Inspiration: Edward James Olmos in zoot suit, though played as parody rather than a straight figure. The word "vato" simply means "dude".

Kobal's gambit: the Sick Puppy

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So much of what I do with MHC--with any kind of serialized writing--is back-engineering. In other words, all these characters are here doing what they're doing; how'd they get there, and why them? So I thought to myself, this little comic-relief Pepito has turned out to be anything but a piece of fluff. Despite himself, he'd become a formidable villain. What if this was no accident? What if it was all part of Kobal's plan? While most of his servitors are smart, maybe there is room for dumb luck in his organization?

Start with the assumption that angels, his opponents after all, have an inherent 'weakness' They care, about people, about souls, about the quality of mercy. To most demons that's nonsense, at most a way to grab a hostage. To Kobal that's an opportunity, at first to torment Jordi and then to bigger prey. It starts with a puppy.

Puppies are adorable things. Like all animal young they're made that way, to get their physical needs taken care of by parental figures.

So Kobal or one of his minions leaves one such puppy on a doorstep. It's cute, as all puppies are. Sure it chews things, that's what they do, who can blame him?. It even messes the carpet--isn't that adorable? And when he's sick, he's so pathetic, he cries. He whines for you to hold him, mooching attention from your other dogs who suddenly want petting when little Parvo is around.

He is Kobal's secret weapon because you see this dog is sick. ("It's not his fault! He's innocent!" Dark Humor claps in glee.) Dangerously, virulently sick, and your only hope of saving your other dogs is to separate all of you from each other, to decide which dogs can be saved with aggressive measures and which will die no matter what you do. Can you afford the medicine for the sickest ones? And then, while they're gone, you have to scrub everything. You will lose in all of this, it's a question of what you lose and how much.

Isn't he adorable? Surely you can't let such a sweet innocent die a slow ugly death? But you're no killer, so you can't bring yourself to take him to the bad man who will inject the fatal drug. A dozen agonizing dilemmas, because some little creature is cute. An innocent living being.

Magnify that by a child.

In western European folklore they called them changelings, and they were the enchanted offspring of fae folk put in place of human children. Kobal's version is simply a demon in a child's vessel, a demon not smart or witty enough to pass muster on his other assignments. All he has to do is be a child. Raw selfishness hides nicely under immaturity. Poor jokes are expected of one so young. The only joke he has to tell well is the one to the passing angel--hey, I'm a demon, with an overprotective mother. Whatcha going to do about it? Ah-ah-ah, kill this vessel and Mom will be heartbroken, and blame God. And then I'll just pop up somewhere else.

Peers, siblings, ripe for corruption. Teachers, other adults, throwing valuable resources into saving a demon while real children languish in silence. Careless evil written off as misguided. Cruel accidents overlooked as clumsiness. Parents tormenting themselves with self-doubt--how could I possibly do so wrong?

Isn't he cute?