Line in the Sand Chapter 9, an el tigre fanfic

Did anybody else have fun this weekend? I certainly did, and I'm sure everyone else at the… let me see now, one, two, three parties I went to did too. Two Halloween parties and one Dia de los Muertos celebration. That's good fun right there.

But back to business. I'm doing some playing around with characters in this chapter, particularly how they would respond to disaster, but once again something doesn't feel quite right. If someone seems out of place in terms of character, please tell me who, how, and what they think would be better.

Chapter 9, Aftermath

Jewelry Shop, Thursday, 8:35 PM

Police Chief Suarez carefully waded through the debris as he pieced together what had happened. He had to be exceptionally careful not only because this was a crime scene, but because it was still fairly hot. It took four hours for fire crews to gain any semblance of control over the fire that left four buildings ruined and several others damaged. All that remained of the Golden Eagle Zeppelin was the melted framework, now fused tightly to the street. The media was toting this as the worst crime that Miracle City had ever seen… and though he knew it certainly was not, it was bad all the same. It had been a long time since a super hero had been beaten so completely. Of course, those poor heroes were trying to defeat El Mal Verde. What chance did they have? But this was… this was different. There was no hungry monster, no elaborate plot to resurrect some ridiculously old set of bones, no attempt to steal an artifact of immeasurable power. This was a trap, pure and simple. Someone wanted the Twins dead from the moment they returned to Miracle City. As Chief Suarez stared at the rubble, another officer approached him.

"More bad news?"

"Yes sir… it seems that someone called in a report before the zeppelin went down."

"Yes," Suarez said turning, "and?"

"Senor Siniestro was sighted on a roof top with, and I quote, "a really big gun"… no one thought anything of it."

Chief Suarez sighed, wiping away sweat from his forehead. This was messy. Eye witnesses placed both El Oso and the Flock of Fury at the scene, but no one had any idea how the blimp went up. Siniestro… that made a whole lot of sense. Unfortunately they did not react to this in time. Miracle City had been dealt a serious blow to its pride simply because no one thought it was unusual for a maniac with a gun to be up on a roof top. Both of the Twins had survived… barely. Carla was in critical condition, and though the news had not been informed of it, it did not appear she would survive. The blast seared her lungs severely, leaving her all but unable to breath. Compounded with internal bleeding, it seemed inevitable that she would die. Carlito, luckily enough, survived the attack with a broken spine. He wouldn't be able to do anything for at least eight weeks.

"There's something else, sir."

"What is it?"

"It's… well, the governor isn't at all happy about this." There was a painful silence. Was anybody really happy about this? Surely no; nothing like this ever left anybody happy. Even the villains would feel a little nervous about this. "The governor has decided to move troops in."

"… Martial law."

"Yes sir."

"… I need some time to think."

Leaving the rubble with a stern glare, Chief Suarez found his way to his squad car. He sat down inside of it and just rested for a moment. How did it get this bad? At what point did Miracle City stray so far?

Rivera Estate, 8:47 PM

Grandpapi and Manny watched the news unfold minute after painstaking minute. Manny was especially upset by this. True, he had never really cared for the Golden Eagle Twins after they proved to be nasty, materialistic worms, but this? They didn't deserve this. No one deserved it. As the media presented the facts, he became more and more outraged. The villains had taken this a step too far.

"Cuervo…"

"This is bad," said Grandpapi, "martial law?"

The reporter paused for a moment, holding her ear for a moment as she listened to the fresh news being fed to her. Judging by how she slumped in utter despair, it couldn't have been good. Shuddering as she reported, she had to fight hard to keep sadness from overwhelming her.

"We… we have just received word that Carla of the Golden Eagle Twins has died of her injuries. Carlito is still in critical condition. Nothing more to report…"

Avez Residence, 8:47 PM

"… died of her injuries. Carlito is still in critical condition. Nothing more to report."

Zoe pressed the power button on the remote and withdrew from the world. In the other room she could hear her mother and grandmother arguing about something, though she couldn't tell what. They were succeeding at keeping whatever it was they were talking about hidden. Zoe whimpered as she pulled her knees to her chest. She felt horrible. True, she had done horrible things in the past. She even actively TRIED to kill people before. But she had never succeeded, never had to deal with the aftermath. She whimpered again as she remembered how she felt when she bound the Twins to the burning air ship: she liked it. She enjoyed dooming them to a horrible demise. But now Zoe felt like she was the one who was dying.

Rivera Estate, 9:00 PM

"… This concludes our official broadcast time, but we will remain on air as long as possible."

Grandpapi turned off the television, no longer wanting to hear the bad news. He turned to Manny, seeing him stare angrily at the floor. Manny had always had something of a neutral relationship with Black Cuervo… but now hatred festered in his heart. He thought about going out to find her, just so he could fight her. He didn't care that it wasn't heroic, that it wasn't honorable. It was just too offensive to let go.

"Manny… let's have some ice cream."

Manny didn't move as his grandfather walked past him. He heard him in the kitchen, dishing out the dessert that he just didn't think he could enjoy right now. Of course, this wasn't really ice cream you enjoy… this is ice cream that you need. Cathartic, emotional, calm your mind ice cream. Grandpapi returned moments later with two bowls, stopping to hand one to his grandson. When Manny did not take it, he left it on the cushion next to him. When he heard the sound of a spoon absently scraping around at the bottom of a bowl, Manny turned his head a little. Grandpapi had not taken a single bite yet… maybe it wouldn't hurt to try eating. Manny picked the bowl up and started jabbing the ice cream with his spoon. It felt strangely therapeutic.

Suarez Residence, 9:00 PM

Frida sat on the couch silently, staring down at the floor. Diego sat opposite to her, thinking hard about everything that had happened in the past five hours or so. Hell, the things that happened in the past two were hard for him to deal with. Zoe was implicated… and he knew M was at the center of this. He knew that Zoe would never do this under normal circumstances. And then his old friend Sergio turns out to have played a part? What is this madness? He recalled how the day had gone… he showed up at Frida's door after school, just as she requested. They set to work right away. Well, he set to work. Frida did indeed attempt to do some problems herself, but that quickly changed. Neither one of them knew what had happened until a phone call five minutes after Frida had tricked Diego into doing her homework again. Turn on the news. That's what they had said. After watching it, Frida felt empty. Diego knew right away what would come of this. He had tried to leave, to return to the lab so he could begin working on something. But Frida asked something of him. He kept replaying it in his mind…

"Please… stay a while longer."

Now he stared at her. She had barely moved in the hours that followed the disaster. In fact, he had done just about everything in an attempt to keep things moving. Falling apart just wasn't something that Diego did. He stood again, stretching his arms and legs. This got Frida's attention.

"You're not leaving… are you?"

"No," he whispered, "I just need some air."

He left her there as he walked down the stairs. He was met by the two growling dogs that Frida loved so inexplicably. After slowly inching past them without taking his eyes away for even a second, he slipped out the front door. The air seemed unnaturally cold… but this only bothered him a little. What was more worrisome was how he could not get a hold of Sergio. They had been best friends since seventh grade, and even into high school. But at some point, it just seemed that Sergio was sinking deeper into sewage of villainy. Tonight made it look as though the boy he knew was dead and gone. After trying to call him for the third time, Diego sighed in defeat, deciding instead to just sit and stare out into the night. He turned around when he heard the door open, finding Frida had come out to join him. She sat next to him on the porch, twiddling her thumbs for a brief time.

"Sorry for freaking you out…"

"What?"

"I got a little needy," she admitted, now a little ashamed of it. "Sorry. It's been a harsh week. Coping's a little trickier nowadays."

"I think I know what you mean."

Avez Residence, 9:00 PM

Zoe held the phone in her hands, just staring at it. She felt sick to her stomach, and more than anything she wanted relief. She thought that maybe he would bring her some. She believed that. But three digits into the phone call and she slammed back onto the hook. Zoe rested against the wall as she fought off her sobs. What could she say to make herself feel better? He was behaving more like a hero than a villain, lately… and murder was probably not something she could get away with, even if El Tigre was misbehaving. She couldn't tell him anything to relieve her pain. She couldn't tell anybody, and it was driving her mad!

"Calm down… calm down… calm…"

After Zoe had broken down a bit, sliding down the wall as she stifled her tears, she regained control and slowed her breathing down. She needed something to keep her calm, and the only person who could do that was Manny. She didn't need to say anything, just talk to him. That's perfectly reasonable. Reaching up and grabbing the phone, she dialed the number in slowly and deliberately, this time forcing herself to finish what she had started. It rang several times, and then the machine picked it up. After the beep, Zoe tried to speak, but nothing came out, so hanging up was simply the right thing to do. But she didn't feel better, which was really all she wanted from this, so she dialed again. This time it was answered almost immediately.

"'Ello?"

"… Uhm, is Manny there…?"

"Who shall I say is calling?"

"… Zoe?"

"Zoe, eh… oh, you the girl! Wait one minute!"

Zoe sat baffled, wondering if Manny's grandfather was getting any weirder in his old age. Probably not, but sometimes it's hard to tell with old people. Hell, some young people get a little weird within a day's time. After a moment, Zoe felt a little cold inside. All her fears ran rampant… but she perked up when he picked up the phone.

"Zoe?"

"Hola Manny…"

"Are you okay?"

"I… yes… I'm fine."

"… You can tell me if you aren't."

"… I'm scared…"

"Oh," his voice seemed tired, like he was not really in the mood for a talk like this. But he mustered the effort anyway. "I think we all are."

Rooftops of Miracle City, 9:15 PM

White Pantera, in an effort to aid in this trying time, was searching the area that Senor Siniestro was reportedly seen. So far all he had found was a single large round casing. It was unlike any bullet he had ever seen… the police had no ideas about it either. This was proving to be a most difficult crime to solve, but all they really lacked was a motive. Of course, there was the obvious: the Golden Eagle Twins are a major threat, and the current trend in crime suggests that the villains would set aside their differences to put this threat to bed quickly. But that's what bothered him. Villains, at least the ones in Miracle City, don't readily work together. And when they do, it's usually only temporary. But so far three major crimes have been committed within one week, and the only link between them was cooperation between statistically uncooperative groups of people. Pantera sat on the edge of the roof as he thought on this. There had to be something here he was missing, some stone left unturned, some clue unfound. He looked over the edge when he heard the sound of car doors slamming. The police were giving up… apparently there was nothing left to find. He too decided to move on. But he wouldn't give up. Someone out there knew something. He kept that in mind as he jumped to the next roof, then the one after that.