Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre: The Adventures Of Manny Rivera
Title: 'Scar'
Summary: The first (and only) clue Maria had that her son was a hero was the most obvious, as well as the only one she needed.
Setting: Not long after Manny started fighting crime, so the city doesn't know his identity quite yet.
...
There were many ways to tell when someone was acting as a hero. Or villain, depending upon the person.
Lateness was one way. Rodolfo had always been up early in the morning, before the sun arose, to fight crime. Likewise, Grandpapi preferred to wake up early to stake out possible places to pillage. Sometimes, they wouldn't come back until late at night, when the moon was high in the sky and the rats were out chewing peoples vehicles to shreds. (Don't ask. Things like that just... happened in Miracle City). Manny had always slept in late and went to bed early during his visits, and he never showed any signs of insomnia, so she'd never even thought to worry about him staying up late or leaving early. After all, Rodolfo would never allow it. Right?
Injury was another. She knew all too well the feeling of the body hurting from the toes up, bones broken, muscles bruised. Rodolfo came back with his jaws broken and teeth missing all the time. His fingers might be broken, one more than a few occasions his toes were smashed. Grandpapi had lost more than a few teeth, and he quite possibly lacked a toe or two. Even she'd broken a few bones during her days as with her horrid glove. Manny, while having a few bruises here and there, seemed perfectly healthy. He wasn't the largest, or the toughest, kid in his school, and this was Miracle City, so it was no surprise that he'd be beaten up here and there, right?
Scarring sealed the deal. If someone had scars in a place like Miracle City and didn't have a record then the chances were they were a hero. Rodolfo had multiple scars along his ribs and back, amongst other places. Grandpapi had a forever mysterious scar along the side of his chest (which she still didn't know how he got) and probably many others that she hadn't seen or heard of. Even she had... one or two, little, tiny, scars here and there. Nothing big or life threatening, nothing to tell Manny about. He'd find out in his own time.
Her jaw felt permanently locked in place, hanging by a mere thread of muscle and bone. Manny awkwardly shuffled his feet. "Mom? Is something wrong?"
"M-Miho..." Her jaw cracked, snapping shut, then reopening. She resisted the urge to hyperventilate. "Manny, what happened to your face?"
She hadn't seen much of Manny lately, true, but she'd only suspected he'd been in trouble with the principal again. Apparently, she'd been wrong. Very wrong.
"My face?" He paused, racking his brain. The proverbial light bulb went off as his eyes lit up. "Ohhhh, you mean my eye. Meh, nothing big. A cat got me, is all."
"A cat? Let me see." She bent down. He dropped his head, faithfully closing his eye to give her a better view. "Are you sure it was a cat that did this too you?"
"Yup. Seriously, Mom, it's no big deal."
The cut was far to large, and far to clean, to be from just any cats claws. It started from just under the hairline, slashing it's way across his eye and down part of his cheek. The cut was sharp and pointed, and she was well aware that no panicking cat, no matter how sharp of claws or mind, could make such a cut.
So... he'd taken up his fathers (or grandfathers) line of work, had he? At this young of age? What was Rodolfo thinking?
"Not a big deal? Manny, you could have lost your eye!"
He raised an eyebrow. "Lost my eye? Mom, I already told you, it was just a cat. It was lucky it got me enough to scar, really."
She bit her lip. Lying, that was a villain trait, not a heroes, but the attempt to reassure them was an action a hero would take. Which side was he on? It was harder to tell then it normally was. She could tell Grandpapi was evil the moment she met him, the same with Rodolfo and his hero antics. But... Manny almost seemed... indecisive.
"Let me go get my medical kit."
"Mom, it's already healed!" He made no attempt to stop her as she began digging around the room. He'd learned at a young age that she was just as stubborn as his dad and Grandpapi, but, unlike them, she was much better at using the parental card to get him to do what she wanted. It was best to just give up while he was ahead.
Later on, she got a name. 'El Tigre.' A undecided super powered tiger themed boy, with tiger claws. Very, very, sharp tiger claws.
And it was that day, clutching the newspaper to her chest, remembering the scar and forgetfulness of it's very existence, that she decided to let it go as well. If Manny didn't want to talk about it, then she wouldn't ask. She'd get the story off Rodolfo or Grandpapi later, anyway.
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