Enraged with his man, neither the Alcalde nor others there noticed that the padre had taken advantage of that speech he had made to cut the cord at its base, turning the noose unusable.
"Let Don Diego go!" A woman's voice was heard from the crowd as several stones were thrown at De Soto and his men.
"Stop that or I'll hang you all!" The man threatened as more people proceeded to rain stones on them.
Unwilling to let himself be stopped at that point, and seeing how Mendoza was refusing to obey him, De Soto decided he needed to do everything himself and went to put the noose around Diego's neck while, at the same time, ordering again to the Sergeant to proceed with the execution. As soon as he realized his commander was on the trap door with Diego, and just as the white-haired man was pulling down the noose to realize it was cut, Mendoza pulled the lever, and the two men fell together.
They both landed with a thud on the ground, the white-haired man partly cushioning the caballero's fall.
As that wasn't part of his plan, and considering he was still healing, Diego took some moments to recover, luckily, less than De Soto, who had hit himself harder, and was shaking his head, trying to figure out what had just happened.
The priest quickly disappeared through the crowd as the lancers were distracted, watching, from above the gallows, the two men below.
Diego was the first to get up, despite the throb in his abdomen but took a little longer than usual to recover. One of the nearby lancers aimed his musket at him, doubting whether to shoot, yet still feeling that he had the duty to do so. It was a man he had never before seen to stop him as the lancer found himself on all fours after being pushed from behind, his bullet piercing the ground
Two of his companions took over and attacked Diego, swords drawn. This time, the caballero was ready and managed to hurriedly avoid their swords by hiding behind one of the scaffold's pillars for the few seconds it took the lancers to get their swords stuck in it. He then punched one of the men, leaving him unconscious as he unstuck one of the swords, kicked the other attacker with his leg and turned to confront the rest of the lancers who were charging in.
It took the caballero just a few moves to deprive most of them of their swords and get them to retreat.
As the people quieted down and watched him fight with all of Zorro's talent even if not also with his usual grace, he dueled two more lancers before De Soto himself came to face him.
"I knew it! I knew you were Zorro! You've betrayed yourself now!" He muttered before attacking, while the gathered people, the lancers included, formed a circle around them, giving them room to fight.
"I know how to use a sword. That doesn't mean I'm Zorro!" Diego answered as he parried one of his former schoolmate's attacks.
"No. But the fact that you hid your skill with the sword does!" The Alcalde pointed out.
"I did it exactly because I didn't want people to think I was Zorro!" Diego said.
"Stop lying, Diego!" De Soto uttered as he attacked again.
"I'm not lying! Yes, I'm a good swordsman. I studied with Sir Kendall, after all, and, as several of your lancers know, since they've met him and heard him say it, I was his best student. But when I returned to California, around the same time Zorro appeared, I decided it wasn't prudent to let others know just how good a swordsman I was, exactly because I knew I'd become the prime suspect of being Zorro! Ramone would have hanged me without so much as a trial, just like you tried to do!" Diego replied as his retreat around the plaza made sure everyone heard his words.
"You can't fool me, De la Vega! You are Zorro!" De Soto replied.
"Is he?" A voice was heard from the tavern's balcony, and everyone turned to see a black-clad man they easily recognized, his arms folded across his chest, looking down at the Alcalde with a smile. "Because as I see it, I am here, and he is way over there!"
De Soto looked puzzled towards the man in black, then at Diego. "What sort of trick is this?" He asked as people started cheering.
"Why are you asking me? I told you I'm not Zorro! Now you can see it for yourself!" Diego pointed out as they both took a pause from fighting.
"Indeed, Alcalde. Tell me, how is it you never learn from your mistakes?" The masked man asked as he jumped down and soon found himself just a few feet away from the combatants.
A lancer pointed his musket at the newcomer, but a shot rang before he fired, and he found himself with an injured hand, his musket on the ground next to him. As one of his companions followed his example, Mendoza signaled to him to stand back, so he did.
Again De Soto glanced between the two men, still convinced it was some sort of trick, yet unable to understand how was Diego able to be in two places at the same time, dressed as two different men. "Lancers!" He called. "Arrest Zorro!"
"Si, Alcalde, but which one is the real Zorro?" Mendoza inquired pretending to be more foolish than he was, as per his good habit.
"He is!" De Soto said, pointing at the black-clad man. "No…" He changed his mind at glancing at Diego. "He is! He's just trying to trick us again!"
A whistle was heard, and the arrival of a black stallion not only settled that issue for most of the people there, but also prevented the lancers from capturing any of the two. Instead, most of the soldiers ran towards the cuartel and barricaded themselves inside it as the horse remained guard in front of it.
De Soto turned menacingly towards the man in black and attacked him. His adversary retreated and easily parried, disarming him in just a few moves, using the same techniques the true Zorro had used during his first duel with the Alcalde.
"You are the real Zorro!" De Soto muttered at recognizing the fighting style.
