El Tigre: Evolution
"Masks make me feel like a freakin' luchador."
-Mer
Chapter 6
Manny and Frida were walking to school, once again armed with ice-water bottles to help fight the heat.
"Dude…why don't we just take the bus?" Frida panted.
"We can't," Manny explained. "Remember the tapioca incident?"
"Oh…yeah…right." Frida said, scratching her arm furiously.
Manny raised his eyebrow. "Something wrong with your arm, Frida?"
Frida looked around nervously, and then started talking a mile-a-minute. "No, nothing. What arm? I don't see any arm. What are you talking about? You're crazy. Go away!"
Manny's eyebrow went even higher. "Ooookaaay…"
Suddenly an alarm went off in the distance, interrupting their exchange.
Manny looked back at Frida, his hands at his belt buckle.
"Manny!" she whined (slightly itching her arm). "We can't be late for school! Vice Principal Chakal will eat us alive!"
"I know, but what am I supposed to do?" A flash of light, and there stood El Tigre. "It's coming from that jewelry store!" He rushed off. Frida sighed, scratched at her arm one last time, and followed.
When they arrived at the scene, the jeweler was scooping valuables into a bag held by the villain du jour. But it was a villain El Tigre did not recognize, partially because of the red motorcycle helmet he was using to obscure his identity. He wore a red leather suit with black stripes to match. He was holding a staff that had an orb at its zenith, with a pair of wings emerging, which was currently pointed at the jeweler's forehead and crackling with energy.
"Stop right there!" El Tigre demanded. The robber turned his helmeted head slightly toward the young Rivera.
"You again?" he said.
"Again?" El Tigre wondered aloud. Had he met this villain somewhere before?
Forget it, kid." The red-suited thief pushed the jeweler aside and struck the ground with his staff. "Teleport!" With a flash, he was gone, jewels and all.
Everyone just kind of stood there for a moment. Frida was the first to speak.
"That seemed kind of familiar…"
El Tigre glanced at his watch. "Madre de Dios! We've got to get to school!" He grabbed Frida and together they took off, leaving a very perplexed jeweler.
Trina sat on the sofa in her apartment, watching the news.
"Another problem for Miracle City, folks," said the newscaster. "It seems that the drawbridge across the river is malfunctioning. It is stuck in the upright position. This has inconvenienced many, who are demanding an explanation from LuxeCorp., the designer of said bridge. CEO Diego Luxe was not available for comment."
"Figures," Trina mumbled to herself.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and the red-suited villain appeared between Trina and the television. She tried to look around him.
"You make a better door than a window, Mer," she said.
"Huh?" the villain now known as Mer asked, looking around. "Oh." He stepped out of the way of the TV. He began placing several bags down.
Trina groaned. "Mer, what have I told you about stealing?"
The helmeted face looked up. "Not to?"
"Exactly. And why are you wearing that helmet? You don't even own a motorcycle"
He pulled the helmet off, revealing a handsome man with a bushy head of dyed purple hair. "It protects my identity. Masks make feel like a freakin' luchador."
Trina shook her head. "I told you that you would have give up your life of crime if we were to team up."
Mer glared. "I seem to recall the whole teaming up thing was your idea. You fed me stories of winged demons and evil books…"
"I also told you there is only one way to stop them," Trina interrupted. "The Object-Wielders must join forces, be they good or bad. We are the beginning of a movement to bring them together."
Mer shrugged. "It looks to me like it's just us."
Trina folded her arms and turned her head. Mer sighed.
"C'mon, don't be like that!" he pleaded. He pulled a diamond necklace out of one of the bags. "I got you something nice…"
She glared at the jewelry. "If you want to impress me, try doing something for the greater good."
Mer shrugged once more. "Well, we need someway to get money, since you lost your job and everything." He sat down on the sofa next to Trina, who was seething again. "Change it to the Sci-Fi Channel."
THWACK!
"Ow, what was that for, Trina?"
MEANWHILE…SOMEWHERE ELSE…
A young boy of about seventeen sat at a bar sipping a soda. He appeared to be somewhat of a Goth, wearing all black, loose-fitting clothes. An attractive redhead sat next to him. After they had sat there for a while, she broke the silence with a question.
"Aren't you a little young for the bar scene?"
He looked at her quizzically, then smiled a little and shrugged.
The redhead was intrigued. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
"He doesn't talk much," came a voice from behind the two. Another man stepped up next to the younger. He looked like an older version of the boy. His voice had a slight German accent. " He's my brother. His name's Nacht."
"And you are…?" The reddhead inquired.
"Call me Blitz," the elder brother replied.
Suddenly a large, muscle-bound man came up to the group. He grabbed Blitz.
Hey, punk! What do you think you're doin', talkin' to my girl?
Blitz remained calm.
"Nothing's going on, Butch," the redhead insisted.
Blitz and Nacht exchanged a look. Butch?
"Stay outta this, sweetie," said Butch. He pulled back his fist for a punch, and then…
…Nothing. He couldn't move his arm. He looked at it to see a shadowy tendril wrapped around it, holding him back.
"What the…?"
"Allow me to explain," said Blitz. "My brother here is what I like to call a shadowmancer.
"A what now?" demanded the angry Butch.
"He has the power to control darkness, which people's shadows and such. Wherever it is dark, his powers are right at home." Blitz explained all of this as if he were talking to a child.
Another tendril shot up from Butch's shadow and ensnared his other arm, pulling him to the floor. A mass of darkness began crawling up his legs. Butch struggled, but to no avail. The shadow just kept creeping up, enveloping him. Nacht watched the process with an outstretched hand, controlling it.
"Can you feel it?" asked Blitz in almost a whisper. "Can you feel it take you? Is it crushing you? Can you feel the breath leave your body as it suffocates you?"
The redhead was practically in tears. "Please, stop! Don't hurt him!"
Nacht lowered his hand, and the shadows subsided. Butch got up, and got out of there as fast as he could, dragging the redhead with him.
"This place no longer amuses me," said Blitz. "Let's go, brother.
They just turned to leave, when the bartender called out," I've got a call for an…Ulrich von Krieger?
Blitz turned and furrowed his brow. "There's only one person alive who would call me by my real name…" He walked back and snatched the phone.
"What is it, Luxe?"