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

and fewer moving parts. Part of the reason for my trip was to find a potential investor for mass production of this device.”
    “An engine,” Mary Jane said dully “That’s funny, I don’t seem to see any sort of furnace or boiler on it.”
    “Ah, that is what is truly what is revolutionary about this device: It runs on a revolutionary form of fuel called petroleum, which is created from refined crude oil. The fuel creates a series of small combustions which power the machine from within without the need for manual application.”
    A light went on in Mary Jane’s head, just to be sure her hunch was correct, she continued to question “A fuel from the Earth’s crust, used to create internal combustion. Would it be highly flammable, and have properties similar to crude oil?”
    “It would,” Bellaco said in a surprised tone. “I wouldn’t have expected you to know that.”
    ‘Neither would I, if someone hadn’t just told me,’ Mary Jane thought to herself. “And you believe this will change the world?”
    “Of course this will change the world!” Bellaco scoffed, his eyes still fixated on the movement of his petrol fueled engine. “With this invention, the steam era will end, every large piece of machinery, every train, every large transport, and every factory device will be remade using these engines. There will be no more coal to stoke, and no more blistering steam factory conditions to endure.”
    “But your future will require a lot of this new fuel to power those engines. Do you propose to dig it up all yourself?” Mary Jane asked, although having put it together in her mind, she found it wise not to stick around, and slowly began to move toward the door.
    “Well, I have already begun extracting oil from a location hidden here in London, but I admit it would take a good amount of capital in order to create a venture like this worldwide. Alas, if only I were wealthy enough as, say, the Preston family. Then I could use their millions to-”
    Bellaco turned away from the visage of his invention long enough to see that Mary Jane had escaped the room. “Oh drat!” he swore, seeing his attempt a kidnapping turned out to be a feeble one, he exited the room in search of her.
    Mary Jane, on the other hand, had slid free of the mansion from the nearest second-story window, scaled the accompanying wall, and hid herself behind a pair of neatly cut shrubs. While under the somewhat modest cover, she shimmied out of her formal dress, and slid on her mask, assuming the guise of Midnight Jay. Stepping out of the shrubbery and into the street, she declared “I have to find Thaddeus. Without a doubt he’s already found Bellaco’s oil-extracting site, which means he could also be in terrible danger.”
    O O O
    Indeed, the Scarlet Derby was in peril, for he found himself in these small underwater quarters with the clock-faced thugs closing in on him, still recovering his breath from the near-drowning. In desperation, he reached for the glass vials on his chest, which contained a whole armory of gasses and chemical compounds. Rapidly, he took one in hand and held it aloft for the thugs to see.
    “Not so fast! This bottle contains a highly concentrated amount of carbon dioxide! You lay a finger on me and I’ll suck all the air right out of this chamber!”
    One of the thugs chortled. “You’re bluffing. If you did that you’d suffocate as well.”
    “It’s a small price to pay to take out a crooked operation like this!” The Derby did his best to threaten, but the henchman was right, it was only an empty threat. His eyes darted around, searching for any other way out of this underwater rat trap. ‘What would the Midnight Jay do in a situation like this?’ He thought. Then he looked down and planed the heel of his shoe into one of the diver’s boots.
    The diver yelled sharply, and dropped his helmet to hop up and down comically on the foot The Derby stomped on. “Looks like your overseer skimped on the