Chapter 4: Grandpapi's Secret
Sartana walked through the doors of her hide-out with an unconscious Frida in her arms. Zoe was sitting in Sartana's chair, waiting anxiously for her return.
"Phase one is complete." Sartana said, and Zoe looked up and ran over to her.
"You have her?!" Sartana nods. "Excellent."
"Open the cell so I can put her in." Zoe ran over to the cell and opened the door. Sartana threw Frida in and slammed the door shut. "That should hold her for a while."
"I can't believe that you got her so fast."
"It wasn't difficult; I am Sartana of the Dead." Sartana turned away from the cell and sat down on her chair.
"You…you didn't hurt Manny did you?"
Sartana looked offended. "Me?! How dare you ask such a thing! We did have a deal didn't we?!"
"Oh…sorry Sartana; I was just asking."
"It's quite alright Zoe, but just so we're clear: I knocked Frida out and grabbed her before Manny even had the chance to spin his belt."
Zoe seemed relieved. "Thank you Sartana; it means a lot to me."
"I know, I know." Zoe sits down next to Sartana and there is a short pause. Sartana takes out her guitar and starts to play a song; she had just started to get into it when Zoe interrupted.
"Oh, Sartana?"
"Yes?"
"Manny will be here tomorrow night?"
"Yes." Sartana said, and went back to playing her guitar.
"Sartana?" Zoe asked again.
"Yes, Zoe?" Sartana asked, very irritated.
"I actually had an idea for tomorrow night when Manny 'comes to the rescue'."
"Well? What is it?!"
"Well, I was thinking that we could fake a fight right before he gets here to make it look like I'm actually trying to save her."
"Yeah, sure, whatever you say." She went back to playing again.
"Oh, Sartana!"
Sartana jerked and a string on her guitar broke. "WHAT?!"
"I was just going to say that I like the song you were playing…"
Sartana would have given anything to knock Zoe upside the head with her guitar, but she restrained herself because she didn't want her to know that the deal was a sham, and she still needed her to be able to carry out her evil plan. If Zoe found out, she could let Frida go, warn Manny of her plan, or even attempt to break her guitar once again. All she had to do was get through one more day. Sartana fixed her guitar sting and started to play once again. Zoe looked up at her and noticed the new scar on her face.
"Hey Sartana? Where'd you get that scar? It looks new."
"What are you talking about? I've had this scar forever!"
"No you haven't. It wasn't there this morning." Sartana didn't know what to tell Zoe, and she was about to start panicking when a noise came from the cell and Frida slowly woke up.
"Dude that was one crazy dream…"
"Ah…so she's awake." Sartana said, relieved that the subject was changed, and she stood up and walked over to Frida.
Frida jumped at the sight of her. "So…it wasn't a dream?"
"Oh no Frida, this is very real."
"Then what do you want with me? What's going on?"
"All in good time…" Sartana turned away and went back to her chair to play the guitar some more.
"Hello Frida." Zoe had walked up to the cell.
"Zoe? What are you doing here? Manny put you and the rest of your Flock of Fury in jail!"
"People do escape, Frida; it's not entirely impossible."
"What are you doing with Sartana of the Dead?"
"I happen to have a deal with her."
"You made a deal with Sartana?" Frida asked like it was a joke. "What'd you do? Bring her back or something?" Frida sees Zoe's serious face. "You did?"
"Maybe."
"Well, what does this deal have to do with me?!"
"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out." Zoe turns to walk away.
"This is all about vendetta isn't it?"
Zoe turns back to Frida. "It is much more than that now, Frida." They both stare evilly at each other, then Zoe turns again and walks away.
Manny was lying in his bed, still unconscious from the fight. Rodolfo, Maria, and Grandpapi were all sitting around his bed, waiting for him to wake up; Maria was pressing a warm washcloth to his head. "Manny? Manny, wake up." Maria pleaded with a shaky voice. Manny's eyes slowly started to open, and when they were open he jolted up fast.
"Frida!" he yelled and broke out into a sweat.
Rodolfo placed his hands on Manny's chest and back and slowly brought him back down to calm him. "It's alright Manny, we're all here."
"Wait a minute; what? How…how did I get back in the house?"
"We were worried sick about you when you didn't come in for dinner. I called you and you didn't answer and I…I started to…" Maria starts hyperventilating. Rodolfo hands her a paper bag and she starts to breath into it.
"What happened Manny? Why were you El Tigre and unconscious on the ground?" Rodolfo asked.
"She took her! She took Frida!"
"Who took Frida, Manny?"
"Sartana."
"Now Manny, I think you hit your head a little too hard…"
"No! It was her, Dad! And she took Frida!"
"But that's impossible, Manny. Sartana is dead; well...more dead than she was before." said Grandpapi.
"She's back! I don't know how, but she is; and she took Frida!"
"Are you sure that this wasn't just a dream?" asked Maria.
"It wasn't a dream, Mom! This really happened! And if I don't do something about this, something bad is gonna happen to Frida!"
"Calm down, Manny." said Grandpapi. "If this is what really happened, then we have nothing to worry about. It's not like this is the first time Frida has been captured by Sartana."
"No, you don't understand! Sartana said that I had to bring my El Tigre belt to her old hide-out tomorrow night or she would…" Manny stopped because he realized what he was about to say.
"Or she would what, Manny?" asked Rodolfo. Manny shook his head; he couldn't say it out loud. "What did she say she would do, Manny?!
"She said she would…kill Frida." Manny nearly fell apart when he said that. This couldn't happen, he wouldn't let it.
"Manny…you can't give Sartana your belt." said Grandpapi.
"What are you talking about?! Of course I have to give her my belt!"
"But Manny, if you give her that belt she is going to-"
"I don't have a choice! If I don't give her my belt, she is going to kill Frida!"
"But you love that belt."
Manny could not believe what he was hearing. Why did no one understand that Frida meant the world to him? "I love Frida more than I love this stupid belt!" he tore it off and threw it onto the ground. "All it has ever done was get me into trouble!"
"But Manny, El Tigre is a part of who you are."
"So is Frida! And I'm not going to let her die! I'm not going to let Sartana kill her while I sit here and do nothing!"
"You really do love her then." said Maria. Manny nods.
"Then we'll help you," started Rodolfo, "We'll go with you tomorrow night and-"
"No, I have to go alone; Sartana said I had to go alone."
"Whatever you want to do m'ijo, I will respect it. Good night."
Rodolfo stood up and he and Maria left Manny's room, leaving him and Grandpapi alone. There was a brief moment of silence and he moved over to the chair that was closest to Manny's bed. "Manny?"
"Yes Grandpapi?"
"I have something I need to tell you." He took a deep breath. "It's my fault that Frida was kidnapped."
"What?"
"Well, it was my fault that Sartana has returned."
"You brought her back?!"
"No, I didn't bring her back; I don't know who did." He stood up from the chair. "When you defeated those villains two weeks ago, Rodolfo and I were trying to figure out how to get rid of the pieces of Sartana's guitar."
Two weeks earlier, Police Chief Suarez gave the pieces of Sartana's guitar to Rodolfo and Grandpapi to get rid of. They had been discussing it for a long time and they couldn't figure it out.
"How do we dispose of these wooden pieces of Evil?!" Rodolfo asked loudly for the fifth time.
"I don't know; maybe if you stop asking yourself and actually do something about it they might be gone already!"
"Well, why don't we bury them?"
"No, someone could find them."
"Put them on the bottom of the ocean?"
"Still, someone could find them."
"Ah-ha, I've got it! Why don't we burn them?"
"No! You can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"If you burn them, they'll all form back together. I don't know how, they just do."
"How do you this?"
"I was engaged to her, wasn't I?"
"I suppose you are right." Rodolfo hands the pieces to Grandpapi.
"What are you giving them to me for?"
"Since you know so much about them, then you dispose of them."
"Okay fine." Grandpapi agreed with a lack of enthusiasm.
"Thank you; but do hurry. Maria's coming over for dinner!" he jumped with joy and scampered home.
Grandpapi stood there with the pieces in his arms and tried to think. After a couple of minutes, he finally decided that he would spread them all over the country, in different countries if he must. He changed back into Puma Loco and was about to leave town when he saw it; a poster for a special exhibit at the museum. He looked closer at it and the picture definitely caught his eye. "Oooh, El Diamenta Rosa de la Luna at the museum. It's so shiny!" He stood there and stared at the poster for a while, but he finally snapped out of it. "No, I must get rid of these first!" He tried to walk away, but he had to look at the poster once more. As he looked at it, he noticed that there was a caption at the bottom of the poster and he read it. "What?! It's being transferred to another museum tomorrow?! It's not fair! Not fair I tell you!" He looks at the pieces of guitar in his hand, then back up at the poster. He didn't know what to do, he wanted to help get rid of Sartana for good, but he really wanted that rose. He couldn't resist. He flew out into the desert and chucked the pieces everywhere. "Nobody's going to be looking for them anyways." He then flew to the museum for the rose.
"So you see, I let greed over-come me that night. I just wanted that rose so badly that I forgot about what was really important. I just figured that since there were no more villains to compete with…I…I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I'm so sorry Manny." He put his hand on Manny's shoulder but Manny nudged his shoulder to knock Grandpapi's hand off. "I don't expect you to forgive me, Manny. I just hope that you don't hate me."
It took Manny a while to absorb all of this before he spoke. "I don't hate you Grandpapi; I'm just…very disappointed in you."
"I know." He gets up and starts to leave his room. "Get some sleep, you're gonna need it for tomorrow. I hope you'll be able to get Frida back."
"Oh, I will get her back."
"Good night, Manny."
"Night." Grandpapi left his room. Manny then stood up from his bed and walked over to the window. He pulled the curtain back and looked out at the stars. "I will get Frida back no matter what it takes." He takes a deep breath and said, very slowly in a serious voice, "This I Swear!"
