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 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."

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.

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?