How to Cut a Ruby - Chapter 6

The footsteps of Zack and Julie faded into silence as the portal closed behind them. Ruby gazed at the empty hallway, then carefully twisted her aching body to look at the man standing behind her.

She spoke softly, "No goin' back now."

Reinhold smiled at her, "I never would have went back before..." He slid an arm around her shoulder and leaned down for a long kiss. She turned the rest of her body around and slipped her arms around him to embrace him tightly. He brushed her hair from her face and winked at her. "...But you are definitely going to owe me after all this."

She let her arms slip from their locked position and smirked as she lightly slapped him across the face. "Well, mebbe after I stop feelin' like a piece of tenderised meat."

His mask disguised the concern in his face, and he carefully gathered her into his arms. Her face twisted in discomfort as his arms held her bruised body, but she made no verbal complaint.

Big girls don't cry.

Reinhold placed her upright in bed and turned to close the door. She stripped to her boy-shorts and tossed her clothing into the corner of the room. She laboriously leaned forward to unlace and pull off each boot and set them at the foot of the bed. Reinhold rolled her onto her stomach and began to knead the muscles in her shoulders. She closed her eyes and sank into the mattress, allowing only a soft moan of relief to escape her parched lips.

Ruby's heavy eyelids closed halfway and her vision blurred as Reinhold worked her aching back muscles with his strong hands. She turned her head to the left to stare blankly at his neat desk and the meticulously sorted stack of paper on the corner. She allowed her eyes to close the rest of the way and immediately, her mind started to race.

The District Attorney. The son of a bitch. Ruby shivered as Rein traced her spine with his fingertips and opened her eyes a slit. He was using her like a chump this whole time. She had no idea she would be faced with a choice of life in the Zig, or death by his hand. It was difficult to decide which would be worse.

He never anticipated he'd have to deal with a force like Ruby Phoenix. Another Outcast street thug. No big deal, right? She'd do his dirty work to stay out of the Zigg, and he'd hide her body in his skeleton-filled closet.

Then there was Reinhold. Nobody expected Ruby to associate herself with someone like him. She smiled slightly as she felt his hands run up her back, over her ribs, the sides of her breasts, and onto her shoulders again. She shivered slightly at the sensation of his lips kissing between her shoulder blades. Reinhold was the ace on the river.

Ruby winced slightly as Reinhold applied pressure to her spine, but instead of complaining, she let him work on her sore muscles and released a controlled breath. The DA had to go, but she couldn't kill him. Killing the DA would likely be traced back to her by now, and the last thing she wanted was to be sent to the Zigg after all this effort. She held up her end of the bargain, and despite all the terrible things she did in her past, she felt she was finally on the right path. The last thing she needed was to go back to jail.

She thought about the list. Half the people were dead, and the other half were surely captured, hiding, or on the run. The list would be the key to it all. She yelped in pain as Reinhold put pressure on a rather sizable bruise on her lower back. He paused the massage and placed his flat palm on the small of her back.

"You all right, Red?" He lifted his hand as she twisted her body and nodded slightly. He traced his fingers over the yellowing bruises covering her ribcage, kidneys, and spine, then carefully resumed the back rub.

If they could pin the murders to the DA, his campaign for Mayor would be ruined. They needed to find his itinerary, trace the bodies, and link the two without implicating either Ruby or Reinhold. She squeezed her eyes shut as Reinhold moved his hands to her muscular legs. She spread her toes when he reached her ankle and softly chuckled when he ran a finger along the bottom of her foot.

Surely there was a cop they could trust with the information. Ruby scowled at the idea of trusting anyone in the PPD, but with enough digging, surely the information could make it to someone who wasn't in the DA's pocket. There were hundreds of officers. They couldn't ALL be dirty, could they?

They just didn't have the resources.

Ruby kicked Reinhold's hand as he tickled the bottom of her foot. He chuckled and pressed his thumbs above her heel. Her entire body trembled with relief as the pressure on her foot seemed to relieve stress in other places. She smiled lopsidedly at him and wiggled her foot out of his hands. He crawled back up her body, pausing briefly to kiss the small of her back, and curled up next to her on the bed.

Zack and Julie had resources. The lab alone was state of the art, and definitely not linked to official avenues. Surely, they had to deal with more injuries than they wanted the city to know about. She was positive they had Reinhold's attention, but the fact that he wasn't able to dig up any information both worried and reassured her.

Reinhold snaked his arms around her midsection and pulled her against his warm body. He nuzzled his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply, then kissed the top of her head. She tried to stifle her fatigue, but failed miserably as her jaw relaxed to release a big yawn. Reinhold yawned in turn and chuckled at her. She smiled lazily and wrapped her hands around his wrists to silently assure him she wanted nothing more than to be laying there right then with him.

It had been a dark couple of months, but she almost swore she could see an exit at the end of the tunnel. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. He had removed his mask at some point. She studied his face: he really was quite handsome. A face like his was certainly memorable without the mask. It was no wonder he wore it... and his face was hers alone to see. Her emerald eyes locked to his startling azure eyes, but she couldn't formulate the words she needed.

He moved a hand from around her midsection to the side of her face and kissed her warmly. He was here for her. He had never abandoned her. He took her in when she was stalked by the hitman. He came for her when Burkholder was ready to kill her. He tended her wounds, watched her while she slept, and did everything in his power to protect her. She rolled to face him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"Y'know, Rein," she murmured. "Y'really are somethin' special. Y'always seem t'know what's best. Ain' y'glad y'decided t'slosh 'round in th' sewers that day?" She traced his brow with her fingers, ran her hand through his hair, and closed her eyes halfway.

He simply nodded and kissed her again. "If we make the right moves, it will all be over soon, Red."

He hugged her tightly against his chest and rested his chin on the top of her head. She yawned again, cocooned safely in his embrace, and drifted to sleep.

How to Cut a Ruby: Chapter 5 D

The outside of the Council base erupted into a firefight as Reinhold used his abilities to fling the Freaks into the Council Soldiers standing guard. The Freaks were freed just as the men regained their bearings, and in the confusion they began fighting amongst themselves. Reinhold would have normally used the distraction as a chance to disappear into the shadows and sneak inside, but today... today was all about revenge. He summoned up his living shadows and leaped from his perch to engage the lot of them.

The Council and Freaks united in their screams as Reinhold flung all of them heavily into the entrance of the base. By now, whether or not the guards had been able to radio it in was irrelevant. It was clearly obvious to the men near the door that someone or something was outside. As the door blew open, the Council soldiers that were waiting were knocked over like a series of bowling pins.

Before order could be restored, Reinhold had strolled through the door, and without so much as a twitch, his living shadows began to tear through the soldiers. Their master watched briefly before deciding to take a more active role, using the soldiers' own shadows to grip them tightly to the floor. He hammered them with wave after wave of dark energy, staggering their senses and leaving them stunned. The dozens of troops melted under Reinhold's assault, and more and more came, only to meet the same fate.

Relativity was in full effect. To Reinhold, the minutes passed like seconds as he unleashed a darkened hell upon the base. To the Council, however, each second seemed to last an eternity, as they were crushed wave after wave by one man. After the onslaught seemed over, Reinhold made his way through the now relatively peaceful base, leaving the bodies of the fallen wherever they may have landed in the exchange.

Senses kicking back in, Reinhold slipped into the shadows and quickly navigated the base, searching for wherever they might have been keeping her. Spending so much time infiltrating bases seemed to come in handy in this sort of situation. With a quick survey of the base he could take a strong, educated guess as to where they might be holding her, and once he had his bearings, he rushed off to find her.

As Reinhold ran quickly through the halls, he suddenly spotted a group of Council soldiers that seemed to be guarding something. Quickly shifting direction, he raced towards them, sending his minions to hit them head on, and distracting them just long enough for him to take advantage of the situation and completely lock them down. Again, relativity took effect, and the seconds both flew by and slowed to a crawl, depending on which end of the attack you were on. In either case, the ambush was brief, ending with Reinhold waving a hand and flinging all but one of the Council bodies away from the guarded door.

Sounds of heavy impact, muffled by the walls, made their way to Reinhold's ears. Fearing the worst and visualizing Red being beaten, his anger finally bubbled to the surface. Without making contact, he raised the one Council body he had left aside, and with tremendous force and fueled by his own rage, he flung the body against the door. The body hit the door with a sickening thud and the sound of numerous bones snapping, but the door remained in place. Anger still fueling him, he motioned to the pile of Council he had made, and with a quick snap of his wrist he flung every man at the door.

The steel was strong, but after taking numerous hits from Reinhold's human pinballs, it began to give way, warping and contorting the center, and finally bending the hinges. Scattering the Council with a flick of his wrist, he walked to the door and knocked it from its hinges with a swift kick. He rushed in, ready to turn one unfortunate individual's last few moments on this earth into an unspeakable hell, but all he found was an fist swirling with dark energy flying straight towards his head. Quickly ducking, he saw Red look at him with shock, clearly having thought he was another interrogator. She looked at him, eyes all but swollen shut, blood seeping out from more places than he cared to count. She was a wreck, but she was alive, and living on borrowed adrenaline. Seeing him was too much for her to process, and she limply collapsed.

Reinhold quickly caught her, looking her over, and searching for anything that would demand immediate attention. Seeing nothing necessarily life threatening, he cradled her in his arms and quickly got her out of the base. The run home was a quiet one. He looked down at her, her body resembling a tenderized piece of meat more than the woman he knew and cared for. He couldn't help but wonder if it had all been worth it: worth the sacrifice.

His question was answered when he noticed a buzzing coming from one of Red's pockets. Quickly realizing it wasn't her phone, he stopped to pull it out. The name, Nathaniel Miller, flashed across the screen. Reinhold instantly recognized it: the name of the District Attorney. He slid the phone into his pocket. Getting Red home safe was more important. This could wait.

How to cut a Ruby - Chapter 5 C

Rough calloused hands gripped Ruby's chin and forced her to look up. Her eyes were nearly swollen shut, and her entire body ached from the pounding of fists and stomping of reinforced steel toes. She struggled through the blood, sweat, and haze in her eyes to focus on the face of the man craning her neck back, but the bright light directly behind him made him nothing more than an impending silhouette.

Ruby could barely hear his voice through the thumping in her head. It was as though her ears were smothered in a soft down pillow, like when she was a kid, trying to bury out her mom's voice when it a Monday morning school day: only this was far from soft and comfortable. She focused on the man's muffled voice, making out only bits of the conversations.

"...her the drug as soon as we ... won't pose a threat ... enough to stop a man twice her ... for Burkholder to get here..."

She defiantly struggled to lift her chin from the man's hand and tugged against her binds. The hand slapped her across the face as she resisted him, and she responded in turn by spitting a mouthful of blood into his face.

Ruby's actions earned her another swift punch to the face. She started to laugh loudly at her captors, tilting her head back and closing her bruised eyes to feel the room spin haphazardly. She called out to them in a sing-song voice, "Ain' gonna make me say nothin', twats! Jus' you wait till I get free! Boy, will you be fuckin' sorry!"

One of the men in the room had obviously had enough. He stormed towards her, grabbed her hair roughly, and pressed his pistol against her temple. This only made Ruby laugh even harder. "Shoot me, motherfucker! See how Burkholder likes THAT!" The man cocked the barrel and jerked her head by the hair. "DO IT, YOU FUCKING PUSSY!", Ruby taunted.

The door to the room busted open, and a familiar authoritative voice bellowed.

"Stand down! Don't kill her until we know what she stole from us!"

The rough hands released her, and the cold nozzle of the gun was taken from her head. She couldn't help but smirk.

"'ey Burkholder. That you? I'm sorry, did yer men drag you away from yer pedestal o'bullshit jus' t'deal with li'l ol' me?"

Burkholder growled and kicked the chair out from under her. She slumped heavily to the floor. Her legs and wrists were both tightly bound, but she still managed to find the strength to try rolling away. Burkholder grabbed her roughly by the elbow and tugged her 5 foot tall frame to her knees. He growled at his guards to leave the room and waited for the heavy steely clang of the door before he started his work.

"Arrigh' Burkholder. Y'got me, but y'don' got what we took from ya. Now what?" Ruby smugly grinned at him. He kicked her in the stomach and she buckled over, laughing at him as more blood poured from her mouth and spattered onto the floor.

"You've been more trouble than you're worth, little girl." Burkholder dragged her to her knees again and started circling her. "If you didn't destroy our databases, steal our secrets, and threaten our security, I would have killed you a very long time ago. I'm going to enjoy making you tell me what you were after."

"So, why didn't ya? Why don't ya now? Is th' stuff we stole that important?"

"Shut up!" He punched her between the shoulders and kicked her in the ribs while she was down. She gasped for breath and choked slightly on the fluids in her throat. She forced herself to start laughing again, despite how her entire body screamed at her to give in. She would give Burkholder no satisfaction.

"Y'can' handle a WOMAN! Fucking PATHETIC! How'd you even manage t'make it past Colonel, Burkholder? Whose dick did you suck, HUH?"

Her taunting was rewarded with a surly kick to the face, and her battered body was flung to the floor, her head cracking sickly against the concrete. She opened her eyes and saw nothing but flashing and stars, she felt the gooey heat of blood spilling out of her nose and all over her face, and she tasted copper in her mouth. She vaguely wondered how much blood she had swallowed. She rolled onto her side and spat another mouthful of blood on the floor, her laughter starting up again. She couldn't help it at this point: it was the only thing keeping her in the right mindset.

Burkholder's heavy footsteps approached her, but stopped short as the shrill ring of a cell phone pierced the room. He turned away from her and stepped towards the door.

"Yes? Yes. She's here. No, nothing. Are you sure?" Burkholder glanced over his shoulder at Ruby, who had stopped laughing and was laying very, very still apart from her ragged breathing. "If I do this, we're even. I don't owe you anything else. We won't be needing your assistance," he hissed. "She's a real fucking problem, but it will be over soon."

Burkholder balanced the phone between his shoulder and ear as he tugged his gloves on. He took the phone in a gloved hand and nodded at the voice that had been speaking to him. "It won't get back to you. I'm taking care of her, myself." He watched Ruby, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the possibility that she may have passed out again without giving him what he wanted to know. He addressed the voice on the phone one last time. "Don't worry. It won't be found. We're very good at hiding them. You'll hear from me when it's done."

The clamshell cell phone was snapped shut and placed in his pocket. Ruby had been taking deep breaths to focus her strength. She felt the fury of Hell burning in her chest and begging to be freed. Burkholder isn't the guy? Who is he working for? That cell phone...

Burkholder grabbed Ruby's arm and roughly pulled her to kneel. She tilted her head back and grinned at him mirthlessly. Burkholder wound up to punch her in the face for taunting him again, but couldn't swing fast enough to connect it. The Crey drug worked. Ruby's body exploded into flame with a sonorous roar, and the sheer force of the inferno nearly threw Burkholder through the wall.

Ruby rose to her feet, her body running on nothing but pure willpower, and focused her fires to burn hot enough to disintegrate the ropes binding her wrists and ankles. She tugged an epi-pen from its hidden spot in her boot and thrusted the needle into her chest with a shaky hand. She threw the empty syringe on the floor and turned her penetrating green eyes on Burkholder. She grabbed the chair she had been sitting on earlier and wedged it between the floor and the doorknob to buy a few minutes of time. She then turned to the stunned and disoriented Burkholder, that same mirthless grin plastering her bruised and battered face.

Rein... if yer out there... now's th' time t' come in an' help me!

How to Cut a Ruby: Chapter 5 B

Reinhold alternated his view between the building and his watch at a steady pace. He had told Cecily to keep an eye on the front, and Andie on the back, but something told him this was the door. Call it gut instinct, intuition, or just a lucky guess: something told him this would be the way she came out. Perched on this rooftop, covered in the shadows, he was safe from any wayward glance a soldier might make. Positioned just so, if she went any way, he could move. His bases were covered.

The hands on his watch seemed to struggle to move, fighting against time itself. He knew what was happening, and every fiber of his being, every scrap of emotion, was crying out to him to storm the building and save her... but no. He couldn't. Moving now would only mean that everything was for nothing. The night air screamed as crimes were committed by whichever nefarious force lurked the streets, each feminine shriek tricking him into thinking it was her. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction. Deep down, he knew that. Each question they asked, each strike they landed, would be met with a snide remark and a blood-infused spit.

Almost beyond the point of bearing this torture, Reinhold peered down at the doorway. His patience was rewarded when the door burst open. The small hallway spat out what must have been twenty to thirty Council soldiers, many of them looking like they needed desperate medical attention. The sight of each beaten and battered face could only make Reinhold grin for the briefest of moments -- until he laid eyes on Ruby's limp, unconscious body. They dragged her, not so gently, to a military-esque vehicle that undoubtedly belonged to the Council. They tossed her body into the rearmost section of the vehicle and quickly drove into the night.

This city was good to Reinhold. If he needed something, he knew that the city would provide it so long as he knew where to look. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, springing off of a TV antenna, sliding down power lines, utilizing fire escapes: the tools were all there. So, he pursued. The vehicle pulled away from him, but never out of his sight as he pushed himself to keep up.

Eventually, the vehicle came to a stop in front of what looked like a warehouse, but Reinhold knew better. When you see enough Council bases, you eventually can tell what’s inside from a quick glance at the outside. The lab inside would be large, extending deep underground. Stainless steel walls stretch off into the distance as they yanked her from the vehicle and dragged her inside. A few select soldiers stood guard by the door as it quickly slammed shut behind them.

Perched atop his roof, he looked for an opening. He needed a way in, and he didn’t have time to wait around. Of course, this is the moment a small gathering of Freakshow tried to jump him. At first, he looked up at the Freaks, his face saying Not now, before his lips could ever move. But, of course, they didn’t listen. They never listened. In a split second, they lunged at him, and in that same second, he waved his hand and locked them to the ground. Another wave, and they didn’t know which way was up.

A light bulb flicked on in his head as he looked between the Freaks and the Council base. A faint grin spread across his face, “Two birds, one stone. I’m coming Red. Hang in there.”

How to cut a Ruby - Chapter 5 A

The evening screamed by as though the night was made of seconds rather than hours. Ruby stared at herself in the mirror, tracing her fingers over the faded lines that were once cuts made from a piano wire. So much had happened since the day she earned them. She raked her fingers through her shiny white hair, thumbed over a few fresh cuts on her face, and neatly pulled her neck cover on.

Placing a hand on each side of the mirror, she leaned forward to study her own fierce jade eyes. Arrigh', Red. Time t' lose a fight.

Reinhold was waiting at the kitchen table. She glanced at the items he had spread out before him: the drug (in a rather scary looking needle), rubber cord, rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, a vial of adrenaline, and the first aid kit. She forced herself to smile at him, and he returned an equally fake grin. They watched each other in silence for a minute before he piped up.

"Ready, Red?"

She unclasped and resnapped her gloves tightly. "'Bout as ready as I'll ever be, I guess." She took a seat at the table, rolled her sleeve up, and snugly wrapped the rubber cord around her tricep. "Are the others ready to go?"


*****


Infiltrating a Council base was never an easy task. Nor had it ever been such a forced and unwilling task. The four friends approached the base just as the sun set over the dreary Striga horizon. Their usual banter had died to a thick and heavy silence.

Reinhold jogged ahead of the three women, breaking into a sprint and expertly using trees, rocks, and his own will to propel, kick, and launch himself onto the towering wall surrounding the bustling base. He crouched momentarily to ensure the soldiers were in the midst of changing shifts, then lowered a rope to pull the others to his level. Ruby placed a flat palm against his back and lightly patted him. She glanced over her shoulder at the wide-eyed Cecily Fay and the reluctant, but still willing, Andie.

The four silently dropped from the wall and rolled neatly onto the ground below. They crept through shadows, around warehouses, avoided patrols, and finally made it to the building of their choice: a central control bunker. Ruby gave Andie and Cecily a tight hug each, then turned to Reinhold. He pulled her close and squeezed her lovingly before planting a kiss on her lips. "We'll come for you, Red. This, I promise." She tore her eyes from his face and nodded curtly to the others.

"Arrigh' guys. Time t'dance."

The door to the bunker flew open from the force of Ruby's steel-toed combat boot. It barely hung on its hinges as the blazing white inferno of the petite woman screamed past the guards and into the central chamber. The men started to yell frantically, and the alarm was set.

The others filed into the building quickly as Ruby filled her role as "The Diversion".

"Get the fuckin' file, arready, Rein!" She barked, "We gotta get th' fuck outta here before it's fulla rats!"

Reinhold, Andie, and Cecily sprinted towards the central database as Ruby battled the growing number of Council soldiers at the door, using the small entrance to bottleneck them. They quickly downloaded a file to a flash drive and prepared for their departure.

Ruby screamed as she drove her fist into the face of one of the soldiers. His nose exploded with a mixture of blood and cartilage and he dropped to the ground, unmoving. His buddies, just as stupidly fearless and loyal to their organization, rushed Ruby.

The fires surrounding her body mercilessly seared the men around her and turbulently deflected most of their bullets. Her fist made contact with more faces, chins, and chests than she could keep track of. She kneed more groins, legs, and heads than recent memory could recall. The natural adrenaline flowing through her body made her feel as though the fire in which she was engulfed also ran through her veins.

The alarm echoed throughout the complex, calling more troops. It was the perfect spot to hit. The perfect, less than obvious, hot spot to attract their attention. She felt rough arms wrap around her waist and concentrated to increase the heat of her fire. The man screamed in agony as he released her and curled into a trembling ball of burning misery. She stepped on his head as she sprinted towards another soldier about to open fire at her, point-blank. She grabbed his gun before he could squeeze the trigger and ripped it from surprised hands. She threw the gun across the room, picked him up with alarming strength, and threw him into the growing group of men at the door.

The men began to push their way through the entrance, past the man she threw, and quickly towards her. Their sheer force in numbers was far too much for Ruby to handle by herself. She threw her arms down to summon an blazing inferno of flames at the entrance of the door before taking a step back, clearing the room of as many stragglers as possible, and preparing for the main assault.

"Get outta here, guys! I'll be arrigh'....!" Ruby called out to them as the force of soldiers at the door fearlessly dove through the flames and began to pile into the room. Cecily and Andie darted out of the building through the back fire exit with Reinhold heading up the rear.

He paused at the door for one final moment as the few men inside the building doused the fire she had set with an extinguisher. With the hazard cleared, several dozen soldiers stormed in to surround her. The angry mob knocked her to the ground, and despite her very enthusiastic and completely genuine efforts to fight back, they easily, viciously, relentlessly, and furiously beat her like she had never been beaten before.

The Mission

Ruby Phoenix lifted her head from her pillow. Her body was tired and sated, and her eyes were clouded with fatigue. There were no windows to let in the sun, but the clock on the bedside tabled indicated it was exactly 9:24 am. Ruby closed her tired eyes halfway and smiled contentedly. She squeezed Reinhold’s arm around her naked form and pulled the sheet over her goosebumped flesh.

9:25 am. Ruby brought Reinhold’s hand to her lips and gently kissed his knuckles. The last time she had seen the clock, it told her the time was 3:47 am. She had only seen it from the corner of her eye before their bodies collapsed in a heap of tired but satisfied flesh and covers.

When the clock turned 9:26, Ruby pulled Reinhold’s arm from around her midsection and gently laid it on the bed where she had lain. She raked her hands through her striking white hair and smiled at him for an extra moment before pulling on one of his starched button up shirts and a pair of her boy-shorts, then padding barefoot into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.

Cecily Fay sat at the dining room table in her fuzzy bunny jammies. She couldn’t help but grin at Ruby as she rolled her eyes and fished through the drawers for a coffee filter. Despite her morning pleasantries, and the previous night’s exertions, Ruby was hardly in the mood to talk.

The only thing on her mind right now was the upcoming sacrifice.

The council had been after them for far too long. What had started with Lou’s hitman had escalated to a series of questionings and break-ins. Then, they took Andie. Beat her to a pulp. What was left? They did their digging. They searched for weeks, but it felt like years. Who was behind it? What do they want? No. They knew what they wanted.

Ruby Phoenix.

But she kept asking herself, “Why?” Who had she pissed off this much? Why would anyone want her dead? Maybe the gangs, but Outcasts had no links to Council. It didn’t make sense.

With no other leads, Ruby had formulated a plan of action. She hated sitting around and doing nothing. She hated being hunted. She hated the ambushes. She hated living in fear. She hated the fact that her friends were endangered. Why had she let them get close? Andie: already beaten. Cecily: so vulnerable by nature. Reinhold… Rein… well, Rein could take care of herself, she mused. How many times had he pulled her out of trouble, now? Far too many times to possibly keep track of.

Ruby scooped the coffee into the filter and filled the pot, then poured herself a glass of orange juice. She gazed vacantly over at the living area where Cecily was saying something to her, but she couldn’t make out the words. She felt as though she was a million miles away. She simply nodded absently to the younger woman’s words and drank her orange juice. What was she thinking about, again?

Oh, right. The plan.

Ruby thought of it in the shower, of all places. As the steaming water scourged the filth from her body, her mind often tended to race. She was struck with the thought as she was twisting the tap into the off position.

What if the council captured her?

Andie and Cecily were immediately against the idea. Rein wasn’t particularly fond of it, either, but after a night’s thought, he warmed up to it. With the four of them working together, the risk was minimal. The only problem would be giving them the impression that Ruby Phoenix, of legendary anger-fame, was unable to activate her powers should they implement a power suppression device or technique.

Rein had done a bit of digging, bless his soul. Ruby smiled down into her glass of orange juice and took a long draw from the glass. It turns out the Crey had developed a pharmaceutical for such a purpose. It was how they infiltrated their competitors with their Paragon Protectors. It was the easiest way for them to break their tights-clad soldiers out of the Zigg.

Ruby came to her senses as the coffee maker chattered its completion. She slammed the rest of her orange juice and brought 3 coffee mugs to the counter. Rein must have realized the bed was cold, for he had woken up and pulled on his daytime clothes. He walked over to the countertop, greeting Cecily on the way out, and adjusted his mask with a smile.

“Good morning, Red. How did you sleep?” He took his cup from her and added way too much sugar. Ruby wrinkled her nose and poured her own coffee, quickly adding a small amount of cream and sugar. She only winked in response to his greeting, but stepped on her tip toes to return the favour as he leaned over to kiss her good morning.

The Crey facility raid was only days away. She both anticipated and dreaded the mission she would have to carry out. She forced a smile at Rein, than turned to Cecily with a nod.

As far as she wanted them to know, today was all about friendship and coffee.

Intermission

Ruby slammed the bathroom door behind her, pulled the shower curtain, and twisted the hot water to full. She waited until the mirror had fogged from steam before stepping into the scalding spray. She ran her fingers through her hair and let the water cleanse the blood, dirt, and sweat that covered her body. She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall of the shower, the cold of the tiles biting in stark contrast to the searing heat of the water.

Ruby tilted her head back and opened her eyes, looking at, but not seeing, the shower head. So much had happened in the last couple of days. Her personal mess had somehow encompassed Reinhold, Cecily, and now even Andie.

Andie.

Laying on Reinhold's bed, broken and bleeding. Ruby didn't inflict those wounds with her fists, but felt it was her fault through her actions. Leave it up to her to piss off the Council so bad, they had to go for her friends.

She had tracked down her hitman. Or rather, he tracked her down. She had stopped for a cigarette after visiting Cecily at Andie's place. Andie hated it when she smoked her cigs in her apartment and Reinhold had gone for food, so Ruby took the chance to catch a breath of fresh air.

She had stepped from the door just in time to be shot at. She didn't know who was firing at her, so she ran. More shots. But this was Kings Row she was in, and nobody knew Kings Row better than Ruby Phoenix. After being chased for what seemed like hours, Ruby lured her hunter into a warehouse, where she cornered him and proceeded to beat the holy hell out of him.

He spat out a name: Giovanni. Who was he?

Ruby grabbed the soap and lathered her hands. She frowned slightly as she ran her sudsy hands over her neck, the cuts from the wire twinging from the soap.

She and Reinhold had looked into Giovanni. It was a fake name. A decoy. They didn't realize this until they had infiltrated a Council base and downloaded the database while helping Reinhold's contact in Striga. The Council had a very detailed file on each of them: Herself, Reinhold, Cecily, and Andie. They even wrote about the show that she and Reinhold went to for their date.

Ah, the date. Ruby smirked privately as she remembered the night. Beer. Dancing. Cecily's sweet voice floating in the air as her trance group did their magic. Reinhold, as always, was a gentleman. Man could move, too. She didn't think it would happen, but she really liked him. She had mused earlier that people don't realize when their friends like them, but everyone else saw it as obvious truth. Now she understood. The night had ended as it always seemed to end. Drinking, smoking cigars, and playing cards. Only this time, throw a really great kiss in there. Definitely her kind of night.

Ruby rinsed the soap off and slathered shampoo into her hair. She scoured her scalp with her worn down nails as she pondered what had happened up until now.

The Council had taken Andie in order to get to her. Who had she pissed off? Reinhold had questioned the man in charge of the operation, as well as Ernesto Hess, but Ruby's mind was racing far too quickly at that time. It wasn't until she was sure that Andie was safe that she was asking all these questions.

Andie, laying broken on Reinhold's bed. Andie, whose terrible wounds were being healed by a retired empath. With the level of shit they were in, they couldn't risk a hospital. Andie, in shock. Unable to talk. Cecily, perched neatly on the side of her bed, eyes puffy, holding her hand.

And what was Reinhold doing? Probably digging around for more information. He seemed to do that best.

Ruby rinsed the shampoo from her hair and the soap from her body, and enjoyed the hot water for a few more minutes before finally shutting it off. She grabbed a black towel from the rack and wrapped it around her as she approached the mirror.

She wiped the haze away from the mirror and stared at herself for a good, long time. She had been alone for years. In the gangs, she had to watch her neck. Stay separate from the others. She never kept the friends she made because her life was too dangerous... and now that she had let people into her safe little cave, bad things were happening. Bad things liked to follow Ruby Phoenix.

She could picture what Reinhold would say to her as she ran a comb through her matted white hair, and chuckled. "Red," he would say. "I'm not going to let you go alone. Haven't you learned?"

She sighed softly as she pulled her underclothes on, followed by her jeans and tanktop. She raked her fingers through her wet hair and left the bathroom. She looked down the hall towards Reinhold's room. She couldn't face them right now. Not after what she had put them all through.

Maybe after a cigarette. Things always felt better after a cigarette.

Ruby pulled her mangled pack of smokes from her pocket, and silently left for some fresh air.

Lines that Blur: Oppression

Lines That Blur

People often say how the world is cruel, how it's a dangerous time to be alive. I'm here to tell you right now that it is simply not the truth. The chaos is an illusion, the mayhem a lie. The truth is that the world we live in is highly controlled, that the chaos is a charade to hide the true order.

The proof is all around us, the control behind the chaos. How many gang leaders are allowed to maintain their nefarious activities despite the PPD's knowledge of their location? The Outcasts are a constant blight on Steel Canyon, not to mention the Hollows. Yet just recently, a PPD detective in the Hollows was able to lead me right to Frostfire, the leader of the Outcast gang. I recall vividly the knockout blow he received, I recall watching as the PPD took him to the Zigursky Penitentiary. Not two days later, Frostfire was free and the Outcasts are still going strong.

Why? Why is this allowed, why can't the Zigg, the primary holding facility for these super powered criminals rampaging the streets, contain a simple gang leader like Frostfire? Why is it that, two days after his "escape", the PPD has already located Frostfire and is again sending young pawns to continue the cycle?

Is it possible that Frostfire is truly that resourceful? Could his lawyer be that good? No, the simple fact is that he is another cog in the machine, another component to keep the people oppressed and in fear.

Ladies and gentlemen, the fear is a lie. The issue isn't with the lowly gang leaders, it's not with the PPD, and it's not with the "heroes" that step up to fight injustice. The issue lies within us. We allow this to happen. We sit back and do nothing. We have let them glaze our eyes over to the point where We no longer have the willpower left to fight back.

I will tell you right here and now that People are fighting back. If you feel the urge to stand up against the oppression You will not be alone. We may fight in the shadows, we may cling to the night, but nevertheless, we are out there, and we are fighting back.

You are more than welcome to join.

-Renholder

How to cut a Ruby - Chapter 4

The annoying ringing of Ruby's cell phone roused her from a deep alcohol-induced slumber. She rose from Reinhold's soft green sofa and noticed his jacket slide off of her. She fumbled around the coffee table, her eyes still blurry from sleep, until her fingers found her battered bar-style phone.

She clicked the answer button and yawned loudly into the microphone. She rubbed her eyes and checked her watch. "Shit, I'm sorry Lou. Guess I slept in. I'll be righ' in." She heaved a sigh and looked up to see Reinhold sitting on the floor with his back against the bar, facing her. The brim of his hat was lowered over his eyes and his shoulders were slightly slumped. Ruby figured that he was sleeping, so she grabbed her uniform from her overnight bag and changed for work.

Reinhold glanced up just as the door slammed shut, and slipped out of the Safehouse to silently track her.

It was a busy morning at Lou's Diner. Ruby was nearly 45 minutes late by the time she pushed the door open and trodded over to the waitresses' area. She tied her forever-greasy off-white apron around her slender waist and tucked her notebook and pen into the apron pocket. She gathered her ungroomed white hair into a ponytail, and got to work.

It was a never-ending stream of customers, pots of coffee, and orders of fries bused around the tables. Ruby's head was throbbing from a wicked hangover. Why did she drunk so much? The usually dim fluorescent lights burned as though she was staring directly into the sun, and she struggled to stay upright to serve all of her tables. Most difficult of all was the forced smile she had to plaster on her face.

Ruby checked her watch. It had been 4 hours since she began her shift. She took the opportunity to serve herself a bowl of soup and pour herself a cup of coffee. She sat at the end of the counter to look over the restaurant.

The rush was over. Only half of the tables were occupied. At one far end of the restaurant, an attractive blond woman was blushing at comments made by a good looking red-headed man. She had dropped their cheque before taking her break. By the window, a dodgy looking man wearing sunglasses and a dirty brown trenchcoat drank cup after cup of coffee. She must have filled his cup at least a dozen times, already. A group of teenagers wearing gaudy smudged black makeup occupied two tables pushed together and demanded refills to their coffees and juices every five minutes. Ruby scowled. The kids never left a decent tip. The rest of the customers in the diner were the same perverted jerks who enjoyed gawking at her breasts and backside.

She downed the rest of her coffee and tilted her soup bowl to her lips, then dumped her dishes in the dirty bin before going back to work. She walked over to the man by the window to refill his cup. He was still reading the newspaper. She was certain he had been reading that same page for some time now, and Lou was still standing in the corner near the kitchen. Still not giving a rat's ass.

Ruby was the only waitress with tables at this point. Most of her colleagues had already left for the day, and it was just Ruby and two other girls left. The two women chatted idly near the coffee machine, and Lou stood like a statue in his spot near the kitchen door. The diner phone rang. Ruby looked over her shoulder at the talking waitresses, then at Lou. She rolled her eyes and slammed the BLT sandwich in front of a startled teenager and stormed over to answer. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and threw her notepad next to the phone. "Oh, I must be sittin' around on MY ass, so LEMME GET IT!", she growled, as she picked up the receiver. "Lou's Diner."

Reinhold's voice came from the receiver. It was calm, but quick. "Red, don't look up, don't use my name, act like you're taking some guy's order". Ruby's entire body stiffened as she picked her notepad up from next to the phone.

"Pickup? Yeah, you c'n order'n pick up. What'll yeh have?"

"I found out who hired the gunman and I'm as sure as I can be about this."

Ruby turned her back to the window and rested the phone between her shoulder and ear to use both hands. "'Kay?" The background noise in the receiver told her that Reinhold was calling from a nearby payphone. He must be watching the diner.

"It was Lou. Don't make a scene. Don't give him an opening. I'll be watching for the rest of your shift. We can deal with it then."

Ruby's hand began to tremble with rage as she scribbled a fake order. "Arrigh'... Thanks fer callin' Lou's." She slammed the receiver down and sent her order to the kitchen.

Reinhold watched her from the building across the street. She's gonna get herself shot...

Ruby avoided looking at Lou for the rest of her shift. She quietly greeted her customers, brought them their food, and collected their payments. About 30 minutes after she received Reinhold's call, the man in the dusty brown leather jacket called her over to the table. She walked over and held her hands on her hips, looking at him expectantly.

"Where's the manager? I'd like to speak to him." The man smiled at Ruby, but she got the creepiest feeling. She turned around to look at Lou.

"Lou, this guy needs t'speak with ya. That arrigh'?"

Lou nodded, and the man got up and whispered something to him. While Ruby was busy, Reinhold, from across the street, watched the pair of them walk into the kitchen through the window. He tried to get a good look at the man in the brown coat, but was too far away.

Ruby checked her watch and collected the dishes and tips from her various tables. She heaved a sigh at her gossiping coworkers, and untied her filthy apron from around her waist. She balled her hands into fists, bursts of negative energy spouting from around her knuckles, and took a hesitant step towards the kitchen. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The swirling tendrils of energy vanished from around her hands, and she called out, "LOU, I'm gettin' th' fuck outta here early!"

Across the street, Reinhold hopped out of the room he was watching from, and dropped into the alleyway. He used the shadows to render himself nearly indistinguishable from the dumpster he crouched next to.

Inside the diner, Lou's voice shouted from the back of the kitchen. "Ruby!" Get yer ass in here. I need to speak to you. NOW!". She passed a fleeting glance out the window, then slowly approached the kitchen door. She opened a drawer next to the kitchen and pulled out a steak knife. She tucked the knife into the back of her skirtband, and cautiously stepped into the kitchen.

Having lost sight of Ruby and the two men, Reinhold worked his way around the building to the back door. He pressed close to the wall in an attempt to hear their conversation.

"In my office, honey." Ruby stepped into Lou's dirty closet of an office. Years of unfiled paperwork was stacked on tables and filing cabinets, and there were large cobwebs in the corners, clinging to the mountains of paper. The heat from the kitchen lingered in his office, despite the small window being open to let the cooler outside air in, and the entire place smelled of sweat and body odour. Ruby flopped down on the chair in front of Lou's desk like she had done a thousand times before, and Lou quickly took his seat behind the desk. The two of them stared at each other like enemies on two ends of a battlefield.

As she was reaching for a pack of smokes, Ruby felt a thin wire being pulled around her neck. She dropped the carton and grabbed the gloved hands holding the wire. Her green eyes flared savagely, and her entire body ignited with flames of rage. Lou started scream at her. "That's what you get for messin' with Lou, ya fuckin' bitch! Yer gonna pay fer breakin' my fingers an' blackmailin' me! Nobody fucks with Lou! Y'hear me, bitch? NOBODY!" She could only choke in response as she kicked her legs and struggled in a surpsingly successful attempt to literally save her own neck.

Reinhold heard the sudden crackle of her fire shield and peeked through the window. He saw the man strangling Ruby, and cast a bolt of dark energy to stun him. The man dropped the piano wire and staggered away, blinded and choking. Reinhold broke through Lou's window and landed on the floor with a neat roll. Lou jumped up from his desk and staggered away from the explosion of glass fragments from the shattered opening.

Reinhold swung a sharp right punch at Lou's head and knocked him off balance. The sweaty fat man staggered, and the man in the mask shoved him forcefully against the wall. They both looked at Ruby, who was crouched on the floor, coughing violently, with a hand over her bleeding throat.

"You all right, Red?" Reinhold called over his shoulder at her. She looked up at him, then at Lou, and stood slowly. She pulled the knife from the waistband of her skirt and stared venomously at Lou as she advanced.

"I'll be arrigh' when I GUT this slumbitch..." She smiled mirthlessly at Lou and advanced upon him with the knife. Reinhold eyed the knife and looked at Ruby's face.

"Red, stop!" His voice snapped Ruby out of her murderous rage and she stared at him in disbelief.

"Why? He's tryin' to kill ME!" She looked from Lou to Reinhold.

Reinhold's reply was instant. "Is the hitman in this room?"

Ruby's eyes snapped to the open door of Lou's office. She pointed her knife at Lou and promised him, "I'll fuckin' deal with YOU later", before she dashed into the kitchen. She looked frantically around the kitchen, the cooks staring at her with a mix of fear and confusion, then ran to the open rear door and looked at the empty parking lot. She pointed out the door and asked if a man ran out. Both cooks nodded, still confused. Ruby cursed loudly and stormed back into Lou's office, breathing deeply to calm the inferno surrounding her petite frame.

Reinhold tossed Lou into a heap in the corner and crouched until they were nose to nose. "I suggest you call off the hitman, and then I wouldn't recommend going anywhere. Carry on with your typical routine: come to work, be a jerk, go home and masturbate to Hannah Montana. If you try to leave, or try to run, I WILL find you." He stood and took a step away from Lou, looming over him like the shadow of Death. "Believe me, Lou. Once I do find you, you'll wish I had let Red gut you here and now..."

Reinhold looked over at Ruby as she re-entered the room. She pointedly stormed over to Lou and lifted him by his collar. He blubbered and whined, begging for his life. She replied by shattering his nose with her fist and dropped him back onto the floor. She looked up at Reinhold and nodded. He silently left the office and left the diner through the kitchen's rear exit. Ruby paused at the door to Lou's office and smirked at him. "By the way, Lou?" She pulled her hair out of its ponytail. Lou cupped his hands over his bloody face, afraid to make eye contact with her. "I quit."

She turned with a flip of her ice-coloured hair and left the kitchen. She unbuttoned her gaudy mint blouse and tossed it into the garbage, then adjusted the bloody white tanktop she wore underneath. "Seeya, girls," she called to her former coworkers. "I ain' comin' back"

The door to Lou's closed behind Ruby, and she felt exhilarated as she breathed in the stagnant Kings Row air. Reinhold emerged from the shadows around the corner of the diner and regarded her carefully. She ran her fingers over her bloody throat, wincing at the stinging from the fresh wire cuts. She fumbled through her skirt pockets for her cigarettes, but couldn't find them. She looked at Reinhold with a goofy lopsided smile, and he grinned back at her.

She followed him to a building across the street. He scaled the building to the top floor, and slipped into an open window. Moments later, he leaped from the window and landed as quietly as a man his size can possibly land with a duffel bag slung neatly over his shoulder. He tossed the bag to Ruby.

A quick inspection of the bag revealed its contents to include a couple of changes of Ruby's clothes and a few boxes of her particular brand of cigarettes. She smiled gratefully to him as she retrieved one of the cartons and ripped it open.

She brought the cigarette to her lips and lit it with a shaky hand. She closed her eyes and filled her lungs with the acrid smoke, held it, and exhaled slowly. She opened her eyes and looked from the sky to Reinhold. She stuck the cigarette in the corner of her mouth, walked over to him, and wrapped her arms around his midsection, resting her head against his chest. "Thanks Rein."

He gently put one arm over her back and smiled down at her. "Not a problem Red."

She let go of him and pulled another drag from her cigarette. She tilted her head to the side and ran her fingers over the cut skin, quirking a brow at him. "How bad?"

He leaned down slightly to inspect the slashes. "I've seen worse. Probably wont even leave a scar."

She seemed satisfied with that answer as she rubbed her blood between her forefingers and thumb. She flicked the ash from her cigarette in the other hand and walked into the alleyway to change out of her bloody uniform.

Reinhold resisted the urge to peek at her, not wanting to risk certain dismemberment and/or face smashing, and grinned at her as she emerged wearing her regular shit-kicking costume. She tugged at her neck cover and nodded to him.

"I dunno 'bout you Rein, but I'm in th' mood to bust some faces."

And so they did.

How to cut a Ruby - Chapter 3

Just how many drinks did Ruby have that night?

Cecily Fay was the last to leave Reinhold's apartment, and Ruby waited until she was alone before pulling her knees to her chest. She managed to offend Cecily first, and kept her mouth shut for most of the the evening. Still, she managed to piss off two other people while not to offend the first.

She tried to count the number of beers she drank. It was a lot. She closed her eyes and sank into the soft green upholstery of Reinhold's couch as the room haphazardly spun around her. Why? Why did she always have to fuck things up? Why did she have to scare off the few people she wanted desperately to be her friends?

Ruby just couldn't help herself. She knew exactly how Julie felt about Zack, but still, she pushed it. It wasn't her fault he was handsome and intelligent. It wasn't her fault that he was flirting with her as relentlessly as she was with him. Okay, maybe it was her fault... but she kept looking at Julie, who was evidently just as skilled at hiding her anger as Ruby was at hiding her drunkenness. She seemed to be just as interested in the direction of the conversation as Ruby and Zack were. No harm, no foul, right?

It was official. She just couldn't keep her big mouth shut. She brought her stubby cigar to her lips and inhaled the woody flavour. She tilted her head back and exhaled slowly, studying the swirling smoke. She doubted she'd see either of them again, and felt her chest cave with disappointment. The problem was, she genuinely liked both of them, but her impulsive brashness always ended up alienating her.

She was surprised Reinhold stuck around. She tormented the hell out of him. Untied his laces, wore his hat, stole his cigs, and drank his beer. She hustled his money playing poker, punched him, swore at him, and threatened to break his fingers. He just grinned at her and took her abuse. Why? Was it a game? Was he plotting a steel cold revenge against her? She didn’t get him. He never made a move on her, and she never made moves on him. But, he flirted with Cecily and other women all the time. Clearly, in her mind, he wasn't interested, and she wasn't about to ask.

She set the cigar in the ashtray to burn out, and slowly stood from the couch. She swaggered drunkenly up the stairs to her guitar which she had earlier leaned against the wall. She flopped heavily onto the floor and pulled the instrument into her lap. She found her pick and started clumsily strumming the strings.

She leaned her head against the wall and turned it just enough to see the door. Who knows when Reinhold would be back? He seemed to have a hunch about Ruby's attackers, and far be it from her to interfere with his style of investigation. She didn't want him to go earlier on, but silently nodded to him as he slipped out the door. She couldn’t help but watch the door for several seconds after it shut behind him.

She closed her eyes as her fingers found a more refined melody, and started to sing her heart out.

"Sometimes I curse,
Sometimes I lie,
It's times like these,
When I jus' wanna curl up an' die.

Drownin' in a bottle,
Chokin’ on my smoke,
Stuck in a rut,
An' not about t'get out"

She took a deep breath and continued singing.

"Whyyy can' y'jus' understand...
This is the way I am.
This is how I live my life.
Whyyy's it gotta be so rough...
To get along jus' fine...
To stop sayin' these things,
An' stop actin' so tough..."

She looked down at her fingers as they found the proper notes. She improvised a filler chorus, then let the words spill out.

"Ain' gonna 'pologize.
Ain' gonna cry.
Ain' gonna hold yer hand.
An' I won' say goodbye.

Gonna smoke my cigarettes,
Gonna drink my beer.
Gonna be braaaaave,
Not gonna live in fear.

"So, Whyyy can't y'jus' understand...
This is the way I am.
This is how I live my life.
Whyyy's it gotta be so rough...
To get along jus' fine...
T’stop sayin' all these things,
An' stop actin' so tough..."

She strummed her guitar for a minute longer and limply rested her hand on her knee. She softly exhaled, glancing at the door one last time. She leaned the guitar back in its spot against the wall and cautiously stood. She stumbled down the stairs to the couch and curled into fetal position.

She barely had time to think before she was overtaken by drunken fatigue and passed out.

***

Reinhold stood outside the door and listened to Ruby singing. He tugged the brim of his hat over his face and waited until the singing turned into sounds of movement, then into the soft exhales of heavy sleep. He entered the Safehouse and closed the door silently behind him, making sure it was securely locked. He looked over at Ruby on the couch and pulled his long black coat off to drape it carefully over her small frame.

He turned the lights out and walked to his computer. He decided he would work quietly until she woke. She should be sober when she received his news.

How to cut a Ruby -- Chapter 2

Ruby sat up in bed and lit a smoke. She watched this evening's date pull his clothes on and turn to look at her one last time. She furrowed her brow at him. He knew the deal. He'd have a hell of a time explaining the shiner she gave him to his girlfriend when he got home.

"Get th' fuck out, arready."

The man smirked at her, and she smirked in return before he left her apartment, her door clicking locked behind him.

Ruby swung her legs out of bed and slipped back into her bra and underwear. She took a deep drag from her cig and held it in for several seconds before slowly exhaling a thin tendrily line of smoke. She walked out of her bedroom and into her moonlit living room. She never kept drapes in this room. She couldn't care less if her neighbours saw her in her skivvies. Surely, they've seen far worse things happening in THIS apartment.

She crossed her dingy living room and gazed at the table. It was still covered with takeout chinese containers, playing cards, beer bottles, and cigar butts from the other night. Reinhold had been over to play cards and drink beer. She could never tell whether or not he was bluffing, so as always, she cheated.

She was almost certain he knew she was cheating, but still, he always came by with some sort of takeout and some sort of cheap domestic beer - her favourite - and the two would just hang out and play cards. Reinhold would let her "win" all of his money and they would drink all the beer and smoke all the cigarettes - or cigars - until the morning sun shyly peeked over the horizon. Then, Reinhold would give her his signature grin and slip out the window. They wouldn't say goodbye. Just nod to each other, and then he'd go.

But this evening, Reinhold was busy with some sort of digging. Seeking the Truth... or whatever the hell it was when he wasn't around. Maybe he had found a date for that night, too. It didn't matter. What mattered was that she didn't want to be alone, so she found someone at the D, brought him home, got what she wanted, and sent him packing. Now that he was gone, she was alone again. She wondered what the point was.

She stepped into her kitchen and opened the fridge to find something to eat. She finally decided on some leftover soup from work and reached into the fridge for the sealed tupperware. Three minutes in the microwave should be enough.

She pulled anoher drag from her smoke as she walked back into her living room. She paused in the middle of the room, cigarette smoke leaking from her nostrils, and looked down at her feet. Her smoke dropped off of her lip, bounced off of her foot, and rolled away from her toes.

She cursed softly to herself and bent over to pick up her smoke. As soon as she ducked, she heard a loud gunshot, followed by the sound of her living room window exploding. She threw herself onto the floor and covered her head as her entire body was blasted with broken glass. The window next to the first shattered with another gunshot. She scrambled into her bedroom and hastily pulled on the jeans and tanktop she had thrown on the floor earlier that evening, then pulled on her combat boots without lacing them up. She lay low and listened for footsteps, voices, anything, but the gunman was waiting.

She shook some glass out of her hair and tied her it back with a piece of leather rope. She concentrated her rage to ignite her body with flame, and ran back into her living room. Her reappearance was rewarded with a barrage of bullets which were thankfully repelled by her protective aura. She dove through her window onto her fire escape and rolled. The bullets continued pinging off of her, each one stinging and pricking her cauterized skin. She looked around wildly, unable to pinpoint their origin, and galloped down the fire escape ladder to the ground below.

She started to sprint. Her combat boots loosely hung onto her feet and she almost kicked them off several times as she turned corners, jumped over fences, and eventually made her way to the safest place she could think of. The D. The only place too busy to open fire in. She was only a block away from her house, running in the well-lit streets, when the gunfire ceased. She was either too far, or too visible.

Ruby jumped into the portal to send her to the D, and knelt to tie her boots. She wasn't sure who she had pissed off this time. Ruby pissed off a lot of people. She'd have to give Reinhold a call to see if he could dig up some information.

She opened her cell phone and dialed his number.

"Rein?" she said. "Sorry t'call so late, but shit jus' hit th' fan."

More sketches

These are two very recent very rough sketches. There's still a lot of work to be done on them, but I thought I'd share them. Enjoy!


1. Ruby pummels a vampire catgirl, and is very pleased to do so.




2. Reinhold presents a box of cigars. Ruby asks, "H..hey! Rein? Y'yer gonna gimme one o' those, righ'?"

How to cut a Ruby -- Chapter 1

An orange speck glinted then vanished atop the fire escape of the dilapidated apartment building. Moments later, a floating trail of smoke drifted from the metal balcony and dissipated into the night sky.

The usual group of Skulls lurked near the entrance of the alley. Their raucous jeering reverberated between the side-by-side buildings and echoed throughout the entire neighbourhood, interrupted only by the huffy slams of windows by people tired of hearing the incessant inane jabbering.

The orange speck glinted again, then soared in a shimmering arc from the top of the fire escape and landed with a shower of sparks only meters away from the gang members. The Bone Daddy leading the late night gathering watched the butt as it rolled over the ground towards them and bent over to pick it up and inspect it.

With filter in-hand, he straightened slowly and looked up at a sudden and rapidly approaching fireball. He barely had time to blink. His nose was promptly shattered by the hard steel sole of the quickly-descending Ruby's combat boot.

Blood sprayed from the Bone Daddy's nose and blanketed Ruby's boots. She grabbed his collar and lifted his stunned body with a fist smoking with dark energy.

"How many times..." She slammed her fist into his face, spattering more blood onto the two of them. "...Do I gotta tell ya..." She hoisted him off of his feet and threw him at his cowering minions. "To stay THE FUCK outta MY ALLEY???"

The group of men frantically babbled to each other before grabbing onto their boss and dragging him out of the alley. The Bone Daddy only managed to sputter more blood all over himself and his men. Ruby brought another cigarette to her lips, lit it with her thumb, and watched them stagger off into the night.



A man in a dark coat watched the scene from a dark window in a building across the street. He turned away from the window and dialed a number on his cell phone. A pause, then he spoke.

"I found the woman Lou was talking about. Looks like she won't go down without a fight."

He paused to listen to the voice on the other line.

"No, she didn't see me. The night is too dark to see in the window."

He nodded slightly as he received orders from his contact.

"Observation. Got it. I don't think it would be wise to strike her in her own territory. Too many people know her."

He hummed his agreement.

"When she is alone, I'll set the plan into motion."

Another thirty seconds passed as the voice quipped its final statement. The man smiled and snapped the cell phone shut. He watched Ruby climb back up her fire escape to her apartment window, then closed his blinds.

Lines that Blur: The Beginning

Lines that Blur

In each of our lives we draw lines, certain limits to who we are and how we choose to live our lives. We draw these lines to keep ourselves in check, to make sure we never go to far, to keep ourselves under control. But what if the lines aren't always ours, what if we didn't define them, instead they were chosen for us? Do we live our lives based on the lines others have drawn for us? Do we accept that without questioning reason or motive? Do we even know where they come from, or that they exist?

Do we care?

I propose to you that many of the lines we draw are based on false pretense. That we've been deceived, and that deceit has led us to make decisions that we would not have made if the truth had been given. It's not a stretch really, the general public isn't difficult to persuade to one end or another.

Edith Sitwell once said, "The public will believe anything, so long as it's not founded on truth." This statement rings true, and once the veil is lifted it's hard to deny. We are told so much, so many lies, just to get us to conform to fit a certain ideal. The status quo must meet someone's standard, and we are merely pawns in that regard. We are moved, subtly, from behind the scenes, always being nudged to some higher purpose that we have no say in.

So, from here on out, I will share my revelations with you. Please, question them, go out and search for your own answers. If you simply take my words for truth than is it any better than listening to any of the others that wish to deceive? The point of these articles is not to tell you what to think or believe. Instead my only purpose, my only goal, is to help each of you reading to look at the world around you with new perspective. To get you to question everything.

There is truth hidden beneath the lies. All you need to do is search for it. Use my words here as a catalyst, nothing more. Find the truth for yourself, and when you do, never let it go.

-Renholder

More Coffee, sir?

Lou's Diner, located in the Gish in the heart of Kings Row, has been a family favourite for decades. The food is greasy, but tasty. The waitresses are well-endowed and have pretty faces, and the prices are low. Lou's is one of the few successful, thriving businesses in Kings Row, and the community loves it. Ruby, of course, hates it.

Ruby Phoenix is a waitress at Lou's Diner. Every day, she pulls on that terrible frumpy green uniform, and ties a ghastly stained apron around her waist. No amount of cleaning is ever able to get the grease stains out, and Lou is too cheap to provide new aprons until the old ones are unbearably disgusting. As far as he is concerned, the men who frequent the diner aren't paying attention to the aprons.

***

Today wasn't very different than any other day. Same perverted weirdos salivating at her breasts, their grubby hands "accidentally" brushing against her behind. She repeated her mantra, over and over again. Don't punch 'em out, Ruby. Yeh need this job. It's a shit job, Ruby, but jus' hang on. Somethin' better'll come along...

She cleared the table that one of her regulars sat at and collected the tip. As long as she kept smiling and didn't punch anyone in the face, she'd at least get some good under the table cash.

Ruby set the dishes on the counter and leaned precariously over it to grab fresh cutlery and napkins. Someone came up behind her and pressed against her bent-over form. Ruby froze.

"Unless you wanna die RIGH' NOW, I would suggest getting the FUCK OFFA ME!" The man grabbed her hips and tried to lift her up, but Ruby twisted her torso and threw a punch at the man's face. The man stood a foot taller than she did, so her punch connected directly with his clavicle.

The man staggered backwards with a shocked choke. Ruby grabbed a fork from the cutlery basket and ran after him. The man, who had gathered his wits about him by now, was ready for Ruby's attack. The two circled around a neatly set table for several moments before Ruby stepped on one of the chairs and jumped over the table at him, fork wielded.

Strong hands grabbed her skirt and tethered her. Ruby came crashing down on the table before she could clear it. Silverware and napkins flew all over the floor, as Ruby started cursing at her restrainer. She screamed with rage as fire engulfed her entire body. The hands holding onto her swiftly let go. She whipped her head around to glare at the man who had originally grabbed her, but he had promptly exited the diner while she was distracted. She slid off the table and whirled around to face whoever stopped her.

"WHAT the FUCK do you think you're doing, Ruby? Jesus Christ! I should fire you RIGHT NOW!" Lou stood 4 inches taller than Ruby's five feet. His greasy pock covered skin was always slimy from a thick layer of perspiration, and he was always wearing the same tired uniform with his name embroidered on the pocket. At this particular moment, his flabby face was a particularly brilliant shade of crimson, and his black eyes were bulging with panic. "You got thirty seconds to tell me WHY I SHOULDN'T fire you!" He stared at her, his laboured breathing shaking his shoulders and chest, his hands lightly rubbing each other where his fingers were singed by her aura.

Ruby calmed her rage until the fire surrounding her vanished. She grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him into the kitchen, away from the deathly silent customers and her worried whispering coworkers.

"Lou... I fuckin' told ya, if any of yer fuckin' pervert customers try anything, that I would fuckin' kill them!" She shoved him roughly and stepped close, her nose almost touching his. "I'm yer best waitress, Lou. Unlike any o' those other bitches, at leas' I got a brain in my head. I know how t' count th' till. I know how t' make th' best coffee. Best of all Lou, I don' talk to th' cops 'bout yer operation."

The fat man's eyes widened momentarily, and he stepped backwards until his back rested against a prep station.

"That's right, Lou. I know all about yer smut ring. I know where ya get these girls. I'm yer only legitimate worker, Lou. If ya fire me, yer SO fuckin' busted, it ain't funny! So lemme tell you how it's gonna work Lou." She crossed her arms and stared him down for a few minutes. He dared not speak, in case Ruby noticed the knife block on the counter next to her. "I'm gonna work here. Yer perverts ain' gonna grab me. You ain' gonna fuck me over no more. An' best of all Lou, yer gonna start showin' me some proper respect."

Lou's face, which had turned an ashen shade of white, started filling with blood again. He soon resembled a fat sweaty lobster as he lifted a finger to shake in Ruby's face. "You can't tell me what to do, you little bitch! This is my diner! I've been running it for twenty-three years now, and I can do whatever the fuck I want!"

Ruby grabbed his finger and twisted it. She smiled sadistically as the bones in his fingers snapped like a fresh stalk of celery. Lou screamed in agony and dropped to his knees, ripping his hand out of hers and pressing it into his bulging belly. He glared up at her scathingly, unable to speak.

"So, Lou? Do we have a deal? Cos, y'know, I can jus' finish this conversation righ' now." She grabbed a particularly large butcher knife from the block and traced her finger along the edge. "This one's pretty dull, Lou. I'd have to use extra force with it." She slightly pouted, but her jade eyes burned with the promise to inflict serious, if not mortal, damage.

Lou trembled with rage and defeat. He nodded very slightly to her. "Take the rest of the day off, Ruby. It.. it won't happen again..."

"Tell me you won' fuck with me anymore, Lou." She paused. "I think I deserve a raise, too. Don't you? Been here over a year, workin' my ass off for ya, takin' shit from every single one o'yer customers, Lou. I get my raise, I don' get fondled, I go home and I don' smoke a pack a day cos you stress me the fuck out. An' in return, I don' give you up to th' pigs."

She approached him with a small smile and held her hand out to shake his. His dark eyes glanced at the butcher knife in her other hand, then to her face, before he got up on one shaky leg and shook her free hand with his good hand.

"One more thing, Lou. If you break yer promise," she yanked him close so their faces were inches apart. "I'll fuckin' kill you." She shoved him away and slid the knife back into the block with a victorious smile. She fished a mangled cigarette from behind her ear and lightly blew fire onto the end of it to light it. She waved lightly and blew smoke at him as she left the kitchen to go home. "Ta, Lou. Don' forget our deal. I'll be back t'morrow mornin' on time, bright an' early." The door swung behind her, and Lou stumbled into his office to hide his shame.

He'll have to make a few phone calls. Ruby Phoenix was now officially out of control, and someone needed to deal with her. The question was... who in their right mind would take on Ruby Phoenix?

Ruby and the D

"C’mon, bitch! Let’s fuckin’ dance!" The saucy white-haired woman grabbed a beer bottle from the bar and smashed it violently against the counter. Shards of glass and the remaining backwash in the bottle sprayed over her arms and the surrounding patrons of the D. Two lazy masterminds jolted, suddenly snapped from their drunken haze, and jumped out of the woman's way.

"Oh, shit! She's out of her mind!" The surprised catgirl leapt back, unsure of what to do. Her judgement was clouded by the girly pink cocktails she had been slamming back all night. The white-haired woman lunged at her with the broken beer bottle. The only thing the catgirl could think to do was to throw a table in the way to defend herself. The white-haired woman picked up a barstool with her free hand, and hurled it over the fallen table at her terrified target.

Rowdy Rogue-Isle residents jeered them on, while do-gooder Paragon capes whispered quietly. The bartender screamed for the bouncer to break up the fight, but this bouncer had seen the white-haired woman fight before, and chose to sit back and preserve his dignity.

The white-haired woman stood only 5 feet tall, but her body was toned and muscular, her arms covered with scars and cuts. Her body ignited with searing flames as she climbed over the table to get at the catgirl, and her green eyes burned with the intent to kill.

The catgirl curled into a corner and started to sob. "I'm sorry! Lady, Jesus Christ, don't kill me! I didn't mean it! Don't hurt me!" Fat tears rolled out of her eyes as she shielded her face and body with her arms.

The white-haired woman blinked, her rage momentarily leaving her, and the baptism of fire engulfing her body dissipated. She shook her head and looked around the bar at the mix of excitement and fear, then at the cowardly wretch in the corner. With a cheeky grin, she whipped the bottle against the wall, right above the catgirl's head. The catgirl whimpered pathetically as she was showered with pieces of glass and drywall.

"Holy shit, Red. Think you overdid it a bit, maybe?" A shady-looking man sitting at the bar grinned at Ruby Phoenix as she returned to her seat next to his. She fished around in her jacket pocket for a pack of smokes.

"Fuckin' D an' its vampire catiglrl sluts. I swear, show me a better place ta get a drink from KR, and I'd go there 'nstead." She finally found her cigarettes and fished one out, blowing fire onto the end to light it. "Fuckin' bitch almost bit me, too. Coupl'a more beers an' she might'a got me." She stuck the cigarette in her mouth and rubbed her neck where the woman tried to bite her. "I don'even dig on chicks. Wha' the hell was she thinkin', Rein? I ain't no easy target, am I?"

"Who knows, Red. This is the D. You know the type that show up here." Reinhold grinned at her and ordered another two beers. The sobbing catgirl in the corner of the bar was finally calming down, her fellow vampire catgirl friends pulling her up from a crumpled heap on the floor.

Ruby shook her head, her shiny white hair falling neatly between her shoulders. "So, lemme tell ya wha' happened at work today. Yer not gonna believe this one." The two of them lowered their voices, drank their beers, and smoked their cigarettes.

Just another night in the D.

Ruby Smokes a Cigarette

This picture was drawn on a whim. I actually just drew my own hand, and drew Ruby around it. The smoke is from a photograph, and the background city is a screenshot of Kings Row as seen from the spot ingame I have chosen for Ruby's slummy apartment. It was coloured with an old wacom tablet in Photoshop.

About this blog

This blog is a collection of writing for a character I created on the Virtue server of City of Heroes. More detailed information about this character can be found on my VirtueVerse page, located in my links.

I may allow access for people I role play with ingame to add their own stories, but please note that all comments will be carefully screened, and any flames or inappropriate posts will be promptly removed.