*As soon as they arrived in Los Angeles, the De la Vegas did their best to convince Luis Ramone to put an end to the abuse but, as Diego himself realized, the man was hardly rational, and arguments had no impact on him. After threatening to have the old don arrested, their conversation was cut short by Mendoza informing his commander that Corporal Gomez had just returned from the tavern, and he needed to head there at once.

The two De la Vegas followed the soldiers, wondering what was going on.

Having reached the end of her patience the moment the lancers had started arresting poor people for things they heard them say in her tavern, no longer counting on Diego to help, and finding herself ignored when she had asked the Alcalde to stop, Victoria decided to take things into her own hands. Standing in the middle of her establishment, her patrons all reverently listening to what she had to say, the taverness, thus, argued that time had come for them to take action.

Just five minutes later, both she and Don Alejandro – who, having reached the end of his own patience when Ramone grabbed Victoria's hand and tried to drag her to jail, punched the Alcalde – were escorted to the garrison.

Diego had to watch as his father and the young woman were being led away, fully aware that he needed to avoid becoming the Alcalde's prisoner, as well, if he was to stand a chance to get them released.

Luis Ramone was more than thrilled with how the situation had progressed, since, now, he had, in his power, the one man whose support assured him full control of the pueblo, and he had every intention of using all the means at his disposal to convince him to grant him said support. The De la Vega don was, however, stubborn, and more than a little determined to stand in his way, rather than by his side so the Alcalde decided a little time in jail would help him get a new perspective on things.

"I demand the release of my father," Diego said as he entered the office, moments after Don Alejandro was escorted to a cell. He seemed calm but, had the Alcalde known him, he would have recognized the full-fledged ire hidden behind those words.

"Do you now?" Ramone mocked as he stood up to meet his gaze.

"Yes. I do." Diego answered.

"Well, I can imagine how you feel," the Alcalde said condescendingly, "but try to see things from my point of view, Don Diego! Your father is a respected elder in the pueblo. His word carries a great deal of weight."

"You don't put a man in jail for that," the caballero uttered, his blood boiling with rage at the older man.

"No, but I can put a man in jail for assault on a public official, for interfering with the administration of justice, and for fomenting revolution."

"If my father wanted to lead a revolution, you would have been thrown out of this pueblo a long time ago." The taller man informed him.

"Then I don't think we have long to wait for him to declare his loyalty to my office," Ramone concluded with a smirk on his face.

"Don't expect me to stand still for this!" Diego answered as he turned to leave.

"I expect you to be a good son and not to get your father hurt." The Alcalde replied.

Pausing at the door, Diego turned back towards him "If you want a fight, you'll get one." He threatened.

"Ah, Don Diego, if I have any trouble with the caballeros, I'll know you're behind it. And there's always room in my jail for… another De la Vega." The official threatened back.

Clear about the man's message, but also about the need for him to find a way to free both his father and Victoria, the tall caballero headed towards the tavern. After shaking the hands of two of his father's friends at entering the establishment, he noticed Mendoza behind the bar, serving his lancers and recounting a story from the time he was fighting in Arizona, in the Indian Campaigns. For some reason or another, the story drew Diego's attention, and the seed of an idea was planted in his mind as soon as Mendoza explained to him how soldiers were not trained to deal with the unknown.

"It is the unexplained, the mysterious, that creates fear. And fear is a soldier's greatest enemy." The lancer told him.

Diego remembered how his grandfather had also once mentioned something similar to him, even if, at the time, the old man was referring to disease rather than some sort of mysterious enemy.

About two hours later, having retuned home, Diego recounted for Felipe the events leading and following Victoria's and his father's arrests. After listening to him, the boy, seeing how preoccupied he was, wondered how to cheer him up, and an idea suddenly came to him. Grabbing Diego by his sleeve, he headed for the fireplace. The caballero followed him reluctantly, thinking that the boy wanted to play some game, but soon understood there was something down there he needed to see.

There was a fox was in the cave, one seeming both trapped and willing to be there, at seeing the two humans staring at it.

The caballero and his ward squatted in order to avoid causing further distress to the animal. "It's amazing, with everyone hunting them for such beautiful pelts, how those creatures of the night manage to survive."

Felipe pretended to be reading his lips, then signed, pointing at the fox and then at his head.

"Yes, cunning and intelligence." Diego replied to his gestures. Smiling at the boy, he patted him on the shoulder, then stood up, intent on leaving.

Just then, the fox let out a strange whimper, and Felipe, fearing the animal was in distress, hurriedly turned towards it. He realized his mistake only when Diego stared at him, realizing the boy had heard the fox.

"Felipe, you heard that!" Diego stated rather than asked, and his ward nodded, not daring to look him in the eyes. "Felipe, look at me!" The older man asked and the boy shyly raised his head, looking worriedly at his guardian. "You can hear, can't you?" The caballero now questioned, and Felipe relaxed and nodded at noticing his enthusiasm. "That's wonderful!" Diego said as he embraced him, then slowly his smile transformed into confusion.

Felipe was forced to admit, moments later, that he had hidden the fact that he had recovered his hearing because he feared Don Alejandro might treat him differently if he knew the truth.

Reassuring him that his fear was groundless, Diego again decided to leave and guided Felipe towards the passage leading to the library. Yet, just after taking a couple of steps, he turned around to glance, once more, at the fox. As the animal stared straight at him, that idea which had been planted in his mind by Mendoza's words, just a few hours earlier, received a name.*

ZZZ

After they returned to the library, Diego dismissed the servants, so that only he and Felipe remained in the house.

Then, giving the boy a book to read with instructions to remain there, he headed to his room. Opening one of the two remaining locked trunks that he had brought from Spain, he pulled out the saddle and bridle he had bought on the way, Sir Edmund's sword, and the stage costume he had used to play 'The Faceless Knight'(1). Looking through his belongings, he added a black sombrero to the ensemble, one he had bought in Cordoba, on his way to the port of Malaga(2) and which, just like the other items, not even his father had yet seen. The final touch was a new mask. After deciding to make it so that it would cover the upper half of his face, he used a piece of black silk, on which, with the use of "The Faceless Knight's" stage mask, he cut the eye holes. Putting everything on and adding one of his black sashes as a final touch, he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Not even Mother would have recognized me dressed like this." He uttered with a satisfied smile, certain to have finally come up with the answer to his Alcalde dilemma. If the man would not listen to reason, and a rebellion would only end in disaster, perhaps one man was all they needed to turn the tide. After all, thinking back, he had trained his entire life for exactly this task, even if he hadn't, before that moment, known it.

"Time for its first test!" He then muttered and, slowly opening his door to make sure there was nobody around to see him, he silently made his way towards the library.

*He deemed his experiment successful because Felipe had needed concrete proof it was Diego under the mask. After enlisting the boy's support in order to mislead those who might suspect him, adding a black cape to the costume, and deciding to use the secret cave as their base of operations, the masked caballero and his ward headed towards the pueblo. Felipe drove a hay wagon and his guardian hid under the hay.

Making his way into the prison was fairly easy, none of the guards even noticing him as he entered the empty Alcalde's office through the skylight. The prison itself was not even guarded, probably, he thought, because nobody suspected someone might dare do what he was about to.

"Buenas noches!" He greeted as he gracefully waltzed inside the jail, smiling at its occupants, and wondering if any of them might realize who he was. They stared back in disbelief, not a shadow of recognition on their faces.

"Who are you?" Don Alejandro asked at seeing the black-clad, masked man.

"What are you?" Victoria wondered instead.

"A creature of the night. Like a fox. El Zorro." He answered, making full use of his theatrical skills.

"El Zorro?" The taverness repeated as if trying to make sure she had understood him right.

"Perhaps you'd like to leave." He suggested.

"How do we know you don't work for the Alcalde?" Don Alejandro inquired, suspiciously. "Maybe he just wants an excuse to shoot us." He told Victoria.

"Then he'll have to shoot me first," Zorro answered, reaching for the keys to the prison cells. "If it's freedom you want, follow me!" He then added as he opened the door to Victoria's cell, then to Don Alejandro's.

After exchanging another confused glance, the two followed the black-clad man to the garrison's courtyard, and out to freedom, yet not before Victoria took one more good look at him, both intrigued and fascinated with the man.

As for Zorro, after being spotted by Mendoza, who believed he was a demon, he dedicated a couple of minutes to introduce himself to the Sergeant and Luis Ramone, swiftly defeating the latter in a duel which cost the Alcalde his best sword.*

Hidding behind the tavern as soon as they heard Luis Ramone coming out from his initial shock and calling for his lancers, Don Alejandro and Victoria watched their deliverer as he used his whip and blade to easily take out those who had the bad idea of attacking him instead of just letting him leave (3). Then, as the black-clad figure made his way out of the pueblo, merging with the surrounding darkness, they took advantage of the Alcalde's decision to have most of his men follow Zorro, and headed for the stables, intending on taking Victoria's horse and making their way towards the hacienda. Unfortunately, the place was guarded, so they returned to the tavern just as three of Don Alejandro's tenants were heading for a wagon. Noticing them, the good men didn't even hesitate in hiding the two under some blankets, thus sneaking them out of the pueblo and towards the De la Vega estate.

Don Alejandro's stable hand was the only servant still awake at that time of night and, as soon as he saw the wagon with his master and Victoria in the back, the man helped them climb down. Then, as the wagon returned to El Camino Real the same way it had come, he spent a full hour, a lamp in one hand and a broom in the other, doing his best to cover the tracks leading to and away from the hacienda.

It was already past midnight when Don Alejandro and the taverness made their way inside the hacienda, not long after Diego and Felipe had arrived there themselves, and it was just by miracle that they didn't catch the caballero as he exited through the sliding panel. He did a wonderful job at playing the doubtful young man, unimpressed with deeds of valor, but he could hardly prevent himself from smiling as he saw the dreamy look in Victoria's eyes as she thought of the masked man who had freed her and his father. Her scolding remark that he should have seen Zorro so that he'd known what true valor looked like, he appreciated much less, yet let it pass considering he had one piece of essential information she didn't and, in the end, he reasoned, it hardly mattered if she fell for Zorro or for him since they were both one and the same.

As soon as they left, heading for the living quarters in the hope of getting some rest, Diego returned to the cave, Felipe on his heels.

After they took some sacks of hay and grain from the De la Vega stables, certain nobody would ever miss them, they proceeded to arrange a stall in the smaller room of the cave. That was because certain the Alcalde had other concerns on his mind for the moment, Diego realized it was the perfect time for Zorro to find himself a horse, and he already had the perfect saddle and bridle for him.

The young caballero and the boy he considered his surrogate son barely slept that night. As soon as there was enough light outside for them to leave on their new mission, the two took their horses and made their way north, towards the most secluded of the De la Vega lands, where Diego knew that wild horses, descendants of the ones the Indians had once stolen from his great-grandfather, roamed free. He had, on more than one occasion, seen them as a child, while going to visit the Indian village, and he only hoped they were still around.

The black stallion was the very first horse they saw, and he was perfect: tall, strong, beautiful, and at his peak. In order to bring him back with them, they also had to bring his mare and foal, both of whom just followed them to the cave. Since they only had room for one horse, though, Diego took them to an old stable his father's men rarely ever used and, after making sure they had food and water, he left them there while he decided what to do with them.

In the meantime, Felipe had taken the stallion inside, and the horse was already getting accustomed to his new accommodations.

About an hour later, just around the time Victoria and Don Alejandro were waking up and the Alcalde was returning to the pueblo to finally discover their escape, Diego and Felipe took the newly-named Tornado(4) into a nearby valley, hidden from probing eyes. After making sure to block any avenue of escape by using some of the sacks they had taken the previous night, they started his training.

The horse proved unexpectedly submissive to the caballero, especially for a wild stallion. He quickly learned to answer Diego's commands, and easily accepted both him and Felipe as his caretakers. To his new master, it all seemed incredibly easy, since he remembered having had a much harder time breaking in his father's colts than the huge black stallion before him.

Since he didn't have much time, he knew he needed to advance as fast as possible with his training, but the fact that Tornado learned so quickly surpassed all of his expectations.

"Perhaps he already had another master," Diego suggested, at a loss to understand the horse's behavior. "Maybe an Indian. They don't brand their horses, and some train them very well."

By that very afternoon, Tornado was saddled, and Diego was confidently riding on his back, the stallion obeying his every command.

"It's almost a miracle!" He confessed to his ward. "I've spent most of my life on this hacienda, but I've never seen a horse so intelligent, accepting, and easily-trained." After exchanging a smile with the boy, he asked him to take away the sacks they used as an enclosure, then changed his mind. Guiding Tornado towards the farthest-away part of the valley, he urged him into a gallop, heading straight for the said obstacle. Felipe held his breath as they passed by him, and watched in amazement as the stallion made the jump, not hesitating for a second. Landing safely on the other side, his rider allowed him to continue running at full speed, as he smiled incredulously at the animal's stamina.

They returned the same way as they had left, about half an hour later, not because the horse was tired, but because his rider decided it was not worth risking being spotted.

Diego had dinner with his father and Victoria, whom he informed that he had spent the day riding and fishing with Felipe. A while later, as Victoria headed for her room and Don Alejandro went to talk to his vaqueros, the tall caballero and his ward returned to the cave and to the black stallion. Not long after that, as almost the entire household was asleep, only Don Alejandro still working on his books the *Alcalde and his men made their way inside and arrested the old don. On their way out, acting based on the testimonies of the farmers who had helped their landowner and the taverness, and who were promised their lives in exchange for all the information they had, Ramone also ordered for the stable hand, who had been their willing accomplice, to be detained.*

It was the sound of the Alcalde's voice in his house that attracted Diego to the viewing hole, *just in time to hear the man saying he would hang the old caballero. The De la Vega heir was enraged, and was about to go fight the tyrant that very moment. He would have, had Felipe not stopped him. Indeed, as the boy had pointed out, it was a job for Zorro.*

Realizing that he needed to do more than break his father and those arrested with him out of prison, seeing how his actions the previous night had only managed to worsen things, he sent the boy to find out all he could while he came up with a plan. Felipe returned some two hours later with news that Don Alejandro and all four men who had helped him and Victoria were to hang at 8 am, the following day.

Diego nodded and moved on to implementing the brilliant, yet very risky plan he had concocted. Indeed, much could go wrong but, if everything went right, he knew the Alcalde would start to understand Los Angeles had a defender.

Sacrificing two of his black capes, with the boy's help, he, thus managed to make a hang glider, an invention which, he hoped, should all work as intended, would seed fear in the hearts of the lancers, making them believe he had some sort of supernatural powers, thus making them less willing to fight him.

After finishing his new toy and assembling it outside the cave, where there was enough space for him to do so, just before dawn, Diego, dressed as Zorro, saddled Tornado, and another of his father's horses and took the black stallion to the pueblo. Careful not to be seen, he left him in the small stable behind Doctor Hernandez's medical office, certain nobody would even notice him there, then rode the other horse back to the hacienda.

After returning, he proceeded in establishing an alibi for himself in order to justify his absence from his own father's execution. Tornado's mare and foal came right in handy at that point, especially since, after checking on them, Diego was certain that nobody had found them yet. Just to be sure, he took them to the stallion's stall in the cave, then, exiting the other way, he left a message addressed to his father, informing him he had awakened early and was going on a ride, due to return in a few hours. Then, making his way to the stables, he left just as the vaqueros were waking up, mounted on one of his father's brown horses, which he also guided towards the back entrance of his secret lair. Leaving the horse tied up to a nearby tree, he again changed into the black clothes, and Zorro left, mounted on the brown stallion.

As for Felipe, he also left early in the morning, taking one of the De la Vega wagons filled with several sacks of wheat, and explaining that Diego had asked him to go to the mill. Since it was not uncommon for the boy to run such errands, and nobody expected him to do anything about Don Alejandro's situation, the other servants barely spared him a thought. Only Victoria tried to stop him to ask if he knew where Diego was.

The taverness had just found out, together with most of the servants, about the arrests and scheduled executions. Consequently, she started looking for the young caballero, hoping he might find a way to save his father and the other men. Not finding him and trusting that Felipe didn't know anything about his whereabouts, the young woman returned to the house and was appalled as she found and read Diego's note. Deciding it was up to her to help the old don, taking one of the De la Vega horses, she headed towards the pueblo.

ZZZ

Felipe met with Zorro at the very spot they had agreed on, about two miles west of the hacienda. Unloading the sacks and harnessing the horse the black-clad man had ridden there to the wagon, the masked caballero looked again over his calculations and the direction of the wind. When he was certain everything was just right, he positioned the hang glider and himself at the back of the wagon, then instructed the boy to drive at full speed so that he might take off.

*If he'd had his voice back, Felipe would have let out a shout at seeing his guardian head for the sky. As things stood, he contented himself with raising his fists, a gesture which translated the same emotion as a shout of joy would have.*

ZZZ

*Meanwhile, in the pueblo, Victoria arrived just before the prisoners were escorted to the gallows. Dismounting, she headed for the caballero but was intercepted by the lancers shortly before reaching him.

Seeing her, Luis Ramone slowly made his way to stand right before her. He could have had her executed together with the others, for the same crime he was determined to punish the old don, but he still harbored the hope to one day break the Señorita who had attracted his attention since first he had seen her. Consequently, he decided he preferred her alive, rather than dead, and offered her a deal: the name of the black-clad man who had rescued her and Don Alejandro as the price for sparing the old caballero and the other four men.

Victoria continued to defy him, and his sneer grew larger at imagining the Señorita as she would one day capitulate to him.

It was just as the Alcalde gave the orders for the gallows to be prepared when, looking at the sky, the people in the plaza saw the most amazing thing: a man, dressed in black steering a strange flying device towards them.

Zorro landed swiftly before the tavern.

The lancers, mesmerized and frightened at his sight, were unable to even process Luis Ramone's order to shoot the masked man. And, as they remained, eyes glued to him, Victoria freed Don Alejandro, and the two then freed the other prisoners.

Taking out his whip and using it to keep the lancers at bay, seeing their hesitation, the black-clad man turned towards the people gathered there.

"I am Zorro." He said by way of introduction. "Friend to all those who support the cause of freedom. And the enemy, to those who support tyranny. "

As his men were hesitating before the masked intruder, Luis Ramone decided to take things into his own hands and challenge Zorro to a duel, one which barely lasted a little longer than their first encounter, but ended up being much more humiliating for the official than the first had been. And, despite his threats, spat through gritted teeth, Luis Ramone ended up giving into Zorro's demands, freeing his prisoners and returning the tavern to Victoria.

After marking a Z in the Alcalde's coat, right on his bottom, the black-clad man left, rapidly making his way to Tornado, and steering the horse towards the pueblo's gate.

"Señor Zorro!" The black-clad man heard his father's voice from among the laughter enveloping the plaza. Stopping the stallion, he turned towards the crowd. "Remove the mask, so we can see the man to whom we owe so much!" The old caballero asked.

For a few moments, Diego imagined how his father would react if he did exactly that. Then, he remembered the Alcalde's threat, and reminded himself that was no game and certainly no one-time ride.

"Nothing would please me more than to reveal my true identity," he, thus replied, "and to show my true affections for you, Señorita," Zorro added at seeing the dreamy smile Victoria wore on her lips.

"Oh, the feeling's mutual. You can be sure of that!" She answered.

"Knowing my identity would only give the Alcalde more reasons to threaten you," he replied. "As long as I wear this mask, your safety is guaranteed!"

"But how can I thank you?" Victoria inquired.

"Someday, when our people are free, I promise you, I will give you ample opportunity to show me that appreciation." He replied and, just as swiftly as he had appeared, he was gone.*

Making his way to the cave, where Felipe was already waiting, Diego summarized the events in the plaza for him while he changed his clothes, then, mounted on the brown horse, he slowly led the mare and the foal towards the hacienda's main stables.

"Ah, Juan!" He uttered with a calm smile as one of the vaqueros came towards him. "I found these two some three miles north of here. The foal had trouble breathing, so I decided to bring both of them back. Please see to it that they are put in a stable for now. I will talk to the blacksmith and with Doctor Hernandez to see if they know how to help him."

"Si, Don Diego… But… Don't you know about Don Alejandro, Patron?" The man wondered.

"What about my father?" He innocently wondered.

"He was arrested, last night! The Alcalde decided to have him, Pedro, and three others hanged this morning." The man told him.

"What? My… My father…" Faking a powerful shock at the news, Diego left without any more words, galloping towards the pueblo.

ZZZ

"Alcalde!" The tall caballero shouted, his face filled with ire, just as he rode into the plaza, while the official was deciding on what to do with Zorro's glider, which was left in the pueblo. "What have you done with my father?"

"What about your father?" Luis Ramone asked in a displeased tone.

Diego looked towards the gallows. "Is it true? You had him hanged?" He then questioned, a terrified look on his face as he awaited the answer.

"Diego! Son!" Don Alejandro called from the tavern's porch as one of the other patrons had warned him of his arrival.

"Father!" The younger man uttered relieved, as he dismounted and hurried to embrace the older man.

"I'm fine, Diego, no need to worry. But where were you?" He wondered.

"I… I'm sorry, Father! I didn't know… I woke up early, and went for a ride. I left you a note… I found a mare and a sick foal, and brought them back to the hacienda... which took some time… Juan just told me the Alcalde was going to hang you when I arrived there. I was so afraid I had lost you! But I don't understand. Was it all a bad joke?"

His acting managed not only to fool his father and everyone else present but, most of all, it managed to fool Ramone, who shook his head at hearing his explanations, and, after ordering that the glider be taken to the garrison, he returned to his office, leaving his men to endure the people's mockery as they did their best to fit the darn thing through the cuartel's gates.

In the meantime, Diego, Don Alejandro, Victoria, Mendoza, as well as most of the people who had witnessed the scene in the plaza earlier, were animatedly discussing their new masked protector and the lesson he had given the Alcalde.

The tall caballero could do little but inwardly grin at everyone's opinions of his masked self, even if, on the outside, he seemed just curious and rather skeptical about all they had to say.

As he had promised his father, Diego had found a way to stop the Alcalde, and by doing so, he had found his calling.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Again, a few clarifications:

(1) 'The Faceless Knight' – for the ones who hadn't read the previous parts of this story, this is a play Diego and one of his friends wrote. He played the main role and the character wore a Zorro-like costume, but with a different mask.

(2) The hat Zorro is wearing is, as per my research, a 'sombrero cordobes', originally from the southeastern part of Spain (Cordoba).

(3) In the show, at returning to the hacienda after being freed by Zorro, Don Alejandro and Victoria mentioned how the masked man had overpowered all the Alcalde's men, which was not on screen, so I had to create that part, as I had to come up with the 'accomplices' helping them escape.

(4) The NWZ's horse's name in the show was spelled Toronado, even if it was pronounced like the Spanish word 'Tornado'. Since the main reason for the change had to do (from what I was told) with the fact that Disney had the rights to the name Tornado, and I don't really care about that, I will not spell it as Toronado. Sorry, but it makes no sense to me, and I dislike that spelling which would normally change both the pronunciation of the name and its meaning (to absolutely nothing, since toronado is not in the Spanish dictionary), which is a completely personal thing and my own choice on the matter. Just wanted to clarify that.