The Scarlet Derby and Midnight Jay - Volume 1: Gallery of Rogues by Mike Cervantes

me.” Bellaco reached back to one of the control levers and pulled loose the round knob at the end, revealing a long pointed sword.
    The Jay rolled her eyes. “Why do all of these criminals always have to keep their weapons in such silly places?” The Jay raised her umbrella, and took to fencing. She easily matched Bellaco’s movements, deflecting shot after shot, but surprisingly Bellaco was able to bring his sword back up faster than The Jay could close in for a definitive knockout. One more thrust, and the Jay reared back with Bellaco’s sword thrust just a centimeter before her very nose.
    “You’re pretty good at this,” The Jay said, unfazed as she struck the sword back down again.
    “Oh, I grew up fencing,” Bellaco said idly.
    Suddenly, the two of them felt the ground yank upward beneath them. As they were fighting, the Derby managed to grab ahold of the balance control and worked actively to capsize the enormous mechanism.
    “Wait, you fool!” Bellaco shouted back, but it was too late, the entire massive machine began to lurch forward. As the floor they stood on turned on its side, Bellaco flopped forward, first falling against The Jay, and then landing against the sideways wall with his sword plunged dangerously close to her head.
    The Jay opened her eyes, and turned her head to see that Bellaco had stuck his sword into the wall of the machine, piercing straight through it. He had missed stabbing her head by just a few inches. Impressive, if it weren’t a complete accident. Raising her head, she saw her husband’s feet dangling above the both of them. He obviously held on to the control levers to keep from falling sideways like they did.
    “Thanks for breaking my fall,” Bellaco murmured, his voice low enough for only The Jay to hear. “I knew you were special from the moment I saw you.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” The Jay replied coldly.
    Bellaco gave a chortle. “There’s only one person who would have known that I had tried to kidnap Mary Jane Preston, and that would be Mary Jane herself.”
    The Jay gave a gasp. She didn’t realize it at the time, but she realized that by accusing Bellaco she’d given away her own secret identity.
    “Your secret’s safe with me, but I’m afraid I am going have to insist,” Bellaco’s voice slithered into the Jay’s ear, making her shudder. “You must join my cause. Help me build my new future, as partners, and perhaps even as lovers.”
    The Jay slowly thrust both her open-palmed hands over the surface of Bellaco’s chest. “You’re forgetting just one thing, Bellaco: Judo.”
    “Judo?” Bellaco asked, blinking.
    The Jay jerked up a leg, flinging Bellaco backwards through the clock-shaped glass that was his cockpit. He yelled as his body slowly began to fall downward.
    The Jay merely stood, pulled her gloves back up to her shoulders, exhaled sharply and said “Judo.”
    Seeing that the capsized machine once again possessed some stable ground, The Derby hopped down from the control lever he was hanging from, and went to his wife’s side. “Are you okay, dear?”
    “Fine, he didn’t lay a finger on me,” She said, though she bit her lower lip. A lifetime of protecting her secret, and she, just the slightest bit of carelessness gave it away to one of the most despicable men on the planet. Though Bellaco promised he would keep her secret, he really had no reason to, and the treachery that was his sinister plan was proof enough he wasn’t one of the most honest people in the world.
    Together, they walked to the shattered clock-faced windshield, and looked down. They were still a couple of stories above terra firma. Bellaco’s vessel had landed sideways against a partially broken wall, destroying the greater part of his sinister petroleum factory. Thankfully the fuel-processing engine of the device had shut off and nothing had caught fire. There was plenty of evidence of Bellaco’s deeds remaining for The Constable to