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.

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 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.