The Return of Johnny Cuba
Written by Jonathan Downs, Rachel Ravens and Zack Wanzer
Warning: This story contains mentions of racism, ableism, homophobia, religionism, communism and anti-Semitisism.
January 1935. The situation in Germany had gone from bad to worse. The previous year, the German president Paul von Hindenburg had died at the age of 86 from lung cancer at his home in Neudeck, East Prussia. Adolf Hitler, seeing an opportunity, declared himself Führer (or "Leader") of Germany, becoming head of state as well as Chancellor. German voters retroactively endorsed Hitler's assumption of the powers of head of state in a referendum, with 89.9% in favor and Hitler effectively became the absolute dictator of Germany. The German army took an oath of allegiance to their new leader and the last remnants of German democracy were dismantled to make for Hitler's Third Reich, which Hitler claimed would last for a thousand years. This was yet another stepping stone of what was to come for Europe and, indeed, the wider world.
Whilst all this was going on in Germany, a different threat was coming to Bigg City Port – an old enemy…
If you were to look at relations between the Stars and the Z-Stacks in 1935, you wouldn't have known they were sworn enemies fourteen years ago, and yet, here they were acting like friends (with the exception of Zak and Zeus, of course). This was particularly noticeable when Ten Cents and Sunshine were at Lucky's with Zip and Zug.
"Hi, Zug," called Sunshine.
"Hello, Sunshine," replied Zug. "How are you today?"
"I'm fine. Yourself?"
"Really pleased with that ray of sunshine in our lives."
Sunshine blushed at that. Ten Cents and Zip just smiled; it reminded them of how they used to act. Although they no longer pursued the romantic relationship (especially since Ten Cents' heart was drifting towards Ariel), the two had made great strides in rebuilding their friendship.
"Say, Ten Cents," asked Zip. "Did you and Ariel ever confess your feelings for each other?"
"No," sighed Ten Cents. "I never got the chance before she and Penny went home. Given how busy harbours are, a long distance relationship might prove difficult."
Zip felt sorry for Ten Cents. Yes, she once had romantic feelings for Ten Cents, but she was willing to let Ten Cents move on to someone else. The problem was, as Ten Cents said, he and Ariel lived in different harbours – and in different states. Communication would prove difficult.
I need to find a way to get Ariel to Bigg City, Zip thought to herself. Then she and Ten Cents can finally confess their love.
Zebedee and Zak were up at the Munitions factory and were talking to Sea Rogue.
"What do you make of this 'Hitler' bloke?" asked Sea Rogue.
"Don't know," sighed Zebedee. "I gotta say, his rise through the German government boggles the mind. And his popularity… even the Kaiser didn't have that kind of loyalty!"
"I heard he's looking to undo the Treaty of Versailles," replied Sea Rogue.
"Sounds like a great idea," Zak said. "Why should Germany be made the bad guy in all this? The other sides are just bad. Plus, Hitler's ideas of a pure German race are what's needed."
Zebedee and Sea Rogue were appalled by what Zak just said.
"How could you see that?!" growled Zebedee. "What did the Jews do to deserve such treatment?"
"They're like a disease," sneered Zak. "You need to stamp out the cause before the disease spreads out of control."
"If you think Hitler is so great, Zak, why don't you go and live in Germany?" said Sea Rogue.
"Yeah, and take you pal Zeus with you," agreed Zebedee.
"One day, you two will see that you are wrong and Hitler is right!" snapped Zak as he rumbled away.
Later that afternoon, Zebedee was at the Railhead. He told Top Hat, Zob, Porter and Kirke what Zak had said.
"He said what?!" Top Hat exclaimed in shock.
"I wish I was making it up," said Zebedee. "But apparently, he believes that Hitler is a great man."
"Of course he would," huffed Zob. "Zeus thinks the exact same thing."
"That's typical of you Z-Stacks," snapped Little Owl, who had just arrived. "When you're not causing grief for us with your idiotic antics, you're spouting racist boiler sludge!"
"Look, Little Owl," sighed Porter, "we only said Zak and Zeus agree with Hitler. The rest of the Z-Stacks clearly don't as evidenced by Zebedee and Zob."
"Yeah, maybe you should try and stop being such a 'birdbrain'," snarked Kirke.
Little Owl went red in the face whilst Top Hat, Zob, Zebedee and Porter just rolled their eyes.
That evening at the Star Dock, Top Hat was briefing the other Star Tugs on Zak's comments and Little Owl's response.
"Ah don't know what Ah'm more disturbed by," shuddered Sunshine. "Zak's anti-Semitism or Little Owl's grudge getting worse with each passing day."
"Both are equally concerning," said Ten Cents. "For Zak, it just suggests that if war broke out, he would side with Hitler without a moment's pause."
"And Little Owl's grudge is getting to the point she might try to enact revenge," sighed Hercules.
"But the question is, what can we do about it?" asked Top Hat. The tugs had no idea, so they decided to go to sleep instead in the hopes they would have an idea in the morning.
What none of us knew was that Johnny Cuba was making his way back towards Bigg City Port. For extra security, he chose to slip in at midnight. He had one thing on his mind – revenge on the Z-Stacks. Little did he know that he would get an unexpected ally…
Little Owl was shunting cars near the old quay. She was still angry over Kirke's comment.
"I don't believe it!" she fumed. "I make an observation about the Z-Stacks being more trouble than they're worth, and how does Kirke respond? He calls me a birdbrain! I swear, everyone is becoming a Z-Stack sympathizer."
"So you hate the Z-Stacks too, do you?" said a voice. Little Owl looked to see a dirty old freighter slip in.
"J-Johnny Cuba?" she gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, it's no secret I've got a score to settle with Zero," smirked Johnny Cuba. "So how did your grudge against the Z-Stacks start?"
"Oh, I don't know," said Little Owl sarcastically. "Maybe Zak destroyed a railway bridge and I almost fell in the canal?"
"And you would like to get your revenge on the Z-Stacks, right?"
"Yeah."
Johnny Cuba smirked as a devious plan formed in his mind.
"Well, I've heard rumours that some of the Z-Stacks are planning to team up with Nazi Germany in an attempt to bomb Bigg City. You must report this to the Coast Guard as soon as possible."
"Thank you," said Little Owl. "I will. Oh, by the way, which ones?"
"Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly," replied Johnny Cuba.
"Thanks again," called Little Owl, as she puffed away.
Oh, yes, thought Johnny Cuba. This was way too easy.
The next morning, Captain Zero was just getting ready to brief his tugs when they heard the four Coast Guard vessels come into dock.
"Peeper Pipes?" asked Captain Zero. "What's going on?"
"Official business," came the reply. "We are here to execute an arrest warrant."
"On what charge?" asked Zorran.
"Treason," replied Snowy.
"Treason?" gasped the other Z-Stacks.
"Yes, treason," said Cappy.
"Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly," said Davy Jones, "you are under arrest for allying with the Nazi regime and plotting a terrorist act. Report to the dry dock, immediately. Okay?"
"B-b-but this is crazy!" stuttered Zug. "We'd never ally ourselves to Hitler!"
"He's telling the truth," said Captain Zero. "You know full well I hate Hitler with all my guts."
"That doesn't mean to say that your tugs wouldn't do something like this, though," pointed out Peeper Pipes. "Little Owl overheard your plot last night and alerted us to the situation. You four. Dry dock. Now." Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly, not wanting to anger the Coast Guard vessels, had no choice but to comply even though they were innocent.
"Don't worry, you four!" called Zorran as left. "Zob, Captain Zero, Zak, Zeus and I…"
"Pass!" said Zak and Zeus, leaving. To them, if Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly were found guilty, this could help Ursula Zero with her evil plans.
"Okay, scratch that," muttered Zorran. "Zob, Captain Zero and I will get your names cleared."
"Something tells me we need the Stars' help for this," said Zob.
"I believe you're right, Zob," said Captain Zero. As luck would have it, the Star Tugs had overheard the conversation and they came to the Zero Dock. I was onboard on O.J..
"Zorran," said Ten Cents, "we'll do everything we can to help."
"Your truth seeking couldn't have come at a better time," sighed Captain Zero.
"Don't worry, Captain Zero," I said from O.J.'s deck. "I know those four would never do a thing like this."
"Are you sure he didn't mean to say Zak and Zeus' names in place of Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly's?" asked Top Hat.
"Well, if he did, they haven't yet realized their mistake," sighed Hercules.
"Where are they now?" asked Warrior.
"They're being taken to the dry dock," sighed Zob. "Zak and Zeus, being the tugs they are, left and obviously don't want to help."
"This is absolutely ridiculous!" snapped Zorran. "There is no way those four would ally themselves to the Nazi regime! Heck, Zebedee was doing good deeds behind Captain Zero's back before he changed his ways."
"You're right, Zorran," said Zob, "We must clear their names. But how?"
"I think we need to look at the source of the lies," said O.J..
"Well, Peeper Pipes said he got the information from Little Owl," said Zorran.
"Little Owl?!" fumed Sunshine. "Oh, that's it! She's gone too far with that stupid grudge of hers!"
"Zob, you and I will head to the Railhead and confront her!" said Top Hat.
Just then, they heard Pisces' whistle.
"Captain Salvage has received word from a friend of hers that Johnny Cuba has been spotted heading for Bigg City Port," she said seriously.
"Juist whit we need," muttered Big Mac sarcastically. "Juist as Zebedee, Zip, Zug 'n' Zilly hae bin wrangly liftit fur treason as weel."
"Treason?" gasped Pisces.
"Apparently, Little Owl tipped Peeper Pipes and his team off," explained Zob.
"Oh, when Mr. Lloyd finds out about this, he's going to lose it," groaned Pisces.
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Sunshine. "You don't think Johnny Cuba put Little Owl up to it, do you?"
"It's a possibility," said Hercules, thoughtfully.
"Well, we'd better track him and Little Owl down, and fast," agreed Grampus.
"Well, Top Hat and I will be heading for the Railhead to confront Little Owl about this," said Zob. "You'd better come with us, Pisces."
"I'll go and fetch Peeper Pipes and his team," said Zorran.
"I'll see if I can inform any of the other Salvage tugs as to what's happened," said Ten Cents.
With that, everyone set off to track Johnny Cuba and Little Owl down. Pisces followed Top Hat and Zob to the Railhead.
Kirke was shunting Henney's passenger cars for her and Porter was arranging Porter's freight train when the three tugs arrived. But there was no sign of Little Owl.
"Where's Little Owl?" said Top Hat.
"She was here just now," replied Puffa. "She collected some coal cars that were meant to be taken up the line, but she went in the opposite direction for some reason."
"She's not in trouble, is she?" asked Henney, worriedly.
"Well, Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly are in trouble," said Zob, and he quickly explained what had happened.
"But that's crazy!" Porter said in disbelief. "There's no way they would support Hitler. Zak and Zeus, maybe…"
"And that's not all," said Pisces. "Captain Salvage has learnt that Johnny Cuba's been spotted heading for Bigg City Port. We think he might have something to do with this."
"You mean that he might have manipulated Little Owl into doing his dirty work?" gasped Porter.
"What's this about Johnny Cuba and Little Owl?" asked Mr. Lloyd.
"Johnny Cuba's been spotted heading for Bigg City Port," explained Top Hat. "Zebedee, Zug, Zip and Zilly have been arrested for treason after being tipped off by Little Owl. However, we suspect that Johnny Cuba and Little Owl have lied to the Coast Guard team just for petty revenge."
"Oh, the love of the Great Railway Above!" thundered Mr. Lloyd. "I've told her many times to drop that silly grudge, and what does she do? Team up with the most notorious gangster ever to set sail in Bigg City Port and frame the Z-Stacks! Puffa, you're coming with me, Top Hat, Zob and Pisces to track them down! Porter, you take Puffa's goods!"
With that, the cavalcade set off for the old dock.
The four Coast Guard vessels had just finished putting Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly in dry dock. Just then, Zorran came up alongside.
"Hey, Peeper Pipes!" he called. "Johnny Cuba's been spotted heading for Bigg City Port."
"This had better not be a trick to break those four out, Zorran," said Peeper Pipes.
"It's not a trick, honest!" insisted Zorran.
"And how do we know that?" asked Davy Jones. "We know how you Z-Stacks used to act. Don't deny it!"
"Alright! Alright!" snapped Zorran. "I admit I was a crook in the past, but Johnny Cuba's return is something I would never lie about! You know full well Captain Zero has forbidden any contact since he sold Johnny out."
There was a long pause.
"Alright, Zorran," Peeper Pipes said at last. "Snowy and I will come with you, but if you're lying, there will be serious trouble."
"Stand guard, you two," Snowy said to Cappy and Davy Jones. "Make sure they don't escape."
Ten Cents came across Hail.
"Ten Cents!" Hail called in her usual fast-talk. "I've just spotted Little Owl by the old quay, delivering coal to Johnny Cuba!"
That proves that Little Owl is in league with Johnny Cuba, thought the Star switcher.
"Right!" said Ten Cents. "I'll go and inform Zorran! Hail, find a barge of Green Water so we can sedate him!"
"Okie-dokie!" replied Hail.
Just as Hail set off, Ten Cents saw Zorran with Peeper Pipes and Snowy.
"Hail's spotted Little Owl with Johnny Cuba at the old quay!" he called.
"Right, come on!" replied Zorran and they headed for the old quay.
They came across Puffa, Mr. Lloyd, Top Hat, Zob and Pisces, and they set off in hot pursuit.
Little Owl had just delivered Johnny Cuba's coal.
"So, Johnny," said Little Owl innocently. "Any more gossip on the Z-Stacks?"
Johnny Cuba smirked. "Well, now, let's see," he said. "Ah yes! There's an interesting story about Zorran–"
"Is there now?" said a voice. Both looked to see Zorran, Ten Cents, Top Hat, Zob, Pisces, Snowy, Peeper Pipes, Puffa and Mr. Lloyd heading towards them.
"Little Owl!" rapped Mr. Lloyd. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"So you've decided to team up with the infamous Johnny Cuba, have you?" sneered Top Hat.
"Little Owl, how could you do this?" Pisces said crossly.
"Johnny Cuba told me that Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly were traitors," replied Little Owl.
"Of course I did," said Johnny Cuba. "I needed the perfect revenge and after realising how naive Little Owl is, I figured why not make that story about those being traitors and then they would be executed for treason… Oops!"
There was a stunned silence until Snowy found her voice.
"I think we've made a terrible mistake," she said to Peeper Pipes who quietly agreed.
"You… YOU LIAR!" Little Owl roared angrily.
"You've really done it this time, Johnny Cuba!" snapped Zorran. "If making up false stories about my mates wasn't bad enough, you use someone else as your mouthpiece!"
"Right," said Peeper Pipes. "Snowy, go back and release Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly from dry dock and give them our deepest apologies. Johnny Cuba, Little Owl, you two are under arrest for framing others."
"Sorry, mate," said Johnny Cuba as he started reversing away. "But I have no interest in being arrested!"
The gangster slipped out of the old dock and began his escape.
"After him!" shouted Zorran and with a loud blow of his hooter, he charged off after Johnny Cuba.
"We'll follow on the railway!" called Puffa as he and Little Owl gave chase.
"I shall speak to you later," Mr. Lloyd said sternly to Little Owl, who gulped.
Hail came to another dock, looking for a barge of Green Water.
"Aha!" she said, spotting a tanker barge. "This looks like the one!"
Quickly, she threw a towline and went to catch up to the others. But in her rush, she didn't check what was inside, or that some of the green paint splashed off the barge.
Johnny Cuba tried to make his escape heading near the old pier line, but Pisces soon caught up to him.
"Not so fast, Johnny Cuba!" she shouted as she threw a towline.
"You can't take me alive, Pisces!" retorted Johnny Cuba. "It's one freighter against one tugboat and I'm bigger than you!"
"Make that two tugboats!" snapped Zorran, throwing another towline onto the freighter. Then Puffa and Little came along on the line. Mr. Lloyd quickly fastened a chain around Little Owl's rear coupling and threw the other end which he lassoed up to catch onto Johnny's hull. Top Hat and Zob, who were nearby, also each threw a towline onto him. Last, but not least, Ten Cents came up and threw a towline onto him. Johnny struggled and strained, but he was no match for the combined strength of the engines and tugboats.
"No!" he groaned. "I won't be beaten again!"
"Oh yes, you will!" grunted Puffa. Then Peeper Pipes came up.
"Well done, all of you," he said. "Don't let him go!"
Then Hail rushed up with the barge.
"I've got the Green Water, Ten Cents!" she called.
"Good going, Hail," replied Ten Cents. "Get it into him, quickly!"
Luckily, Johnny Cuba's hose had slipped down the side in the struggle, so Hail wasted no time getting it attached to the tank.
"Start pumping, Hail!" called Peeper Pipes.
Hail obeyed and put it to full power so it could be done quickly.
"This isn't over!" Johnny said defiantly. "When I get out of this, I'll… Oooooh! What's happening? My systems are failing! No! This can't be the end! You can't get rid of Johnny Cuuuuubaaaaaa!" Then, the tramp steamer fell silent, his face frozen in a neutral expression. The tugs stared up in shock and horror.
"W-what just happened?!" stuttered Ten Cents.
"I don't know," said Peeper Pipes. "I'd better get Captain Lucky."
Soon enough, Captain Lucky was on board Johnny.
"And you say you found that tanker near one of the docks?" she asked.
"Yes, Captain Lucky," replied Hail, still feeling shaken.
Captain Lucky went inside to take a look. She tried to get Johnny's fire burning, but nothing happened. Then, she looked inside the boiler and made an alarming discovery. She quickly rushed out on her hull.
"It turns out that Hail made a mistake," she said. "She didn't check what was inside the barge when she grabbed it. It wasn't Green Water inside the barge. It was Black Water!"
There was a stunned silence from everyone. In the rush to sedate Johnny Cuba, they had instead given him an accidental Final Firing. Johnny Cuba was dead!
"I… I didn't mean to…" sobbed Hail. "Sure, he was a villain… but I didn't wish for his untimely demise…"
"It's alright, dearie," assured Captain Lucky. "We all make mistakes. Tell you what – come back to my yard and I'll give you your counseling."
"I'll head back to Mittsville and let Captain Salvage know," said Pisces.
"Okay," sniffled Hail.
"Guess I'd go and let Burke and Blair know that Johnny Cuba's dead," sighed Zorran once the two Salvage Tugs had left.
"I'd better launch an investigation into how this happened," said Peeper Pipes. "Zob, I'll need you to bring the barge back to our dock."
"Of course, Coast Guard," replied Zob, and he followed the launch with the barge in tow.
Burke and Blair were delighted to take the now deceased Johnny Cuba.
"This must be worth a thousand, wouldn't you say, Mr. Burke?" said Blair, a greedy glint in his eyes.
"Mr. Cuba has been the second on our list, Mr. Blair," agreed Burke. "After O.J., of course." Zorran glared at the scrap dealers and Burke gulped. "But… I reckon we can skip O.J. for now and add the infamous gangster to our collection."
"He's all yours," replied Zorran. So Burke and Blair towed away Johnny Cuba's remains, thus ending the gangster's reign of terror.
Ten Cents, Zorran, Top Hat and Zob briefed us all, including the now released Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly, on everything. We were all shocked by what happened. Captain Zero nearly dropped his megaphone at the news his archnemesis was now dead.
"I'm not sure whether to be relieved or shocked," he said as he tried to absorb the news.
"I don't blame you," replied Zorran.
"What's important now is that we have our friends back," said Sunshine. "Thank goodness you lot are alright."
"Just a tad shaken," Zug admitted.
"And i-insulted," said Zilly. "Trust J-Johnny Cuba to t-take advantage o-of Little Owl's grudge."
Then, Zak and Zeus arrived.
"How did you four get out?" Zak asked in surprise.
"It turns out that Little Owl was feeding the Coast Guard team lies," replied Zebedee darkly.
"And she was getting them from Johnny Cuba," put in Zug.
"But thanks to Ten Cents, Top Hat, Zorran, Zob, Pisces, Hail and Puffa," said Zip, "our names have been cleared."
"Which is more than can be said about you two selfish pigs!" snapped Captain Zero. "You two are on dredger duty for the rest of the year! And if you two mess up just one more time, you're fired! Now, get out of my sight!"
Zak and Zeus headed off.
"Ah just hope Hail is okay," sighed Sunshine. "It sounds like she was badly shaken from all this."
"Not as shaken as the trust I had with Little Owl," huffed Top Hat.
"You're right there, Top Hat," agreed Ten Cents. "I hope Mr. Lloyd and Peeper Pipes see to it that she's dealt with."
Indeed, for her part in all of this, Little Owl was shunted for the rest of the year and the Dock Railway had to pay Captain Zero a fine for any work lost that day because of this whole mess. Heh, it must have been a nice change for Captain Zero being paid a fine instead of having to pay one for once.
"You're a very naughty engine," Mr. Lloyd said sternly as Little Owl's crew placed a 'NOT TO BE MOVED' sign on her bufferbeam. "I hope I can trust you to behave when you next come out of the shed."
"Mr. Lloyd is right," said Puffa crossly. "Your silly stunt has landed us in trouble and could sour relations with the Z-Stacks."
"That wouldn't be so bad," muttered Little Owl.
"That's enough out of you!" snapped Mr. Lloyd. "If something like this ever happens again, I will contact the New York Dock Railway and ask them to take you back!"
With that, Mr. Lloyd turned on his heel and sternly walked away. Puffa, Porter and Kirke glared crossly at Little Owl whilst Henney looked to cry. How could someone as sweet as Little Owl do something like this?
Thanks to support from her friends as well as Captain Salvage and Captain Lucky, Hail began to feel better after the mishap, especially when the investigation revealed that the accident was not her fault. As it turned out, a worker at the dock where Hail found the barge had seen Johnny Cuba slip in the night before and wanted him dead, so he painted the barrel green to make it look like it was full of Green Water. Therefore, when Hail came in in a hurry, she didn't have time to check. The worker was then arrested for murder and Hail was cleared of any wrongdoing. Even so, she was a lot more careful about checking what was inside her barge in future.
As for Little Owl, she would eventually learn her lesson about the Z-Stacks, but that's another story.
The End
Arthur's notes: Okay, this story was so dark I had to bump up the ratings of this from K+ to T. I thought I would need to do that later, but this proves otherwise. Zak and Zeus have pretty much hit the Moral Event Horizon. Seriously, if you think for a second that Hiter and the Nazis were 'good people' then you would loose all credibility. Not only that, but Little Owl's grudge with the Z-Stacks had gone over the line, and Johnny Cuba is killed! Well, no one's going to miss him anyway. I feel very bad for Hail and the Dockside Railway Engines. And Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly did not deserve that dry dock time, brief as it was.
Next time, Little Owl's Grudge with the Z-Stacks comes to a head, as if it hadn't already...
