The Legend of Zorro (anime series)

Not to be confused with Kaiketsu Zorori.

The Legend of Zorro (Japanese: 快傑ゾロ, Hepburn: Kaiketsu Zoro, lit. "Extraordinary Zorro") is a Japanese anime, based on the western character Zorro. The series was initially broadcast in Italy in 1994 before being broadcast in Japan two years later, albeit with some episodes skipped (only 46 of the original 52 episodes were shown in Japan).

The Legend of Zorro
Promotional poster for the television series Kaiketsu Zorro
快傑ゾロ (Extraordinary Zorro)
Genre	Historical, adventure, superhero
Anime television series
Directed by	Katsumi Minoguchi
Produced by	Hiroshi Kato Masako Fukuyo Tatsuo Oba
Written by	Sukehiro Tomita
Music by	Hiromoto Tobisawa
Studio	Ashi Productions
Original network	NHK
English network	AU: Nine Network, 9Go!
Original run	April 5, 1996 – March 28, 1997
Episodes	52

Plot

Diego Vega, the eighteen-year-old scion of a local landowner, returns from studying in Spain and discovers that his homeland has fallen under the dictatorship of Commander Raymond and Lieutenant Gabriel. Outraged by the oppression, Diego decides to fight the tyrants. Disguised as Zorro, a masked swordsman, he helps the weak, riding away on his horse, Viento.

In his day-to-day life, Diego portrays himself as a clumsy and cowardly boy who flees when faced with dangerous situations only to appear moments later as Zorro. As the local hero, he is known to punish his enemies by cutting a Z-shaped mark into them with the tip of his blade. Diego is accompanied by Bernard, his sidekick, who wears a similar costume and has the nickname "Little Zorro."

Diego's childhood friend and sweetheart, Lolita Prideaux, believes that Spain changed him and she scolds him relentlessly for his idiotic behavior. Lolita is a sweet-tempered girl who wants to fight evil and protect the people by helping Zorro from behind the scenes. She later develops feelings for Zorro, though she is unaware of his true identity.^{[1][circular reference][2]}

Characters

Don Diego Vega/Zorro

Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki

The main protagonist of the series. As Diego, he pretends to be lazy and clumsy, playing the role of a cowardly fool to hide his secret identity. As Zorro, he is the most noble-minded swordsman in the world. Diego is a rival of Captain Raymond but feels a deep affection for the other man. Diego is calm and reasonable, contrasting with his hot-headed and stubborn companions.

Lolita Prideaux

Voiced by: Maria Kawamura

The female protagonist of the series. Diego's spunky and beautiful, blond childhood friend and love interest. She acts bossy towards Diego, but she has romantic feelings for Zorro.

Bernard/Little Zorro

Voiced by: Rica Matsumoto

Diego/Zorro's sidekick, an abandoned orphan found by Diego when he was still a baby. Diego adopted and took care of him as if he was his younger brother. He helps Zorro by eavesdropping and gathering information, and later develops his own alter ego, "Little Zorro."

Commander Raymond

Voiced by: Jūrōta Kosugi

The main villain of the series, commander of the Spanish Army in California who plots to assassinate the Governor-General.

Lieutenant Gabriel

Voiced by: Kenyuu Horiuchi

A young Spanish officer who serves as Captain Raymond's right-hand man in California. Lt. Gabriel has feelings for Lolita.

Don Alejandro Vega

Voiced by: Ikuya Sawaki

Diego's father. Wealthy landowner and field worker.

Sergeant Pedro Gonzales

Voiced by: Kōzō Shioya

A stout sergeant who often serves as comic relief. Comparable to Johnston McCulley's character from 1920's The Mark of Zorro. He has a good moral sense but remains gluttonous and simple-minded within the army.

Don Carlos Prideaux

Lolita's father.

Catarina Prideaux

Lolita's mother.

Maria

The Vega's housemaid. She is very masculine, boisterous, and not afraid to scold - but takes care of the kids with much fondness.

Viento

Zorro's horse.

Tackle

Diego's lazy hunting dog.

Figaro

Bernard's helpful bulldog.

Nikita

Bernard's love interest.

Manuel

One of Bernard's best friends.

Sergio

One of Bernard's best friends.

Leona

One of Bernard's best friends, a girl who looks like a boy.

Governor-General

In charge of the Californian branch of the army (and town by extension).

Captain Jekyll

Brown

Kapital

Episode list

The Legend of Zorro (1996)

No.	Official English title
1	"Return of the Hero"
In the middle of the 19th Century, California is under the Spanish Empire. The military squad that was transferred to the little town of Santazco imposed a status of terrorism at the poor people's expense, by stealing their money and their food on a daily basis, leading them to even bigger hunger, poverty, and misery, and by processing to cold executions of the rebelling men and torments of their women and children, breaking as such their own laws. Diego de la Vega, the only child of the wealthy Vega family, is on a ship to go back to his home country, California, because his father, Don Alejandro, has asked for his return from Spain after his graduation. In the meantime, Lolita Pulido, the only child of the equally wealthy Pulido family and Diego's childhood friend, and Bernard, Diego's young brother-in-law, are helping a man named Chichita to leave away from California, along with his wife and their baby, because Chichita was teaching freedom to the people and as such, he was accused by the army for treachery and was about to be executed. Lolita met Diego at the ship and asked him to help her hide the family inside. Unfortunately, the soldiers found them and arrested them, but they spared the baby. Lolita tried to stop the soldiers, but failed, and later got angry with Diego when the latter showed cowardice and fear in front of her and the soldiers. Later, a welcome back party is organized at Vega's manor on Diego's behalf, and the whole town has been invited to attend it. Lolita left the party because she is still upset with Diego, and her parents, Carlos and Catarina, started to worry since she has decided to marry Diego a long time ago and, along with Don Alejandro, they agreed to it. Bernard has undertaken the baby's care, along with Diego and Lolita. As the party continued, Sergeant Pedro Gonzales arrived with some soldiers to announce to the attendees that Chichita is to be executed in a few minutes. Everyone in town is insistent on going to watch the execution as a paradigmatic punishment from the army. Diego overheard the news and took action, becoming his alter ego: the heroic protector of the people and defender of justice and salvation, the masked swordsman Zorro. He arrived in time to stop the execution and, after dealing with the army, he helped Chichita and his wife to run away. The villagers cheered, but Commander Raymond, the head of the army, was enraged with Zorro's interference. The following dawn, the army searched for the family inside the ship, and around town, but without any result. Lieutenant Gabriel, Commander Raymond's second in command, spotted a few small boats in the open sea and realized that the family may be on the other shore preparing to meet them. Gabriel found the family and attempted to murder them, but Zorro arrived in time and managed to defeat Gabriel after a hard fight. Thanks to the masked hero's intervention, Chichita and his family managed to leave away from California safely.
2	"The Barrels of Wine"
One night, two carts full of barrels with wine were being moved from a farm to the warehouse of one poor family from Santazco. The carts passed through a mountain pass. A group of bandits ambushed the carts and stole the wine. The next day, the army came to the house of that family to collect the taxes from the yearly productivity of the wine. Since these people had their wine stolen last night, they can't pay their taxes, so the army decided to foreclose their wheat. Diego, who was present during those events, showed once more in front of Lolita cowardice and immaturity, and that annoyed her and Bernard. Later, Sergeant Pedro Gonzales was invited to Vega's house and had lunch with them and the Pulido family. The two families were awaiting some carts full of wine in a few hours, and they had to protect it from those bandits, so that they won't end up like their neighboring family from before. As such, the kind Sergeant volunteered to guard the carts with his own soldiers and Diego, Bernard, and Lolita joined them. The local wine seller, Brown, was selling his wine at a low price due to the fact that this year's grape crop was poor and ran out of stock swiftly, but the people entered his shop to buy more wine since theirs was stolen. It is later revealed that Brown was the one who hired these bandits to steal for him the people's wine, so that he sells it at a high price and makes even more money. The head of the bandits was about to be paid by Brown after stealing the Vega's and Pulido's wine, so he organized a plan to ambush the carts. Indeed, some of his henchmen distracted the soldiers, and he along with the rest ambushed Diego, Bernard, Lolita and Gonzales, demanding that they give them the wine. Diego pretended to be scared and ran away. Lolita tried to rush through the bandits, but failed and was cornered by them. Being somewhere alone, Diego called for his loyal horse, Viento, and turned again into his alter ego, Zorro. He saved Lolita and, along with Gonzales, he fought the bandits, capturing one of them in the process. Unfortunately, the other bandits escaped with a cart of wine. In order to find out who is the mastermind of that big scheme, Zorro whispered to Bernard that he has already marked all the barrels with the “Z” sign and gave him some instructions. As per request, the young boy along with his friends proceeded to examine all the barrels around the town. They ultimately found the barrels with the “Z” sign in Brown's yard and, since they have marked the outer walls with the same sign, Bernard could memorize its location with ease, so he sneaked alone at that night with a disguise identical to Zorro's to retrieve the stolen wine, but was discovered by the head bandit and was caught, at the same time that Commander Raymond paid a visit at Brown's shop to inspect his stock. The wealthy entrepreneur bribed him with the wine, assuring him that the people will buy only his wine at a low price, but Zorro intervened to reveal the whole truth to Raymond about Brown's devious scheme. The captured bandit also confirmed his involvement to the case. The other bandits and Raymond's soldiers were easily defeated by Zorro, but then the head bandit appeared with the captured Bernard. The masked hero hesitated to fight for his friend's life, but the brave boy escaped with ease, and Zorro defeated the bandit after a hard fight. He revealed to Brown and Raymond that the barrels he marked with the “Z” sign weren't filled with wine, but water, thus becoming decoys to confirm Brown's involvement to the previous thefts of the wine barrels. Now the truth was revealed and before departing, Zorro snatched Brown's money to give them back to the family who had lost their wine in the beginning, so that they pay their taxes and take their wheat back. At last, Raymond ordered Brown to give the stolen wine back to their owners, assuring him that he will collect the taxes from him as well. After escaping from the Commander's men, Bernard confessed to Zorro that he found out his real identity, and shared a tender moment with his elder brother, referring to the past, the night that Diego found the orphaned boy out of the Vega's family manor with a high fever and took him inside, so that Maria, the housemaid, will treat him, and since then, the family decided to adopt him, giving him the name he has till now. And now that Bernard knows who Zorro truly is, he decided to fight for justice alongside him, creating as such his own alter ego: Little Zorro.
3	"Proposal of Marriage"
Another beautiful morning found the little town of Santazco. At Vega's family manor, Diego, as usual, is sleeping under the sun, along with his pet dog Tackle, while his father, Don Alejandro, is working in the fields along with the workers of the manor and sweating heavily. He has become a laughing stock for the villagers day by day, and Maria tries again and again to make him change his bad public image, and start working like a man. Don Carlos, Lolita's father, just passed by and saw the only child of Vega in this bad shape. He expressed his worries to his wife, Catarina, about Diego being the right man to marry their own only child, Lolita, because of his constant idleness, despite them having agreed with the marriage, along with Don Alejandro. On the other side, Catarina considered Diego's attitude as a motivation for them to speed up the marriage as soon as possible, so that they get their fair share from Vega's property and the family would avoid bankruptcy. Carlos agreed with the idea. When Lolita joined the talk, her parents preferred not to talk about the marriage and just ask her daughter about Diego as a character. For a very long time, Lolita has considered that Diego has become lazy, boring, coward, and a good for nothing man since his return from his studies in Spain, and she isn't interested about him anymore. And after reading his letters from his practices at swordfighting, she got even more angry because she didn't see him fighting for real. Only if Diego showed some desire to fight like a man, she would change her aspect about him. All of a sudden, she spotted out of her window a happy Lieutenant Gabriel coming to her house along with his soldiers. He delivered a marriage proposal to Lolita, to her parents' surprise. Gabriel confessed to them that he was charmed from the maiden's beauty and liveliness for a long time, and was making his preparations to ask her marry him. Carlos and Catarina, despite being in a predicament, decided anyway to tell the officer the whole truth: Lolita has already a fiancé, Diego. This angered Gabriel, who decided to find the only child of Vega. When he did it, he decided to challenge him to a duel for the hand of Lolita. Bernard and Lolita, who were present in the scene, were surprised about Gabriel's attitude, and especially Lolita, whom Gabriel asked her to marry him. But later the maiden asked Diego to accept the challenge, in order to show her that he is truly strong, according to the letters she read before. The young man, being consumed by tremendous fear, refused to fight and ran away, suffering a humiliating defeat from the Lieutenant and making the entire town laugh at him. Both Gabriel and Lolita called Diego a coward and Bernard fell in agony. But Lolita also rejected Gabriel's proposal, telling him that she hates all soldiers and left away, making the villagers laugh at him now. An extremely mad Gabriel, after shouting to the people to shut up, threw Diego in jail due to the humiliation he suffered from him. Then he spotted an arsonist being in the same jail with Diego and came up with a smart idea to use him so that he takes what he wants: Lolita. He instructed him to burn down Don Carlos's warehouse at night and then leave away from here. While Don Alejandro and Don Carlos were discussing about their children and their future if they were about to marry each other, Bernard came to inform them about Diego's imprisonment. The arsonist did his job and the next day Gabriel, putting on an act, arrived to inform the Pulido that the fire in the warehouse was the cause of an arson, and that he will hunt down and capture the arsonist, in exchange for the hand of Lolita. The maiden, who has seen how far Gabriel can go to claim what he wants, left away full of rage, but Gabriel ambushed her and kidnapped her. He put her in another secret jail and tried to reason with her and warn her about her family's well-being, but Lolita refused to listen to the mad officer and sent him away out of her hatred for him. At night, Bernard deployed Tackle to help Diego escape from jail and warned him about Lolita, whom her parents can't find anywhere. So, after turning into Zorro, the protagonist captured the arsonist as he was about to burn another warehouse and forced him to confess where Lolita is being kept. After the arsonist revealed the location, Zorro tied him on a tree, and showed him to Carlos and Catarina as the one who destroyed their warehouse. Then ran to the jail and defeated the guards, whom demanded that they release Lolita and run away. They did it, and the maiden ran to hug her savior and thank him. Gabriel arrived to the scene and Zorro gave him a dishonored defeat after scolding him and calling him liar and coward. But when Commander Raymond arrived with the captured arsonist, he left away along with Lolita, with the soldiers running behind to capture Zorro. Being ashamed now in front of his superior, Gabriel admitted his errors and promised to leave alone Lolita from now on, as per Raymond's order, and neither him nor the arsonist will tell anything to anyone about the events. The next day, Lolita asked her mother to marry Zorro, but Catarina told her daughter that Zorro is someone who belongs to everyone's hearts.
4	"Wake Up My Friend!"
The Spanish army went on its usual patrol another sunny morning at the streets of Santazco, while the people around were discussing and buying anything they needed. Some soldiers stopped at a stand to pick up some fruits to feed themselves. The owner demanded that they pay them, but they refused and they started to destroy the stand and beat up the man, despite his pleas. The people watched the scene idly, but Lolita shouted at the troops to stop. Diego interfered when he saw the troops surrounding his girlfriend, and soon he got in trouble, as they started to attack him. They only managed to injure themselves and their comrades, which enraged them more. Fortunately, Lieutenant Gabriel ended the fight, saving Diego, and apologized to Lolita for his troops' behavior. The maiden chastised Gabriel for coming too late, but the officer remained calm, and he along with his soldiers continued their patrol. After the atmosphere cleared, Diego and Lolita heard a familiar voice calling them. It was their childhood friend, Oro Perez, who was overjoyed to see his pals after so many years, especially Diego, with whom he was playing every day. Oro is just like Diego, immature and joyful, but unlike him, he is brave, hotheaded, and he doesn't hesitate to start up a fight with someone. He also admires the Spanish army and he wants to join. Lolita scolded Oro and explained to him that the army commits crimes for their own benefits. The young man, however, still aims to join the army and he vowed to himself that one day he will achieve it. This concerned Diego a little. At home, Oro's dad, Don Ricardo, was plotting with his comrades to blow up the military camp with gunpowder that they hid in a cave deep inside the mountains. They were about to start a big rebellion against the army to reclaim the people's lost freedom. Oro, who eavesdropped his dad's conspiracy, ran to inform the army, but Don Ricardo spotted his son and asked him where he is going in such a hurry. Oro didn't say anything and ran off. At night, he discussed with Gonzales about the conspiracy, not wanting to reveal the people who are involved, but the Sergeant didn't believe him. On the other hand, Gabriel believed the young man and so, he took his soldiers along with Oro and they headed out to the mountains. They managed to find the boxes with the gunpowder and blew them up. The whole town was alerted about the explosion, and especially Don Ricardo, who couldn't believe that the army found out about his organization's plan so easily. Gabriel paid Oro for his information, but the young man rejected the money, and asked the Lieutenant to let him join the army instead. Gonzales disagreed since Oro doesn't have any training experience, but Gabriel agreed, telling him that he needs to work hard to become a good soldier. The next day, Oro, with his military uniform, celebrated for the fulfillment of his dream while walking the town streets. Everyone started to gossip about Oro's new uniform. Meanwhile, Don Ricardo decided that since the army knows about his organization's activity, they need to pause their plans for some time. When he saw his son wearing a military uniform, and when he learned the reason he wears it, he concluded that he gave away his plans to the army. Father and son had a serious argument, with the first demanding that Oro takes out the uniform, and the latter refusing with anger and leaving the house. Nothing was the same for Oro anymore. Not to mention about his own father, even the whole town started to hate him and ridicule him. But the young man was blinded by his foolish ambitions, that he didn't care about his abjection. Gabriel, in order to get rid of that hotheaded youngster and take what he wants, came out with a true bluff: he promised to Oro that he will promote him to Head of the Military Counter-Espionage if he brings to him valuable information about Zorro's hideout. The young man was overjoyed and promised that he will fulfill his “mission”. Don Ricardo, after sending his son away from the house, discussed with Don Alejandro, Diego's father, about his son's abjection and his new mission for the army, and compared Oro with Diego, who is not ambitious and arrogant, despite him having his own flaws. Diego has concluded that his best friend bit off more than he could chew, so he set up a plan to make him open his eyes and make amends for his bad actions, and asked Bernard's help. Oro spotted Zorro's figure out of his room and ran to capture him, but he lost him. Then, he found a note from the masked hero. He showed it to Gabriel and Gonzales and that night, the army headed out to the place: a cabin near a dam. The soldiers surrounded the cabin and Oro entered the front door, but he found out that there was no one inside. When the army was preparing to ambush Zorro, Zorro ambushed them first, along with Little Zorro, who both organized everything to lure the army into a trap. While Zorro was fighting Gabriel and his troops, Little Zorro was struggling to open the dam. He finally did it, and the water flooded everything, giving the victory to the masked heroes and a big slap from Gabriel to Oro, whom he fired from the army despite him not having any idea about the trap. Oro fell into a big despair, and Diego visited him the next morning. He encouraged his friend to go to his father and apologize for his behavior towards him. Oro did it, and Ricardo finally accepted his son back, now that he understood how threatening the army is for the people. But now that Oro has become a huge fan of Zorro since he decided to fight against the army, new problems occurred for his best friend, Diego...
5	"The Ties of Blood"
The town of Santazco holds its annual rodeo, and everyone gathered at the cliff over the ocean to watch it and have fun. Don Alejandro and Don Carlos, Diego's and Lolita's fathers respectively, have stored a part of their fortune inside a bag that is being laid on a bottomless barrel. The barrel is being held with a strong rope which ties two giant stalagmites upon the water. The challenge is that whoever of the two competitors reaches the barrel first without falling into the ocean takes the gold and wins the game. Diego has been chosen as one of the challengers. Everyone, minus Lolita, encouraged Diego to keep it up. The young man, wanting to impress his girlfriend for once, gave up on being a coward and reached the barrel. He achieved his goal, but when he heard Carlos saying that Diego will marry Lolita and the maiden expressing her true feelings about Zorro and that she will marry him, the lone child of Vega gave up the try, so he purposely lost his balance and fell into the ocean, causing Lolita to storm off out of anger and the rest to lower their heads out of shame, since he lost the gold and the game. And as Diego was recovering from his cold, he was accepting Maria's usual scoldings. On the other hand, Lolita felt depressed about the fact that despite she likes Diego, she can't marry him because he isn't as brave and strong as Zorro. Her thoughts were interrupted by Bernard, who called her for a trip they were about to take along with Diego, and Lolita agreed to come along. Diego and Lolita (without Bernard along) reached the coastal town Porto Ringo, where its residents seemed to be filled with much joy and happiness everywhere, even the local bar. The pair learned from the bartender and another civilian that this town's quality of life has been improved greatly thanks to their mayor, Pablo Santes. Indeed, this town is governed by the Spanish army as well, but the mayor refused to follow its brutal policy about the raise of the taxes, because the people are as poor as the people of the other towns and as such, they can't pay exorbitant amounts of money to the state. Diego and Lolita complemented the mayor's courage of defying the Spanish army and caring about his people's well-being, but the moment was interrupted by the presence of two familiar individuals in the town: Lieutenant Gabriel and Sergeant Gonzales, who were wearing plain clothes, and Diego wondered what they were scheming. On the way back, the pair found Bernard playing in the coast with a new friend who had saved from drowning: an 8-year old girl called Gina Santes, who is the mayor's daughter. Bernard had talked to Gina about Diego and Lolita, and the little girl invited them all to her house to meet her father. Suddenly, as they were about to move, an old fisherman came up and showed the company a bunch of oddly dead fish floating in the ocean, near the Whale's Rock, the town's touristic sightseeing. The fisherman begged Gina to talk to her father about the dead fish, since that incident lasts for a very long time. Anyway, Gina showed to her friends her house, their rose garden, and her father, Pablo Santes. The mayor's wife has passed away three years ago, so he takes care of his daughter and their house, along with the housekeeper, Ed. At night, during the dinner, Gina showed her father the dead fish from before, and Santes became totally upset from the scene. It seems that some old memories woke up in his mind, so he pretended that he felt discomfort and left the table. As the three were heading back to Santazco, Diego spotted Gonzales in the bar, and after asking Bernard to escort Lolita to her home, he rushed inside to discuss with the Sergeant. He learned that he and Gabriel came to Porto Ringo to investigate Santes's past and find some valuable information. They found something that is connected to the dead fish from before: poison. By using that information, Commander Raymond and Gabriel are planning to expose the mayor to his citizens and force him to raise the taxes. Knowing that the mayor and Gina might be in danger, Diego rushed to the house where Raymond and Gabriel are at this moment, forgetting to pay Gonzales for his wine. He indeed found the two officers blackmailing Santes about the poison that has killed lots of fish, and Gina was watching the whole scene. After the officers left the house hoping that the mayor will change his mind next time and raise the taxes, Gina asked her father what is going on. Santes, not having other choice, told her daughter the whole story, and Diego stayed to hear it. Three years ago, Pablo Santes was the owner of an infamous transporting company that carried all over the world food and other products. One day, his company carried a secret cargo for the Spanish army: weapons and barrels with liquid poison, just like Gonzales said before. Santes did not know about the content of that cargo, till he discovered it during a tactical check when the ship was sailing in the open sea. But a strong storm stroke and the ship along with the poison sank near the Whale's Rock. The army had assured Santes that the barrels were sealed, but unfortunately the shipwreck had caused the poison to get leaked into the ocean, and all these years the people of Porto Ringo were in grave danger due to the poison. The army didn't do anything to stop the leak and now Raymond blackmails Santes with that information. Gina, totally shocked and with her tears flowing all over her face, ran out of the house shouting at her father that she hates him. Santes ran behind her to calm her down, but Diego emerged to tell the mayor that he overheard everything and asked him to talk to Gina. Diego comforted the little girl, and decided to lead her to the hotel, where they will stay for the whole night, and he will inform her father. Santes was totally sorrowful and the next morning he took a small boat and went out to the ocean on his own to try to stop the leak in the Whale's Rock for good. Unfortunately, a massive storm stroke at that time. Santes, however, defied the waves and continued his mission, even knowing that he might get drowned. Before leaving, he left a rose to Gina, telling his daughter that he truly loves her. Lolita and Ed informed Diego and Gina about Santes and the wild weather, so everyone rushed out to ask the fishermen to take them with their boats to the Whale's Rock, so that they will save Santes. The old fisherman from the previous day, when he learned that Santes is in the open sea, offered to help. All of a sudden, the army arrived and surrounded the people, preventing them from going to save Santes. Diego, totally mad, rushed towards Gabriel, but the officer punched him to the face and threw him into the sea. Gina, drawing courage from her father's pure feelings, stood against Gabriel, even knowing that she will be shot dead. Before the officer pulls the trigger, Zorro appeared and fought against him and his men, distracting them enough so that the townspeople, minus Gina and Bernard, will go to the Whale's Rock and help Santes to remove the poison barrels from the ocean. The masked hero forced the soldiers to retreat after a hard fight (and asked Gonzales to forgive Diego for him neglecting paying his wine last night), and after waving his goodbye to the people, the good news finally arrived: Santes was saved, and the poison barrels were successfully moved away from the ocean. Gina tearfully hugged her father saying that she forgave him. And the people also forgave their mayor and thanked him for risking his own life to save them and the sea from certain doom, showing to everyone that he truly cares about the town and his family. Santes emotionally returned the favor and everyone applauded. As for Diego, despite his one and only moment of bravery, he managed to hide the true identity of Zorro from everyone who were present, by coming out of the water and entertaining them.
6	"The Red Jewel"
Bernard was having a good night sleep somewhere inside the forest, when suddenly he woke up by some men who were riding their horses at full speed and were making so much noise. He observed their movements and judged quickly that they were bandits, since they were heading out to Lolita's house. As such, he turned into his alter ego, Little Zorro, and ran to inform Diego, who awoke his own alter ego, Zorro, and headed out to Lolita's house, but not before tying up his younger brother, fearing that this mission might be dangerous for him. The bandits tied up Carlos and Catarina and ruined everything in search of money and jewels. Since they didn't find anything and Carlos refused to reveal the spot they were hiding their wealth, Drago, the leader of the bandits, deployed a mysterious ruby with hypnotic powers that is attached to his sword and hypnotized his victims into revealing the spot. They untied Carlos and Catarina, so that they will give their property to the bandits personally. For their misfortune, Lolita, the daughter, woke up from the noise, threw the lantern at Drago's arm, injuring him, and snapped her parents out of their state. The family then alerted the entire house about the robbery, but the bandits escaped with the stolen goods. They couldn't go any further, however, 'cause Zorro came to the rescue and took back the stolen goods after dealing with the henchmen. Drago, in order to show his power to the infamous masked hero of Santazco, used the hypnotic powers of the ruby to increase the weight of his sword and making him unable to fight. As a result, Zorro got injured and his sword fell from his hand. The arrival of the servants of the house and the army forced Drago and his henchmen to retreat without taking back their victims' property. The soldiers quickly put the blame on Zorro for the robbery and after surrounding him, they demanded that he surrenders. Zorro, after giving Carlos back the family's jewels and assuring them that he didn't commit the robbery, evaded the soldiers, who ran behind to capture him. Lieutenant Gabriel escorted the Pulido inside the house so that they will count the jewels. Carlos and Catarina realized that one of the jewels, which was inside a separate case and was meant for Lolita when she was about to be married, is missing. Gabriel claimed that Zorro only gave back half of the stolen goods so that he will keep the most valuable jewel of the family for himself, and promised to Carlos and Catarina that he will take it back as soon as possible. Lolita, on the other hand, refused to believe that Zorro orchestrated the robbery, since she is still in love with him, and went back to her room, sobbing calmly so that no one, and especially Gabriel, will hear her. Still injured, Diego came back home after turning back into his true self and fell asleep. He was about to have nightmares due to his experience with the mysterious ruby that Drago possesses, so poor Bernard (Little Zorro) will remain tied for the whole night. In the bandits' hideout, a big ship with the head of a clown attached on the front, Drago lashed out at his mates for their failed attempt to rob the house of Pulido and his unexpected injury. His outburst was interrupted by the arrival of one specific person who has hired this gang in the first place: Lieutenant Gabriel. The devious officer hasn't learned his lesson yet. In another desperate attempt to gain Lolita's heart and become a hero for the maiden, since he still loves her, Gabriel used these bandits to frame Zorro for their crimes and since they possess supernatural powers that come from one mere ruby, their job would be successful. Of course, they had to devote their lives to Gabriel in exchange for their freedom, 'cause that man could easily replace them with others. Since that bidding of his failed, he took the last remaining jewel from Drago, so that he will give it back to Lolita, and assigned the gang a new mission, demanding that they make it seems it was Zorro's doing, just by making the distinctive “Z” sign. And it was clear that Gabriel wouldn't stop there. In order to fully dishonor Zorro's good name, he will repeat the same foul play the next days, and not even the army will do anything to stop this. After recovering a little the next day, Diego, per Maria's request, visited Lolita at her house, along with Bernard, but not before doing some necessary laundry first. At that time, Gabriel came to the house to give the stolen jewel back to Lolita, making up a story like a good actor. Lolita revealed one small detail that could easily prove who was the true culprit of the robbery: the injury of the gang leader at his right arm. That shocked Gabriel, who was feared that his scheme would be exposed due to that detail. Bernard, wanting to help his dear brother to clear his alter ego's good name, gathered all his friends and together they made a list with the people who are injured at their right arm. Diego is also on the list, but Bernard knew that his injury is the result of Drago's doing, so they excluded him. Diego took the list from Bernard and after congratulating his little brother, the two of them walked around the town looking for the culprits, until they reached a wandering circus from Madrid that, unbeknownst to them, carries the gang leader's name. They met Lolita there, who wanted to watch the show despite being in danger. Anyway, the show began and everything was going normally, until the truth was revealed at the last minute: the circus clown is the gang leader, Drago, 'cause he used the same sword who has the ruby with the hypnotic powers to put on his last shows: kidnapping his candidate victim, Lolita, whom he didn't expect coming to his circus, and vanishing inside a thick smoke to escape quickly with his victim. Before chasing after Drago and his goons, Diego and Bernard sent a message to Gonzales to come to the harbor as fast as possible. Then, they turned into their alter egos to finish with these bandits for good before they sail away with the unconscious Lolita. Zorro finished quickly the henchmen and faced against Drago and his supernatural powers, while Little Zorro woke up Lolita, who advised Zorro not to look into the ruby, so to avoid hypnotism. The masked hero followed the advice, but he was still at the edge of his defeat since he fights at the enemy's territory. Fortunately, he avoided death and gave the final blow to Drago, saving the day. When Zorro and Little Zorro picked up the bandits and tied them up, Gonzales came up with some soldiers, and the masked heroes delivered to him. Drago confessed that he and his gang were blackmailed by one army officer, whom he didn't reveal, to commit crimes and frame Zorro for them, otherwise he would kill them. Gabriel arrived as well, and to stop the bandits from exposing him to Zorro and the army, he ordered his soldiers to execute them. Then, he ordered his soldiers to shoot at Zorro and Little Zorro, but the two masked heroes used the hypnotic powers of the ruby to vanish inside a thick smoke before the bullets reach them. (In the dub, the whole scene was altered, so that it seems that the soldiers were shooting at the two Zorros only, but the dead corpses of the bandits were still shown.) They were shown to be safe, onto a small boat, and Lolita breathed a sigh of relief now that her beloved hero is safe and sound. Zorro quickly realized that Gabriel orchestrated that scheme at his expense, and vowed to himself and his partner, Little Zorro, that one day he will deliver that person, and whoever else is responsible for the suffering of the people of Santazco, to justice.
7	"Too Many Zorros"
The Vega family has recently bought a small herd of sheep from another ranch at San Vedos, to raise them at their own fields at Santazco, and in exchange they were about to give to the ranch an equal amount of their cows. Diego and Bernard were assigned from their father, Don Alejandro, to travel to San Vedos, so to get their family's merchandise. For their misfortune, the army has blocked off the road that leads to this town, and Commander Raymond and Lieutenant Gabriel inspected that roadblock where Sergeant Gonzales was in charge. The two officers spotted Diego and Bernard and learned the reason they wanted to pass through the roadblock. Raymond was in high spirits for some reason, so he just took lightly the youngsters' assignment and took Gabriel with him to continue their inspection of some other roadblocks. Gonzales revealed the reason of Raymond's sudden change of mood: tomorrow at midnight, the army is about to claim the immense property of Carlo Fernandez, Santazco's most wealthy person, who had passed away six months ago. Diego reminisced the events that occurred during Fernandez's funeral at that time. Commander Raymond has entered the church to announce to the attendees, including Diego and Lolita, that the army will claim the land and the wealth of Fernandez since the departed wasn't married and as such, he hasn't any heir. An old man named Lopez, who is the lawyer of Fernandez and is not from Santazco, since he was present at the funeral as well, objected by presenting to Raymond the letter which contains the testament of Fernandez, and shows clearly that the departed was indeed married and has a daughter, Hannah, who is now around 17 to 18 years old. But the family was living in another town before Fernandez moving to Santazco. And Lopez hasn't met in person the wife and the daughter yet. According to the law, the lawyer has a time limit of six months to find the only living heir, the daughter, so to begin the procedure for the property's claim by her, otherwise the property will pass on to the state, thus the army. Back in present, Diego asked the Sergeant why the army has established roadblocks in every borderline, and Gonzales, despite his hesitation, decided to tell the truth to his young friends. The army patrols every borderline, to prevent the daughter, Hannah, from coming to Santazco before the end of the time limit of the six months, so that Raymond achieves his goal. Anyway, Diego and Bernard completed the first part of their assignment during the sunset and were about to return to Santazco with the sheep they took for the Vega family, until their dog, Tackle, presented to them a shoe, which, as it seemed, belongs to a mysterious maiden who was lying unconscious at the riverside and was heavily injured. Diego helped her recovering. The maiden was heading out to Santazco and was running away from the soldiers who identified her from the golden cross she wears around her neck. After hiding successfully the maiden from Gabriel and his troops, whom were searching everywhere, Diego checked the words that were carved in the backside of the cross, and he and Bernard realized that they just helped Hannah, Carlo Fernandez's daughter. Hannah told to her new friends that when she was still a baby, her father abandoned her and his wife, wanting to live alone from now on. As such, Hannah was only raised by her mother, who has opened an orphanage after their abandonment from Fernandez. When her mother passed away last year, Hannah took on the orphanage and the care of the children, but the money she has now aren't enough to preserve the orphanage, and the children are suffering from hunger. So, she decided to claim her father's property, in order to donate half of the money to the orphanage and the other half to the church of Santazco which supports economically the orphanage. The only problem is the roadblocks of the army. Diego came up with a smart plan. First, he and Bernard hid the golden cross, and then gave a disguise to Hannah, so that she passes through the roadblock of Santazco unnoticed. Gonzales ate the bait, but he still had strict orders from Lieutenant Gabriel personally to prevent the passage of non-citizens of Santazco to the town through the roadblock, just for the present day. So, Diego bribed the dumb Sergeant with some of his family's red wine. Of course, Gonzales couldn't deny the offer, and let the Vega's children pass along with their sheep and their “shepherd”. They did manage to reach home at night, along with Hannah and her golden cross, whom they decided to hide somewhere in the yard, even if Gonzales just grew suspicious about the bad smell and wanted to find out where it comes from. The maiden fully recovered after drinking some water and expressed her thanks to Diego like every girl: with a kiss on the cheek. At that time, Lolita came here with a bottle of red wine for Don Alejandro, the father of Diego. Diego remembered the promise he gave to Gonzales before and took the bottle, giving away to Lolita unwillingly the true gender of the “shepherd” who had kissed him before. The revelation enraged Lolita, who demanded an explanation from Diego. Meanwhile, back in the roadblock, Gabriel was informed about the mysterious “shepherd” that Diego and Bernard brought along, and told Gonzales off for his foolishness, since he let by mistake the daughter of Fernandez whom were searching everywhere pass through the roadblock and sneak into town. So, he took his soldiers and went to Vega's house, where he indeed found Hannah due to the actions of Lolita. Totally angered, Gabriel threw both Diego and Hannah to jail, and started interrogating Diego about the golden cross's location, along with Commander Raymond, who was still in high spirits. Despite not taking any answers from the young man, the officers decided that it's OK that the golden cross wasn't found, since it's useless without the daughter of Fernandez, so if they just hold the maiden imprisoned until the end of the time limit, the property of Carlo Fernandez will pass on to the army, and the whole matter will end here, tomorrow at midnight. Raymond instructed Gabriel to guard Hannah, and the Lieutenant agreed. The next morning, Bernard explained to Lolita the whole story about Hannah, the property of her father, and the orphanage of her deceased mother. Wanting to offer her help, Lolita visited Diego at jail to inform him that she learned everything. Before that, she bribed the guard, who was Gonzales all right, with some red wine from her house, and the dumb Sergeant ate that bait as well. During the time limit of three minutes Gonzales gave to Lolita, Diego discussed with her a clever plan that will help Hannah escape from jail unnoticed. The clues of that plan are lots of copies from Zorro's clothes that Lolita herself tailed, and some bread Maria has baked. And of course, the golden cross is also involved. The bread, along with some red wine, is meant for Commander Raymond, Lopez the lawyer, the church priest that was also invited in the meeting at the notary office, and the other employees of the office. The copies of Zorro's clothes are for one specific purpose that every citizen of Santazco will fulfill: to distract the soldiers in a crazy and fun Whac-A-Mole game, while Bernard and Lolita will release Diego and Hannah and will help them escape to the notary office, so that Hannah will catch up with the time limit that ends in less than two hours. The first part of the plan succeeded, but then Diego had to distract Gabriel alone, so that the maiden will keep going. It didn't work, and the Lieutenant chased after Hannah, whom managed to stop. Before taking away her life, however, he was stopped by the real Zorro, who came to pick up Hannah and lead her to the notary office at full speed. In the last two minutes, Zorro arrived with the maiden, disarmed Raymond and his troops, and showed to everyone the proof of the maiden's true identity that was hiding inside one mere bread, Don Alejandro's offer: the golden cross. The priest read the words in the backside and realized that Hannah is the daughter of Carlo Fernandez, just when the bell rang at midnight. After signing his contribution at Raymond's uniform, Zorro ran away, and as usual, the whole army ran behind to capture him. Now that Hannah finally claimed her father's property, she will fulfill her promise: to donate half of the money to her mother's orphanage, and the other half to the church, so that she will continue taking care of the children with more economical help. And now, for the grand finale, we will ask the audience some burning questions: Has that kindhearted maiden, Hannah, found out who Zorro truly is? What familiar person, who has helped her during the episode, has put in her mind?
8	"Killer Guitar"
Maria has to cook a lot of food for the family that night, and assigned the purchase of all the necessary ingredients to the lazy and useless Diego, who is truly fed up with her stifling attitude and her constant bawling towards him, but he agreed to do the errand anyway, just to eat well. And Bernard aided his brother just to comfort him. The two of them, after buying the ingredients, met up with Lolita at the town square, who expressed to her friends her recent interest: astrology. Of course, the simple-minded Diego didn't believe a word about his bad luck that is predicted to his horoscope for this day, causing Lolita to chastise him. The conversation was interrupted by the voices of one familiar person to the people of the town: the newsvendor, Sancho. That beloved man has recently edited an article about Zorro and his heroic actions against the corrupted and tyrannical government and the army. As such, he has become a second hero for the citizens of Santazco and all want to only buy his newspaper. Diego feared that with his actions, Sancho has been targeted by the army and especially Commander Raymond, and is only a matter of time before the hardhearted officer silences him for good, since he is capable of doing it to anyone who supports the rebels and promotes riots against the government and the army. Indeed, the news of the selling of Sancho's newspaper drew the army's attention, and Bernard, who has offered to help Sancho with his sellings so that he will be paid well, came face to face with Sergeant Gonzales, who was in patrol. After the officer read one of the boy's sheets, he became enraged about Zorro's mention on the first page and attempted to foreclose the sheets, but Bernard ran behind Sancho to ask for his protection. The citizens in turn, defended and protected their beloved man from the lies of Gabriel and Raymond that came from the mouth of Gonzales. And as if it wasn't enough, the Sergeant was amazed when he heard that even the governor himself has given his permission to Sancho to edit his newspaper, no matter how provocative his articles are. Finally, Gonzales held his breath and the selling of the newspaper continued normally. Despite the fear of the riots due to the article about Zorro, Raymond decided not to convince the governor to change his mind about Sancho's newspaper, and take matters into his own hands. Lolita, after reading Sancho's horoscope, who is the same as Diego's, visited the newsvendor at his printing office to warn him about the upcoming danger that awaits him that night, but the kindhearted man, just like Diego, doesn't believe in the astrology and the horoscopes, and assured the maiden that he can take care of himself. She mentioned that to Diego, who was doing another home laundry for Maria, and the young man was relieved that there are more people like him who don't believe to superstitious phenomena like horoscopes. Lolita interpreted it as a sign that her obsession with her interest doesn't help the people, but instead annoys them, and gave up the try on helping Diego avoid the mischiefs in his life. Before going back home, she asked Maria to be even more repressive with Diego, 'cause he won't wise up either way. At night, Sancho was having fun in the town's bar, along with Don Alejandro and some other friends. Sancho expressed to his company that his job is just to write the truth the world needs to know about everything, and he doesn't care about the rebellion against the government and the army so much. Despite his innocent intentions, his friends encouraged Sancho to keep editing his newspaper, and they will always support him, so they all made a big toast to his newspaper, the people's newspaper, before returning home at morning, totally sozzled. Suddenly, as the friends were walking and singing happily, they heard a guitar playing somewhere inside the forest, and then a gunfire, and at last, Sancho was dropped dead in front of his friends. Unfortunately, the bullet hit him to the heart, so his death was instant. Totally shocked, the three took Sancho's body and alerted the whole town about his murder. Don Alejandro informed Maria and Bernard and the boy informed Diego. The young man started to suspect the mysterious guitarist that has arrived to Santazco three days ago, and was entertaining the patrons of the bar last night, so he instructed Bernard to keep an eye on that person. Lolita, meanwhile, who has also learned about the events, felt total remorse that she didn't try harder to warn Sancho about his bad luck, just like his horoscope said, and Diego started to believe his girlfriend about the signs' predictions. Gabriel, with lots of soldiers, arrived out of the church to send away everyone who was about to begin Sancho's funeral, saying that this man was part of a rebelling organization and was being shot by Zorro himself, a genuine lie. The people, despite their resistance, gave up the funeral for today, since this was an order from Raymond himself and no one would want to be arrested and executed for treason, something that would insult Sancho's memory. After a while, the people gathered at the bar, so to decide that the funeral will begin tomorrow. Everyone agreed with the idea. The mysterious guitarist, Sabat, left the bar along with his guitar and headed out to the military camp. Bernard, who was keeping an eye on Sabat all the time, followed him till there, and ran back home to inform Diego about him and his connection to the army. The boy also informed Diego that the people will start Sancho's funeral tomorrow, and warned him that the next day, according to his horoscope, will bring him bad luck, and even death, due to that killer. But Diego was still determined to help the people of the town to start the funeral no matter what. Sabat took action the next day, so to fulfill his true mission for the army: to kill Zorro. And the people gathered at the town square again, at the same time that the army arrived there. Just before Gabriel proceeds to kill someone in the crowd, Zorro appeared and fought against him. The spot that Sabat was is the bell tower of the church. After Gabriel's defeat, he shot Zorro, who fell onto the street. But before Commander Raymond, who came to the place as well, removes his mask, the masked hero woke up, to everyone's surprise, showing them that he anticipated the gunshot at his expense and pointed out the spot that the true murderer of Sancho is hiding. Little Zorro destroyed Sabat's guitar, revealing the musket that was hiding inside. Zorro demanded that Raymond arrests the murderer and makes him confess the whole truth in front of the people, but instead, the Commander, in order to avoid being exposed to the people since he was the one who hired him, ordered his soldiers to execute Sabat, and all the evidences went to waste. Despite that, Zorro demanded that Raymond will give his permission to the townspeople to start Sancho's funeral, and the Commander finally agreed. He had to agreed, actually, since he stands in front of the House of God, the church, and Raymond is also a religious person, just like the townspeople. Everyone then, after waving their goodbyes to Zorro and Little Zorro, made all the necessary actions to write the last act of the drama: to conclude their hero's funeral, and to keep editing his newspaper in memory of him.
9	"The Treasure of Dreams"
Pancho, Santazco's cocky old man, known for his exaggerations about well-known legends all over the world, has recently discovered some of the treasure of the famous pirate Captain Kidd, who has lived during the 16th century, and has become the terror of the Atlantic Ocean, by assaulting along with his mates lots of ships and stealing their wealth. Pancho was searching for the place where the legendary pirate has hid his immense treasure for 30 years, and by selling the pots who possess the distinctive emblem of Captain Kidd's ship, he tries to gather people to aid him to his adventure. And since everyone knows about his exaggerations, no one will volunteer to help him. And as the show was unfolding, the army arrived there to foreclose the pots from Pancho, with the charge that this old man wants to sell illegally the treasure of Captain Kidd to the townspeople. Enraged, Pancho covered Sergeant Gonzales's head with one of the pots, causing havoc amongst the troops and enjoyment to the people. But the intelligent old man noticed that one familiar person of his, Diego, refused to fight the soldiers like a man, and was disappointed, to the point that he visited the home of his old acquaintance, the father of Diego, Don Alejandro, at the moment that he, Lolita, and Maria, were scolding Diego for his cowardice towards the army. Pancho suggested to take Diego with him to his search for the treasure of Captain Kidd, in order to train him physically and mentally, hoping that he will grow up and will become a true man and a good son for Don Alejandro. In exchange, the wealthy landowner will fund his search for the treasure of Captain Kidd. Diego agreed with the idea and took with him Bernard as well, despite the boy's insistence that the treasure of Captain Kidd doesn't exist, which made Pancho argue with him for the opposite. Don Alejandro, Maria, and Lolita agreed as well, and wished Pancho, Diego, and Bernard good luck. As for Raymond and Gabriel, they showed the remaining pot to their man, Brown, so to analyze its worth. At first, the devious fence judged that it's useless, but when he found out a gold coin after a closer look, he concluded that this pot is indeed a part of the treasure of the legendary pirate Captain Kidd, so Commander Raymond instructed Gabriel to take his soldiers and search for the place where the treasure is located. Gabriel agreed, and sent Gonzales to spy on Pancho in order to extort useful information from the adventurous old man. At noon, Pancho led his apprentices to the place that they will dig up for the treasure map of Captain Kidd, which was split in two. Pancho possesses the first half, so only the second half is missing. Diego and Bernard quickly felt exhausted, despite only working for a few hours under the ground. Pancho pressed them to keep working, if they were about to grow up like good men. Then, he eavesdropped the conversation they had in secret about the fact that the treasure of Captain Kidd is a foolish dream of Pancho, and taught the youngsters about how important dreams are for the people. And so, in a manner of exaggeration, Diego and Bernard agreed to help Pancho discover the treasure of his dreams. As the digging continued, Pancho made accidentally the tunnel collapsing. All the labor went to waste at first, but after a few minutes, Diego emerged from the debris with the second half of the treasure map in his hands, and the old man congratulated both his apprentices for their achievement. Gonzales overheard everything and ran to inform Gabriel. At night, inside the cabin, Pancho and his young friends united the pieces of the map, but nothing happened. Totally enraged, Bernard stormed off, calling Pancho a liar. Diego just followed behind. To calm himself down, Pancho drank a little whiskey, but he accidentally dropped the glass and soaked the map. To his amazement, he revealed the location where the treasure of Captain Kidd lies. Filled with joy, Pancho screamed at Diego and Bernard to come back, but for his misfortune, the army came instead and, after arresting him and imprisoning him, they stole his map and headed out to the location. Feeling guilty for abandoning their friend, Diego and Bernard turned into their alter egos, Zorro and Little Zorro, and headed out to the military camp to release him. Still, Bernard thinks that the old man is daydreaming, but Diego asked his brother what would happen if someone was stealing away his dream, just like the army did to Pancho. The boy couldn't find an answer, but then he reminisced the wise words of Pancho about the dreams and how important they are. As such, he finally agreed to help him discover his own dream, and Diego will be by his side. They released Pancho and escaped from the guards with ease. The old man recognized the individual behind the mask of Little Zorro, so he just kept calling him by his true name. Finally, they reached the location the map points to: a deep dark cave inside the cliffs above the sea. When Little Zorro activated a trap by accident, he and Pancho were separated from Zorro, and after evading lots of traps that Captain Kidd has made, they ended up to the level of sea, where the treasure of Captain Kidd is located, and they celebrated for their feat. Unfortunately, the army had arrived there first, and they kidnapped the boy while Pancho was busy trying to take the emerald that was attached to the eye of the legendary pirate's enormous statue. Zorro also arrived to the place, and prevented Pancho from detaching the emerald, while he was dealing with the soldiers, saving Little Zorro in the process. Pancho detached the emerald at last, and threw it to Brown's head, saving Zorro's life. But this action made the statue of the pirate collapsing. Everyone, minus the army, were saved, and behind the waterfall emerged what Pancho would call his real treasure: a giant pirate ship, Captain Kidd's ship, his legacy. When the sun rose, he rode it into the open sea, along with his friends, living his lifelong dream from the depths of his heart. And it was clear that one day, the dream of the two masked heroes would come true as well.
10	"Untrue Feelings"
Lolita is very happy that beautiful morning, because she expects one specific familiar person to visit her from the faraway Spain: her cousin, Lasalle. Diego and Bernard were assigned to escort Lolita to the harbor, where they will meet their friend's beautiful cousin. Two months ago, Kelley, Lasalle's husband, has passed away due to a serious disease. Because they loved each other so much, that loss was a huge burden, and her psychology has been affected dramatically, to the point that this maiden doesn't want to fall in love again. So, Lolita asked Diego to be very careful about his attitude towards Lasalle, and the young man had no other choice but to compromise. While the soldiers were unloading the merchandise from the ship, Lieutenant Gabriel, who was in charge, noticed Lasalle in the docks. The captain explained to him who is that beautiful maiden, and the reason she came all the way from Spain to Santazco. Gabriel was dazzled by the beauty of Lasalle's wedding ring, the well-known Blue Eye, which is made out of sapphire and is so expensive. As such, the greedy officer decided to marry the widowed maiden, so he can have the Blue Eye for himself. After a few minutes, Lolita met up with Lasalle and introduced her her friends, Diego and Bernard. While the boy carried out her stuff to the carriage, Diego and Lolita discussed with Lasalle a little (and Lolita punished Diego for him commenting about the Blue Eye and Lasalle's pretty eyes, words that Kelley used to say to Lasalle), and escorted her to the carriage, so to travel back to the house of Pulido, where Lasalle will stay for some days. No one knows that the Blue Eye has been targeted by many criminals for a long time, and especially three suspicious “nuns”, who are athletic and skilled at swordfighting. These assassins were awaiting the widow's arrival at Santazco, so to take the chance to kill her and take the ring. While Lasalle and Lolita were shopping at town, the assassins made their move, but Diego stopped them and forced them to run away. Unfortunately, he lost them, since they run faster than him. The “nuns” recognized Diego, and reassured to each other that they will not have any trouble with him during their mission. The maidens, however, got into trouble with two thugs who attempted to harass them. Suddenly, Gabriel intervened and, after fighting against the men, he forced them to retreat. In contrast with Lolita, Lasalle was charmed by the Lieutenant and was impressed by his courage. So, she followed him as he was preparing the carriage that will lead her back home. When Bernard ran to find Diego and tell him everything that happened, he saw the thugs from before, along with Gabriel. His suspicion that the whole thing was a scam came true after seeing Gabriel paying off the thugs. When Bernard found Diego, he told him about what he saw. The young man quickly realized that the hypocrite and devious Gabriel wants to have Lasalle by his side, so that he can take the Blue Eye and leave the maiden heartbroken. He didn't find Lasalle anywhere, because Lolita told him that she followed Gabriel, who escorted her to home, and that worried him and Bernard. At night, before sleep, Lolita talked with Lasalle about Gabriel's true intentions, but she didn't convince her at all. Bernard realized that the maiden, now that she has lost her beloved husband, feels miserable, and is charmed by any handsome man who shows her bravery and chivalry. So, he and his buddies decided to create a “Kelley” for the unhappy Lasalle, in order to send a warning to her, and Diego will play that role. The plan worked, making Lasalle sigh for her husband once more. The next morning, Gabriel, in order to complete his scheme, paid a glassmaker to make him a glass ring which looks like a sapphire, so that it serves as a decoy, and invited Lasalle to eat dinner with him that night in a small hotel overlooking the waterfalls. Sergeant Gonzales gave the invitation to the widowed maiden, who accepted it, despite Lolita's pleas. Neither Kelley's fake ghost will change Lasalle's mind, but Diego, Bernard, and Lolita made the preparations for the show anyway. Unfortunately, the three assassins were making their preparations as well, and Diego had to give up the show to follow them, angering Lolita who, for a moment, had complemented him for his beauty inside the disguise. After a tender moment he shared with Lasalle, Gabriel made her take out the Blue Eye from her finger, and replaced it in secret with the fake ring. All of a sudden, the assassins invaded the hotel and assaulted Lasalle and Gabriel. The officer threw out of the window the fake ring, so that they catch it. Then, he ditched Lasalle out of a fake emotional rage, and left away, along with Gonzales and the real Blue Eye. The assassins realized the con, and returned to the hotel to search for the real Blue Eye. Fortunately, Zorro came up before they murder Lasalle, and defeated them. Then, he chased after Gabriel and defeated him as well, taking the real Blue Eye back. He assigned the return of the expensive wedding ring to Lasalle to Gonzales, whom asked to arrest the three assassins as well, because he is about to be rewarded well. The Sergeant agreed to do all the errands, thinking of the reward. And Lasalle promised not to take out her ring again. When the maiden wore the Blue Eye again, the ghost of Kelley appeared once more in front of her, but this time it was the real ghost of her deceased husband. He encouraged Lasalle to keep looking for her real love, since she is still so young, and can love again. But the next man must not give fake promises, just like Gabriel, and must not take advantage of her innocence and beauty, in order to serve his selfish interests. These words really touched Lasalle, who promised to keep looking for the person that will make her happy forever, just like Kelley did before.
11	"Mystery Mountain"
Late at night, Santazco's people were alerted about the strange moaning that comes from the mountain again, just like the previous days. And due to that, the little kids ask their parents to sleep with them, so to stop trembling out of fear. Whoever has parents, actually. A friend of Bernard, for example, Sinio, who is scared easily and as such, he is bullied by plenty of kids from town. Bernard was boasting for being brave but, in actuality, he got scared as well last night. He couldn't sleep well, because not even Diego let him sleep with, and tries to hide away his fear, so that he won't be teased by some kids who also have tendencies of boasting, another friend of Bernard and Sinio, Casas, for example. That boy is a little older than the other two, so he has a bossy nature and provokes his friends facing their fears, no matter the dangers they await them. The parents, since they don't know the cause of the moaning coming from the mountain, keep telling their children stories that the ghosts of the people who perished there make these strange noises during the nights, and they believe it. Sinio is not an exception. On the other hand, Casas doesn't believe that story and, the day after the recent incident, he provoked his scared friends to join him to the “ghost hunting” inside the mountain. Bernard accepted the challenge, of course, but Sinio was uncertain if he can do it. Finally, he joined his friends. Tackle, the pet dog of Vega, accompanied the kids. Now, all that remains for the mountain trip is supplies and plenty of food. Bernard “gathered” the food from his house (leaving poor Maria with almost nothing to cook for the whole family tonight) and then, the three friends began their adventure. Unfortunately, none of the kids knows what exactly is happening to the town the whole day. No one can buy what he wants from the market, 'cause the money they give are fakes. As a result, a big havoc has stroke amongst the people and the shop owners, and not even the army is capable of stopping this chaos, let alone capturing the counterfeiters who feature the fake coins to the market. Diego learned from one shop owner that the fake coins were featured to the market at the same time the mountain has started to moan, and suspected a connection between the two phenomena. So, he decided to investigate the mountain during the night. As for Bernard, Sinio, and Casas, they finally reached their destination, the abandoned mines inside the mountain that are closed off for so many years. During their trip, they faced lots of dangers, and especially Sinio, but they overcame them since they worked together. When the night fell, the friends camped for a while outside the entrance. Casas overheard in secret Sinio and Bernard confessing to each other their experiences last night, and questioned himself if they were telling the truth or not. Anyway, the moaning continued that night too, so the kids got inside the mines to investigate the source of these sounds. They were surprised and relieved when they saw that the cause of this strange moaning is just steam. But they made a deeper investigation inside the mines when they noticed a tunnel that leads somewhere. When the kids reached the end of the tunnel, they saw something that left them totally speechless: a secret construction site, where the fake coins are made. They observed the whole process of the production, but they couldn't understand the reason these men work so hard and what they exactly make, until they heard it all from the head of that operation: the beyond doubt Lieutenant Bucanero. The well-known fence, Brown, is also with him. As it seemed, this officer is distrustful of Commander Raymond since the latter hasn't promoted him yet. In order to prove to himself that he is better than Raymond, Bucanero orchestrated this operation in secret. The army has full confidence in Bucanero, so they won't send him to the court martial and sentence him to death. Since the officer wants to return to Spain at the end of the week and meet up with his family, he has instructed his mates on manufacturing more than thousands of fake coins. Now that they understood the purpose of this operation, Bernard, Sinio, and Casas left the site to return to Santazco and tell everyone what they saw. Unfortunately, they drew the attention of the counterfeiters by accident, and ran away. After a big pursuit, the henchmen captured the kids, and took them to their boss, in order to kill them by throwing them inside the tank with the liquid steel. Unbeknownst to everyone, Tackle escaped and went out of the mines, in order to inform Diego, who has just arrived there, about Bernard's and his friends' kidnapping. So, the young protagonist turned into Zorro, and rushed inside to save the kids. He did save them, but he had to face against lots of thugs, and to avoid being hit by Bucanero's weapon, a big boomerang. And the kids got into a big trouble with the thugs, too. One of them cornered Casas but, just before the fatal hit, Sinio intervened and saved his friend's life. It was the first time in his life that he showed courage, and the boy became overjoyed. And he was the one who knew how to save Zorro from certain death, since they have overseen the manufacturing of the fake coins, so he pointed out the Achilles heel of the counterfeiters: the tank with the liquid steel. They managed to set it out of control at last, and the hot mixture spread everywhere, burning everything and making the whole place collapsing. Fortunately, Zorro saved the kids and led them out safely. And the counterfeiters, except Bucanero, evacuated the mines quickly. It is unknown if the officer survived and evacuated as well or perished under the debris. Finally, the danger has passed, and the kids said goodbye to Zorro, thanking him for saving their lives. And it's certain that, after everything they've been through, Casas will stop teasing Sinio. He recognizes the fact that his friend has proved that he is brave when he saved his life, and to repay the debt, he confessed to Sinio and Bernard that he also got scared last night, and asked his parents to let him sleep with them. A beautiful happy end for these good friends!
12	"Man's Best Friend"
Another beautiful morning dawned at Santazco, and the kids are out of town playing with joy. Each rolls a barrel all over the forest, and whoever passes through the finish line wins. Unfortunately, Bernard messed it up, because he can't roll his barrel properly, and that made his friends laugh at him. Enraged, Bernard kicked away the barrel, but he accidentally hit a stray pit bull, which was sleeping behind some bushes. He and his friends treated that dog, and especially Bernard, whom started to like very much. The other kids suggested that he keeps the dog, but they then made it get angry with insults, and the animal barked at the kids and caused them to run away out of fear. Bernard spent a lot of time with the pit bull, that he bonded with it so much. He had trouble sending it away, but he reminisced Maria telling the reason the Vega family doesn't bring any other stray animal to the house: they don't have enough money to buy more fodder, and Tackle, Diego's dog, is more than enough, and only sheep and cows are allowed since they feed themselves with the grass from their fields. The pit bull tried to follow Bernard back to the house, but the boy asked him not to follow him, and ran back as fast as he could. When he almost reached the door, he took a look behind, but he couldn't see the pit bull. To his enjoyment, he saw the animal standing in front of the door, and emotionally hugged it. Diego then came back home, along with Tackle, and Bernard hid the animal, but not for long. Tackle and the pit bull growled at each other, until Tackle got scared and hid behind Diego, who was amazed that his younger brother found a new friend to play. He suggested that the pit bull must have a name, and Bernard named it Figaro. After introducing himself as well, Diego told Bernard that he has to train his new friend, in order to teach him how to behave towards everyone, and that might convince Maria to let him stay home. Figaro developed a talent on gathering the sheep. The first time was a success, but the second time was a total mess, and the sheep stained all the bedsheets, that Maria has washed and then hanged out to dry, in the process. As a result, Maria, filled with total rage, shouted at Diego and Bernard to send away Figaro. The boy, totally sad, led his friend deep inside the forest, and after playing fetch with a bone, he left back home at full speed, sobbing uncontrollably. At the same time, the rain became very intense, and Figaro, since he couldn't find his friend anywhere, slept under a tree to shelter himself from the rain. A carriage was passing by, but Figaro ignored it. Inside the carriage were some important guests from South America, who have arrived in North America this morning, in order to stay at the house of Vega for two days, and that's because there is plenitude at the hotels of Santazco. As the carriage was heading to its destination, some bandits who were hiding behind some trees dropped a tree forward, to stop its course, and assaulted the nobles. They were spying the course of this carriage the whole day, so they ambushed it with ease. After undressing the nobles and taking their valuable stuff, the bandits tied them up and locked them inside an abandoned cabin. Lydia, the leader of the gang, impersonated the noblewoman, Contessa Mendoza, the wife of an ex-superior officer from the Spanish army. Curiously, she couldn't find the other earring, because it dropped from the Contessa's ear before and got lost somewhere. There wasn't any time to find it, because some soldiers were coming at this time, and the bandits had to play their roles. Sergeant Gonzales asked if Contessa Mendoza is inside the carriage and after the confirmation, he asked the passengers to follow the soldiers, because they will escort them to the house of Vega, where Commander Raymond and Lieutenant Gabriel are as well, and will guard the guests with lots of troops. As the carriage and the soldiers were heading to the house, Figaro emerged from behind, holding the lost earring in his mouth. When the carriage reached the house, everyone welcomed the “nobles” and escorted them inside. Now that the soldiers guard heavily the house and are fully armed, the bandits can not escape. But Lydia was confident that they will escape with their booty, since her gang is well-known in the whole South California. So, in order to find some weak spot on the operational system of the army, she suggested that they spy on the officers, who had a very interesting conversation inside their own room: they were planning to steal the Contessa's necklace and then hide it inside Don Alejandro's room, so to accuse him for the supposed theft and then imprison him. They scheduled the hospitality of the Contessa at the house of Vega on purpose, so that they find the chance to get rid of Don Alejandro, and continue their tyrannical actions undisturbed. Lydia and her two henchmen decided to play around, so they took a crystal from the chandelier which was in their room, to replace it with the real necklace, since the two gems look alike. Gabriel and Gonzales sneaked inside Don Alejandro's room and took the necklace which, unbeknownst to them, Lydia has put there, and hid it under the pillows. After leaving in a hurry, Lydia jumped out of the ceiling to the room, and replaced the real necklace with the crystal she took a while ago. When Gabriel announced to everyone in the house the necklace's theft, the bandits got ready to play their roles. Lolita ran to inform Diego and Bernard, who was still sad about sending his friend, Figaro, away, about the news. One soldier found the necklace inside Don Alejandro's room, and Raymond instantly ordered his troops to arrest and imprison the landowner, despite everyone's, and Alejandro's, pleas that he is innocent and he didn't commit any crime. Raymond returned the necklace to the “Contessa”, but she broke it, saying that is fake. That revelation upset the Commander, who asked Gabriel and Gonzales what's going on. The two officers said that they don't know anything. So, Raymond ordered his entire squad to search for the real necklace around the house. Diego suspected a great conspiracy behind all these events. He learned from Bernard that at this moment, Gonzales is inside his room, and if he discovers the secret of Zorro by accident, it's all over for him. So, he got secretly inside and interrogated the Sergeant as his alter ego. He learned the whole plot of Raymond and Gabriel and told Bernard and Lolita everything. But the three couldn't think further about what happened to the real necklace, because Figaro came back home and Bernard hugged him with much joy. They were surprised seeing the pit bull's discovery: the lost earring of the Contessa. Everyone indeed have noticed that she was wearing only one earring when she came to the house, but no one said anything. The clever Figaro knew another information, and asked Bernard to follow him. Diego advised his brother to beware the guards outside, and the boy gave his promise. Meanwhile, Raymond and Gabriel were informed from Gonzales about Zorro's presence inside the house. Lydia and her henchmen learned it as well. After a few minutes, Figaro led Bernard to the abandoned cabin inside the forest, where the real nobles are being held. Bernard asked the real Contessa Mendoza how she ended up here, and the noblewoman told the boy the whole story. As the bandits were about to leave, Bernard came back home with the real Contessa, and that upset the goons. He told to everyone that the other woman is an impostor, but Lydia defended herself. Right then, Zorro appeared, and after defeating the bandits, he revealed the real necklace which Lydia kept hidden inside the Contessa's clothes and replaced it with the fake. Raymond got angry that he got fooled that way, but Lydia told him off about his own plot to use the necklace as a guinea pig, so that he accuses Don Alejandro as a thief. The Contessa demanded that Raymond releases the landowner from jail and then promises to her that he won't harm the Vega family ever again, or else she will report the whole story to her husband. The anxious Commander forced to give his promise to the noblewoman. Then, he ordered his soldiers to arrest the bandits, and give the fancy clothes back to their owners. Zorro expressed to everyone his thanks to Figaro, the true hero of the day, since he was the one who found the lost earring and then the real nobles, so he asked Maria to persuade Alejandro to keep Figaro to their family. The housemaid agreed, and Bernard cheered with joy. At last, the masked hero left, with the soldiers running behind to capture him, just like always.
13	"Little Zorro at Full Blast"
Bernard feels for a long time that his adult friends treat him like a little kid, and he tries hard to do all the housework that the grown-up men usually do, but he always fails. The woodcutting, for example. The only easy work that Maria assigns for the boy is shopping, and that bores and annoys him. One day that Bernard went out for shopping, Lolita passed by and offered to lead him halfway. She then told her friend that she is going to the house of Vasquel, to take care of the daughter, Nikita, who, by the way, is Bernard's love interest. The family greeted Lolita and Bernard when they arrived out of the house. The parents have asked the lone daughter of their friends, Pulido, to stay along with Nikita, while they will go to meet a relative of theirs who had a little accident recently, and they will be back tomorrow at noon. Lolita assured the parents that she will take absolute care of their daughter, since Nikita and her have become good friends for a long time and Nikita has so much fun. Since the matter is solved, the parents asked Nikita to be very careful inside the house, to listen to Lolita all the time, and to go to sleep the appropriate time. The child agreed to everything. After the parents left on their trip, Nikita asked Bernard to stay with her and Lolita as well, but the boy said that he has to go shopping, so he and Figaro left to town. Anyway, the girls got inside the house to have fun and do a little housework. While Bernard was doing his errand, he noticed a few people who were watching Sergeant Gonzales sticking a bounty to a wall. So, he came closer and asked Gonzales why are these robbers wanted. The Sergeant didn't want to talk to the boy at first, but then he explained to him that these people are wanted for lots of burglaries they happened in town recently. When Bernard saw the reward in the bounty, he got excited, that he decided to capture these robbers. Gonzales laughed at him, since he is still a little kid, and he won't make his wish come true. Bernard got angry for the insult and hit him to his knee. Then he mocked him and ran away with Figaro. The enraged Sergeant chased after the boy, but he lost him. After he breathed a sigh of relief, Bernard overheard someone talking and went to see who was it. He realized that these three men who were having a conversation before are the wanted robbers of Santazco, and was totally surprised when he heard them talking about their upcoming robbery at the house of Nikita. They knew that the parents left on a trip and entrusted Nikita to Lolita, who are both harmless and won't mess up with their plans. Now that Bernard learned everything about the robbery, he ran to inform Diego, but then stopped, and thought to himself that he can capture the robbers all alone, something that will make him a true hero and a man. Of course, Figaro disagreed with his buddy's idea. With his determination turned on, Bernard followed the robbers in secret, but he drew their attention at last. The henchmen attempted to kill the boy, but the leader objected, telling his mates that if someone finds the boy dead, the investigation will begin and the army will reach to them at last. So, he just tormented Bernard to give him a big scare. Figaro barked for help. Some people around appeared after hearing the pit bull, so the robbers ditched the boy and ran away. Figaro helped his friend recover. To inform Nikita and Lolita about the robbery, Bernard first returned home (with the shopping, of course) and prepared his stuff, including an old sword, in order to stay at Vasquel's house as well. He got very excited when his love interest and Lolita, whom had warned about the robbers he came face to face before, allowed him to stay with them. Diego didn't know the reason Bernard decided to stay at Nikita's house, until he heard it from Lolita. And the young man realized that his brother was telling the truth when he took with him the old sword. So, he decided to keep Bernard on a leash, and intervene in case of something bad happens at him. Nikita had a talk with her friend during the noon, and asked him to protect her and Lolita from the three robbers, no matter what. After the talk, Bernard decided to stop acting like a child and get serious. So, he turned the entire house into a battlefield, by putting lots of traps inside and outside. With this, he was confident that the robbers wouldn't approach Nikita and Lolita. When the night fell, the girls went to bed, and Bernard prepared some more traps inside the house. At this time, the robbers arrived outside the house and were about to begin their operation. The leader, Sergio, sent his two insecure henchmen, José and Manuel, to sneak inside, so to boost their morale. From behind was Zorro, who observed the whole scene in secret. José and Manuel managed to enter the house despite the traps they faced, but now they had to face against Bernard himself, who gave them a wild beating with a frying pan and chased them around the house. Sergio, worrying about his henchmen and that their plan is about to fail, invaded the house from the front, but Zorro stopped him, and the two men fought each other. Bernard cornered the goons, but when Lolita and Nikita came out of their room, they cornered the boy by threatening to kill the girls if he doesn't give them the family's money and jewels. Despite being distracted by Nikita's voices, Zorro managed to defeat Sergio, and then asked Figaro to give his own helping hand to his friend. The pit bull took one of the candles that Bernard has put to the front door, and burned a little Manuel's clothes, forcing him to leave Nikita. Taking that chance, Bernard began his counterattack. He knocked out José, and Lolita knocked out Manuel, and everyone was saved at last. The girls tied up the goons and locked them inside the cellar, so to await the army to come and arrest them, alongside the leader. That was a really tough experience for Bernard. He fought against the robbers with courage, but when he got cornered, he relied on another friend's help to save Nikita and Lolita. That means he has a lot to learn about life and its dangers, since he is still a little kid!
14	"The Stagecoach Is in Danger!"
It's weekend, and Diego has paid a visit to the neighboring seaside town Pueblo Naranja, for some family business his father has assigned. Bernard and Lolita accompanied him. After the assignment, however, the pals couldn't stay at the town for much longer and find a hotel to reside for the weekend, because they have heard from the local authorities about a bank robbery that happened last night. The thieves have escaped with a highly valued gold and remain hidden in the surrounding area, having avoided capture. Further investigation has led to the tracks of the infamous and dangerous gang “The Red Wolves”, who's committed many assaults the previous days. Since this gang lurks somewhere in the forest, the local authorities have instructed the coachmen on leading the tourists out of town with their stagecoaches, until the danger passes out. Unfortunately, Diego and his pals had a problem with one specific coachman, who is greedy, ungrateful, and doesn't accept any animal in his stagecoach. Bernard has brought along Figaro, and that's the reason this coachman behaves so stubbornly. In order to give his permission to the three, he asked five times the amount of one ticket, and Diego, who has already paid the normal amount of his and his pals' tickets, paid this amount as well. That enraged Lolita a lot, whom the coach assistant, Doug, has calmed down, explaining to her that this old man, Eduardo, is very wealthy, and has invested lots of money on this stagecoach, whom takes absolute care. Anyways, the three friends boarded the stagecoach. Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice calling for the coachman to stop. It was Sergeant Gonzales, who's also in Pueblo Naranja for a job he didn't want to reveal to his friends. After Gonzales boarded the stagecoach too, the road trip back to Santazco began. Inside this stagecoach, aside from Diego, Bernard, Lolita, and Gonzales, there was also a woman along with her child, and two men. The woman is named Leticia Granados, and is a wealthy mistress from Spain. She was living in Pueblo Naranja along with her husband and their 6-year old son, Satopi, but they decided to depart to Santazco, in order for the child to attend one of the best schools that exist there, and he'll be starting first grade in a few days, so Leticia pressures her son, who's dumb, sensitive, and unwary, to study hard, in order for him to pass the exams and learn lots of things. The first man inside the stagecoach is named Maximiliano Domes. He's the doctor of Pueblo Naranja and one of the best. But he is addicted to alcohol for many years, and that causes troubles in his workplace. Domes left his hometown because he messed it up during a surgery operation, and the family of the patient has threatened to sue him for bad practice of the profession. Now he feels depressed and he has lost his confidence as a doctor. The second man, whose name is Jekkyl, is a mysterious individual who also came from Spain. Since he boarded the same stagecoach with the other people, he also goes to Santazco. For a few hours, the atmosphere outside was very calm and peaceful, just like everyone in the stagecoach wanted to be. Unfortunately, Doug alerted everyone halfway about the presence of the expected danger that came out in the open: the Red Wolves. It was at this point that Gonzales revealed his reasons for traveling to Pueblo Naranja in the first place: Commander Raymond has ordered him personally to guard the mother and the child of the Granados family during the road trip to Santazco, in case the Red Wolves, for whom the army has informed about, would make an attack and kidnap Satopi. The father, Mario, is already at Santazco, where he has arrived the previous day, and is going to the meeting place with the Red Wolves, along with the ransom for the gang. He is escorted by a strong military guard that will stay out of sight, and will intervene in case the exchange goes wrong. There's one single problem: the Red Wolves are outnumbered, and Gonzales alone can't fight them all. Eduardo, being determined to protect his property, his stagecoach, in which has invested lots of money, tried to find a shortcut inside the forest, to avoid the Red Wolves as they're making an open attack. But his horses can't run faster than the bandits' horses, so it's only a matter of time before they reach their prey. To everyone's surprise, Doug threw Eduardo out of the stagecoach and stopped the horses' course. Then, he knocked out Gonzales, who has realized that this man is also a Red Wolf, and threatened everyone to deliver him Satopi, so that his allies will take him, just as he planned with them. As the bandits were approaching the stagecoach, Doug sabotaged it, so that no one will escape. Suddenly, the mysterious Jekkyl intervened and slaughtered him with the sword he carried with him, revealing to everyone his true identity: he is a Spanish military officer, and he has the rank of the Captain. He assigned Diego and Bernard to lead the stagecoach deep inside the forest and hide them all, so that Satopi will be safe. Lolita has noticed that Eduardo is seriously injured after his bad fall, so she stayed by his side for a while. Jekkyl revived Gonzales and, after showing him his true identity, asked him to join him on delaying the advance of the Red Wolves, so to give some time to Diego and Bernard. Unfortunately for the two of them, Satopi jumped out of the stagecoach and ran inside the forest. Leticia tried to bring her son back, but she twisted her ankle and got injured as well. And to make things worse, the wheel Doug has sabotaged before was detached from the stagecoach as Diego stopped the horses, rendering the course impossible. Bernard ran to stay close to Satopi, as Diego has asked him to do. Jekkyl managed to kill some Red Wolves, but then he was forced to drop his sword due to the capture of Satopi, who came to the place during the battle, by the bandits. Bernard also came, saying to the Red Wolves that he is Satopi. The bandits, despite being totally confused, decided to capture both children, so that they head to the meeting place with the father of Satopi. The clever Bernard left a message for Jekkyl and Gonzales. Diego and Lolita arrived to the place and Jekkyl informed them about the capture of both Satopi and Bernard. According to the message, Bernard will await for the bandits to leave their secret hideout to fulfill their mission, and then he will send his dog, Figaro, to inform their friends about the place where the secret hideout is. Just before Bernard and Satopi are taken away by the leader and the second in command of the Red Wolves, so to go and take the ransom from the father of Satopi, Bernard asked Figaro to leave the cabin as fast as he can and go to inform Diego and the others about the location of the secret hideout. The pit bull agreed and left away. Somewhere inside the forest, the whole company awaited his arrival. Since he is the only doctor around, Domes treated the injured people, and especially Eduardo, to whom he guaranteed that will keep him alive, so that the latter will continue taking care of his property, and the first will make amends for his past mistakes on his job. Finally, Figaro arrived and Jekkyl and Gonzales followed him till the secret hideout of the bandits. Diego sneaked away, to take action as Zorro and save the children from the Red Wolves. The two officers reached the cabin, but they didn't find the children there. They spared temporarily one of the bandits that stayed in the cabin, to interrogate him. Then, they ran as fast as they could to the meeting place, the big wooden bridge onto the river, where the leader of the Red Wolves and the second in command are with their hostages, and await the father of Satopi along with the ransom. The man, Mario, came at last, along with the soldiers who accompanied him and stayed unseen, so that they observe the exchange and intervene in case something goes wrong. The bandits took the ransom and left to escape from the river along with their hostages. But to their surprise, Zorro arrived and fought against them. With the help of both Bernard and Satopi, whom Zorro untied, he defeated them. Jekkyl and Gonzales arrived at the last minute and were surprised seeing Zorro. The Captain, as it seems, knows a lot about the masked hero of Santazco and his actions against the army. Now that he will be integrated to the military squad of Commander Raymond and begin his duties in California, Jekkyl will have to deal with Zorro on a daily basis. For the present time, he and Gonzales fulfilled their mission: to arrest the leader of the Red Wolves and the second in command for all their crimes, and to lead Satopi back to his parents and Bernard back to Diego and Lolita. And to summarize, the stagecoach was repaired, and the road trip back to Santazco finally ended. Inside the clinic, Eduardo was recovering from his injury, and Dr. Domes stayed by his side. He was relieved that the coachman escaped danger, and his confidence was restored now that he succeeded on his job. Eduardo, now that he changed his judgment about Domes, decided to give him some of his money as a parting gift, since the doctor is very poor and as such, he will not be able to repay it as a loan from his patient. Domes agreed, of course. As for the family, now that they reunited at Santazco, they will enroll Satopi at the school they will choose, so it's time for the child to begin studying, and perhaps both parents will press him to this, each with his own way, of course. And life continues normally for our young protagonists as well, with even more adventures awaiting them in the future.
15	"Lolita's Kiss"
Santazco is in a festive mood, and fireworks flooded the morning sky. It's the day everyone expected: the day of the Governor's Festival. The General Governor of California pays a visit at Santazco once a year, and the whole town organizes a great festival in honor of this infamous celebrity amongst the people and the army. The Governor's Festival holds two competitions: a dance contest and a fencing tournament. And the whole town is invited to attend the festival for free. But the expenses for the preparations are too high, and some day laborers like Maria don't desire to attend the festival, so that they save money. On the other hand, Diego and Bernard will go, to have fun. And Lolita as well, who alerted her friends about her best friend, Arles, who got sick last night and she won't be able to participate in the dance contest. The three pals visited Arles at her house. Arles is the second best dancer of Santazco after Lolita, so she asked her best friend to dance in her place. Lolita hesitated in the beginning, since she didn't practice last night, but then agreed to dance instead of Arles, so that the latter will rest and recover from her illness. As for Lieutenant Gabriel, he practiced with Sergeant Gonzales, who will be the organizer of the festival, at fencing, and of course, he won, since he is the best at fencing, and no one can surpass him, except...Zorro, for whom Gabriel doesn't want to hear when he is in good vibes, and gets totally mad when someone amongst his soldiers dares to mention his name in front of him. The good atmosphere was suddenly disrupted by a known man from the previous episode: Captain Jekkyl. The officer announced to everyone some terrible news: a dangerous gang known as the Scorpians have attacked once more, this time at the town's harbor. He ordered the troops to prepare themselves and head out to the harbor at once, but they were chattering what to do, since they altogether have another mission. Gabriel said to Jekkyl that the army is making the preparations for the Governor's Festival, and they don't have the time to hunt down criminals during this event. Since the General Governor of California pays a visit at Santazco once a year, this festival is very important for the army, and even Commander Raymond has ordered his inferiors to participate in the festival, along with the newcomer Captain Jekkyl. The officer became so enraged, that he decided to deny his participation and chase after the Scorpians all alone. The soldiers got so worried about their new superior officer's decision to fight the Scorpians all by himself, but Gabriel just wished him in a manner of sarcasm good luck. Jekkyl, however, was serious about his decision, because he couldn't let these dangerous bandits commit crimes again and again, now that the whole town, and the army, are busy with the Governor's Festival. After the practice ended, Gonzales paid a visit at the house of his friends, Diego and Bernard, and discussed with them about the events. The two pals were also surprised that this newbie officer thought so straightforwardly and decided to risk his life just to hunt some bandits. But, according to Gonzales, the Scorpians isn't a common case. The army was informed that a few hours ago, the gang has robbed a merchant at the harbor, and escaped undisturbed with all his money and his valuable stuff. Hearing these news, Maria endorsed the courage of Captain Jekkyl and mocked the rest of the army for their reluctance to fulfill their true duties, just to participate in some event of minor importance. Of course, Gonzales understands that the duty of the army is to stop the criminals and protect the people and their properties. But since the General Governor of California pays a visit at Santazco once a year, the whole army is very busy about the preparations for the festival and the big parade in honor of the Governor, that they can't think about anything else like bandits. At this moment, Lolita came to present to everyone the dress she will wear for the dance contest. Gonzales informed the maiden that after the end of the two competitions, the winners, the female one of the dance contest and the male one of the fencing tournament, will kiss each other. This upset the three pals and mainly Lolita, who knows that Lieutenant Gabriel is very skilled at fencing and he always wins. If she wins the dance contest and kisses him...then if we reminisce the past cases, we'll have another proposal of marriage from the devious officer, therefore more troubles. What if Lolita wasn't trying to win the dance contest? She couldn't disappoint her parents and her sick friend, Arles, who has put faith in her in honor of their long friendship. As for Diego, he has his own dilemma: to participate in the fencing tournament as his alter ego and defeat Gabriel, in order to stop him from kissing Lolita, or to help Captain Jekkyl in finding and defeating the Scorpians gang, who continue their full-fledged assaults even now. The situation is very bad for the two protagonists. And it's gonna be even worse for Diego, who has learned from Bernard, who took the information from two boys who were fishing and then delivered it to Captain Jekkyl, that the Scorpians were heading to their hideout at the Skull Rock after another successful robbery, and Jekkyl went after them. Diego had no other choice but to aide the brave officer, so that the latter will return safely to his duties. Meanwhile, the Governor's Festival has begun, and Sergeant Gonzales opened the curtain with the dance contest. Lolita is the last competitor on the list, so the anxiety increased especially for Bernard, who awaited Diego (Zorro) to get the job done quickly and come back. Jekkyl has slaughtered a few of the Scorpians, but then he was cornered by the leader and was about to be shot dead from above by the second in command. Luckily for him, Zorro arrived in time to save his life and then he fought against the bandits by his side, despite the Captain refusing to accept his enemy's help. As the harsh struggle was unfolding, Lolita's performance was unfolding simultaneously. And the two events ended at the same time. Zorro and Jekkyl annihilated the Scorpians, from the lower till the leader. And the General Governor announced the winner of the dance contest: Lolita, causing her parents, Diego's family, and Bernard to cheer. But now, it was time for Gonzales to open the curtain for the fencing tournament, and Zorro had to hurry and leave behind Captain Jekkyl, since he fulfilled his first mission. Viento ran as fast as he could back to Santazco and the festival, at the same time that Lieutenant Gabriel had his performances with the best fencers of Santazco. After the end of the last performance, in which Gabriel won as well, the Governor awarded the winners of the two competitions some gifts of special importance, as part of the festival. And now, the time has come for the grand prize: the kiss. Everyone was watching with bated breath as the overjoyed Lieutenant Gabriel was prepared to claim the coveted prize he expected so much. But, as luck would have it, he's only a heartbeat away from success, because the great hero of the people of Santazco finally made it, and everyone, mainly Lolita and Bernard, breathed a sigh of relief. Raymond decided to agree with Zorro's suggestion to include himself to the list of the competitors for the fencing tournament, despite the fact that the result has already been announced. Everyone started to support their hero, as he's ready to give one of the most important fights in his life. Zorro insisted that it will be a fair fight, but we all know that the army plays dirty, and Zorro was about to be defeated because he was blinded by the sun rays that were reflected onto a mirror a troop was holding. Another breathtakingly moment has occurred, but at the last minute, Zorro escaped defeat and death and knocked out Gabriel, claiming at last the grand prize of the festival, a truly tender kiss from Lolita, who let loose on her unique moment with her beloved man. And now that this mission was fulfilled as well, it's time for the big escape from Raymond and his troops who were desperately shooting at him. That moment was truly special for Lolita, but it is still too early for her to find out who is behind the mask of Zorro.
16	"The Sword from Japan"
At Vega's manor, Maria was gathering some water from the pit, so that the family and the animals will be refreshed during the day. Suddenly, a group of strangers came to the manor, and asked Maria to give some of the family's water to them and their fatigued horses. The housemaid reluctantly did the favor to these people. Don Alejandro came as well, and asked these men where they are going. The head of the group, Alonso, explained to the landowner that he and his comrades are going to Kuega Pass, which is 10 miles north of Santazco, as Don Alejandro said. He asked Alonso out of mere curiosity if he and his comrades are heading to the harbor, but the man didn't give the landowner a clear answer, and that put the latter in deep thoughts. At that moment, Diego returned home along with Tackle, his pet dog, and saw the same men passing by him at full speed. At the back of one of their horses, he noticed one familiar scar: a scorpion. He instantly asked his father and Maria who were these people and what they wanted from them. Don Alejandro said to his son that these people were heading to Kuega Pass, where there is nothing but a small village. At night, Diego had a secret conversation with his brother, Bernard, about what he saw this morning. Bernard was totally surprised that his brother witnessed the Scorpians gang, despite him having annihilated them all in the previous episode. As it seemed, Zorro was dealt only with a small part of that numerous gang. Since they were heading out to the harbor, if they knew about a secret cargo that was about to arrive at the town of Santazco tomorrow, the bandits would use Kuega Pass as their base station, so to ambush their prey with much ease. Bernard made reference to Sergeant Gonzales, who took lots of troops this morning, and headed out to the harbor, in order to pick up a package that is meant for the General Governor: a Japanese sword which belonged to a legendary samurai. Since these swords are rumored to cut the steel with accuracy and as such, they are valuable, Diego and Bernard decided to take action, so that the Scorpians will not get the Governor's gift for themselves. The next morning, the General Governor welcomed to the great hall of the military camp Commander Raymond and Brown the fence. The two men announced to the representative of the government of California that he is about to expect a special gift they personally made to him as a token of their gratitude. Yesterday, Brown has ordered that merchandise, and the ship that carries it has arrived at the harbor today at morning. Hearing that he's about to obtain a samurai sword from Japan in a few hours, the Governor became excited, and decided that he'll obtain that gift during his official meal with the officers at noon. Zorro and Little Zorro passed through Kuega Pass and reached the village, which the Scorpians gang has taken over and then captured the people. Gonzales with his platoon arrived as well. The Scorpians were hiding everywhere in the village, in order to murder the soldiers before they go to the harbor and take the sword. As such, Zorro rushed to warn Gonzales about the ambush. The Sergeant didn't want to listen to his enemy at first, but then he understood the situation and followed his plan. Along with Zorro, the soldiers passed through the village at full speed, so that the bullets of the Scorpians will not aim at them. The plan succeeded, and Gonzales rushed back to the camp, so to inform his superiors about the danger and ask for reinforcements. In actuality, Zorro and the soldiers distracted the Scorpians, so that Little Zorro will sneak from behind and release the hostages. For his misfortune, one family remained captured, and that caused trouble. Zorro came back to the village and demanded that the Scorpians will surrender, but some bandits showed him the family that is still captured, and the masked man dropped his sword, asking the gang to spare the family and take him instead. The leader, Alonso, objected, telling him that his gang only wants the sword from Japan, and made an exchange with Zorro: the Governor's gift for the captured family. The masked hero hesitated to agree since he doesn't trust a gangster's word, but then he considered it very carefully. Gonzales arrived at the military camp, at the same time the General Governor had an official meal with the officers and he received his gift, the sword from Japan. After the award of the gift, Gabriel carried the news of Gonzales to Raymond, who got shocked after hearing that the Scorpians stroke again. He decided that the Governor will not learn a single thing about the assault at Kuega Pass, so he hushed up the event, and ordered his entire squad to guard Santazco and the General Governor, along with the sword of Japan, instead. The townspeople were informed about the orders of the army, and Don Alejandro told Lolita about the situation at Kuega Pass. The maiden was unable to persuade the officers, let alone Gonzales, to help the hostages of the Scorpians. So, everyone went to ask Diego and Bernard's aide, who were discussing the deal they made with the bandits. The two of them suggested that, in order to avoid the worst scenario, thus bloodshed, they must await Zorro to make his move tomorrow, and everyone agreed. The problem is that many soldiers guard heavily the General Governor night and day, so sneaking inside the military camp and stealing the Japanese sword for the Scorpians gang, in exchange for the hostages, will be proved an extremely difficult task. But time is running out, and Diego (Zorro) decided to take the risk and act that night. The masked hero had a hard time observing the guards' movements around the building, but in the end, he got inside unnoticed, and entered the Governor's room as the latter was sleeping. He took the sword and signed his presence onto the bedsheets, in order to inform the Governor about the events at Kuega Pass. When he woke up the next morning, the Governor got upset with the disappearance of his gift. The shock doubled when he saw the “Z” sign. Instantly, he alerted the whole army about the invasion of Zorro, who arrived at the village with the bargaining chip in his hands. The Scorpians were informed about Zorro's arrival and came out of the captured family's house to fulfill their deal. Alonso, who demanded that Zorro drops his weapons, took the Japanese sword and started to admire it, but he quickly neglected the deal and attempted to murder the disarmed masked man with the sword. Unluckily for him, Little Zorro stopped his attack in time and the counterattack began. The dogs, Tackle and Figaro, the horse, Viento, and the people of Santazco joined forces and, after a barrage of stone attacks, they made the Scorpians, minus the leader, surrender to them and let the captured family go. But Zorro was fighting against Alonso, who has still the Japanese sword that can cut the steel with accuracy. The Scorpians leader indeed broke his enemy's sword, but Zorro swiftly attached the pieces and to Alonso's surprise, the Japanese sword broke in two. Finally admitting defeat, the Scorpians leader begged for mercy. When peace finally returned, Paco, the husband of the freed family, and his wife expressed their gratitude to Zorro and the people of Santazco, who achieved victory due to their brave actions that saved them all. Unfortunately, the army was about to arrive at Kuega Pass, so the two masked heroes left away. The mad Governor found the sword at last. He was sad that it broke, but when he examined it carefully, he learned the reason why it broke so easily, and that made him even madder. That sword is made out of bamboo, and he told his Commander off for his ignorance about the Japanese swords. In the same tenor, Zorro chastised Raymond for his choice not to send his soldiers at Kuega Pass after learning about the attack of the Scorpians there, but instead setting them all at Santazco, and forcing the townspeople to take matters into their own hands. The enraged Commander shouted at Zorro and sent his soldiers to hunt him and Little Zorro down. But for his misfortune, the Governor has learned the whole case of the story and his frustration intensified at such a point, that he decided to depart from Santazco without saying anything to anyone. That experience was truly a big stab at the army's prestige. Everyone was accusing everyone for plenty of reasons, but in the end, the one who took all the blame was the one who constantly takes all the blame: Sergeant Gonzales...
17	"Cornered"
Figaro, Bernard's closest friend, has earned for a very long time the love and the grace of everyone, and especially Maria, but lately he has overdone it. The reason is the scoldings of the housemaid towards Tackle for his constant idleness. As it seemed, Figaro hasn't adapted himself to living along with Tackle yet, because the latter lives with the Vega family much longer than the newly pit bull and as such, Figaro hasn't seen the pet dog of Diego as a good pal yet. Exploiting his bad habit and Maria's stifling attitude towards him, Figaro decided to give Tackle a hard time with some shenanigans, in order to achieve his goal: to make Maria throw Tackle out of the house and him to be fully loved by the housemaid. To make things worse, Figaro framed Tackle for his own mischiefs, so that he avoids being scolded by Maria. The last incident was almost the last straw, and the enraged Maria threatened to send away Tackle for good if he “makes another mischief” again. Diego and Bernard reminded Maria that Tackle is a skilled hunting dog, and as such, they decided to show her that is true by taking him out for hunting, where Don Alejandro and Don Carlos will be as well. Maria agreed with the youngsters' idea and warned them to avoid the worst, for Tackle's sake. No one knows why Tackle has such bad luck and Maria is totally upset with him, so Diego and Bernard took Figaro with them as well. At the forest, the two dogs began to run, looking for some good prey, but Figaro preferred to ditch the effort and get some sleep, since his intuition tells him that sooner or later, Tackle will get into trouble for real and this time, he doesn't want to be involved in this. Tackle indeed got into trouble with the army, while he was trying to catch a deer. The Lieutenant attempted to shoot him dead, because he inadvertently stopped his patrol's course inside the forest, but Alejandro stopped him and paid him off with a large amount of money, so that he spares his family's pet dog. Gabriel did it, because he is in a good mood for some reason, and he decided to forget it all. When the situation calmed, the patrol resumed its course. Now it's time for Tackle's intuition to take action. What dangerous stuff the carriage of the army had, that made the dog growling madly? We won't learn it for the present time. The incident with the army and Tackle's nearly death has reached Maria's ears, because Don Alejandro informed her. The anger of the housemaid skyrocketed, that she threw Tackle out of the house this time. Not to mention about the scolding towards Diego, the person who has trained this dog for so many years, because his father was forced to give a large amount of the family's hardworking money to Lieutenant Gabriel, just for the latter to spare Tackle. Full of sorrow, the desperate dog walked away. The trampling of some horses that passed in front of Tackle at full speed frightened him and made him run away. The cause of all this was Lolita, who arrived at Vega's house to inform everyone about a serious event: the capture of an old rancher who lives close by, and another man, by the army. According to the story, the rancher has found the previous day that man out of his ranch, heavlly injured. He treated him and he let him stay for the whole night. Unfortunately, the mysterious man, after his recovery, confided to the old rancher, Powell, that he is a rebel, and after finding him the next day, the soldiers also arrested the rancher, with the charge of fostering a rebel and as such, he is also a part of Santazco's rebelling organizations. Now Powell and the rebel are tied out of the military camp and are about to be executed tomorrow morning by the army as a paradigmatic punishment towards everyone. At night, lots of civilians gathered outside the military camp. Lolita was amongst them. Bernard came later and informed her that Diego got seriously injured because he fell from his horse. Of course, we all know the reason why Diego did not arrive in time. And, instead of him, his alter ego came to the place, as usual. Gabriel was determined to finish with his worst enemy once and for all, because he showed him the army's latest secret weapon that was hiding inside the carriage from before: hunting dogs. A truly deadly weapon, and since Zorro is dressed in black, the dogs were mercilessly attacking him, to the point of killing him. The injured Zorro was picked up by his horse, Viento, before the army dogs finish him and ran away at full speed, but the well trained animals torn a part of Zorro's cape, and as Gabriel explained, they have caught Zorro's scent and can track him anywhere. Back at home, Diego threw out his uniform and lied in bed, writhing in pain since he got bitten very badly at his right arm. He got surprised when he saw the army along with their dogs out of his house. Bernard explained to him what he learned from Gabriel, so it's only a matter of a few minutes before he is caught by the army. Despite being cornered, Diego refused to surrender without a fight, so he became his alter ego once again and lured away from his home the soldiers and their dogs. After a long pursuit, Diego (Zorro) managed to fool them by using a scarecrow as a decoy, so that he escapes unnoticed, but he didn't know that one army dog followed a different path from the others, and now hunts him wherever he goes. Lolita found Zorro and she and Bernard tried to lead him away onto a carriage, but the solo army dog found them and proceeded to attack them. In the state Zorro was, he couldn't protect his friends. His wounds were very serious, that he was truly on the edge of the abyss. Before the fatal hit, however, an unexpected friend came to the rescue and sent the army dog away. It was Tackle. The three friends took that chance to ride at full speed to Lolita's family's barn, so that she will cure Zorro's wounds. Amazed by his courage, and feeling total remorse for his bad behavior towards him, Figaro apologized to Tackle and confessed him his shenanigans. The humble dog forgave his friend, of course, and both forgot it all. Then, they came up with a clever plan that would get rid of their pursuers for the present time. By using pepper which he stole from the kitchen, Tackle stimulated the army dogs' sense of smell, and made them sneezing uncontrollably. They'll need lots of days to smell in normal ways, so Zorro will get a good rest for the whole night. While Gabriel had ordered his soldiers to catch Zorro off-guard during his attempt to release the two prisoners, he was the one being caught off-guard. The fully recovered masked hero, with the help of Little Zorro, dressed the Lieutenant with his previous uniform which, by the way, has still his scent, and sent him on a wild chase with the army dogs and the soldiers. Now that Sergeant Gonzales is all alone, Zorro released the rebel and Powell without a problem, and instructed them on escaping fast. Additionally, Zorro advised the rebel to take care of the old rancher along with his comrades, and stay for the present time unseen from the army. The man agreed. And for the finale, Zorro signed this heroic rescue on Gonzales's uniform (not the jacket, because the Sergeant ran out of them). Diego, Bernard, and Lolita reported to Alejandro and Maria Tackle's brave actions that saved Zorro, and asked them to welcome back the dog. They agreed to do it, now that Tackle and Figaro have become good friends, and Maria started to treat Tackle with the same way she does with Figaro, giving smiles to everyone's faces.
18	"The Clever Detective"
It's night, and a big party is underway. This party is in honor of Lapaz, a good friend of Diego and Lolita. Lapaz's family has organized that welcoming party, so to celebrate the young man's return from Spain, where he attended the same school as Diego, but he spent double the time than him, 'cause he has skipped lots of classes, despite him having achieved better results at exams than Diego. The whole town of Santazco, along with the families of Diego and Lolita, was invited at the party. And the army is also present. This family has a dark past. Firstly is Don Jose, Lapaz's father. This landowner has faced economical problems when he was active in Spain, and due to the accumulation of lots of debts, he fired almost all his employees, leaving them jobless and without money and home. But Don Jose has a good background as well, because he offered a big financial aid to the Spanish army and to many charity organizations. As for the son, Lapaz, he's hung out with the wrong kind-of crowd in Spain, and he has confided in Diego his troubles. So, during the party, Lapaz asked his friend to keep his promise once more, and not tell anyone about his secret. Diego, to honor his friendship with Lapaz and the good times they had together, gave his word to keep the secret of his friend safe. The party proceeded normally, until something terrible happened: Don Jose was found by Sergeant Gonzales near the house fields blood-covered on the ground. Captain Jekkyl checked Don Jose's state, and he announced that he's still alive, but heavily injured. So, he ordered the soldiers to lead him to his room, so that the family doctor will treat him. As for Gonzales, he was hit badly in his head, so he is fine. Due to the incident, the party stopped and all the attendees went back home. The next day, Gabriel and Jekkyl ordered the soldiers to arrest Gonzales and take him back to the military camp, where they'll interrogate him for his presence at the crime scene. Bernard watched the Sergeant's capture and ran back home to inform Diego and Lolita. He told them that Gonzales was owing to Don Jose some money, and that is the reason of his capture. Lolita reminisced the time she saw Jose approaching Gonzales during the party, and he asked him to follow him somewhere, so that they talk privately. And Gonzales, during the interrogation, revealed that when he was discussing with Don Jose, he's assaulted by someone who hit him in the head and knocked him unconscious. When Gonzales regained his senses, he saw Jose laid on the ground with a knife on his back. A few minutes have passed, and Jekkyl arrived at the interrogating office to tell Gonzales that he is cleared of the charges, and he has found the true culprit of the crime: Lapaz, Jose's son. As it was revealed, Lapaz was hung out with gamblers back in Spain, and he owes them lots of money. When he returned home at the same day the welcoming party was organized and the incident happened, Lapaz asked his father to give him some money, but the latter, after learning about his son's debts, refused, telling him that he needs to work hard to earn money. Lapaz insisted and, due to his anxiety, he threatened to murder his father. When the army entered the house to arrest Lapaz with these charges, the young man ran away due to his panic. Finally, the troops arrested him and led him back to the military camp for interrogation. Diego, Bernard, and Lolita saw the capture of Lapaz and got surprised about the reason. While they were discussing about the event in the town square, they noticed the debt collectors the gamblers have sent, so to collect money from the family of Lapaz. Then, Gonzales appeared, with a bandage on his head. He told to his friends that the army's made its investigation before arresting Lapaz, and they found some of the house's servants as the witnesses of the case. But Diego got surprised that the one who attacked Gonzales used a very large rock instead of a smaller one, and started to suspect that the army has the wrong person in custody. During the interrogation, Lapaz revealed that he was inside his father's office while the party's ongoing, and was looking for some money inside the safe. But he could not open it, 'cause he doesn't know the secret password. And since he was still at the house, he denied the fact that he attempted to murder his father, despite the argument they had before the party. Commander Raymond arrived with Jekkyl, to inform Lapaz that he is punishable by imprisonment of 25 years, as the General Governor of California said, and is about to be executed if Don Jose perishes from his injury. The soldiers led Lapaz to jail, despite the young man's objections that he did not attempt to kill his father and that he is innocent. Diego, wanting to prove Lapaz's innocence and free him from jail, explained to Bernard that, since he has observed the debt collectors, he is about to investigate the hotel room where they reside, in hopes of finding some incriminating clues against them. Then, he asked Bernard to announce to the people that they must gather at the crime scene at night, to see with their own eyes that Lapaz is innocent. So, the two brothers took action as their respective alter egos. Zorro, along with Tackle, sneaked into the debt collectors' room and, after a clear search, they found some valuable clues: a contract and a shirt which is blood-covered. He gave the paper to Little Zorro and kept the shirt. As for the little boy, he delivered the message of Zorro to everyone in town, and lured the debt collectors, who have learned about it, with the contract. Zorro managed to sneak inside the military camp and, after freeing Lapaz, made the whole army to follow him and the young man to the crime scene. Everything was set up. First, Zorro asked Lapaz to lift the large rock that hit Gonzales in his head. When everyone saw the young man being unable to lift the rock, Zorro concluded that he isn't responsible for the assault against the Sergeant. Then, he turned down the accusation of Gabriel towards Gonzales, saying that he accepted the hit first, and then Don Jose was found heavily injured. Hearing these revelations, Jekkyl asked Zorro to tell to everyone who is the culprit, and the masked man showed the first incriminating clue he gathered: the shirt with the blood stains. The debt collectors came at last to the crime scene, and when they saw the army, they attempted to run away, but Zorro stopped them and threw them the shirt, showing to everyone present that these are the culprits of the case. He presented to them the second incriminating clue: the paper that contains the agreement Lapaz has made with the debt collectors. When Zorro read the terms of the contract, Lapaz got surprised that these people involved his family's land and property among the goods they will foreclose if Lapaz doesn't repay his debts. Zorro explained to him that they've forged his words and his signature. Don Jose, who's recovered from his injuries, also pointed out the debt collectors as the ones who assaulted him, and Zorro concluded that these people just wanted to make sure that Don Jose would perish from his injuries and Lapaz would be executed by the army, so to snatch the family's land and property undisturbed, violating the contract's terms. Now that the truth was revealed, the army tried to capture the debt collectors, but they defended themselves by force. For their misfortune, Zorro proved to be better in combat than these people, and with the aid of Lapaz and the Sergeant, he defeated them and let the army arrest them and lead them to jail. And, to thank Zorro for his help towards them and their son, both parents of Lapaz demanded that Raymond will let Zorro go, with the threat of talking to the General Governor, in order to find out if he truly suggested that Lapaz would be sentenced to death or not. Raymond finally decided to spare his enemy, who warned him about his position in the Spanish army, and advised him to arrest the right people next time. Then, he bid a farewell to the family of Lapaz and the people of Santazco. After everyone left, Lapaz apologized to his father for involving him in his troubles, and he promised to him that he'll start working honestly from now on, so that their family will prosper. Don Jose understood his son's feelings and forgave him.
19	"A House of Deadly Tricks"
Commander Raymond, in another attempt to destroy Zorro, contracted with two inventors, who have constructed a giant house with lots of deadly tricks, where anyone can easily be trapped and killed. The first brother invested lots of money on this project, and the other brother made the blueprints. Raymond has sent Lieutenant Gabriel and Sergeant Gonzales to inspect the house of the two inventors before its usage. Wanner, the one who invested the money, welcomed the officers to the house and escorted them inside, to the control room. For starters, they were left unimpressed due to the strange structure of the interior of the house, but then, the traps were activated just by one complicated mechanism, and that pleased them, mainly Gabriel. Wanner introduced the officers to his mad brother, Sykes, the one who made the blueprints and the traps of the house. Just one test with a puppet of Zorro and some of the traps gave to the officers the impression that their worst enemy's days are finally over. Wanner reassured them that Zorro will be lured to their creation, because he's made a scheme that we'll learn next. Meanwhile, back to Santazco, Don Carlos got into deep troubles with his friends, who were enraged with him 'cause he lost all their money they invested on some business plan of his. Carlos begged them to forgive him and help him, because he was also deceived by the one with whom has discussed about business, but the men didn't listen to him, and started to chase him around the streets. Catarina and Lolita begged the Vega family to help Carlos, telling them that his friends have lost faith in him due to his mistake and his life is in danger. Don Alejandro calmed the women and told Diego and Bernard to find Carlos and lead him secretly to the house. The two brothers agreed. During the night, they found the frightened Carlos hiding behind some bushes inside the forest, and put him inside a carriage with plenty of manure, so that his friends won't look inside. After Diego fooled the men with a made-up story, he and Bernard led Carlos inside their house safe and sound, and both husband and wife ran to embrace each other (but at the last second, Catarina shoved Carlos due to the bad smell of the manure). Maria then made a little coffee to Carlos, in order for him to relax and feel better. Don Alejandro asked his friend how he ended up losing so much money, and Carlos explained to everyone the whole story. One week ago, while Carlos was shopping at the market, he met a stranger who wanted to sell him a well-bred horse from another town, and he had ready some more to sell until the end of the day. Instantly, Carlos ran to inform his friends and together, they gathered the needed amount of money for the purchase of the horses, hoping that they will make a fortune with this investment. While Carlos was going to meet the stranger with the money in his hands, the latter came from behind and stole the bag from him. After the conclusion of the story, everyone present realized that this investing venture was a scam and the stranger only wanted to steal from Carlos and the other wealthy friends of his. The Pulido family stayed at Vega's for tonight, so to avoid further danger, mainly Carlos. The next day, Diego and Bernard decided to catch the thief and take back the stolen money, so they looked for the blacksmith who made the horseshoes for the man's horses. They heard a familiar name, which Diego mentioned to Carlos: Wanner. To the young man's surprise, Bernard wasn't with him when he went at Pulido's house, and Lolita's looking for him everywhere for the lunch. Diego suspected that Bernard went to Wanner's house to take back the money, and since he knows who that man is and his secret project, he decided to go to this place to save his younger brother before he gets killed by the traps of the house. Little Zorro used a clever trick to force Wanner and Sykes to come out of their house, and demanded that they give the stolen money to him. Of course, the two brothers refused and lured the boy inside the house of tricks, where they activated plenty of traps, so to give him a big scare and force him to cry for Zorro's help. For starters, Little Zorro stayed strong, but when Wanner and Sykes threatened to kill him, he finally cried for his friend to come and save him. Zorro managed to create an opening and took his friend to safety. Totally terrified with the idea of being killed, Little Zorro started to sob, but Zorro consoled him, and reminded him that they've got a job to do and make some people happy once again. The boy regained his confidence and stayed by Zorro's side as they struggled to avoid the traps and remain alive. In the meantime, Wanner and Sykes informed the army that Zorro's been trapped inside the house of tricks and is about to be killed in any time. And Carlos and Catarina planned to move away from Santazco and sell their own house, causing Lolita to panic and worry. Fortunately for the masked heroes, Viento heard his master's signal and arrived to save both Zorros from the worst trap of the house. Sykes has deployed so many traps, but Zorro survived and proceeded normally, and that made him lose his sense of humor for a while. In a last attempt to kill Zorro, the totally mad Sykes decided to blow up the entire house, and that upset Wanner, since he was the one who invested lots of money on this house. But Sykes didn't care and lit the fuse, and both ran out with all the stolen money. Gabriel and Gonzales, when they learned about the upcoming explosion, ran along with the brothers. After a few seconds, the house blew up, and Sykes laughed in a fit of madness and joy. As for Gabriel, he rewarded the brothers only with a gold medal, since Wanner possesses the stolen money from Carlos and his friends. But he who laughs last laughs best, because both Zorros emerged alive from the debris and the smoke. As Zorro said, they sensed that the house was about to blow, so they hid inside Wanner's safe, where there was still a part of the stolen money. And now, it's time for the masked heroes to punish Wanner for his evil actions towards Carlos and the people of Santazco, and to take the money back. But, the two mad siblings needed to be rewarded for their house of deadly tricks that has impressed Zorro. So, after a surprising parting gift, the Zorros returned to Carlos with the money, so that he gives them back to his friends, who finally forgave him.
20	"Vengeance"
Bernard, along with his friends, Nikita, Sinio, and Casas, were having fun playing the roles of Zorro, Lolita, and the soldiers, when suddenly the game was interrupted by a boy who shoved Bernard, because he was dressed as Zorro. The boy, Ferino, hates the hero of Santazco for some reason, and has a deep admiration for the army. Bernard and his friends argued with him for what is true and what is a lie, and both he and Ferino ended up tussling and getting in big troubles with an orange seller, because they accidentally destroyed his stand. After the two boys ran away safely, they had a little snack (with some oranges that unreasonably ended up in their pockets) to calm themselves down and introduced each other. Bernard asked Ferino why he hates Zorro so much, and the boy revealed the reason: his father, who was a Sergeant, got fired from the army because he couldn't defeat Zorro again and again. That has enraged Commander Raymond, who decided to fire that man, in the presence of Sergeant Gonzales, and wallow his poor family in great despair. Bernard tried once more to convince the vengeful boy to listen to the truth, that the army is bad and Zorro fights for justice and freedom. The boys argued again, and in the end, Bernard decided to gather all his friends and together, they will talk to Ferino about the tyrannical actions of the army at the people's expense. During the conversation, even another child revealed that once, some soldiers foreclosed all the wheat his family had, leading them to hunger. Despite the stories he heard, Ferino still believes that the army is righteous, and basically, he justified their aspect that the poor people need to work even harder and produce more food for the state. Bernard couldn't believe that his new friend said such harsh words and, not having any other choice, he told his older brother, Diego, about the whole situation. The young man couldn't let that boy, Ferino, hate his alter ego even more, so he suggested that he must see with his own eyes Zorro helping the poor people and implementing the law. Bernard, continuing the role playing, wrote in his mind a good scenario that will help him changing Ferino's aspect about Zorro and making him believe that he's truly a hero for the poor people. But as he was walking the streets, he noticed Ferino getting into a fight with Sinio and Casas, because the two of them saw him aiming one of the wanted posters of Zorro with his arrows. He tried to stop the fight, but without a result. Fortunately for everyone, the father of Ferino, Mr. Canek, arrived and calmed the situation. But some other company came here as well. It was Lieutenant Gabriel, along with his patrol, who witnessed the boy's hotblooded passion of finding and defeating Zorro. Sergeant Gonzales recognized Ferino and his father, so Gabriel suggested to Ferino that he will enroll his father to the army if he defeats Zorro. Of course, everyone knows how liar and deceitful Gabriel is, and along with him Raymond, but anyway, this proposal determined the vengeful boy even more to find and destroy Zorro, so that he will make his family happy once again. As such, when he returned home at noon, Ferino started to make a net, so that he will trap Zorro before he finishes him. At this time, Canek also came home to announce to his family that the people of Santazco were searching for gold at the north side of the river all day, and he decided to join the expedition, in hopes of making his family rich someday. He saw his son making a net, and when Ferino told his father the reason he works so hard on this, he expressed him his unwillingness of returning to the army, since these moments of his belong to the past and he has to move forward, for the sake of his family. Even so, Ferino didn't give up the try, and continued his preparations on trapping Zorro, despite Bernard's pleas to stop being so stubborn and listen to the truth, that Lieutenant Gabriel won't keep his promise. All of a sudden, while Canek was searching along the townspeople for gold, a giant boulder trapped his feet and he started to ache. The people who were around managed to remove the boulder and free Canek, but his injury was so bad, that the doctor said that he won't be able to get up from bed for a long time. Ferino volunteered to search for gold in his father's place, and Bernard decided to aid him. The next morning, the two boys returned to the river and started the work. After a long time of hard searching, Ferino dug up a big nugget. He showed it to Bernard, and the two boys cheered full of excitement. The good news spread swiftly around Santazco, and even the army heard of that discovery. Due to that, Gonzales revealed to Diego and Bernard that Lieutenant Gabriel plans to foreclose the nugget from Canek's family, with the excuse of obtaining the monthly taxes from the family. Hearing this, Diego sneaked away and turned into his alter ego, so that he prevents the greedy officer from stealing the nugget. Bernard also took action as his own alter ego, so that he offers his help. Indeed, before Ferino sells his discovery to get some money for his father's operation, Gabriel came to the family's house and took away the nugget, forcing the enraged boy to chase after him. After finding the spot where Ferino found the nugget, Gabriel decided that his troops will build a fence around the river, so to delimit the area and monopolize the gold that exists there. But Ferino found him and threatened him to give him back his gold. Gabriel refused and drew his sword to kill the boy since he messes up with his plans. For his misfortune, Zorro came up and saved Ferino's life. A big fight then started. Ferino was amazed that the person he hates so much wants to help him do the right thing for his family. When Gabriel managed to corner Zorro, he repeated his proposal to Ferino as the latter was hesitating to aim at Zorro or not. Finally, the boy drew a conclusion: Gabriel is the one who is evil. As such, he activated the trap that was meant for Zorro, and the latter gave the final blow, giving the nugget back to Ferino. Little Zorro finished the troops and Zorro, along with him and Ferino, made a great escape, igniting even more the rage of Gabriel for his enemy. But for Ferino, Zorro stopped being his enemy, and now that he saw him offering his aid firsthand, he treated him as a true friend and a hero for him and his family. As such, the boy apologized tearfully to Zorro for his mistreatment. And now, it was his turn to do the right thing, by selling his nugget and making money, so that his dear father will be treated and the happiness will return to the family. After the operation, Ferino and his parents decided to move away from Santazco, so that they begin a new life to the next town. And, if any evil soldier appears, the boy will fight him bravely, just like Zorro did for his sake before. Now that the kids of Santazco made a true friend like Ferino, their hopes that the world can change for the best have flared up, and the heroes like Zorro will always support them, as the fight for freedom continues.
21	"Wings of Dreams"
Leona, another childhood friend of Bernard and a religious individual, has made an improvised hang glider, and has presented it to his friends, who wanted for him to test it. As such, a sunny day with a stiff breeze, Diego, Bernard, Lolita, and Nikita went along with Leona to a high cliff above the ocean, so that the conditions will be appropriate for the test. Sergeant Gonzales was also with the pals, despite him not believing in the dreams of flying that children like Leona have in their life. After a preach to God, Leona began to descend the mountainside as fast as possible, so that he will be lifted from the ground and fly high. The wind was still blowing to the right direction, but Leona had a problem: he couldn't increase his speed at his feet. When he tripped by a pebble, he went out of control, and his pals ran to his aide. The boy soon ended up to a nearby cabin, where there were two men that, judging by their telling, are bandits, and they were planning to strike a ship tomorrow, as per their boss's instructions. The hang glider, after the crash, was totally damaged, and Leona got into trouble with the two bandits, who attempted to slay him since he got involved with their plans without him knowing it. Fortunately, thanks to the screams of Diego and the others, the bandits spared Leona and threw him out of the damaged cabin, along with his hang glider, so that they focus on their plans. But unluckily, they couldn't proceed due to the disappearance of their note which contains their boss's orders. And, although they suspected Leona for this, they couldn't assault him and his friends, because Gonzales came to pick the youngsters up and take them all back home. The two thugs, Rand and Hawk, decided to follow the carriage in secret, so that they bide their time to take back their note and continue their schemes. During the sunset, Leona returned home, where his father, Rondo the blacksmith, awaited him. When he learned the reason of being away from home all day, Rondo scolded his son for attempting to fulfill his dream of flying once again. They argued about the well-being of the family since the mother has passed away six years ago, until Leona left away and went to stay at Vega's for some time. While the boy was with his friends, confessing him that his deceased mother was dreaming of flying as well, and when he was four years old, they shared the same dream, his father was assaulted by the duo of the bandits from before, who wanted to use him so that they give the son a big scare. Leona saw his father in a bad condition after returning home. Rondo asked him what these bandits wanted from him so badly, but the boy couldn't answer him, until he discovered the note that was entangled in his hang glider. When Leona read the paper, he got terrified, that he couldn't do anything else than taking care of his injured father and keeping the note away from everyone, especially his friends. The next day, Diego, along with Bernard, escorted Lolita and Maria to the harbor, where the two ladies will board the ship from the Hudson Post that sails to Europe, which is, by any chance, the target of the duo of the bandits who are part of the infamous John's gang. After returning to town, Diego and Bernard passed by Leona's house, so to ask their friend to join him in another attempt of flying. They were surprised of the boy's bitter attitude and his unwillingness of ditching the family's work, until they learned the reason for all of this. Now that Lolita and Maria were in danger, the three friends decided to inform the army and warn the passengers of the ship about the piracy. Rondo, now that he recovered a little, gave Leona an encouraging speech, and the boy understood what he had to do. But, the gangsters made their move, and the Hudson was already in the open sea, so Zorro couldn't reach it. And although Bernard and Leona delivered the bandits' note to the police department, Gonzales, as per Gabriel's order, sent them away, so the situation was hopeless, until Zorro came to ask help from Leona and his hang glider, which is fully repaired. This is the only means of transport that will lead the masked hero to the ship while it is in the open sea. Leona was uncertain if he can do it this time, but Bernard, and even Rondo, encouraged him to give it a try, and Zorro will help him. As such, they headed out to the same high cliff, so that the strong wind will help the process. Since Leona couldn't run faster before, he, along with Zorro, relied on Viento's speed to descend the mountainside fast and then be lifted from the ground. They made it at last, and Bernard, along with Rondo, cheered with joy for the boy's achievement. From this point on, Leona will take the lead, by following the wind's direction. And Zorro will descend to the ship, and take care of the pirates, as he did. But the leader, Mr. John, proved to be a tough nut to crack. He easily disarmed Zorro and was about to finish him, until Leona saved him with his reckless landing onto the surprised Mr. John. Lolita and Maria witnessed Leona's achievement and congratulated the boy, along with Zorro. The overjoyed Leona thanked his dear mother from the depths of his heart, because she gave his son a mental support and helped him on fulfilling his dream. And the trip of the Hudson ship continued normally, now that the danger has passed and everyone were saved.
22	"Gonzales the Thief"
Pedro Gonzales is truly the most unlucky person that ever existed in life so far. Being the firstborn of a six-membered family of poor farmers, he was suffering a true martyrdom. No one could help economically his family, they didn't have enough money to buy food, water and clothing, and everyone marginalized them, so the family had to work very hard in order to survive during these circumstances. When he began his enlistment to the Spanish army, Gonzales suffered lots of tortures. He was promoted only to Sergeant, where he remained for almost two decades, and he was receiving a huge mistreatment from his superiors, especially Lieutenant Gabriel, who was treating Gonzales on a daily basis like a joke and was ordering him to obey to everything Commander Raymond says without any questions. Despite his hard life in the army, Gonzales eats well, is dressed with good clothes, and is filled every day with plenty of energy to spare at work, because the state covers the cost for all these goods. And he has high hopes that one day he will be promoted, and he'll start commanding his own battalion, in order to leave behind his tortures and make his living mother proud for once. But with lots of enemies he has made in his career and with only a few friends, not to mention about the ridicule he suffers from his fellow citizens, because of his deep adoration for food and wine, Gonzales may not be able to make a good deed, thanks to whom everyone without exception will love him and respect him. One night, while he was taking a walk around the streets after eating and drinking well in a bar, Gonzales spotted a burglar sneaking inside a house. He was about to call for help, but then he decided to capture that burglar by himself, thinking that this might be his chance to make a good deed that will make him a true hero. So, he entered from the window as well, but the noise he made scared the burglar, who fled away. The lady of the house got scared seeing the Sergeant, and immediately thought that he is a thief, but Gonzales just passed by her and continued chasing after the burglar. And as it seemed that he lost him, the thief ambushed Gonzales and knocked him unconscious with a hit in the head. The whole town and the army learned immediately about the news of the robbery the next day. The first worst part is that the most valuable jewel of the lady, Mrs. Deluchia, was stolen. The second worst part is that Gonzales is accused for the theft of the jewel, and Mrs. Deluchia, as Raymond suggested, decided to offer a reward to anyone who finds and returns to her the wedding gift from her deceased husband. Now Gonzales, who has regained his senses, was about to get into the biggest trouble in his life, 'cause the whole Santazco considers him a thief, and everyone wants to capture him, so to obtain the reward: 100 gold coins for Mrs. Deluchia's jewel, and only 50 gold coins for Gonzales himself, without the jewel. Being hated and hunted by the society, Gonzales decided to find a shelter in the house of the people he fully trusts, Diego and Bernard. However, he couldn't remain covered, 'cause he just can't resist the smell of one delicious baked fresh pie. Because of this, when he charged at Maria's pies to devour them, the Sergeant gave away his presence to Diego and Bernard. Since they are good friends with him, the two brothers decided to hide Gonzales away from everyone, and in a parallel manner will help him capture the real thief, whom Gonzales barely saw before losing his senses. They all thought that the man will try to find a fence to sell the jewel of Mrs. Deluchia, and since Brown is the only known fence around Santazco, the three friends decided to spy on him, in order for him to lead them to the real burglar and the jewel. Lolita learned about Gonzales's presence in Vega's house, and decided to aid him, since they trust each other as well. The three youngsters gave the Sergeant some of Maria's clothes as a disguise, 'cause she is overweight just like Gonzales, and then crossed the streets looking for Brown, who was informed by a man of his that the one who stole Mrs. Deluchia's jewel last night wants to meet him as soon as possible, so that he gets rid of it before someone discovers him. As such, the fence got ready to meet that man, in hopes that he'll become rich thanks to that jewel. While Lolita was busy distracting her father, in order to keep him away from Gonzales, Diego and Bernard returned home to turn themselves into their respective alter egos, and left behind their dogs, Tackle and Figaro, to guard their friend. A few minutes later, Lolita came back and, after the Sergeant told her that the boys left in a hurry, she decided to stay with him. Suddenly, they saw Brown's carriage passing by, and since they know where it's going, they chased after it. The two guard dogs noticed the carriages moving away, and ran behind them. For the misfortune of Lolita and Gonzales, Brown caught them off-guard and, after a failed role play, he captured them. He assigned the guard of his prisoners to his subordinate, who'll deliver Gonzales to Mrs. Deluchia, so that he obtains the reward of 50 gold coins and give them to Brown, while he'll meet up with the thief and negotiate with him for the jewel of Mrs. Deluchia. And so, when the carriages reached an intersection, they took each a different path. The two dogs saw the respective paths the carriages took, so Tackle ran behind the one that only carries the fence, and Figaro awaited the two Zorros to arrive to the intersection, so that he shows them the path the other carriage took. Lieutenant Gabriel has also arrived to the house of Mrs. Deluchia. After Zorro sent away the man of Brown, leaving him with empty hands, he fought against Gabriel, distracting him enough so that Little Zorro will free Lolita and Gonzales, whom asked to come along and together, they will head straight to the source: Brown. The soldiers, along with Gabriel, chased after Gonzales and the two Zorros. Inside a cabin above a steep cliff, they found the fence and the real thief, Magby, whom the Sergeant both captured and presented to Gabriel, hoping that he'll be finally rewarded for this good deed of his. He didn't, of course, since Zorro helped him on everything. But at least, the jewel returned to its legal owner and the case closed. After that experience, Gonzales has realized that since the army is the worst enemy of Zorro, and he has to work there and obey every order of his superiors, so that he continues living a dignified life, he will never be recognized as an equivalent member of that society. Despite this, he believes his friends' words that Zorro is someone who may fights against the corruption that exists amongst the Spanish army, but whoever is in serious danger, being a soldier or a mere citizen, he'll always receive help from that true hero of the people.
23	"The Bride from Spain"
Diego has a very unexpected visit that beautiful morning: an old acquaintance of his, Elena, who has come all the way from Spain to marry him. That news freaked the young man, until the friend of Elena, Annabelle, explained the whole story to Diego, in the presence of Don Alejandro and Maria. When Diego was in Spain, he had a very bad fever, something that he confirmed after a deep thinking. Diego and Elena have spent a lot of time together during their studies in Spain, and after learning about his illness, the parents of the maiden asked her to stay by his side and take care of him, so that he feels better. Before Elena returns home, Diego asked her to come along with him in California when the both of them graduate, and also asked her to marry him when they complete their trip back home. Elena happily accepted Diego's marriage proposal and told her parents about the good news. They gave their permission to both youngsters. But Diego neglected to take Elena with him when he left Spain, and that upset the maiden's family. So, Elena arrived at America to fulfill Diego's and her promise and marry each other. And that's how the story is. But Diego refuses to believe that due to his delirium, he asked Elena to marry him, causing the maiden to cry out of sadness. And when Lolita entered the house and Maria introduced her to the two women, Annabelle got upset that Diego has already a girlfriend and a fiancée at Santazco, while he and Elena have spent so much time together in Spain. The flight of some birds above the house caused Elena to leave the house in a hurry, and Annabelle followed her behind. Now Diego explained the whole story to Lolita, who in turn, said everything to her parents back home, who could not believe that the Diego they know for so many years is about to marry another woman, whom had made a proposal of marriage while they're in Spain. And Lolita is totally upset as well, but since she doesn't want to marry Diego for the known reasons, this doesn't matter to her. Back in the hotel they are staying, Elena and Annabelle had a very interesting conversation, and now we learn the true nature of the case: the two of them have plotted the story with the marriage, so that they extort money from the Vega family, but Elena was tired on following the plan because she felt remorse for deceiving a true friend like Diego. And, because they have learned about the existence of another maiden who is the fiancée of Diego, there is a change on their plans. Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a bird, that brought to Annabelle and Elena a message from another one who is involved in the case: the true lover of Elena and the young brother of Annabelle, José. That person and Elena were loved each other for a long time, but his family was facing economical problems and lots of debts have been accumulated in their business, and since they could not repay them, they bankrupted and lost all their money and their house. And due to this, the plans of Elena's and José's marriage were canceled. This is the reason they made that setup at Diego's expense in the first place. And Elena, now that her morale has been boosted thanks to José, agreed to continue following the plan. So, the women decided to take some rest. In the meantime, Sergeant Gonzales was discussing with the hotel's manager about a carriage with lots of money that will depart from the hotel that noon and some guests are about to board it, alongside him, who will be dressed in plain clothes. And the carriage will follow a path that will be a secret, so that the bandits will not find it and rob it. In addition, no soldier will guard the carriage and the money. Annabelle eavesdropped the conversation and wrote a letter to her brother about the secret route of the carriage, so that he and his comrades will ambush it and steal the money. Diego was passing by and saw the robbery, so he turned into Zorro and defeated the bandits, who retreated without the money. Zorro (Diego) has noticed the bird that one of the bandits had, so he realized who that man was and the relationship he has with Elena and Annabelle. That night, he discussed with Bernard about what he saw in the incident, and decided to talk to Elena the next day, so that he makes her forgetting about the story with the marriage. The maiden visited José at his hotel, and asked him if he's involved in yesterday's robbery, because of the bird that one of the bandits had with him and its known tweeting. José denied that fact and to show her his love, he gave Elena the necklace he stole from one of the carriage's passengers, creating a fake story about its origin. The gullible maiden believed it, due to her blinded love for José. Diego went to the other hotel to meet up with Elena, but he found Annabelle instead. The woman told Diego that Elena decided not to marry him and that she'll return to Spain the next morning. She asked him to talk to his father, so that they give Elena some money for her trip. Then, she invented a fake story, to reveal him the reason of Elena's decision. The young man, when he saw the same bird at the room, suspected a big plot behind his family's back, and ran to find Elena and demand an explanation from her. The maiden, however, didn't say a word to his friend, because she wants to keep her faith to José alive. So, Diego asked Bernard (Little Zorro) to make an investigation at the two women's room, in hopes of finding valuable clues about their involvement in the robbery, while he'll check the room of José. The boy, at the absence of Elena and Annabelle, sneaked into the room. When he saw the bird of José with another letter tangled on its foot, he decided to check the old letters that José has written to his sister, and found some valuable information that gave immediately to Diego (Zorro). With the clues in his hands, Zorro visited during the night Lolita at her house and, after asking her read the letters of José and Annabelle, he told her to write what he just thought with the same handwritings the two brothers have. Lolita agreed to follow Zorro's plan. He wanted to teach the brothers a lesson for manipulating Elena and using her for their selfish purposes, so he decided to give them a field day to make money. In actuality, it would be a decoy remittance, that would easily fool the bandits. The next day, Lolita informed Gonzales about the plot and Little Zorro Elena. The plan succeeded, and after José and his comrades were defeated by Zorro, Elena came up and punished José for his and Annabelle's lies at her expense, and asked Gonzales, who has arrived there, to imprison both and ensure her that they will not bother her anymore. The kind Sergeant gave his promise to the maiden who, totally remorseful and her tears flowing all over her face, begged her true friend to forgive her. Diego (Zorro) understood her true feelings and forgave her, since she is the victim of the case. The next morning, the Vega family escorted Elena to the harbor, so that she will begin her trip back to Spain. Maria reassured the maiden that everyone makes mistakes in their lives, and Elena is neither the first one nor the last one who can be deceived just for the needs of money. Now that this matter was solved, Elena has hopes that one day, she will find a man who will truly love her, and with a farewell kiss, she thanked Diego for everything he did for her sake and left, to begin her new life. Unfortunately, it's an accepted fact that a kiss from a beautiful maiden to a handsome man can make another beautiful maiden jealous, and Lolita isn't an exception...
24	"The People's Enemy"
One day, some soldiers of the Spanish army were storing lots of bags with wheat inside a warehouse near some cliffs. A young man named Fernando was spying on them and was about to leave away and tell everything he saw to a comrade of his, but he was discovered by two soldiers, who shot him dead and threw him from the cliffs. Fifi, the man's dog, barely escaped from danger, but she got heavily injured and passed out due to exhaustion. She was discovered by Diego and Bernard, who were fishing at that time nearby the river. They instantly took the dog back to the house, so that Maria (who of course, scolded the boys for not bringing some fish for the dinner) will treat it, since it ran a high fever. In the meantime, Diego and Bernard had to be ready for an important party that the army organizes in Santazco, and everyone is invited, alongside the families Vega and Pulido. Diego expressed to his father his boredom of going in such parties, but Maria scolded the young man for his attitude towards his father, since he is the only child of his family and has to represent its presence in this event, alongside his father. Diego finally agreed to come along, since Bernard told his brother that Fifi's owner might be amongst the guests of that party and if they find him, all their problems will be solved. As for Figaro, he will take care of Fifi during the absence of everyone. The party the army has organized is in honor of a special businessman named Diaz, who is well-known for his generous actions towards the poor people worldwide and his donations to many charity organizations for the manufacturing of schools, hospitals, and churches all over the world and of course, in Santazco. While Diego had a talk with Don Carlos and Catarina about Diaz and his work, Bernard came to inform his brother that he found the owner of Fifi, and the two of them ran back home to meet up with that person. The young woman, Isabella, recognized Fifi and ran to check her state. The dog's temperature has been restored, but she needs some time to rest. Isabella had asked before the whereabouts of her husband, Fernando, and Sergeant Gonzales began the investigations for his detection. When he found the man at last, he brought the bad news to the woman, who passed out due to her shock. Alongside Diego, Lolita, and Bernard, Isabella buried her husband. During the funeral, Diego asked Isabella how Fernando ended up being dead in a place that only a few people know about, and what business she had in Diaz's party. The woman didn't want to explain to her new friends the details, because her psychology has been disrupted, and Lolita told Diego off for making such inappropriate questions to Isabella in these circumstances. To make her feeling better, Lolita asked Isabella to stay for the night at her house, and the woman thanked her for her kindness. As for Fifi, she will stay at Vega's for some time, 'cause she developed a liking towards the idly Tackle, causing Figaro, who was the one that had found her first, to feel sadness and jealousy, since he fell in love with Fifi. That amazed a little Diego and Bernard, who were assigned to take care of Isabella's dog. While it was time to give Fifi back to Isabella, Diego noticed a mysterious horse emerging from some bushes outside of Lolita's house. Fifi recognized the horse for some reason. From its saddle fell something that intrigued Diego: a badge with the official emblem of the Spanish Royal Family. Isabella then came up and explained to Diego everything. She and Fernando were not a true married couple, but secret agents who work for the Spanish government. They came to Santazco with the mission of spying on Diaz, the businessman. As Isabella said, behind the mask of the kind and generous entrepreneur lies an evil man who deceives the poor people and steals their wheat, making lots of money. The Spanish army is also involved in the shady business of Diaz, but they couldn't find enough evidences for his and the army's involvement in the case. Isabella and Fernando plotted the idea of marriage, in order to come closer to Diaz and watch his deals with the army with more ease. But now that Fernando is dead, Isabella won't be able to complete all alone the mission, and Diego advised her to be careful about the army, since they are very organized and fully armed and if they catch her off-guard, it's all over for her and Fifi. Unfortunately, Isabella ignored the warning and the next morning, she left secretly, along with Fifi, to follow the carriage that transported Diaz to his meeting place with the army: the warehouse where the stolen wheat of the poor people of Santazco is stored. The entrepreneur has made Commander Raymond very rich, by paying him off for his troops' work of gathering tons of wheat from the people of Santazco with the pretext of the monthly taxes. And now, the conspirators have completed their mission. All that remains is for Diaz to give his programmed lecture to the townspeople, and then his men will lead the stolen wheat to the harbor, so that it will be transported to Spain. Isabella overheard the conversation of Diaz with Raymond and saw firsthand all the evidences that Fernando has seen during his last moments. As she was about to leave, however, she was discovered by Raymond, Gabriel, and Diaz, who recognized the woman. Fortunately, they didn't murder her and Fifi as they did with Fernando, because Figaro, who followed secretly the pals, intervened and saved their lives. The two dogs ran away at full speed, so to inform everyone about Isabella's capture. Bernard learned the whole situation from the dogs and followed them until the cabin, turning himself at the same time into his alter ego. As for Lolita, she went to the town square, where the lecture of Diaz will take place, and informed Diego about everything. When the young man learned that Isabella hasn't come back yet, he suspected that she is in danger, as Bernard and the two dogs are. As such, he sneaked away and ran to their aid, becoming his alter ego. Little Zorro and the dogs sneaked inside the cabin and freed Isabella, but they were all discovered by the mates of Diaz and fought against them, while they were trying to get away. The first mate, who is skilled at axe, stopped their course and cornered them. Thankfully, Zorro appeared and defeated the first mate, saving his friends' lives in the process. Isabella warned Zorro that before Diaz's return to Santazco for his lecture, he ordered his mates to lead the whole wheat to the harbor, so that they will transport it by ship to Spain. Immediately, the two Zorros, Isabella, and the dogs ran back to inform the people about Diaz's deception at their expense, just before the end of the lecture. Little Zorro announced the news to the attendees, but no one believed him. At this time, Zorro and Isabella emerged from their cover, and the secret agent presented to Diaz her badge and the warrant for the theft of the townspeople's wheat, causing Commander Raymond's anxiety and Captain Jekkyl's surprise, since the latter isn't involved to the conspiracy of Diaz and the army. Now that the noose is tightened around the neck of Raymond, if Isabella arrests Diaz and takes him back to Spain so that he will be held accountable for his crimes, the Spanish government will be hot on his trail and his long-time career will end here, with his and his conspirators' capture. So, to prevent this, Raymond had no other choice but to kill Diaz and frame him for the theft of the people's wheat while he, playing the role of the victim of the case and the kind Commander, will return the wheat to the poor people, as he did. With this action, Raymond covered up his dirty operations once again, and Zorro got totally upset with the true people's enemy. Before leaving, he promised to Raymond that next time, he won't escape from the law, because he will always be around to mess his plans up, till the town of Santazco does away with him and regains its lost happiness. The case of Diaz is finally closed for Isabella, so the woman decided to return to Spain, to continue her job as a secret agent. Diego, Bernard, and Lolita waved goodbye to her and Fifi, who was finally infatuated with Figaro due to his heroic actions that saved her life. But our hero had to say goodbye to his lover, because the ship was about to depart and he couldn't abandon his true family. Expecting Fifi's return someday in the future, Figaro jumped out of the ship and back to Diego and Bernard.
25	"Tears of Clown"
A new circus was set up in Santazco, and lots of people come to watch its amazing shows and have fun. The owner of the circus, Black, is a trustworthy man of the army, and especially Commander Raymond and Lieutenant Gabriel, whose contribution helped in his business's economical success. Black possess a mysterious amulet with supernatural powers, so the job the two officers have assigned to him, to destroy Zorro, will be as easy as pie. In order to lure Zorro to the trap, they will use Lolita, since whenever she is, is also Zorro. Gabriel himself has visited Lolita before, and has given her invitations for tomorrow's matinee, so that Black will proceed with the plan. Among the members of the circus are also a father with his son, who put on different shows each. The boy, Poporo, has become friends with Bernard, after the latter helped him on returning a little lion to the circus. Diego and Lolita heard about it and introduced themselves to Poporo. The three friends will come to the circus to watch Poporo and his dad, Thomas, at tomorrow's matinee, and Lolita told Diego who gave these invitations to her. That worried the young man, since they were talking about the same person they know, but Lolita reassured him that there will be no problem at all. Poporo told to his friends what his and his father's jobs are in the circus, and mentioned Black's amulet with the supernatural powers that the man deploys in his tremendous performances. Despite him admiring his master, he doesn't appreciate his father due to his job. In order to make them come closer to each other, Diego, Bernard, and Lolita invited both father and son to the family dinner that will take place at Vega's manor, and some other friends will be invited as well. In addition, Maria will cook a delicious meal for everyone. Poporo agreed with a little reluctance. During the dinner, Thomas, the circus clown, put on an amazing show with his share, and everyone, minus Poporo, applauded and laughed out of joy. Unfortunately, the good atmosphere would be disrupted by the arrival of a familiar person of Thomas from the past: a man named José who, after seeing him, charged at him to beat him up, calling him a traitor in a parallel manner. Diego apprehended the man to stop him and calm him down. José, after the situation has calmed, told to everyone the whole story, that goes back 10 years. The army's tyrannical actions towards his fellow citizens forced the males to organize themselves and make a riot, so to liberate their village from their influence. They have elected Thomas due to his skills at archery and had a lot of faith in him, but he never appeared to the hideout when the riot was about to begin, and the soldiers ambushed and arrested everyone. José managed to escape and is still wanted by the army. Due to this ending, he considered that Thomas betrayed them, and he reminded him that after the capture of the rebels, he abandoned the village, so his statement is true. That caused an even deeper scar at the relationship of father and son, because Poporo, now that knows the whole story, started to hate his father even more than before. The poor Thomas couldn't explain the situation, but after a deep thinking, he told Diego the reason of being late at the meeting place with his friends: Poporo, whom he has found when he was still an infant. He had a serious dilemma: ditching his own friends to their fate so to save the baby, or ditching the infant to his fate by going to the cabin. He did the first thing, and saved Poporo's life. But, unluckily for him, he came too late to save his friends. Being ashamed for his choice, Thomas decided to bury the past, and begin a new life with the baby, whom gave the name he has till now, and 10 years later, they both enrolled to the circus and he became a clown, so to offer joy and laughter to the people and hide his tears of shame away. But deep inside, he hopes that José will learn the truth, and so Poporo, after he grows up. Diego shared the same belief with his friend, and both said goodnight to each other at last. The next day, the performances at the circus proceeded normally, until the fated time for the matinee came at last. Black asked for Lolita to come to the stage, and the show began. The maiden immediately surrendered to the amulet's strong light as Black was showcasing its supernatural powers. The audience was watching with bated breath every minute until the end, when Black asked for a big applause, and everyone, along with Diego and Bernard, cheered warmly. At last, today's program ended, and the whole circus bowed to everyone. A few hours have passed, and Lolita's parents started to worry that their daughter hasn't returned home yet. Diego and Bernard returned to the circus, where they found Poporo and told him about Lolita. Despite the harsh rules of the circus, Diego got inside and started looking for Lolita everywhere. He got surprised when he saw Lieutenant Gabriel along with Black, and when the two of them threw out Diego, he told to Bernard that Lolita must be inside the circus, so they turned into their respective alter egos and sneaked inside. While Poporo was about to practice himself, he noticed some soldiers guarding the entrance of the stage, and went inside secretly. He found Black having a talk with Raymond and Gabriel, and he saw Lolita being hanged on the stage's pillar. Unfortunately, Black sensed his presence and with his powers descended him to the ground, and started to beat him up. Thomas got informed about his son's troubles and, after taking his old bow with his arrows, he rushed to the stage at once, bypassing the guards. After seeing Lolita too, he demanded an explanation from his master. Black felt even more inconvenient about Thomas's presence, so to get rid of both father and son, he revealed to Poporo the truth about him, that he was found and adopted by Thomas 10 years ago and as such, he isn't his real son. Totally angered, Thomas charged at Black, but he got repelled by the powers of the amulet. The time of the confession wasn't over yet: Black said to Thomas that he gave away the location of his friends' hideout by extorting the information from one of the rebels. Due to this, the army rewarded him well. Thomas got shocked even more about what he heard from the man whom he respected for a long time, and along with him Poporo. Before Black murders both father and son, he was stopped by Zorro, who had used Sergeant Gonzales as his puppet. He overheard everything Black said before, and went to the stage to punish him and release Lolita. But the powers of the amulet were too strong for Zorro, that he ended up becoming Black's puppet. After a little game, Black was about to remove the mask of Zorro and show his true identity to Raymond and Gabriel, but Thomas stopped him with his arrows. This woke up Zorro, who stole the amulet from Black and destroyed it, waking up Lolita. The final act before the great escape was a punishing “Z” sign at Black's body. The next day, Lolita returned to her parents, and Thomas revealed to José the whole story he heard from Black. With this, the man apologized to his friend for calling him a traitor, and Thomas forgave him. And at last, Poporo, although he learned the truth as well, decided that Thomas'll be his father forever. And a big hug from father and son, who both let their tears flow all over their faces, gave a beautiful happy end to that story.
26	"Pepita"
This episode introduces Pepita, a little girl who has a tendency of making up stories that are proved to be lies. Due to this, she is bullied every day by the other kids, and is unable to make friends. Her father, who has passed away a few years ago, was a good businessman, but he was forced to close his business due to the debts that have been accumulated, and his family lost all their money. Pepita's mother has decided to run a flower stand, and simultaneously she works at a small bar in the town square, so she entrusts the stand to her daughter while working on the bar. But as it seems, no one in town wants to buy Pepita's flowers 'cause they don't want to mess up with her made-up stories. One day, an old man named Aiden passed by the flower stand. Pepita gave him a blue flower, creating a made-up story about its origin. An orange seller who was next to the flower stand apologized to Aiden for the girl's story and explained to him her bad habit of fantasizing stories about everything. The kind old man bought the flower anyway, and when he learned about the economic situation of Pepita's family, he asked the girl to talk to her mother, so that he will find a good job for her at his office. That gladdened Pepita a lot, but then she noticed that Aiden has given her a coin that surpasses the value of the flower he bought. As she was going to meet the old man, he saw him discussing with another man named Garella about business. Judging by the intense mood, Aiden has asked from that man to lend him some money, and when Garella offered to give him an unusually large amount of money in exchange for his business, Aiden denied his offer in a fit of rage, and left the meeting place with that person, turning down the deal. Then, Pepita overheard Garella ordering a person of his to “settle this backlog”. These words terrified the girl, who feared that something bad will happen to Aiden. It happened, indeed. In the middle of the night, his mine was blown up, injuring all the workers that were working night shift. The man of Garella remained invisible during the event and ran away. After the explosion, the army arrived at the mine and proceeded to extricate all the workers, along with Aiden. Sergeant Gonzales woke up the entire town to offer their help to the soldiers, because the debris are too many and their efforts are difficult. Diego, Bernard, Lolita, and everyone else gathered to the mine to offer their help, too. Thankfully, no one was killed from that explosion, but there was no way for Aiden to pay for his employees' wounds and in a parallel manner to maintain his business, so the next day, he sold his mine and donated the money to his employees, so that they recover. Aiden refused to borrow money from Don Alejandro, and he left Santazco along with his family. Everyone said goodbye to that kind old man they knew for so long. And Pepita cried for him, too. Suddenly, she spotted one of the tuxedo men she saw yesterday and chased him, drawing Bernard's attention. She reached outside a white building, where she spotted out the other man, Garella, whom his henchman reported the news about Aiden's departure from Santazco. Bernard went to the flower stand, where he met her mother. He didn't introduce himself to Pepita yet, but he told to her mother that he is a friend of her, and this gladdened the poor woman, who advised the little boy to keep company to her daughter, because she really needs a friend. Bernard agreed, having understood about the difficulties of that family. Pepita tried to talk to Sergeant Gonzales about what she saw, but he didn't believe her and in the end, he asked her in a manner of sarcasm to find Zorro and tell him about her story. Seeing how badly the people treat her, the little girl decided to close in on herself. As she was wandering the streets, Bernard found her and tried to offer his friendship, but the little girl thought he was mocking her like everyone in town, so she shouted at him and left away. For her misfortune, she came face to face with the tuxedo men who were watching her all the time. Fearing for her life, Pepita ran away, and the men chased after her. One of them took the doll she threw and left to seek information about that little girl. Bernard noticed Pepita being hunted and ran to lead her to safety. He succeeded, and both started to talk about what to do to convince everyone that the explosion wasn't an accident, and that these people are responsible for this. Bernard told to Pepita that he believes her, so to have her under protection. He took her to his house, so that they seek help from Diego. As for the head of the tuxedo men, after extorting all the information he needed about Pepita, returned to his boss to tell him everything. Garella advised his person to beware of that little girl and get rid of her if she messes up with his plans again. Bernard and Pepita arrived at home, but they found no one except Maria. The housemaid informed them that a reception is about to begin tonight, and the whole town is invited. She told the kids that the white building Pepita saw at morning belongs to South Indian Trading Company (or SITC for short), a big conglomerate that is well-known to the world and specializes in many factors of productivity. Hoping to find Diego amongst the guests, Bernard asked Pepita to stay close to him, 'cause they will attend the party in secret, and Maria will help them according to his plan. In actuality, the two kids will hide under Maria's big dress and will enter the building undisturbed. The luxurious reception took place at the gardens of the SITC building, and the whole atmosphere looked like something from the Europe of the aristocrats. The citizens and the army were listening to the president of the SITC, Capital, as he gave a big speech about his company and its big economical contribution to each country around the world. Everyone gave a big applause. Bernard and Pepita, after leaving Maria's dress, hid under a table. Soon, they spotted Diego, and Bernard ran to warn him about the sabotage at Aiden's mine. Diego already knows that SITC is behind the explosion at the mine, and understands that the company plans to build a mining monopoly by signing contracts with the owners. If people like Aiden refuse to sell their businesses, the sabotage goes next and it ends with the bankruptcy of these people. Now, SITC laid eyes on another mine, whose owner also refuses to sell, and due to this, the people of Capital are prepared to make another “accidental attack”. Garella threw Pepita's doll to the gardens, so to force the little girl to chase him and then he'll catch her. Pepita ate the bait, and hid under Maria's dress again as Gonzales was sending away the uninvited housemaid. Bernard noticed that Pepita is missing from her position, and Figaro started to seek her by following her scent. Both boy and dog came out of the building, until they spotted Pepita spying on the people of Capital, as they were heading out to the targeted mine. For their misfortune, the henchmen of Garella ambushed the two kids by hypnotizing them and kidnapped them. Then, they left to blast them along with the mine. Figaro stayed close to the kids during the whole trip, so that he finds the necessary time to free them. Meanwhile, back in the reception, Diego was talking with some businessmen about the mining monopoly of the SITC and the amount of money it offers to anyone willing to sell his business. These people don't know anything about what SITC does, and advised Diego to speak with Hakubo, who might knows. The young man found the businessman inside a bar. He was overexcited, because he made a fortune by selling his mine, and now that the valuable carbon was totally depleted, no one will buy the mine. Diego understood that these people, who'd paid him for nothing, will find out about Hakubo's rip-off and they will blow the mine without a second thought, and since Pepita and Bernard were caught by them, they will be in danger as well. After turning into his alter ego, he rushed to the mine and with the help of the kids, whom he freed, he stopped in time the explosion and defeated the people of Capital before they retreat back to SITC and report the whole situation to their employer. The next morning, Zorro delivered the saboteurs to Hakubo, who came to see his property. The businessman recognized them and decided to sue the SITC for their dirty operations. Unfortunately, this sue will not end well, 'cause Capital covered up his company's schemes by paying off the army and mainly Commander Raymond, who advised Capital to be more careful about his movements next time, because the army will moderate the activities of SITC from now on. And it will be the beginning of a great cooperation between Raymond and Capital, that will bring upon the town of Santazco great troubles...
27	"Lady Barbara"
Lady Barbara, the wife of the General Governor of California, has started lately to feel miserable of living in America, and wants to return to Spain as soon as possible, because she misses that country. Her husband, who holds the highest public office in the state of California for so many years, insists that they must remain there. He got surprised that his wife has spoken to Commander Raymond about her decision before talking to him first, but it couldn't be helped, since the Governor is so busy with his duties that he neglects coming home. As the married couple was arguing, the Commander and Lieutenant Gabriel paid a visit at their palace. Diego and Bernard were outside and when they saw the officers arriving at the palace, they decided to sneak inside and eavesdrop the conversation. Raymond convinced the Governor to give his permission to his wife, with the promise that she will ask from the King of Spain to transfer him to a new position there. Lady Barbara was awestruck seeing the parting gift Raymond has prepared for her: a jewelry box. Diego and Bernard recognized these jewels and soon, they realized that the reason the army has foreclosed the valuable gems from the wealthy people of Santazco last night was for that occasion. Unfortunately, the noise Bernard made drew the attention of Gabriel, who launched his sword to the ceiling, and injured Diego at his right arm as the latter was trying to protect Bernard. The blood started to drip at the floor, and the mention of a “mouse” upset Lady Barbara, that she decided to leave tomorrow at morning. Sergeant Gonzales was preparing the squad that will escort Lady Barbara to the hotel near the harbor, and he gave the troops strict orders to guard the noblewoman and the jewelry box all the time, and to prevent the box from being stolen by robbers that will appear during the trip. A mysterious man who was working as the janitor of the police department heard about the jewelry box and left full of excitement to an unknown direction. Meanwhile, back to Vega's house, Lolita was treating Diego's injury. The young man's lied to her and Maria about it. When they started teasing Diego, the enraged Bernard tried to give them away the true identity of Zorro, but Diego stopped him in time, and when the two of them went to their room, he advised his little brother to beware his spontaneity, so that he won't be in trouble. Diego understands that Bernard sympathizes with his daily difficulties of keeping his second identity a secret, but he reminded him what is the purpose of Zorro's existence and his actions. With this, the little boy finally understood and promised to Diego that he will not make such mistakes in the future. And now that this matter was solved, Diego and Bernard decided to focus on their current mission: how to take back the stolen jewels. After a closer look at the map, they chose the spot they'll ambush the carriage. Bernard set a carriage with a broken wheel, so that it stops the course of the carriage, and Zorro sneaked inside, in order to convince Lady Barbara to give him the jewelry box. Unfortunately, the whole plan backfired at them. The carriage got attacked for real, by some bandits who had learned about the jewelry box from a person of theirs, and specifically the one who's posing as janitor, so that he stays close to the army and extorts all the information without being suspected. The leader and some henchmen defeated with much ease Gonzales and the troops by throwing them out of the bridge, thanks to their increased physical strength. And to force Lieutenant Gabriel into giving them the jewelry box, they threatened to blow up the bridge, putting everyone in danger. Thankfully, Zorro knocked the bomb out of the leader's hands and when it exploded, he used the smoke as a distraction, so to lead Lady Barbara and the jewelry box away. Bernard was picked up by the noblewoman during the havoc. As for Zorro, he had to face against Gabriel, who thought that he is responsible for the assault. Due to his injury, he couldn't fight properly, and soon he was at his enemy's mercy, until his horse, Viento, came in time to save him and lead him back home. When the night fell, the carriage with its passengers arrived out of the hotel. Lady Barbara started to take care of Bernard, as if he was her son. She bathed him, dressed him with some fancy clothes, and gave him plenty of food to eat for the dinner. Gabriel recognized the boy and told to the noblewoman that she must rely on the army's help instead of him, but Barbara scolded the officer for not being able to stop the bandits while Bernard had protected her before. When Gabriel left, she asked the boy about his life. She got surprised that Bernard is orphaned, and the only family he has is Diego. When the dinner ended, and it was time for sleep, Barbara confessed to Bernard that she and her husband don't have any children, and the latter, since he is the Governor, is always away from home, and she always feels alone, despite the good life and the wealth she has. To feel real happiness in her life, the noblewoman decided to adopt Bernard, and when they will reach Spain, she will enroll him to a private school. This will be the first time in his life that Bernard will have a mother, but this quick decision of Lady Barbara terrified him, because he will lose Diego and the family of Vega forever. The jewelry box was right in front of him, and Bernard, reminiscing of his mission, thought of stealing it, but he finally decided not to. He didn't want to upset Lady Barbara after the fondness she showed him, so he decided to await Diego's (Zorro's) arrival, and fell asleep. The next morning, everyone boarded the ship, along with Lady Barbara and Bernard, and the trip began. For a few seconds after the ship's departure, everything went smoothly, until the bandits from the previous day made their appearance at last. They had sneaked inside the ship and tied the captain and the crew, taking their place. To ensure that the army would not catch them up, they awaited the ship distance itself from the harbor, and then they would take it over. Now they stole the wealth from all the passengers undisturbed, except Lady Barbara and Bernard, who resisted bravely. When the bandits attempted to kill them and take the jewelry box, they were stopped by a strange old man, who's actually Zorro in disguise. He anticipated the bandits' assault, so he also got secretly inside the ship. He managed to defeat some of the henchmen, but then he had to face against the physically strong leader. The wound in his arm wasn't healed yet, so Zorro got cornered and was in deep pain. Bernard warned Lady Barbara about Zorro's injury and the noblewoman, in a last-ditch effort to save his life, threw the jewelry box at the leader's head. This restored Zorro's gait, and after Bernard got rid of the rest of the gang, he gave the final blow to the leader, whom Barbara kicked out of the ship and right in front of Lieutenant Gabriel and his troops, who were heading out there. The passengers cheered with joy and Gabriel was left dazed seeing how vigorous the wife of the General Governor is. And now, it's time for the goodbye. Bernard, who turned into his alter ego, took the jewelry box and explained to Lady Barbara, who recognized the boy, that these jewels were stolen from the people of Santazco by the army, and he and Zorro will return them to their owners. Bernard rejected the noblewoman's suggestion to adopt him, telling her in a heartbeat that his real family awaits him. Barbara understood the boy's feelings and let him live the life he chose. With this, the two Zorros jumped to the army's boat and sailed back to the harbor, so to make lots of people happy once again. To resolve the matter with the jewels, Barbara told to Gabriel that she gave the box to Zorro as a thank-you for saving her life.
28	"The Haunted Ruins"
Somewhere out of Santazco have been discovered recently some strange ruins of an ancient civilization. Bernard went with his friends to explore the ruins and have fun with a little playing. They soon spotted something that left them all astonished: a young woman dancing with joy onto the ruins of the big pyramid. It was a dreaming moment for the kids, who returned to town to tell everyone about the ancient ruins and the maiden they saw. Maria told to Bernard the myth behind these ruins, and mentioned one name: Estrella. She was the princess of the legendary Kingdom of Mosi, known as the “Land of the Bright Gold”. She fell in love with a poor young man from the kingdom, but when her father, the king, learned about his daughter's illicit relationship, he exiled the man to an unknown land, from where he never returned. The princess, totally sad, fell into a big spring and was drowned. After her death, a big earthquake struck. The kingdom was obliterated and all the people, along with the king and the queen, were vanished without any trace. Hearing that story, Diego and Bernard went to the ruins to have a little fun. Their time of relaxation was suddenly interrupted by the loud noise of some shovels and pickaxes, and the two siblings went to find where it comes from. They were surprised seeing some of the people of Santazco digging on the ground, and much more when they saw Don Carlos amongst the men. The landowner explained to his friends that he has bought the land around the ruins at a low price, and he has hired some of the people of Santazco to excavate for him gold, so that he makes his family richer than they already are. Just like his fellow citizens, he has also learned about the myth of the Kingdom of Mosi, but he doesn't believe what it says. All of a sudden, some men dug up a stone tablet that contains a text with strange words. Before Carlos thinks further about that discovery, a shot was heard. It was the same maiden Bernard has seen before with his friends. She told to everyone that this land belongs to her family, and she demanded that everyone must leave. Before the girl goes further with her threats, she was stopped by an old man, who called her by the name Estrella, and was the maiden's grandfather. Diego and Bernard were surprised hearing that name. Carlos passed out due to his shock, and the old man, Moises, gave him a little water for recovery. Then, he explained to everyone that his granddaughter's name is indeed Estrella, and she is the descendant of the Kingdom of Mosi. Both her parents have passed away when she was a child, and the only family the maiden has is her grandfather. Being the last descendant, she's the only one who can interpret the text of the stone tablet, so Don Carlos decided to ask Estrella to give it a try, hoping that the text will reveal information about the treasure of the ruins. Indeed, the words on the tablet were pointing the place where the treasure lies, but Estrella could not read further, because the words were erased for some reason. This didn't matter Don Carlos, who took the tablet back home to show it to Catarina and Lolita. Carlos's wife didn't take the whole story of the treasure seriously, thinking that her husband jokes about it, and started crying with shame. Carlos ensured Catarina that what he heard from Estrella was the truth. A researcher named Dr. Perón visited the family of Pulido after hearing about the excavation of the stone tablet and proceeded to examine it. He told to everyone that this tablet is original, and contains words from an ancient language that no one knows. Don Carlos suspected that the maiden, Estrella, was telling the truth, and took two men with him to return to the ruins and excavate the gold to the place the tablet points to: west of the Holy Spring, below a warrior's statue. The treasure, a golden mask and a bracelet, was found, and Don Carlos, totally overjoyed, took them back home. The good news spread swiftly around Santazco and that night, everyone were gathered at the bar to discuss about that discovery. Filled with the idea that some more gold may exist below the ruins, they decided to go there the next day and start digging, while in a parallel manner they will ask Estrella to read the words of the tablets they will dig up. Everyone celebrated with a big toast and the gold fever began. Don Carlos, after a good breakfast, went to the ruins for more digging. Soon, his joy turned into terror after seeing lots of people digging on his land, and the shock doubled when they told him that the General Governor has declared the whole landmass a public property. Even more tablets were discovered below the ground, and the people who dug them up went to the hotel where Estrella and her grandfather reside. Moises was charging the excavation of the stone tablets and the translations from his granddaughter, as a part of his plan. In actuality, the old man has paid a craftsman with the people's money, so that he makes for him replicas of the original stone tablet, that tell the same message. Then, he will bury them beneath the ruins, so that the people will find them and make him rich. Fearing that a havoc will strike in Santazco due to the gold fever, Commander Raymond decided that the army will foreclose the land and its gold, going against the General Governor's official decision. Firstly, he sent Sergeant Gonzales to the ruins, in order for him to drive out anyone still digging there for gold. Then, he ordered Lieutenant Gabriel to foreclose all the stone tablets the people've found till now, and arrest Moises and Estrella before they get away from Santazco. After leading them to the military camp, Raymond decided to talk with Moises about the tablets, and Gabriel brought him to his office. The old man ensured both officers that the texts of the tablets are real, but Raymond didn't believe him, and he ordered Gabriel to take Moises and some troops to the ruins and search for gold. As a guarantee, he will keep the maiden imprisoned, so that both prisoners will face the penalty if there is not gold at all: death. Moises led the soldiers to a big height, so that he slows them down, and then he ran away at full speed. With this, Gabriel and Gonzales realized that the old man has fooled them, and returned to the military camp to report his getaway to Raymond. Since they still have Estrella in jail, Raymond decided that she must pay for her grandfather's scam, and the best solution is for her to spend the rest of her life at Peros, an isolated and dangerous island where no one has escaped from. To force Moises to come and save his granddaughter, so that the troops will trap him and execute him, Commander Raymond and the whole army announced the next day to everyone in town that they're all deceived by the old man and there isn't any treasure below the ruins. They also informed the people that Moises has avoided capture and his granddaughter will be transferred to Peros island the next morning. Diego and Bernard also learned about the penalty of Estrella, and decided to save her before it's too late. That night, they turned into their respective alter egos and sneaked inside the camp. They reached the dungeons, where they saw Moises facing against the guards. Before the fatal hit, the two Zorros saved him, and then they released Estrella. Another guard attempted to stop them, but Zorro disarmed him, and immediately the soldier alerted everyone about the presence of Zorro inside. A fight then began. Zorro entrusted Moises and Estrella to Little Zorro, while he dealt with the soldiers. All the exits were sealed, so there's no way of escaping. Fortunately, the three opened a way, by blowing up the military camp with bombs they found, and gave some time to Zorro, who was fighting against Captain Jekkyl, to escape alongside them. By now, everyone in Santazco gave up their interest about the ruins of the Kingdom of Mosi, and the land was conceded to Estrella's family. As for the myth behind these ruins, it will remain an unsolved mystery.
29	"The Great Art Swindle"
The South Indian Trading Company (SITC), the conglomerate that was introduced in the 26th episode, has recently dedicated an art gallery, and has decided to exhibit some paintings and other masterpieces of the most infamous artists from the past and the present eras, so that the people of Santazco will pay a visit and buy them. Diego and Lolita are amongst the visitors, since their families are rich. The young man has caught a strange smell while staring at one painting, but Lolita reassured him that the smell is just varnish and all the masterpieces are old. As such, Diego forgot it all. All of a sudden, the visitors started screaming with joy, because they gathered in front of the most brilliant masterpiece of the Renaissance, which is exhibited at the art gallery as well: Mona Lisa, the artifact of the great artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci. Diego and Lolita were also awestricken by seeing this infamous masterpiece with their own eyes. Don Petro, the manager of the art gallery, explained to the youngsters that the SITC has invested lots of money on buying these works of art from the greatest museums abroad, and announced to everyone present that the gallery sells them at any price they want. In addition, the manager declared that anyone who wants to buy one of the exhibits, he must come to his office, and together they'll discuss the best offer. Instantly, everyone rejoiced. Lolita set her sights on a painting that depicts a woman, and decided to buy it. Don Petro said to her that this painting is called The Milkmaid of Bordeaux, and its creator is the Spanish artist Francisco Goya, who had passed away a few years ago. The manager suggested on selling the painting at the half price of 50 gold coins, and informed Lolita that this offer won't last long. As such, he advised the maiden on taking to her parents, and then he'll expect them at his office. Lolita agreed with this. In the meantime, Bernard, who was having fun playing with Figaro near a river, saw an old man being carried away by the currents, and ran behind him. The old man was held by a lodge, but it collided with a rock and he fell into the water. Bernard told him that the water is shallow, and he will not drown. But the old man was still panicked, because some people hunt him, and asked the boy to hide him from these people. Bernard, not having any other choice, agreed to hide the man behind the weeds. The aforementioned people arrived at the river and started searching for their fugitive. The mouse Figaro has carried on his mouth emerged from the weeds and frightened one of the men's horses, causin' it to run away along with its rider. The other men followed him behind to calm down the horse. Now that his pursuers left, the old man asked Bernard to give him something to eat. When he regained his energy, he explained to the boy the whole story. He's named Rodrigo, and is looking for a little kid named Sylvia. Bernard reminisced the girl who came to Santazco a few days ago. Rodrigo got surprised that the boy knows about her. After a little argument the two of them had, Bernard left to bring more food for the old man. At this time, Diego arrived at the riverside, and told to his brother about the gallery he and Lolita visited before. Bernard also told to Diego that he just helped an old man escaping from some men who were hunting him. To their amazement, the man, Rodrigo, has left the cabin where he was residing before. Bernard mentioned Diego the girl Rodrigo was searching for, Sylvia. When the two of them went back to town to find the house the girl resides, they saw a bounty on a wall, where Rodrigo is depicted. At the same time, Sergeant Gonzales arrived there, along with one of the men who were hunting Rodrigo. The Sergeant also visited the art gallery of SITC, and explained to his friends that this old man is wanted for the theft of some masterpieces from the gallery. After introducing to his friends the security officer of the gallery, Captain Ponce, who aids the army on finding and arresting the fugitive, and informed them that the SITC offers a big reward to anyone who finds Rodrigo, Gonzales left with the security officer to continue their search. The whole situation concerned Diego and Bernard, and the two of them went to the house where Sylvia is, so to ask her what's going on. When they reached the house, they saw the little girl and a middle-aged woman named Anita. Sylvia is a brave, but naughty child, and she showed that with a doll she herself made. Strangely, when Diego and Bernard mentioned to Anita the old man, Rodrigo, the woman got upset, and after telling the two of them to leave, she went back to the house, as well as Sylvia. Suddenly, Gonzales and Captain Ponce arrived at the neighborhood and the latter's henchmen broke inside the house. As Gonzales said, they're informed from someone that the wanted man, Rodrigo, is hiding inside, and Anita shelters him. In addition, Ponce said that Sylvia is his granddaughter. The little girl and Anita resisted against the mates of Ponce, but when they harmed Sylvia, Rodrigo emerged from his cover, and told to Ponce that he will surrender only if they leave his granddaughter alone. The men then took away both Rodrigo and Sylvia, thanks to whom the old man will not attempt to get away again. Due to these men's cruelty towards Rodrigo and Sylvia, Diego and Bernard got upset with the Sergeant, who just left them doing their bidding. At the same time that Gonzales left, the husband of Anita, Juan, returned home, and his wife told him tearfully that Rodrigo and Sylvia were taken away. Juan has bought with his own expenses tickets for everyone, so that they return to Spain. Diego and Bernard asked the middle-aged couple why Rodrigo's wanted by the SITC, and who is that man. Anita and Juan decided to tell the youngsters the whole story. Rodrigo is a painter. Bernard, when he met him, noticed that his clothes were stained with paint. As Juan said, Rodrigo has withdrawn a few years ago, due to the death of his son and his wife, the parents of Sylvia, in a traffic accident, just after their daughter's birth. Rodrigo's family lost all their money, and he was forced to get a loan from the SITC. Unfortunately, the company charged him a very large interest, and Rodrigo couldn't repay the loan. In order for him to achieve it, they sent him from Spain to California, so that he works for the American branch of the SITC, and make forged paintings for the company. Anita and Juan, who do not have any children, met the old man and Sylvia sometime, and decided to adopt the child, since Rodrigo is too old to take care of Sylvia. Juan managed to collect the money from his work, so to buy the tickets they needed for the trip to Spain. But now that the SITC has captured both Rodrigo and Sylvia, the couple fell into despair. Diego and Bernard calmed them, 'cause they told them about Zorro, the great hero of the people that helps anyone in need, and for whom Juan and Anita heard about. The couple decided to rely on Zorro, and await the safe return of Rodrigo and Sylvia. Captain Ponce reported to his superior, Don Petro, the capture of the old painter and the child, and together they told the good news to the president of SITC, Capital. They have set up the art gallery with the forged masterpieces, so to fool the people of Santazco and make lots of money by selling them at a low price. But Diego was determined to ruin the plans of SITC, so he took with him Bernard to the gallery, and told him to focus on the smell that spreads everywhere, the smell of the fresh paint. The boy realized that all the paintings of the gallery were indeed made by Rodrigo and they are fakes. Diego touched with his finger one painting, and the two of them understood that the paint wasn't dried yet, something that applies to all the other paintings. Unfortunately, the security guard noticed that move and scolded the youngsters for violating the rule of the art gallery: not touching the exhibits. Diego and Bernard tried to justify it, even without any result, and left away. Then, they saw Lolita and her father, who have bought the painting of Goya that she wanted, The Milkmaid of Bordeaux. After greeting each other, they got out of the gallery, because the guard from before still watches over Diego and Bernard. And after that, the two of them examined the painting, so to find the spot where Rodrigo set up his signature. They found the spot, and told to Lolita and Carlos that the painting they have bought is forged. That left both the daughter and the father astonished, and the two of them returned to the art gallery, to demand an explanation from Don Petro and ask their money back. The manager pretended that he didn't know there was a forged painting in his exhibit, and he sent Captain Ponce to allegedly check the collection for any forgery. Then, he asked Lolita and Carlos to hush up the incident, by offering them a Chinese porcelain as a gift. Diego and Bernard, as their respective alter egos, overheard everything, and followed Captain Ponce, who was heading to the place where he holds Rodrigo and Sylvia captive: a cabin near a river. Totally fed up with this mistreatment, the old man took on the henchmen that guard him and Sylvia, and the child aided him. Ponce arrived, and announced to Rodrigo that he will kill him, now that everyone in town learned that the art exhibit was a swindle, and his creations are useless for the SITC. The old man explained to Ponce that signing their arts is a policy for all artists, but he didn't care about it, and prepared to kill him. Sylvia defended her grandpa. And Little Zorro threw her doll to Ponce, in order to scare him and move him away from Rodrigo. But the one who came to give a true fight against these evil people is Zorro. The masked hero took care of the henchmen, and defeated Ponce after a long fight. But he was forced to drop his sword after the evil man threatened to slay Sylvia. Rodrigo's back has cramped before, and he was unable to help his grandchild. Then, Zorro acted swiftly, and saved Sylvia's life by hammering Ponce to the wall with Rodrigo's craft knives. The evil man was forced to admit defeat. Tearfully, Sylvia ran to hug her grandfather, whose back was healed quickly (just like the first time). Before returning to Anita and Juan, so that they'll all be prepared to leave for Spain along with Sylvia, the old man decided to do one last thing: sabotaging the art gallery by exposing the forged masterpieces to the public, and the Zorros will do this job, with the distinctive “Z” sign. As for Ponce and his men, they were arrested by Gonzales, to whom they told about the swindle with the fake masterpieces and the one who's the mastermind: the manager of the art gallery, Don Petro. Immediately, the soldiers went there and arrested the manager as well, putting an end to this case.
30	"Gonzales in Love"
Sergeant Gonzales is on his day off. He has eaten a good meal at a local bar, but this didn't satisfy him enough, not to mention about the cooked meals of Maria, which have made him bored as well. While wandering the streets of Santazco looking for a restaurant, Gonzales heard some screams, and he ran to find out where they came from. It was a young florist who was attacked by two men. These people demanded from the woman that she gives them some money, or the ring she wears, and they terrorized her by damaging continuously her shop. Gonzales arrived there and shouted to these people to stop harming the maiden. One of them grabbed her and threatened Gonzales to kill her with his knife, while the other man beat the Sergeant again and again. That fight was so violent, that the face of Gonzales was distorted by the bumps and the bruises. Even so, he continued putting up a bold front, and that frightened the men a lot. Not wanting to damage Gonzales's face all the more, they ran away out of fear. The woman thanked him for saving her life, but she was terrified with the mess on his face, and she took Gonzales, who passed out due to exhaustion, to her house, to treat his wounds. After a few minutes, he woke up, with his face almost being restored to normal. By looking the woman, Silla, from a better range of vision, Gonzales was captivated by her beauty, but he snapped out of it quickly and he introduced himself to Silla, too. She explained to Gonzales that the two men who attacked her before were the henchmen of a well-known loan shark named Teodoro, who manages a money shop. Teodoro is rumored for offering loans at an extremely high interest rate. The lover of Silla, Lamont, was another victim of the businessman's illegal activities. One month ago, his mother got sick, and in order to pay the expenses for the treatment, he started lending money from Teodoro's money shop. The original amount was only 10 gold coins, and Lamont guaranteed that Silla will repay the loan. But for the misfortune of both, the loan shark has forged the contract, and raised the rate to 80 gold coins. Lamont's mother got shocked with the news and passed away. After that, Silla's not seen her lover again, but she heard that he passed away as well. Since then, Teodoro has repeatedly sent his henchmen to take from the maiden the money, and as a second choice her ring, something that has concerned her, 'cause that ring was never involved in the contract with the loan shark. Gonzales has shown all this time a great interest about Silla's problems as he was listening to her, and the maiden decided to confess him something: she hates the army. When she was still a child, Silla's parents were murdered by the soldiers of Commander Raymond, because the first couldn't pay the taxes despite their hard work, and after that incident, Silla was broke. The flower shop she runs is her only money maker. Feeling sorry for her abjection, Gonzales lied to Silla that he isn't a soldier, and after thanking her for her kindness, he bade her farewell. But, it was certain that he won't forget about that woman, now that he fell in love with her. The next day, when he returned to his duties, Gonzales started dreaming about Silla and he abandoned his patrol, something that worried his inferiors. He watched the woman from a safe distance watering her flowers at her shop. Remembering what she told him the previous day, that she hates the army, Gonzales decided not to approach Silla whilst wearing his uniform. But when the henchmen of Teodoro appeared again to take the ring from the woman, or 100 gold coins (the loan shark has raised the rate even more), he took action once again. Firstly, he hid his uniform with a bedsheet he took from a nearby house, and then came to confront the men. After a hard exchange of punches and kicks, Gonzales forced them to retreat. Then, he guaranteed to Silla that whenever the men come back, he will be there to protect her, and quickly bade her farewell, so to return to his duties as the Sergeant. Since that day, Gonzales has started spending time with Silla whenever he finishes his duties, and the kids of the town, who were spying on the Sergeant every day, told to Bernard about these news. In turn, the little boy told to Diego about Gonzales's new experience: love. Wanting to see it with their own eyes, the two brothers went out of the flower shop to spy on Gonzales, who was there along with Silla. After a few minutes, Diego and Bernard went back home to tell everything they saw to Lolita. Meanwhile, the mates of Teodoro, Manolo and Carmelo, returned to the money shop, at the same time the loan shark has made a deal with Don Carlos, another one of his many victims. They told to their boss that they can't steal Silla's ring, because the maiden has acquired someone they call a “bodyguard”, and he is always by her side. Being enraged about his men's inability, Teodoro called to his office an unexpected person, who's believed to be dead: Lamont. He assigned him capturing Silla and bringing her to his office, and the young man obeyed without any questions. As such, he put his golden mask, so to hide from Silla his face, and knocked both her and Gonzales unconscious with one hit. In the end, he left back along with Silla. At night, while Diego, Bernard, and Lolita were talking about the woman that has touched the heart of Gonzales, Carlos and Catarina were dealing with the henchmen of Teodoro, Manolo and Carmelo, who came to obtain the respective loans from the couple: 50 gold coins from Carlos (while the original amount is only 5 gold coins) and 30 gold coins from Catarina (while the original amount is 3 gold coins), with the rate being 20 silver coins instead of 2. Knowing about Teodoro's buncos, the couple set up an argument, so to leave these men with empty hands and force them to leave. In actuality, Carlos and Catarina have spent lots of money the previous days. They told to Diego, Bernard, and Lolita about the visit of Teodoro's mates, and the two brothers decided to spy on that man, so to come across him and punish him for all his crimes. At the same time, Silla woke up inside the office of Teodoro. She tried to escape, but the guard grabbed her and had her sit down, so that his boss will talk to her. As it seemed, the loan shark's abducted Silla not for the loan, but the ring, which is a gift from her mother, just before her death. Then, Teodoro presented to the maiden something that left her speechless: an old letter which her grandfather has written to her mom after Silla's adulthood. As Teodoro said, Silla's family originates from England, and her late grandfather was a duke. The old man, Percival, wrote that letter to Catherine, his daughter, during his last moments. Firstly, he approved his daughter's decision to marry a commoner like Grayson. Afterwards, he asked her to return to England and receive his property, his castle, as a gift that her daughter, Silla, will inherit when she passes away. In case Catherine doesn't come, she must send Silla in her place, along with her ring, which is the proof of the child's blood relation with her grandfather. With this information, the ambitious plan of Teodoro was revealed. He wants to embezzle the heritage of Silla's family, and then he will concede the castle to his spoiled daughter, Dora, who has been in love with Lamont and made him her slave. But firstly, he wants to take the ring from Silla. Gonzales regained his senses after the hit and saw that Silla's missing. Not wanting to tell anything to the troopers from the patrol, who were passing by and saw him lying on the ground, the Sergeant ran to the only place where Silla is: the money shop of Teodoro. With his fists, Gonzales broke inside, knocked out the men of the loan shark, and reached the dungeon, where the maiden is held. Silla rejoiced after seeing Gonzales. He detached the key from the guard, who rushed to bring reinforcements, and released Silla. But they had to face against the mysterious man with the golden mask, who came here first. Gonzales fought him and after a series of punches from both sides, he defeated him. Soon, the mask fell and the man's face was revealed. Silla was awestricken by seeing her lover in front of her, and Gonzales felt the same. The rest of the henchmen then appeared and blocked the only exit, so Gonzales led Silla and Lamont to the cell and with his body, he opened a hole at the back wall, freeing everyone at last. With Dora in charge, the men ran behind Gonzales and Silla, and one of them reported the bad news to Teodoro, who ordered him to go as well. But the henchman couldn't proceed further, because someone who was spying on Teodoro all the time knocked him out. It was Zorro. Being all alone, Teodoro took with him all the forged contracts and ran away, but Little Zorro cornered him, and Zorro destroyed the papers and punished the evil loan shark for his illegal activities with the “Z” sign. After hiding them in a cabin inside the forest, Gonzales interrogated Lamont. The young man explained him that he and Silla were planning to travel to England, in order for the maiden to receive her grandfather's heritage. Teodoro, who has taken the letter from Silla's mother, has learned about the ring and his men threatened to kill Lamont, because he defended Silla. But they spared him because of Dora, the daughter of Teodoro, who fell in love with the young man. As such, the loan shark made him his subordinate. Hearing this information, Gonzales scolded Lamont for showing weakness and leaving Silla alone. He advised him to take care of his lover and take her with him to England, where they will be safe, while he will clear the path from the mates of Teodoro. Zorro and Little Zorro watched Gonzales fighting six henchmen with bravery, like a lion, and they were amused of seeing this. When everything came to an end, Gonzales apologized to Silla for lying to her about him not being a soldier. The maiden forgave him, because he treated her like a good friend, and before leaving with Lamont to England, she wished that all the soldiers were like Gonzales. Teodoro and his henchmen were all arrested, and the money shop was sealed off by the army once and for all. But new problems occurred for Gonzales. Dora, to whom's shown compassion, fell in love with him, and she chases him wherever he goes. In the meantime, the Pulido family has organized a party out of their house, so to celebrate the end of Teodoro's activities, as if they're expecting it. Lolita has cooked lots of viands for everyone present, and especially Diego. The young man spotted Gonzales hiding under one of the tables, and when he learned the reason for this, he realized that Lolita just plays some love games with him by using food, 'cause an old saying mentions that a man's love comes from his stomach. As such, Diego ran to catch up with Gonzales, who was trying to get away from his own love games...
31	"Fire in the Sky"
A lot of wheat fields and wheat storage houses are being burned by a supposed social reform group. With the shortage of wheat, the South Indian Trade Company has increased the prices of grain leaving many hungry. Diego's dad Don Vega responds to the crisis by offering his own wheat as bread to the poor. He pays a boy to go and spread the word. The boy's father is a drunk who causes shame for the boy. His father then gets a job offer to stand near Don Vegas storage. He is blamed for the arson attacks and chased by the army. Eventually, he finds the real people responsible for the arson attacks. Zorro defeats the arsonists, clears the name of the boy's father, and resolves the wheat shortage
32	"A Doctors Dylemma"
The South India Trading Company has open a hospital with new doctors. The people however prefer the local doctor who has always treated them. The trading company tries to get the doctor to join but he refuses to work with them. They then discredit him by causing him to sleep during an operation. With the local doctor discredited the only medical place is the Trading Companies. They charge exorbitant prices and one of their doctors decides to expose them as corrupt. It isn't until the son of the president of the hospital gets injured that they decide to confess to their crimes and restore the credibility of the local doctor.
33	"Lolita in Love"
Lolita and Diego are out shopping in town. A gang of thugs harasses Lolita and Diego pretends to be weak and useless to keep his identity a secret. A handsome man on a white horse defends Lolita and copies the Zorro Z slash. Lolita believes that the man is Zorro and becomes infatuated with him. Rumors spread that he is Zorro and the army goes to capture him. He claims to be the son of the Duke of Spain and his fame spreads even more. Diego warns Lolita that the man is not what he seems but she refuses to listen. Lolita is kidnapped and an expensive ransom of 500 gold coins is demanded. The man promises that he will pay the ransom but claims that he has no money at hand. Carlos and Don Vega collect the ransom money and they give it to the man. Zorro follows after him. The army comes and warns Carlos that they found out the Duke has no adult son. That man wanted who only wanted to kidnap Lolita. After exposing them and defeating them Zorro tells Lolita that the man that truly cares for her is coming. Zorro leaves and returns as Diego offers to return her home.
34	"The Order to Kill Zorro"
The South India Trade Company had contacted 3 of the best assassins from around the world to finally kill Zorro. At the same time, Diego has spotted his senior classmate Teo Angelo in town. Teo was the one who taught Diego how to fence and is better in sword fighting than Diego. They promise to meet each other later. The Army lures Zorro to the mines where Zorro defeats them and goes on his way. Zorro is able to defeat the first assassin but then has to fight Teo. Zorro is stunned and he gets defeated by him. Teo recognizes Zorro and hesitates to kill him. The third assassin tries to kill Zorro and Zorro escapes. Diego gets his wounds treated and is met by Teo. Teo explains that after losing his Father and Mother to poverty he swore that he would become rich and powerful, but he cannot kill his friend. Teo begs Diego to retire Zorro but Diego refuses. They decided to fight to the death at dawn. The third assassin overhears them and follows them to the designated spot. The two of them fight at dawn and Zorro loses to Teo. Teo cannot kill Diego and the third assassin fires poison darts. Teo saves Diego but gets hit with the lethal darts. With his final breath, Teo instructs Diego as he defeats the third assassin. Diego buries his friend and vows to fight for justice.
35	"Gonzales in Love Again"
A new female magician, Emilia, is performing in town and ropes Gonzales into assisting. With a kiss on the cheek, he falls in love. The town's casino has been getting customers into debt. The grandfather, after entering the casino, gets shot, goes missing, and gets falsely charged for being a burglar. Gonzales brings Emilia to Vegas to stay while they look for her grandfather. Diego, Bernard, and Gonzales find the grandfather injured on the road and bring him back to Emilia for treatment. Gonzales tells Lolita about his love for Emilia and she helps them to get engaged. Zorro eventually saves the grandfather from a second assassination attempt and clears his name. Emilia, despite having agreed to marry Gonzales, is too heartbroken to leave her grandfather and goes back with him to Spain.
36	"Unmasked"
Diego is excited for his old college friend, McCrea, to visit from Spain. McCrea is now an author who got permission from the King of Spain to do a book on Zorro and to get assistance from the army on the topic. McCrea, not knowing about the army's corruption, begins investigating around town, but continues to get flak for being the "army's dog". He then sees the army attempt to capture a family whose father they killed for advocating freedom. After realizing how bad the army is, he decides not to work with them, but continues his investigation - getting increasingly suspicious of Diego. One day, the army seize McCrea's notes and arrest Diego based on what was written. McCrea decides to help Diego/Zorro upon realizing they have been safely hiding the family from the army. Little Zorro and McCrea team up to help Diego/Zorro escape. McCrea then travels back to Spain with the family, but not before promising to not write his book until Zorro is no longer needed.
37	"Diego Under Cover"
A bunch of teenagers want to fight the army for justice just like Zorro. A man overhears this and convinces them to follow his "missions" (orders) and to take up a sword like Zorro. The kids get a big head and take their fights too far. Diego decides to join the teen gang so that he can stop them. He finds out they are being manipulated, steals their stolen goods back, and convinces them that they can fight for justice in other ways.
38	"The Underwater Adventure"
A new inventor is in town who has created a mechanical knight named Max. She also invents a submarine in honor of her deceased son who loved the ocean. At night, Diego catches people sabotaging the submarine. Lolita and the kids get invited to join her on the first dive underwater. Because of the sabotage, the submarine begins to sink and the kids are forced to evacuate. Zorro fights off sharks, saves Lolita, and exposes who sabotaged the ship.
39	"The Battle in the Storm"
The townspeople are building an embankment (dam) during the storm season for when the river overflows. Some new debt collectors threaten the man in charge to pay up - he can't and the townspeople protect him. One of the debt collectors is a swordsman hired to handle Zorro. A plot is created to destroy the town's embankment, have the South Indian Trading Company build a new one (which they will monopolize), and get Zorro and the people's money in the process. The debt collectors come back and trap Zorro in a net in the overflowing river. Lolita tries to cut Zorro loose, but Zorro begs Lolita to go as giant tree logs are released to smack the embankment (and Zorro) down. The army fires canons to stop the logs. Zorro escapes and fights the collectors in a stormy battle.
40	"My Fair Lady Zorro"
The South Indian Trading Company (SITC) has a new monopoly on the fruit economy and is jacking up prices too high. A female blacksmith decides to make her deceased dad proud. She decides to test her sword-making skills and parades as Zorro. Diego/Zorro, hearing of her skills, disguises himself and gives her Zorro's sword for maintenance. She uses the sword and Zorro confirms she's the pretender. After Lolita's family farm is attacked by the SITC, the two Zorros escape and he tries to talk her into joining the fight for justice. She refuses and instead vows to become the best blacksmith she can be.
41	"Lolita Get Your Gun!"
Lolita and the girls are insulted when Diego and Bernard mention their bad-smelling expensive perfume. After a discussion, Lolita goes back to the store to return the perfume but discovers that the perfume was a fake copycat sold by the South India Trading Company (SITC). When the shopowner mentions he can't compete, Lolita offers to catch the fake perfume makers herself. When she spots the fake salesmen on the street, she gets caught in the back of their wagon and gets taken to the "all-female" convent where the illegal operation is taking place. Diego and Bernard - having heard of Lolita's capture - come up with a cross-dressing plan to enter the convent. When the fight begins, however, Zorro refuses to fight women - so Lolita grabs a gun to expose the imposters and help Zorro defeat the criminals. Zorro and Lolita embrace just before the final villain appears. In the end, SITC is forced to close and the real perfume maker is able to continue his business better than ever.
42	"Trapped by Ninja Magic"
A wealthy couple is on the way to a ball dressed in their finest clothes and jewels when suddenly, a magical thief attacks their carriage and steals their jewels. Gonzales tells the story to Diego and Bernard, to which Diego states that women shouldn't go out with such expensive jewels. Maria scolds the men about their lack of understanding about women. Diego studies up on magic to prepare for the fight when Lolita enters in a beautiful ballgown and jewelry - ready for her date with Diego (which he forgot about). On the way to the ball, they get stopped by the thief. In their attempt to flee, Diego rips Lolita's sleeve and then runs away from the fight. Lolita gets trapped by the shadow magic when Zorro appears. Zorro is able to free Lolita and captures one of the magical knives. Before they can continue, the army begins to approach forcing the villain and Zorro to flee, but not before he compliments Lolita on her beauty. The next day, Diego is able to find the answer to the magical knives in his studies and learns it is used by ninjas. As he is discussing his discovery with Bernard, Lolita finds Diego and gives him a beating for leaving her behind. Diego, to apologize, takes Lolita to the local dressmaker and meets the new Japanese tailor Hachisuka. It is revealed that Hachisuka was rescued by General Ramond at sea and feels that he owes a debt. That night, Hachisuka sneaks into Lolita's room while she's asleep and kidnaps her in order to lure Zorro. Zorro, knowing the trick behind the ninja magic, is able to corner Hachisuka. In the end, they talk it out and Hachisuka goes back to Japan.
43	"Beauty and the Monster"
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44	"Gabriel's Rebellion"
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45	"The Legend of the Sacred Wood"
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46	"The Hipnotic Doctor"
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47	"The Kidnapping of the Governor-General"
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48	"A Righteous Military Officer"
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49	"Farewell to the Army"
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50	"Blast Off the Demonic Cannon"
The South Indian Trading Company has gotten a massive cannon that can easily wipe out rebels. The cannon is stored on top of a mountain and heavily guarded by massive walls, numerous soldiers, guard dogs, and traps. Everyone is counting on Zorro to destroy the superweapon, but Diego is uncertain he can it. Diego then eavesdrops on Lolita becoming engaged to a wealthy suitor, heartbroken he decided to go risk his life and stop the superweapon. He ties up Bernard and leaves alone. He then kisses a sleeping Lolita before his mission. Using kites and decoys he distracts the guards and goes inside. He avoids the traps and avoids the dogs. He destroys the cannon and is rescued by Bernard. Happy that he managed to do this feat he returns home. Lolita then tells Diego that she has rejected her suitor and has decided to remain single.
51	"A Prelude to the Collapse"
The South Indian Trading Company has had enough failures and has decided to audit the California branch. Afraid of having all their shady practices discovered the local trading company president decides to run. He has a ledger containing all of the hidden crimes he committed with the Spanish army. Zorro tries to capture the president and his ledger, but then a hired bounty hunter from the Indian trading company appears. He wants to take the president and the ledger back to Spain to the CEO to be held accountable. Zorro and the bounty hunter fight. The bounty hunter is better skilled and badly hurts Zorro. Zorro then flees but at the same time is shot by the Spanish army. Afraid little Zorro decides to get Lolita to treat Zorro's wounds and discover his real identity. Lolita removes the bullet and bandages Diego. She then volunteers to help. She dresses up as Zorro and helps save the day. The bounty hunter captures the president and the ledgers and returns to Spain. Diego vows that the day of reckoning for the army is coming.
52	"The Sword of Justice Forever"
Knowing that their time is up the army decides to stage a coup and kill the governor. Zorro and little Zorro go rescue the governor while Lolita fires a machine gun. The hide the governor and prepare for the army's uprising. Diego has a tender moment with Lolita. Diego's dad and maid interrupt to help. They reveal that they always knew and help. Diego with his friends works to defeat the army. Gonzales finally stands up to his superiors. With the army finally, in order, Lolita asks about Zorro. Diego says that Zorro is no longer needed, but whenever there is injustice and people in need then Zorro will appear.

Music

The series soundtrack contains two pieces of thematic music. The opening theme is titled "Zorro", and the closing theme "Chikai" (誓い; "Oath"). Both are sung by Masaaki Endoh and are used for all aired episodes.^[3]