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. She hated those words. They were a constant reminder to her that she was the only Rivera without superpowers. While she was at school with her twin brother, Manny, some of the other kids would pick on her, telling her that she's only a burden to the Rivera family name. Most of the time, whenever Manny would stand up for her, the other kids would stop teasing and go about their day normally. All except for one. That is none other than Frida's archnemesis, Zoe Carmella Aves. Zoe loved humiliating Frida whenever she would get a chance. Due to their constant hatred for each other, Frida swore to herself that she would get back at Zoe someday.
One day after school, Frida was in a very bad mood. Throughout the entire day, it was nothing but constant bullying from the other students at Leone Middle School. To make matters worse, Frida's hair was a complete mess and her goggles sat crookedly on top of her head. Zoe had sawed one of her chairs earlier in the day as a way to taunt her for not having any powers. Frida shook violently as she walked out of school beside Manny. "I will make Zoe Aves suffer!" she growled as she fixed her hair and goggles. "I will humiliate her the same way she's been humiliating me!" "Whoa, whoa! Frida, calm down!" shouted Manny, trying to get his sister to chill out. "I will not calm down! Not with Zoe constantly reminding me that I have no powers!" she roared. She was so angry that she kicked a lone soup can into a nearby dumpster. "Okay, I'm just going to let you do your own thing," Manny said nervously as he walked away. "Yes, let me do my thing while everyone else admires you for being El Tigre!" she snarled. She knew she had to let off some steam, so she went to the park and stood by the lake. She picked up a rock, roughly the size of her hand, and tossed it into the lake. She continued doing this for about five whole minutes until her arm started to feel sore. Seeing that the sun was starting to go down, Frida decided to head home for the day.
She arrived at the Rivera residence with her father, Rodolfo, waiting anxiously for her. "Frida! Where have you been? I have been worried sick about you!" he scolded. Frida just glared and growled at him. "Dad, now's not the best time to be ridiculing her," said Manny. "She's already had enough of that for today." "You don't mean to tell me that she's been picked on again?" asked Rodolfo. Manny nodded his head, confirming his suspicion. "¡Viva Pantalones!" exclaimed Señor Chapi, the Rivera family parrot. "Quiet, you!" growled Frida. She then stormed upstairs to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. Suddenly, the Miracle City volcano erupted and a giant monster started terrorizing the city. "This looks like a job for WHITE PANTERA!" exclaimed Rodolfo, taking off his work suit and hat. Manny spun his belt buckle and let out a fierce tiger roar as he became El Tigre. "Onward, my son!" he exclaimed as they leapt out the window to save the city. The sound of screaming citizens did not go unnoticed by Frida, however, who looked out her window wanting to help them, too. She then noticed White Pantera and El Tigre fighting the giant monster in the city. Furious, Frida smothered her face in the pillow and let out a frustrated scream.
Later that evening, Frida was half-asleep on the couch as she watched the news with Manny. She then heard a clatter coming from downstairs. Curious, she made her way down into the basement to see what made the awkward sound. When she finally got downstairs, she noticed a strange chest that was illuminated by the flickering light that hung above it. She opened the chest, sending dust flying everywhere. Frida coughed as she fanned the air with her hand. As the dust cleared, Frida saw photos of the various Rivera men that had superpowers, including the original El Tigre. Just then, something caught her eye. It was an old photo with the name Mondragon Rivera under it. The photo depicted a girl that looked extremely similar to her. She had long, blue hair, a bright red dress and was wearing green-shaded goggles on her head. She looked through the chest and noticed another photo of the girl. This time, she was with the original El Tigre, even wearing the same costume as he was, minus the ears, as her goggles were in their place. Under the photo it said El Tigre and La Tigresa. She couldn't believe it. She had just discovered that she was the descendant of a superpowered Rivera woman. Plus, she was even fighting alongside the original El Tigre. Frida was flabbergasted at the fact that she had been lied to by her mother before the unfortunate breakup. "Why? Why would mom lie to me about this?" she asked herself as tears started trickling down her face.
Suddenly, she saw a mystical green glow coming from inside the chest. She slowly peered inside the chest and saw a belt with a large T engraved on the buckle, just like Manny's. Not even giving it a second thought, Frida reached into the chest and grabbed the belt, as if by instinct. Just then, she heard a familiar voice coming from upstairs. "Granddaughter! Are you alright?" the voice called. It was her grandfather, Jorge, the father of Rodolfo. "I'm fine, Grandpapi!" she answered as she hid the belt behind her back. She decided to wait until morning to show everyone what she had found in the Rivera family chest. She walked back upstairs and told him that she ended up sleepwalking. Jorge believed her lie and walked away, whistling happily. When he was far enough away, Frida went upstairs to her room and hid the belt underneath her pillow on the top bunk. "Looks like I might not be so… powerless after all," she yawned. She quickly put on her sleep clothes and removed her goggles, replacing them with a pink sleep mask, then slowly drifted off to sleep in her bed.
The next morning, the three Rivera men were having breakfast while Frida was busy getting herself ready. After she got dressed, she retrieved the belt from underneath her pillow and put it on. She was so excited to show everyone the discovery that she made last night. "Frida, come on! We're going to be late!" called Manny. "Be right there, Manny!" she said, grabbing her red goggles. She put them on her head and admired herself in the mirror. She then burst out the door and slid down the banister, eventually making her way to the kitchen. When she finally arrived, everyone noticed that she had a huge grin on her face. "Are you running a fever?" Manny asked suspiciously. "Guess what I found last night?" she sang in a sing-song voice. "Okay, I'll bite. You found a mongoose," he said sarcastically. "No, silly. I found THIS!" she said, standing proudly on her chair, showing off the belt. Rodolfo couldn't believe his eyes and spat out his coffee onto his father's face. "Why must you take such big sips?!" growled Jorge. "Mija, where did you find that thing?" asked Rodolfo. "Well, I found it in that dusty old chest in the basement, because I heard something clatter down there," she responded. "Father, how long has that thing been in that chest?" asked Rodolfo to Jorge, who was drying out his mustache. "Since Maria, who you try never to think about, decided to leave you for putting yourself in danger," he answered. Before the conversation could progress any further, Frida's phone alarm went off. "Dios mio! It's almost time for school!" she exclaimed in a panic. She quickly finished her breakfast, put her backpack on, then dragged Manny out the door with his backpack. "Bye guys! See you after school!" she said, closing the door behind her.
Later at Leone Middle School, a lot of the students were amazed that Frida had her own belt like Manny's. Some even wondered if she would transform into a superhero like Manny does. Zoe, on the other hand, wasted no time in her attempts to constantly humiliate Frida. This time, she even went as far as to place a KICK ME sign on her back as she went into gym class. Needless to say, Frida wasn't a happy camper after getting beaten up thanks to Zoe's cruel prank. Now she really wanted to get back at the purple-haired goth girl for all of the times she was humiliated in front of her brother. During lunch, Zoe was being even more obnoxious than usual. While she was having her lunch with Manny, Frida felt someone push her aside by force. Taco sauce was all over her face and had even gotten into her blue hair. As she suspected, it was none other than Zoe Aves, who was once again, flirting with Manny. "Hands off my brother, Aves!" she growled. "Or what? Are you going to try to punch me, Frida?" mocked Zoe. "Don't tempt me, bitch!" Frida growled loud enough for only Zoe to hear. "What did you just call me?!" sputtered Zoe. "You don't think I couldn't just kick your ass right here, right now?!" "You don't have the guts, Aves!" shouted Frida. The two girls simply just glared at each other, ready to put the other one down. Thankfully, the confrontation didn't go any further, due to the ringing of the school bell. "Consider yourself lucky, Rivera!" snarled Zoe as she stomped away with the other students. Frida never took her eyes off of her for a second as she disappeared from sight. A flowing sense of hatred coursed through her veins as she glared at her. She had every intent on making her pay for all of the suffering she caused her over the years.
Later that night, both Manny and Frida were asleep in their beds. Or rather, at least one of them was. Frida was tossing and turning in her bed above Manny's. She couldn't sleep, no matter how hard she tried. She had one too many things on her mind. The possibility of the belt giving her superpowers, her eventual showdown as payback with Zoe, the fact that her own mother lied to her since the divorce. It was all so confusing to her. Just then, she heard the sound of people screaming outside. Looking out the bedroom window, she saw Giant Robot Sanchez on his usual rampage once again. She tried to wake up Manny, but he was sound asleep. That's when she remembered the photo that she saw in the chest last night. It showed the original El Tigre with her ancestor as La Tigresa. "Let's see if this thing does work like Manny's belt," she said. She spun the buckle around and was engulfed in a green flame. She let out a fierce tiger roar as she transformed. Her costume was black with a red scarf and skirt. She had dark brown boots, dark brown gloves with a red star on each of them and metal claws. She was also wearing a dark brown mask that covered the top half of her face with a large T at the top. Unlike Manny, she still had her hair visible and was even wearing her signature goggles. She even had a tiger tail sticking out from behind, which was darker in tone from Manny's. "LA TIGRESA!" she roared as she posed heroically.
Frida was off, now as La Tigresa, to save Miracle City, a spicy cesspool of crime and villainy, from the villains that lurked in the night. First off was Giant Robot Sanchez, a giant robotic cowboy bank robber. She leapt off of one of the rooftops like a tiger lunging towards its prey and sliced the mechanized criminal with her claws, dismantling him in two successful swipes. Next, she tackled a giant three-eyed six-armed sewer monster. The monster tried using its fist to trap her, but due to now having super strength, she twirled it over her head and threw it into the large toilet resting on the Toilet World building. Finally, she faced off against a giant skeletal demon, who was having coffee from the local StarDucks café. Sure, he was big, but he was no match for La Tigresa. She lifted up the World of Football sign over her head and tossed it. Using her super speed, she managed to kick it before it hit the ground, sending it elsewhere. Finally, she yanked a street lamp post out of the ground and used it like a baseball bat to hit the sign straight into the giant demon, ultimately destroying it. Frida was proud of herself. Why wouldn't she be? She has superpowers now. For the first time in her life, she actually felt like she really was a Rivera and not some random powerless nobody. After all that, Frida successfully managed to sneak back into her room without anyone knowing. She stealthily spun her belt buckle again and transformed back into her pajamas. "That was so awesome!" she whispered to herself. She climbed into her top bunk and immediately went to sleep. Despite still having various things on her mind, she didn't care. She was too happy and too tired to even think about it.
The next morning at school, Frida happily strutted towards her locker, feeling proud of herself. She bumped her locker open with her hip and pulled out the latest edition of CAPE, the Magazine for Superheroes out of her backpack before putting it away. "Awesome!" she sang, looking at the cover. There she was on the cover as her alter ego, La Tigresa. "I go out one night and I'm on the cover of a magazine?! I ROCK!" she shouted, jumping for joy. She suddenly stopped what she was doing, as she noticed that a bunch of her classmates were passing by. She didn't want to raise any suspicion just yet, since the Riveras are known for making a lot of enemies that can easily target their weaknesses, due to their identities being public. As some of the students walked right past her, a lot of them were in awe at La Tigresa's heroic antics from the previous night. This caused Frida to grin like idiot from ear-to-ear. She was obviously very happy that she was finally being appreciated instead of constantly being ridiculed for being a Rivera. Just then, Manny, who was right behind her, grabbed her magazine and immediately looked at the cover. This made Frida extremely nervous. She didn't know how her twin brother would react if he found out that she was actually La Tigresa. Maybe he'd be really angry for copying his El Tigre schtick. Or perhaps he might be amazed to realize that his sister has powers just like all of the other Rivera men. So many possibilities ran through her mind, but the reaction that she got from him actually managed to surprise her. After taking one look at the magazine, he then compared it to his sister and immediately put the pieces together.
"You're La Tigresa?!" he shouted, only to have his mouth covered by her. "Not so loud. I don't want everyone to know yet," she whispered sharply. "Especially you-know-who." She pointed to Zoe, who was standing alone while leaning against the lockers. Zoe glared at her angrily. Manny forced her hand away from his mouth. "What's the problem with everyone knowing?" he asked. "Manny, what about that Black Cuervo bitch that tried to ruin my birthday party? What if she found out the truth?" she asked. Zoe darted her eyes nervously as she was listening to their conversation. 'Oh, God! Does she know? If anyone finds out, I'll be ruined!' thought Zoe. "Okay, okay. I won't tell anyone," Manny said to Frida. "Especially mom," gulped Frida. She was really nervous about what their mom, Maria, might say if she found out that her daughter had the second belt. "Do you swear it?" "This, I swear!" he replied, pointing his finger upwards. Zoe hit her hand on her face in disgust. She hated all of that mushy stuff. Thankfully, for her, they didn't bring up anything more about Black Cuervo. "Thank God that's over," she grumbled. As the two Riveras walked alongside each other, Zoe constantly kept her eyes on them, especially Frida. She had a weird suspicion about her. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she definitely suspected that something was extremely off by the way she behaved. "What are you hiding, Frida?" she growled.
After school that day, Manny and Frida decided to hang out at the Mayan Arcade, a popular place for people to have fun at. The two of them were playing a very particular game today. A fighting game known as Super Macho Fighter II, a game that Manny was really good at. Of course, he wasn't the only person who was good at that game. Frida loved playing the game, as well. She even held the hi-score record for three years until Manny broke it on her thirteenth birthday. If there's one thing about Frida that everyone at the arcade knows, it's that she can get extremely competitive. Manny was about to find out about this the hard way after their second round at the game. He had just finished beating her, making their total wins to be 1-1. The score was tied and Frida was very upset at her loss. "Ha! I bet you again, sis," he said smugly. It was obvious to everyone that he had beaten Frida at the game before. "One more game, Manny! Loser buys ice cream!" she growled. "Fine with me," he replied. As soon as the word FIGHT appeared on the game's monitor, both Manny and Frida let loose with their characters' combos. The two of them were both attacking and dodging each other ferociously. They were eventually both down to 5 HP of health. It would all come down to the last attack. "Manny, I swear, if you beat me again, I WILL LITERALLY TWIST YOUR ANKLES SO HARD, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO FEEL THEM FOR HOURS!" she roared. Manny was so scared by his sister's threat, that he didn't see the incoming attack hit his character. With just one hit, Frida knocked out Manny's character, beating him in a two out of three match. Frida was in shock. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She had just won. "I won? I won. I won! I WON!" She was so happy that she jumped for joy.
Later on, the two Rivera twins were sitting on a bench at the park, enjoying their ice cream. "Were you being serious back there?" asked Manny. "What do you think?" she replied dryly. "Hey, Frida, listen. About this whole thing with you being La Tigresa, don't you think we should at least tell dad and Grandpapi?" he asked. "I don't know, dude. There's just something about it that I'm not too comfortable with," she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. "Come on, Frida. They obviously know more about the belt than we do. They're going to tell us about it sooner or later," he said. "You're right, but ONLY them. We leave mom out of this! At least until she finds out," she said nervously. "So, are you ready to tell them the truth?" he asked. She nodded her head slowly. The two of them then gave each other a big hug and made their way home.
Meanwhile, at the Rivera residence, Rodolfo was reading the magazine for superheroes, while Jorge was reading a magazine for supervillains. "Oh, El Oso, when will you ever learn?" he chuckled. Just then, the door slammed open and the kids walked in. "We're back!" exclaimed Manny. "And we're here to get some grub!" said Frida. "Manuel Pablo Gutierrez O'Brien Equihua Rivera! Frida Mondragon Maria Rivera! Where have you kids been?!" scolded Rodolfo. "We, uh, sort of lost track of time while we were at the arcade," Frida admitted. "At least you told the truth," Rodolfo sighed. "Come along, now. Dinner is almost ready." "Oh, boy! Tacos!" exclaimed Manny. "And burritos!" added Frida as their father dragged them into the kitchen.
As they were eating, everyone was surprisingly quiet. "So, is there something you'd like to tell us?" asked Rodolfo, breaking the awkward silence. Manny nodded to his sister, who let out a guilty sigh. "Okay. Last night, I couldn't sleep. So, I got up to get some water, but then I heard a loud noise outside," said Frida. "Why did you not wake us up?" asked Jorge. "I tried waking up Manny, but he was fast asleep. So, I did this," she said, spinning her belt buckle around. She instantly transformed into La Tigresa in front of her family. "I'm sorry for keeping it from you this morning. I just didn't want anyone to know about it in case a crazy supervillain decides to target us." She spun the belt buckle again and transformed back into her civilian clothes. "What kind of supervillain?" asked Rodolfo. "Not me. I retired Puma Loco," said Jorge as a diamond fell out of his pocket. "Partially retired, father," corrected Rodolfo. "Villains like, well, you know, that crazy group of birdbrains, the Flock of Fury," she said. Rodolfo and Jorge exchanged glances at each other. Then, the two of them nodded at each other. "I don't like doing this, Mija, but if you really want to keep this a secret for now, then we won't tell anyone," he said. Frida smiled and gave her father a big hug. She was really happy to hear him say that.
Unbeknownst to them, however, they were being watched by a shadowy figure on the rooftops across from their home. "That's right, Riveras. Enjoy the good moments while you can. Soon, the real battle will begin, and we will rise from the shadows and take over the world," said the figure as he watched them with his binoculars. The man had a mysterious vendetta against the Rivera family. He was also working for some evil organization that threatens not only Miracle City, but the entire world as well. The battle against the real villains was about to begin.
TO BE CONTINUED…