El Tigre: Chosen
"Holy churros!"
-Frida
Chapter 20
Frida and Maria stood facing each other as Doña Ultima took her place between them.
Maria went to put her glove on. "Frida…I apologize for whatever may happen when I fight as Plata Peligrossa."
Frida nodded, but didn't say anything. I'm gonna have to fight my best friend's mom…how loco is that?
Maria put on the glove and…
"YA TA TA! PLATA PELIGROSSA!" The mild-mannered librarian became the gung-ho, silver-suited, sombrero-wearing super heroine.
Frida unfolded her wings, charging up blue fire in her palms.
"The battle is Frida Suarez versus Plata Peligrossa! Begin!"
"AY YI YI!" In her ungloved hand, Plata Peligrossa hauled out a huge axe; her second object.
"Holy churros!" Frida cried as she dodged an axe-swing. With a SHUNK! Plata buried the axe in the arena floor.
"You will not escape the might of Plata Peligrossa!" Plata raised the axe, pulling up a chunk of the arena with it. She shook it off, and went at Frida again.
"Eep!" Frida squeaked, sidestepping a gloved fist smashing into the ground, and then a falling axe
"Why don't you fight, COWARD?" Plata Peligrossa taunted Frida.
"Oh no you did not…" Frida growled, her eyes flaring as she began a fireball barrage. Plata deflected them with her glove and axe, laughing.
"HA! That's more like it!"
Now it was Frida's turn to rush at Plata, her hands full of cerulean fire. Plata dodged from side to side as Frida swiped at her. Plata reached out with her glove and grabbed one of Frida's hands, snuffing out the fire. But Frida's other hand was still free and fiery, and she immediately put it to use, blasting the danger-loving super heroine with a burst of blue flame. Plata gasped, flinging Frida away, as well as the axe, which had become too hot to handle.
Frida smirked as Plata nursed her hand, but it didn't last long. They locked eyes, and charged. Frida gathered a fistful of fire, while Plata Peligrossa gathered energy in her glove. The energy and flame grew with each step they took, each step they got closer.
Then their fists collided. Energy and flame exploded, creating an enormous shockwave, pressing the other finalists back in their seats once more, and even forming cracks in the foundation of the coliseum itself.
The smoke cleared, revealing an arena in ruins. The ground was torn up, and little blue fires burned everywhere. But one thing was important; Plata Peligrossa was standing, while Frida was struggling to get up.
Plata Peligrossa cackled as she approached her writhing opponent. "HA! Weakling!" She pulled back her gloved fist, ready to strike the final blow.
"MOM! WAIT!" Manny called out, but his cries fell on deaf ears. Plata struck…but her fist passed straight through Frida's form, as if it were made of light. The light dispersed into firefly-like bits that scattered in the wind. The shock showed on Plata's face, as well as everyone else's. Only Doña Ultima seemed to be in the know, wearing her trademark grin.
"Ahhh!" All eyes turned to the an empty part of the stands, where Frida had crawled out from under the seats. She was holding the dream catcher that belonged to the Native American Two Moons; her second object, one that gave her the power of astral projection.
"Now that's what I call a power nap!" she yawned, stretching. "And oh yeah…" Frida threw a well-aimed fireball, striking Plata's glove, and knocking it off her hand. Plata Peligrossa instantly turned back into Maria, who started to hyperventilate. The glove tried to scuttle back to its master, but Frida was too fast. She jumped from the bleachers and landed on the glove, pinning it down with her foot.
Doña Ultima surveyed the scene, the damage, the gasping Maria, Frida and the glove, and shrugged.
"Well I guess I can call this one…the fight is over. Frida Suarez wins!"
The glove finally gave up its struggle, collapsing in defeat beneath Frida's heel. Frida went over to Maria. "There, there. Let's find you a nice paper bag to breathe into…" She took Manny's mom by the hand and lead her back into the stands.
Doña Ultima took the stage. "Well, that was exciting, wasn't it? Now the first stage of the finals is complete, and so we move on to the semifinals. Four competitors, two matches, one prize. In the first match we have Zoe "Black Cuervo" Aves versus Django of the Dead…" Cuervo looked nervously at Django, who was inspecting Sartana's guitar.
"…and in the second match we have Manny "El Tigre" Rivera versus Frida Suarez!"
Manny and Frida looked at each other and gulped. They were going to have to fight each other.
"But let's not worry about that right now," Ultima went on, "First our fighters will take a well deserved break. Rest up, I have a feeling this is going to be…shall we say, rough?" With that, she vanished.
The remaining contestants exchanged glances.
Four competitors.
Two matches.
One prize.
Things were going to be rough indeed.