The Kidnap of the Governor’s Daughter Part 6

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?

“Why are you here?” Vanessa asked, kneeing a Marine in the stomach, dropping him to the floor. Zorro had broken another Marines nose, up cutting him in the jaw giving him no time to cry in the blood pouring from him. The young man flew back into one of his buddies, and the hero stabs the other man trying to come behind him with a hunter’s knife. Zorro pulled the needle from the man’s chest, kicking him in the kneecap, breaking it, and dropping him to floor.

                He rolled out of the sight of the shaper shooter with the bullet creaking off the steel under their feet. He landed against Vanessa, ducking in the doorway they had come into the flight deck. He smiled over at her and said, “Here saving you.”

                “I don’t believe you,” Vanessa said, shooting down the hallway. “Are you working for this Guild?”

                “Ah, yes, and that is why I’m killing their men,” Zorro said, peeking out to find the shaper shooter and jumping back before the gunshot roar pass him.

                “Then what are you doing here?” Vanessa growled at him.

                “The same thing I was trying to do before,” Zorro told her, “save Dagmara Iguanada. I find out this Guild was trying to kidnap her from your Duke.”

                “He is not my Duke,” Vanessa shot another few bullets down the hall hitting at least one man. She didn’t check to see who the bullets had stuck; all the gunfire was doing was keeping them at bay.

                “Just working for him then?” Zorro asked, seeing a Marine coming into the room from another door. He leveled his pistol at the chest of this new foe �"

                Bang!

                And the man dropped to the floor. “We got to get out of here,” Zorro said,” before we are overwhelmed.”

                “As much as I liked the fact you save me from the Doll,” Vanessa said, looking over at the masked man with the stunning blue eyes. “I can’t leave with you. I should be killing you.”

                “We can kill each other later,” Zorro said. “After I save Miss Iguanada, yes?”

                Vanessa rolled her eyes, looking back down the hallway to see a new Doll coming their way. The thought about just quickly shooting Zorro in the side of the head died away with the sight of the new metal man. She was going to need his help, again, to get off this airship alive. She sighed, moving out of the way of the porthole. “There is a new Doll.”

                “Of course, there is,” Zorro said with a big childish smiled. “It wouldn’t be any fun without it.” He fired another shot taking out yet another man, but not the shaper shooter watching over them. He glanced around hoping to see a grenade on the belts of any of the Marines, but they were not allowed to carry them aboard the airship. That plan was out the window, so there had to be something else, there was always a way out of any stations Zorro knew.

                “He is getting closer,” Vanessa hissed, reloading her gun and opening fire against the armor of the Doll. The bullets were doing nothing against him.

                Zorro stopped on the large gas tank sitting against the wall, which keeps the hallway from the flight deck. “You are not going to like this,” Zorro said.

                “What do you mean?” Vanessa asked, following his gun to the tank and tried to scream for him not to do it, but the roar of the fireball blew her words away. The fire made a new hole in the side of the ship with the fire racing down the hall and up the ship itself to the blimp.

                “You are mad,” she said softly. “You are mad and killed us.”

                “Not yet,” Zorro said, taking her arm and pulling her to the windows across the porthole. They were going to hijack a plane from the flight deck and get off the ship that way, but the Marines got to them first and concerned them.

                “Now, what is the plan �"“ she tried to protest and fight back as Zorro jumped out of the shatter windows with her. The screaming wind ripped her words right out of the air. She looked back in time to see the fire punch a hole into the blimp pulling out its guts in a flaming yell. The ship lifted from the fire shooting out from it, falling to the side, and then start a mad dash to earth. The ball of fire was now racing them to the earth below, but no one won when they got to the finishing line.

                Tornado sprint up from under them, catching them both on its wing. Vanessa hit the wing a bit harder than she wanted and almost tumble off the side until Zorro garb her belt tossing her up to the edge of the wing. She garbs it holding on to dear life.

                He pulled on her arm, making her open her eyes. She didn’t know her eyes were closed, the sudden fear of almost dying made her close them without knowing it. She slowly opens them, glancing over at him pointing to the cockpit. He gave her a thumbs-up, and she returned it. He started to crawl over to it.

                Vanessa started to be followed, looking back to see the airship land on the railroad tracks blocking the train. She scanned the skies seeing the Warring Hooligans fall behind Zorro’s plane. They weren’t sure what to do, they could see Vanessa on the plane, but not too sure what to do about Zorro.

                She got into the cockpit of the plane, trying to catch her breath and staring hard at the masked man in front of her. Would now be the time to kill him? She could take the plane then. She started to reach for her knife in her boot �"

                “I’m sorry about this,” Zorro said.

                “Oh, God, what now?” Vanessa asked, but before anything could be said, any more belts shot from around the chair, warping her arms against her body. She couldn’t move if she wanted, but she tried to break free. “I hate you.”

                “Hang on,” Zorro ordered, chuckling to himself and gassing plane to outrun the Warring Hooligans, who were desperately trying to chase after him.

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