Line in the Sand Chapter 13, an el tigre fanfic

I wasn't exactly sure how to make the transition between Empire's Rise and the inevitable ending of my story. To be completely honest, I loved writing chapter 12 almost as much as reading it. I feel I'll have difficulty topping that. Here's to bridging the gap.

"The problem is… he knows us better than we know ourselves…"

- Chief Inspector Eric Finch, V for Vendetta

Chapter 13, The Beginning of the End

Chipotle's Secret Lab, Tuesday, 5:30 AM

Deep in the dark of the Chipotle Laboratory, Diego drifted in and out of sleep, occasionally checking his computer screen to see if anything had changed. For hours now he has been pouring over the information gathered from every possible source: the Pentagon, the AFI database, even documents received from M himself. It occurred to him at about one in the morning that he could track the IP address of M's computer through the email. It was very heavily encrypted. He traced the email through accounts the world over, and never did it appear to be traced back to Miracle City. As sleep closed in on Diego again, his computer alerted him of another email, this one from an address a little less defended. Snapping awake as the ding filled the air, he returned to work and clicked on the untitled message.

My son. We have done it! Soon Miracle City will be ours, and El Tigre will be destroyed! I have snap shots! - Dr. Chipotle Sr.

Diego opened the attachment to the email, and saw something both horrible and beautiful. There stood his father in front of a heavily sedated plant monster. It appeared to be a huge cactus-like abomination, legs and arms covered in rigid spines that looked like they could gore a cow. Truly evil.

"Aww, look at how cute it- wait a minute!"

It occurred to him then that this message did not have the same IP address as M's. He started to trace this one instead, and Diego found it to be encrypted as well, but with a military code instead.

"Hah! The military cannot lock me out. … The military?"

Curiosity piqued, Diego set to work on hacking his way into whatever network his father had emailed him from. The encryption was different than the AFI's, a little trickier, but it was broken just the same. With the code deciphered, Diego set about the easy job of finding the location of the computer itself. It took some time to find this out, and when his program did, it loaded a globe and zoomed into a location somewhere out in the desert, far beyond the borders of Miracle City, far outside the military blockade. Though the computer showed no image within the square it used to highlight the location, it did list a short line of text.

"… New Alamo Military Research Facility… hah!"

Suarez Residence, 6:44 AM

Carmela Suarez was a successful judge, mother of three wonderful girls, and certainly a stickler for rules and regulation. So it was only natural that she find it a little concerning and even more annoying that Frida's door remained closed after both her alarm clock went off AND her mother had knocked to make sure she was up. Knocking a second time, Carmela waited a moment then opened the door. Frida's room was dark, and an air of thick sadness filled the space around every object.

"Frida, it's time to get up. You have to get to school."

"…"

"Frida."

"I… I can't…"

"Frida," Carmela whispered, taking a seat next to her daughter's curled up form. She petted her head gently. "You have to get up. You have to function even though it hurts."

"I just want to… sleep for a day."

"I know you do mija. But you have to go out and face the-."

Carmela was cut off by the sound of a sharp breath, and the sound of crying soon followed. Her resolve was cleaved in two by those sounds. Running her hand through Frida's hair, her mother couldn't help but give in. Sometimes it's just too hard.

"Alright, mija, I'll go give the school a call. You just try to rest."

Frida's crying continued even when the door was quietly shut, leaving her to wallow in sadness in peace. Manny couldn't see her like this… she didn't need him thinking she was weak. She could do that for the both of them.

Police Station, Chief Suarez's Office, 6:50 AM

Chief Suarez arrived right on time to work today, as opposed to the hour or so yesterday he spent falling behind. He nodded to his subordinates, who in turn saluted him as he walked by. He reached the front desk of the station and looked down to see it: another envelope, much like the one he saw yesterday. Taking the item without a sound, Emiliano immediately retreated into his office, wondering what was in this one. Surely this time the location of the secret enemy would be revealed, then he and his police force could crack the case open and put an end to all this unrest. Tearing the envelope open, Chief Suarez removed another unmarked disk and a note attached to it. Coded for my protection? What did that mean? Dropping the CD in the drive, he immediately discovered what it meant. The files were blocked with a password prompt. Sighing, Emiliano consented to waiting for the inevitable call that would put this all in perspective. The phone rang, and without even a second's notice, he grabbed it and answered.

"Chief Suarez."

"Emiliano."

"What? Carmela?"

"Yes… it's about Frida."

"What's wrong with her?" he asked, knowing full well that it was probably the case that Frida was no better than she was yesterday. She was probably worse.

"She's hurt, Emiliano. I'm letting her stay home today."

"Alright. I'll try to keep myself in the office in case she calls."

"Thank you."

Wishing his wife a good day, Emiliano slowly placed the receiver on the hook and returned his attention to the disk. Knowing Chipotle, it was probably something thematically appropriate. After trying every pepper he could think of, from the obvious chipotle to the generally forgotten datil. It was only after he gave up that the phone rang again, and Chief Suarez answered it with the same degree of haste as before.

"Chief Suarez."

"You know, I put a password on the disk so people wouldn't try to open the files."

He turned around and looked out the window, trying to find where Dr. Chipotle was hiding. The best place would be the apartment complex across the street, but which window?

"You won't find me. Besides, there are more important things to do," he said with a somber voice. "The password is chipotlejr."

"Of course it is…"

"What? What did you mean by that?"

"Nothing."

After unlocking the disk, Chief Suarez was met with the map that Dr. Chipotle Jr. had generated after hacking the New Alamo network. At first, he had no idea what he was looking at. A square highlighting part of the vast desert outside Miracle City isn't particularly telling of anything. But something occurred to him then.

"A military base?"

"That's right. New Alamo was constructed for secret experiments. You won't find much about it on any database, since it does not officially exist."

"So this M character is located here?" Chief Suarez asked this not out of disbelief, but out of despair. This base was not in his jurisdiction, leaving him no way to bring this to a close himself.

"Yes. It seems most likely that the military itself will have to take this location."

"Then why did you bring this information to me?"

"… I do not trust General Fitzgerald."

The click on Chipotle's end of the line signaled the end of the call, leaving Chief Suarez with a head full of questions. Why did he not trust the armed forces here in Miracle City? Emiliano had met General Fitzgerald before, and he seemed perfectly reasonable. Hell, he'd have a beer with him any day of the week. It didn't once occur to the chief of police that M had already taken control of the city by corrupting the established martial law. Deciding that there was no other way, Chief Suarez pushed a button on his phone, calling his secretary.

"Maria, can you patch me through to General Fitzgerald? District 120, chief inspector's office."

"Yes sir."

Military Command Center, 7:01 AM

Lieutenant Gutierre knocked on the general's door and entered, bearing only a brief bit of news.

"General, Police Chief Suarez would like to speak to you."

"Thank you, Gutierre."

Once the door was closed, Fitzgerald picked up the receiver, staring out the window casually. He remained silent for a moment, making sure he was ready for this, then started to speak. It occurred to him about then that he had to let the call through, so pressed the flickering button.

"General Fitzgerald."

"Good morning, general. I'm Police Chief Suarez."

"Yes, my lieutenant told me this. How can I help you Chief Suarez?"

"Well sir, it's about the location of the ones leading the organized crime ring in Miracle City."

This piqued his interest. "Oh?"

"Yes sir. I can't discuss the exact location over the phone, but I can send copies of the information with a courier."

"If you know the location, Chief Suarez, why are you passing it on to me?"

"I'm afraid it is outside the city limits… it is beyond my jurisdiction. But you can end this in my place."

"I'd like nothing more," Fitzgerald smiled as he continued staring out the window. "And I will do exactly that, my friend."

"Thank you, general. I'll have the information sent immediately."

"Adios, Chief Suarez."

Hanging up the phone quietly, Fitzgerald returned his attention to his desk, looking over each intelligence report and deciding how best to sabotage the efforts of the military to quash the villainous revolution. He called Gutierre in to pass on the news of the call.

"Gutierre, a courier will arrive today with sensitive information. Bring it to me as soon as possible."

"Yes sir."

Alone with his thoughts at long last, Nikolai slumped back in his chair, dropping part of his charade. The general's features oozed a bit, and his tan skin became gray as the changeling relaxed. It had been hours since he had any rest, and the gunshot wound he inflicted on himself wasn't healing properly due to the nature of his shape shifting cells. Being someone else was a real pain in the ass. Nikolai retook the general's features when he felt a vibration in his pocket, but calmed down when he took the cell phone out of his pocket. He answered it very quietly.

"Da."

"Nikolai, I'm at the warehouse. How's the coup going?"

"Very well," Nikolai replied, smiling wickedly as he did.

"Oh good. And what of our hacker?"

"It seems that they have learned about New Alamo. Sadly, they went to the police, who can't do anything about it. They will be bringing me the information today, and it will disappear."

"Excellent… hmm, or maybe we can do something better."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I think, dear Nikolai, that it's time to test his loyalties."

Miracle City High School, Courtyard, 11:59 AM

After retrieving their lunch, Manny and Zoe waded through the sea of kids to find a table. Zoe led them to the table she and Diego usually sat at, sadly as vacant as the table Manny and Frida used to share. It was about this time that Manny noticed his friend was nowhere amongst the crowd. And really there was no way you could miss her; that hair of hers was just a dead give away. Manny saw Lupita at a nearby table and caught her attention.

"Hey Lupita. Have you seen Frida today?"

He frowned when he was met with a frown and a cold shoulder, which was repeated by everyone else at Lupita's table. Manny took this as his cue to leave, and retreated to his table with Zoe. He sat his tray down and slowly lowered himself onto the bench, propping his head up with his arms firmly planted on the table. Zoe moved close and leaned into him, trying to bring him comfort. At heart she needed it too.

"What's wrong cariño?"

"I guess I'm… still guilty about hurting Frida."

"Of course you are," she said as she hugged him, "it's only been a day. She just needs time to heal, and so do you."

Manny sighed and wrapped his arm around Zoe, holding her close. "I guess you're right. Still, I should do something."

Zoe ran her hands up and down his side as she leaned into him, kissing his cheek. This brought a smile to his face, and he turned to return the kiss. But before their lips met, an explosion disrupted the normal pace of the school day. Kids all over the courtyard started to panic, seeing the smoke rising from the school itself. It wasn't a horribly big plume, but it got Manny's attention almost as much as the sight of Senor Siniestro flying past over head. Jumping to his feet, he spun his belt buckle and transformed, scattering the swarming students with a mighty roar. Zoe watched him chase after Siniestro with startling speed, and wasn't sure if she should swoon or scowl. It was difficult for El Tigre to chase his enemy down, as flying over the buildings had a distinct advantage over running across them. But Senor Siniestro, before he could get much farther than a mile away from the high school, felt something strike his leg hard, and was met with the sudden addition of El Tigre's weight. Rather than waste fuel, Siniestro flew lower and lower until he landed. Some twenty feet away, El Tigre landed with a smirk, drawing his claw back into his arm.

"I knew you'd wanna' fight again."

"Oh, did you now?" Siniestro barked back, "Well then, I guess you'll be ready for this!"

Siniestro's left hand withdrew into the mechanical arm, and in its place came the snout of a long gun, similar in design to the one which destroyed the Golden Eagle Zeppelin, though more compact. He aimed the weapon at El Tigre with such precision that it seemed impossible for him to miss and fired, sending a hot shell towards his nemesis. Tigre only narrowly managed to avoid being splattered then and there, jumping to the side instinctively as the weapon fired. He could have sworn he saw the bullet zip by, missing by just inches. When Tigre landed, he turned to see whatever had exploded as a result of being struck by the high caliber round. The round penetrated three cars and the side of a building, bursting after it hit the second car and splashing shrapnel all over the building with a powerful fireball as its core.

"Quick as ever, you varmint. But I still got a trick or two up my sleeves."

The long barrel was replaced with his hand once more, while Siniestro's right hand was swapped out with his preferred weapon, the Gatling gun. It rotated wildly as he pour rounds into the air, trying to rip El Tigre's flesh away and leave his bones exposed. Tigre, trying to fight through heavy fire, retreated behind a nearby stoop. The bullets cracked the wall and whizzed over his head, but Tigre was neither injured nor afraid of being so. Once the firing stopped, he remained crouching behind the stoop, waiting for the right sound. The click of a reload hit his ears, and in seconds he was up in the air, rushing towards Senor Siniestro. El Tigre was a little caught off guard when he plowed into a large shield protecting Siniestro's face, attached conveniently to his arm. What his left arm lacked in weaponry, it seemed he made up for it with defensive measures. Dropping to the ground, Tigre looked up at the metal man with curiosity and frustration.

"You always have time to upgrade yourself," he said before smiling slyly, "I guess that means you don't have much else on your plate."

"What are you talking about?" As Siniestro pivoted to aim his gun at his foe, Tigre jumped forward and latched onto the shield. He shook his arm violently in an attempt to dislodge the pest.

"Well, with all the time you spend on robots, it's pretty clear you don't have a girlfriend." Siniestro's face became twisted with fury, red with violent hate bubbling over from the depths of his body. "Have you ever even had a date with a lady?"

"Shut up!"

In a last ditch effort to scrape El Tigre off, Siniestro fired his jets and rushed forward into a building. He didn't have time to curse his luck when Tigre climbed up the shield and nimbly jumped over the villain as he flew towards the wall, crashing into the bricks and cracking the shield's supports. Parts of his damaged arm fell to the ground as Senor Siniestro turned to attack again, completely enraged and still armed with a full clip of ammunition. But something changed the pace of the battle entirely: four large, green trucks pulled in on both ends of the street. Out of each truck came a squad of soldiers, armed to the teeth, weapons trained on the men fighting in the street. There was a moment of silence, where no matter how hard one tried they could not move, not make a sound. It was broken when Siniestro turned and fired at the nearest soldiers on his right, taking to the air immediately as he did so. El Tigre, not about to let a villain escape so easily, ran forward, but stopped and ducked when he heard gun fire. The soldiers fired their machine guns as Siniestro ascended higher and higher, though they all knew they'd do nothing at this point. After he escaped, a soldier approached Tigre as he stood.

"Don't move! You are being placed under arrest and will be taken to the command center for questioning."

"What?! Are you out of your mind?"

The soldier came close and held the gun level with El Tigre's head. "Don't resist arrest!"

Not wanting to have to deal with the soldiers, El Tigre sighed and withdrew his claws, letting the advancing soldiers cuff him and take him to one of the trucks. Inside the vehicle, he was forced to watch the city pass by him from the back of the truck, which was an odd sensation for him. It felt like he was falling out of the vehicle, and once or twice he almost tipped over. After a time, the vehicle slowed and turned into a gated parking lot, and Tigre watched soldiers pull the gate shut after the truck entered the grounds. Must be there. The truck came to a stop and the soldiers exited, bringing Tigre with them. He recognized the place immediately as a police station, then remembered how the news said something about the military using one as its headquarters. He found it strange that the Mexican militia didn't have an established base in a population center as large as Miracle City. The inside of the building was filled with busy people checking computers, reading printed documents, and going over and over maps. The "tour ended in one of the cells of the station, and for what seemed like an eternity, Tigre sat stock still in his cage, still cuffed up. Confusion was soon being displaced with anger, and when he had finally had enough, he heard the doors open again, with one man apologizing to another as they walked quickly into the room.

"General, I'm sorry, but no one informed me of his capture until-."

"Spare me, lieutenant!"

The two soldiers stopped in front of El Tigre's cell, and he and the general exchanged glares for a time. Finally, the general broke the tension and laughed.

"Open the cell."

"Y-yes sir."

Gutierre fumbled with the keys a moment and pushed one into the hole, discovering it was the incorrect key. He tried again and again, finding that each one was insufficient. Finally, tired of being trapped in his cell for no reason, Tigre pushed the lieutenant back and extended one claw, inserting it into the key hole and skillfully picking the lock. The cell door slid open, and El Tigre stepped out, making short work of the handcuffs he only just tolerated being on his wrists.

"El Tigre… I am General Fitzgerald. I apologize for your detainment."

"Yeah, whatever," he replied curtly, staring off to the side to avoid getting too angry. "Your guy said I'd be questioned. So, what do you wanna' know?"

"… Come with me."

The general led young Mr. Rivera out of the holding area and into the offices of the building, taking him inevitably to the office of the chief inspector. After closing the door, General Fitzgerald walked to his chair and sat down. He opened a drawer in the desk and withdrew an envelope containing copies of the documents Chief Suarez had seen hours ago, setting them on the desk. After Fitzgerald gestured towards him, El Tigre closed the gap and picked the envelope up, taking the papers out and reading over them.

"What the heck is this?"

"That, El Tigre," said the general, leaning forward, "is the location of the Flock of Fury, as well as Senor Siniestro and the Cactus Kid. In fact, we have reason to believe that every villain that has made attacks on Miracle City in the past week has been coordinated from this one location."

The weight of that notion clicked in Tigre's brain; Black Cuervo, who had been on his list ever since the Golden Eagle Twins, was here. He could help the Twins find peace by bringing their murderer to justice. After considering this and much more, El Tigre set the papers down and returned his attention to the general.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you and your family to spear-head an attack. It's an old fortress they have in their possession, and we need a quick strike force to weaken its defenses enough for my troops to get in."

El Tigre had to consider this even more. He wouldn't just be risking himself, but his father and grandfather. But if they succeeded, it would put an end to this madness. Was it worth it? Did the end justify the means? Was he willing to die for Miracle City?"

"Well, Mr. Rivera," the general said, drawing Tigre's attention, "are you willing to help us?"