Rue: Web of Deceit - Part 47

Civil action

Finally ready to confront the illusive Mister Hightower, Blue and Rue make their way up Olympus House but aren't quite prepared for the resistance they encounter on the way.

Blue parks the van across the street from Olympus House and he and Rue quickly make their way over to the building, making sure not to be spotted outside as Alec asks, "So, what do you think? Main entrance, underground car park, or something else?"   “Main entrance,” Rue decides, stuffing their backpack underneath the seats before exiting the vehicle, “Since he's expecting us anyway, I don’t think there’s any point in searching for a different way in.”   "Bold. Not what I was expecting," Alec says, in a tone that belies his approval, "Alright then, let's make an example of this monster." With a dramatic swish of his coat, Blue leads the pair into the foyer of the grandiose apartment building. Art Deco inspired tiling coats the entryway in gold and black, feeling utterly alien to Rue in its sheer extravagance. Their enhanced senses pick up a pleasant floral fragrance that pervades the air around them even through their mask, accompanied by the scent of the night guard's aftershave.   The man stands up from his desk abruptly as the two enter, his hand moving to his hip before realising just who it was that just entered his workplace. "Oh, it's you," he mutters, hesitating as he eyes the pair.   "It is," Blue replies, making sure to interpose himself between the guard and Rue, "We gonna have a problem?"   There's a pregnant pause as the three look at each other, but eventually the guard pulls his arm back and retakes his seat, "No way, man. Rumour took my sister. Far as I'm concerned, you're good."   "I'm glad she's safe," Blue replies, nodding at the guard as he directs Rue over to the elevator, "You have a good night."   "Yeah, you too, man," the guard replies as he turns back to his computer.   Following Blue into the elevator, perplexed by the guard's blasé attitude. ''Guess there are some perks to hero work,'' They say as soon as the doors close and they start moving up, ''Though I can't imagine his employer will be thrilled that he just let us through.''   "Well, Rumour took  over four-hundred people," Blue replies with a shrug, "It's not the first time I've run into a grateful family member or even one of the victims themselves."   “I’ve heard some of the stories - I mean, who hasn’t at this stage?” Rue muses, “but I didn’t realise it was quite that big of an operation. That’s… pretty impressive.”   "It was mostly Officer Abel's doing," he replies quietly, seeming distracted for a moment as the elevator begins to climb, "She stopped him trying to kill her in the hospital for seeing his face and, in doing so, was able to identify him as one of the nurses. It's how we caught him in the end. It's just a shame what she had to go through to get it."   Rue involuntarily winces at the mention of Amelia Abel, their body remembering the beating  they received. “She’s pretty tough, as far as I can tell,” They say, “But I’m not-“   Before they can finish their conversation, the lift abruptly grinds to a halt, catching the pair by surprise. Rue futilely attempts to press the button for the top floor again before turning around to face Blue, their annoyance practically visible through the mask. “Maybe he didn’t like his sister all that much after all.”   "Nah, I bet Mister Robins has this whole place under surveillance," Blue says as he looks from the button panel to the ceiling and points towards the access hatch, "Guess we'll have to make our own way up."   ''Ugh,'' They groan dramatically, rolling their eyes behind the mask. Before Blue can reach up, they telekinetically burst the hatch open, sounding just a little smug as they say, ''After you.''   With a nod of approval, the older hero reaches up and pulls himself through the hatch, standing on the car top and looking up the shaft, "You gonna be able to get up there or do you need a hand?"   “I mean, I could get up there by myself,” Rue says, contemplating their options, “but I don’t really want to blast my way out of a tin box, and climbing would take more time, so…” They trail off, extending their hand to Blue.   "Alright," he says, one arm stretching down to quickly pull them up, placing them down beside him, "But, if you want a lift to the top, you'd better get comfortable with piggy-backing."   Rue looks upwards, silently counting the number of floors left to climb up. Normally, they would recoil at the thought of piggy-backing, but their body hasn’t fully recovered from the fight a couple of hours ago, and they don’t fully trust their control over the rocket blasts in such a narrow space. “Not a word about this to anyone. Ever. Understood?”   "Yes, I'm sure there are horrible consequences involved," he remarks, turning his back on them with a characteristic chuckle as his arms stretching up to grab at one of the higher floors, "All aboard.”   Rolling their eyes as they grumble incoherently, Rue steps forward to hop on Alec's back, wrapping their legs around his waist and holding onto his shoulders. ''Lets get this show on the road.''   "Alright then," he says with a grin that Rue can hear despite the featureless plane of his face. He quickly springs upward, almost leaving them behind as he propels the two of them up to the next floor before launching upwards again, his limbs stretching out to grab whatever ledges and railings he can to aid in their ascent, "You holding on okay there, Silhouette?"   The moment Blue begins to move, Rue is forced to hold on tighter to avoid falling off. “Yep, just glad I’m not afraid of heights,” They say after glancing back down, “Maybe Alphonso should add a parachute to this jacket, though.”   "Might be something to consider," Blue says as they rise high into the building, the top floor now in view, "For next time."   “I doubt there’ll be a next time…” They say, getting ready to dismount once they reach the top.   "Of course," Blue replies, the sarcasm evident in his voice as the pair reach the top and they climb off the hero's back, "I'm sure this will just be a one-time thing. No-one ever comes back for more."   Before Rue gets a chance for a biting retort, Blue opens the elevator door and all Hell breaks loose. He suddenly shoves them back behind the elevator doorframe, almost knocking them down the shaft as a bolt of lightning and shards of golden metal tear through him, striking the wall behind him and causing the hero to cry out in pain. "Schurk agents!" He yells as he pulls back, his body quickly pulling itself back together around the burned tissue. He grimaces as his face begins to reform, "Looks like Mister Hightower has some... friends in high places.”   Rue grabs the edge of the doorframe to avoid falling backwards, cursing under their breath as they watch Blue take the hit. ''You okay?!'' They ask, adrenaline pumping through their veins.   "Don't worry about me," he says, his head returning to its normal shape, "These guys are highly trained in working together to neutralise superhumans. We need to separate them and take them down quickly. What can you see out there?"   Looking through their cover, Rue can see a lengthy hallway leading towards what appears to be a reinforced door. The left side of the hallway consists of thick panes of glass, presumably to allow people to admire the Bathala skyline, whereas the wall on the right is made of a thick layer of concrete that makes it tricky for Rue to see what's beyond it very clearly. In the middle of the right hand wall, there is another door, and through the thinner material, the stairs leading up towards the rooftop are visible. Just in front of the reinforced door, two individuals are preparing another attack, the air around the person on the right crackling with energy. The assailant on the left lifts their hand, and a number of small, metal projectiles start to hover in place. Rue quickly describes the scene to Blue, alerting him to the oncoming attack.   Clad in a jacket made of black and gold scales, the dark-skinned woman on the left raises a hand and a few of them detach from the bottom and begin to circle her hand while the young man on the left aims one gauntleted arm down the hallway, his white hair beginning to raise as lightning begins to streak across his body.   "Okay," Blue says, taking stock of the intel and deliberating for a moment, "If I can get over there and distract him, do you think you can take care of her?”   ''You bet.'' Rue says, shifting on the ledge to get a direct view of the hallway. In an instant, they lash out with their telekinesis, and the window to their left shatters. Wrapping their power around the shards, Rue flings the glass projectiles at the two assailants.   The two agents leap back behind cover as the shards of broken glass fly at an incredible speed towards them and shatter against the wall at the far end of the hallway. Seeing his chance, Blue leaps into action, running out and immediately diving out of the now-opened window. There's a moment of confusion as Rue can't help but briefly wonder if he'd just abandoned them in the middle of a fight, but he returns again shortly thereafter in spectacular superheroic fashion, seemingly catapulting himself through the window beside their assailants and slamming, knees-first, into the man with electrical powers. The two burst through the door into Hightower's apartment and Rue sees their moment.   Before the woman has a chance to chase after Blue and her partner, Rue telekinetically yanks the door shut, effectively separating them. ''Don't you think two against one is a little unfair?'' They ask, drawing the woman's attention, ''Especially since I'm right here as well.''   "Not bad," the other agent mutters, turning her attention to Rue as the golden scales of her jacket begin to unclip and circle around her, "But we've dealt with your type before and it always ends the same way." With a flick of her wrist, the high-tension cables behind Rue snap and quickly wrap themselves around their neck. They are dragged into the elevator doorway as the golden scales fly forwards at an incredible speed, giving Rue a split second before they're shredded.   Their hands instinctively move up to the cables wrapped around their neck, nails digging into their skin as they struggle against the restraint. With the razor-sharp scales shooting towards them, Rue's power almost seems to react on its own, the force of their telekinesis lashing out to counter the projectiles, slowing them just enough that they hit the suit with little more impact than an unpowered person throwing a handful of coins. Hopeful that the agent's powers require a direct line of sight towards the object she's controlling, Rue summons a wall of fire between the two of them whilst leaning forward as much as they can to avoid getting pulled into the elevator shaft entirely.   "Two powers?" Rue hears the agent mutter to herself, "Some people have all the luck."   Rue uses the moment of distraction to quickly wrench the cable from around their neck. A moment's respite is all they're afforded though, as they see a veritable swarm of golden scales emerge from within the flames, forming into a circle through which the agent reaches forth. Raw telekinetic energy seems to suffuse the air around Rue as the agent begins to drag them forward, their footing rapidly becoming uncertain as the building's sprinklers start dousing the hallway in a torrent of water.   Finding nothing to hold on to, though they'd rather keep their distance, they decide to use the momentum in their favour. Heat builds up in the palms of their hands, and they blast themself forward, sliding across the wet tiles much like they'd done on the ice platforms the Tundrake had created. As the speed at which they move remains difficult to control, they simply aim to tackle the woman to the ground, uncertain if they can land a precise blow.   Rue sees the woman's eyes widen in the split-second before they make contact, smashing through the ring of scales as they charge forward. The sound of jingling as the golden scales scatter sounds like something from an old videogame, followed immediately by the telltale oof of a bodily collision, the agent barely able to deflect Rue over to a window before being knocked aside herself.   Feeling a little winded from the tackle, Rue props themself up as quickly as they can to get their bearings. The sprinklers are still running even with the fire gone, a shrill alarm warning anyone in the building to evacuate. From the other side of the door, Rue can hear the battle between Blue and the other agent ongoing, but they don’t have much time to focus on anything but the situation at hand.   A few meters away, they can see something lying still on the tiled floor, and a sense of dread fills them as they realise that the agent’s gun must have fallen out of its holster during their brief scuffle just now. There is a split second where both Rue and the agent look at each other, until they simultaneously stretch their arms out towards the weapon, telekinetic forces clashing as they fight for control of the gun.   The weapon shudders and floats up off the ground as the two channel every ounce of their telekinetic power into turning the barrel towards their opponent. Rue's head starts to pound from the exertion. Never before have they pushed their power this hard for an extended period, and a cold sweat begins to descend their brow as the gun spasmodically starts to turn in their direction.   They can feel their heart racing in their chest, their entire body trembling from the over exertion of their powers. The most recent scar on their body seems to pulsate, reminding them of their inability to protect themself back in the warehouse.   Not again. they think as the barrel continues to slowly point their way. A memory of a small, dark room with a lever just out of reach races through their mind, and they lift up their other hand towards the gun, releasing a scream while they force their power to throw off the Agent’s concentration, the gun wrenching quickly in one direction and then the other, shearing the weapon in two and sending the handle and barrel flying away from each other.   The agent gives them a confused look as they hear the weapon clatter uselessly to the floor in pieces which quickly turns to outrage as she thrusts her hand towards Rue once again. Glass shards, golden scales and Rue themself are thrown indiscriminately away from the agent and into the window. The pane behind them shatters on contact and despite their attempts to claw at the ground, Rue quite quickly finds themself falling out of the window.   Their eyes widen and they let out an involuntary yelp as they instinctively claw at the air for something to hold on to. For a split second, falling feels oddly the same as drowning, except now there’s no one there to pull them back up. Somewhere deep within them, there’s a voice telling them that they’ve gotten weak, that they shouldn’t need to rely on others to save them - they just need to save themself.   With no time to waste, Rue focuses a telekinetic blast at one of the windows a couple of floors below them, before releasing a powerful rocket blast that sends them flying through the newly shattered window. Though the suit prevents any cuts from the shards of glass, it offers little protection for the hard landing that follows. It’s like the wind is knocked out of them once their body hits the floor, and for a moment they simply lie there, gasping.   "You're resilient, I'll give you that," the Agent growls as the descends from above, seemingly holding herself aloft with her own power as the remaining scales orbit around her, "Maybe another time, you'd have made a good agent."   Gritting their teeth, Rue manages to push themself up to a crouching position. Every muscle in their body aches, their breathing is laborious, and they have a metallic taste in their mouth as blood lazily drips out of their nose and into their mouth. “You think that hurt?” They ask, and something in their demeanour seems to shift, their voice laced with a bloodlust that wasn’t there before. Their hand wraps around the hilt of the knife that they’d slipped into their back pocket earlier that night, but instead of throwing it at the agent, they telekinetically fling some of the glass shards at her as a diversion, then wildly launch themself forward to strike.   The golden scales quickly gather in front of her to block the shards, the agent behind them sighing in growing frustration at Rue's stubbornness. Her eyes widen however as the scales move away again, and she sees the faceless body of Rue rocketing towards them once again.   Before their shield can form again, Rue uses their free hand to grab the woman by the throat, using their momentum to snake around her. Their legs wrap around her torso and the knife is pressed against her chest, just above her heart. The hand around her neck begins to heat up uncomfortably, and Rue’s featureless mask hovers right next to her ear. “I would’ve slit your throat, but my colleague isn’t too fond of murder,” They state with an eerie calmness, “You could try to kill me with those shards of yours, but I promise I will take you out with me - I’m pretty resilient, after all. So, why don’t we go back up there, you surrender, and you get to survive another day.”   "Oh, you stupid bitch," the Agent growls, even as she begins to float the pair back up to the penthouse floor and back into the hallway, "So, now what? You think I'm just going to let you walk off?" She turns her eyes towards Rue as her powers begin to press up against the knife.   “Of course not,” Rue replies flatly, their grip on her throat tightening and heating up to a painful degree, “That’s why I have to do this.” The knife moves from her chest as they stand on their own two feet in the hallway and they forcefully spin her around, the hand around her throat keeping her at arm’s length. For a moment, it looks like they’re about burn her alive, but instead, Rue forcefully pulls the woman in, her head colliding hard with their helmet. The agent begins to struggle as Rue speaks, but before she gets a chance to make much progress, the sound of bone hitting ceramic rings out and she crumples to the floor in a pile of golden scales.