El Tigre: Evolution
"What about me?"
-Frida
Chapter 9
El Tigre, Frida, and Maria all noticed that they seemed to be in a large open area, like…
"An abandoned warehouse?" Frida mused. "Dude, not very original."
The hooded man glanced back to say something, but stopped in his tracks and held up his hand to stop the three. When they stopped, they realized that they were surrounded. Other men in hoods encircled them, with swords drawn.
"Who are these guys?" El Tigre asked. Maria began to hyperventilate.
"The hooded man with them shook his head. "They are my fellow watchers, but I know not why-"
Another hooded man interrupted him. "You know not why?" he snorted. "You are bringing one of the infected into the presence of the Prophet!" Several hooded faces turned.
"Um, why is everyone looking at me?" asked Frida, eyes darting.
"I think they mean you." El Tigre whispered in her ear.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" a man's voice boomed. Soon the source of that voice, a bald man with deep black eyes and a commanding presence pushed his way through the crowd.
El Tigre's and Frida's eyes widened at the sight of this man. Maria blushed.
The man spoke again, his voice powerful. "Why isn't the boy being allowed to speak with the Prophet?"
While the hooded man in the way was stuttering, Frida whispered to El Tigre, "If that guy's just a flunky, I wonder what the Big Cheese is like!"
The hooded man finally composed himself. "The girl, Lord Antonio, she is unclean!"
"Hey! I shower regularly!" said Frida, then a second later, sniffing herself.
The bald man, now known as Lord Antonio, stood tall over the hooded man.
"Are you forgetting who you're talking to? Don't you remember who I was? What I still am?"
The hooded man was visibly shaking. "Yes, sir. Of course…sir…"
Lord Antonio then quickly strode over to Frida and scanned her with his eyes. He then grabbed her arm and pushed up the sleeve, exposing the bandage. It had bled through, but the "blood" was black.
"Have you been having any out-of-body experiences recently?" he asked Frida in a much gentler voice.
"Um, no." she replied.
"Good." He said. "Any strange dreams? Where you feel like you're someone else watching things happen? Or possibly flying?"
"Yeah!" said Frida. "Uh, I mean, lately," she added more timidly, in the imposing man's shadow.
Lord Antonio frowned a little. "I was afraid of that." He turned to the other men. "This girl is safe to be around the Prophet…for now. I will make special arrangements later." He gestured to Frida, Maria and El Tigre.
"Come. We shall see the Prophet together."
He led them into a dark room. The only light came from a bowl of water that was showing hundreds of different images at once. A man with a wild mane of Einstein-ian gray hair sat up on a high chair and stared into the bowl. There were already two other people there with him. El Tigre gasped as he recognized them. The first was Trina, the pretty blonde from LuxeCorp., who helped them break into Luxe's office. The second was the red suited villain with the motorcycle helmet, who had previously robbed the jewelry store and teleported away. He was currently waving his hand in front of the face of the man in the chair, who was not responding.
"The Prophet is meditating on world events right now," said Lord Antonio. "He's in a state of deep concentration. That won't help."
Frustrated, the villain ripped off his helmet, revealing his purple hair. "Well, why did you even bring us to meet him if we can't even speak with the bugger?"
Trina sighed. "Mer, calm do-"
BAM! El Tigre tackled the red suited villain, Mer.
"You won't get away this time!" El Tigre cried, holding up a claw.
Mer grinned. "Is this the way to treat someone who saved your butt?"
"What are you talking about?" El Tigre demanded.
"Mer's grin got even wider. "At LuxeCorp., it was me who teleported you guys out of there.
"I don't believe you!"
"My power is teleportation," Mer explained, holding up his staff. "The caduceus is my object."
"He's telling the truth." Came Trina's voice from behind them. El Tigre looked back and forth between them a few times, and let Mer go.
"But why…?"
"I can explain that," said a new voice. Everyone turned toward the man in the chair. The Prophet.
"He helped you because he has come to realize that it is time for the forces of good and evil to join together, and fight this new threat."
"A new threat?" El Tigre asked.
"The gathering storm," The Prophet answered cryptically. "The Tome of Torment. And eventually…great evil." The Prophet stopped a moment to let this sink in. "You are object-wielders, people chosen by the gods of old to carry objects of power to use as they see fit to police the world, for better…or for worse.
Lord Antonio stepped in. "The Tome of Torment is the greatest object of power, and the most evil. Long ago, the object-wielders fought over it, hoping to control it somehow. None could, until…"
"El Santo Oscuro…" The Prophet whispered. Lord Antonio continued.
"One man took the Tome, and declared himself the new god. The object-wielders, good and bad, joined forces to stop him. After a terrible battle, they sealed him away within the book. To keep him that way, they tore all of the pages out and scattered them across the world."
EL Tigre and Frida looked confused, but Maria nodded. "And now Diego Luxe is reassembling the book to free this supervillain and rule at his side, correct?"
The Prophet shook his head. "No. Diego Luxe knows nothing of El Santo Oscuro. Not many people do. Even object-wielders."
Now Maria looked confused. "Then why is he…?"
"He is being misled. He believes it will give him limitless power, because that is what Los Alados are telling him," said the Prophet.
"Los Alados?" asked Maria.
"Freaky people with wings that work for Luxe!" El Tigre explained for his mother.
"The lady that scratched me…" added Frida.
Lord Antonio went on, "They are monsters, demons, denizens of hell that-"
"Okay, we get it, they're evil!" El Tigre interrupted.
Lord Antonio coughed. "Anyway, they are the original servants of El Santo Oscuro. They are lying to Luxe to get their master back. They would do anything. Even if it means doing his dirty work."
"So," said the Prophet, "El Tigre, Mer, Pulsera, and Plata Peligrosa," He indicated El Tigre, Mer, and surprisingly Trina and Maria, who were supposedly Pulsera and of course, Plata Peligrosa.
"You are the beginning of the new object-wielder alliance against the Tome of Torment."
"What about me?" asked Frida.