Lupin the Third: The Del Monte Ruby

Chapter 26

Barring seasoned veterans, no one really knows what they're going to do in a moment like the one in which Ruby found herself. And in that moment, she acted purely on instinct. Antony's gun went off. Ruby shoved Lupin out of the way as hard as she could and turned to face her own end.

Forever since that moment, everyone else would also swear what they saw happened in slow motion, and yet the truth was far too fast for anyone's eyes to see but for Goemon's. Antony's bullet sailed straight for Ruby's chest. Even Goemon wasn't fast enough to stop the bullet from his current position, but he saw Ruby's necklace give off a faint blue glow as it repelled the bullet and sent it ricocheting off the wall.

In a string of events that happened in a matter of seconds, Lupin hit the floor, just as the bullet seemed to strike Ruby. Eyes wide, he shouted her name. "RUBY!"

Everyone else thought she'd been struck. Even Ruby, for a moment, thought she'd been hit, though she felt no pain. With faint amusement, she thought, 'It's because I'm dead.' But apparently there was just enough life left in her to think. And if there was enough to think...

Once more, as though in slow motion, Ruby took one step, then another towards Antony and raised her baton. Antony had lowered his gun – for he, too, thought for certain he had struck the girl. That surreal sensation of slow motion came to a sudden stop and Ruby closed the distance between them at a run. She threw out her ribbon and flipped the switch.

The ribbon struck Del Monte, knocking the gun out of his hands and zapping him in the process. "AGH!" With another quick flourish, the ribbon wrapped around his legs, zapping him again as he dropped to his knees.

Ruby didn't stop running.

'You tried to take him from me! Just like you took away my parents!'

It was a consideration she hadn't allowed herself to ponder, but one that had begun to subconsciously wend its way into her brain ever since Fujiko's interrogation and Antony's claims that he married Diana just to have her. Even now, Ruby wasn't entirely sure she knew the truth, but it lingered like a seed in her brain, now fully blossomed.

WHAM!

She tackled Antony to the ground and began whaling on him. She didn't even realize she was screaming as she pounded her fists over him. Ruby had lost all sense of reason. She saw only the man who'd controlled her entire life for the past several years, who potentially had a hand in killing her parents, who held her sister hostage, who had orchestrated this disastrous, deadly night, and who had almost killed Lupin right in front of her eyes.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" she shouted as she pounded on the unconscious man. "GIVE THEM BACK! GIVE THEM BACK!"

Despite knowing that they should stop her, the four men – which included a man of the law –hesitated, giving Ruby the chance to leave her mark. But Ruby had lost it, and Antony Del Monte was as good as dead if someone didn't stop her. Finally, Lupin scrambled to her side and pulled her off of Antony.

"Ruby! Ruby! I... I think you got him!"

Tears streamed down Ruby's cheeks, and still she did not stop shouting or trying to get at Antony, even as Lupin pulled her off of him. She struggled in Lupin's arms, still attempting to claw at Antony despite Lupin's words. Her fingers raked Antony's pant legs as Lupin tugged her away. Somehow, she managed to tear off one of Antony's loafers and chucked it at his head as the others were forced to assist Lupin in tugging the girl away. She was strong when she wanted to be.

"GIVE THEM BACK YOU BASTARD! GOD, I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU S-SO... so much..." She trembled, sobbing weakly in her restrainer's arms. The fight quickly drained out of Ruby and she slumped in Lupin's arms.