Clean Fall Chapter 9, an el tigre fanfic

Author Says: I'm back in school. And this semester may prove to be exceedingly difficult. So please, don't feel upset if I don't make my weekly update quota. Granted, you do put up with quite a bit in terms of chapter delays for your favorite stories, dear readers. Surely you won't be troubled by taking time to keep all of my affairs in order.

Care to see where things are going with all of this? Well, there MAY be a teaser on my deviantART account that glimpses into a possible future. If you want to see this possible ending, go to Sceptridium on deviantART and take a look. If you don't like anything even remotely similar to spoilers, you can probably just wait and ignore it. Either way, there's no guarantee anything of the sort will happen.

Chapter 9, Relentless

Miracle City Volcano base, 9:02 PM

"… You're joking, right?"

"I'm afraid not."

"You actually expect me to climb this," Maxim stated coolly, staring up the imposing mountain's side. He didn't really enjoy the idea.

"Come now, M. You're not afraid of heights, are you?"

"No… but this is completely unnecessary. There's a service road right there. Would riding your stagecoach up as far as possible really be that big a deal?"

"In order for the ritual to succeed, we must first struggle. Now, no more time for talk. We have to reach the summit before midnight, or else we need to try again tomorrow."

And that was that. As much as Maxim hated unnecessary exercise, he didn't really want to deny that this would all be worth it in the end. He questioned it, yes, but every time he convinced himself that this was exactly what he needed. Fine. He started up the service road after Sartana and some of her banditos.

Sergio's Lair, four hours ago (5:00 PM)

He had long ago taken to growling himself to sleep…it was so unfair. He was promised that Frida would be his, if only he served. Well, what now? What now?! Sergio was coming very close to giving up on Frida's heart once more. Was it M's business to simply crush people and build up their remains in whatever way he saw fit? Perhaps so… but the blinking light on the computer console interrupted his angry thoughts before he could think of much else. It took some time to get to the console, mostly because Sergio didn't care what he happened to run into. Upon reaching it, he pushed a button, and the blinking stopped. He took a deep, preparatory breath…

"You may speak."

"You're needed."

"Oh… it's you."

"You were expecting someone else?"

"I don't'a know what I was expecting," Sergio replied as he sank into his chair in total despair. Not anger, just sadness.

"Frida Suarez…"

"… Yes."

"You have stiff competition."

"Because'a you couldn't kill him," Sergio shouted, replacing abject sorrow with a new surge of rage. "Manny is the one she wants! As long as he's alive, you can't'a fulfill your promise! So why should I listen to you?"

"He's not the only one after Frida… is he?"

"… What are you saying?"

"Chipotle…"

Miracle City Volcano, 10:30 PM

The going was slow. Even with the service road, Maxim was actually having trouble climbing the mountain. He may be able to hold his own in pitched battle… but gravity was certainly one foe he'd never overcome. He found it absurd once more that they were climbing instead of riding. We must struggle… that's what Sartana had told him. Well, why was he the only one struggling then? He was the only one with a body that wasn't powered by some arcane underworld magic, who needed oxygen and rest. When Maxim paused to look up to the summit and saw that it was still very far away, he grumbled angrily, getting back to trudging up the dusty trail.

"Griping won't get us any closer…"

"Unless you're going to tell me you've changed your mind about getting to the top," he forced out through increasingly heavy breaths, "I don't want you to talk to me."

Diego's Safe House, 3 and a half hours ago (7:05 PM)

He recalled Tuesday as if it were just this morning… Tuesday, the last day he was seen in public. And he got to spend it with Frida. That was a good day. Staring at the concrete ceiling of the dilapidated basement in which he hid, Diego was allowing his mind to wander much as so many others had in the past week, pondering the exact same questions. Peeling himself off the cot on which he rested day in and day out, Diego stretched his legs and set his bare feet on the cool ground. Napping was an activity that was failing miserably. So instead he decided to visit the makeshift lab once more, hoping more time had passed than actually did. After deleting all the available information in his regular hideout to make it impossible to track him down, Diego had beat a hasty withdrawal to this condemned hideaway near the center of town. But hiding wasn't enough. Over the years, he had outfitted the building with equipment of his preferred sort. In the back room of his hideaway, Diego stared at the six large tubes running from the floor to the ceiling; rather, he stared at the six monsters that occupied them. In the first four tubes floated four fully grown, pepper-based monstrosities. Each one had a red, misshapen head and a large green body that appeared to be made of vines and black splinters. A smile crossed his face as their long black claws twitched.

"Aww… dream away my pets."

The two remaining tubes contained the remaining monsters, which were still in their younger stages. One appeared as little more than a juvenile version of the other four, but the remaining one barely looked any different from a red bell pepper. Albeit, one the size of a water melon. Hearing a hiss, Diego turned suddenly to a grate in the floor at the far end of the lab. When he heard a gurgling noise, he let his guard down, and approached the hole in the floor. He kneeled down before it, and through the channel oozed a mass of guacamole. It stopped once enough of its body was forced through the grate to produce a face, and the monster smiled.

"Anything yet?"

The guacamole monster shook its gooey head, maintaining its smile all the while. Diego, in the meantime, raised a hand to his chin and began thinking about his next move. He couldn't wait much longer for the peppers to mature… but he couldn't start raids against M without a full force. The monster hissed quietly, speaking in a language only Diego really understands. He sighed and looked at his creation.

"We can't go home yet… it's not safe there."

Safety. That's laughable. Was there any place that was really safe? Diego had not once gone outside once he got to this secret place, for fear of revealing himself to the enemy. He recalled the old way of things, when all he and his family ever had to worry about was the interference of a Rivera. Those were better times. Diego slowly walked back to the cot, and with the flick of a cybernetic finger the television came on. He kept it tuned to the news all the time, waiting for the right broadcast, the right story, the right day. As the broadcast progressed, Diego lifted himself up onto a pile of crates under a small window; he peered out into the growing darkness, perhaps out of paranoia, or maybe out of longing.

"It has been two days since the last sighting of the fugitives El Tigre and Puma Loco, who authorities now believe have left the country. White Pantera, the legendary super hero, refused to give an interview, though he once again restated his belief that his son is innocent of the alleged murder charges."

"I'm sure," Diego said quietly, climbing down from the boxes and sitting down on the bottom one, "what else?"

"In other news, prices of fuel and interest rates are stabilizing once more, thanks to a massive influx of badly needed funds from Maximum Enterprises. Though there is growing concern from some businesses regarding the growing company, it can't be argued that the presence of the powerful investment firm has greatly aided Miracle City in its time of need."

"And it's all his fault to begin with. It's clever, but it's hardly news."

And now the program was going into weather. Fantastic. That was certainly helpful; a handful of murders, a recap on the Tigre incident, and "concerns" about M's growing monopoly. Diego began to lie back on the cot when something caught his attention.

"We have just received word that Senor Siniestro has been spotted over the recently rebuilt Miracle City mint with a captive. We now have footage from a home video camera of the scene."

Diego turned over to better see the television, only caring because of his still present urge to make Sergio suffer for being the jerk that he was. He thought that this program would prove interesting, that Sergio might find himself getting blown up by a tank. That would be neat… but it didn't happen. Diego's eyes went wide as he recognized the hostage, held near the edge of the structure as Senor Siniestro fired into the crowd below. The white coat, the eye piece, the twisted hair, the shoulder piece to the removed cybernetic arm…

"Father?!"

Miracle City Volcano, 11:45 PM

"Oh good, we're almost there…"

"Yes," Sartana sighed, shaking her head at M's fleshy weakness, "we're almost there. And with just enough time to spare."

"Terrific."

Dust covered his shoes and his pants up to his knees, and through hastily taken breaths Maxim could feel his head pounding. Frankly, the fight with El Tigre had made him feel that he wasn't at all out of shape like he feared. But that, it seems, was not an accurate test of health. He has been riding the elevator a lot lately.

"But Sartana, if this ordeal doesn't work out, I'm going to kill you."

"You can't kill what's already dead, darling."

"… Fine, I'll just hit you with a tack-hammer until I feel better."

Miracle City Mint, 7:22 PM

Tossing the battered body of Dr. Chipotle Sr. across the roof, Senor Siniestro casually turned and fired a volley of bullets down at the encroaching military personnel, keeping them at a safe distance. He smirked a bit, certain once more that M was right, and that this would work. If it did, all that remained was Manny Rivera. When the enemy made its move once again, Siniestro responded by turning his body and launching a small rocket down at the ground, sending dirt and shrapnel all around. The siege was, without a doubt, going terribly.

"Come on, Diego… rescue your old man."

"If that's what you want, Sergio."

"What?!"

Siniestro turned to see Dr. Chipotle Jr. smirking villainously, laser aimed at his old friends head. But instead of showing any signs of loss, Siniestro only laughed. It was the sort of laughter that all cliché villains love to indulge in, the sort that just screams egomania. When he stopped, he found that Chipotle had lowered his weapon, using his arm to instead tend to his wounded father.

"You think that I wasn't ready for this, Diego?! I wanted you to come here."

"I know," Chipotle responded cynically, "you said that before. Remember? The "rescue your old man" part?"

"Uh… shut up!"

Before the "great come back" moment could really set in, Siniestro started laughing again, though this time he pushed a button on his arm first. But as nothing happened for, oh, ten whole seconds, he had to wonder what the hell was going on. He pushed the button a few more times.

"What is this? Where are my robots?!"

"I can only guess," Chipotle said with a growing grin, "but it looks like your back-up got caught by my back-up."

Now Dr. Chipotle took this moment to laugh, reveling in the surprise value of the beastly green hand that took Senor Siniestro from behind. Before the villainous cowboy could even utter a sentence fragment, the guacamole monster flung him hard off the building. He landed on a parked car across the street from the mint, crushing it under the weight of his armor. The armor which allowed him to get up and start running away once the monster landed some twenty feet away carrying Dr. Chipotle Sr. and Jr. on its back. Diego climbed down from the hulking mass of dip, keeping an eye on his nemesis as he fled. He then turned to his monster.

"Take him to the hiding place! I'll deal with Siniestro myself! Go now!"

Senor Siniestro was actually running away pretty effectively. With each step, he fired up his thrusters enough to reduce his work to almost nothing, saving much needed fuel in the process. He wasn't really running away… he was just getting to another good position, having lost his trap before it was sprung. Pity. It was a good trap. Reaching a good place to change direction, Siniestro fired up his jets and jumped off the street, flying directly toward a building. He turned his feet to face the structure at the last second, crashing into it in a controlled manner. And before gravity could take him back down, he jumped hard again, flying down the intersection toward a gas station. He landed just ten feet away from it.

"Whoo. That was close."

"Hello, Sergio."

He turned, not at all liking what he heard. And sure enough, there Chipotle stood, barely separated from the darkness of the alley which led him to this very spot. It was aggravating, really; all that effort in making it difficult to track himself, and Senor Siniestro found himself in front of his enemy once again.

"Oh come on! How did you find me so easily?"

"That's a secret, Sergio…"

"Huh, doesn't matter," he began, noting one very important thing and smiling as he started to advance on Chipotle's position, "without your monster, you'll be dead before this is even fun."

"Oh, you're right. My monster is missing… what ever will I rely upon?"

He laughed again as this time he was joined by the four hyper-mutated peppers from his makeshift laboratory. They leaped off the rooftops of the buildings which together made the alley, landing in front of their master in unison. Growling loud to intimidate their opponent and flexing their clawed hands, the peppers were certainly something look upon.

"Okay… didn't see that'a comin'."

"Monsters! Destroy him!"

And they tried to. Very aggressively, at that. Without thought, without regard for their own well-being, all four of the monsters charged at Siniestro. One went down with the sound of gunfire before it could even close the gap, but the other three made contact with Siniestro without much of a problem. The hit hard, pushing him across the asphalt; his armored feet scraped across the ground, causing Sergio to shiver from the hideous sound. When one of the beasts slashed at his face, cutting his cheek in the process, he grew angry enough to do more about his position. Siniestro plunged one hand into the closest beast, launching it away with a single punch. They were aggressive, but not all that heavy. With this in mind, Siniestro grabbed another monster by the "throat" lifting it up and away from his body, leaving only the fourth to deal with. His gun still at the ready, he used the trapped pepper-beast's body to smash the still attacking fourth away, shooting its fragile body apart when the opportunity came.

"Hah! Your varmints are easily dealt with, Diego. Just like your fa-!"

Before Siniestro could enjoy his self-satisfaction or continue his taunt, the monster he had sent away returned with a vengeance, slashing at the robotic arm that held its companion out of the battle. Unable to resist the attacks, Siniestro instead dropped the beast, using the arm to shield himself instead. He backed up, hoping to find a place more suitable for firing on the monsters, and hopefully their master. Step after step, enduring the pummeling that these tenacious, angry things were doling out. When it altogether stopped, he had to wonder why. Moving his clawed up arm out of his face, he took a moment to scan the area. The remaining monsters had retreated to Chipotle's position… was he waving? A little unnerved, Senor Siniestro turned his head slowly to the left, and saw a lovely new gasoline pump. Ah.

"Oh shoot…"

Dr. Chipotle Jr., not wasting another moment, pointed his laser and fired, piercing the gas pump with a ray of heat and light. There was probably a measurement of time available for the very, very brief interval between the attack and the massive fireball that followed, but it's not one that can be measured in the blink of an eye. Flames engulfed Senor Siniestro's form within a second, hiding him from view. Not that that mattered; Diego had to shield his face from the intense of the blast, even as he and his pepper-beasts retreated into the alley way. The first creature pulled hard on a sewer grate, lifting it free of the ground; Dr. Chipotle jumped down into the shadow, followed shortly by his remaining creations.

Miracle City Volcano Summit, 11:58 PM

Maxim stood at the edge of the volcano, staring down into the hot, toxic nightmare below. Though plumes of gas and much heat were indeed escaping the crater, he saw very little actual lava in the caldera; much of it seemed to be rather solid, just as the reports stated. A very curious state for a volcano to be in.

"So, Sartana, go over this again for me."

"Which part?"

"What does your grandson have to do with the volcano being the way it is right now?"

"I'm not really sure… but after El Tigre pushed by Django into the lava, it froze up. He never appeared in Limbo, which means that for some reason he wasn't completely destroyed."

"Hence the unusual ritual," Maxim sighed, brushing dust and sweat off his forehead. Then a thought occurred. "Sartana, why exactly did we have to "struggle"?"

As Sartana only laughed quietly to herself, Maxim growled and kicked a stone into the smoldering crater, turning away and looking out over the city. Two minutes 'til; the city looked rather peaceful now that everything and everyone was sleeping. Almost something he would preserve. Almost.

"It's time!"

Sartana pointed her headstock at a forty-five degree angle and struck the strings hard. From her guitar came a glittering green beam, shooting fast toward an unseen point. But when it reached that point, the beam stopped, which Maxim found very curious. Even stranger, Sartana began muttering words in a language he was not familiar with. At this time, he noticed five skeleton banditos positioned around the rim of the volcano, each lifting a fist to the air toward the point where the beam stopped. From them came small orbs of golden light, all of which funneled toward the center point. The end of the beam began to grow into a large orb of its own, collecting power, changing from green to gold. Quite a sight, really. Finally, Sartana's chanting stopped, and the orb was no longer fed by her guitar. It remained still in the air, for a time, bursting only when the air was completely still; a larger beam of gold light plummeted down to the volcanic crust below, splintering the stone that encased Django of the Dead. When the beam was exhausted, Maxim chanced looking down into the pit, keeping his wrist in front of his nose to prevent himself from breathing the foul air. Nothing seemed to happen… until lava started to pour through the whole. And then came an explosion, a geyser of molten rock and fire. It shot out with a fierce roar, driving a dark mass from the pit. A dark mass which landed loudly behind Sartana of the Dead. Maxim turned to look upon whatever it was that constituted Sartana's grandson, seeing only something shorter than her in the darkness. Of course. He was dead. He would always be shorter. When he emerged from the shade of his grandmother, Django walked slowly toward the edge of the summit, looking down upon the city, and strummed his own guitar quietly. Maxim took another step forward, but halted when Django asked him a question.

"So, who are you?"

Miracle City Airport, 7 hours ago (5:12 PM)

Four months. He had waited four months. Just like Manny. And now, standing at the baggage claim in his grey suit, flamboyant mask over his face, Rodolfo fidgeted like mad as he waited for just a little longer. It was killing him, really, because he knew she'd have a million questions. He had just as many himself. Most of them, he was certain, would revolve around Manny. He was the light of her life, after all… what remained of the questions would certainly be about Miracle City's well-being. Rodolfo also wondered about that. The only questions he didn't expect to be asked were questions about Rodolfo himself. He never gave up on trying to change the past, reverse what was likely irreversible, but Rodolfo did long ago give up on expecting too much. Still, he hoped. And all at once, he stopped fidgeting, standing up straight and turning around in but a second. There she was, right behind him.

"Hello, Maria."