Hola everyone from Japan to Mexico City! CJzilla's BACK! Did ya miss me?! I know you did! So I'm shelling out another El Tigre fic! My very FIRST sequal. Awesome!

Synopsis: A year after La Cortina's attack and her escape with the Titanium Titan, the Rivera family is still shaken. They fear her return so much that it consumes most of their thought. Especially Manny. The Riveras are crumbling, falling apart at the seams but little do they know that they are under attack from La Cortina. With the aid of the Titanium Titan, the shadowy villainess aimes to break the Riveras at every possible angle, including from the inside out. Will Manny, Rodolfo, Grandpapi and Frida realize what is happening before all that they love is gone forever?

As I terrorize this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love on me... hate on me... you know how I roll.

AN: CJzilla owns nothing of El Tigre. I do own my OC, the mayhem and mischief and your reviews.

Singing Winds, Crying Beasts

Chapter 1

Noche Tras Noche

Pigeons flew over Miracle City, spreading open their wings and shaking their ruffled feathers from a rainy night. Among puddles of freshly fallen rain, the sun's reflection glimmered and chased away the thunderous night.

Manny Rivera felt the heat of the morning seep into his room. Turning in his sleep, the thirteen-year-old boy began to slowly come into consciousness. The morning sun shone into his window and licked him in the face. Manny's big brown eyes fluttered open.

Wow. It felt like it was going to be hot today. You could feel it in the sun's light. That wasn't going to make school any easier. Manny had a long seven hour day in close company with other hot kids jammed in a classroom with nothing but a window for air conditioning to look forward to. A classroom full of sweaty, disgusting, stinky kids… SCHOOL!

Manny rolled so hard in his bed, the blankets tangled around him. The thirteen-year-old's eyes came to his electronic clock. 8:15!

"Santo Basuar!" Manny cried and went to jump out of bed. The blankets were firmly twisted around his feet and he fell flat on his face.

Groaning and kicking the blankets off of his feet, Manny was SO late for school. Scrambling to tear off his Queso Fantastico pajamas, the boy floundered with his school clothes. Shirt on but pants and belt halfway up, the boy opened his room's door and hopped out into the hallway.

Finally getting his pants and belt buckled, Manny tripped into the living room. Rolling into the middle of the floor, he was surprised when he saw his father and grandfather enjoying their coffee and morning newspaper. Grandpapi and Rodolfo Rivera were just as surprised to see Manny as he was with them.

"Oye! It's eight! I'm late for school!" Manny threw his arms in the air, glancing between his family's newspapers and his family. "Why didn't you wake me up?!"

Rodolfo and Grandpapi glanced at each other. They then looked back at Manny with entertained smiles.

"Manny! You're always joking!" Rodolfo laughed at his thirteen-year-old son. "And such a good joker too! Manny really looks like he doesn't know what today is!"

Grandpapi laughed with his son.

"Ch'es! Manny is de clown! Look at dat stupid look on his face like he doesn't know what's going on!" The naughty elderly man pointed at Manny's face.

Manny stood there as confused and silent as ever. Rodolfo and Grandpapi's laughter died down when they saw that the boy wasn't kidding.

"Qué? Manny… chu is serious?" Grandpapi blinked.

"You guys are talking nuttier than usual." The teen responded before he threw his arms in the air. "For the love of Santa Salsa… tell me what's going on!"

The thirteen-year-old boy got weird looks from his family.

"You have no idea why we let you sleep in?" Rodolfo questioned.

"No." Manny answered.

"No clue why I stayed him from work?" The man added.

"No." Manny returned.

Grandpapi slapped his forehead.

"Today is a very especial day, Manny… A Tuesday. As in on of t'ose t'ing chu don't forget easily…?" The elderly man hinted, gesturing expressively.

Still nothing from the thirteen-year-old. The old man groaned.

"Just tell him Rodolfo. We be here all day." Grandpapi moped; Manny's obliviousness taking all the fun out of this.

Rodolfo tossed his naughty father a quick glare and then looked back at Manny.

"TODAY IS DÍA DE LOS BIBLIOTECARIOS!" He cheered, jumping up from his chair.

Then it hit Manny and a smile exploded onto his face.

"NO KIDDING?!" The boy squealed loudly. Rodolfo pulled a pocket calendar from his suit's pocket and opened it.

Grandpapi hopped off of the couch and skittered up to his son and grandson. Rodolfo flicked open the calendar to the month of August and under the kitten picture was a Tuesday circled in a big red marker. It was true! Today was Dia de los Bibliotecarios one of THE most looked forward to days of the year!

"Hooray for obscure political holidays!" The thirteen-year-old boy cheered. "No school! No work! Nothing but goofing off!"

Flicking close his calendar Rodolfo put it back in his pocket.

"He got it! You can come out now!" The man called into the air. Manny gave his father a crazy look before he heard the coat closet open.

Out tumbled his best friend Frida Suárez. Tangled in coats and feet inside random rain boots Frida stood.

"Whew! Dude! I thought you'd never get it!" The thirteen-year-old girl with blue hair and goggles scolded her best friend. Unzipping a big wool coat that she had tripped into, Frida raced over to her friend. "Are you STOKED for a day of awesome goofing off?!"

Manny threw his hands in the air.

"Totally! I've been planning for this day for three long months!" The thirteen-year-old pumped a fist.

"As have I, son!" Rodolfo cheered flexing his muscles under that tight suit-coat. "We have superheroing in Calavera today!"

"And pranking de supervillains with mes!" Grandpapi cheered.

"Let's not forget the super macho day at the beach!" Frida did a happy dance. "Sun, sand and all the street-side venders! CHURROS!"

Manny nearly exploded.

"Spending the day with my entire familia!" Manny put his arms around his father, grandfather and best friend. "This is gonna be AWESOME! Can anything get better than this?!"

Without warning the moment was shattered when half of the Rivera Hacienda exploded, sending everyone to the ground. A wave of dust and debris clouded their vision as the house moaned with the sudden blast. Manny had scarcely a moment to cough when he was on his feet.

"What was-…" But his words left him as he beheld the attacker. There, where the door and half the house used to be was a familiar but far from welcomed face.

A living black shadow with wicked purple eyes looked to the thirteen-year-old boy and sent heart-stopping terror to his body.

"La-… La Cortina…!" Manny breathed, his voice pinched tight with panic. The boy swung his head around to his family. "It's LA CORTINA! On your feet-!"

The boy felt the air around his body grow cold before he saw one of La Cortina's black ribbon-like tentacles fly over his shoulder. Manny couldn't react fast enough and all he could do is watch as the shadow-monster's ribbon hit his best friend. Frida gave a surprised yelp as the tentacle punctured her chest and yanked her into the air. The thirteen-year-old girl pawed at the tentacle inside her body, tearing at the shadow with her nails and kicking frantically.

"M-MANNY!" Frida shouted. In the second after she screamed his name, La Cortina's tentacle pulsed.

The girl's essence was cruelly robbed, and without her soul's energy her body went limp. Frida's essence was gone and with a spiteful flick of the tentacle, the shadow monster tossed the girl's useless body across the room.

"Frida!" Manny cried, but his feet would not move; his body was frozen and useless.

The boy turned and saw that another of La Cortina's black ribbons had stabbed Grandpapi. Manny watched his aged grandfather grasp the tentacle with his hands and tried to pull it out of his chest, giving much of the same fight that Frida had done. Grandpapi dug his heels into the carpet, trying to pull away; no use. The shadow's tentacle quivered. Grandpapi's essence was gone and his body collapsed to the floor.

Manny spun his belt buckle to summon his item's mystical energy to defend his family from this shadowy beast. But as it spun, nothing happened. His El Tigre power never came. Manny was helpless to stop La Cortina's tentacle that was speeding toward his father.

Rodolfo dodged the tentacle's first strike. Rolling in front of his one and only son, the man looked at the thirteen-year-old boy, his brave face marred by fear.

"Manny! RUN!" Rodolfo cried pushing his son toward the back of the house with his hand. But as those words left his mouth, a tentacle flew through the man's chest and dropped him to the floor.

Rodolfo let out a panicked and pained grunt as the shadowy tentacle slipped deeper and deeper into this body. Finally the ribbon of darkness pulsated and Rodolfo fell still. As the tentacle released its icy grip on his father, Manny saw what he had feared so badly it nearly drove him to insanity. His father's eyes were nightmarish and unearthly white.

"PAPA!" The feeling of losing his dearly loved father felt like a knife had been driven through his throat and twisted.

There was no time to grieve as La Cortina's final tentacle hit Manny square in the chest. Immediately the boy felt cold and weak as the shadow monster began draining his essence. Looking up with the last bit of strength he had, Manny locked eyes with his family's greatest enemy. Thoroughly evil eyes looked back at him and his world went instantly black.

Manny's brown eyes flew open as he woke up with a gasp. Sitting up in his bed, the young Rivera boy felt fear still racing through his body. He frantically looked around his dark room, hoping to see something familiar that would comfort him. He saw his dresser, nightlight, alarm-clock, closet and school clothes draped over the chair of his desk.

It was just a dream... Just a nightmare. Nothing to be-

Just then a flash of lightning lit up his room as a deafening blast of thunder shook the windows. Fear once again pinched shut his throat and Manny did what any child would do. Flying out of bed, he snatched his El Tigre belt and flew out the door. While throwing his enchanted El Tigre belt buckle around his waist, the boy ran toward his father's room.

"Papa!" Rodolfo was jolted from sleep when he heard his name. The man sat up in his bed, his tired and shaken eyes opening immediately.

From his doorway he saw a tiny figure run to him. Rodolfo scarcely had time to swing his legs over the bed when he was nearly tackled by his son. Manny held him so tight and that's when he realized that the boy was trembling, quietly crying into his wife-beater.

"Manny! Mi hijo, what is it?" Rodolfo questioned, tensing like any parent would.

Manny's face was in his chest and he was not able to say a word. The man wrapped his strong and loving arms around his tiny son.

"It's all right. I'm here. Nothing will happen." Rodolfo told his distressed son. Sighing when he saw his beloved only son so upset, he hugged many tight to reassure he was safe.

Manny held onto his father, unable to stop the tears from falling out of his eyes. It wasn't until he heard Rodolfo's heart beat and feel his chest rise with breath that he knew he was safe.

"It was La Cortina, papi… She got you." The boy whispered. "She got you, Grandpapi and Frida and I could not stop her."

Rodolfo's eyes snapped open as he stiffened. Another nightmare. As of late, he, Grandpapi and Manny were having many awful nightmares of the shadowy-villainess who nearly wiped out all of Miracle City. La Cortina took all the essences of Miracle City's supervillains and became nearly unstoppable. But she was no ordinary supervillain; Alejandra Marengo, or what La Cortina once was, was supremely wicked; she was once Rodolfo's biggest fan turned twisted supervillainess. Alejandra betrayed his trust and nearly killed his family.

"Do not fear, my son. It was just a dream." Rodolfo rested his cheek on his son's head. "We're still here. La Cortina will not harm you."

Manny opened his wet brown eyes, still holding his father close. His arm ached with the memory of being broken by La Cortina's hands. The nightmare was gone but fear remained; it had been inside the back of his mind ever since La Cortina and the Titanium Titan escaped prison. They had sworn their revenge on him as well as his family.

"La Cortina and the Titanium Titan are still out there, papa… She'll get you again!" Manny's eyes flooded with tears. "I can't lose you again, dad! I can't!"

Shaking, the boy hugged his father tight as his tears soaked the man's shirt. Rodolfo gulped. Anxiety set in again, anxiety that had been festering inside of him ever since Alejandra escaped with the Titanium Titan. Together the two embittered and warped villains made a super-team that brought Miracle City to its knees. It was only a matter of time before both returned to finish what they had started.

"It will be all right, my son. La Cortina will not come." Rodolfo said in his most comforting and most sincere voice. Truth was, he didn't even believe himself.

Holding his dear son close, Rodolfo heard the angry rainstorm rattle the house with a loud roll of thunder. He prayed that morning would come soon and that La Cortina would never harm his family again.

Alejandra's eyes opened. Miles from Miracle City, the same blast of thunder echoed through the town of Calavera. A midnight rain was falling on the dusty streets, making even a criminally active town quiet.

Thirty-year-old Alejandra Marengo tilted her head back, listening to the rain fall outside a nearby window. The curvy woman smiled, her purple eyes examining a crack on the adobe ceiling. The Riveras still fear her. They still quaked when they had just a simple nightmare about her. And even though Alejandra caused and orchestrated those nightmares, she took wicked satisfaction in the crippling fear the Riveras would feel at the mention of her name.

Alejandra blinked again and glanced across the dingy Calavera apartment. It wasn't much and certainly not the place you'd expect to find two super-dangerous supervillains living. A modest kitchen, bathroom, living-room/bedroom and window; nothing extravagant. Alejandra couldn't be happier since she shared this apartment with her soul mate.

Looking over to the window, she saw the Titanium Titan meditating on the floor by candle light, face straight and body poised in lotus position.

Alejandra got out of her squeaky whicker chair and walked to her sweetheart. Careful to not light her shadowy black dress on fire by dragging it over the Titan's candles, she stepped over the flames. The woman sat down dangerously close to the man and giggled.

"Do you know how cute you look right now?" Alejandra questioned the Titanium Titan, leaning against him.

The Titan's lips curved into a grin and he relaxed. As he snaked a liquid metal arm around Alejandra's curvy waist, he opened his eyes.

"Tormenting the Riveras again, Alejandra?" His red eyes met her purple ones.

Alejandra smiled, holding in a goofy laugh.

"Sí. I gave Manny another bad dream." She responded and tickled the Titan's chin.

The Titan gave a dirty, evil grin and pulled the woman into his lap.

"So… does this mean… we make our move?" He questioned hopefully. Alejandra smiled and let her touch fall to his neck, shoulder and chest before she nodded.

"It's been a year. I think the Riveras are comfortable enough to lose everything." She answered, a casual smile on her face that reflected how passive she was about dishing out torture.

The Titanium Titan smiled wide.

"Bueno." He gave a nod, a sadistic and excited smile coming to his face.

Alejandra looped her arms around her lover's neck.

"You know… talking about all this venganza puts me in a romantic mood, Titan." She flirted.

Chuckling, the man nodded.

"Me too, mi amore." The Titan smiled pressing his forehead to hers. Alejandra giggled as she kissed him.

The Titan pulled his lover into a deep kiss as one of Alejandra's shadow tentacles snuffed the candles in the room.

Lighting flashed outside of the window, lighting up Miracle City in the distance. The city would fall, one superhero, one supervillain and one civilian at a time.

R&R! LONG LIVE ROCK!