Meanwhile, Zorro had been riding towards Ignacio's hacienda.
At nearing it, he stopped Tornado, dismounted, and approached the house on foot, taking some time to study the five men and the prisoners. Two of the commanders were guarding the entrance and the back of the hacienda, respectively, while the other three were strategizing inside. Doing that in front of their prisoners meant they intended to kill them.
Deciding on a plan, Zorro used the pressure points at the neck to knock out the two men outside without them even realizing what had happened, tied them up and gagged them. He then strolled in, through the front door.
"Buenas noches, Señores!" He said at reaching the living room, where Ignacio and his men were being held.
"Zorro!" The three men inside exclaimed, evidently surprised, taking out their swords.
De Soto breathed easily, certain his former nemesis had come to save them.
"Señores, I am not here to fight!" Zorro assured them raising his hands.
"Why are you here then?" One of the men asked as he glanced at his companions.
"I was informed you would like to make a deal!" Zorro replied.
"A deal?" The same man tried to make sure he had heard right. "Our leader though you might want one, Señor!" He confessed, lowering his sword back down.
"Your leader seems like a wise man!" Zorro confirmed at De Soto's increasing concern. "I have spent ten years as an outlaw with a price on my head and, the truth is, Señores, I am getting rather tired of being shot at, just as I am with leading a double life!"
The men looked at each other as if he was telling them exactly what they were expecting him to say.
"So," he continued, "since the new Governor does not seem inclined to grant me a pardon, I decided I should support a governor who will. If I can be sure he stands a chance to come out the winner, that is."
"You made the right decision, Señor Zorro! Unfortunately, you made it a little late." The same man who had addressed him earlier replied. "As you probably know, through some unforeseen turn of events, our army has somehow been defeated, and our men are now prisoners!"
The black-clad man looked at them pensively for a few moments.
"That is indeed, a shame, Señores." He said. "But you must have other men! You couldn't have thought it possible to take over the territory with such a small contingent!"
"There are others, of course!" The man confirmed. "We just need to regroup. The main problem is that the Governor surely still lives."
"And that our men are his prisoners!" One of the others added.
"Prisoners?" Zorro decided to encourage them. "That is just a matter of perspective, Señores. Where you see an army defeated, I see an army infiltrated. Your men are in Los Angeles, are they not? Is the Governor not also there?" He asked, as hope started flickering in their eyes. "How can an army of a hundred be taken prisoner by a contingent of thirty soldiers? Better yet, what chances do those soldiers stand if they were, shall we say, caught up by surprise by three times more men escaping from their cells?" Zorro asked with a sly grin.
"You can do that? Set them free?" The man who had expressed concern over his troops having been captured inquired.
"Most certainly." Zorro replied. "However, if I am to join your little endeavor, I would require some extra information to... make sure that I am joining the right side!"
As the above-mentioned conversation was taking place, De Soto was becoming ever more furious at his nemesis. He had always known that Zorro was a criminal, but conspiracy to overthrow a governor? That is too much even for him! He thought. What a miserable creature! Too bad I will probably not live to see the look on my wife's face as she realizes she was the one who was always wrong about Zorro, not me! Ignacio would have smiled at imagining her face, in spite of his situation, had he not been gagged.
"In that case, Señor Zorro, we would also require a guarantee!" The dialogue between the rebel commanders and the masked man continued. "You see, if we are to reveal our hand, we expect you to reveal yours, in exchange."
"And what exactly do you have in mind, Señores?" He asked, pretending he hadn't already guessed the answer.
"Well, just a simple... gesture, Señor. We would require you to take off that mask and reveal your true identity."
"My identity?" Zorro purposely hesitated.
"You surely won't be needing the mask once you are granted a full pardon." The man assured him, taking out an official document bearing the governor's stamp. Below the signature on the document was mentioned "Gobernador de Las Californias" but it was the name of the Deputy Governor signed on it: Fernando de la Cruz. If he had not been absolutely sure who was behind the rebellion at entering the hacienda, the document the rebel commanders had just given him was a clear confirmation (and proof) of him being right.
"Indeed, I will not!" He concluded, looking with a smile at the document granting him a full pardon, and proceeding to carefully tuck it into his belt. He then took some time to make it seem that he was pondering the idea. "Here's what I propose." He finally said, after a few minutes of silence in which the other three men were awaiting his decision. "You tell me exactly how much money the Deputy Governor stands to make for the Californias and, in exchange, I take off this mask." He had some doubts that the plan was to sell the remote provinces to another world power, but, since he was quite aware that that was the only way they might have envisioned getting enough gold to offer him a bribe of millions of pesos, he tempted luck and got out on the winning side. "You then tell me the entire plan for the takeover, in all detail and, as a sign of goodwill, I shall reveal to you my true identity. Finally, I will take your plan ,and make it work, for which I also require one-fifth of the sum you stand to gain." He added this in order to make them believe he was willing to sell his services.
"You want three million pesos to help us?" One of the men exclaimed.
"Fifteen million? A nice sum, I admit!" Zorro uttered. "Si señores, I do believe I will be worth the three million, since I am essential to your success."
The men discussed among themselves for a few minutes, making sure Zorro would not hear them. He didn't even try, as he was engaged in a staring contest with De Soto.
"I believe we have a deal, Señor!" Their leader finally replied. "Now, how about you take off that mask?"
"Indeed, a deal is a deal." Zorro agreed lowering his hat on his back and reaching for the knot keeping his mask in place, then pretended to change his mind. "I do, however, have something to add to the list." He said. "You see, since you are obviously decided to make me reveal my identity also to the man who has spent the better part of the last four years hunting me, I want the pleasure of killing him for myself. I do not really care about the others, I just want Ignacio de Soto."
The men laughed. "He's all yours, Zorro!" Their leader said.
"In that case, I see no point in postponing this!" As he said that, he took the mask off.
At seeing his face Ignacio went almost mad, his eyes widening and slowly turning red with rage.
"What's with him?" One of the three men wondered.
"Well, I believe he just realized exactly how wrong he was about me." Zorro answered rather maliciously. "Don't worry, Ignacio! I promise to take good care of Jessie. After all, she is family!"
Jessie had once told Diego she had heard Ignacio talking in his sleep. He was having quite a bad nightmare about her informing him she had decided to run away with her best friend. They both had a good laugh at his expense and the absurdity of the idea, but the episode revealed to Diego one of De Soto's greatest fears and he decided to make good use of it.
Thus, as he said those last words 'I promise to take good care of Jessie.' Diego smiled in a devious way that made De Soto get even madder, now trying with all his power to get himself free.
"He really doesn't like you, does he?" One of his interlocutors remarked.
"Like me? But he's like a brother to me!" Zorro replied mockingly and the men laughed, recognizing the sarcasm in his voice. "Your turn, Señores! What is the plan?"
"Killing the Governor first. The Deputy Governor will thus become Governor in his place." One of the men said, confident in Zorro's commitment to their cause.
"But surely you must know that is, by no means, enough! We need the soldiers on our side if we are to stand any chance, and I doubt they will be, once the Mexican forces march in!" He replied. "And I am not talking about a hundred men, I am talking about at least a quarter of the lancers in Alta California."
"That is where you come in, Zorro! We have infiltrated all the garrisons. The loyalists were instructed to wear a white ribbon in order for us to know which ones support the cause. Our men have already managed to cause enough discontent to make the lancers interested in joining us. Since they had no say in Mexico's takeover of the Californias, they have no real allegiance to the Empire anyway. Our other allies are to approach the soldiers in ten days, after the news that the Governor will have... passed away will have reached the entire territory, and, together, at midday precisely, they will take over all the garrisons. Then, it will be you, leading an army of thousands, who will secure the people's allegiance and stop the advancement of the Mexican troops till the transaction is concluded, and the British take over." The man continued detailing his plan.
"I see. And the Dons?" Zorro inquired. "They will surely opposed a takeover and have their own men, which they can arm. They could become quite a challenge if we are forced to fight not only Mexican troops, but also internal insurrection."
"The dons? They will do nothing as long as their rights and lands are guaranteed, and they will be. There is enough land held by the missions to be distributed to the new landowners. In fact, the only ones we concern ourselves with are the ones in Los Angeles. The Alcalde especially, has a reputation for making trouble." One of the other men assured him.
Zorro looked at Ignacio with the corner of his eye.
"You need not worry about him." He told them. "I do have a certain… influence... over my father..."
"Your... father? Then you… you are Don Diego de la Vega?" They asked incredulously.
"Indeed I am, Señores." The black-clad man stated.
"But... But I heard that Don Diego de la Vega was a poet with an inclination for running away from fights..." One of the men replied in disbelief.
"And that's precisely why no one ever suspected me of being Zorro!" He answered with self-confidence and a satisfied smile. "Not even my good friend here, who, not only tried to enlist me to assist in his search for... well... myself, but even asked me to be the best man at his wedding!"
"I see we have the right man for the job!" The leader of the men rejoiced, as they were almost unable to believe their luck. "Even more so than we could have ever anticipated."
"Any other detail you need me to know about the plan, Señores?" Zorro asked in an attempt to make sure they had not forgot any important information.
"No. We have told you everything." The leader assured him. "So, do you want to kill him now?" The same man asked after taking a minute to enjoy their good fortune.
"Why not?" The unmasked Zorro asked as De Soto's eyes filled with terror. "Oh, but look at the time! Do you know what time it is, Señores?" He inquired.
The men looked puzzled.
"The time?" One asked.
"Yes. I am afraid it is time to sleep, amigos!"
As he said that, he grabbed two of the men causing them to violently hit their heads against the third, who was standing right between them, then to the wall behind, the final hit leaving all of them unconscious.
"I do, however, very much appreciate your willingness to cooperate!" He said smiling, looking at the men as they were lying on the floor.
After he tied up the three men, he took out his sword directing himself towards De Soto who was still sure he was about to be executed, and, unwilling to see Diego's face at watching him die, closed his eyes expecting the deadly blow. Instead, seconds later, he realized his hands and legs were free and, looking to his left, he saw the unmasked Zorro also freeing his men.
"De la Vega! I should have known!" De Soto said as he removed his gag.
"You know, Ignacio, those were the exact last words of Alcalde Luis Ramon!" His stepbrother replied.
"You! You murdered him! I always knew... you… villainous creature! You made everyone believe you were so good and harmless when you are..." Ignacio tried and failed to find a proper insult to close that statement.
"Villainous? Did you perhaps think I was going to kill my own brother, Ignacio?" Diego mocked. "I am not that kind of a man, Señor... And, as for the Alcalde Luis Ramon, I did not murder him! It was his own actions that caused him to lose his balance, and fall to his death. He sacrificed his own life just to know who I was! What is it about a mask, I wonder, that renders men completely obsessed with taking it off?
"Now, if you're finished bickering, how about you and your men help me carry these rebels to their horses. It will be almost morning soon, and I really should get going if I am to make an entrance!"
Not sure of what to do, Ignacio eventually followed his servants' example, and helped carry the men to their horses.
"So, you are not going to kill us?" He asked as the black-clad man was mounting Tornado.
"No." Zorro answered while putting back on his mask.
"But...But we know who you are!" The former Alcalde pointed out.
"Are you trying to convince me to kill you, De Soto?" Zorro asked with a smile.
"No... No, of course not... I was merely pointing out that..." The white-haired man again tried and failed to decide what to say, as the idea that Diego, whom he had disregarded so often, was Zorro made the man before him even more terrifying in his eyes.
"Perhaps you should get some rest, Ignacio." Zorro counseled. "You are making even less sense than usual."
As he said that, he left dragging the five horses behind Tornado, while Ignacio's men were waving their hands goodbye.