Rue: Web of Deceit - Part 36

Criminal Activity

Trapped beneath the earth with two heroes and a supervillain on the prowl, Rue is forced to put their distrust of others aside and work as a team of sorts in order to make sure that everyone trapped in the courthouse makes it out alive.

Glancing back at the wall, Rue can’t help but wonder how Simon is locating them outside. With hot sauce in his eye and his nose essentially buried in dirt, there had to be a way he was tracking them. If they could figure out how he was following them, they may be able to guide him in the wrong direction. Turning towards Amelia, Rue throws the torch in her direction, “Keep heading up, we’ll catch up!”   Amelia nods as she looks back at the other two, before continuing up to the roof, the mechanics in her armour straining with increased effort as she speeds up. Rachel meanwhile, gently but firmly grips the shoulder of their jumper and pushes Rue further up the stairs, "Come on, we've gotta keep moving," she says as she watches the wall for any more protrusions.   Still somewhat staggered, it feels like Rue's feet aren't quite ready to move on quite yet and they stumble, falling forward against the stairs and their hands catching themselves against the steps. They pause momentarily as they feel the material beneath them. Not metal, as they'd expected, the fire escape seems to be covered in a thin layer of earth.   ''Son of a bitch,'' Rue mutters at the realisation, wiping the dirt on their jeans as they get back up, ''I think he's tracking us through the soil...''   Pursing their lips, they decide to put their doubts aside, taking a leap of faith as they look over their shoulder towards the Railyard hero.   ''There might be a few ways to make it harder for him to follow Sinclair,'' They start softly, ''We can try to wipe that dirt off the stairs somehow, or we can overload him with it instead to draw him out. I... I know how much it can hurt if a heightened sense is overwhelmed.''   "Motherfucker," Rachel mutters, kicking at the dirt as she follows Rue further up the stairs, "Never thought I'd die due to lack of a broom before."   She thinks for a moment as the pair near the top of the building, seeing Amelia unceremoniously dump the unconscious lawyer onto the roof with a light thud, "Overloading him sounds good," Rachel continues, "Kinda wish Transonic was here right about now, but... Maybe I could just punch the walls really hard or something? Send out some shockwaves..."   “I can try to help you improve your aim for the shockwaves a little,” Rue suggests quietly, just loud enough for Rachel to hear while they cast a cautious glance over towards Amelia, “It’s hard to get an exact location for him through the soil, but I could at least point you in the rough direction.”   "Alright, sounds like a plan," she replies, before noticing the sideways glance and dropping her voice to a sympathetic whisper, "Hey, don't worry about Amelia. She may have a bit of a stick up her ass sometimes, but she's a good person," she pauses for another moment, "For whatever my word is worth to you, you can trust her."   “It’s her being a good person that’s the problem…” Rue mutters, sticking to the edge of the building, “I saw her testimony in court earlier - her armour can record what’s happening, and I can’t afford to be on any more of her little home videos. Especially not…” They wiggle their hands much in the way Rachel did when  they fought the White Knight, hoping to get their point across.   "Right, right..." she replies, taking a moment to think, "Alright, we'll keep it all on the down-low. Just... subtly point out where he's coming from, okay?"   "So, what now?" Amelia asks, looking around the roof, "I mean, sure he's got a bit more to deal with before coming to kill us, but I doubt it'll slow him for long."   “Yeah, alright,” Rue mumbles with a nod before addressing Amelia, “Unless you can give us a lift out of here with those thruster boots of yours, I doubt we’ll be getting above ground soon. We just have to keep him from killing us until help can get to us.”   Turning towards Simon’s main target, Rue crouches down beside Sinclaire, pretending to check over his injuries. They take a deep breath and sharpen their senses in the same way as before, sifting through the noise, the smells, the tremors beneath their hand as it brushes over the concrete beneath them. It’s uncomfortable, to say the least, but their determination to locate their attacker outweighs the discomfort.   Just as they'd hoped, it becomes quickly apparent that being on the roof has effectively stopped Simon from popping up from below, the soil beneath them simply isn't dense enough for him to make a weapon of. They quickly turn their attention to the walls of their concrete prison and start to notice the subtle movement in the rocks and earth, shifting aside as if to accommodate some encroaching shape moving at speed. Ready to get out of this mess, Rue feigns a weary sigh, running a hand through their hair.   “You’re the superhero here,” They complain, gesturing towards one the walls seemingly at random, hopeful that Rachel catches on. “Can’t you do something?”   Rachel's eyes briefly dart over to Amelia and back before nodding to Rue, "Oh, sure, Rue," she says in an exaggerated sarcastic tone as she paces over to the wall in question, "Guess I'll just... hit the walls or something, right?"   Amelia rolls her eyes at the interaction, all-but-ignoring the pair as she scans the area for signs of their assailant, but is brought back to the pair when Rachel does just as she said.   Rue had never seen before the true extent of the Railyard hero's strength. Like many roaches, they'd heard stories about how she could topple buildings if she wanted or tear through armour like paper, but to see her throw a fist into the wall, at what they can only assume is nearly full force, is something to behold. The roof beneath them, and indeed the whole cavern, quakes as fist meets stone and a large crack is gouged into the concrete.   "Jesus Christ, Rachel! What was that?" Amelia cries as the dust around them starts to settle.   "Just... testing a theory," Rachel mutters, shrugging innocently to the officer.   Rue gapes at the crack in the wall in awe. The last time they'd seen Rachel in action , she'd still been shaking off the effects of the drugs she'd been given, and even then she'd not failed to impress, but this is something else. Seeing the extent of damage that the Railyard hero could do with one punch, they're relieved to be on the same side, even if secretly.   ''Theory of violence?'' They deadpan, rolling their eyes. With Simon still hiding within the walls, they focus their attention back on the soil, tracking the movements. They gesture towards the wall again, at a slightly different spot, ''Are you going to punch us a tunnel out of here?''   Amelia's brows furrow as she watches the interaction between her two companions, looking between the two and speaking, "What are you two-"   She's interrupted by another loud boom as Rachel slams her fist into the wall once again. Slightly softer this time, only producing a smaller crater in the wall this time, but quickly causing a reaction. The entire cavern around them quakes in response, far more than the impact would justify. It doesn't end, and Rachel takes a few steps back, positioning herself next to Amelia, as they prepare for something to happen.   Rue instinctively takes a step away from the wall, scanning the soil for their attacker. They can feel their heart racing in their chest, adrenaline building up, ''Uhhh... That's not you, is it?'' They ask Rachel nervously, pointing at the source of the quakes.   "Not unless I'm even stronger than I thought," she says, looking up at the wall before them, "Get behind me, Rue. Amelia, you've got Sinclaire."   The Officer nods and takes a defensive position between the unconscious lawyer and the wall, adjusting her cybernetic arms and preparing for a fight. The moment is tense, but short-lived as the rumbling grows louder and, a moment later, the wall disgorges a familiar humanoid shape wrapped in stones.   Simon unceremoniously emerges from the wall and quickly crumples to his knees, the stonework over his face opening up as he hacks up a sizeable gout of blood from his throat. The heroes look at each other and then over to Rue as he stands back up unsteadily, covering himself again as he prepares to go on the offensive.   "Stay down, Rocky," Rachel says as she squares up to the man, "If I have to punch through those rocks to stop you, I will, and that may not end well for you."   Peeking over Rachel’s shoulder, Rue arches a brow, “Come on, Simon,” They start calmly, taking a step to face the man directly, “You’re not looking too hot right now, and I really don’t think that you want to take a direct punch from Suplex,” They disdainfully glance back to Sinclaire, “I know he’s a prick, but this sad little excuse of a man really isn’t worth all this. Why don’t you give it a rest?”   Simon lets out an agonised groan with every movement, muffled only slightly by the rocks obscuring much of his face. Amelia trains her weapon on him and moves closer to the other two, "Those shockwaves have broken at least a few bones, and by the look of it, possibly done some internal damage," she says, "Those rocks are the only thing keeping him standing."   "Sinclaire has to die," Simon says, bringing his left arm up with a muffled cry as the rock face behind him begins to protrude, "You don't know what he did to me!"   The wall busts forth and a hail of sharpened stones fly out towards the group. Amelia is quickly able to erect some sort of hard light shield for her and Sinclaire, while Rachel once again elected to pull Rue close and shield them herself, grimacing in pain as the shards dig in.   She takes a moment to make sure the younger superhuman is okay before her face contorts in rage and she stands back up, Rue getting a good look at how various shards are sticking out of her, a few having drawn blood, "Alright, Kid. Enough playing around. You have about three seconds to return this building and all these people to the surface before I lay you out, and to Hell with the consequences!"   Rue winces at the sight of the shards, swallowing thickly before turning their attention back to Simon, “He told me how he screwed you over,” They say, “How he made you into an example for other supers so they would think twice about breaking the law. I can’t imagine what you must’ve gone through, and I get why you want him to pay, but…”   Pursing their lips, Rue looks between Amelia and the injured hero, “Don’t you think you’re going about this wrong? Look around you, Simon. You’re hurting other people, people who would help you, and you’re only giving people like Sinclaire the opportunity to say they were right about locking you up. If you want Sinclaire to pay, I guarantee you that he’s already in a lot of shit that’s only going to get worse for him. Killing him would just let him get off easy and he’d be seen as the hero who tried to protect the public from the monster he locked away, is that what you want?”   "He's getting ready to attack again," Rachel says, noting the subtle movements of Simon's stone-wreathed form, her years of experience in the Railyard fight clubs coming to the fore. She looks at Amelia and then whispers to Rue, "Can you keep him still a moment?"   Rue's shoulders slump a little in disappointment, but they nod faintly. ''Consider it done.'' They whisper back, telekinetically reaching out to take hold of the man whose life got ruined the day he got arrested. They can feel their power wrapping around the stones, gripping him tight to keep him in place.   "I don't care what people think!" Simon cries, and Rue can feel the stones straining against their telekinesis as the entire cavern around them begins to rumble. Simon groans with the effort but is unable to move himself as Rue subtly holds him in place, "W-what are you doing!?"   Rachel nods at Rue, her face a strange mix of sympathy and determination, before quickly closing the gap on their assailant, "I'm sorry about this."   Amelia quickly follows Rachel into melee range as the latter's fist makes contact with the concrete armour that surrounds their assailant. The shoulder of the stone coating shatters into innumerable pieces as Simon cries out in pain.   Rue's telekinetic hold is briefly broken as the force sends him a few feet back and he takes the opportunity to wheel around firing another hail of stones at the two women. Interposing her shield between the two of them and the attack, Amelia quickly charges forward, the thrusters in her lower legs providing the required momentum to slam into the would-be murderer with enough force to knock his weakened body down.   Rue almost cannot bear to watch as the two women go on the offensive, turning their head away when he cries out in pain. They know that Simon is a threat, that they have to stop him, but protecting Sinclaire and putting Simon back in prison simply feels wrong, unfair. It's only because they divert their gaze that they notice the subtle rippling in the wall to Amelia's right as the woman charges forward. Instinctively, Rue pushes their telekinesis forward, wrapping it around the large shard that shoots out of the wall.   They can feel Simon's power battling against their own for control over the shard, but in his weakened state, Rue gains the upper hand, diverting its direction enough so it narrowly misses the officer.   Amelia's eyes widen as she finally notices the would-be weapon and ducks to the side, while Rachel grips Simon's exposed shoulder and hooks her fingers into the stone covering his chest. The two superhumans roar at each other as their powers work in direct opposition, but eventually the plate cracks and then shatters, leaving the man's chest exposed.   "Amelia, now!" Rachel cries, falling back on their prior experience together, hoping that the other hero would know what to do. She does, and Amelia ducks beneath her arm, placing an open palm against Simon's chest, a brief look passing between them before a faint crack can be heard and the man crumples to the ground.   The two women straighten themselves, wiping away dust and stones as the adrenaline wears off. Amelia looks over at the other two, Sinclaire still proving his worth to the team by drooling onto the floor, and gives a somewhat stilted smile at Rue's bemused expression. She holds up the palm she'd just used to incapacitate the villain, showing off the prongs that quickly fold back into her hand, "Tazer hand. Useful in a pinch."   ''Ever accidentally set it off shaking someone's hand?'' Rue asks jokingly. They move back over to the unconscious piece of trash that landed them in this situation in the first place, nudging his shoulder with their boot but getting little more out of him than a pathetic little groan.   They look at him with contempt evident on their face, muttering a few choice words under their breath. For once, Rue doesn't feel too bad having to threaten someone on Creel's behalf.   ''So...'' They say finally, looking at the second unconscious figure, ''Any suggestions on how we get the building... Well, up? I doubt Simon will be able to help now, even if he wanted to.''   "Ah," Rachel says, looking over the cavern around them and scratching the back of her head, "I really hadn't thought of that."   Amelia didn't even have time to roll her eyes as the whole area is suddenly rocked by what immediately feels like an earthquake. The three heroes make whatever attempts they can to stabilise and keep the unconscious men from rolling into trouble as they watch the earth crack open above them slowly opening to reveal the open sky above. The entire area around them seems to be enveloped in a pinkish hue, and the building beneath their feet begins to rise, taking them with it.   Steadying Sinclaire with a little help from their telekinesis, Rue watches as the building gradually ascends, “I swear if we’re going up into the sky next, I’m jumping off at ground level!” They say anxiously.   As they get further up, Rue glances at the injured Suplex, the coppery smell of blood mixing in with the dust in the air. Though her wounds don’t appear to be life threatening, it does very little to make them feel better about the hero taking multiple hits for them.   They know that Rachel simply did what heroes like her do: protect those who cannot defend themselves… but Rue could have defended themself, they’d just been too afraid to overtly use their powers around these people. They’d chosen secrecy in the interest of self-preservation, and the Railyard hero had paid the price for it.   "No wait! I know this pink!" The redhead's jacket is particularly shredded, but she seems in otherwise decent spirits as the buildings of Bathala City come into view. The roof of the building with them atop it peaks out of the hole and they are able to see the streets below, the thousands of people spectating, the police line in place around the destroyed earth and, hovering over the chaos and glowing brightly with the same pink energy that was surrounding them, a girl around Rue's age. A white and pink costume, looking a lot more like the traditional spandex outfits that many of the heroes Rue had met don't actually bother with, covers her petite frame, and her also pink hair splays out in the air around her head as if no longer subject to gravity, "Oh shit, it's Brainiac!"   "Ah, this is your little team, isn't it?" Amelia says, nodding down to the ground level where Blue and Transonic can also be seen, along with another woman in a white parka who seems more interested in the wierd computer on her wrist.   "Oh yeah!" Rachel says, looking down at the assembled heroes on the ground and giving them a large wave, "Hi guys! Took you long enough!"   Looking down, trying to stay as out-of-sight as possible as the building raises back to its original height, Rue catches sight of the two men giving exasperated shrugs as Amelia comments again, "Is that girl lifting this whole place alone?"   "Yeah, she..." Rachel says, chuckling a little awkwardly to herself, "She scares me a little."   ''That makes two of us...'' Rue mutters quietly.   They pull their hood a little further over their head, itching to slip away from the crowd's curious eyes as well as the Vigil members - especially Blue, whose mere presence currently makes their blood boil.   With Amelia and Rachel distracted by Brainiac's admittedly impressive display of power, Rue quickly searches for Sinclaire's mobile phone, fishing it out of his pocket and using the unconscious man's thumb print to unlock it. They type in their own number and hit the dial button, waiting for their phone to buzz once before hanging up and slipping the device back where they found it.   Inching closer towards the fire escape, Rue locks eyes with Rachel, ''I'm sure that between your little group of supers and Officer Kick-Ass over there, you've got the situation in hand?''   Amelia gazes listlessly over the city as the building settles roughly back into place and lets out a forlorn sigh, "Not an officer anymore..."   Rachel raises a brow and looks over at her, "Oh, shit. Really?"   "Yeah. The armour and stuff come from my new employer. Real secretive stuff," she says, sitting back on the wall, "It's 'Agent' now."   "Cool," the Railyard hero remarks, chuckling to herself before returning her attention to Rue, "I just wanna talk to you about-" her words cut short as she realises that Rue had already left, "Huh... Little shit."   Hopping down the final steps of the fire escape, Rue peers around the corner, waiting as two people walk by before blending in with the crowds. Police officers, EMTs, press vultures, and victims muddle together, allowing them to disappear within the aftermath of the chaos.   The pink hue fades from the sky, the dust settles, and with their adrenaline levels decreasing, Rue can feel the aches from getting squashed against the ceiling and thrown across the cafeteria. There's a dull headache settling behind their eyes from sharpening their senses, and they want nothing more than to get home and take a long, hot shower.   And yet, they wait. Keeping their hood up and sticking to the shadows, they continue to watch until they spot a slightly unsteady Sinclaire being ushered towards one of the ambulances waiting just outside the building.   Pulling their phone out of their pocket, they dial the number they saved only a few moments ago. He doesn't answer, naturally, it's not like he's in the best state to be taking calls right now, but his voicemail picks up the line and Rue decides to leave him a message.   ''Hey, pal, how's your head?'' Rue starts sweetly, watching as the EMT shines a pen light into his eyes, ''That'll be a nasty bump on your head for a while, but I sure hope that you still remember our little arrangement ? You're still alive, so you'd better hold up your end of the deal. I'll make sure to check in with you again soon, pal, so feel better soon.''   Ending the call, Rue takes one final glance at the scene before turning away. Feeling sore and weary, they write out a message to their employer: ''Things got a little complicated at the courthouse today, but I think that Sinclaire got the message.''   "I saw the news. Hope you didn't have anything to do with it, Morsel," comes the reply a few moments later, "Doug's got the upfront payment. You'll get the rest when Sinclair gets in touch."   Rue groans, then writes out a response, “Not intentionally - Sinclaire was the target, I didn’t think he’d be much good to you dead.”   "And so you did your good deed for the day and kept the little fuckwit out of trouble," he replies, "Good work, Morsel. I'll be in touch."   Despite their aching muscles, Rue decides to walk back towards the apartment, keeping their hood up to shield their eyes from the sun. They kick their boots off in the hallway, mumbling a brief ‘hello’ to Tara as they shuffle through, first towards their bedroom for a change of clothes, then to the bathroom, locking the door behind them. Peeling their clothes off proves to be quite the challenge, but the promise of a hot shower to soothe their body keeps them going.   They scrub the dirt off their skin and out of their hair, letting the water run over their body until it starts to go cold as they go over the day’s events in their head. There were several matters that somehow did not sit right for Rue, but try as they might, they couldn’t quite put their finger on them. It just felt like the whole day had been… wrong. From the moment Detective Upton had called, right until now, they just couldn’t quite make sense of it.   Perhaps they were just too tired, Rue muses as they step out of the shower, drying themself off before getting into the fresh change of clothes. They pull the soft, dark blue hoodie over their head, wet curls clinging to their face as they leave the bathroom and, almost zombie-like, make their way into the kitchen for some much needed food.   They rummage through the fridge for a while, pulling together some leftovers and putting them on a plate. With Doug still out and Tara getting ready for her shift, they settle on the sofa with their food, getting through about half of it before their eyelids begin to droop.   Leaving their plate on the kitchen counter, they retreat to their room, curling up in bed. Tomorrow, they will check up on Sinclaire again, tracking him down and pestering him again if he doesn’t get in touch with Creel, but for now, they simply close their eyes, Tara’s cheerful humming in the other room proving an oddly soothing sound to fall asleep to.