A/N
I don't really have much to say here for this chapter's Author's note. But I will say that I hope everyone is having a nice 2019 so far. This chapter is being written at the time of 7:11pm 2/9/19.
I should start back dating my chapters, it's always cool to see the month you started writing and date you finished it.
So cool~
Enjoy the chapter!
El Tigre the New Adventures Season 1 Episode 8 – I'll always be there no matter what
[After Team Rivera arrived back in Miracle city]
Frida power walked down the side-walk feeling irritated and annoyed. She had both her hands wrapped around her shoulders. She couldn't stop thinking about her mother and father just going off in front everyone who was around the station at that time. Then, a police car pulled up next to her. It was Frida's father Emiliano, and sitting in the passenger seat was her mother, Carmela, both giving her angry looks.
"Leave me alone!" Frida yelled at them
"FRIDA GET IN THE CAR!" Emiliano roared at Frida, his voice echoing through the streets they were on.
Frida just sighed, and she reluctantly gets into the car and sitting in the backseat. Throughout the whole drive back home Emiliano was scolding Frida fiercely, Carmela through in a couple of her own nasty opinions as well. To Frida it seemed like the yelling would never end, she also had the same thought about the car ride home. But finally, they did arrive back home. Frida quickly gets out the car and makes her way for the front door, her mother and father followed close behind. Frida opened the front door to their home and hurried inside but was told to stop by her father's booming voice.
"Don't you dare try and walk away Frida!" said Emiliano, slamming the front door so hard that it shook parts of the house "This was the last straw Frida! We told you that you were not going! And what did you do? You disobeyed us!"
"Do you know how worried we were?! We thought someone kidnapped you!" Said Carmela
"I HAD TO GO!" Frida cried "I couldn't just leave Manny—"
"AHA!" Emiliano interrupted Frida "That Blasted Rivera! He's the one who forced you to go! I should've known!"
"It was MY Decision to go! It was MY choice! Manny had nothing to do with it!" Frida protested
"STOP STICKING FOR HIM!" Emiliano yelled "This boy has—"
"WILL YOU STOP BLAMING MANNY FOR EVERYTHING?!" Frida screamed at the top of her lungs. Both her mother and father just stared down at her. Emiliano was ready to begin his ranting but Frida was having none of it, she cut him before he could get a word and said "Everything I do is my choice! I'm so sick and tired of you and mom holding me down every single time I want to do something!"
Emiliano had a confused look on his face "What do you mean? You wanted to join the Miracle city Jr. police force and you were train—"
Frida cut him off yet again "The only reason I joined was because for once in my life I wanted you to look at me without having disappointment or embarrassment in your eyes! You don't think I ever notice how ashamed you are of me?!"
"Frida Please—"Carmela tried to speak but Frida once again cut her off
"But oh no…" Frida continued; everything that she was ever frustrated about was being spill out from her mind. "You love to brag and talk about Anita and Nikita…you don't even bother talking about me! Why is that huh?!"
"ENOUGH!" said Emiliano, not wanting to hear anymore "Enough of all of this nonsense!"
"Of course it's nonsense to you!" Frida narrowed her eyes at her father "YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT I WANT OR ABOUT HOW I FEEL!"
"ALL I WANT IS A NORMAL DAUGHTER!" Emiliano snapped
Carmela gasped and clasped both of her hands over her mouth, staring at her husband in shock. Frida just stood there with her mouth hung open slightly, feeling as though she was just struck in the chest with a cold knife. Emiliano realizing what he had said stood there, looking at her daughter with regret painted all over his face.
"F-Frida…" Emiliano stuttered "I-I…"
Frida felt as though her heart had just been ripped out of her chest. She looked up at her father as if he was complete stranger. She started to breathe lightly, feeling as though all the air was being sucked out of her by the second, and began taking steps back.
Carmela was looking between Emiliano and Frida, she held out her hand to Frida and said "No no Frida your father didn't—"
"Is…that how you really feel?" said Frida, her voice cracking and her eyes beginning to water "Is that…h-how you've always felt?"
"Frida I…"
"I see…" said Frida, turning around quickly. Standing next to the stairs leading up to her room were both her twin sisters Anita and Nikita, looking just as shocked as her mother was. Frida walked past them without even batting in eye.
"Frida wait please!" Carmela called out to her.
But Frida was already in her room and she had slammed the door just as loud as her father did when they arrived home. Frida sat on her bed with her knees to her chest and her face buried in between her thighs. Frida silently began to cry. She could hear the sound of her mother arguing with her father about what he had said. All she could hear was "I didn't mean to say that! I didn't know what I was thinking!" and "How could you say such a cruel thing to your daughter?!" Frida didn't want to hear any more of it. Frida grabs her headphones and just places them in her ear and turns on her favorite songs on shuffle. All Frida wanted to do was just fall asleep, fall asleep and just forget everything the next morning but It was hard for her to do so. The words of "ALL I WANT IS A NORMAL DAUGHTER!" rang into her head ruthlessly. Frida closed her eyes. Tears fell from her eyes as she finally was able to drift off to sleep.
[Two days later – also after the end of the last chapter]
Frida opened her eyes; the sound of birds chirping from the outside was the first thing she heard on this Friday morning. Frida slowly rose up and looked out her window to see the bright sunlight shining through her blind into her room. This was the second night in a row that Frida dreamed about the argument she had with her father. Ever since then, she couldn't help but feel a certain way about things now. Usually when Frida wakes up she would be excited about starting the day and be full of energy, ready to take on the world. Now, she didn't feel anything. She felt tired and drained, and most of all for some reason, out of place. Frida slowly removed the covers off of her and gets out of bed. She walked to the bathroom all while dragging her feet on the floor. She enters the bathroom. Frida looks at herself in the mirror; the black bags were still under her eyes as usual, along with that tired exhausted expression. Looking at herself in the mirror just made her feel even worse. She sighed, splashed some water in her face, and then began to brush her teeth. Once she was finished Frida exited the bathroom and slowly crept down the hallway. Frida stood at the top of the stairs and listened. Her whole family was downstairs in the kitchen eating breakfast. A pit formed in Frida's stomach. She didn't want to go downstairs at all. This feeling showed up ever since their argument. But, Frida just sucked it up and heads downstairs. The smell of bacon, toast and eggs filled her nose as she heads into the kitchen. Carmela was sitting at the table along with the rest of her family, Emiliano was filling out some reports before he heads out, and Anita and Nikita were stilling eating breakfast.
"Good morning dear." Said Carmela, smiling at Frida "You're plate is still warm—just made it up."
Frida didn't reply at all to her mother. She just sat down next to her twin sisters, grabbed her fork and began eating her scrambled eggs. Carmela's smile turned into a slight frown. Frida couldn't stomach anything at all. Frida didn't eat much for two days straight. She would only just eat some bread then drink some water and she was done.
Frida lays her fork down and sits up from the table "Sorry but I'm not hungry. I'm going to go ahead and get ready to head to school." She walks away from the table and heads upstairs to her room.
Carmela watched as her daughter walked up the stairs slowly. Anita and Nikita just looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces. Emiliano sighed and puts down his pencil and heads upstairs to Frida's room. He stood in front of the door and watched as Frida packed her backpack with her school books.
"Frida," said Emiliano
Frida didn't reply. She ignored her father and just stuffs her bag with the supplies she needs.
"Look Frida I didn't mean what I said two days ago. I'm sorry…"
Frida stops packing her and paused "It takes you this long to apologize?"
"I didn't—"
"No." Frida cut him off. She gets to her feet, whips her backpack around her left shoulder and turns around to face her father with a sharp piercing glare "You told me how you really felt about me…" she walks to the door but her father still stood in her way.
"Frida just let me take you to school…it's not safe—"
"I'll walk…"
"Fri—"
"I'LL WALK!" Frida snapped
Emiliano stayed silent. Frida saw an opening and just hurried past her father and stormed down the stairs. Carmela tried to stop Frida to talk to her but Frida was already out of the house before Carmela could get a word in. Emiliano stood at the top of the stairs and she stared down at her wife, who looked up at him from below.
"Emiliano…" She said to him "What are we going to do?"
Emiliano let out a painful sigh and rubs between his eyes
"I don't know…"
…
Frida stormed down the side-walk, her nerves at her limit and her face red with anger. Frida hated this feeling, this painful feeling in her chest; a terrible feeling that has been locked away in the back of her head for as long as she could remember. Ever since she was little she had one fear, this one and only fear, that loomed around in her head, and that was the fear of not being truly accepted by her family. Frida knew that she was always the odd one in the family; her mother and father being with law enforcement, and her, going along with music, being wild and carefree, while her sisters were better mannered and following in the footsteps of her father. But Frida, didn't want do that, she wanted to be who she wanted to be, go down the path she wanted to down; she knew this would be upsetting for her father and mother but there was that one comforting thought, and that thought was that they accepted her…and that they loved her. But now she knows…she knows the truth. Frida knows how her father feels. The more she thought about it the more her test became tight. With every breath she took the tears began to fall. She just wanted to breakdown and cry.
It felt as though she was out of place. And she felt so…alone
Frida arrived at Leon Middle School and she shuffled her feet through the front gate. She was beginning to wish that she just skipped school and went somewhere else in town where she could just be alone. But sadly, vice principle Chakal had already saw her; and that wish had gone quickly as it came. Frida walked into the school with her head hung low. Her heart was racing. There were two people that she was not looking forward to seeing.
"Frida," Manny called out to her.
Frida jolted at the sound of Manny's voice. Manny hurried over to her and he stood next to her.
"H-Hey…"
"Hey…" Frida replied sheepishly
The two of them walked through the school hallways without saying a word to each other which was very odd, especially for the two of them. Manny was wondering if Frida was upset with him; did she still want space and to be alone? He thought, as the two of them arrived at Frida's locker.
Manny thought it would be a good time to at least try and strike up a conversation.
"So umm, you wouldn't believe what happened yesterday!" Manny began "I decided to hang out with Marcus; apparently he wanted me to show him around so I took him to the arcade." Frida was just placing the books for her other class in her locker and getting the books that she needed for the classes she was going to. Manny continued "I actually ended up having fun to be honest; even though he ended up almost breaking the ski ball machine and nearly getting us kicked out the arcade, I still had fun."
"That's good." Frida replied quietly as she closed her locker
"But that's not the end of it though! After we left the arcade we went to go get something to eat; and we ended up getting caught by Sartana and Django!"
"What?" Frida turned to Manny
"Yeah," Manny said with a nod, happy that she got some sort of attention from her "We ended up beating them but it wasn't easy…they did something weird with their guitars that makes it harder to break them now." He explained while scratching his cheek with his finger.
"I'm glad you're ok." Said Frida sincerely "I'm going to head off and just listen to some music till class starts I'll see you ok?" she turns around and begins walking
"Frida wait!" said Manny "J-Just hold on please!"
Frida stopped walking and her heart began to race once more.
"Frida I'm worried about you…why won't you just talk to me? I just want to know what's wrong…" Said Manny, the worry in his voice tugged against Frida's heart strings. "We're best friends…you know I'm always here for you when you need me…right?"
Frida just stood there with her back to Manny. This, this moment right now, was why Frida wished she would have just roamed off somewhere else after she had left her home. Frida began to shake in fear and she felt as though she was going to breakdown at any moment.
"Frida…" said Manny, taking a step closer to her. He noticed that she was shaking.
Frida couldn't bear for Manny to see her like this. She didn't want him to know at all about how she felt. She couldn't even bear to face him.
"If you were really my friend then you would just leave me be…" said Frida coldly
Manny's eyes widen and heart sank as he heard those words. Seconds after Frida said them she stormed off, leaving Manny to stand there shocked, watching her walk away. Manny hung his head. He wanted to go after her, but, what would he say to her?
He didn't really know what to do, but just leave her be.
Looming in the distance was a girl black hair, sporting a black dress with pale skin and a smirk across her face. That girl was Zoe Aves, and she was enjoying every bit of what was going on between Manny and Frida.
[Elsewhere]
"So how have you and your father been?" Sergio asked worriedly
"Not really good…" replied Diego with a sigh.
Sergio, Diego's one and only best friend who is also known as Senor Siniestro, a super villain who uses a large Mech suit and cowboy themed robot minions, was sitting next to Diego in one of Sergio's hide out which was a big red barn that sat on-top of a green hill that was away from the city. Diego was telling Sergio about how his father, Dr. Chipotle Sr. and he, has been having a rocky relationship as of late.
"I mean…he was never really the one to show me that much affection but now it's just…it's gotten worse. I make one mistake and he just blows up on me…"
"Oh Diego…" said Sergio, placing his arm around his shoulder and scooting over closer to him. "I'm so sorry…"
"It's been like this for days now…I'm scared to do anything with him. I just don't know why he's acting so aggressive now." Said Diego weakly, resting his head against his friends shoulder.
"Diego you can stay with me for a bit if you want. You don't have to go back…" Sergio offered, patting his friends shoulder softly.
Diego shook his head no. "He's expecting me back to try work on some things so I have to be back early." He said raising his head from Sergio's shoulder.
"I see…" said Sergio, moving his arm from around Diego's shoulder.
Diego gets up from the floor and looks down at Sergio "I'll be over again tomorrow though." He said with a half-hearted smile.
Sergio nods returning the smile. Diego then left the hide-out barn and made his way back to Miracle city. As he walked, Diego continued to think about Sergio's offer, thinking that maybe he should just live with Sergio. But could he really just abandon his father? Diego just sighed and rubbed his forehead, making a turn down an alleyway that was a shortcut back to his father's hideout.
"That's a pretty nice disguise you have on."
Diego stopped dead in his tracks and turned around quickly, only to see that nobody was there.
"It really hides your true self, is that a part of your arms work?"
"Who's there? Come out!" demanded Diego
Stepping out from the shadows was Nelson Wilson. His blond hair wrapped into a pony tail while sporting his glasses with its yellow lens and usually black suit with a green tie, he stood there smiling down at Diego. "Hello Dr. Chipotle Jr." He said kindly.
"How do you know my true identity?" Diego gasped, but placed his hands around his mouth
"Nothing really gets passed me like that." Said Nelson "But enough about that, I've just come to ask you a few questions, that's all."
Diego glared, he removed his hands away from his mouth and points his arm at Nelson, Diego's entire arm transformed into a large, sliver laser cannon with a circular red tip sticking out. "Whatever question you have will just be answered with this!" He snarled
Nelson let out an impressed whistle as he stared at Diego's laser cannon "Fabulous." He whispered "Did you make this all by yourself?"
Diego didn't respond. He just fired his laser at Nelson, leaving a smoking creator on the ground. Diego's laser cannon went back to being his normal arm "Creep…" He said under his breath.
"Well that was rude."
Diego jumped when he heard the sound of his voice and turned around, seeing Nelson standing right behind him. "But how did you—"
"You could do better you know," Said Nelson, cutting Diego off by holding up his hand "Your talents are being wasted with him."
Diego blinked in confusion "What are you talking about?"
"You know exactly what I mean. A child that is smart such as yourself, wasting your life away with a father that tells you that you're doing everything wrong, when in reality he's the one who's wrong."
Diego just stared at Nelson "I—I don't—Just who are you?!" He snapped
"Someone who can tap into the full potential that lies within you, somebody who can teach you the true power of technology and science that some, doesn't even know of." Said Nelson, walking past Diego and stopping, standing on the burnt patch on the ground where Diego's laser hit. "But as of now I'm just the host of the international fighting tournament that'll begin in a couple of weeks."
"And what exactly can you teach me huh?" Diego asked raising a brow "and what does someone like you know about Science or Technology?"
"Far more than you think."
"Prove it." Said Diego, but as soon as he said those words something clasped around his chest. He looked down, seeing thick metal claws wrap around his upper body and beginning to wrap around his legs. "W-What is this?!"
"The Mechanical Iron Maiden," said Nelson "Although I have it set to lower settings, I'm not trying to kill you of course."
"When did you put this on me?" Diego asked frantically
"When I was behind you," Nelson replied as he pressed a button on his control. The robot, that was the iron maiden unwrapped himself from Diego and shrunk down to a small, incent like form that crawled back to Nelson and stood in front of its foot. Nelson picked it up and placed it back into its pocket.
"I don't think I ever made anything like that…or even have the means to make it." Said Diego, staring at the pocket where Nelson placed the robot.
"You could." Nelson said walking closer to Diego, he took his hand, and placed the robot in his hand, and closed his palm. "Take it apart, understand it." He turns around and begins walking off "I'm sure I'll be hearing back from you Chipotle Jr." Then he was gone.
Diego opened his hand and stared down at the little bug like robot. The steel itself wasn't like anything he'd ever seen or had, it even felt different. Nelson called it the iron maiden, but was that one of its many forms? Diego wondered. Can it turn into anything else? He just had to know. Diego placed the robot in his pocket and hurried on home. After he was done helping his father with whatever he was doing, he was definitely going to study this tiny little robot.
By taking it apart piece by piece
…
It was now afterschool. The Classrooms emptied with students ready to head home. Frida was the last one to leave her biology class and enter the hallway. She didn't need to go to her locker at all so she made a move for the exit. But it wasn't going to be that smooth at all.
"Why are you in such a rush Suarez?"
Frida froze. She knew that she would be hearing from her today.
"Don't you want to chat for a bit?" said Zoe Aves, standing behind her with her arms crossed and grin across her face.
"Leave me alone…" Frida said bluntly.
"Oh dear you don't sound so good." Zoe continued on. Hearing the frustration in her voice satisfied her so much "Are you finally starting to realize how much of a waste of space you are."
"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!" roared Frida, she turned around and tossed her backpack on the ground and glaring down Zoe.
Frida's sudden outburst caused a group of kids to the stare at the two of them. Slowly a circle began to form around Frida and Zoe.
"What's wrong Suarez? Can't handle the truth?" said Zoe, grinning from ear to ear as she could see Frida's anger building up "You're even pushing away the only person who even let you tag around his coattails! Have you realized how much of an annoyance you are to him? About time I'd say. What about your family Frida?"
Frida clenched her teeth, she was shaking with anger she hadn't felt in her entire life
"Have they finally disowned you? Good…maybe then you can stop being such parasite and disappear!"
Frida let out a scream and she charged forward throwing a heavy right hook. Zoe moved her head to the left dodging her punch, and then kneeing Frida hard in the stomach. Frida felt all the wind in her lungs just leave, she falls to bother knees coughing and gasping for air.
"You Pathetic piece of trash!" Zoe spat as she kicked Frida causing her to fall on her back, Zoe then sits down her waist, grabs her by the collar of her shirt and then begins to punch Frida in the face over and over.
Students were watching in horror as Zoe was over and over punching Frida in the face, not holding anything back at all. It wasn't till finally a teacher who was walking down the hall had pushed through the kids to see what the commotion was, and she gasped
"ZOE AVES YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" Shrieked Ms. Lupita, she grabs Zoe around the waist and pulls her off of Frida.
Manny as well pushed his way through the crowd to see what was going on. His eyes widen when got to the middle. Frida was lying on the ground flat on her back with a black eye, and split open cheek. Manny dropped everything and rushed over to her.
"Oh my gosh Frida," Manny whispered to her. He bats his eyes at Zoe who was looking at the two of them a smirk on her face. Manny clenched his teeth in anger as he glared Zoe right in her eyes.
Other teachers that came to scene helped Frida get to her feet. The wind that was knocked out of her returned and she began to take light breaths. The teachers helped her sit up; the blood tricked down her cheek, and some from out of her, her bottom lip was cut open.
One of the other teachers went to a nearby bathroom to grab some paper towels and brought them back to Frida to.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Frida screamed slapping the napkin out of the teachers hands "ALL OF YOU JUST GET AWAY!"
Manny looked "Frida—why are you—"
"WHY CAN'T ANYONE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?" Frida cried as she forces her way through the teachers and students and sprints down the hallway.
"WAIT FIRDA COME BACK!" Manny called out to her as he rushed after her.
Ms. Lupita glared down at Zoe with a furious look "You come with me!" She grips Zoe by the arm "Straight to the principal's office!
"Whatever." said Zoe, with a nonchalant tone of voice.
Manny went out the front doors of the school and saw Frida walking down to the entrance of the gate. Manny called out to her to wait but she ignored him and kept walking.
"Frida hold on!" He called out once more
"LEAVE—ME—ALONE!" Frida turned glaring at Manny.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" Manny screamed at her "YOU'RE HURT! YOU NEED TO GO BACK AND LET THE—"
"NO I DON'T! I DON'T WANT ANY HELP FROM ANYBODY!"
"WHY ARE YOU ARE ACTING LIKE THIS?! WHY WON'T YOU JUST TALK TO ME?" Manny shouted
"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH ANYBODY—NOW STOP BOTHERING ME AND GO AWAY!" She roared as she sprinted off.
Manny stood there and watched as Frida ran away. Manny felt; confused, heartbroken and helpless.
"Frida...why…why are you…" Manny hung his head low and let out a quivering sigh
Back at Leon Middle Zoe was sitting in the Principal's office getting lectured by principle Tonino. This was a rare time that Principle Tonino was ever so upset, he hated seeing his students fight or get injured.
"Your parents will hear about this! And you'll be suspended for a whole week!" said Principle Tonino, as he picked up the phone and began dialing furiously at the numbers.
Zoe sat there twirling her hair with one leg crossed over the other. Then, Zoe's wrist communicator went off making a loud noise.
Principal Tonino looked over at Zoe "ZOE! Take that off right now!" he demanded
Zoe grinned over at Principal Tonino "Oh excuse me, this'll only take a moment." She said, she points her wrist communicator at Principle Tonino and presses a button that was under the strap. As soon as she did Zoe closed her eyes and blinding flash of white light filled the room.
"AH! MY EYES," Cried Principal Tonino as he rubbed them desperately.
Once his vision had returned to him, Zoe was gone. "WHY-THAT-LITTLE-JEZEBELE," He roared as he turned around seeing that the window behind him was open.
Outside, Zoe was hiding behind the school dumpster. She presses the button on her wrist communicator and speaks "This is Black Cuervo, I'm alone finally." She spoke quietly
A hologram floating head of her mother, Carmelita Aves, also secretly, Voltura, leader of the Flock of Fury, appeared on her wrist communicator.
"Meet up with us at the tallest building a block away from the Miracle city museum. They're bringing in this diamond tiara they found and are putting on for display! It's ours for the taking!" Voltura explained
"I'll be there soon!" Zoe replied. The call then ended. Zoe gets to her feet, double checks to see if anyone was around, then a cloud of purple dust erupts from Zoe, transforming herself into Black Cuervo. She activates her jet pack, and then dashes off into the air heading to meet up with her mother and grandmother.
…
Manny didn't know what to do. He felt hopeless and useless as sat on the sidewalk with his chin rested on the palm of his left hand. Manny honestly didn't know if he could take this anymore. Being away from his childhood best friend was worse enough; but knowing that his best friend was suffering for some reason, and not being able to talk or help her at all was killing him inside. "What am I going to do?" said Manny, staring down at the concert road and letting out a small sigh every five seconds. "How am I supposed to help you if you don't let me?"
Manny had heard the sound of a can getting place down next to him. He looks down to the left seeing a soda can, and standing next to him was Marcus, wearing a blue shirt with a design that had the infinite logo plastered on it, also wearing some blue jeans and grey boots "Sup?" He said sitting down next to him and opening his own can of soda.
Manny didn't reply; all he did was just, stare down at the ground with a depressed look in his eyes.
"Still no luck with your friend huh?"
Manny shook his head no
"What happened?"
Manny went on to explain what she said with he tried talking to her early, and told her about the fight she got into with Zoe.
"Who's Zoe? Some random stuck up girl by the sounds of it," said Marcus
"Zoe's Frida's bully. Frida and Zoe have been going at it ever since they were little. This was the first time they ever really fought though…" Manny explained
"Is that so? Who won?" Marcus asked curiously
"WHAT DOES THAT MATTER?!" Manny shouted at Marcus glaring at him
"Alright alright sorry," said Marcus quickly "So what happened after that?"
Manny rubs his head in a stressful manner and replied "She just ran off somewhere I don't know...I tried catching up to her but she snapped at me when I tried stopping her." He said sounding upset, as he placed his knees against his chest and buried his face between his thighs. "I don't know what to do…I'm just scared I'll lose her…"
Marcus stared at Manny for a moment. He then moved his eyes up to the sky, watching the white clouds move slowly float around in the sky. Marcus places his drink down and gets to his feet.
"Well, let's go find her." said Marcus, dusting off his pants and then looks over at Manny once more.
"She doesn't want to talk to me…" Manny said, sound extremely saddened to say those words. "She'll just get angry at me…"
"Maybe," said Marcus "But are you really going to just sit by and let her just drown in the pain she's feeling?"
"But-I…"
"She's doing this for a reason. Deep down, she really needs you right now. She just can't show it at the moment." Marcus holds his hand out to Manny "Come on, let's go. I got your back."
Manny stared at Marcus for a few seconds. Then, slowly reaching out his hand and taking his. Marcus pulls him up to his feet, and Manny replies "Thank you…Marcus."
"Don't worry about it." Marcus responded "Now, where do you think she went?"
"Uhh…I don't really know. I guess we really have to look around."
Coming from down the street were large police cars that looked to be escorting this one large black vehicle slowly down the street to the nearby Miracle city museum. The two of them just watched for a moment as they parked around the front entrance of the building.
"Well, can you make more obvious that you have something extremely valuable in that thing?" said Marcus, watching as the unloaded the diamond tiara from the truck that was incased in a metal box, slowly and carefully.
"Hehe…yeah they have a bad habit about that." said Manny, watching as well as they make their way closer to the glass doors of the museum.
The two of them turned around and began to walk off; till they heard something that sounded like a cannon go off behind them. The two boys quickly turned around to see a big cloud of smoke cloud the front entrance of the museum. Manny looked up; flying down from the sky's were Black Curevo, Voltura, and Lady Gobbler. Black Curevo zips down into the pile of smoke, and she came out, the entire metal box from security guards and flew up into the sky.
"I GOT IT!" Black Curevo exclaimed
"LET'S GO!" said Voltura as they began to fly off.
"I DON'T THINK SO!" said Manny, he spun his El Tigre belt transforming into El Tigre and he launches grappling hook up into the air at Zoe. Manny's grappling hook wraps around Black Curevo's leg. She gasped, seeing that she was caught around Manny's chains. Before she could do anything Manny yanks her down causing to land on to the ground. The metal box containing the tiara topped out of her hand and slid across the ground.
"El TIGRE!" Snarled the flock of fury, Voltura and Lady Gobbler landed next to Black Cuervo.
"Whoa…" said Marcus, staring up and down at Voltura "That…is one foxy mama…"
Manny snaps his eyes over to Marcus "DUDE! Come on!"
Voltura shivered as he looked over at Marcus "Who in the world is this?!" She asked
"My names Marcus Dupree," said Marcus waving with a smile across his face it's definitely a pleasure to meet you…you…." he shuffles over to Manny "Who are they?"
"That's the flock of fury. They're a family of super villains…" Manny replied, still scowling at Marcus
"But who's the tall lady with the wide thighs?"
"UGH!" Manny groaned
Voltura gasped "DID HE JUST SAY I HAD WIDE TIGHS?!"
"Oh Dios Mios…" Said Lady Gobbler, rubbing her head in frustration "Can we just take of these fools and get this over with and leave already?!"
"Certainly," Said both Voltura and Black Cuervo
Black Cuervo dashed in going for El Tigre first, superman tackling Manny into the distance.
Voltura and Lady Gobbler both smirked as they activated their lasers and pointed them at Marcus, fully charging.
Marcus stared up at the lasers "Uh oh…"
Voltura and Lady Gobbler fired, but missed, as Marcus jumped high into the air. Voltura and Lady Gobbler aimed their lasers into the air and began firing rapidly this time. Marcus moved his body and different directions dodging the lasers. Once Marcus dodged the last one with a spin, his fire roaring in his right hand, he launches a red hot fireball right towards Voltura and Lady Gobbler. Both Voltura and Lady Gobbler quickly jumped out of the way as the fireball hit the ground, blowing the concrete apart.
Marcus grabs on to a nearby light pole spins once and lands on top of the pole "You know Granny," Marcus began, looking over at Lady Gobbler "You should be careful doing all this tough moving around. Anymore and you'll throw your back out!"
Lady Gobbler growled "YOU LITTLE PUNK I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW-AH! Oh Mi espalda!" she groaned holding her hand against her back.
"I don't know what the heck you just said but I heard that back pop from here. I told ya," said Marcus
"SHUT UP YOU BRAT!" Voltura spat, a green saber shoots out from her metal gauntlet as she dashes up towards.
Voltura swung her saber at Marcus, but Marcus hops off the top of light post, Voltura, cutting the top light post in two. Marcus lands back on the ground, takes a deep breath "DRAGON'S BREATH!" he shouts as a large stream of fire burst from his mouth, heading towards Voltura. Voltura dashes out of the way of the furious fire, and Lady Gobbler does that same. She dashes up high into the air avoiding the red hot fire that swarmed the ground below them.
"Art of Fire," Marcus began, the flames had completely engulfed his right arm "KING COBRA!" The fire from his right arm takes the shape of a Large Cobra, and it wasted no time heading towards Voltura.
She flew up into the air; and the cobra followed. Voltura went an all sorts of the different flying patterns trying to evade the flaming cobra but nothing was working.
Lady Gobbler pointed her arm at Marcus; a missile appears from her wrist a gauntlet and fires it at him.
Marcus sees the missile coming "A MISSILE?!" He gasped. Marcus jumps out of the way and missile hits the ground; the shockwave from it knocks him back, causing him to lose his flaming cobra.
"Damn it…" cursed Marcus, quickly getting to his feet. But once he did he was met with a strong punch the face causing him to stagger back, and from the distance Lady Gobbler fired her lasers at rapidly at Marcus as they hit him directly, knocking him to the ground. Marcus coughed as the smoke resonates off his body "This…is not going well…"
Black Cuervo throws a quick right hook at Manny; Manny moves his head to the right dodging, and he throws an uppercut towards Black Cuervo, but Black Cuervo leans back quickly; dodging Manny's upper cut, spins around and gives Manny a rough kick to the stomach sending him flying back into a wall. Black Cuervo activates her laser gun; charges it and fires it at Manny. Manny hops out of the way in time as the laser hit's the wall completely destroying it.
Manny launched his grappling hook at Black Cuervo; Cuervo catches the grappling hook in her hands, then Manny activates his claws trying to claw at her, she yanks her head back avoiding it; then yanks Manny forward. Manny saw that Cuervo was going for another kick; while flying forward he shifted his body to right, Cuervo missed the kick and Manny lands on one hand; and while one hand he spins around with his leg stuck out and kicks Black Cuervo in the face hard, sending her sliding across the ground.
The two of them got to their feet at the same time, and charged at each other. With each punch and kick the two would throw at other at each other; they kept countering. Cuervo threw a punch that was heading directly towards Manny's face but he dodges it, grabs her arm and places his arm around her neck, going for a grappling hold. Black Cuervo activates her jet pack and she fly's backwards smashing Manny into a car, then into a wall; going up in the air, and then crashing down to ground.
Manny had finally let go. Black Cuervo gets up and turns to Manny; who was lying on the ground coughing.
She activates her laser and points it at Manny. She lowers it, firing a couple of shots at his right leg. Manny let out a cry of pain as he held his leg, groaning in pain.
"Feel good?" Black Cuervo asked with a grin "That's how I felt when you betrayed me! Used me! Let that pain sink in El Tigre!" She points the laser at his head and charged it slowly "I want you to think about all those times we spent together…all those happy moments…then think about how you turned on me…let it sink into your head." She said coldly
Frida strolled down the side-walk with her hands wrapped around her arms. Frida thought about Manny, and she sighed. "How could I say such a horrible thing to him…how could I treat him like this?" she thought to herself, she felt horrible…all Manny was trying to do, was be there for me…all Manny tried to do was-MANNY?!
Frida looked across the street, seeing Marcus, being pinned down by the flock of fury, and Manny, seconds away from death, as Zoe was about to pull the trigger to her laser.
"HEY BIRD BRAIN!"
Black Cuervo turned her lead to the right, and from afar, she could see Frida; glaring down Black Cuervo from a few feet away.
"GET AWAY FROM MY FRIEND!" screamed Frida, standing there with her black eye and cut cheek.
"F-FRIDA-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Manny shouted at her
"Frida Suarez…" said Black Cuervo slowly, she moves her laser away from Manny and walks towards Frida "How kind of you to show up…" she snarled
Frida didn't reply. She just stood there, watching Black Cuervo walk toward her, her eyes had the attention to hurt her badly. But Frida didn't care, just as long as Zoe was away from Manny.
"BLACK CUERVO NO-DON'T!" Manny pleaded
Black Cuervo points her laser at Frida and begins firing at her feet. Frida moves away quickly, avoiding the lasers the best she could till she tripped and fell over. Black Cuervo fly's over to Frida and places her hand around Frida's head and pinning her face to the ground.
"So I'm guessing you're going to try and be the hero today you blue haired little punk?" said Black Cuervo, with a wide grin on her face that formed when Frida turned her head a bit to glare at Frida with her one eye. "Aww…is little blue haired girl angry? WELL BE ANGRY!" Black Cuervo grips a hand full of Frida's hair and bashed her face into the ground.
"CUERVO STOP-JUST STOP PLEASE! LEAVE HER ALONE!" Manny begged
Black Cuervo raised Frida's head. She was bleeding from the nose, and her upper lip. Cuervo kneeled down to her ear and she whispered
"I hate you," She began "I hate you more than ANYTHING! You and your pathetic family! Your stupid cheerful happy go lucky look! YOU'RE USELESS! You're useless waste of space that lives in the shadow of El Tigre! You should just disappear from existence!" with that said, Cuervo let's Frida go by the head, and turns around to walk back to Manny.
Frida twitched; she placed the palm of her hands to the pavement and forced herself to get up.
"You hate me that much?" said Frida, she then laughed a bit as she turned around to face Black Cuervo, who stopped walking and turned to face Frida once again. "It's funny actually…I know one person who I go to school with who hates my guts…she hated me ever since we met. I couldn't stand her either, she's always hated me and I never knew the reason why…it made me hate her as much as she hates me. But you know something…today was going to beat the crap of her…"
Black Cuervo snickered "Judging from that black eye…it didn't turn out too well for you."
"No it didn't actually…" Frida replied "But you know what…I had the guts to do something about it. And you know what? That's something you two have in common…"
Black Cuervo raised a brow
Frida looked Black Cuervo right in the eyes "You two never had the guts to do anything about it!"
Black Cuervo widened her eyes. "W-what did you say to me?!" She snarled "You don't think I'll kill you where you stand?!" She roared, at this moment it wasn't Black Cuervo talking. It was Zoe Aves.
Frida clenched her fist "I don't know…try me…"
Zoe puts her jet pack on full blast and dashes toward Frida.
At this very moment, time seemed to have been moving slow for Frida. To her, Zoe was moving as slow as a snail. "I'm…really going to die here?" She thought to herself. She glanced over at Manny who looked to be reading to launch his grappling hook at Zoe to stop her. She placed her attention back to Zoe. "I…I can't just stand here and just let this happen…I…I WON'T!" a sudden surge of energy could be felt flowing through Frida's body. Frida wanted to punch Zoe across the head with all her strength. She bawled up her fist, clenched her right hand tightly to the point veins appeared around the top of her hand and going up and down her arm. Frida raises her hand up in the air. Zoe was closing in, ready to take out Frida for good. Then, Frida whacked Zoe across the head; Zoe's head hit the ground with a thud, her whole helmet completely shattering due to the impact. Voltura, Lady Gobbler, Manny and Marcus looked on in shock.
The skin on Frida's knuckles was gone; and the blood began to drip down from her hand and onto the ground.
"Whoa…Frida…" said Manny in awe, he looked at Frida in complete shock. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.
Frida's arm began to shake; when she, unwrapped her hand from a fist slowly, it felt as though she hadn't done it in so long.
Zoe let out a loud grown as she struggled to get to her feet. Frida looked at Zoe, her jaw dropped. Zoe placed her hand on her head and stumbled a bit. Zoe removed her hand from her face and she looked Frida.
"I-IT…IT IS YOU!" screamed Frida, pointing at Zoe "ZOE AVES! You ARE BLACK CUERVO!"
"WAIT WHAT?" shouted Manny shocked.
Voltura and Lady Gobbler flew over Marcus's head and they quickly grab Zoe and flies off. Frida was laughing and she was shooting her arms into the air shouting "WOHOO I KNEW IT! I WAS RIGHT! SHE WAS BLACK CUERVO!"
"She was…holy cow…" said Manny
"Wait…what, and who?" said Marcus, walking over to Manny.
"See? I told...told…" Frida took a few steps forward and she began wobbling.
"Frida," Manny said getting to his feet and he limps over to Frida.
Frida saw that Manny was coming towards her way. She tried to walk steady but couldn't keep her balance "Manny…" she whispered as she was about to fall over.
Manny did a power slide across the ground and safely caught Frida in his arms. "Frida, speak to me! Are you ok? Please be ok!" he asked worriedly
"I'm sorry…" Frida whispered tiredly
"What?"
"I'm…I'm so…so sorry Manny…" said Frida, the tears began to fall from her eyes and her voice began to quiver as she continued "I treated you so badly…all you tried to do was be there for me and I pushed you away, I kept pushing, you, my best friend away because of my own selfishness…I..I…"
"Frida…its ok…" said Manny with a smile. "It's ok…because all that matters is that you're safe…just as long as you're ok in the end. That's all that'll ever matter…"
Frida looked up at Manny with warming smile, the tears were still falling, but she was happy. That pain that she was going through almost seemed as though it never existed at all.
Marcus watched the two of them and rubbed the back of his head in confusion "Jeez…just what in the world was going on?" he said scratching the back of his head.
The sound of police sirens could be heard coming from down the street. The police cars pulled up, and out of the head car was Emiliano, who bolts out of the car and rushes over to Frida.
"Oh so NOW the cops arrive," groaned Marcus.
"FRIDA, FRIDA!" Bellowed Emiliano, he kneels down to where both Manny and Frida were. "Frida…oh my god…"
Manny was a bit surprised that Emiliano didn't shove him away at first but went back to looking down at Frida. Frida looked at her father, and her father stared back with a horrified and scared expression.
"Frida…Frida…I…" Emiliano sounded as though he was on the verge of tears. "Frida…I could've lost you today…and after what I said to you…I…" the tears began to fall from his eyes
"Dad…" whispered Frida softly
"What I said to you was so childish and horrible…I broke your heart and put you into such a horrible state…I couldn't imagine how you felt." Emiliano grasped her hand "Frida…I love you…you're my precious angel who I don't deserve to have…you're my, everything…and nothing will ever change that…EVER! I'm so sorry…"
Frida looked up at her father and held his hand tightly. Frida smiled at her father. It was that smile that Emiliano knew…
That everything was ok.
…
After all that happened, Frida was sent to the hospital to be treated. The only thing that was wrong with her was her right arm; that had been broken after she punched Zoe across the head. Speaking of Zoe, Frida did tell her father about Zoe being Black Cuervo. But due to the fact that wasn't any solid proof besides the words of Frida, Manny and Marcus, it wasn't enough to really go and just arrest them off the bat.
"I'm sorry Frida but we're going to need more proof then just your word." Said Emiliano, he kissed Frida on the forehead and he, Carmela, and her twin sisters had left the room.
"DARN!' Frida shouted frustrated
"She really was Black Cuervo…man that's crazy…" said Manny.
"I TOLD YOU! And nobody believed me!" said Frida.
"Well she did have us fooled that one time a couple of months back. But even then, you were still right." Manny said with a chuckle
"YES I WAS!" said Frida smiling proudly.
Manny just couldn't help but smile. Frida was finally; back to her olds self again.
"You know," said Marcus, looking over at Frida "Since when were that strong? Where was all that strength back in Ven's Vill? We really could have used that."
"Yeah Frida, where did that come from?" said Manny
Frida looked at her bandaged up arm wondering the same thing "I…I don't know…I honestly didn't know. I just knew that I really wanted to punch the stuffing out of Zoe. I just…swung I guess." She said, as she lies back on her pillow "Then I got this weird feeling that went up and down my arm. After that, I just felt like I could hit her hard enough if I wanted to."
"Yeah you really hit hard enough alright." Said Manny, followed by a chuckle that ended up turning into a laugh.
"I know right?! Oh my gosh seeing her head bounce off the ground like that and her helmet shattering into pieces WAS SO GOOOD!" said Frida grinning from ear to ear.
"Actually that reminds me, didn't Ryu say something about KI control?" Said Manny
Marcus nods "That's what she used alright. KI is the center point for Art users like me and others. Apparently Frida used it in anger and desperation." He explained
"Wow…" said Frida in awe, she looked down at her arm once more "Do you think I can do it again?"
"Maybe," Marcus said with a shrug "But with a tiny body like yours I wouldn't recommend it. If it almost shattered your arm then you better think again." He gets up from his chair and heads to the door "Well I'm going home to take a nap, get well Frika." He said waving and walking out the door.
"IT'S FRIDA!" She screamed "Ugh, I know he did that on purpose…" she said puffing her cheeks
"I'm sure he's just messing. He's not so bad really." Said Manny, chuckling.
"Didn't you mention something at school about you two fighting Sartana and Django?"
"Yeah, It was pretty sudden and crazy." He replied, rubbing his arm softly.
Frida looked down at sheets; she rubbed them with her right hand, placing a part of it between her thumb and index finger. "Manny…" she finally said.
Manny looked up at her "Yeah?"
"Again…I'm really...really sorry…"
"Frida come on…you already said you were sorry."
"I know but it still upsets me how I treated you. I should've come to you when I was in rough mindset and I didn't…I just pushed you away…my best friend…"
Manny grabs her left hand. Frida looked down at their grasped hand and she looked at Manny.
Manny smiled at her "Frida…even if you did…I would've never truly stopped being there for you…never."
Frida felt her heart skip as she started into Manny's brown eyes. Then, a smile formed and she grasped tightly around his hand. But then the two of them looked down at their hands and they quickly pulled away; they faces were red as a cherry, Manny turned away and Frida looked away as well.
"S-SORRY-I DIDN'T MEAN TO JUST GRAB YOUR HAND LIKE THAT!" Manny said flustered
"IT'S FINE IT'S FINE! DON'T WORRY!" Frida replied just as flustered
"Oh my god what was that? Why did I just grab her hand like an idiot? She's just my friend!" Manny thought
"Oh my god what the heck was that? Come on Frida Manny's your friend! HE'S YOUR FRIEND! Get that through your head girl!" Frida thought.
The two of them slowly turned to look at each other. Suddenly, the two of them busted out into a loud laughter that lasted for a good minute. Finally the two of them stopped laughing. Frida looked at Manny, smiling warmly at him.
"Manny…thanks for always being my friend…"
Manny smiled happily
"I'll always be your friend Frida…No matter what"
To be continued
A/N
I didn't expect for this chapter to turn out so long; but I guess eh, it is what it is. But all that matters is that I hope you all enjoyed! Please let me know what you think! And I hope you all have a good day!