The Kidnap of the Governor’s Daughter Part 2

The dashing rogue known as Zorro comes rushing through skies to help save the kidnapped governor’s daughter but is there more to kidnapped than the dapper hero knows?

“Now,” Zorro said, turning to the women in the chair. He put his rapier away picking up the Captain’s knife all in once quick movement,” Let’s get you free and home.” He cut the ropes from the women’s hands before pulling the hood off her head. The face staring back at him with a sly grin wasn’t the face of Dagmara Iguanada, but of someone else altogether. The women had snow-white hair, a long nose coming to a button at the end, and her eyes were a playful devil sage. The green of a cat about to have dinner from the mouse under its paw knowing the mouse had nowhere to go.

                Zorro glanced back at the Captain and asked, “Is this the wrong pirate ship? If so, I’m deeply sorry.” He turned back, watching the women rise to her feet forcing him to back away a bit. “It has happened to me before, unfortunately.”  

                “We had a feeling you might show,” she said.

                “Who is this we?” Zorro asked flattered someone hated him enough to set a trap. “Better question, who are you? I don’t mind rescuing any beautiful lady, but you were not the one I was told about.”

                “You are going to be the one who needs the rescuing, and I am,” she said with a smile, “Vanessa Rudolf, the White Wolf.”

                “The White Wolf?” Zorro asked. “The one and only White Wolf?”

                “You’re mocking me?” she hissed.

                “Yes. It’s kind of what I do,” Zorro said, smiling. “But I don’t want to fight. My mother would be upset at me if I hit a lady.”

                “Good for me,” Vanessa said, sprinting at him a bit quicker than he thought she could move. He barely had time to bring his arms up to block the kick aimed right at his head. The kick tossed him backward, again, more might then he thought the thin, but athlete women had hidden in her muscles. He didn’t have too much time to drop his arms as she spun to throw a punch into his gut. He blocked the attacked but only second before it hit him. She was fast but worse skilled.

                He rolled away from her, but she stayed on top of him like any good fighter would. If he could put any space between her and him then he could counterattack, but the White Wolf used her speed against him. All he could do in the few moments between hits were block and try to get out of the way. He sidesteps, blocked, sidestep again, and blocked, but it was starting to take its toll.

                Fights, Zorro knew unlike most people don’t last long. In fact, most fighters wanted the battle over fast, less chance of getting hurt on both sides.

                “This is the last time I try to save you,” Zorro grunted behind his blocks.

                “Oh, yeah, I’m heartbroken,” She said trying to knee him in the side. He saw the attack coming, blocked it, and open hand smacked in her left ear. The hit was powerful throwing her off her feet for a second, but it gave him time to dash away from her. She snarled, “Your mommy is going to be mad at ya.”

                Zorro shrugged, “Wouldn’t be the first time, my love.”

                She shook the pain from the side of her head, showing her teeth like the name she gave him. The wild rage ran deep in her eyes but most of all right at him. He rolled to the side but not in time, she caught him right in the side of face with a shape elbow. The hit trips him over his boots, and he went down, hitting the ground trying to whirl away from her boot coming down.

                Zorro saw the boot land beside his face, but it gave him time to twirl on his back, kicking Vanessa’s feet out from under her. She fell on the steel floor hitting the back of her head being daze, a moment later than she hoped forward and if Zorro were a cold-blooded killer she would be dead now.

                He jumped to his feet glancing around the bridge seeing the Captain started to awake. He looked back in time to meet the fist right to the center of his nose. The world flash in multiple colors shooting stars all around him. He knew in second his nose was going to be bleeding and the pain was going to hug on his face for the rest of the day.

If he lived that long.

“As must as I enjoy this little dance,” Vanessa growled, “I’m going to have to end it.”

“Just when it was getting good?” Zorro asked, trying to shake the blinding pain from his eyes. When he did finally see again it was to watch Vanessa kicking him with a full-powered front kick right to the chest throwing him out the hole, he came in. The air wrapped around him pulling him out of the airship and then it let him go letting free-fall straight to the desert below. He had only seconds to press the button hide on his belt called his plane to pick up him.

Tornado flipped from its hiding place above the airship and took a nosedive right for Zorro. The plane pushed itself in the fall in the haunting sound of the plane diving filled the air around the airship. Vanessa looked down from the hole in the window to watch the black and red plane spin picking Zorro upon its wing. She watched the man clacked black climbing into the plane before taking off into the blue sky.

Captain Crew stumble over to her holding his chest, looking out the window as he stared at the plane. “You didn’t tell me about him,” he hissed back at the White Wolf.

“Captain,” she said, calmly with her back to him,” you are a buffoon.”

“What did you call me, you bit ---“

The three bullets pushed Captain Crew out of the window sending him falling to the world below and the cry escaping from his lunges were a deadly mix of shock and fear, but soon they all came to a sudden haul.

Author's Note

I found out, not too long ago, that Zorro was public domain and was like well, why not use him? Thus, this short story was born. I wanted to put him in my steampunk world, which meant I had to change a few things here and there, but I think it holds true to the heart of the character. Another thing I did in this story which you will soon see, is you never know who the masked hero is, in fact, most of the story is from other people’s point of view facing Zorro.

Artwork: Cover to Dynamite Entertainment's Zorro #2 (March 2008) by Mike Mayhew