Chapter 2: Beware the Magpie!

The cold wind whipped across the gargoyle-haunted rooftops of Apex city.  Black clouds rolled in from the harbor, flashing with lightning and the promise of an early autumn thunderstorm.  From his perch in the bell tower of the old St. Lazarus cathedral, the Magpie scanned the skyline.  His powerful binoculars watched the street, watched the sky, and watched the windows of the buildings around him.  Below him, the citizens of Apex city went about their business, in and out of restaurants, clubs, and late-night shops.  Above him, zeppelins slowly plowed their way across the stormy sky, bringing trade and travelers into the city.  Across from him, on the top floor of the Cavendesh Building, Dr. Victor Futura. hosted a press ball, no doubt unveiling some fabulous new invention.  Even in the storm shrouded night, the ornate, art deco skylights of the Cavendesh Building shone like crystal towers.

It had been three hours since the Magpie intercepted the coded transmission on the Roost's powerful radio set. The code matched no known cypher used by the U.S. government or military, and it took him the better part of an hour to decode the message.  The stormy weather had jumbled much of the transmission, and the Magpie could only produce two words from the ether.

“Tonight.”

“Cavendesh.”

It was a gamble, to be sure.  There were any number of Apex citizens who bore the name Cavendesh, but none he could think of that would warrant mention in a coded message from an unknown source.  Yet with such a gamble, he couldn't justify warning the Apex Police Department and risk diverting resources from other crimes in the city—not that Chief O'Neil would listen to the masked vigilante anyway. Tonight, the Magpie would fly alone.

The corvid crusader adjusted his binoculars and swung his view back skyward.  Nothing. But wait!  That last flash of lightning in the clouds, was it his imagination or did it reveal the dull gray reflection of metal?  He kept his sharp eyes on the cloud as it slowly meandered across the sky, waiting for another flash of lightning.  After a few tense minutes, the Magpie was rewarded by another burst of electric light.  His eyes burned as he kept them fixed on the cloud, but his endurance was rewarded.  Yes. There! The sheen of metal, and the shadow of something large behind it, hidden in the storm clouds.

The Magpie placed his binoculars back under his black Inverness coat and blinked his eyes until the dancing neon afterimages of the lightning cleared from his vision.  He checked his equipment--the gas-powered grappling gun and his jet-handled .45 automatic known to criminals throughout Apex City as The Magpie's Talon. His eyes were already hidden by a black goggles, but he drew his fedora  farther down across his brow, further shadowing his face.

The Magpie was ready to strike!