A/N Ahh Chapter 12. Looking back at this old chapter; I was introducing characters that were never going to make it into the actual story of El Tigre the New adventures. There was one character I was trying to set up in future chapters was a character named Tyler; who was a character from a different version of my Child of Wander story. I have made many different versions of Child of Wander that I liked and tried to fit into El Tigre the new adventures but after re-reading the first season before I began to re-write, it was just not going to work out. But enough of my rambling, let's get to the chapter, shall we?

El Tigre The New Adventures Season 1 Episode 12 – Intermission

All of the winners who passed through the Phase 1 Darkroot Forest challenge were all gathered in a room that had all sorts of food and beverages for those who were exhausted or hungry. The art of earth team, Roz and Okami had helped themselves to this and began eating wildly. Lilly who wasn't hungry at all just sat in a corner and watched in disgust as they ate. Toshiro and Adrian had all grabbed small plates of food and began to help themselves as well

"No manners…" said Lily with a sigh, staring at the Earth team.

Manny, who didn't feel like eating was just standing in the corner with his back against the wall thinking about Marcus. Everything that happened in the Darkroot Forest was the only thing occupying his mind. Just how did Marcus know a man like that? No, a monster like Tetsuo. But more importantly, he had to tell his father what was going on

"Manny I got some food for you," said Rodolfo "Come on you must be hungry."

"Dad I'm not hungry, I need to go check on Marcus!" Manny said as he tried getting to his feet, but he nearly tipped over, his right arm keeping him up.

"And you need to rest!" said Rodolfo worriedly.

"Manny!"

Manny looked to the right seeing Carmen heading over to him followed by Leng and Frida

"Manny, what the heck happened with Marcus!?" Frida asked frantically

You didn't tell me he was some freaking monster Demon thing!" said Carmen, sounding terrified.

"I had no idea he could transform into that! But it's not his fault!" Manny defended "It-it was this guy named Tetsuo! He did something to Marcus! he had too!"

"Tetsuo? Who is this Tetsuo?" asked Rodolfo

"He-He attacked us in the Darkroot Forest! And there was this other guy! He was wearing this big hat and he had this staff-this staff…" Manny fell forward but was quickly caught by Rodolfo.

"Manny!" Rodolfo said holding his son.

"Dad…please…we have to get to Marcus…they'll…they'll think he's a monster," said Manny tiredly.

Rodolfo looked down at his son and nods "Alright Manny, we'll see if we can go check on him," he said softly.

"I'm going too!" said Frida

"Me too!" said Carmen

"And so am I!" said Leng as well

Upon the main stage inside the waiting room; Dolton had appeared from behind a curtain. Dolton walked up to the microphone that was sitting upon the main stage and stapped the tip with his fingers testing it. Once it was ready to go he cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Congratulations to all of the contestants that have passed the first phase. You all had shown us that your skills and strategies are phenomenal! Now that the first phase has been completed we will be going on a three-day intermission! Rest up and prepare for the next phase! And again, congratulations to all!" Dolton finished his speech and left down the stairs of the stage.

"A three-day intermission? That sounds perfect to me!" said Dylan, cheerfully.

As the rest of the contenders had existed the waiting room except for Manny and others. They had managed to catch Dolton before he had left.

"Mr. Dolton," said Rodolfo

"Oh White Pantera! Congratulations on getting through the first phase!" said Dolon with a smile.

"Uh yes thank you, but I was hoping If we were able to see our teammate Marcus,"

"Oh," Dolton said in a low tone "That boy that turned into that devilish looking thing, uhh I believe he's being held up by Washington league of heroes. One of them should know where he's being held,"

"I see, thank you for the information," said Rodolfo politely, as Dolton left the waiting room.

After that, the group had exited the area and went on a search for any member of the Washington league of heroes or anyone related to them. Upfront, they saw Rebecca Lockheart who was talking to William. Rebecca looked behind William, seeing the gang walk to them.

"Ah here they are now," said Rebecca, as William turned around to see the gang.

"Ms. Lockeart, my son Manny wants to see his friend Marcus. Is there any way that he can visit him?" Rodolfo asked.

"Of course, I was waiting for you all to come out actually. I have some questions for your son," said Rebecca

"Huh?" said Manny, looking up at Rebecca.

"Please follow us," said Rebecca as she and William started walking.

The gang followed Rebecca and William away from the tournament field and to a large dome that was further off from the field. Rebecca swiped a card that unlocked the door and they all headed in. They walked down a couple of hallways and arrived in front of a sliding door. It slides open, and in the room stood, Abaraxes, who was over the bed where Marcus was lying, his hands were glowing orange and they were hovering over Marcus. The woman named Adhira was there, along with Christopher and Goliath and Ryumaru.

"Marcus!" said Manny, heading over to where Marcus was.

"Hold on there buddy," said Christopher, standing in his way "Can't go over there and interrupt Abaraxes's concentration."

"He's just fine," said Abaraxes reassuringly "Before you all had arrived I was running an examination over this boy's body and had discovered two things."

"What did you discover?" William asked, looking over at Abaraxes.

"Well first off this," Abaraxes reached his fingers in the center of Marcus's chest and pulled out a purple orb. The same orb that Jasper had placed into Marcus's chest. "This is the Orb of Discord. It is a very powerful dark spell that Is used to enhance the user's physical strength as well as hand them new powers. But the person who placed the orb of discord controls that users mind."

"So Marcus was controlled!" said Rodolfo in relief

"And that orb thingy turned him into that scary devil thing!" said Frida

"Not exactly," Abaraxes replied, "The form that your friend took was of his power."

Everyone looked at Abaraxes in complete shock of his statement.

"Wait, so…that thing that Marcus turned into-that was his power!?" Manny asked, dumbfounded

"Correct," Abaraxes nods "This boy's power completely broke the orb of discords mind control. All it did was enhance his strength and made it easier for him to transform once it kicked in,"

"So that's why he was able to break our magical binding?" asked Adhria "The Orb of Discord must have given that much power on top of his own!"

"No," Abaraxes shakes his head once more "The power of his Devil's eyes gave him that perk."

Adhria eye's widened and she gasped "T-The Devils eyes?"

"The power of Devil's eyes allows him to immune to any magic restraints; as well as mind control," Abaraxes explained "The form that he took is apart of his power, of his family heritage."

"I never knew of this form…" said Ryumaru, staring at Marcus "I only knew parts of its origin…but I never knew of its powers like that."

"Teacher," Adhira said to Abaraxes, "There's something that I must add-in. It's about the Orb of Discord."

Abaraxes nods "Right, someone placed this into this boy's body during the Darkroot forest phase…someone I know,"

"Someone you know?" said Goliath

"Yes, only one person I know has the skill to produce a perfect Orb of Discord. His name is Jasper," said Abaraxes "He and I went to the same school together. Jasper was one who believed that all within the school should have the knowledge of Dark magic abilities and didn't believe in Forbbiden Magic. Once he as caught performing the arts he was expelled and banished."

"Banished and now he's come back to bite us in the ass," said Christopher annoyed.

"That seems to be the case," said Goliath nonchalantly

Then the front door of the room had opened. Everyone turned to the door to see a woman with her burnet hair tied in a long braid and some of her bangs hanging in front of her face. She had red lipstick on her lips and bright orange eyes. She wore a white short jacket with a medical logo on the front with blue jeans and white shoes.

"Hello, gang! Sorry I was late! I was attending to one's who failed the first phase of the tournament," said Kendra Colons

[Kendra Calins]

Age: 28

Height: 5'3

"Oh I was wondering where you were Kendra!" said Rebecca

"Kendra?" Manny thought "Wait…that's the person that Tetsuo guy was talking about…"

Kendra walked past everyone and stood over Marcus's bedside. "So this is the boy who went berserk in the Darkroot Forest huh?" she asked staring at him.

Abaraxes went on to explain everything he said to everyone in the room.

"I see," Kendra placed her hand on Marcus's head "Hmm…" she removed her head from his head and hovered both of her hands over Marcus's body. Then, a golden light began resonating from her hands. The Golden aura covered Marcus's body, and he began to glow as well. "Interesting…"

"What is it?" Abaraxes asked

"It seems as though this boy possesses a healing factor. But it's an extremely weak one," Kendra stated "Although it seems that the form he took made his healing factor slightly stronger. Most of his injuries have already healed. All that's wrong with him now is that his body is exhausted and he's in a very deep sleep."

"So he's going to be ok?" Manny asked

Kendra turned to him and smiled warmly "Yes he's going to be fine! He just needs plenty of rest," She said reassuringly

"Oh thank goodness," Rodolfo said in relief

"Can he still randomly turn into that Devil form thing though?" asked Frida

"He could If he chose too," said Abaraxes "The only reason he was forced into was because of the Orb Of Discord. If this boy can't control it, don't count on him using it too soon."

"Also," said Rebecca "Manny Rivera, I would to ask you a couple of questions. You and Mr. Dupree were in the Darkroot Forest when all of this had happened. Is there anything that you can tell us?"

"Well," Manny began to think "There was another person, some guy named Tetsuo."

Kendra gasped and stared at Manny, and the rest of League of Heroes stared at Manny in shock. "Tetsuo? Tetsuo Aragaki? The son of Sanosuke Aragaki?"

"Sanosuke Aragaki? The Great Healer?" said Ryumaru dumbfounded

"Wait I don't understand," said Carmen confused

"Sanosuke Aragaki is was one of the best Doctors of his time. He was also a genius in the art of healing," Kendra explained "His son Tetsuo looked up to Sanosuke and wanted to be just like him. He was well on the road to that until…" Kendra paused for a moment "His father had picked up his daughter from school, then…well, as he was driving a large truck had crashed into their car…killing them instantly…"

"Oh no…" said Frida clutching her chest

"That's horrible…" said Carmen, sadly.

"It is," Kendra said with a nod "And Tetsuo has always held a grudge against the healing society because of that."

"Why? What does that have to do with anything?" Manny asked curiously.

"Tetsuo believes that the healing society is the reason that his father and sister are dead, he thinks that the minster had issued an assassination on his father."

"WHAT?" said Manny, Frida, and Carmen

"I don't understand it either…but he wants to punish the healing society for it…" Kendra sighs rubbed her head "Well his first plan has failed, trying to take control of this boy and use his power backfired on him."

"Tetsuo Aragaki and Jasper are working together, this is not good at all," said William, worried.

"Is it just the two of them?" said Goliath, suspiciously "It can't just be the two of them."

"Well me and Marcus only saw him and that magician guy. There wasn't anyone else," Manny confirmed

"Well then," Christopher began as he places his eyes upon William "What's the plan boss?"

William placed his index finger and thumb around his chin and began to think. "We don't know what other plans they have placed out so far. They could very well have a plan for when we act against them as of now. Those plans could take us off guard and place the whole city in danger," he whispered.

"So, we just wait? Wait while they plot ahead?" said Goliath, his temper rising.

"We prepare," William replied. "As for now we should head out and let this boy rest, same for Mr. Rivera and the rest of them here."

"He's right," said Rodolfo looking down at Manny. "Come on, we should head home Hijo."

"Hold on," said Abaraxes, stopping the group before they could reach the door. "I want to check you to see if Jasper has done anything to you."

"O-ok…" said Manny, nervously.

Abaraxes waved his hand casting a glow across Manny. That's when a symbol had appeared across Manny's chest.

Manny looked down at the symbol with widened eyes "W-What the heck is this?!" he said hysterically.

"That's the seal of restraint…" said Abaraxes "This seal is meant to keep dormant powers at bay. He must have placed this on you when you showed some greater power."

"W-Wait! So that means that I can't use my Ancient Tiger spirit?!" said Manny in a panicked tone.

"I'm sorry but that seems to be the case," Abaraxes replied.

"Can't you just break it?!"

"I can't break it. If anyone does try it will rebound and kill you," Abaraxes explained. "That's the lock that Jasper seemed to place on it…"

"W-WHAT? YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" said Manny, eyes widened and his mouth hung slightly open.

"Again, I'm sorry," said Abaraxes sincerely

"No way…" Manny said in a low depressed tone. "What am I going to do?!" he said placing both of his hands on his head panicking.

"Don't worry Manny we'll think of something," said Rodolfo, placing his hand on his son's shoulder comfortingly. "As of right now, you need rest,"

Manny just sighed on nods. "Alright, but what's going to happen to Marcus?"

"We'll keep him here it'll he wakes. Once he wakes we'll just tend to him and make sure he's ok to go," said Kendra reassuringly

With that said, Manny and the group had left the room and had left the league of hero's detained dome.

"I'm going to be heading off guys, my mom was panicking badly after what happened. See you guy's later," said Carmen, waving at them as she left off.

"I will do the same," said Leng, bowing at them "Till next time!" and then Leng was gone.

It was at that moment where Manny's legs began to weaken. Rodolfo catches Manny in his arms quickly.

"Don't worry Frida, he's just tired," said Rodolfo, seeing Frida's worried expression. "Come on, I'll drop you off at home."

Manny had completely passed out. Rodolfo picks Manny up and in his arms, takes him to the car, places him inside and the three of them head back home.

…

"Is that wimpy magician still scared?" said Django of the dead

"He'll get over it soon," Tetsuo replied. Staring over at Jasper who was sitting in the corner staring at nothing.

"He has a right to be frightened," said Sartana of the dead "I'd be surprised if he wasn't shaken by the devil within that boy."

"I always had a feeling ever since I've known Marcus that he had this strange demonic presence. The eyes should've tipped me off," said Tetsuo. He was in Sartana's secret lair. He was sitting at the desk playing cards with one of Sartana's undead goons.

"The mind control rebounded," said Tetsuo, looking over at Jasper. "If you can talk Jasper, I'd like an explanation."

Jasper gulps "It didn't work," he said in a low tone. "Mind control doesn't work on him,"

"So that explains that one time I tried it on him," said Sartana, as she strummed her mystic guitar.

"I thought you knew of Marcus's abilities," said Tetsuo, his eyes shifting over to Sartana.

"I know of the history. But the powers themselves are something I know not of," Sartana replied softly. "The branch of powers that belong to the Dupree family and the devil bloodline is short but fascinating."

"That Is fascinating," said Tetsuo In a tone of amazement and curiosity.

"So with you not being able to take control of that fire guy, what's next?" Django asked.

"The plan will continue as is. Not being able to acquire Marcus was only a sub-plan that would've been good to have, but not essential," said Tetsuo, he turns over to Django with a grin "Since the orb of discord didn't work on Marcus, would you like to try it Django?"

Django looks at Tetsuo while rubbing his chin "I can have more power, but will I be controlled?" he asked cautiously

"Jasper, will you say out of this Skeleton-boy's mind?" Tetsuo asked

"U-Uh huh…" Jasper replied hesitantly

Django smirks "Then I'm in! I'd love to try out that Orb!"

"Excellent, you'll need it coming into the next phases of this tournament," said Tetsuo. His body began to change along with his long un-kept hairstyle. He transformed back into his Nelson disguise. "I have places to be, I'll see you all next time,"

With that, Tetsuo left.

...

The next day Manny and Frida were back at the holding dom where Marcus was to visit. There wasn't much change at all and he stable. He just wasn't waking up at all. Kendra has been watching over Marcus along with Abaraxes since yesterday monitoring any changes.

"So he's just not waking up?" Manny asked confused.

"So far from what I've gathered, he's fallen into a coma," Kendra replied.

"A-A coma!?" said Frida shocked.

Kendra nods "It seems so,"

"Your friend has some sort of inner conflict that he's going through that's causing him not to awaken from his slumber," Abaraxes explained. "The conflict he's going through however, I don't have the answer."

Manny stared over at Marcus. Marcus lied in the bed, his eyes closed and his expression looked calm but the expressions around his eyes looked like he was struggling.

Then, a man walked into the room. His hair was grey, his skin dark and he had wrinkles in his forehead. His uniform was black with gold lines going down both right and left shoulders. His eyes were grim and menacing, and the expression on his face was of a person who has seen the worst the world had to offer.

"So this is his room huh?" said Jason Morgan

[Jason Morgan]

Age: 47

Height: 6'4

Leader of The Sword Corps

"Jason? I didn't know you arrived in Miracle city," said Kendra surprised "I thought you didn't have any interest in the tournament."

"I don't," Jason replied roughly "I'm not here to watch a bunch of children fight." His eyes laid upon Marcus. "I'm here to see him."

Manny and Frida looked at each other with panicked expressions. Was this man here to take Marcus away? What did he want with him?

"Do you know this boy?" Kendra asked curiously

"In a way yes," Jason replied as he walked over to Marcus's bedside and stared down at him. "Marcus Dupree…this child ran away from our station when his parents had been murdered."

Frida gasped and Manny's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Kendra was surprised as well, but then it came to her. "Wait, you mean that murder that happened 7 years ago? This is the boy that ran away?"

"Mu-Murder!?" said Manny looking between Jason and Kendra.

"I never thought I'd see him on Television turned into some monster. It's funny how things turn out," said Jason

"Wait…hold on a second. Marcus is an orphan? I…I didn't know…I…" Manny was at a loss for words.

"You two must be his friends am I correct?" Jason asked staring down at the two of them.

"Y-Yeah…" Frida replied with a nod.

"Uh-huh…" Manny nodded as well.

"I see," said Jason "Yes it was seven years ago in Washington. This boy had returned from home after he had gotten off from school. Only to find both his parents, Mr. and Ms. Dupree, …well…" he paused. Thinking back to that day.

"The officers had taken Marcus from the scene and had taken him to the station. The one thing he told the officers was that he saw…this large black creature with bright red eyes. Once It had left his home…it just disappeared," Kendra said as she began to hold herself. "That thing…that thing was—"

"Kendra!" Jason said quickly cutting her off.

Kendra looked at Jason and they stared at each other for a moment.

"Right…I'm sorry," Kendra said as she placed her hand on her head.

"After asking him everything he could tell us. He was sent to an orphanage. But after a week of being there he there was a call in from the caretaker of the orphanage. She had explained that this boy had gone missing. He was missing for seven years…well until now," Jason looked over at Marcus once more

"M-Marcus…" Manny thought as he looked at him.

After visiting Marcus, Manny, and Frida had left the facility and returned to the streets of Miracle city. They sat down on the curb next to a sweet store as they took in all the events that happened yesterday. A man named Tetsuo with a dark wizard infiltrated the Darkroot Forest phase, the wizard seals half of Manny's Tigre spirit ability's, Marcus turns into a demon and falls into a coma and now they are down a teammate, and on top of that, the city could be in danger at any moment due to a sudden attack from Tetsuo and anyone else he could be evolved with.

"Well…at one point in knew things we go south really quick. But I didn't know things would turn out like this," said Frida as she stared up into the evening sky.

"Tell me about it…" Manny replied half-heartedly

"So with Marcus out cold, you're going to need a replacement partner. Even if Marcus were to wake up they're not going to let him back in after what happened…"

"Ugh…" Manny buried face between his legs and let out a big sigh.

The front door to the sweet shop they were sitting in front of opened and out came a girl with a light brown afro and light blue jean shorts. It was Carmen, with a whole chocolate bar in her mouth. She looked down at Manny and Frida who were sitting on the curbside.

"YOO GUYS!" said Carmen with the chocolate bar in her mouth. "SUP!"

"Oh hey Carmen," said Frida

"Hey…" said Manny depressingly

"How's Marcus holding up?" Carmen asked as she took the chocolate bar out of her mouth and chewed on the part she bit off.

"Not good at all," said Frida shaking her head "He's in a coma."

"A Coma? Are you serious!?" Carmen said as her mouth fell open in shock.

"Yeah, it's complicated. He's having some sort of inner struggle and he's not waking up," Frida explained

"Inner struggles?"

"That's what that wizard guy said. I didn't understand it much it honestly," said Manny

"Man, that is heavy…like I mean real heavy," Carmen said stuffing the rest of the chocolate bar in her mouth. "So like what are you guys going to do about a replacement?"

"No idea," said both Manny and Frida.

"Hmm…how about it I join you guys?" Carmen suggested.

"Huh? You wanna join up with us?" asked Manny.

"Yeah sure, why not? You guys seem cool, that and I'm just here for the fun of things. I'm not taking this tournament super seriously anyway," said Carmen "I'm sure they'll let me do it!"

"Alright awesome!" said Frida, hopping to her feet. "Well, that takes care of that issue,"

"Yeah that takes care of everything," said Manny bitterly "There's no way we're going to get through this tournament with Aincent Tiger spirit restrained. I was so close to mastering it! NOW I can't use it! Yeah, all the issues are solved!"

"Oh come on Manny, you're just as good without your ancient tiger spirt!" said Frida "You didn't need it before!"

"But I DO need it now Frida! More than ever! This Aincent Tiger form I had was my trump card! NOW It's sealed up and I can't have it removed or it could kill me! UGH JUST! ARGH!" Manny turned around and walked started walking off. "I'm going home…I just want to be alone…"

Carmen and Frida watched as Manny had vanished from their view.

"Is he going to be ok?" Carmen asked worriedly as she looked at Frida.

Frida sighed "Yeah he just needs some time. Some much stuff went down in one day. It was a lot to take in. So I'm sure he'll be fine by tomorrow,"

"I hope, and I do hope your other friend will be ok," said Carmen

"I hope so too," Frida said softly.

…

"W-What are these things?" asked Diego standing in the middle of the large room he was in; staring at a pod with red and yellow marks going down them. There were at least four of them in the room.

"Aren't they beautiful?"

Diego turned around to see Tetsuo Aragaki entering the room and staring at the pods with a satisfied smile across his face. "These you can say, are my eggs,"

"EGGS?" Diego shrieked and he bats his eyes at Tetsuo. "YOU CAN LAY EGGS?!"

"Not in the way you think," Tetsuo replied casually. His grin grew wider as he walked forward and placed his hand on one of the large pods. The pod itself began to slightly move. "These will be ready on time."

"Umm Tetsuo…those things you gave me…were they- "

"Yes smaller versions of these larger eggs. Did you place them in the spots I asked you to?" Tetsuo asked turning to him.

"Yes, all in the right spots!" Diego replied with a nod.

"Good," Tetsuo adjusted his glasses. "So for now, let's just sit back and relax."

Tetsuo pats Diego on his head "Thank you Chipotle Jr, you'll be greatly rewarded in due time. Now come, let's turn in for the night."

Tetsuo walked down to the exit of the building the two were in. Before Diego had left he gave one last look at the large pods that were in the room. Diego was intrigued as to what was going to hatch from those eggs. He was excited. Diego smirked and turned around and heads for the exist.

For now, Diego just had to wait.

To Be Continued.

A/N So I had this chapter half-finished for a while now. I just lost motivation to finish it. It was irritating to hold on to something you were almost done with for 2 months and now just get to finishing it. Very annoying.