Rue: Web of Deceit - Part 5

Life, Achievement/ Win

After inadvertently giving The Spider way more than they bargained for, Rue feels the need to make amends with Jasmine Walker but finds themself side-tracked when a supervillain attacks the Railyard.

There is a knock on the door the next morning, pulling Rue out of their fitful slumber. They find themself still on the floor, their legs curled up to their chest, their phone still in hand. As they flex their fingers, the screen comes to life, showing that it's a little after 8am. Their limbs feel heavier than they should, a familiar numbness clouding their thoughts.   Another knock comes, and despite the obvious scent of pancakes coming from the other side of the door, they just can't bring themself to get up and open it. After a couple more minutes, they can hear Rani's footsteps retreating downstairs. They close their eyes once more, hoping to no avail for sleep to drag them under, instead picturing a familiar, friendly pierced face, followed by the Spider's glee, his hand--   Rue barely makes it to the bathroom to retch into the toilet, their empty stomach only offering up the smallest amount of bile. Wiping their lips with the back of their hand, they weakly get up, turning on the tap to rinse their mouth and splash some water in their face. They scowl at the face staring back at them in the mirror, their eyes filled with self-loathing.   When they finally leave the room that morning, it's closer to 10am, their hood pulled up and the envelope they received the day prior tucked deep in the pocket. They walk straight past Nadia without acknowledging her, marching down the streets and towards the Railyard, keeping their senses on alert for the smell of daisies or the sight of purple hair.   It doesn't take long for something to catch their attention. Not daisies, but gasoline, and the distinct sound of a male voice shouting "Repent, Sinners, and be cleansed!" and as they look in the direction of the commotion, they can see people running away and a large gout of flame rising over the train cars.   Rue watches in shock as the flames spread, people tripping over one another in their panic to escape. They use their senses to filter through the smoke and chaos, silently praying that everyone has made it out relatively unharmed whilst looking for the source of the voice.   Eventually, Rue finds their way to an area where the train cars are a little more spread out, forming something of a communal area that they'd been to once or twice before. There, stood tall in the centre of the space was a man dressed head-to-toe in medieval plate armour with a large apparatus strapped to his back. It looked to be feeding into the flamethrower he was wielding and firing haphazardly into the air. Nothing in particular seems to have been set alight, but that could all change at any moment.   "Be not afraid, Sinners! The light of God scorches not the faithful! Come forth and repent thy wicked ways and the White Knight shall absolve you of your sins!"   Hearing the man's ramblings makes Rue see red, every last muscle in their body tensing as they try to yank the apparatus from his back with their telekinesis but the apparatus holds firm, seemingly welded directly to the Knight's armour as Rue attempts to wrench it free. He seems to feel the pulling and turns around, looking for the source, "There's no need to hide, Sinners! Allow me to welcome you into the Lord's embrace!"   As Rue stops concentrating on their telekinesis and begin to think of another strategy, they feel the gravel next to them being kicked up and a familiar red-headed figure take position beside them, "I know that constipated look anywhere," Suplex says, "You're like Brainiac, right? With the..." She makes a vaguely mystical hand gesture to represent telekinesis as a concept, "What's going on here then?" She nods over to the Knight.   Normally, Rue would have bolted at the prospect of people discovering their powers, especially a superhero, but with the White Knight going rampant, they push their usual fears deep down, labelling it as a 'problem for later', ''Seems like this whackjob wants to give us all a baptism of fire.'' Rue grinds out through gritted teeth, a dark glint in their eyes. ''Whatever that thing on his back is, it's stuck to his armour.'' They curse the man before them, their hands balling into fists, ''I don't suppose you could do something about that if I distract him?''   "Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you," she says, looking over at the aforementioned whackjob who seems not to have noticed the two of them just yet, "I reckon I could loosen up some of those plates if I can get close. Think you can keep the flamethrower off me?"   “Consider it done.” Rue quickly turns away from Suplex, picking up a rock from the ground as they do so. Once there’s some distance between them, they throw the rock, using their telekinesis to aim it at the man’s head. The rock arcs into the air for a moment before Rue's telekinesis shoots it in a straight line, colliding with his armoured helmet and knocking him somewhat off-kilter with a loud klang.   “Hey, Sir Whackadoodle!” They shout, spreading their arms wide as if challenging him. “Bonfire night has passed already.”   "Ow!" He shouted, turning his attention towards the voice, "Let they who are without sin cast the first stone, Child," In theatrical fashion he arced his flamethrower, spraying the ground around Rue's feet with flames, "Repent and you may still be saved, Sinner."   Rue can see Rachel sneaking up behind him, she's almost in position but she needs a few more seconds. Rue looks at him innocently, placing a hand on their chest, ''Me? A sinner? You must be mistaken. After all...'' They take a step towards the flames, a dangerous twinkle in their eyes. They slowly move their hand forward, holding it in the fire and actually 'taking' a flame to hold in their palm, watching it dance on their fingertips before looking back at the Knight, ''Your light does not scorch me.''   "W-what?" He mutters, cocking his head as he tries to fathom what he's witnessing. Before he gets a chance to however, Suplex jumps into action, reaching over his chest plate and tearing it open. Shards of plate and chain mail links fly in all directions as the metal is rended and the White Knight is pulled around by the force of the attack.   The now-loosened apparatus hangs, barely, on to the man's back as Suplex shouts, "Now!"   Rue immediately lets go of the flame and uses their telekinesis to yank at the apparatus again, this time pulling it free from the man's back and hauling it to the other side of the open space. They step through the slowly diminishing fire, stalking towards the pair in the centre.   ''Now tell me,'' They begin, a new flame growing in their hand. ''Will the light scorch you?''   "That's a good question for another day," Rachel says, subtly but purposefully interposing herself between Rue and the villain, "But I think it's time for a certain someone to take a nap."   "What?" He says, before the space rings out with the sound of a superpowered fist connecting with a plate helmet and the man falls to the ground. Suplex then turns her attention back to Rue, smiling, but her eyes are quickly pulled towards the fireball.   "You okay there?" She asks, warily.   With a flick of their hand, Rue puts out the flame, scowling at the unconscious man, ''Forget it.'' They growl, only half assuring Suplex that they won't do anything rash.   Now that the threat is gone, Rue starts glancing around for any witnesses, aside from the two people in front of them. They pull their hood further down over their eyes, hoping to conceal their face to any onlookers, ''Don't suppose my involvement here could stay between us?''   Rachel seems a little relieved that she doesn't have a second fight on her hands and smiles at them in her own jovial manner, "Not a problem. Thanks for the assist," she begins, lifting the knight off the ground and slinging him over her shoulder, "But, speaking from experience, a little hero cred goes a long way around these parts, and you've clearly got the spark. The government is setting up new incentive programs for superheroes. Might be worth a look."   “I’ll pass.” Rue replies quickly, though not unfriendly. They’re about to leave, anxious to get away from the scene before anyone else turns up, but they pause, pulling the envelope half out of their pocket, keeping the spider symbol concealed, “One more thing..” They pull some money from the envelope, holding it out for Rachel to take, “This is for Jasmine, should be enough to replace her old phone..”   "Oh!" She cries, "You're the one that locked her in the bathroom!" She creases up with laughter, dropping the supervillain back onto the floor as she catches her breath, pushing her hands forward in a dismissive manner, "Keep your money. She's already sorted a new phone," she wipes a tear from her eye, and standing up straight, "She does want to see you again though. And after that display today, I can see why." She grins, "You should come by more often. The Railyard could use more good eggs around."   Rue gawks at the superhero, completely baffled by the jovial response. Part of them wants to accept the offer of seeing them both again, but the moment Suplex calls them a ‘good egg’, that vision shatters in their head, replaced with the sense of betrayal that has quickly become familiar.   “I don’t think that’s a good idea…” They mumble, slipping the money back in the envelope, “Tell Jasmine to be careful,” They seem to consider telling Rachel more, but they decide against it, the fear of the possible repercussions gripping them firmly, “Both of you should be careful, really.”   "Hmm..." She frowns slightly, noting the response, "Err... yeah, we'll bear that in mind," she pauses again, clearly not quite sure what to say, "You sure you're okay?"   “I’ll be fine.” Rue smiles faintly. They can hear the sirens of what sound like both fire trucks and police approaching, the murmur and footsteps of onlookers getting closer. With a final nod to Suplex, Rue disappears in between the train carriages, hoping to make a clean break. They look down at the new clothes they’d bought, some of the fabric badly singed. “Not quite as fire-proof…”   With a weary sigh, Rue begins to wander, aimless at first. They'd never had a job before, much less a day off. It was an unusual feeling. Any days they'd had before had been spent begging or finding someone to pickpocket, but now they don't need to. They're free to do as they wish. But what is that?   The first thing they decide to do is to clean their old clothes so they have something to change into, something that doesn’t reek of smoke. They start to wander back to the hostel, their stomach suddenly letting it known that it is very much empty.   Stopping at a small café along the way, they pick up a bacon sandwich and a bottle of water, taking both with them to go. As they’re heading down the street, their sandwich half eaten, they come across a small bookstore. Looking through the window, they can see a section towards the back with an “education” label above it. Taking a note of it, they continue towards the hostel, telling themself that they’ll have a look later.   To be continued...