Chapter 4

Conversation Between Friends

Frida finally came to after a few hours of unconsciousness. The first thing she saw was her cat standing over her, staring at her face. It licked her nose with its rough, pink tongue. She swatted it away, and it jumped off the bed. Frida ran her hand through her bangs. "What hit me?" She couldn't remember much; but by the position of the sun in the sky, she figured that she had been out for quite some time. Footsteps were heard in the hallway. Emiliano Suarez entered his daughter's room, unannounced.

"Mija, are you okay?" Frida nodded.

"I'm fine, dad," she answered. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. "But I don't exactly remember what happened with Sartana of the Dead." Emiliano folded his arms.

"She was defeated." Frida's eyes widened considerably.

"Eh? She was!?"

"Si. Apparently that…" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "...El Tigre smashed her guitar." Frida snapped her fingers.

"Oh yeah! El Tigre! He's the one who saved me!"

"Saved you!?" Emiliano exploded. "It's because of him that you got hit by Sartana!" So that's what happened, Frida realized.

"Big deal, Dad. I'm fine, aren't I?" Frida folded her arms in defiance and stood up. "Besides, he saved me. You should be grateful to him for that." She walked past her father and into the hall. "I'm going to talk to Manny for a bit." This only served to agitate her father even more.

"I thought I told you I disliked you hanging around that boy!"

"Geez, Dad! What's up with you!? Why do you hate Manny and El Tigre so much? You like my other friends just fine!" Frida was down the stairs before her father could reply. Although he was sure she wouldn't hear him, Emiliano called out,

"Because they're both too dangerous for you to be around!" Maybe he was making assumptions too early on, but Chief Suarez could already tell that El Tigre would become one of the biggest problems in his life.

He didn't know how right he was.

Casa Del Macho…

Many paced back and forth. He wasn't sure how, exactly, but somehow he had ended up being Miracle City's new hero; the new 'White Pantera', as a civilian had quoted. Just who is he, anyway? Sartana's words replayed in his mind.

"You're the son of that White Pantera hero from years ago!"

Manny stopped pacing and folded his arms. Am I really the son of a superhero? He didn't think it was possible for him, a normal teen, to be that extraordinary. Speaking of normal… "How do I return to normal!?" He knew for a fact that just yelling out 'change back' wasn't going to work; he had already tried that plan. So how would I change-? Suddenly, the door burst open, and Frida barged in. (A/N: Yes, door. Broken and somewhat off the hinges, but still a door)

"Manny! Sorry I didn't come today, but you won't believe what happened to me! Sartana of the Dead came to my school and-" She paused and frowned. No one was there. "Oh, come on! Where'd he go?" She rolled her eyes. "I swear, if he's gotten himself into another fight and gets hurt again, I'm going to castrate that moron myself!" She left the abandoned building, in search of her friend, completely unaware of his location…Which, currently, was the ceiling. Manny had been so surprised by Frida's arrival that he had jumped into the air. In fear of his best friend finding him in his El Tigre outfit, he had simply stayed on the ceiling by using his claws to dig into the cement. His enhanced strength kept him there. Manny dropped down from his hiding spot and landed in a crouching position.

"First I get so surprised that I jump, and now I'm landing perfectly on my feet and hands…" He stood up, shaking his head. "I was right; this outfit's messing with me." He turned his head towards the door, sort of scared. "And what is with her and castrating me?" If I didn't know better, I'd think she wants to do it herself… He shook his head, recalling more important matters. "Now back to the matter at hand…How the hell do I get back to normal!? There's gotta be some way I can return to my ordinary self!

The buckle.

Manny paused in his ranting. "Hey, it's that voice again…" He looked down at his belt. "Wha…The belt buckle? What does that have to do with anything?" He stared at the silver buckle adorning the belt with perplexed green eyes. He looked at it from every angle possible, tilting his head to the right. "Besides the whole giving-me-a-super-powered-outfit thing, it seems like any regular-" He cut himself off. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he realized, somewhat, what he had to do. A knowing smile slowly crept across his face. "But it's not an ordinary belt buckle, is it?" He raised an eyebrow, still grinning. "Now I get it." Manny twirled the buckle a second time, but instead of feeling the power enter his body, he felt it leaving; and, just like before, the transformation had been quick and easy.

Manny looked at his hands; no gloves or claws. He felt the side of his face, and was relieved to feel no fur; or a mask, for that matter. But the most reassurance came when he looked down and saw his normal clothing. He wiped his forehead. "Thank God… I don't know what I would've done if I couldn't change back…" And now that I have my clothes again… Manny dashed out the door, hoping Frida wasn't too far away. Fortunately for him, he knew Frida very well…

Three blocks down…

"One churro, please."

"Right away, senorita." Frida played with her bracelet absent-mindedly. She had checked everywhere Manny could possibly have been, hell, she even checked with Paolo, and she still hadn't found her friend. She decided he must be avoiding her for some reason. Sure, it was jumping to conclusions, but he had never done this before…Well, once, but it was because Manny had been in trouble with the principal of their middle school. The whole scenario involved a hot glue gun, fire and a stink bomb, but Frida didn't want to bring that story up unless Manny was around to laugh at it with her. Speaking of which…

"Frida!" The blue-haired girl's head jerked up at the sound of her name being called. She turned around and saw Manny running to catch up with her. He adjusted his jacket as he stopped running. "Found you."

"Found me?" Frida replied. "I was the one looking for you."

"Yeah, somehow I knew you'd be looking for me…"

"But how'd you know I'd be-"

"Frida, it's a churro stand. It's pretty obvious you'd be here."

"Here you go, senorita." Frida turned her head to the churro salesman and grinned.

"Alright! Thanks!" She put two dollars in the man's hand, grabbing her churro in the process. She turned back to Manny and started walking. "So anyway, you wanted to talk?" Manny walked beside her.

"Uh, no. You wanted to talk to me."

"Oh yeah. Sorry." Frida bit off a piece of her churro. "Anyway, didja' hear about what happened at my school today?" Manny feigned shock.

"No, what happened?" he asked, fake worry detained in his voice. He tried to act surprised without sounding sarcastic. It turned out that he was a very good actor.

"Sartana of the Dead went after that gold statue that was lent to Leone High!"

"Really? Did she get away?" Frida shook her head and smiled, taking another bite of her snack.

"That's the surprising part; Sartana was beaten!" Manny's jaw dropped in false surprise.

"Get out. By who?"

"A new hero who calls himself El Tigre." Frida gazed at the red-orange sky. "He really doesn't look like the kind of person who could conquer Sartana; plus, he's sort of cocky…" Manny laughed, biting back a retort. Yeah, thanks. Nice to know what you think of me. "But he was pretty cool." Manny stopped his laughter and stared at Frida in surprise. "His hand extended into a chain, cool power, and he slammed Sartana into the wall over and over! Plus, this guy has the more flexibility than an acrobat! He even saved me from one of Sartana's minions, even though I did get hurt slightly." A light blush crept across Manny's cheeks.

"H-he sounds like an awesome guy…" he murmured.

"I bet he is." Frida continued to smile, her face turning pink. Manny just figured it was from the sunset. He snorted.

"The way you talk about him, you sound like you like him or something…" he snickered.

"Maybe I do." Manny almost lost his footing from her comment. He coughed, trying to get his breath back.

"W-wait, what…!?" He stared at her. "You can't be serious." Frida raised an eyebrow.

"I said maybe, stupid," she replied. Manny turned red again. Oh God, she's crushing on me! Well, not me, but part of me! "And what do you care?" Frida's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"I don't, but…Why him? There are probably a bunch of other normal guys out there!"

"If you're talking about Sergio, I think I'll pass."

"Not that moron!"

"Then who were you implying?" Manny went silent, his mouth opening and closing before shutting it completely. He folded his arms tightly and looked away.

"No one; forget it…" Frida gave him a skeptical stare.

"You know, if I didn't know you better, I'd say you were jealous, Manny." Manny's caramel eyes shot open.

"Jealous!? Why would I be-!?" He stared at her with an irritated face. He couldn't tell if she was teasing him or being serious. "Believe me, I'm not. And if I was, I wouldn't get jealous of him." Is it even possible to get jealous of myself? He went with yes. Why can't she like someone other than El Tigre? I'd even be okay with her liking the real me... He blinked, only processing his thoughts seconds after having them. Err, I'll drop the idea. He shook his head slightly. "Besides, I wouldn't get jealous over you." Frida frowned.

"Oh, is that so?" She folded her arms. "Glad to know you think I'm so unappealing." Manny's face faltered.

"Eh? No! I never said-!"

"You didn't have to." She picked up her pace a little bit. "I have to go now; I actually told my dad I was going to talk to you and if I don't go back now, he's going to kill me."

"Are you saying that because you think I said-?"

"Later, Manny." Frida was now running ahead of him.

"Hey, wait! Frida-" She didn't hear him. Either that or she was ignoring him. He smacked his forehead. "Smooth, Rivera, smooth…" How can my own alter ego get me into so much trouble?

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Well, now Manny gets a taste of what his split personality's gonna cause him in the future. Not just problems with Frida, but everything else as well…Muwahahaha.