Chapter 7 [Five Minutes Earlier]

[A/N: A word of warning—this is going to get *really dark*. The show would never go in this fashion. I realize that. However, I can see Riscendo acting in just this way. Advisory for character deaths here.]

Zorro pressed Toronado down the road. Worry burned at his heart for Victoria and now his father. Concern weighed on him for his friends and neighbors. Despite the tincture, Weakness still hung about him like a leaden cloak. Sleep would be his balm. Still he could not indulge in it.

Duty and Amor propelled him ever onward.

Malady however already pushed at Tincture's protection. All too quickly, it besieged him. It crashed against him like water might against an earthen embankment. It wore him down.

Perhaps it would but not before he did what he had to.

He set his jaw. His mind weighed Lucinda's account. He would be outnumbered at least a dozen to one. He couldn't count on the Alcalde or the lancers for help. Perhaps he could rally his friends to stand beside him. Lament however at the potential bloodshed.

Still Freedom ran hand in hand with Sacrifice….

The landscape sped by all too quickly under Toronado's legs. All too soon, Los Angeles' sign came into focus. He rode in a wide circle around the pueblo. A spyglass helped him to see the guardsmen's positions on the buildings.

There will be no element of surprise. Whoever this is, he has planned too well. Setback soured his stomach. He rubbed his forehead.

Toronado grunted at him.

"No. I have to do this, Amigo." Zorro rubbed his friend's neck. "I wish there was another way." He sighed. He looked toward Los Angeles. "There is only one way. ¡Vamanos!" He urged his friend onward once more. They streaked under the sign.

The guardsmen couldn't fire fast enough to arrest his progress.

Zorro spied the corralled populace three heartbeats later. Anger flared akin to Volcano's eruption within himself. He curled his lip. His eyes narrowed. He spied Riscendo holding Victoria and ranting something at Alejandro.

Alejandro's hand went for his sword. That in itself signified Affront's slap in his face. Honor would respond.

One of the soldados stepped in. His pistol held Alejandro at bay. "But the Emisario is the King." He looked to Riscendo.

"Well put, Lieutenant. It seems the treason runs deep here. Does it not?" Riscendo shook his head. "Watch him but let him keep his sword. I have my own dealings with Don Alejandro as well."

"AND WHAT OF OUR DEALINGS?" Zorro rode to the crowd's edge. Outrage and Indignity flared in his eyes and curled his lip. "WHO ARE YOU TO CLAIM THE KING'S TITLE HERE? WHO ARE YOU TO HARM HIS LOYAL SUBJECTS?"

Sentiment turned on its ear. Cheers punctuated their numbers. Hope brightened.

"ZORRO!" Victoria smirked at Riscendo. "Now you will see!"

"Will I? I wonder." Riscendo considered the masked avenger. "This bandito is but one man."

"I am more than your match, Señor. And I am not the one who steals into a town. I do not take advantage of hospitality. I do not hold her people hostage. I do not cast the good name of our King in the mud. Have a care and release these people! Represent our King with the dignity and respect we all owe him!" Zorro scolded. "What man holds a woman as a body shield? Face me one on one!"

Riscendo laughed. "You have humiliated this so-called Alcalde and his predecessor, Dog. I will not play those games! Surrender or be taken, Zorro! I will have satisfaction!"

"He has done NOTHING but remind you of your duty, Emisario. If that is treason, may we all be such traitors!" Alejandro interjected. He glared at Hidalgo. "Put that gun down. Your master and I have an accounting!"

"Oh we do indeed! I will deal with you in short order!" Riscendo motioned toward the guardsmen. "You all presume I will play your games. I can outduel you. So can Lieutenant Hidalgo. But why should I? This is MY advantage! MY rules! The King tires of the pueblo's insolence! And that, Señor, starts with you!"

The guardsmen trained their rifles on the crowd once again.

"You have no honor." Zorro shook his head.

"Says the coward in the mask?" Riscendo scoffed. He raised his hand and brought it down again.

Victoria gasped. "ZORRO! WATCH OUT!"

Two guardsmen shot at Zorro from the front and back simultaneously.

Zorro managed to avoid the shot he could see. After that his luck ran short. Two bullets struck at him from behind. One hit him in the lower back. The other ripped through several inches above. He fell from Toronado's back. With the last bit of motion in his arms and legs, he managed to not break his neck upon hitting the ground.

"ZORRO!" Victoria wrenched her arm free of Riscendo. She ran to her fallen hero's side. She lifted his head in as gentle a fashion as she could manage. Tears burned at her eyes.

"He deserved better than this!" Alejandro glared at Riscendo. He stalked over to Victoria's side.

"KEEP THEM BACK!" Riscendo ordered his guardsmen.

"Zorro! I am sorry." Alejandro looked the fallen hero over. He observed the blood puddling on the dirt.

"You…you have no reason to be sorry." Zorro coughed. "Fight for me, Victoria. Live for me. I…love you."

"There is no one for me but you," Victoria vowed.

"My…mask. Victoria, you should…see. So should…Don Alejandro….so should Father." Zorro's eyes blinked. Chill dimpled his skin.

Victoria pulled his mask up. Her eyes went wide. "DIEGO? NO! IT CAN'T BE!"

The pueblo's inhabitants gasped as one. Shock and Surprise circled through their numbers. Disbelief numbed their minds over how the pueblo's pacifist (and some said coward) was in truth its greatest hero.

"I should've known." The Alcalde chided himself.

Montoya sat speechless. His eyes as widened as everyone else's.

"Diego? What were you thinking? Imitating Zorro like that? This is madness!" Alejandro protested.

"I am…Zorro, Father. I have fought. The cowardice was…act." Diego winced. "A Don's duty is…people."

"It is indeed, my Son." Pride elicited a smile from Alejandro. He squeezed the dying man's hand. "I am sorry I thought you a coward. You have done your duty. Now rest."

"I know I promised, Victoria. I…I am sorry…All those days in the tavern, you…were my sunshine…" Diego fought back the end. He looked firmly in her eyes.

"You have been my friend. You stood by me, Diego. You are more hombre than any other man in Los Angeles. I will wait until we are reunited once again." Victoria pressed her lips against his. "The kiss you have been due, Diego." Her eyes sparkled warmly into his. "Rest now, mi Caballero."

"Gracias, Victoria. I love…you." Diego closed his eyes. His last breath whispered across his lips.

"Diego? DIEGO!" Victoria shook her deceased love. Her mind still processed the revelation. She bowed her head. Sobs cascaded without end from her heart and mouth.

"Victoria, I know. I wish he would have told us sooner. He died with honor. We will carry on." Alejandro embraced her. "We will bury him together." He glared at Riscendo. "Then we will complain to the Territorial Governor."

The residents buzzed. Their hero's death incited Passion's spark. Voices raised in pitch. They reached for sticks, pitchforks or whatever else was at hand. As one, they moved on Riscendo and his men.

"TEACH THESE DOGS A LESSON! FIRE!" Riscendo bellowed.

The guardsmen shot down into the crowd. Regret and Hesitation slowed their progress not a bit. Their bullets struck down men and women indiscriminately.

"PEOPLE OF LOS ANGELES! TAKE COVER!" Victoria bellowed. She didn't care about her gender or her status. Someone had to take control. Her eyes narrowed at Riscendo. "THE KING WILL HEAR OF THIS!"

Riscendo shrugged. "He certainly will!" Before anyone could stop him, he fired a single shot from his pistol.

The bullet struck her in the chest. She staggered. "How…I….?"

"RISCENDO! HOW COULD YOU? SHE WAS UNARMED!" Alejandro protested.

"She was under sentence of death, De la Vega! Let her join him! I can deprive you as you deprived me!" Riscendo seethed. Vengeance blazed in his eyes. "I would never deprive my brother, FATHER!"

"Father? What…?" Victoria's knees quaked. She gasped and fell to her knees. She clawed over toward Diego. "D…Don Alejandro, p…por favor….Move me…closer."

Alejandro nodded. "He would want that." He helped her over to the spot. "You may not have been my daughter by birth. You are by spirit. Diego loved you. Go and be with him."

Victoria coughed. "B…bury us at Heche…." She squeezed Diego's hand. Defiance resisted the final sleep to press Amor's last salvo against her hero's cheek. "I…love…you." Then she collapsed on top of him.

Alejandro shook his head. He kissed the crown of her head. Then he stood. "Are you satisfied?"

"Not yet. Go and bury the dead, Father. Then I will claim the last of it!" Riscendo snapped.

Alejandro drew his sword. "You are most certainly NOT my son! No son of mine would act in this manner! NONE!"

Mendoza grabbed onto Alejandro. "Forgive me, Don Alejandro. We cannot win. We bury them. Please?"

"Prudence is the best measure here, Don Alejandro." The Alcalde hissed under his breath. "Diego as Zorro. I still cannot believe it."

"You will be joining him soon enough, De Soto. Hidalgo, take him to his cell." Riscendo seethed. "Be ready in the morning, Father. We will talk then. See to the traitors." He stalked away into the Alcalde's office and shut the door.

Alejandro burned. "What does he mean by that? What else can he do?"

Mendoza shook his head. "Since Don Diego is Zorro, the Emisario considers him a traitor. We should bury them. The rest we talk about later." His eyes pleaded with the senior aristocrat. "Por favor."

Toronado stalked forward. He whinnied at the two men. Then he got down on the ground.

"Put them on his back, Mendoza!" Alejandro carried Victoria over to the stallion. Then he did the same for his dear son. "Gracias, Toronado."

Toronado grunted. He stood back up. After his amigos' sacrifice, he would proudly bear them to the final rest.

"Get Padre Benitez. They are due the last rites." Alejandro glanced at the deceased couple. Then he glared at the Alcalde's office. Loss proved a heavy burden.

A heavy burden indeed….