Pietro Gonzales (ピエトロ・ゴンザレス, Pietoro Gonzaresu) and Dominico Fuentes (ドミニコ・フェンテス, Dominiko Fentesu) are two small-time Mexican thieves who once loitered around Gandor and Martillo turf in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
In November 1930, Pietro accidentally becomes a complete immortal after drinking a bottle of the Cure-All Elixir. Once he and Dominico realize what has happened, they set off on a quest for mortality in the summer of 1936.
Chronology[]
Best friends since childhood, Pietro Gonzales and Dominico Fuentes emigrate from San Miguel, Mexico to Manhattan sometime during their youths. Not very bright, they tend to loiter around Martillo and Gandor turf without ever officially joining the local gangs. Firo Prochainezo describes them as completely useless at fighting and gambling, often prone to being teased for their singular good-naturedness. He also recalls that the two used to get drunk and cry over nothing, and get drunk and sing over nothing, and drag him into their shenanigans.
In November 1930, Pietro steals a bottle of the Cure-All Elixir from the burnt remains of the Barnes Company Granary on the assumption that it is ordinary alcohol, and becomes a complete immortal upon imbibing its contents. When he eventually realizes that he cannot die (when exactly is unclear) he and Dominico jointly panic: if Pietro cannot die, he will never be able to see his deceased grandparents, dog, and donkey again. Furthermore, he will be doomed to someday live a life without Dominico in it. Upset by the very thought, the two friends set off in search of a way for Pietro to die.
A seemingly random individual (Elita) catches wind of their plight and poses as a long-lost childhood friend, claiming she knows a witch doctor back in Mexico who can 'seal' away Pietro's immortality. She offers to introduce Pietro and Dominico to the witch doctor for an 'introduction fee,' and invites them to return to Mexico sooner rather than later. By the summer of 1936, Pietro and Dominico are desperate enough to rob the profits of one of the Martillo Family's gambling dens (witnessed by a Gandor man, who reports the incident to his superior) along a potential amount of money from Gandors before fleeing to Mexico.
Unbeknownst to either Pietro or Dominico, Elita's real job is to seduce and capture foreigners who are later sold via Antonio's human trafficking ring. She ropes them into performing at Antonio Baro's theater, where they are put to work as a two-man act; Antonio tells them that he will keep their money 'safe' until the witch doctor arrives, but until that day comes they will have to earn their keep on stage.
Dominico plays the part of a minister who "split the grand canyon at the age of 30," while Pietro is introduced as a man who has "experienced a miracle over and over." The act plays out as follows: Dominico and Pietro are escorted on stage, introduced, and a group of men in black decapitate Pietro in front of the audience. Dominco leads the audience in praying for a miracle, and lo and behold, Pietro always comes back to life.
The night of their 53rd performance finds Dominico unsure how to properly invoke a prayer, but thee audience dutifully echoes every awkward and mispronounced word he says. At one point he mispronounces a word, and one of the executioners corrects him. He proceeds to have a confused talk with the man on stage, the audience parroting him all the while, culminating in him snapping at the audience to pipe down. That he botched the prayer naturally does not matter, as Pietro regenerates regardless.
Pietro and Dominico are escorted back to their dungeon after the performance. Some time afterwards, Firo (one of the audience members) is thrown into the dungeon as well. After an hour of confused disbelief on the part of Dominico and Pietro (after all, how could this Firo possibly be the Firo they knew back in New York?) Firo finally convinces them that he is the Firo they are familiar with. He explains that he came to Mexico in search of them, demanding an explanation for their earlier theft. Pietro explains that it is because he wants to die, and Dominico says it is because he wants Pietro to die.
Firo is understandably confused, but after some back-and-forth he manages to glean Pietro's misadventures at the granary as well as the current status of the Martillo's money: it is currently in Antonio's possession, and Pietro and Dominico firmly believe that Antonio will return the money to them so that they can pay the witch doctor as promised. When Firo explains that they have been tricked, they do not believe him.
Isaac and Miria are thrown into the dungeon later on, and just like with Firo, Pietro and Dominico are initially suspicious as to Isaac and Miria's identities. However, this time it only takes two minutes for them to be convinced that Isaac and Miria really are themselves. Relieved, Firo broaches the topic of escape—only to be completely misunderstood, and it takes an hour for Pietro and Dominico to wrap their heads around his plan.
Pietro asks Firo if he will let him continue to pursue mortality once they all escape, and Firo wonders what sort of problem Pietro could possibly have with eternal life when several gunshots ring out overhead. The noise is so clear that Firo realizes the ceiling must be thin enough to punch through, and he instructs the others to help him listen for the thinnest part of the ceiling. Pietro and Dominico fail to grasp what the task entails, but Isaac and Miria understand and eventually the ones who identify the ceiling's breaking point.
As one, the five of them exert force on the spot until the floor caves in and Antonio and Luck Gandor come crashing down with it. Firo takes Antonio hostage so that the others can escape, and convinces Luck not to kill Pietro and Dominico.
The group of six and Antonio escape into the desert where Firo and Luck's automobile is stationed. Before they reach the car, however, Elita and the black-clad showmen arrive and lasso Pietro and Dominico and shortly thereafter Isaac and Miria. Firo and Luck reluctantly release Antonio as they are surrounded, and Luck signals to Firo that they may as well die. The two are subsequently shot dead. Isaac and Miria pass out in horror, and Antonio offers Pietro and Dominico one last chance: either they can come back to work at his theatre, or they can drown in the Gulf of Mexico. After all, he sneers, a monster and a moron (using his old monikers for them) cannot survive on their own.
Out of desperation, Dominico prays his stage prayer over Firo and Luck's corpses. The showmen laugh and mockingly imitate him, only to gape when Firo and Luck really do come back to life. Firo proceeds to threaten Antonio while Elita and the showmen flee for their lives, and Antonio's fate is left to the listeners' imaginations.
After Firo explains Pietro and Dominico's circumstances to Luck, Luck decides to take Baro's money as recompense and let bygones be bygones. Pietro and Dominico misunderstand the idiom he uses and decide they must leave, which is just as well considering that they still need to find the witch doctor. Firo once more tries to convince them that their goal is unattainable, and decides not to tell them about devourment when Pietro asks if there really is no way for him to die.
Dominico and Pietro resolve to continue their search for the witch doctor down south, and Isaac and Miria decide that they may as well continue searching for the Revolution down south as well. Firo lightly asks them all to 'hurry back' as they set off across the desert, realizing afterward that he never learned why Pietro so desperately desires death. Pietro dashes back, declares that he does not want to live life if there is no Dominico to share it with, and then rejoins Dominico to resume their quest for mortality.
Trivia[]
- In August 2002, Angelo is mulling over possible locations for safely hiding his 'boss', Carnea, and decides that one Pietro's Bar will do. It is possible that this Pietro is in fact Pietro Gonzales, who very plausibly might never have learned of devourment and subsequently survived into the twenty-first century.