El Tigre & La Tigresa
Chapter 1
The Birth of La Tigresa
Helpless. Powerless. Those two words echoed through Frida Rivera's mind like a train going through a tunnel under a bridge. Every day she heard those words, usually by the school bullies. She hated those two words. It reminded her of how useless she felt being the only member of the Rivera family without superpowers. She especially hated them when it came from her archnemesis, Zoe Aves. The only person that prevented her from punching anyone's lights out was her twin brother, Manny Rivera, also known as El Tigre. Manny didn't want her getting into trouble just for getting picked on, so he often stood up for her whenever she was to the point of going on the offensive.
It was after school one day at Leone Middle School. All of the classes had let out. Manny and Frida were walking beside each other, ready to go home. Manny noticed that Frida was madder than he'd ever seen her. "Let me guess. Someone picked on you?" he assumed. Frida glared at him and nodded her head. "Someone by the name of Zoe Aves?" he asked. She nodded again, not facing him this time. "Aw, is little miss no-powers Rivera angry at me?" asked Zoe, grinning ear to ear. She flipped her hair and admired her black nails as Frida began shaking with anger. Her right eye began twitching and she growled furiously. "Frida, calm down," said Manny. "You're lucky I'm with Manny, Aves!" said Frida, gritting her teeth. "If it wasn't for him stopping me, I'd knock all of your teeth out!" "Oh no. I'm so scared," mocked Zoe. "Frida, come on. She's not worth it," said Manny, dragging his sister away. Zoe chuckled sinisterly as the two walked farther away from her line of sight.
Outside the school on the sidewalk of Miracle City, Frida was absolutely livid. "One of these days I'm going to make that Zoe Aves SUFFER!" she growled. "I will humiliate her! I will have REVENGE!" Her blood was boiling with anger from Zoe's constant torture the entire school day. As they walked home, Manny tried to calm her down by telling her that he often felt pressure trying to live up to their father's legacy. Their father was also known as the legendary superhero, White Pantera. "You're right. Maybe I'm just overreacting," she sighed. "I'm just so tired of feeling like I'm letting the whole family down by not having any powers." Just then, a huge rumble was heard near the bank. "Sorry, Frida. I have to take this," said Manny, spinning his belt buckle. He suddenly transformed into his alter ego, El Tigre and ran towards the bank to stop the robbery.
Frida watched as her brother disappeared towards the bank. "It's not fair! My family has the most amazing superpowers, and I'm stuck watching from the sidelines like a helpless little girl!" she griped. "WHY I CAN'T I HAVE POWERS TOO?!" She noticed an empty metal can down by her feet. Frustrated, she gave it a powerful kick down the street, where it ended up hitting a tough-looking guy. Frida gulped nervously at the man who was slowly walking towards her. He had a white sleeveless shirt and a five-o'clock shadow. His head was completely bald and he had on boots similar to that of Frida's. His right arm sported a tattoo in the shape of a snake. His body reeked the stench of beer and he wore tan-colored pants. "Did you kick this into my face, you little brat?" he asked her threateningly. Frida let out a nervous laugh and explained that it was an accident. The man, however, didn't believe her and threatened to rip her apart. Scared for her life, Frida ran in the opposite direction she was facing to try to escape him. Eventually, though, she reached what seemed like a dead end in an alley. She heard his voice getting closer to her location. Thinking fast, she ducked into the dumpster and waited until she could barely him any longer.
Opening the lid, she looked down in disgust at her dumpster-stained clothes. She removed an old banana peel that was on her shoulder and removed her goggles from her head. As she was cleaning them, she noticed something emitting a mystical green glow in the dumpster. She looked down and saw that it appeared to be a belt similar to the one that Manny had. It even had the same letter on the buckle. After tying her goggles back on top of her head, she picked it up. She was disgusted by the condition of the belt, yet still fascinated at the fact that it emitted some kind of mystical energy. She decided to take it with her and attempt to clean based on some steps that she found online.
Later, at the Rivera household, Frida was rinsing the buckle off until it shined as good as new. She then decided to try on the belt to see how it fit. She strapped the belt onto her waist and saw that it fit perfectly. "Wow. This is so cool. Wait until Manny sees what I found in the dumpster of all places," she chuckled. She headed downstairs to meet up with her brother in front of the television. She greeted Manny and he greeted her back. "Where'd you get that belt?" he asked. "I found it in a dumpster while running from some tough-looking guy," she admitted. "Duh-huh?" he asked in a confused tone. "You should've seen it. It was glowing some kind of mystical energy. Kind of like yours," she said. Manny noticed that the belt had the same capital letter as his. "Why does your belt look exactly like mine?" he asked. "Beats me," she shrugged. "I just finished cleaning it off and now it's as good as new." She showed how sparkly the belt was from her cleaning it.
Manny's eyes soon started to get drowsy, so he went upstairs to go to bed. Frida told him that he would meet up with him eventually. Later that night, Manny and Frida were fast asleep in their bunk beds until the sound of screaming woke up Frida. She went up to her window and saw that people were fleeing for their lives. "Help! There's a giant robot on the loose!" one of the citizens screamed. Frida grabbed her belt and put it on. "If this works like I hope it does, then I'll never have to worry about being useless ever again!" she said in determination. She spun the belt buckle and instantly transformed into a tiger-like superhero similar to Manny named La Tigresa. She went out into Miracle City to face the robot, known as Giant Robot Sanchez, a gigantic robot thief.
She leapt towards the robot fiercely and with only two slices of her metallic claws, dismantled it and caused it to explode. She then faced off against a giant sewer monster with six arms, three eyes and a slug-like appearance. The monster tried to trap her in his fist, but she used her super strength to twirl it into the air and throw it towards the nearby Toilet World building top, shaped like an actual toilet. Finally, she faced off against a giant skeleton-like monster that was drinking coffee. She lifted up the World of Football sign with her super strength, then tossed it away. She ran over to its determined location and kicked it towards the street lamp. She then yanked the street lamp out and whacked the sign like a baseball into the monster, ultimately destroying it. La Tigresa stood proudly of her accomplishments, knowing that she was now on par with the rest of her family for having superpowers. Later, she stealthily sneaked back into her room and transformed back into pajamas before taking the belt off. She was so excited about her hero work that night that she couldn't wait to see the public's reaction the following day.
The next day at school, Frida walked proudly towards her locker while wearing her new belt and bumped the locker open with her hip. She got out her new addition of CAPE, the magazine for superheroes, from her backpack that she was putting away. She took one look at the cover and was immediately amazed to see her alter ego on the front cover. She was so happy, that she leapt for joy and yelled at how much she rocked. Immediately, though, she lowered her voice, as a lot of students were passing by. "Wow. I've never seen anything like her. She's so cool," one girl said as Frida let out a satisfied grin. Just then, Manny walked up from behind her and snatched her magazine in curiosity. "La Tigresa? Claws, blue hair, goggles, a tail, and a belt?" he asked as Frida frowned nervously. He then realized that something about La Tigresa looked familiar. He then compared the cover image to the look of his sister, Frida, who at this point, was sweating buckets. "I can explain," she said nervously. "Frida! You're La Tigresa!" he exclaimed. She quickly shushed him to keep anyone within earshot of hearing him. "Not so loud! I don't want the whole school to know," she said nervously.
"Why do you want to keep it a secret?" asked Manny. She explained that she wanted to keep a secret in case there was a villain somewhere nearby that could use their identity to target the Riveras personally. Manny thought about what she had said and eventually agreed to keep La Tigresa a secret from everyone. "Yeah, about that, I sort of told dad and Grandpapi this morning before you woke up," she said nervously. "So why didn't you tell me?" he asked skeptically. "Well, because I was afraid that you'd get mad at me for, y'know, copying your whole El Tigre thing," she said. "Okay, fair enough. Even still, you should've told me before we got here," he said. "You're right. I'm sorry," she sighed. "Don't worry about it. Besides, I think it's cool to have a superpowered sister now," he said. "You really mean it?" she squealed. He nodded his head, causing her to give him a big hug. "That's the best thing I've heard from anyone all day!"
Time passed by quickly for the two Rivera kids that day. Soon the final bell had rung, signaling that it was time for the students to go home. As the two walked alongside each other, they eventually heard the one sound that Frida hoped she wouldn't have to hear. It was the voice of Zoe Aves. "Well, well, look who it is. The goggle-wearing blue-haired loser," Zoe said sinisterly. "Back off, Zoe, I don't have time for any of your insults," said Frida. "Is that so? Then maybe you'd be better off not existing like the failure you are," mocked Zoe. Frida growled angrily and her left eye started to twitch. "You take that back, you bitch!" snapped Frida. "Frida, don't. She's not worth it," said Manny, trying to calm her down. Zoe let out a sinister giggle. "Aw, is the little blue-haired girl angry?" mocked Zoe. "One of these days, Aves, you're going to get exactly what you deserve!" threatened Frida, shaking her fist. She stormed away from Zoe while Manny followed her. As they walked away, Zoe glared Frida suspiciously. "Something about you is very familiar, Frida," she snarled. She pulled out the magazine that featured La Tigresa on the cover and noticed some similarities. She then ripped the magazine in half, knowing that it was time for her strike as her alter ego, Black Cuervo.
Later, at the Mayan Arcade, both Manny and Frida were playing the fighting game, Super Macho Fighter II, which Manny was really good at. "NOOOO! Not again!" whined Frida, upset that she lost. "I beat you again, sis," said Manny. "One more round, Manny! Loser buys ice cream!" she growled. "Fine with me," he said slyly. The two twins chose their fighters. Manny chose a balanced fighter with a green headband. Frida, though, chose a fighter with claws and a mask. As the first round started, the two of them started going crazy with the combos. The match got so intense that it eventually attracted a crowd. As they finished the second round, they were both tied with one victory each. "Manny, I swear, if you beat me again, I am literally going to kick your ass!" snapped Frida. Manny gulped nervously, knowing very well that she wasn't kidding. The third and final round started with Frida looking more determined than ever. It eventually came down to whoever would make the final strike on either opponent in the game. Eventually, the final blow was heard in the game. The two of them stood in front of the arcade cabinet in shock. Frida had come out victorious. She was so happy that she leapt for joy.
Later that evening, the two of them were enjoying their ice cream that Manny had bought, fulfilling his end of the bargain. "I've never seen you be that fierce before," said Manny in amazement as they walked down the sidewalk. "You were like a wild animal!" "Just goes to show that you should never get in the way of Frida Rivera!" she yelled excitedly. The two of them laughed as they continued home with their ice cream. Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from the rooftops. It was Black Cuervo, a young thief who was about their age. She wore a purple-and-black costume with pink claws, similar to the talons of a raven. She also wore a helmet with a purple tinted visor over the mask that she wore over her eyes. "What are you hiding, Rivera?" she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. The young thief, also known as Zoe Aves, was determined to figure out the connection between Frida and La Tigresa.
That night, Manny and Frida sat in front of the television watching a comedy program out of boredom. "Man, I'm bored. There's nothing good on anymore," said Frida with her head in her hand. "We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin," said a newscaster on the TV, as the program came to a sudden stop. "A priceless phoenix-shaped ruby has been stolen from the Miracle City Museum. According to eyewitness accounts, the perpetrator was wearing armor that looked like a raven and was even sporting a jetpack." As the report continued, both Manny and Frida exchanged glances and nodded their heads. They spun their belt buckles and transformed into their alter egos while letting out fierce tiger roars. "EL TIGRE!" shouted El Tigre. "LA TIGRESA!" shouted La Tigresa.
Outside of the museum, Black Cuervo admired the artifact that she had just recently stole. "At last, you are mine," she said, admiring its beauty. She cackled as she flew up into the sky. All of a sudden, she appeared to have stopped dead in her tracks. She looked down and saw that a grappling hook had wrapped around her leg. It turned out to be one of La Tigresa's detachable chain claws. "Sorry to spoil your little moment, but we don't take kindly to criminals like you," said El Tigre. "You been working on that?" asked La Tigresa. "Yeah. Do you like it?" he asked. "It's alright," she said with a smile. "Ugh! Such nonsense! I will destroy both of you!" snarled Black Cuervo with the ruby now on the ground unscathed. She activated a laser from her gauntlet and fired it at them, causing La Tigresa to let go of Black Cuervo's leg in order to dodge the laser blast. The villain continued to fire the laser at them, but the two dodged every shot. She let out an extremely frustrated scream when she realized that she had missed every shot. "We can't just keep dodging her like this. We're going to be sitting ducks if we don't do something," said La Tigresa. Just then, she had an idea. The two exchanged glances and nodded. She grabbed El Tigre and tossed him into the air. He spun around to prepare one of his techniques, the Spinning Armadillo, by extending his left foot. "Dios mio. What a hunk," said Black Cuervo dreamily as the plummeted towards her with a powerful kick. The kick was so powerful that it smashed her into a wall, leaving her extremely bitter. Just then, the sound of police sirens was heard, so the two tiger heroes immediately left the scene.
The two kids witnessed Black Cuervo's arrest from one of the many rooftops in Miracle City. "Nice one, sis," he said, high fiving La Tigresa. "I think that worked out pretty well for our first mission together," said La Tigresa. "Couldn't have said it better myself," he said in agreement. They then decided to head back home before their father found out that they were gone. Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by an even sinister villain. A villain who was the most feared out of anyone in all of Miracle City. "Enjoy the little victories now, you little brats," she said watching from her lair as a hidden camera tracked them. The villain was an evil skeleton with a sombrero and a mystical guitar. Her name was Sartana of the Dead. She cackled sinisterly as the two eventually made their way back to their house. Their fight against crime and villainy in Miracle City was only just beginning.
TO BE CONTINUED…
