El Tigre: Evolution
"And quite frankly, you're kinda creepy."
-Manny
Chapter 8
Later that night, Zoë was once again sneaking out, this time out of her own home. She was in full Black Cuervo gear. She was almost home free when…
"Zoë!" She cringed at the sound of her mother's voice.
"Yes, mama…"
"Where are you heading off too?" Sra. Aves asked.
"I was going to go…uh…to do evil!" Black Cuervo stated.
"Good, I'll get your abuela, and together we will show this city the meaning of FEAR!"
"Well…" Cuervo started, "I was kind of hoping that I could…go alone…"
"Oh," said Sra. Aves looking a little disappointed. "Wait, you aren't going to see that El Tigre, are you?"
"No, of course not!" Cuervo defended. "I'm just going out."
"All right then, have fun, I guess…"
Black Cuervo rushed out the door. The sound of her rocket boosters could be heard a second later. At this moment, Zoë's abuela strolled out into the hall.
"What's the matter?" asked the eldest Aves.
"She doesn't want to do evil with us anymore," Zoë's mother stated.
Lady Gobbler waved her hand. "She's just growing up. You went through the same phase when you were younger, remember?"
The younger Aves just looked at the door with concern.
Black Cuervo landed at the designated rendezvous point. She didn't have to wait long for her partner to show up. The golden mech descended from the sky and touched down next to her.
"Are you ready?" Puma Loco asked.
"Yes," Black Cuervo grinned. "It's time to show this city the meaning of FEAR!" She laughed evilly. A small device on her shoulder unfolded and transformed into a large laser cannon that hummed with energy. A target reticle flipped out over Black Cuervo's eye visor She aimed, and fired.
BOOM! Went part of downtown. Cuervo glanced back at Puma Loco, who gave an impressed whistle.
"Think you can keep up, old man?"
"Puma Loco never backs down from a challenge!" he declared with pride.
And so they went on to wreak havoc.
Frida opened her eyes. Everything seemed so…white. As her eyes adjusted, she realized she was in the hospital.
"Hey, she's waking up!" she heard Manny's voice declare. She looked over to see her best friend at her bedside.
"Wha…What happened?" she asked.
"You collapsed in detention," Manny explained. The doctors think you have some sort of infection. That's a pretty nasty scratch on your arm."
Frida looked down at her arm, which was now bandaged, but still hurt like a son-of-a-gun.
"Why were you hiding it?" another voice asked. It was father.
"Yes," said yet another voice, whom Frida recognized to be Manny's mother, Maria, "It very important to wash and disinfect a wound as soon as possible. That's a fact." Maria held up a book titled "First Aid."
"Did Rivera do something to you?" her father demanded.
"Now see here…" Maria said, offended. The two adults began to bicker.
"My Frida is always getting injured whenever she's around that boy!"
"Oh not this again!" said both Manny and Maria.
It went on for a while until…
"ENOUGH!" Frida shouted. "I don't know why I hid it. Things have just been…weird recently."
"Weird?" her father asked. "How so?"
Frida opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly something distracted all of them. A gaggle of nurses and doctors went rushing past their room.
"We need to stabilize him! He took one heck of a beating!" said one doctor. "Who brought him in?"
"I don't know, some guy in a hood," a nurse responded. Then the gurney rolled by, and on was-
"Whats-his-face!" Frida gasped.
"Toshiro! What's he doing here?" Manny wondered aloud.
When the doctors and nurses all passed, there was a moment of silence. Then the man in the hood walked into the room.
"You!" Maria hissed. "I thought I told you to leave us alone!"
"Who is this guy?" Manny asked.
"I am but a messenger," the hooded man said. "I come to speak to Manny Rivera, a.k.a. El Tigre."
"What's the message?" Manny asked, pushing past his stammering mother.
"The Prophet must see you."
"Who's the Prophet?" Frida inquired.
"He is one who wishes to help. He knows the key to stopping Diego Luxe, and the Tome of Torment."
"The Tome of Torment? I've never heard of that book before…" said Maria. The hooded man ignored that and went on
"You must come with me, El Tigre."
Manny looked around the room at the others. Police Chief Suarez seemed indifferent, but both Frida and his mother were shaking their heads and waving their arms frantically. But when the hooded man looked back at them, they stopped and whistled innocently.
"I'd like to go," said Manny. "But I've got…uh…homework! Yeah, homework. And quite frankly, you're kinda creepy."
The hooded man scowled. "I'm afraid I must insist."
"Or else what?" Manny challenged. A new voice answered.
"Or else someone like me will find you first." Everyone turned to see a man leaning against the doorway. "The name's Blitz, and you're next on the hit list, kid."
"You work for Luxe, don't you?" asked the hooded man.
The man responded by pulling out a large handgun. Chief Suarez pulled his own gun out of the holster, and chaos ensued. Shots were fired, and a belt buckle was spun.
"EL TIGRE!" The feline superhero grabbed both Frida and Maria and hauled them out of the room, past Blitz, who turned and began firing down the hall, at the same time moving out of the doorway to dodge Chief Suarez's bullets.
As El Tigre rounded a corner with his mother and Frida in tow, the lights behind them flickered out. As they went further down the hall, more lights began flickering out, as if the darkness was following them, trying to consume them. Which wasn't that far from the truth…
Tendrils of darkness lashed out, ensnaring El Tigre's leg, tripping him and knocking down the others. Manny felt himself being pulled into the dark, but a hand reached down in front of him. He looked up, seeing the hooded man.
"Grab my hand!" he commanded. "Now!"
El Tigre complied, and the hooded man pulled him free. Frida and Maria got up with them, and they all ran for the nearest exit.
Blitz and Nacht stood in Luxe's office. An angry Luxe was sitting at his desk, tapping his fingers.
"They got away?" he asked
"Um, yeah," said Blitz.
"I thought I told you to be discreet. Opening fire in a public hospital is hardly what I would call discreet!" Luxe said, slamming his fist down. "I can't have you two traced back to me somehow, not yet!"
"We'll get him, Luxe." Blitz assured. Nacht nodded his head.
"Fine…but you had better get results soon." Luxe said, waving them off.
Frida blinked when her blindfold was removed. She saw El Tigre and Maria get their blindfolds removed as well. The hooded man insisted that they wear them, to "protect the Prophet."
"We've arrived," he announced. "The Prophet is waiting."