In the midst of a violent thunderstorm stood a hooded man. He seemed to be completely dry despite the torrential downpour and unfazed by the flashing lightning and booming thunder. As the storm raged on, he awaited patiently in the vacant alleyway for his trusted messenger to appear.

“Show yourself,” croaked the hooded man.

Slithering out from the darkness after hearing the code words, the creature smiled, “It seems you have lost none of your hearing, Master.” The hooded man remained silent and stared ominously at his servant.

Coughing nervously, the monster hissed, “Of course, the message. We have located him, master. He could have never hidden from us forever. He is completely oblivious and extremely vulnerable. He is no longer the man we once fought. We can strike him at anytime.”

With that statement, the hooded man stepped toward his loyal follower, lightning illuminating his terrifying face, and growled, “Do not underestimate this man. You have failed many times before. This is your last chance. The attack begins now...and do not dare fail me again.”

“As you wish,” Alejandri stuttered. Bowing in fear, the serpentine monster slid away without making a noise.

It was a quiet evening, and Fernando was cheerfully munching on chicken nuggets as he watched his daily dose of Spanish soap operas. Although Fernando barely understood what he was watching, he liked how it looked dramatic. All in all, he was currently very content with life. Lounging on his sofa, his mind drifted off into his old life, how it was so hectic, incredible, dangerous, and spontaneous. Before he could continue his reverie, Fernando realized that he was out of sweet and sour sauce for his scrumptious chicken nuggets. With a sigh, Fernando paused the show, rolled out of his comfy couch, brushed off the stray crumbs on his pants, and trudged towards the kitchen to refill his dipping bowl of sweet and sour sauce.

When he entered his kitchen, his jaw suddenly dropped open. Sitting in front of him was an old-looking, scraggly homeless man helping himself to Fernando's jar of sweet and sour sauce.

“What! Who are you? How did you get in here? And why are you eating my sauce?!” Fernando shouted. Fernando then looked more closely at the old man eating the condiment. His face seemed familiar; his features distinct: thick black-framed glasses, dark Elvis-styled hair, and an extremely faded Sonic T-shirt.

Fernando staggered back in horror. “No. It can’t be," he stammered. "You’re not supposed to be here! That part of my life is over. I’m not the man you used to know. You have to leave.” The intruder continued to calmly eat the sweet and sour sauce, now scraping the sides of the jar noisily with his spoon as Fernando eyes bugged out in shock.

After finishing the jar of saucy goodness, the squalid man put the spoon down with a clatter, and looked Fernando right in the eye, “Fernandi, you’re in danger." Sauce was dripping down his solemn face. "We need to leave now.”

Fernando jumped up and down in rage, screaming, “That’s not my name! And there’s no way that they could have found me. I’ve been covering my traces for years. Even the NSA doesn’t know that I exist! I have gone incognito in Russia, France, Japan, Brazil, Congo, and even Antarctica with no signs of disturbances. They probably think I’m dead!” The old man sighed exasperatedly and tossed a manila folder at Fernando. Cautiously, Fernando opened the folder, only to see hundreds of pictures of his life being documented.

Fernando gasped, “This is impossible! There’s no way! How… How…”

“They have eyes everywhere, and they use methods that you can’t hide from. I have been clouding your footsteps and traces ever since your retirement as best as I could. We have to leave now, Fernandi. I’ve used all my strength to form a portal to get to Earth. I’m not leaving you here to die. Besides, you make the best nachos.”

Dejected and in shock, Fernando nodded somberly, “After all these years...I thought that I was successfully hiding from this evil force.” Slamming his fist on the table, his eyes blazed with agony and despair. “How much time do we have?”

“That’s the spirit,” Roberto the Wizard beamed as he looked at his G-Shock watch, “Hmm...actually, to answer your question, we have no time.”

“What?!?!”

An explosion ripped through Fernando’s house blowing both men towards the ground. Roberto, who managed to partially block the detonation with a force field, seemed to take the brunt of the blow. He laid on the ground unmoving, blood and leftover sweet and sour sauce streaming from his mouth.

“Roberto!!! Come on, man. Pull through. Let’s get out of here.” Roberto looked up and smiled wanly.

“Go on without me. I’ve given you temporary invisibility. Find Ryan and the others. You must win this battle, Fernandi...the world depends on it.” And with a last gasp of breath, Roberto closed his eyes and went limp, his body magically fading away into the air. Without time to mourn, Fernando dashed out of the house only to be confronted by an army of monsters. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, Fernandi utilized his temporary invisibility to sneak past the congregation of devastating creatures (which included Twinkie giants and giant gorillas). Flashbacks of Fernandi’s past came pouring back: slaying monsters, defeating villains, defying death.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a blur flashed out of a bush tackling the invisible Fernandi.

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here,” Alejandri snarled as he wrapped Fernandi up into a tight coil, “Trying to sneak around my army like a coward as always. You’ve grown weak, Fernandi; you seem to have forgotten that I have an excellent sense of smell.”

Struggling to escape, Fernandi spit back, “It’s just like the old times, Alejandri, and your ugly face hasn’t changed a bit.”

“Fighting till the end, I see. Well, this really is the end, Fernandi.” Alejandri's incisors gleamed in the moonlight, and he lunged in for the kill.