedom and a life without harm, instead of mere automatons, someone else's property, or part of nature. This also meant, he valued more the consequences of action rather than following social norms, therefore, this power would help him what he couldn't do as a human, who was observed by the State: he could act as "a lone wolf direct activist", he didn't even need an identity, exposing himself to the dangers of invading high security factories and prisons already meant none of it was for personal gain, but to make sure the animals would have their lives respected, and their forced procreation, the control of their existances would stop, and their lives would be less miserable. He knew he was right, each day he lived without animal consumption he proved they (his enemies) were wrong, and he would do whatever it takes for the freedom of the animals. His first actions had lots of failures, though, in some cases, he was noticed, and some "workers" (a soft name for assassins or slaughterers) killed animals in front of him, what triggered on him a rage beyond the senses - using his speed as advantage, he avenged each animal by mercilessly killing, sometimes even torturing those that killed the animals before. Needless to say, that's when he went into a no way out path of carnage and vengeance, bringing him at the world of crime, and on the target of the ruthless military apparel of dictatorships considered democracies - like the State of Brazil and all others. But he managed to keep his existence in the shadows for a while.
It mostly changed in late November 2008, when another Cuetzpalin surfaced in the central region of Brazil, and people got confused about how many of them existed, and whether or not they had common origins and goals - indeed, they haven't, this second Cuetzpalin, whom William would later find out to be a human like him, was a 27 years old journalist with personal interest in the class struggle and the landless workers' movements, not caring too much about the animals. The landless workers are often vilified by the corrupt mass media and also made victims by traditional landlords, smugglers, bounty hunters, monoculture, transgenic corporations and their private security - and they used it to turn one Cuetzpalin against another, by framing that the landless workers have "invaded a property and brutally killed the animals there", what enraged William, and even had the two Cuetzpalin fighting for some time, when they realized the enemy wasn't there. Eventually, William adopted an identity and narrative: Paynalton, or Paynal, named after the messenger of the war god Huitzilopochtli. This name was used by a small indigenous community of nahuatl speakers in Antisuyu to refer to a messianic figure who would save them from the colonial regime that kept hunting them down, and ironically, William's transformatiom met several criteria of such a prophecy, so that became the perfect link he needed to join his cause - the animals - to others: the indigenous autonomy, the defense of the land, and also the landless workers. The second Cuetzpalin, whose secret identity is Ian Ribeiro, came to be known by these nawa people as " Omepaynal" (or "fast two").
Another Cuetzpalin also surfaced in another even farther region - on the Algonquian realm that is now occupied by the Canadian invading government, claimed as Quebec, a 23 years old Algonquian man has found the Tonalcoatl of another Cuetzpalin who used to know Moctezuma many years before the invasion, but who has left Mexico for distant lands. With this power in hands, and inspired by reports of Paynalton's deeds, he started to fight the invading government and its projects, which sought to leave him and his fellows without homes and life quality, for the sake of "development". This man, named Powhatan, and his Tonalcoatl, Macoel, would adopt a secret identity while in Cuetzpalin form, and claimed to be Montezuma, named after the ruler who was actually living in symbiosis with William. That's because some people from the area of northern Mexico/southern US held Montezuma in great esteem on their folklore, believing he'd return and take back the land for the natives, expulsing the invaders and reclaiming their noble ways of life. Up in the north, Montezuma has been organizing resistance, eventually earning the trust of several different indigenous nations - and the enmity of government and other institutions which benefitted from the exploitation of those who kept their traditional ways of life. Eventually, he knew he would meet Paynalton - before that, however, he was gifted by the Zunis with a powerful artefact, the Spear of Time, which history is legendary and older than many civilizations of this earth.

CATHARSIS
An interesting detail about Tupaq's return into the world of living, is that he didn't come alone, he brought his children, the dreadful Centzonmimixcoa (four hundred alike the Cloud Serpent, in nahuatl. Cloud Serpent, or Mixcoatl, is how the people of Aztlán, including ancestral Cuetzpalin, used to refer to Tupaq in ancient times), who once 400 immortal beings made of materialized darkness, were now some 96 - results of thousands of years battling the Cuetzpalin across the Sun Eras. The Cuetzpalin were the only known kind to use the Atl-Tlachinolli in their weapons (either obsidian or jade, or both, like Moctezuma's, later Paynalton's weapon - which halves he recovered from different places, one held by the nawa who claim to descend from those who carried Moctezuma from the Lake, and another owned by a wealthy Yakuza syndicate man hiding in Brazil's countryside, whose personal mansion/museum was invaded and stormed by Paynalton). That gave them an advantage over the Centzonmimixcoa, also a lasting enmity, which resulted in their downfall - as Moctezuma implies, the Cuetzpalin's extinction following the invasion and colonization is part of a conspiracy in which the Centzonmimixcoa and Tupaq may be involved. William is bothered by how Tupaq seems to be related to the historical Tahuantinsuyu, and how Moctezuma claims that the Mexica and Inca not only met, but warred against each other, in an epic event which history finds no record - and once again, Moctezuma claims that several records have been destroyed by the christians, what's true, but still, did the Inca and Mexica really fought? Either way, with the Centzonmimixcoa out there, Paynalton was the target for yet another armed force, and he needed the weapons which Moctezuma spoke of, and to understand what Atl-Tlachinolli truly meant: apparently, a combination of his own blood with a specific jade traded between the Maya and Mexica known as Yaxchilán ("green stone") is able to undo the Mimixcoa's form, made of Yanahucha (from the quechua words for black and a concept meaning heavy energy). Guess who freed Tupaq and the Centzonmimixcoa from their prison (located beneath the water reserve at El Caracol de Texcoco, one of the few places with plenty of Atl-Tlachinolli remaining, where Tupaq's captors - his brothers, other elemental gods - hid him strategically, so if his children left, they'd get killed by the substance), given the opportunity? Yes, it was William, who learning from Moctezuma about the Centzonmimixcoa, thought that - as sentient beings locked in for years, and remaining conscious for all this time, they might be enduring a considerable, and unneccessary quantity of pain. Even if they were bad enough as Moctezuma points out, they could be dealt with, but at least they deserved a chance to be freed. For that mistake, Moctezuma wouldn't forgive William, anyway, they should now work on not getting killed by those they freed. Tupaq, unlike his children, apparently found no interest on the Cuetzpalin - he didn't seem to pose a threat to the cloud serpent (or better yet, dragon - his original form is a.k.a the first dragon).
Eventually, the Mimixcoa and their associates, the Saqraruna organization behind Tahuantinsuyu's secret agenda, carried out operations which the Brazilian government, military, police, landlords, and unfortunately also a big deal of its middle class and populace in general, would like to have done themselves: they attacked several organized indigenous communities remotely related to Paynalton and Omepaynalton, in hopes to terminate the Cuetzpalin and sources of either Yaxchilán or Atl-Tlachinolli. For days, the territory where some of the Yaminawa, Huni Kuin, Nawa and Ashaninka allies of Paynalton has been besieged by the Mimixcoa and even some Mallki (who ironically claim to defend the interests of the indigenous peoples and the land, but in a "panamerican and developmental way") has witnessed a conflict where the Cuetzpalin fought, and Montezuma, the 3rd Cuetzpalin, has arrived to help. The resistance has succeeded, and the locals held a celebration that involved hunting and consumption of animals, something Paynalton was so contrary to, he raised his blade against the people who believed he was a better protector than the missionaries he himself had expulsed or killed - this insult at the eyes of Powhatan/Montezuma had triggered him to prevent Paynalton from harming the indigenous, and attacks him, as a duel between potential allies turn into an unbridgeable chasm - and Montezuma at last shows his true face, as does a broken Paynalton, realizing the people will possibly never trust him again. While believing he could use his speed against Montezuma, he didn't expect Montezuma had the powers of the Spear of Time, what makes them even.

PHYSIS
  Five days later, the Ashaninka reported that their area was being patrolled by military Tahuantinsuyuan personnel, some who were forcing them into labor. Apparently, there was a problem with one of their oil supplies, that was leaking into the jungle and killing lots of beings in a river which flowed towards a sacred Lake with Atl-Tlachinolli, and those who refused to work would certainly be sent to their deaths. Paynalton, hearing this, tried to heal old wounds, restore confidence, and once and for all, destroy industry, this evil machine which enslaves human and non-human animals alike. Arriving at what looks like a battle scene, he faced a burning forest, and robotic soldiers guarding an area where the oil has apparently leaked. This time, Paynalton has been welcomed by some enemies he met from his actions before, as if they expected him.
PACHAKUTI has faced Pis particularly annoyed by Paynalton's importance to "the animal issue", for this cyborg general whose past sounds like a forgery (he claims to be the same Pachacuti from the Inca times, revived to bring "prosperity" - read it slave labor, industrial development and consumerism - to the peoples of Tahuantinsuyu in the modern day) knows "nature" (Pachamama?) in a way Paynalton seemingly doesn't - as a creature with a will of its own, that needs to feed on self-sacrifice of several creatures in order to keep living. His belief, however, is both convenient and questionable - as if there ever was a "food chain" or some reason to keep this madness going on, other than feeding the needs and luxury of a ruling class, if not the bourgeois, then the government's parasites. Either way, Pachakuti is a popular figure in his realm, has earth-related powers and won't let Paynalton get away with stopping the pipeline - even if he has to burn the forest of the Ashaninka with it! Paynalton is troubled by Pachakuti's theorical defense of the indigenous peoples, when he clearly not only doesn't defend traditional folks like the Ashaninka, but threatens them - but that's because both of them have different views when it comes to "indigenous" - for Paynal, it has to do with keeping non-consumerist (primitivist) ways of life, while for Pachakuti it has nothing to do with living in a forest and praising the sun, instead it's an inheritance, a nationality. When he claims he want the best for them, it involves "the right to use electrical energy, use vehicles", something which Paynalton could consider "foreigner", but Pachakuti isn't an awkward "primitivist" like Paynalton sounds like, on the other hand he believes in the potential for "autonomous technological advancement of indigenous communities" - that autonomous, though, is a con, what he really means is join the Republic of Tahuantinsuyu and it's sponsors, or die.
ICHNEUMON has a mysterious connection to a japanese vigilante missing since the 80s and a stolen armor, but this most mysterious figure claims to be, above all, a defender of social order - and a little too sadistic on that. Besides his corrosive powers and weapons, he commands a swarm of robotic drones designed after wasps that injects meat-eating parasites on its enemies. Paynalton hasn't faced him before, so he doesn't know what pain is yet.
CATEQUIL, an electric cyborg whose secret identity is Choque Illa, the public relations manager of Tahuantinsuyu's council for advanced scientifical, industrial, technological and energetic development (the public facade of the alien Saqraruna Organization which created all these cyborgs), has faced Paynalton before, on the southern regions of Qollasuyu, and claims that if the Cuetzpalin weren't extinct before, they will be, soon. Apparently, he has a high position in this organization that more and more appear to stand between Paynalton and his goals.
  PARIACACA is the mysterious cyborg who seems to control any quantity of water in order to create a gigantic body for his own. The one in charge of Tahuantinsuyu's navy, his might has been witnessed by Paynalton not long before, when he crashed an entire fleet of NATO forces that were reaching for Tupaq's location, and sought to prevent the secret intelligence of Tahuantinsuyu (the Saqraruna?) from releasing him. Apparently, Pariacaca has nothing personal against Paynalton, and also expresses a particular interest in the Centzonmimixcoa's potential for destruction. Perhaps Paynalton's involvement in the opposition to these shadowy beings is what has Pariacaca turning against him - and in this battle, he's raining on the burning forest, but also on Paynalton. Can the lizardman cross the barrier of water and reach the other side alive? Can he regain the trust of his Ashaninka allies, and more importantly, keep them from death and slavery?

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Description

I've spent some hours working on this art, that depicts an important chapter from my current story project (called IXIPTLA - from the nahuatl "impersonator"). I hope you like it!

TL;DR version: from left to right, these OCs are:

PACHAKUTI (from the quechua "he who changes the earth" named after the 15th Century Inca ruler), cyborg general of Antisuyu (a region from Andes up to portions of Ecuador and Colombia);

ICHNEUMON (from the greek "tracker", named after the family of parasitoid wasps), cyborg general of Chinchaysuyu (the northern peruvian coast);

CATEQUIL (named after an Inca thunder god), secret identity Choque Illa, a cyborg who disguises as the public relations manager of Tahuantinsuyu's industrial development council

PARIACACA (named after a pre-Inca rain and water god), a cyborg general in charge of Tahuantinsuyu (named after the Inca Empire)'s navy fleet

And they're fighting the running lizard known as CUETZPALIN PAYNALTON (from the nahuatl "Fast Lizard"), protagonist of the story (previously titled "In Lak'Ech").

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  In the evening of May 1st, 2009, the super-fast lizard-man who claims to be Cuetzpalin Paynalton ("Fast Lizard" in nahuatl ), who has came to be known, since at least seven months before, as an "eco-terrorist" because of actions such as sabotaging of industries, plants, factories and establishments related to wildlife devastation (mining, paper, new dams, oil and gas pipelines), animal exploitation (animal agriculture, pisciculture, factory farming, animal farming, slaughterhouses, fishing, hunting, fur, animal testing, trafficking), threatening of indigenous' lands' rights (monoculture, food corporations, traditional landlords, State's military, bounty hunters) all across the American Continent - from South to North - has once again crossed the Brazilian/Antisuyuan border in the Amazonian rainforest. Antisuyu (from where the name Andes derives) is the northernmost region of the Republic of Tahuantinsuyu (named after the pre-hispanic "Inca Empire", it's name comes from the quechua word meaning "Four Regions"), and spans areas from Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

THE FOUR REGIONS
In this story, a series of succesfully organized rebellions in Peru took down an authoritarian neoliberal regime in 1969, and the self-proclaimed Peruvian King, Urco Verbo, an ally of the CIA's demands, has been publicly executed - giving way to the establishment of a new regime under the "Communist Party of Tahuantinsuyu", led by a figure who claimed to be Tupaq Amaru III (named after the late 17th century Inca ruler, Tupaq Amaru, and the later 18th century indigenous resistance leader, Tupaq Amaru II). The inevitable ascension of the party reshaped the weakened Peruvian State into the Socialist Republic of Tahuantinsuyu (naming it after the pre-colonial, or pre-invasion government) and promised not only to attend the demands of the working class, but also of the traditional inhabitants of the realm, including a huge portion of quechua speaking peoples, and other "indigenous" peoples as well. More than that, Tupaq Amaru III didn't exactly took the position of executive power in the country - occupied by his ally Umaq Granado - instead, he and his allies continued his work on organizing guerrillas to expand the reach of Tahuantinsuyu into the territory of other states controlled by foreigner corporations, such as Bolivia, Chile and Colombia. Surely, the difficulties met by Tupaq's supporters were great, and elsewhere, the corrupt media has done anything to prevent the inevitable outcome, when Tahuantinsuyu was finally acknowledged as a sovereign nation and member of the UN (replacing Peru and Ecuador), ten years later.

  That wasn't the end of the conflicts, however, Tahuantinsuyu's been involved with the organization (or rather coopting) of armed resistance among the Mapuche people in northern Chile and Argentina by 1981, a dark time when Chile was controlled by a CIA-satellite, neoliberal dictatorship under the infamous and repugnant Pinochet (The Mapuche have been resisting the absurd colonial and supposedly post-colonial governments for a while, but it's always important to remember they're traditional enemies of the Incas since pre-hispanic times, and a forced union between indigenous peoples and nations sounds unfeasible). The employment of NATO, british and american soldiers on Argentinian and Chilean soil has shown what was at stake - lands with precious minerals, inhabited by its traditional inhabitants, who were going to be destroyed by capitalists if no one did anything - the UN surely wouldn't. Tahuantinsuyu's forces, however, were unnaturally more powerful - despite private american military company ABEL Inc had just shown the world their latest products: the ALPHA, GAMMA and EPSILON super soldier armors - they had on their side the MALLKI Cyborg Generals (Mallki is a quechua name used to refer to the royal Inca mummies), including the mysterious ICHNEUMON, whose likeness reminisced the ABEL personnel about the BETA armor, sold to the japanese military, but later stolen by a missing vigilante supposedly executed. The possible links between the vigilante and ICHNEUMON remain unknown to this day, what's known is that several cities in northern Chile and Argentina have become part of a provisorial government, and later, of the Qollasuyu division from Tahuantinsuyu, which also encompasses part of Bolivia, and is overseen by the Mallki Mallku (Aymara name for the Condor bird and for traditional aymara authorities).

  Tension had already risen when Tupaq Amaru III has officially become the Tahuantinsuyuan President - with elections held, in 1979, and then from each five years, he managed to continue his terms, and his party practically controlled the entire State (from behind the scenes, however, it was largely supported by a foreigner, intergalactic company - the Saqraruna Organization - which public mask is the Tahuantinsuyuan council for advanced scientifical, technological, industrial and energetic development), as already in his first term, he moved the capital from Cusco, the "Empire City" (where Verbo had his seat of power) to Moche, a seaside city in the state of Trujillo, in Chinchaysuyu (Northern peruvian Coast), at the time, "underdeveloped". In few years, it became a huge metropolis, and the seat of power, Intihuaca ("Huaca of the Sun"), a truly futuristic, pyramidal technological marvel. The expansion of Tahuantinsuyu, however, has stopped since the eighties, and other than that became just a constant, sensationalist threat on right-wing "post-truth" tabloids of other latin american towns. Tupaq has remained in power, extending his terms up to 2000, when he suddenly disappeared from the spotlight, three years after tension has returned - this time, because a supposed union of Cuban and Tahuantinsuyuan military forces were patrolling a Mexican island with rich oil and gas reserves, that was also a subject of interest to american companies. In the outcome, Tupaq has disappeared and the Socialist Republic of Tahuantinsuyu turned into the Republic of Tahuantinsuyu. New elections were held, and the Communist Party still retained major influence, despite in 2006 a social-democrat party would win for the first time, and purpose a series of economical reforms.

  That is, until Tupaq Amaru III literally returned from the nothingness, in March 28th, and four days later, on April 1st, has been admissed as Prime Minister of the Republic of Tahuantinsuyu, following a suspicious resignation of the social-democrat president Urco Huanca, which placed Tupaq's ally Sinchi Herrera in the executive power, forming once again an alliance which guaranteed the Communist Party's sovereignty - despite international reaction to this move has been mixed, Tupaq assured the State would keep "the mixed economy policies adopted in the last decade".

GENESIS
  As for Paynalton, his actions began in August 2008, on empoverished towns across the Brazilian states of Acre and Rondônia, but it took some time for them to be identified - during actions, he also slaughtered people, making no distinction between workers, bounty hunters or landlords and bourgeois, whenever he had the chance, otherwise he knew they'd force their hands over non-human animals. And on some occasions he left clear messages (about non-human liberation, the indigenous resistance, critique of mass society and industrial civilization, the State, bureaucracy, corporativism) with the authorship of "Cuetzpalin Paynalton". This has built up a narrative, he claimed to be an ancient non-human member of an almost extinct species of reptiles that used to coexist with humans in pre-hispanic times - needless to say, igniting series of conspiring theories across the world, concerning the existence of aliens, as well their influence on ancient civilizations, but that was never his point: he tried to make people question their notions of human supremacy, and let go of the sacredness of the common sense concepts of civilization, progress and species. It also wasn't like he was doing "vegan activism", as indeed vegan activists, both independent and enterprises, tried to disassociate them from his violent acts - his messages were more like threats to next targets, or provocations. As more and more cases of his acts came into public knowledge, and his existence became undeniable, what began as a domestic threat to Brazilian governments escalated into a worldwide case that employed public and private security/militias/mercenaries - including the AXIS Academy, NATO's, CIA's forces and INTERPOL in strategic spots - but so far failed to get to him. His coming into being and his super speed were all mysterious, to the mediocre citizen up to the military intelligence, none had any clue about his origins, and the public lack of knowledge led to conspiracies taking over factual information, and troubling detective work.
The term "eco-terrorist" make no justice for the Cuetzpalin Paynalton, whose main interest doesn't concern a metaphorical "ecosystem", instead it is to liberate sentient, non-human animal individuals from suffering, and to reduce the impact of most people's lifestyles by actually doing something, rather than waiting for comfortable answers and minor, individual changes that still keep the system ongoing. For that, he could be considered an antinatalist and even an antispeciesist (he may claim to be vegan, but the fact that he kills humans makes that untrue, according to some). He considers himself to be an anarchist, because he gives no shit for governmental bureaucracy, social order, laws and private property, and also because he fights slavery - even though some people argue his actions increase hunger - to those, he answer that what increases hunger is creating more people that will neccessarily and naturally hunger, as a planet cannot acommodate as many people in a sustainable way, where life quality will be a common good. Some also consider him a primitivist, inspired by luddist principles, something which he has more or less accepted as a political position. It's not like he can't use technology like machine guns, radio, vehicles, that kind of equipment, if he can use these to hurt where it hurts the system, he'll do it.
Above all, his actions have influenced a state of mass hysteria on the American continent, forcing Tahuantinsuyu and the US, as well all their allies, to cooperate despite the odds - and Tupaq's untimely return to politics. But Paynal's threatening powers had also helped him to uncover secrets from his enemies, including the fact that Tupaq Amaru III isn't human at all (he's some sort of the incarnation of some god of darkness), and is associated to the Saqraruna, an alien company using the Republic of Tahuantinsuyu as a mining satellite which plans for Earth aren't clear yet. This company, however, is associated with the extinction of the Cuetzpalin race during the spanish invasion of the Americas - despite Paynalton isn's as ancient as he claims to be, the Cuetzpalin have existed, and after him, some more have come into being, just not as fast, but stronger and more resilient than any human. But who truly is Paynalton?

METAMORPHOSIS
First of all, Cuetzpalin Paynalton wasn't born as a Cuetzpalin (from the nahuatl "lizard", in this story also the name of the non-human kind of reptiles that coexisted with some pre-hispanic mesoamerican populations. Originally not native to Anahuac [Earth], but to the realm of AZTLÁN). His secret identity is the 14 years old William Mattoni, a 1st year high school student (since 2009) from Brazil's southeastern state of São Paulo. He first acquired the power to transform into a Cuetzpalin on August 8th 2008, one of the last days of his holidays, which he was spending with his parents in a town from the State of Rondônia, where other relatives lived. That was the farthest he went from his hometown, and from there he had, at last, some contact with the Amazon Rainforest he grew fascinated with since childhood, due to the frequently watched, albeit sensationalist nature documentaries (that despite full of the "in nature it's kill or die" false dichotomy, in line with a simplistic, biocentric narrative generally used by some environmentalists to justify actions against some animals, were all contact William had with wild animals in youth, other than the profit-driven prisons called zoos). Unfortunately, though, in an empoverished neighborhood bordering the forest, William saw more of the same: encaged birds, forcibly grown in small spaces, fated to die before their possible lifespan, for unnecessary needs - to feed someone that didn't even need to eat them. How could an environment of abundance, and the knowledge of practices such as agroforestry, that should be enough to make people living without harming others (most non-human animals have either physiological, structural and/or behavorial characteristics which make them sentient , capable to feel, and some also have consciousness, that alone make them qualify as individuals, or persons, in the measure that they have self-interest, or will in not suffering), still house people ignorant enough to prefer working on these exploitative, expensive practices, instead of working on better, less destructive agriculture methods (surely, monoculture isn't an alternative)? What make them so ignorant, what keep the empoverished poorer, and the wealthy wealthier? What make them work for others, and involve other individuals on their enslaving methods, to reach ends which they don't need, trepassing the barrier of respect towards another's will? What makes people procreate, increase unnecessary suffering to others and die?
Willing to right these wrongs, William, who has quit meat for months back then (but, because he was never allowed to cook, still ate other things which included eggs and milk), decided to use whatever opportunity he has to break animals free from their torment. When his relatives were getting back in town, at evening, he separated from the group, and, masked with an extra shirt, and using a pliers, set to liberate the birds (he hoped to have a place to keep them safe after that - the jungles beyond the river wasn't an option, and he wasn't able to pilot any truck, or didn't have any contact with people who could take care of these birds for the rest of their lives, knowing they wouldn't get killed to feed anyone). But, caught in action, he has been persecuted by the slavers (or "ownwers"), who shot at his arm, when he fell into a greeny, muddy lake after some hours running. Bleeding and shot, left for dead, he didn't hope to make it when he closed his eyes, and fell asleep. The waters brought him to another marsh, when, at the late night, he opened his eyes again.
He realized he wasn't human anymore, but a green reptile, stronger, and much faster - he could see the droplets of rain falling in slow motion - after some time he realized it wasn't a dream, it was true, and his enhanced physical abilities, including vision (night vision) were real, as he spent more hours in the night, adapting to his new form, and also taking a look at the wildlife, when he started to hear the sirens, of forest guards - possibly looking for him. Eventually, he found out his family was desperate in looking for him, and while the thought of seeing them again crossed his mind, he didn't think he could - or even that he ever needed - to be human again. Whatever he was now, he was wild, he didn't need a name, he didn't need to go to school, to pay bills, to become part of anything, he was free, and freeing others from slavery never sounded more like a mission as much as it did now. It was when these thoughts crossed his mind, that he felt a transformation - and he was human again, deeply saddened like waking from a dream, when he was able to turn into the reptile once again, at will - learning that the transformation take some relatively short time, but can be "activated" by his own will, and as it seemed, it was a power he got during his sleep. He even considered the possibility that he had died and was reborn, but for now, he just imagined - he could still be human at day, and become this super-fast reptile at evening, go home, get to school, then leave, save some animals, get back home, and start again - then he just had to meet his family again, possibly endure some sermon, then start a new life. And that's just what he did, he surrendered himself to his family, made up a story in which he went into the forest for being closer to nature, and eventually got lost. The police guards didn't even remotely linked his disappearance to the reported "chicken thief". His parents and relatives, alongside him, have returned to town, where he should pack his things up, as they would return to their home, in the far southern state of São Paulo, to his home, the country's biggest metropolis, a place of chaos and unrest, for the sake of someone else's progress. That night, however, he'd learn yet more about his powers...

METEMPSYCHOSIS
While at his room, packing up his things for an hours long travel back to the big stinking city, William started to hear things in his mind, words... from a language he only remotely knew, and through an unearthly, hard-working study: the nahuatl language, as if someone was speaking an old version of this language in his head: it sounded like a 50 years old man, but despite the language itself not helping, it even had an accent, it sounded like a little more "hissing" than it should. After hours, he realized it wasn't stopping, and while about to despair alone, in his own, noisy consciousness, he began to pay attention to the words, when he started to fully understand a forming dialogue: the voice, it was introducing itself as Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, the late Mexica ruler from the time of the Spanish Invasion. According to this "Moctezuma", he "wasn't in William's mind, but in his body, and he saved him in the lake. Since then, they were living symbiotically, sharing the same body - and a telepathic link, so that they didn't need to vocally speak, they could communicate through their own will, and it didn't mean one could read another's mind - they had to use their will to communicate with another. Yet, afterall, Moctezuma has been the responsible for allowing William to transform into a Cuetzpalin, and a super-fast one, that is - just like Moctezuma himself could do".
William couldn't help but panic at first, and later apologize for his family for acting weird, when he finally tried to get rational again, and start a conversation with the voice in his head, starting by asking "Moctezuma" where he was located "in his body", learning that Moctezuma has been a Cuetzpalin, a species of lizardfolks from Mesoamerica that coexisted with the macehualli (commoners, people) of the Fifth Sun Era (the age of the Mexica, and still now), and the same that - valiantly fought the dreaded invaders, dying honorably in battle (contradicting the general belief that he was stoned by a revolted population, or the belief that he's, in first place, human. That is, if by claiming to have been a Cuetzpalin it necessarily meant he wasn't a human, otherwise, he could be just like William was now - a human able to transform into a Cuetzpalin). He continued, stating that he's now a Tonalcoatl (from the nahuatl words for fate [or alternately time and even heat, or radiance] and snake), the first and last stages of a Cuetzpalin's life, after it hatches from the egg, and up to when it leaves the body, it sheds it's skin for a last time. A Tonalcoatl can extend its life, if it lives symbiotically in an "ixiptla" (nahuatl word for impersonator) another animal - human or not, as long as it's a vertebrate with enough size and energy to accomodate the new inhabitant, and that symbiosis allows the host to turn into a Cuetzpalin itself, what worried William - could the symbiote ever take over the host? and where exactly was this Tonalcoatl located inside his body, or how was its size? Moctezuma answered he was wrapped somewhere in William's central nervous system, or in his spineshank, and it measured as much as a common slug, he also told he can't take over William's mind, but it's better to live in symbiosis with someone than alone on it's thoughts: Because he believed in the traditional pre-hispanic Mexica religious tradition & worldview, Moctezuma expected, after dying in battle (against some horned centaur brought by the spanish), to have his Tonalli (a vital energy from the Mexica cosmology, one out of the three, present in the head during life and related to the sun) accompanying the sun on its travels from east to west, alongside other warriors - the Macuiltonaleque, or Ahuiateteoh - stopping by and feasting at the paradise of the southern region (Huitztlampa), ruled by the Sun itself (actually, Huitzilopochtli, god of war and patron of Mexico, who happens to be the fifth Sun as well), before turning into a bird after four years. It happens, though, somehow Moctezuma's Tonalcoatl body hasn't died, and apparently, has been carried away to a far land.
Skeptic as ever, William didn't believe in all this being claimed to be, however, Brazil is located far south from Mexico, and the possibility someone carried the remnants of a Mexican ruler able to turn into a lizard that far sounded as unreal as it does, even though it could have a reason. It still didn't explained how he could have lived for so long, or the fact that no one knows about the Cuetzpalin, and people can't see them anymore (implying they actually numbered more than small groups, and that people who could turn into them weren't as limited in quantity as those accused of being naguals ) - when Moctezuma realized the Lake he was preserved in was a source of Atl-Tlachinolli (a concept that can either mean warfare, blood, boiling water, or holy water. What Moctezuma means, in this case, is specifically a substance present in Cuetzpalin blood, that derives from another substance originated from ancient giant beings - the Quinametzin - and that could be found in select places of nature, before they were mostly destroyed by wasteful usage of water, or pollution, common among the ignorant, "uncivilized" colonizers) that preserved him, explaining that while in Cuetzpalin form, William could regenerate faster from wounds because of this substance. There are even more properties hidden in it, that William didn't dream of - and Moctezuma didn't find a way to explain yet.

SYMBIOSIS
For days, William improved his communication with Moctezuma, and tried to investigate whether or not his claims could be scientifically and historically backed up - luckily, while most people of his age were worried with videogames, soccer, celebrities, small talk, he had great interest in pre-hispanic cultures, their preservation, their worldview, their civilizations, and also some languages. This saved a lot of time in finding out if Moctezuma was really who he claimed to be, or not. But yet, independently of who he was, William was increasingly let himself believe he had a purpose by finding that power, otherwise anyone else could have earned it, intentionally failing to acknowledge it was mere chance. The reason, it seemed, is that, like no one else on the reach, he cared for animals as individual sentient beings who deserve freedom and a life without harm, instead of mere automatons, someone else's property, or part of nature. This also meant, he valued more the consequences of action rather than following social norms, therefore, this power would help him what he couldn't do as a human, who was observed by the State: he could act as "a lone wolf direct activist", he didn't even need an identity, exposing himself to the dangers of invading high security factories and prisons already meant none of it was for personal gain, but to make sure the animals would have their lives respected, and their forced procreation, the control of their existances would stop, and their lives would be less miserable. He knew he was right, each day he lived without animal consumption he proved they (his enemies) were wrong, and he would do whatever it takes for the freedom of the animals. His first actions had lots of failures, though, in some cases, he was noticed, and some "workers" (a soft name for assassins or slaughterers) killed animals in front of him, what triggered on him a rage beyond the senses - using his speed as advantage, he avenged each animal by mercilessly killing, sometimes even torturing those that killed the animals before. Needless to say, that's when he went into a no way out path of carnage and vengeance, bringing him at the world of crime, and on the target of the ruthless military apparel of dictatorships considered democracies - like the State of Brazil and all others. But he managed to keep his existence in the shadows for a while.
It mostly changed in late November 2008, when another Cuetzpalin surfaced in the central region of Brazil, and people got confused about how many of them existed, and whether or not they had common origins and goals - indeed, they haven't, this second Cuetzpalin, whom William would later find out to be a human like him, was a 27 years old journalist with personal interest in the class struggle and the landless workers' movements, not caring too much about the animals. The landless workers are often vilified by the corrupt mass media and also made victims by traditional landlords, smugglers, bounty hunters, monoculture, transgenic corporations and their private security - and they used it to turn one Cuetzpalin against another, by framing that the landless workers have "invaded a property and brutally killed the animals there", what enraged William, and even had the two Cuetzpalin fighting for some time, when they realized the enemy wasn't there. Eventually, William adopted an identity and narrative: Paynalton, or Paynal, named after the messenger of the war god Huitzilopochtli. This name was used by a small indigenous community of nahuatl speakers in Antisuyu to refer to a messianic figure who would save them from the colonial regime that kept hunting them down, and ironically, William's transformatiom met several criteria of such a prophecy, so that became the perfect link he needed to join his cause - the animals - to others: the indigenous autonomy, the defense of the land, and also the landless workers. The second Cuetzpalin, whose secret identity is Ian Ribeiro, came to be known by these nawa people as " Omepaynal" (or "fast two").
Another Cuetzpalin also surfaced in another even farther region - on the Algonquian realm that is now occupied by the Canadian invading government, claimed as Quebec, a 23 years old Algonquian man has found the Tonalcoatl of another Cuetzpalin who used to know Moctezuma many years before the invasion, but who has left Mexico for distant lands. With this power in hands, and inspired by reports of Paynalton's deeds, he started to fight the invading government and its projects, which sought to leave him and his fellows without homes and life quality, for the sake of "development". This man, named Powhatan, and his Tonalcoatl, Macoel, would adopt a secret identity while in Cuetzpalin form, and claimed to be Montezuma, named after the ruler who was actually living in symbiosis with William. That's because some people from the area of northern Mexico/southern US held Montezuma in great esteem on their folklore, believing he'd return and take back the land for the natives, expulsing the invaders and reclaiming their noble ways of life. Up in the north, Montezuma has been organizing resistance, eventually earning the trust of several different indigenous nations - and the enmity of government and other institutions which benefitted from the exploitation of those who kept their traditional ways of life. Eventually, he knew he would meet Paynalton - before that, however, he was gifted by the Zunis with a powerful artefact, the Spear of Time, which history is legendary and older than many civilizations of this earth.

CATHARSIS
An interesting detail about Tupaq's return into the world of living, is that he didn't come alone, he brought his children, the dreadful Centzonmimixcoa (four hundred alike the Cloud Serpent, in nahuatl. Cloud Serpent, or Mixcoatl, is how the people of Aztlán, including ancestral Cuetzpalin, used to refer to Tupaq in ancient times), who once 400 immortal beings made of materialized darkness, were now some 96 - results of thousands of years battling the Cuetzpalin across the Sun Eras. The Cuetzpalin were the only known kind to use the Atl-Tlachinolli in their weapons (either obsidian or jade, or both, like Moctezuma's, later Paynalton's weapon - which halves he recovered from different places, one held by the nawa who claim to descend from those who carried Moctezuma from the Lake, and another owned by a wealthy Yakuza syndicate man hiding in Brazil's countryside, whose personal mansion/museum was invaded and stormed by Paynalton). That gave them an advantage over the Centzonmimixcoa, also a lasting enmity, which resulted in their downfall - as Moctezuma implies, the Cuetzpalin's extinction following the invasion and colonization is part of a conspiracy in which the Centzonmimixcoa and Tupaq may be involved. William is bothered by how Tupaq seems to be related to the historical Tahuantinsuyu, and how Moctezuma claims that the Mexica and Inca not only met, but warred against each other, in an epic event which history finds no record - and once again, Moctezuma claims that several records have been destroyed by the christians, what's true, but still, did the Inca and Mexica really fought? Either way, with the Centzonmimixcoa out there, Paynalton was the target for yet another armed force, and he needed the weapons which Moctezuma spoke of, and to understand what Atl-Tlachinolli truly meant: apparently, a combination of his own blood with a specific jade traded between the Maya and Mexica known as Yaxchilán ("green stone") is able to undo the Mimixcoa's form, made of Yanahucha (from the quechua words for black and a concept meaning heavy energy). Guess who freed Tupaq and the Centzonmimixcoa from their prison (located beneath the water reserve at El Caracol de Texcoco, one of the few places with plenty of Atl-Tlachinolli remaining, where Tupaq's captors - his brothers, other elemental gods - hid him strategically, so if his children left, they'd get killed by the substance), given the opportunity? Yes, it was William, who learning from Moctezuma about the Centzonmimixcoa, thought that - as sentient beings locked in for years, and remaining conscious for all this time, they might be enduring a considerable, and unneccessary quantity of pain. Even if they were bad enough as Moctezuma points out, they could be dealt with, but at least they deserved a chance to be freed. For that mistake, Moctezuma wouldn't forgive William, anyway, they should now work on not getting killed by those they freed. Tupaq, unlike his children, apparently found no interest on the Cuetzpalin - he didn't seem to pose a threat to the cloud serpent (or better yet, dragon - his original form is a.k.a the first dragon).
Eventually, the Mimixcoa and their associates, the Saqraruna organization behind Tahuantinsuyu's secret agenda, carried out operations which the Brazilian government, military, police, landlords, and unfortunately also a big deal of its middle class and populace in general, would like to have done themselves: they attacked several organized indigenous communities remotely related to Paynalton and Omepaynalton, in hopes to terminate the Cuetzpalin and sources of either Yaxchilán or Atl-Tlachinolli. For days, the territory where some of the Yaminawa, Huni Kuin, Nawa and Ashaninka allies of Paynalton has been besieged by the Mimixcoa and even some Mallki (who ironically claim to defend the interests of the indigenous peoples and the land, but in a "panamerican and developmental way") has witnessed a conflict where the Cuetzpalin fought, and Montezuma, the 3rd Cuetzpalin, has arrived to help. The resistance has succeeded, and the locals held a celebration that involved hunting and consumption of animals, something Paynalton was so contrary to, he raised his blade against the people who believed he was a better protector than the missionaries he himself had expulsed or killed - this insult at the eyes of Powhatan/Montezuma had triggered him to prevent Paynalton from harming the indigenous, and attacks him, as a duel between potential allies turn into an unbridgeable chasm - and Montezuma at last shows his true face, as does a broken Paynalton, realizing the people will possibly never trust him again. While believing he could use his speed against Montezuma, he didn't expect Montezuma had the powers of the Spear of Time, what makes them even.

PHYSIS
  Five days later, the Ashaninka reported that their area was being patrolled by military Tahuantinsuyuan personnel, some who were forcing them into labor. Apparently, there was a problem with one of their oil supplies, that was leaking into the jungle and killing lots of beings in a river which flowed towards a sacred Lake with Atl-Tlachinolli, and those who refused to work would certainly be sent to their deaths. Paynalton, hearing this, tried to heal old wounds, restore confidence, and once and for all, destroy industry, this evil machine which enslaves human and non-human animals alike. Arriving at what looks like a battle scene, he faced a burning forest, and robotic soldiers guarding an area where the oil has apparently leaked. This time, Paynalton has been welcomed by some enemies he met from his actions before, as if they expected him.
PACHAKUTI has faced Pis particularly annoyed by Paynalton's importance to "the animal issue", for this cyborg general whose past sounds like a forgery (he claims to be the same Pachacuti from the Inca times, revived to bring "prosperity" - read it slave labor, industrial development and consumerism - to the peoples of Tahuantinsuyu in the modern day) knows "nature" (Pachamama?) in a way Paynalton seemingly doesn't - as a creature with a will of its own, that needs to feed on self-sacrifice of several creatures in order to keep living. His belief, however, is both convenient and questionable - as if there ever was a "food chain" or some reason to keep this madness going on, other than feeding the needs and luxury of a ruling class, if not the bourgeois, then the government's parasites. Either way, Pachakuti is a popular figure in his realm, has earth-related powers and won't let Paynalton get away with stopping the pipeline - even if he has to burn the forest of the Ashaninka with it! Paynalton is troubled by Pachakuti's theorical defense of the indigenous peoples, when he clearly not only doesn't defend traditional folks like the Ashaninka, but threatens them - but that's because both of them have different views when it comes to "indigenous" - for Paynal, it has to do with keeping non-consumerist (primitivist) ways of life, while for Pachakuti it has nothing to do with living in a forest and praising the sun, instead it's an inheritance, a nationality. When he claims he want the best for them, it involves "the right to use electrical energy, use vehicles", something which Paynalton could consider "foreigner", but Pachakuti isn't an awkward "primitivist" like Paynalton sounds like, on the other hand he believes in the potential for "autonomous technological advancement of indigenous communities" - that autonomous, though, is a con, what he really means is join the Republic of Tahuantinsuyu and it's sponsors, or die.
ICHNEUMON has a mysterious connection to a japanese vigilante missing since the 80s and a stolen armor, but this most mysterious figure claims to be, above all, a defender of social order - and a little too sadistic on that. Besides his corrosive powers and weapons, he commands a swarm of robotic drones designed after wasps that injects meat-eating parasites on its enemies. Paynalton hasn't faced him before, so he doesn't know what pain is yet.
CATEQUIL, an electric cyborg whose secret identity is Choque Illa, the public relations manager of Tahuantinsuyu's council for advanced scientifical, industrial, technological and energetic development (the public facade of the alien Saqraruna Organization which created all these cyborgs), has faced Paynalton before, on the southern regions of Qollasuyu, and claims that if the Cuetzpalin weren't extinct before, they will be, soon. Apparently, he has a high position in this organization that more and more appear to stand between Paynalton and his goals.
  PARIACACA is the mysterious cyborg who seems to control any quantity of water in order to create a gigantic body for his own. The one in charge of Tahuantinsuyu's navy, his might has been witnessed by Paynalton not long before, when he crashed an entire fleet of NATO forces that were reaching for Tupaq's location, and sought to prevent the secret intelligence of Tahuantinsuyu (the Saqraruna?) from releasing him. Apparently, Pariacaca has nothing personal against Paynalton, and also expresses a particular interest in the Centzonmimixcoa's potential for destruction. Perhaps Paynalton's involvement in the opposition to these shadowy beings is what has Pariacaca turning against him - and in this battle, he's raining on the burning forest, but also on Paynalton. Can the lizardman cross the barrier of water and reach the other side alive? Can he regain the trust of his Ashaninka allies, and more importantly, keep them from death and slavery?

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