Hey... been a while, huh? So let's cut out the heart-felt apologies and skip to the good stuff... a sequal to my "The Game of Love", featuring my favorite El Tigre pairing Black Cuervo & Dr. Chipotle Jr.
Synopsis: 6 months after their first meeting, Dr. Chipotle Jr. and Black Cuervo have a good love going. But when Zoë's mother and grandmother declare Dr. Chipotle Jr. a misfit and unworthy, he has to pull out all stops to get the Flock's approval. Meanwhile, a jealous El Tigre does not appreciate the partnership between Dr. Chipotle Jr. and Black Cuervo. It seems that all forces are out to destory the two pint-sized supervillains' love. Will it survive?
I take most of my inspiration and titles from the great Carlos Santana, so if you see a connection, you now know.
AN: As I tear down this city, all CJzilla has to roar is this: Flame... fluff... I don't care. CJzilla owns nothing of El Tigre or Carlos... I own story and reviews...
Contigo:
1. with you
Contigo
Chapter 1
Let The Children Play
The bell rang. Doors of class rooms flew open and kids suddenly flooded the once quiet hallways. Tumblers in locker doors made quite a deafening sound, but not enough to overshadow the excited talking of the Leone Middle School children. They only had about five minuets of unadulterated chat time with their friends before they scrambled to their next class.
From a third-person view point, the change of classes was a trivial affair. Children would treat this time like the last cold glass of water in the middle of a desert. It's not like there weren't other period changes where they saw their friends; OR lunch time. That's not even mentioning once school was let out. Still the kids savored every last second of the five minuets allowed to switch classes.
Finally, the warning bell rang. Some kids, like the studious or well behaved, immediately ran to their next class room. Others took a more casual approach by moseying from room to room. But suddenly the hallways were clear of students. And then the final bell rang. 7th period had begun. It was now time for him to come out of the shadows and head to his next class.
And from the darkness of the stairwell, a small figure emerged. Huffing, Diego Chavez finally stepped into the quiet hallway, thankful that the unearthly din of squealing girls, chortling boys and sniffling nerds didn't make him deaf. Grasping his books under his arm, he made his way unhindered to his next class.
From a physical standpoint, this scowling niño pequeño wasn't much to look at. Small height, small frame and even smaller feet, his glasses seemed bigger than he was. But for anyone who knew Diego… his attitude, intellect and reputation certainly made up for his slight stature. Leone Middle School had a true legend gracing their two-bit building.
7th period meant Science Class. It was a fair-weather session; one that he had a love/hate relationship with. Diego easily trounced even the worst that the 8th grade level science class threw at him. The ten-year-old science and math prodigy was at the top of his grade and science class was particularly a breeze. However… it also posed a great challenge for the young boy. As soon as he swung open that class room door, he was well aware of how much he hated school.
The door squeaked open with enough volume to wake the dead and all eyes subsequently followed. The teacher, who was at the chalk board, heard Diego's entrance. The man, like any other educational head, loathed tardiness. And as he spun to address the "delinquent", he stopped short. Suddenly a smile slammed onto his homely face as he saw his favorite student standing there.
"Mr. Chavez!" He cheered, his eyes getting even wider from behind his thick, coke-bottle glasses. "So nice to see you!"
The boy just glowered at the teacher's embarrassing outburst. Inwardly aware of the science teacher's excited expression and the students' snickering, Diego marched up to his regular perch at the front of the class. Dropping his books with a loud sound, he sat with a sigh. That never deterred the looks on the class's faces OR the teacher's.
"Oh! Thank you for joining us, Mr. Chavez!" The clicking of metal hooks sounded as the homely redheaded teacher did a clumsy version of an excited dance. "I have wonderful news! But I'm not afraid to repeat myself for my favorite student!"
Diego's eye twitched as more snickering rang out. The science teacher, who had hooked hands and left foot, thick glasses, dragon breath, tuffs of carrot-orange hair and a nose the size of a papaya, was never shy about his little "appreciation" of Diego. The ten-year-old expected the man to have a tattoo of his face somewhere on his homely body. Shivering with that visual, Diego tried to put his mind to what the teacher was babbling about.
"It's once again time for the Science Fair!" The man threw his hooked hands into the air and smiled as if he got to announce the greatest thing in the universe.
Diego actually appreciated the news. Another opportunity to flex his brainy muscles and make the kids of the Leone School feel inadequate. A devilish smile crossed his face too soon, because then he heard the rest of the news.
"So… class, please pair up in groups of two!" The teacher added, still beaming with excitement. Diego felt the rare sensation of fear compress his spine.
Suddenly the ten-year-old was flooded by students.
"Hey Diego! You wanna be partners?!" One kid tugged on his shirt. Diego recoiled like he was red-hot.
But he'd only bumped into someone else.
"Hey, Diego." A cute blond girl batted her blue eyes at him. "I'd like to be your partner."
And just as a shaken soda explodes, the ten-year-old was swamped by eager potential science partners. Just when Diego thought he'd have to physically fight his way out of the all-kid mob, the science teacher spoke up.
"SETTLE DOWN!" His nasally voice made all freeze. Diego was saved when the teacher came between him and all of the other kids. "Give Diego some room!"
The children shuffled back to their seats and sat anxiously. The ten-year-old boy breathed a sigh of relief. Curse these middle school popularity fads! And then the teacher panned back to him.
"Well, Mr. Chavez." He began, folding his hooked hands neatly behind his back. "As it appears that the whole class wants to be your partner, I'll give you the option to choose your project buddy."
Not bad… but not good. He wanted to do this project alone! He didn't want any other kid muddling up his thought process! As he glanced across the room and just as he was going to ask the science teacher if he could work solo, his crimson eyes caught sight of someone. One chica in particular. An evil smile split Diego's face as he hopped up on his chair.
"I choose… Zoë Aves!" The ten-year-old proclaimed, pointing a finger at the resident goth and bully. The thirteen-year-old girl's eyes widened with surprise as she appeared to be jolted from her "goth" thoughts.
"Qué?" Zoë gave a puzzled expression when she found all eyes on her.
A chorus of disappointed moans and equally angry glares only intensified the girl's confusion. Quite pleased with himself, Diego hopped out of his chair and walked over to the bully's back corner table. Sitting smugly beside the bewildered Zoë Aves, the boy gave her an arrogant smirk.
"Easy… A." He remarked, his smirk turning into a biting smile. The girl's pale face tightened into the scowl she was famous for.
Mumbling Spanish curses under her breath, she turned in her chair and glared out the window. Diego's smile only grew. Finally the science teacher cleared his throat and walked back over to the calk board. The homely man began rattling off some needless subject ideas for the science fair. As the class's attention focused on the teacher again, Diego turned his attention to the lovely girl sitting next to him.
He straightened his glasses, tipped his hat forward and threw on a suave smile. Grasping the sides of his chair, Diego scooted dangerously close to the goth bully.
"Hola, Miss Aves." He whispered to her in a sing-song voice. "Looking caliente today."
He'd never deny the goofy love-struck look on his face. Diego merely lost all of his self-respect when he was near this heavenly chica. Zoë turned in her seat, a repressed laugh held in her mouth and a knowing look in her cold eyes.
"Smooth, short-stuff." She teased quietly, amused by his nearness. Diego nodded.
"I'm Diego, baby." He snapped his fingers at her, smiling like he was irresistible. "No one's smoother than me."
And the boy raised his eyebrows suggestively before giving her a wolfish purr. Zoë Aves clapped her hand to her mouth to prevent a giggle from escaping. Normally, any boy who had the nerve to shamelessly flirt with her got one of her fingerless goth gloves in his mouth. But this was Diego. She'd seen quite a lot of the ten-year-old nerd over the past two semesters and his goofy antics never failed to pull a smile onto her face.
"Nice acting, suavecito." The girl coyly remarked, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "Chu really had me believing chu don't care."
Diego rubbed his arm where the girl had hit him and felt heat rise to his face.
"And I expected YOU to be at the front of that 8th grade mob, harpy." The brainy boy teased. Zoë Aves rolled her red-purple eyes, still beautiful even though under heavy amounts of black makeup.
"Chu would have liked dat, wouldn't chu?" The girl still held to an amused smirk as she flipped her short purplish-black hair vainly. Diego merely quirked a playful eyebrow.
He tossed his thumb to the front of the class.
"Well, I'm sure that cute blond chica-" He didn't have the opportunity to finish when he found himself nearly yanked off of his chair by his shirt collar. Zoë glared poison at him, her knuckles curled into a foreboding fist.
"FINISH dat sentence… I dare chu!" The goth bully threatened loudly, her fist poised to rake across Diego's face. Silence rang out in the classroom.
"Miss Aves!" The teacher barked, venom on his tone seeing that the girl was menacing his favorite student. Finally Zoë tore her eyes off of the ten-year-old in her grasp and looked at the man. "Is there a problem?"
Those piercing red-violet eyes narrowed and her glossy scarlet lips rippled into a forced frown.
"No." She answered, her tone causing all kids to wince. The goth pushed Diego back and off of his chair.
On the floor and on the flat of his back, the boy felt a twisted smile come to his face. Finally, pulling himself onto his chair and straightened his hat, Diego had no problem shaking off Zoë's outburst. The science teacher gave Zoë an angered glare before continuing the lesson. As soon as the attention was off of him and his project partner, Diego snickered. Zoë shot him a venom glance.
The boy just gave her a wide, goofy grin. Her eyes sharpened with anger.
"I will beat chu into a pulp in front of chur little fan club!" She hissed, turning in her chair to face him. "So don't tempt me!"
Another demonstration of her fist drove home the point. Diego knew she could slaughter him with but a bat of her eyelashes. But that never stopped him from teasing his girlfriend.
"I wouldn't be Dr. Chipotle Jr. without tempting a little fate, now would I, Cuervo?" The boy then lowered his glasses slightly down his nose, revealing a flash of metal and a crimson iris.
Zoë Aves felt a strange mix of anger and charm as Diego once again carelessly flaunted his biggest secret.
"How many times…" The girl's shoulders went rigid with anger as she slapped his hand and making him drop his glasses back to his nose. "… do I have to tell chu NOT to do dat here? People are smarter den dey look!"
Diego pushed his thick-framed glasses back to their normal position.
"Dr. Chipotle Jr. doubts anyone in this classroom can spell "smarter"!" The boy let loose a small, evil chortle. Then he kicked his feet up on the table. "Besides, Dr. Chipotle Jr.'s got it MADE here. Loosen up!"
Zoë was a little more seasoned at this whole "public school/secret super-villain identity" thing. After all, she'd been going to public school for her entire life. But Dr. Chipotle Jr.… had not; he'd only enrolled two semesters ago. He was too careless and that could prove very costly.
Again, the girl pushed her boyfriend's feet off of the table and grabbed him by the front of the shirt.
"Listen, short-stuff." Zoë frowned, pulling Diego to her face. "I don't want chu being expelled because chu were too careless about chur secret identity. If everyone found out dat chu are a supervillain, den chu would be forced to leave and I wouldn't be able to see chu every day. So… don't… push… it! Claro?!"
Diego swallowed, the sensation of Zoë pulling out his soul and consuming it coming on with intensity. It always happened like this. He'd always push his luck with the mighty Black Cuervo and then find himself tangled up in her claws, and at her mercy.
"OK. OK!" He whined. "I won't!"
Seeing that he'd surrendered, Zoë let Diego out of her grasp. Huffing, even though she'd won the fight, the girl returned her eyes to the chalkboard. The ten-year-old frowned and straightened his shirt. What a harpy! For brief flashes, Dr. Chipotle Jr. would wish that he'd enough nerve to win an argument with Black Cuervo. Just ONCE! But NO! With a super-genius IQ, enough firepower to waste a building and the genetic expertise to make a living guacamole army, Diego STILL didn't have what it took to command a conversation with his girlfriend.
He was a powerful and revered super-villain; but not when it came to his romantic relationship with Zoë Aves.
"Have I ever told chu how cute chu look angry?" His goofy smile returned with a vengeance as he looked up at Zoë. The girl was staring at him, a loopy smile on her face.
Diego's knees went weak and a love-struck stare-down commenced.
"I could stand to hear it more, harpy." He responded, giving her the same amorous grin.
The boy and girl were deeply in love. Their relationship made school worth it; just as long as they could see each other everyday. But as deep in love as they were, they kept their romance a secret during school hours. If their relationship was discovered, it could put their most cherished secrets in jeopardy. You see… Diego Chavez and Zoë Aves were no ordinary schoolyard children. They were, in fact, super-villains.
7th period ended and thus the kids moved onto the 8th. 8th period was history. Not one of Diego's favorites but at least he was sharing the class with his best friend. He saw Sergio grabbing his books from his locker and took advantage of the change of classes for once.
"Hey Sergio!" The ten-year-old greeted the equally small thirteen-year-old Italian transfer student. Sergio turned his freckled face to his best friend just as he shut his locker.
"Ciao, Diego!" The Italian teen slapped Diego on the back, jarring his glasses. But Dr. Chipotle Jr. put up with the constant near-beatings that Italians called "greetings"; he considered Sergio the closest thing to a friend outside his laboratory. "Nice-a to see-a you compañero!"
After all the thirteen-year-old Italian boy was also a fellow villain.
"One more class and we're home free!" Diego chirped, thankful that another day in this drool-monkey school was drawing to a close. "Dr. Chipotle Jr. doesn't know how you can do it, Sergio! I'm nearly going mad with the trivial scholastic learning and feeble-minded peers!"
Sergio shrugged as he and his friend casually made their way to history class.
"It's-a not that-a bad, Diego." The thirteen-year-old nerd grinned. "Besides-a… I get-a to see mah soul-mate filly every day-a."
A wily grin came over Sergio's face as he thought of Frida Suárez. The ten-year-old mad scientist shook his head.
"Me too. Me too." He was of course referring to Zoë; not that Sergio knew of Black Cuervo's secret civilian identity.
Suddenly a jealous frown came over Sergio's face as he stopped walking.
"How is-a it, that-a YOU have a girl-a-friend-a and I-a DON'T?!" He growled, stomping a foot. "You are-a three years-a younger than I am-a AND you-a don't have-a my exotic accent-a and-a style!"
An egotistical, amused, IF a little evil smile cracked over Diego's face.
"What can I say?" The ten-year-old shrugged smugly. "This chili… is spicy!"
He licked his finger and stuck to his hip, making the hissing sound along with it. Sergio rolled his red eyes jealously.
"So… what are-a you doing tonight-a?" The Italian boy hissed, balling fists. "Got-a date with your-a raven?"
Diego's face went red despite Sergio's openly hostile actions. Black Cuervo was indeed his raven and he DID have a date with her tonight; a STUDY date, that is.
"No." He shook his head, trying to force out his best pout. "I've got to tutor tonight… with Zoë Aves. We were partnered for the Science Fair next week."
Sergio immediately recoiled in terror and sympathy, letting out an equally girly gasp. If only he knew Zoë Aves WAS Black Cuervo.
"So sorry, Diego." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder like he was about to die. Now it was even harder for Diego to keep a pout on his face and his fist at his side.
"Sometimes, I'm too smart for my own good." Speaking of which, Sergio's expression suddenly turned fearful. Zoë Aves herself was approaching them.
It was inevitable really; all students had to share the hallways. The goth bully scowled as she dug her heel into Diego's foot before swatting Sergio's hat from off of his head. Both nerdy boys were left bullied as the girl walked down the hall to social studies class. Sergio growled and plucked his hat from the floor.
"How-a you got-a stuck tutoring-a that she-viper-a is unfortunate-a, partner." The Italian boy muttered straightening his hat on his dark brown hair. But Diego was too busy watching his secret girlfriend walk away to respond correctly.
"Sí… it's-… QUITE a shame." He drawled, studying Zoë's lovely gate. She was like that; she always went out of her way to smack him just to show how much she cared.
The love taps never bothered Diego; seeing her walk away did always did. There were some times he had to fight the urge to pounce on Zoë, hugging her dearly. But that wouldn't be wise. He'd give away their relationship and part of their supervillain identity. Suddenly Sergio waved a hand in front of his face.
"Diego? Hello-a?" The thirteen-year-old called out. Finally the ten-year-old super genius snapped out of his stare and focused on his friend. "Let's-a get a move-a on-a, partner. The bell is-a about to ring-a."
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