I have never been the most gifted speaker, and even less so as a writer but I will do my best.
My given name is Alejandro Martin Gutierrez. My climb, if you can call it that, to my present position in Global Heroics began at age 12 when my father took me to the lucha libre (Free Fight in Spanish) matches at Arena Mexico. The luchadores fascinated me, but then came time for the main event and it was then that I saw the man who was to have such an influence on my life and career, the name known to millions around the world then and now as "El Enmascarado De Plata (The Man In The Silver Mask)" El Santo. It was then and there that I turned to my father and said "Papa, one day I will join him in that ring." My father chuckled at my enthusiasm, but I was determined. I began training day in and day out and finally began my in-ring career at a small church (no, really) just outside Mexico City.
I wrestled in many, many matches over what seemed like a lifetime in the space of a year and then at age seventeen, on the very day of my birthday, my father said he had a surprise waiting for me at the matches that night. I was wrestling with my partner El Ciclon against the team of Los Demons. We won the match two falls to one, and as a finishing touch I put away Demon Uno with El Santo's finisher "El Caballo", or the camel clutch.
I arrived back at the dressing room, wanting a shower but curious as to my father's surprise. As I sat in my street clothes, towelling off my hair, my father came in the dressing room door behind me and said he had someone he wanted me to meet. Expecting a promoter or an autograph seeker, I was shocked to my core to turn around and see El Santo himself standing there with an amused smile at my slack jawed
expression. I was even more shocked when he said he and my father were old friends (why had papa never told me this?) and he had been following my career. Imagine, then, the state of shock I was in when he offered to personally train me further!
The next few years were heaven on Earth as I trained with and fought beside mi maestro. Then came the fateful night Santo approached me with a hesitant expression under his mask, a sight I thought never to see.
He told me of his other career, that of a crime fighter who was called in when normal policework just would not suffice. To be specific, he wanted me to assist him in a grim task indeed - facing the reanimated mummies of Guanajuato. I think I must have paled a bit, but I quickly assured him I would assist in whatever way I could.
It seems the Circle Of Thorns had revived las momias in order to fetch for them a certain artifact of immense power once wielded by ancient priests. Santo and I raced to the scene and were successful in fighting back las momias, and I myself snatched the artifact from a particularly large mummy who was lumbering to meet his Circle master. The fleeing mage fired a bolt of mystic energy at me and I instinctively raised the only solid object I had to hand to shield my self with - the artifact.
That, to be frank, is the last thing I remember until I awoke in a hospital bed with an anxious Santo standing over me. The mage's desperate strike had destroyed the artifact for all time, but the energy discharge from its destruction combined with the blast of mystic power that had shattered it had rendered me unconscious. Santo explained to me that my body had apparently drank the resultant magical flux in like a sponge. I assured Santo I felt nothing unusual and expressed confidence that nothing untoward had happened as a result.
I went on fighting beside Santo until 1982 when he retired from the ring. He urged me to continue on, and not wishing to disappoint mi maestro, I did just that.
Then came the night of February 5th, 1984. I had just finished wrestling when a call came for me in the lockerroom. I could barely understand the sobbing voice on the other end, but they had called to tell me the sad news - Santo had died, his great heart having given out at last.
My in-ring career continued on and I occasionally acted for the police in the same capacity Santo had, as a special agent. Then, late last year came the night that changed my life and my destiny forever.
I was investigating a series of grave robberies in the same vicinity of
the mausoleum that contained the body of El Santo. Imagine my feelings when I realized the trail was taking me to the very mausoleum itself!
To make matters far worse, on arrival I saw a horrific crowd of villains I now know as Vazhilok gathered around a dim light as they worked feverishly to break into Santo's crypt!
I rushed at them, heedless of danger and thinking only of how I must protect Santo's final resting place. I struck about me with punches, kicks and whatever weapons I had to hand, but there were simply too many and I was beaten down in short order. Thankfully they were apparently in too much of a hurry to finished their grisly assignment to kill me then and there because they turned around and resumed the task at hand, utterly ignoring me. My rage and humiliation grew and grew and grew as I lay there and before I really knew what was happening I was on my feet and blasting away at them with fireballs and waves of energy that sent them flying like so many tenpins. I fought on and on and finally when my energy was spent, the survivors ran like scared chickens rather than face me or attempt to finish their job.
A piece of parchment on one of the Mortificators told the tale of why they had come here. It seems Doctor Vazhilok had an entire array of his artifical undead who were made from the bodies of dead heroes. As I read on, I realized with increasing horror that they meant to use whatever was left of El Santo to create another of these creatures, perhaps a more powerful version who could fight toe to toe with any hero walking.
I now had two tasks ahead of me - find someone who could help me master my powers, and go to a place where I could find the very heart of the Vazhilok operation and put a stop to their evil once and for all.
Happily, I was to find both my aims in one place - Paragon City. I wired ahead to Galaxy City that I would be coming to lend my assistance to their efforts and apprised them of my own goals. Soon after, I received a telegram in reply from Statesman himself welcoming me and included was a letter of introduction to a group known as Global Heroics. When my flight arrived at Paragon City International, I was greeted at the gate by quite simply the most enormous human being I had ever seen, Mr. Tonga. He looked me up and down, snorted, and told me I had a lot of work to do and that he himself and Mr. Canada would take me under their wings as it were. Both are now my friend, and Global Heroics welcomed me with open arms.
The rest, as they say, is history.
I'd like to think I'm a pretty relaxed person, but when I couldn't log in and I checked server status to see that, I was kind of annoyed. I can live without an explanation, but can the server status stay up to date at least, please? Then I can just refresh it when I walk by my computer again.