There was an odd feeling of helplessness when everything went horrible. As the ground beneath her shook and cracked, and she heard her team shouting things to her and to each other that sounded fuzzy in her ears, she felt helpless. Like there was nothing she could do now, even with her upgrades and all her leadership prowess.
It was strange. Definitely not the good kind either.
It was the kind that made her stomach turn, and her heart pound within her chest as everything around her seemed to fall away. Vaguely, she wondered if the tight feeling in her chest was something like how Wheezer felt with her asthma. She didn't like it. She had to be calm. She was the leader, and she couldn't stand around and look bewildered.
The only thing that snapped her somewhat out of her head was the instinctual reaction to a sudden itchy rash appearing across her thigh, jumping to the side and almost falling on the ice as yet another crack ran through where her feet were just moments ago. She steadied herself as yet another tremor went through the quickly ascending ice mountain, and she finally forced herself to do a team check, her eyes darting around.
Wheezer, hovering in the air near the groups of scientists and attempting to quickly usher them to safety along with Gluestick, sticking to the wall above the ground to protect himself from the cracks and holes below.
Flinch, darting about like he was on a slip and slide with Brand and the Lunch lady, taking out the rest of any henchmen or goons that had decided to stick around, unlike most who had fled from the danger. If everything hadn't been chaos at the moment, she would have told Flinch to stop trying to run. He was going to fall off or get hurt with how much it was making him slip.
Ms. Holiday...she couldn't see. But Ruby recalled seeing her through her previous panicked haze, taking some of the scientists away through the doors. The woman could handle herself. She had more to deal with here.
Heath-...Simon. Where was Simon?
Ruby jerked up, realizing she hadn't seen where the boy had went. And for that matter, she couldn't see Braceface either or the goon, Mindy, that he had brought along to the rescue. The three had seemingly disappeared when the tremors began.
"Braceface!" She shouted, turning around in a circle. She couldn't see him, and her voice was all but completely drowned out by the sounds of panicked shouting and ice breaking.
She made her way across the ice, nearly slipping with every tremble and crack, until finally, she heard a voice. Simon's voice. Coming from the edge of the ice cliff. She nearly cursed, spinning on her heel and almost sprinting through the chaos.
"You, a complete moron, stopped my plan." Simon's voice snarled out, venom dripping from it. Ruby followed the voice, sliding to a stop when she saw the boy, standing at the edge of the cliff and stomping on a hand that clutched desperately to it. She could hear a faint, familiar yelp, and her breath caught in her throat. Braceface.
Now, in most cases, Ruby would have taken time to think. Taken time to carefully weigh each of her options. Made sure she considered every little detail so she could make an informed decision on her course of action.
This was not most cases.
And so, once again, her vision seemed to tunnel in as everything fell away, and she was rushing forward before her mind could do anything. The boys foot didn't even have a chance to land another stomp when she slammed into his back, sending him flying over the edge with a scream of shock, confusion, and complete and utter terror. He turned as he fell away, his eyes flashing with realization as they meet hers for a brief second, continuing to scream as he dropped. Her hand came up instinctively to her head, scratching the harsh itch there when she looked down to the two other children hanging from the icy cliff.
And so, with the metaphorical blood of a boy she had likely killed on her hands, and chaos at her back, there was one thing she was able to say, even as she struggled to keep her face straight, and her breaths even.
"I'm allergic to betrayal."