El Tigre: Evolution
"My name's Frida! Is that so hard to remember?"
-Frida
Chapter 24
Demons looked up at the sound of the motorcycles' roar, and were quickly mowed down, by gun, sword, and shadow, before they could do anything about it. Blitz laughed his crazy laugh as the Von Kriegers slaughtered the creatures while Nacht wore a satisfied smile.
Then their fun stopped. Something large landed in their path, forcing them to skid to a stop. It was another large demon; only this one was armored, carrying two giant katanas.
"I've seen this guy before," said Blitz, turning to his brother. "Where have I seen this guy?"
Nacht opened his mouth, indicating this would be one of the rare times he would speak. "…Seventh Samurai…"
"The superhero? From Shogun City?" Blitz turned his attention back to the sword-wielding demon.
"You two villains were speeding…I'm afraid I'm going to have to ELIMINATE YOU!" the superhero-turned-demon roared.
Blitz sighed. "Bored now." He readied the rocket launcher, and fired off a rocket, right into the samurai demon's chest. There was a sizeableexplosion, and the demon staggered back, but quickly regained its composure, unscathed. Blitz raised an eyebrow and exchanged glances with his brother.
"This could get interesting."
Antonio went sailing back through the air, crashing back into a LuxeCorp office window. He landed on the desk of the Vice President of some department not worth mentioning. Alado Tres fluttered in, stepping through broken glass.
"How the mighty have fallen, eh, Tony?"
Antonio quickly snapped back up, throwing a fiery punch. The Alado caught it before it could land.
"We made you, Tony. We can break you just as easily!"
But Antonio's next move caught the demon off-guard. He grabbed Alado Tres with his other arm and lifted, flipping him up over his head and slamming him down, splintering the desk. With lightning fast reflexes, he snatched up a wooden shard and drove it into the Alado's chest. Antonio got up as Alado Tres clutched at the giant splinter and gasped. But then the demon began to giggle madly, getting up himself and removing the splinter.
"What do you think I am? A vampire or something?" The wound started to heal itself. "You should know better than that, Tony. I can't die that easily."
He took the bloody splinter and stabbed Antonio in the gut.
"But sadly, you can, half-blood." He twisted the splinter and then pulled it out, letting Antonio stagger back.
The demons clawed at the doors of LuxeCorp., smelling tasty treats inside. But suddenly the doors burst open and several lasers fired out, incinerating the monsters. Lady Gobbler, Vultura, and Dr. Chipotle Jr. stepped out, weapons at the ready.
"El Tigre, other girl!" Vultura called out. "Go now!"
Frida could be heard inside complaining, "My name's Frida! Is that so hard to remember?"
El Tigre responded with, "C'mon Frida!"
A second later, Frida soared out of the entrance of LuxeCorp with El Tigre in tow. They rose high up into the red sky, which was hot and sticky.
"This is amazing, Frida!" El Tigre called out to his best friend.
Frida, on the other hand, was panting. "Dude, you need to lay off the churros…"
Fortunately they reached their intended destination quickly: Casa del Macho.
Frida let El Tigre go, who landed softly at the front door. Frida dropped down next to him.
"Are you sure this'll work?" she asked.
"Nope. But I trust my dad."
"What if this isn't what he meant?"
"Then we're in trouble," he said, opening the door.
Antonio's breathing grew heavy as his life slipped away. He began to glow with white light.
Alado Tres sighed as he watched this scene. "It's too bad, really. You were an excellent killer. Then you had to go and grow a conscience…"
Antonio glared daggers at the demon. The light became fire. He was beginning to burn away from the inside out. His demon half had to die spectacularly.
"It's a shame you have to die now…you never got the chance to atone for your sins, now did you?"
"I may burn," said the glowing Antonio. "But I'm not going to burn alone!"
With one last burst of strength, Antonio hurled himself at the Alado, wrapping his arms around the demon and bursting into flame.
"NO!" the panicked Alado cried before being consumed by Antonio's flames.
El Oso took a swipe at Black Cuervo, who dodged at the last second. Instead Oso took out a large chunk of a nearby building with his claw, showering the area with debris. Puma Loco fired several missiles at the demonic bear-themed villain. They exploded on impact, but had little effect. Plata Peligrossa socked El Oso square in the jaw, knocking him off his footing and actually doing some damage. Black Cuervo took this chance to bombard him with lasers. El Oso tumbled over, and the ground shook when he hit.
But he wasn't down for the count. He shook his head and picked himself back up.
"How do we beat this guy?" Black Cuervo wondered aloud.
Plata Peligrossa just grinned. "We just keep hitting him until he doesn't move anymore! YI YI YI!" She flew at Oso, only to get batted away. She landed on the roof of a parked car, caving it in.
"Maria!" Puma Loco cried.
El Oso roared and advanced upon the fallen superheroine. But a flash of something red struck him, stopping him in his tracks. The red flash landed, revealing itself to be…Trina, a.k.a. Pulsera. Her bracelet was formed into a lance that covered her arm.
"You know what they say," she smiled. "The bigger they are…"
"Who is that?" Black Cuervo asked Puma Loco.
Puma shrugged. "One of Maria's librarian friends I guess."
"TAKE THIS!" Pulsera shouted as her bracelet-lance began to spin like a drill and glow. She went straight for El Oso.
"PULSERA TALADRO!" The drill pierced El Oso's right shoulder, causing the transformed demon to cry out in pain. Pulsera landed gracefully, and El Oso clutched at his wound.
"C'mon!" she said to the others. "Let's take this guy down!"
Frida soared through the nightmarish sky, carrying El Tigre towards the Miracle City Volcano. The young super was now wearing what he had retrieved from his home: his father's Bronze Boots of Truth. True, they were no longer bronze; they were blackened, and they didn't quite fit right because they were bent out of shape.
"Do you feel any different yet?" Frida called down to her friend.
"No, not yet!"
"Are you sure we should be doing this?"
"Frida, would we have ever gotten anywhere if we made sure we should be doing it?"
"Good point."
The volcano was close. Unfortunately, close enough to be within firing range. Someone shot a bolt of dark energy from the top, and it struck one of Frida's wings.
"Son of a-" she yelled, starting to spiral. "I'm goin' down! Mayday!" She looked down at El Tigre. "You need to get to that volcano! I'm gonna toss you!"
"You're gonna what now?" El Tigre asked before being swung around thrown at the Miracle City Volcano. Once he finished screaming, he thought long enough to launch his grappling claw at the letter "A" on the Miracle City sign on the volcano. He reeled in and landed safely on a ledge. Of course, then he tripped over his father's boots. Picking himself up, he heard the sound of wings beating. He turned around.
"Frida? Are you all-" He stopped when he realized it was not his best friend. It was the white-haired Alado Uno.
"I noticed your friend has grown into her wings. Too bad she got shot down."
El Tigre growled.
Alado Uno continued. "It's pointless to keep fighting. We will just destroy you and all that you love. Like your father."
El Tigre roared. "I will keep fighting as long as there is breath in my body! My father is always with me!"
Suddenly, the Bronze Boots began to glow. El Tigre and the Alado both looked down…just in time for the brilliant flash of light. Unohissed as if the light hurt him, but it quickly faded…except for a warm glow. El Tigre no longer stood there. It was someone different. He wore a costume similar to El Tigre's, but it was all white and trimmed with gold. He was slightly taller and more built, as well. The Bronze Boots of Truth were restored to their former glory, shining on his feet. One thing that did remain the same were his eyes; as deep an emerald green as ever.
"Who are you?" an astounded Alado demanded.
The new figure smirked.
"I am…WHITE TIGRE!"