El Tigre: Evolution
"I...have to admit I was not expecting that."
-White Pantera
Chapter 1
A girl ran through the dark city streets, the sound of her footfalls mixing with the rapid beating of her heart. She grasped a crumpled up piece of paper in her hand. Out of breath, she began slowing down. She stopped and listened. Nothing. She turned and glanced behind her. Again, nothing.
Did I lose them?
A soft thud behind her made her gasp and whip around. A figure was crouching on the ground, half-hidden by shadow. Slowly it raised itself up and stepped into the moonlight. It was human, a man, but something seemed…off…about him.
The girl turned back around to find two more figures, a man and a woman. They had appeared without making any sound whatsoever. She was surrounded.
"What do you want?" she cried, with tears in her eyes.
The two men looked at each other and nodded, but it was the woman who spoke.
"You know what we want," the woman said, her voice empty and cold.
The girl's eyes darted to the paper in her hand. "But why? It's just a piece of paper with some gibberish on it…"
The woman smiled. "Then you have no use for it. Save yourself the trouble. Give it to us." She was trying to sound sincere, but her voice still lacked a certain human quality.
But it worked. The girl reached out, and dropped the piece of paper into the woman's hand.
"Now run along, like a good little girl…"
The girl stood there, rooted to the spot.
"I said, 'Run along,'" The woman growled, her eyes turning red. The girl screamed and ran for her life.
The three stood in silence for a moment after that, until a "La Cucaracha" ring tone sounded. One of the men pull a cell phone out of his pocket and answered it.
"Hello? Yeah…your timing 's impeccable, boss…we just now got the page…return to Miracle City immediately? Okay, will do." He closed the phone. "Guys we're supposed to-"
"Return to Miracle City, yeah, yeah, we heard," said the woman. She straightened out the piece of paper and looked over it.
The cell phone guy spoke up. "The boss doesn't want us reading the pages."
The woman scoffed. "I'm not reading, I'm just taking a look-see. It won't hurt anybody."
"Last time you said something like that, we got imprisoned for an awfully long time."
"At least we stayed free longer than he did, didn't we?" she snapped back..
"Enough, you two," said the other man. "Let's fly."
Manny and Frida lazed on the couch, surround by bags of semi-melted ice in an attempt to keep cool. Nothing good was on television, so they had it on the local news. A pretty anchorwoman was explaining the current situation.
"…and we are in the middle of what is considered to be one of the worst, if not the worst, droughts in Miracle City history. And to top all off it looks like it's going to be another scorcher. Here's Sal, for more on the weather…"
"Dude," said Frida. "Pass the chips."
Manny grabbed for the chip bowl, but it was just out of reach.
"I can't get it," Many said submissively.
"You could always just get up and grab it," Frida suggested. They looked at each other for a moment, and then burst into laughter.
"Heh, heh. Get up and…that was a good one Frida!" Manny said, wiping a tear away from his eye.
"Yeah!" said Frida holding her sides. "But seriously, what about the chips?"
The question was left unanswered when Grandpapi Rivera entered and plopped down on the sofa between his grandson and friend.
"Manny! My grandson!" he exclaimed a little to cheerfully.
"Um, what's up?" asked Manny.
"Hey, I don't care as long as I get my chippage," said Frida. A mechanical arm emerged from Granpapi's Golden Sombrero and handed her the bowl of chips. "Sweet! Thanks!"
"Now, Manny," said the elder Rivera, "I hear you are going on a field trip tomorrow.
Manny perked up a little. "Yeah. We're taking a tour of LuxeCorp. Headquarters. It should be pretty cool. The owner is a billionaire!"
Grandpapi rubbed his hands together and grinned maliciously. "Si. I know. And I imagine it would be tough for your teachers to keep track of all those children in such a big place. Is there a need for…chaperones? " He punctuated the end of the sentence with an evil laugh, and then and to discreetly hide it with a cough.
Manny shrugged. "Yeah. I think they said if anyone wanted to help with the trip they should just call in."
"Excellent!" Manny's grandfather cackled as he hopped off the couch and exited the room.
"You think he's up to something?" Frida asked Manny between mouthfuls of chips.
"Eh, keeps him occupied," Manny said, waving it off.
El Oso sprinted away from the bank, clenching bags of money in his fists.
"Man, it's hot out here!" he panted. "Maybe I should rethink wearing this bear suit all the time…" He stopped when a shadow appeared over him. He turned his gaze upward in wonder…and got a Bronze Boot of Truth right in the face.
White Pantera stood over El Oso. "Ready to go back to jail now?"
El Oso grumbled, "Don't get my hopes up like that, man. I thought you was a cloud or somethin'."
"I am a cloud," White Pantera declared proudly. "A cloud that rains justice down upon-"
A large explosion cut him off. He and El Oso looked around to find the source. They eventually found it. It was the bank. Smoke was pouring out of the windows, the foundation was cracked, and people were fleeing in terror.
"Man!" exclaimed El Oso. "That was my favorite bank to rob too!"
Soon, three figures emerged from the hole that used to be the front door. There were two men and a woman.
"You really should keep your temper in check," said the woman to one of the men. The man with "the temper" was the tallest of the three, with jet-black hair, unlike the other two, who had hair that was almost snow white.
"I just find it very frustrating that when we locate a page right under our nose," the black-haired gentleman stated, "Some oaf steals it not five minutes before we get here!"
The white-haired man was more collected. "At least he won't be hard to find from that description they gave us," His eyes fell on White Pantera and El Oso down the street, and he smiled. "Well, well, well…"
In the blink of an eye, the three appeared in front of the hero and the villain, making them flinch.
"What are you guys?" El Oso demanded, his voice shaking.
The woman answered. "We're collectors. Along with all that money you stole, you also took a page from a very rare book. It's of no use to you, so we'll just be taking it."
El Oso thought for a moment. "I dunno, man. If it's rare, it might be worth mucho dinero."
The black-haired man became angry. "You insolent little-"
White Pantera stepped between them. "No one will be taking anything! That page was in the bank because it already belonged to someone, and we must respect others' property!" He said, raising a finger.
"Is this guy for real?" the black-haired man asked the white-haired man. "I 'll just take him down a notch." He stepped forward, but the other man stopped him.
"No. I wouldn't underestimate him. Look at his boots."
They all eyed White Pantera's Bronze Boots, and the woman gasped.
"He's an object-wielder!"
"Indeed," said the white-haired man. "What is your name, good sir?"
"I am…WHITE PANTERA!" cried the hero, striking a pose.
"He must follow El Dios de los Gatos," the black-haired man whispered to the woman.
"Don't be stupid," she answered. "Mortals no longer follow the Old Gods…"
"And just who are you?" White Pantera asked the trio.
The white-haired man smiled. "Los Alados sound off! Uno!"
"Dos!" exclaimed the woman, holding up two fingers.
"Tres!" The black-haired man cackled.
"SOMOS LOS ALADOS!" they all said in unison, and in a flash, they suddenly surrounded him and El Oso. White Pantera stood his ground. His gaze went to the black-haired man, who was shaking uncontrollably and giggling madly. The hero's eyes widened in shock as a pair of black, leathery wings erupted from the man's shoulder blades. He glanced around at the other two Alados to see that they were each sporting their own pair of bat-like wings.
"I…have to admit I was not expecting that," said a surprised White Pantera.
"They got wings, man?" cried El Oso.
Things were getting interesting.
To Be Continued...