The Return of Johnny Cuba

**The Return of Johnny Cuba** is the twenty-seventh *TUGS: The Bigg City Chronicles* story.

## Plot

Captain Star tells the reader how Adolf Hitler used the death of German president Paul von Hindenburg to his advantage and became the absolute dictator of Germany. All the while, a different threat was coming to Bigg City Port.

With the improving relations between the Stars and the Z-Stacks, there are signs of a possible romance between Sunshine and Zug. Although Ten Cents and Zip had great strides in rebuilding their friendship, they no longer pursue the romantic relationship, especially since Ten Cents' heart is drifting towards Ariel.

Meanwhile, Zebedee and Sea Rogue are discussing Hitler and his plans to undo the Treat of Versailles. Zak approves of it and reveals he agrees with Hitler's plans for a pure German race, much to Zebedee and Sea Rogue's disgust. Later at the Railhead, Zebedee tells Top Hat, Zob and the engines about Zak. Zob reveals that Zeus agrees with Zak. Little Owl arrives and accuses the other Z-Stacks of being racist but Kirke insults her.

The Star Fleet discuss Zak's comments and Little Owl's response. They agree that both are equally concerning but have no idea what to do about it.

Meanwhile Johnny Cuba makes his way back to Bigg City Port. He plans to get revenge on the Z-Stacks but is unaware that he would get an unexpected ally.

Little Owl is shunting cars by the quayside and is still fuming about Kirke's comments towards her. There, she sees Johnny Cuba, who had overheard, slipping in. After learning about Little Owl's grudge towards the Z-Stacks, Johnny Cuba comes up with a devious plan and lies to her that Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly were planning to team up with Nazi Germany and bomb Bigg City Port. Little Owl thanks him and goes to alert the Coast Guard team.

The next morning, before the Z-Stacks can begin their briefing, Peeper Pipes, Davy Jones, Cappy and Snowy arrived to arrest Zebedee, Zug, Zip and Zilly. Despite much protest, Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly, not wanting to anger the Coast Guard vessels, have no choice but to comply even though they are innocent. Zak and Zeus decide to leave their colleagues in dry dock, because, to them, if Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly were found guilty, this could help Ursula Zero with her evil plans. However, Zorran, Zob and Captain Zero are determined to prove Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly innocent. Luckily for them, the Star Fleet and Captain Star have overheard and know they're innocent. After deducing that Little Owl was the one who tipped off the Coast Guard, Top Hat and Zob decide to confront her. Just then, Pisces arrives and alerts to Johnny Cuba heading for Bigg City Port. Sunshine then realises that Johnny Cuba must have put Little Owl up to it so Pisces accompanies the two railway tugs to the Railhead whilst Zorran goes to alert the Coast Guard team and Ten Cents goes to alert the rest of the Salvage Fleet.

When Top Hat, Zob and Pisces arrived at the Railhead, there's no sign of Little Owl. Apparently, Little Owl collected some coal cars that were meant to be taken up the line, but she went in the opposite direction. The three tugs explain the situation to Puffa, Porter, Henney, Kirke and Mr. Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd is furious with Little Owl and he goes with Puffa, Top Hat, Zob and Pisces to track Little Owl down.

The four Coast Guard vessels have just finished putting Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly in dry dock when Zorran arrives and informs them about Johnny Cuba. The Coast Guard team is skeptical about this, given the Z-Stacks' pasts track record. Zorran admits that he was a crook in the past but he would never lie about Johnny Cuba. In the end, Peeper Pipes and Snowy decide to go with Zorran whilst Cappy and Davy Jones keep guard of Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly.

Ten Cents comes across Hail who has spotted Little Owl delivering coal to Johnny Cuba. This confirms the Stars and Z-Stacks' suspicions about Johnny Cuba and Little Owl. Quickly, Ten Cents instructs Hail to find some Green Water to sedate Johnny Cuba. Ten Cents informs Zorran, Peeper Pipes and Snowy about this and after meeting up with Top Hat, Zob, Pisces, Puffa and Mr. Lloyd, the group heads for the old quay.

Johnny Cuba is about to tell Little Owl some lies about Zorran when all of a sudden, Ten Cents, Top Hat, Zorran, Zob, Pisces, Peeper Pipes, Snowy, Puffa and Mr. Lloyd show up. During the confrontation, Johnny Cuba accidentally reveals that he had lied to Little Owl, who is furious at being deceived whilst Peeper Pipes and Snowy realise their mistake. Peeper Pipes instructs Snowy to go back and release Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly from dry dock and give them their deepest apologises. Then he proceeds to arrest Johnny Cuba and Little Owl for framing the four Z-Stacks; however, Johnny Cuba tries to escape. Quickly, the five tugs, the two engines and Peeper Pipes give chase.

Meanwhile, Hail comes across a tanker barge of Green Water, but she is in such a rush that she doesn't check what's inside and that some of the green paint has splashed off the barge.

Johnny Cuba tries to make his escape heading near the old pier line, but Pisces soon catches up to him and throws a towline. Zorran then does the same. Then Puffa and Little Owl came along on the line. Mr. Lloyd quickly fastens a chain around Little Owl’s rear coupling and throws the other end which he lassoes up to catch onto Johnny’s hull. Top Hat, Zob and Ten Cents also throw towlines onto Johnny Cuba. Johnny struggles and strains, but he was no match for the combined strength of the engines and tugboats. Then, Hail shows up with the barge and quickly pumps the Green Water into Johnny Cuba. Suddenly, the tramp steamer complains that his systems are failing and he falls completely silent. Peeper Pipes goes to fetch Captain Lucky, who quickly discovers that Hail had given Johnny Cuba Black Water by mistake. Hail is distraught at accidentally killing Johnny Cuba so Captain Lucky brings Hail back to Lucky's Yard for counseling. Zorran then informs Burke and Blair about Johnny Cuba's death and the two scrap dealers are only too glad to take the gangster into their "collection".

That evening, Captain Star, Captain Zero and the other Stars and Z-Stacks, including the now released Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly, are shocked to hear about Johnny Cuba's death. Then, Zak and Zeus show up but Captain Zero is furious with their selfish behaviour during the crisis so he puts them on dredger duty for the rest of the year and warns them that the next time they mess up, they will both be fired.

Meanwhile, Little Owl is shunted for the rest of the year. Mr. Lloyd scolds Little Owl for her naughty behaviour and hopes she can be trusted to behave when she next comes out of the shed. The engines are also disappointed with Little Owl but she still refuses to let go of her grudge.

Hail feels better after the mishap with Johnny Cuba thanks to support from her friends, Captain Lucky and Captain Salvage. It's also revealed that a worker at the dock where Hail found the barge had seen Johnny Cuba slip in the night before and wanted him dead, so he painted the barrel green to make it look like it was full of Green Water. This clears Hail's name whilst the dock worker is arrested for murder. Eventually, Little Owl would learn her lesson but as Captain Star states, that's another story.

## Characters

* Captain Star
* Ten Cents
* Big Mac
* O.J.
* Top Hat
* Warrior
* Hercules
* Sunshine
* Grampus
* Captain Zero
* Zorran
* Zebedee
* Zak
* Zug
* Zip
* Zeus
* Zob
* Zilly
* Pisces
* Hail
* Sea Rogue
* Johnny Cuba (death)
* Jacob Burke and Ebenezer Blair
* Peeper Pipes
* Davy Jones
* Cappy
* Snowy
* Mr. Frederick Lloyd
* Puffa
* Little Owl
* Porter
* Henney
* Kirke
* Ariel (mentioned)
* Captain Salvage (mentioned)

## Voices

### Official

* Simon Nash as Ten Cents
* Sean Barrett as Big Mac, Hercules, Zebedee, Sea Rogue, Blair and Captain Zero
* Ian James Corlett as O.J.
* John Baddeley as Top Hat and Puffa
* Lee Cornes as Grampus and Peeper Pipes
* Chris Tulloch as Zorran
* Shaun Prendergrast as Zak
* Nigel Anthony as Zug, Davy Jones and Burke
* David Menkin as Porter

### Fan chosen

* Peter Dickson as Captain Star
* Jeff Bennett as Warrior
* Michelle Creber as Sunshine
* Tara Strong as Zip
* Richard White as Zeus
* Christian Bale as Zob
* Matt Frewer as Zilly
* Catherine Cavadini as Pisces
* Katie Leigh as Hail
* Anya Taylor-Joy as Snowy
* Lenore Zann as Little Owl and Captain Lucky
* Phyllis Smith as Henney
* Alan Tudyk as Kirke
* Scott McNeil as Johnny Cuba

## Trivia

* This marks the final appearance of Johnny Cuba.
* This story was so dark TobyandMavisforever had to bump the rating on Fanfiction.