The Mask of Toro
Chapter OneSanto Pollo was a small close-knit community with adobe brick houses and dusty streets, and the only bad thing I had to say about it was the Toads with brown uniforms and muskets patrolling the streets.
They were called the Frogerales, under the command of Santa Rana, and they were supposed to protect the people, although they looked more likely to attack the people than protect them.
We were here to ask Professor Diaz on the whereabouts of El Toro, who might've known the location of Captain Blood's lair, and with it, a piece of Marco Pollo's map to El Dorado.
"Good day, travelers. Ah, I see you bring a letter from Dr. Argleston! Very good, so what brings you to our humble village?" Professor Diaz asked as I handed him the letter from Argleston.
"We're looking for someone called El Toro. Argleston said we could find him here." I answered.
"You seek El Toro? Enemy of all oppressors, defender of the innocent, El Toro is as mysterious as he is cunning." The Mustang answered. "Whose face is behind the mask? It could be you, it could be me! None can say."
"So I cannot tell you where or how to find El Toro. But there is one who might help… Talk to Friar Cluck at the church."
I and my trusted associates nodded and we walked up the hill to the church, where an old Chicken wearing glasses, a wide-brimmed black hat, and a friar's robes was reading the Bible outside the church.
"Greetings, my children, and welcome to Santo Pollo." Friar Cluck said as we approached. I bowed slightly before saying: "Excuse me, sir, but we were told that you might help us find El Toro."
"You seek El Toro? If only you had been here yesterday!" Friar Cluck said. "Banditoads attacked Santo Pollo last night, and El Toro drove them away. But El Toro is more than a man, more than a mask – he is a legend."
"From the time of my grandfather, the humble village of Santo Pollo has had a protector. Banditoads and corrupt governors, thieves and brigands, even the dread pirate Captain Blood all have learned to fear the sword of El Toro."
"Cunning as the fox, silent as the snake, strong as the bull whose name he bears, El Toro has never been beaten, and never wavered in his mission. He moves like a shadow at midnight, strikes without warning, fights with the strength of ten men, and then vanishes like the wind."
"El Toro's greatest weapon is mystery: he could be anyone, he could be anywhere. No one knows what lies beneath El Toro's mask. How can you fight what you cannot see?"
"Sadly, Santo Pollo still needs El Toro – Santa Rana's endless taxes sap the strength of our people. The Banditoads run riots in our streets while the Frogerales do nothing!"
"I fear a storm is coming, and even El Toro will be hard-pressed to endure it. And so you see, travelers, it is no ordinary man you seek. I do not know how to find El Toro, but there is one man who can help you."
"Talk to Don Rodrigo de la Vega, whose villa overlooks Santo Pollo. He has helped El Toro many times." Friar Cluck finished as he pointed. We thanked him and soon found the villa, where we knocked on the large wooden doors.
The doors opened to reveal a Bull with brown fur and combed-black hair and dark eyes. He wore a white suit with a yellow bow and a red rose in his lapel, and he held a cane in his left.
"I welcome you to my house, travelers. Are you the newcomers I have heard talk of, the ones looking for El Toro?" Don Rodrigo asked. We nodded as we stepped inside the courtyard of the villa.
"You seek El Toro? I am flattered that some associate me with such a powerful and cunning man. I am but a humble land owner. I know little of him."
"I can contact El Toro, but I must warn you – he may not reply. El Toro has many enemies who would lure him to his doom with false cries for help."
"If you want to win El Toro's trust, help the people of Santo Pollo as he does. Go speak to Estella Castillo; she is a pillar of the village."
"I wish you luck, travelers. I will say this – times are so troubled, I think El Toro cannot be far away." We left the villa and one of the villagers directed us to Estella Castillo.
"Have you come to help us? This is a blessing indeed! The Banditoads hurt us so much; it is hard to even begin picking up the pieces." Estella Castillo said.
"The Banditoads, they struck in the night without warning! All night they rampaged, smashing things and beating any who dared fight back."
"El Toro drove most of them away, but I fear some of the villains may still be hiding in Santo Pollo. We're even afraid to set foot inside the Church! Can you go in and make sure it's safe? If it is, tell Friar Cluck."
Though our weapons had drawn some attention earlier, no one said anything, and we entered the church. The altar was untouched, but the pews were smashed and small fires were burning in some woodpiles.
"Look at this place! The Banditoads are gone, but the chapel looks like a typhoon hit it!" Ratbeard exclaimed.
"And there, cut into that banner – the huge letter 'T' – it must be the mark of El Toro." Bonnie said as she pointed to said banner, and upon closer examination, the T appeared to be made by a foil.
We went back outside, where we told Friar Cluck about the T cut into the banner. "That is the mark of El Toro – he must have dealt with those vile Banditoads!"
"We will start cleaning up the church at once, but there is so much more to put right. Could you talk to my good friend Hector? His need is dire."
Hector owned a bakery near the docks, and we walked there to find its windows broken and a Chicken wearing a flour-covered apron wailing inside.
"What's wrong?" I asked as we entered the bakery.
"Don Gutierrez's lovely daughter is to be married tomorrow, but the Banditoads have destroyed my bakery and stolen all my sugar! How can I bake the cake? How will I endure the shame of it?" Hector wailed miserably. Then he looked more closely at us.
"You can get my sugar back. Hunt down a Banditoad ship. Bring me back my sugar, and strike a blow for the people of Santo Pollo!"
We headed back to the Aquila, where we soon spotted a lone paddle steamer crewed by mustached Toads wearing brown sombreros and ponchos, and hooded Salamanders.
As we drew closer, I could see the Toads drawing revolvers and the Salamanders drawing daggers with my spyglass. "Swivels, fire at the paddle wheels!"
The men manning the two starboard swivel guns swerved around and fired, destroying the Banditoad steamer's starboard paddle wheel.
As we destroyed the port paddle wheel and furled the sails, Salamander stabbers and cutthroats jumped onto the railings of the Aquila and climbed onto the quarter deck, while Banditoad soldiers and veterans provided cover fire from the highest deck with their revolvers.
The men immediately dropped to one knee with their muskets and fired, stunning several Salamanders. One Banditoad veteran was struck down from above, and without having to glance up, I knew Bonnie had shot him from high in the rigging.
Leaving my position at the helm, I ran towards the starboard railing and leapt off the railings, where I grabbed hold of a rope and swung, kicking a Banditoad out of my way.
As two Salamanders ran towards me, I drew the two pistols at the back of my waist and stunned them. Quickly holstering them, I drew two more pistols from my cross strap and held them up at my sides to stun two more Salamanders.
Drawing my sword, I slammed the flat of it into a Banditoad's hand, causing him to drop his revolver in pain, which was then kicked away before he was knocked unconscious.
Several Banditoads turned their attentions to me, and the men seized the opportunity to board the steamer while the pressure was off them, and several Banditoads got a boot to the face as the men kicked them while swinging from ropes.
I seized one unlucky Banditoad and held him in front of me just as the others fired, stunning him. The men formed a ragged firing line and stunned many of the Banditoads with their muskets.
More men boarded the steamer and aimed their muskets at the remaining Banditoads, who surrendered their weapons. The uninjured men searched the cargo hold to find a few sacks of sugar along with supplies and plundered treasure, while others tended to their injured crewmates.
We sailed back to Santo Pollo with the sugar, where we all carried the sacks of sugar on our shoulders to Hector's bakery. "Here is my sugar! You have saved the cake, but I fear you must save the wedding, too. Don Gutierrez needs you – can you help him as you helped me?"
"Where can we find him?" I asked. Hector pointed up the hill, and we soon found a Mustang in fine blue clothes standing near a well. "So we hear you've been having problems, sir. Is there anything we can do to help?"
"I don't know what to do! The Banditoads ruined my daughter's wedding!" Don Gutierrez said. "Our troubles have no end! Ruining my daughter's wedding was not enough – the Banditoads took her captive!"
"Will you help? The last of the Banditoads are hiding in the Cantina. Deal with them, and take back Serena, my daughter!"
We entered the cantina where the Mustang behind the counter said: "Strangers! The Banditoads are back there, in the banquet hall. Beware! Be careful with the cake!"
We nodded as we drew our weapons and walked slowly to the banquet hall doors, where as I put down the last of three fingers, we opened the doors, and it was a good thing I tripped over the threshold, because otherwise, I would've been stunned by the Banditoads' revolvers.
Drawing a reloaded pistol with my left hand, I quickly rolled out of the way behind a nearby banquet table, which I flipped onto its side for cover with the help of the others.
I quickly jumped up from behind the table and fired at a Banditoad, but all it did was knock off his hat. As the other Banditoads fired at me, I summoned a Valor's Shield to block the electrical bursts.
I dropped the shield just long enough for Bonnie and Emmett to take down three Banditoads, and then I began my attack. I slammed the flat of my blade into a Banditoad's cheek and snatched the revolver from his hand.
I threw the revolver at another Banditoad's head, knocking him out, but now a Salamander stabber was coming towards me. He tried to stab me with his knife, but I parried it and as he slid past me, I tripped him and knocked him unconscious by a blow to the head with the flat of my blade.
Emmett was the first to arrive, and the Banditoad leader saw his chance. He aimed his revolvers at Emmett, but Emmett had already pulled the triggers, and the Banditoad leader's arms dropped to his sides, and his revolvers clattered to the floor.
"Where is Serena Gutierrez?" I asked as I seized two fistfuls of the Banditoad leader's blue shirt and shook him.
"The bride is gone. Froggo Villa took her. You wish to chase him? Take the road out of town, to Banditoad trail." The Banditoad leader said. "If I was you, I would not follow. Froggo Villa, he is a bad Banditoad. It's your funeral…"
"Thank you." I said as I punched him in the face, sending him sprawling on the floor. "But we don't plan on dying."