Rue: Web of Deceit - Part 34

Criminal Activity

With the whole courthouse underground, Rue suffers from another bout of chronic hero syndrome and finds themself standing between the detestible Jonathan Sinclair and a man who reminds them very much of themself.

While weaving between panicked office-workers, Rue tries to sharpen their senses once more, heading towards the stairs on the east side of the courthouse to get to the cafeteria. The dust in the air makes it harder for them to distinguish between scents, and so they opt to rely more on their hearing and sight.   As they carry on walking, they try to convince themself that they aren't the least bit curious to find out whoever caused the building to go down. Shaking the thought from their head, they make their way down to the ground floor, following the signs with the little cutlery symbols on them.   The sounds of human chaos around them quickly fade into the background as they focus on the pertinent sounds, the quaking of the earth beneath them, the sound of their own breathing and, hopefully, the voice of Jonathan Sinclair. Their concentration is broken however, when the sound of gunfire stings their sensitive hearing and drags their attention. The courtroom they'd just passed, the same one from Marcus' trial, someone was opening fire inside. Rue flinches at the sound before spinning back around towards to courtroom.   “Fucking guns…” They growl, heart racing as they try to see what’s causing the commotion.   Rue's vision pierces the veil between them and the courtroom and they see an intense standoff. Amelia Abel, her armed and armoured form standing tall between the crowds of people from the public gallery and a humanoid figure standing over her, coated in what appears to be some sort of rock or stone.   With her handguns spent, Amelia shouts for the people behind her to run as she drops the weapons to the floor and squares up to the figure towering over her like a colossus. It takes a few confident strides forward and throws a punch with unexpected speed and ferocity, knocking Amelia aside with a loud klang as the stone fist connects with her armour.   The figure, seemingly uninterested in the fleeing civilians, looms over Amelia as she stands back up, and in a deep, coarse voice asks, "Where is he?"   ''Not my problem...'' Rue mutters to themself as people burst through the door, navigating through the darkness with their torches.   ''Not my problem...'' They mutter again, watching as someone trips and lands hard on the ground, the man covering his head as people nearly step on him in their urgency to get away.   ''Not my problem, not my problem, not my fucking problem...'' They repeat as their feet carry them forward, quickly helping the man up and nudging him in the right direction before rushing into the courtroom.   ''Hey, Pebbles!'' They shout at the figure's back, ''You know if you need help finding someone you could've just asked.'   The figure glances back at Rue, one eye peering at them from a hole in the rocky coating, before returning his attention to Amelia. Despite her attempts to evade, his hand clamps around her throat and lifts her up to his eye level as he growls, "I am asking," the thrusters in her calfs and feet activate in an attempt to escape his grip, but prove futile as he holds her close and asks again, "Where is Jonathan Sinclaire?"'   “Huh. I suppose you are,” Rue mumbles, scratching their chin, “How about a deal, then? Want me to take you to him?”   At that, the figure drops the police officer, Amelia falling to the ground with a loud thud as she struggles to find her balance. His singular eye focuses back on Rue and they immediately begin to second-guess their decision as the earth around their feet reaches up and wraps around their shins, "You know where Sinclaire is?"   ''Yeah, I know where he is,'' Rue says with a scowl, ''But I have some conditions before I take you to him. For starters,'' They point down at the earth around their legs, ''That won't do.''   After a beat, the figure paces over to Rue, his gaze piercing as he stands over them, "What you want means nothing to me," he says as the rocks continue to climb up Rue's legs and they begin to sink into the ground below them, "Tell me where Sinclaire is, or be buried alive."   “Alright, tough negotiator…” Rue grumbles, pushing down the slight panic that naturally follows the prospect of being buried alive. “Look, I don’t give a damn what you want to do with Sinclair. Clearly you don’t give a damn about anyone else, as long as you can get to him, right? You let those other people go because you thought the robot lady over there had the answers you need - she doesn’t. I do. So can we just help each other out here? I take you to Sinclair, you kindly bring this building back up to the ground floor.”   The single eye of the golem before them blinks once and stares at them before relenting, "Alright, kid," he says in a gravelly voice as the stone around Rue's ankles releases its grip, "You have one chance."   ''Thank you,'' They say with a sigh, turning around towards the doorway, then pausing and glancing back over their shoulder, ''Say, how stealthy can you be, pebbles? Not sure Sinclair will just sit still and wait for us if he can basically hear an earthquake approaching. Mind you, we can track him if we need to, but I must admit I'm a little curious.''   "I'll be nearby," he says, the floor seeming to suddenly swallow him whole as he sinks out of sight, leaving Rue to their decision. From the other side of the room, the cyborg police officer is finally able to stand up and make their way over to them.   "Hey. Thanks for intervening, there," she says, cracking a practiced smile as she holds out a hand to them, "Amelia Abel."   Rue warily eyes the proffered hand, refusing to shake it as they start to leave the courtroom, ''There are people trampling over each other to get out of here,'' They call back to her, ''There's a feisty redhead helping them as much as she can, but you might want to go find her, let her know we'll be above ground again soon.''   ''I hope...'' They mutter as they turn around the corner, glancing at the signs and walking through the darkness towards the cafeteria to get back on track.   "A... redhead?" Amelia mutters, her brow furrowing in thought before nodding to herself and heading in the opposite direction.   The burgeoning sense of dread washes over Rue as they make their way to the cafeteria. Not quite sure about this man's intent, they wonder to themselves if they're about to witness yet another grizzly murder unless they can do something about it. They come to the cafeteria door and push it open.   The room is open and spacious, with multiple tables and a serving line from which Rue can still smell the bland curries and chilli on offer that day. The room is fairly full, with some people having stayed there to avoid any of the trouble from the other areas, and others wanting to just finish their lunch before dealing with the issue at hand.   Rue carefully sifts through the faces in the crowd, some of them faintly illuminated by their phone screens and chattering between themselves about the situation they find themselves in. They were hopeful that most people would have scattered by now, but it seems that not everyone within the courthouse has a sense of self-preservation.   ''Uhh, excuse me?'' Rue calls out casually, some of the people's eyes darting up in their direction. They wince when someone shines a torch in their direction, quickly lifting their hood to shield themself from it. ''Yeah, hi. Anyone who doesn't wish to be crushed by a giant rock-covered supervillain should probably get out of here in a timely manner.''   They continue to scan their surroundings as they speak, looking for the coward they had previously  fed fire extinguisher foam to, ''Oh, except you, Sinclair, you're fucked either way.''   "What?" Comes a singular, terrified voice from the crowd as it begins to disperse, leaving the familiar lawyer alone and terrified in the middle of the room, "What have I done?" He shines his phone's torch in the direction of Rue and quickly his face drops further, "Oh, God. It's you."   ''It's been a while,'' Rue says with an unusually chipper tone, folding their arms across their chest, ''You know you're quite the popular man today, everybody wants a piece of you, including my employer.''   As they speak, Rue carefully watches their surroundings for traces of the golem, keeping their ears trained whilst acting as calm as possible, ''I'm not sure what you've done to the person who sank the courthouse into the ground, though? Did you send an assassin after him as well? Or did you not hold up your end of the bargain with him, like you did with the Spider?''   "Oh, Fuck," Sinclair responds, the weight of his situation finally hitting him. He stands from his table and quickly begins to bolt for the door, knocking people aside as he tries to navigate in the darkness. Rue reacts quickly, unbothered by the limited lighting as they run through the cafeteria and block his exit.   ''Didn't I just say you're fucked either way?'' They tut, shaking their head in disapproval, ''If you promise to keep your end of the deal with my employer, though, I suppose I could try and help you...''   "Oh yeah?" Sinclaire shouts, ceasing in his escape and squaring up to them, his face reddening with rage, "Like you helped me last time? Ever since you showed up, my life has been going to shit!" He pokes one accusatory finger into Rue's shoulder, "And I don't need you, or your bastard employer, to help me!"   “Hey, I wasn’t the one blackmailing you,” Rue argues, their eyes darkening, “Maybe you’re in this situation because you think with that tiny dick of yours instead of with your head. You currently have three people out for your blood, and only one is offering you a way out, all you have to do is hold up your end of an already existing deal and it’s done, is that so fucking hard for you to understand?!”   They take a step back, their disgust for the man evident in the scowl on their face, “If you’d rather take your chances with Pebbles on your own, I guess I’ll just go ahead and report back how you whimpered in your final moments like the pathetic little shit you are as he buried you alive.”   "You make one damn mistake," he mutters to himself, his rage simmering down to a growing resentment, before looking back to them, "Fine! What do you want?"   ''Well, as long as you promise to actually hold up your end of the deal this time, I suppose I'd best help you to get out of here,'' Rue smirks before scanning their surroundings for the golem once more. ''Just do as I say and you might actually survive this.'' Mindful of the last people rushing out of the cafeteria, they usher Sinclair away from the door, hopeful that the cop will bring the backup they'll need in time.   "Okay, okay," he says, panic rising in his tone as he near-blindly searches the area for his would-be assailant, "What are you trying to do?"   “For starters, let’s get you off the ground,” Rue says, reluctantly taking Sinclair by the hand and guiding him towards the metal canteen surfaces to climb onto. As they hop onto the counter with him, they start to scan the kitchen behind it for a weapon, hopping over the trays of curry. “Our solid friend didn’t look like he had a lot of weak spots, but he did just have one eye uncovered, so our best bet is to aim for that…”   "One eye covered?" Sinclaire asks as he clambers onto the table, "Did he tell you his name?"   ''We didn't exactly introduce ourselves, no,'' Rue huffs, leaping onto the kitchen island and picking up two bottles of hot sauce. They jump back towards Sinclair, holding out one of the bottles for him to take, ''Why? Does he sound familiar? He definitely knows you, so it would be good if you could share any info you may have on Pebbles.''   "Yeah," he says thoughtfully, "There was this... kid, a few years ago. Could move rocks with his mind. It was my first case as a prosecutor involving... differently-powered individuals."   ''Let me guess - you pushed for the worst sentence you could?'' Rue asks, audibly disapproving whilst they continue to search for a slightly sharper weapon to use.   "I was new to the job, and the higher ups were breathing down my neck," he says, defensively but with an uncharacteristic hint of shame in his tone, "Thought that if we were harsh on one of them, the rest might think twice..."   ''So how harsh were you to him?'' They ask, picking up one of the knives from the public cutlery drawers and throwing it back in upon realising that you'd barely be able to butter your toast with it. Looking a little further into the kitchen, they could see a set of knives on one of the counters, and they carefully start to navigate their way towards it. ''And what was it he'd allegedly done wrong?''   "He'd just been getting in with the wrong crowd, joined a gang," he continues, thinking back, "There'd been a lot more of those no-name street gangs back then. The ones that'd pick up vulnerable kids and show them how to act tough and cause trouble. Simon used to get into fights and intimidate people, though back then he could do little more than throw rocks around. One day he got a bit overzealous and put a police officer in the hospital. The mayor and his cronies wanted a quick result and to send a message. We tried him as an adult, and he wound up with fifteen years."   “Fifteen?!” Rue echoes, incredulous, “No wonder he wants to get back at you. I’m guessing you got a nice pat on the back from your higher ups for ruining a kid’s life? Maybe even a bonus?”   They stare at the knives for a while, pursing their lips in thought. Amelia’s bullets had done little to no damage, so they doubt that a knife would really make all the difference, but there was another reason altogether now that made them reluctant to pick one up. From the sound of it, Simon had been like them, a kid in a shitty situation. They could understand his motivations, and they weren’t 100% certain that he was here to actually kill Sinclair… Maybe he just wanted to scare the man, like the rest of them did… Then again, sinking the entire building into the ground suggested that it might be a little more than that. Turning away from the knives, Rue returns to Sinclair’s side, scanning the ground for any disturbances on the way.   “We’re going to wait here a little longer,” They say, their tone leaving no room for discussion, “Give everyone else some time to get away from here. After that, we’re going to jump across the tables towards the exit, and when we’re out of tables, you jump down and you don’t. stand. still. You stand still, you get swallowed up by the ground. Got it?”   A familiar rumbling echoes through the room, and Rue quickly scans the area, looking for any sign of their begravelled assailant, but is taken by utter surprise as the table below them flies up towards the ceiling, a pillar of concrete emerging from below. Both they and Sinclaire are thrown aside and come crashing to the floor as the same concrete cyclops emerges from the earth.   "Sinclaire!" He roars, his hulking figure bearing down on the lawyer, "You're going to pay for what you did to me!"   To be continued...