El Tigre: Evolution
"This'll be fun."
-Alado Tres
Chapter 7
El Tigre and Frida both rushed into the school just as the tardy bell began to ring. The friends breathed a sigh of relief.
"Made it!" Frida panted. El Tigre became Manny once again.
"Barely," he replied. "We'll still probably get a lecture and a "I'll get you next time!" from Chakal."
But they soon saw that Chakal was not interested in them this particular moment. Right now he was chewing out Zoë Aves.
"…That'll be a week's worth of detention for skipping out on the field trip!" He roared. Zoë just rolled her eyes
"Whatever," she said, seeming disinterested.
Frida, on the other hand, could barely contain her excitement as they watched.
"Zoë Aves getting a week's detention! This is excellent!" She said with an evil grin. "I'll have to remember to gloat later."
Manny and Frida sneaked past the shouting Vice Principal and Aves, and headed off to class.
MEANWHILE…SOMEWHERE IN SHOGUN CITY…
The Seventh Samurai brandished his sword, his son Toshiro, a.k.a. Cyber-Sumo, at his side. Los Alados surrounded them.
"You will return what you stole!" the Seventh Samurai commanded.
The white-haired Alado stood impatiently, tapping his foot.
"We have the page, what are we still doing here?"
The black-haired Alado grinned and spread his wings. "Sorry, I'm just not one to back down from a challenge."
The other male sighed, and took a fighting stance.
The Samurai charged first, swing his blade to connect with…nothing. He stood surprised, his target, the black-haired Alado, had simply vanished.
"Behind you," The Alado cackled. He reappeared behind the hero. The Samurai turned with lightning speed and struck again, this time slicing the Alado's chest. The Alado stepped back, looking down at his wound, which began to bubble and heal itself. Both the Seventh Samurai and Cyber-Sumo stared in amazement.
"This'll be fun," The black-haired Alado smirked.
Frida sat bored in her History class. Manny wasn't in this class, so there was pretty much nothing to do but sit and listen to the teacher lecture on and on…and on…
Her eyelids got heavy, the sound of the teacher's voice lulling her to sleep She closed her eyes and…
A fight was taking place. Between a samurai and one of the mystery guys who was with the girl that scratched her.
Isn't that the Seventh Samurai? Where's his kid, Whats-his-face?
As if to answer her question, her eyes panned over to a pile of scrap metal, the remains of what was once Cyber-Sumo's mech suit. The white-haired man was standing over it, wiping his hands. There was no sign of Whats-his-face.
Her attention turned back to the fight in progress. The Seventh Samurai swung his blade down over the man, who grabbed it with his bare hand. With a burst of sparks, the blade snapped, and the man tossed it aside. Suddenly his hand was engulfed in white flames. He reared back and struck the Samurai. With a BOOM, the Samurai's armor shattered.
"Not the Samurai!" Frida shouted as she woke up. She groggily shook her head. Then she realized that everyone in the class was staring at her.
"Um…wasn't that the answer?" She tried to cover.
"Since we're not keeping your interest, Miss Suarez," the teacher stated, "Maybe an afternoon in detention will be more to your tastes?"
Frida grinned sheepishly, mentally kicking herself.
Despondent, Frida sulked into the detention room. Zoë Aves was already there, but she was surprised to see Manny. On second thought, no she wasn't.
Frida took the seat next to Manny. "What're you in for?"
"Well…" Manny started.
FLASHBACK
Manny stood in the hallway between classes. A large red button on the wall captivated him. The sign posted above it read, in both English and Spanish: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT PRESS THIS BUTTON.
Manny looked right.
Manny looked left.
Then he pushed the button.
END FLASHBACK
"Wow," said Frida. "So what did it do?"
"All the toilets in school flushed at once."
"Cool! How come we've never seen this button before?"
Zoë looked like she was about to make some biting remark, but at that moment, Vice Principal Chakal walked in.
"That's enough! No more talking! You're being punished!" He growled.
Manny and Frida sighed, and Zoë just put her head down on her desk.
The minutes passed by slowly. This has to be the longest detention ever, Manny thought to himself. He looked over to see how Frida was passing the time. Instead, he saw his best friend looking very pale.
"What's wrong?" he whispered.
"I don't feel so good…" she replied.
"No talking, Rivera!"
"Um, Vice Principal Chakal," Manny said out loud. "I think Frida's sick."
The Vice Principal sniffed. "Nice try, but I'm not buying it. You can stop pretending, Suarez."
But now Frida was visibly shaking. She fell out of her chair.
"Suarez, I said stop! This isn't funny!" Chakal demanded.
"She's not faking!" Manny cried, getting out of his chair and stooping next to Frida. Zoë watched all of this with a raised eyebrow.
Soon Chakal was by Frida's side as well. He looked panicky.
"She isn't faking…" it dawned on the Vice Principal. Now he looked even more panicky. "What do I do? Her father's the Police Chief! They could sue! And then…"
"Enough!" Manny declared, surprised at his own bravery. "We have to help her."
And while Chakal's attention was on Frida, a certain Miss Aves was climbing out the window, ditching detention.
Two motorcycles roared across the landscape. Blitz and Nacht were riding towards their new mission.
"What is it, Luxe?"
"I have a job for you."
"Are you stupid or something? You can't give me a job over this line, it's not secure!"
"Trust me, I've taken all the necessary precautions."
Blitz looked over at his brother. Nacht was completely focused on the road, and their destination.
"Why do you want El Tigre dead? What did he do to you?"
"I believe our deal was that no questions would be asked."
"…Fine." Click.
Blitz and Nacht sped past a sign. It said:
WELCOME TO MIRACLE CITY.