Chapter 4 – Send In The Clowns
Soundtrack: Intruder – Peter Gabriel
6th of September, 1890.
Once Yang and Ruby disembarked from the cab at half past three, they found themselves at the western edge of Greyhound Road in Hammersmith. At the western edge of Bayonne Park down the road lay a Regency-period manor house that the pair called home – Rose Hall. Yang cantered into the house to change clothes, freshen up her appearance, give Zwei a walk in the park, then take Bumblebee for a ride to Pyrrha's house.
However, Ruby didn't go home; she'd been invited to the archaeologist's house to compare notes on weapon design before that dinner, and consequently moved towards the Baron's Court station purposefully without her scythe. It was quite new, only getting built in 1887, but it still was yet another marvel of London's impeccable transport system.
Taking pride of place next to a bridge that housed Gliddons Road, the station building itself was a wonder of Victorian design. Lime terracotta tiles breathed a unique atmosphere into the interior of the red-bricked structure, and art nouveau lettering was used throughout the building in accordance with the rest of the Underground stations in London. A small tea room cum bakery sat to the right of the entrance, while a post office lay on the left, providing convenient service to the commuters that lived in this area.
Upon entering the building, Ruby walked up to one of the four ticket booths that lined the corridor. One pound later, she found herself holding a single trip first-class ticket. Slipping eagerly through the turnstiles, Ruby cantered down the flights of stairs that led to the platforms outside, and made her way to the platform on the northern side. This platform serviced the east-bound District Line, which ferried passengers to either Kensington High Street for changing to the Metropolitan line, or Mansion House station in the heart of London.
The other platform on the southern end was for westward travel, with the District trains ending at either Hounslow, Richmond, or Ealing depending on the service. While the space between the two platforms went unused for now, there was talk of it being used for a proposed line that would start at Hammersmith proper, carve a line through Knightsbridge and Covent Garden, then stretch northward through Piccadilly to Finsbury Park.
A pair of newspaper vendors stood at their posts on both platforms, hawking both the Times and the Manchester Guardian to any commuter who wished to read them on their way to their destinations. And beneath the metal marquee designed to protect passengers from the elements lay the station's unique feature: high-backed, red-painted metal benches with signs bearing the station's name running along the top. Ruby calmly sat down with the Guardian and idly flicked through it, clearly waiting for the train that would ferry her to the woman she considered a friend, role model and personal hero rolled into one.
Six minutes later, the train arrived at the northern platform, and Ruby jumped onto it. Given her enthusiasm for engineering, Ruby always loved riding on the behemoths that functioned as the blood cells that flowed through the veins of Inner London. As the train began to move, she began to lose herself in the knowledge she harboured about what Londoners frequently called "the Tube". The trains worked by the use of magnetic levitation, a technology invented in 1881 that was subsequently reserved for use on the Underground due to the prohibitive cost. It utilised verdant Dust for power and cobalt Dust for the propulsion, allowing for unusually speedy services to and from London's core. The London Underground was thusly the hidden jewel of the city, a testament both to English industry and the Dust innovation of the Schnees.
What Ruby didn't notice in her technological reverie were the two men who'd just spotted her as they boarded the second-class carriage at Earl's Court station. Scarlet David and Sage Ayana, dressed like workmen for a construction firm that Junior Xiong arranged for them as a cover job, were on their way to see the information broker to search for more information when the Samoan noticed the mark through the windows.
"Spotted Little Red Riding Hood on the toff-class carriage," Sage whispered into Scarlet's left ear.
"Good going," the Oxfordshire native replied at equal volume. "Keep your eyes peeled for her departure."
Sure enough, Sage caught Ruby's cape fluttering off the train when it stopped at Kensington High Street station.
"That's our cue, mate!", Sage urged, striding off the train with Scarlet at his heels.
Once they caught onto Ruby, they strove to match her speed, which wasn't difficult at all. The true difficulty in following someone lay in remaining above suspicion to the average on-looker. Sage and Scarlet had long since mastered that skill, by the use of banter and one-upmanship that was characteristic of so many friendships between a pair of men.
When she made it out of the station, Ruby crossed Kensington High Street, then went up Hornton Road's eastern side. Ten doors down from the corner, and opposite the Kensington Central Library, lay the townhouse of Dr. Pyrrha Nikos, which was set to also become home to Chief Inspector Jaune Arc two months from now. However, Ruby had only gone two houses down when she was tapped on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, miss," Scarlet spoke up.
"What is it, sir?", Ruby replied after turning around.
"Me and my friend are looking for the Windsor Castle pub, where we're meant to be meeting up with some friends. Can you help us by writing down the address for us?"
Ruby smiled chipperly. "Sure thing sir; I'll just fetch a pen and some paper."
She looked down to her left hip as she reached for the note-pad and pencil that rested in that pocket, then yelped as Scarlet took advantage of her distraction by tackling her to the ground and wrestling her towards the underground station she'd just emerged from.
"Sage," he said, "don't stand there like a sack of crap; bind and gag her already, will you?"
Sage, however, had spotted someone moving towards Scarlet from behind at speed. This someone had gained a fearsome reputation amongst the underworld, and the Samoan's resultant exclamation was one that signalled blood-curdling fright to those in the know, and sheer surprise to those that weren't.
"BLOODY NORA!"
Scarlet turned in panic, and copped a massive blow to the face. As he slumped to the ground, Ruby saw her saviour surge forward and break Sage's leg with one swing of a very familiar hammer.
"Nora! Good to see you again!"
Nora Valkyrie turned and smiled upon seeing her friend alive and well.
"Well, I'm glad to help a fellow huntress in need."
"Vernal will have our heads for this," Scarlet muttered through broken teeth.
"Assuming the police won't take your heads for target practice," Ruby teased as she and Nora cuffed the pair of them to a lamp-post. While "Bloody Nora" stood guard with Magnhild in grenade launcher form, Ruby ran ahead to Pyrrha's house and pounded on the door. Opening it while slightly short of breath was her butler, Lie Ren.
"Hello, Ruby," he started calmly.
"Hey Ren," Ruby replied quickly. "There were a couple of men working for someone called Vernal who tried to abduct me just now."
Ren's eyes bulged in palpable alarm. "Are they dealt with?"
Ruby nodded in response. "Nora saw to them."
"Great," Ren grimaced, knowing how reckless Nora could be with her weapons. "That's another assault charge Jaune will try to negate for her. Speaking of, may I ring Jaune and get him and his men to arrest the swines out there?"
"Absolutely, Ren. I'll just relax in the billiards room in the meantime."
Ren smiled calmly. "Fair enough; Pyrrha did say you and your sister were joining us for dinner tonight."
As Ren ran towards the phone on the parlour wall, Ruby removed her cloak and sat down to reflect on what had happened. I should make a note, she realised, and tell Weiss about this "Vernal" and what she did – it might have something to do with the case. Retrieving her pencil and notepad, Ruby jotted down the story for Weiss to peruse. I'll show it to her tomorrow, Ruby resolved as Ren placed the phone down and walked outside to relieve Nora of her watch with Stormflower in both hands. Barely a minute later, Nora came in and placed Magnhild next to the umbrella stand.
"Care to play pool with me, Nora?"
Nora turned to face Ruby with a manic grin on her features.
"I hope you can afford to lose to the Galway Bay champion of 1883, Ruby. Prepare to be crushed!"
Despite her slighter frame, Ruby won all three games. Nora didn't take the losses well, as Ren discovered when his nadgers nearly got skewered by a thrown pool cue.
By six that evening, Pyrrha and Jaune had returned from work, and they were seated with their friends while Ren readied chicken parmigana with mashed potatoes, assorted vegetables and lemonade. Ruby had booked a cab for half past ten that night for herself and Nora, who still lived in a bungalow near Barons Court Station, and Jaune had taken statements from the pair about their assailants. As dinner had just been laid out on the table, the roar of an unearthly beast rattled the windows of the townhouse, before coming to a stop outside the parlour window.
"That'll be Yang," Ruby explained to a bemused Pyrrha as Ren went to open the door. "She prefers her motorcycle over public transport these days. While it does save money she'd otherwise have spent on cab fares and train tickets, and it helps us on "hard and fast" missions when I ride pillion on it, that machine's still rather ear-splitting to experience within earshot."
"Tell me about it," Jaune ruefully agreed. "The Yard bought a sizeable number of those things for quick-response situations back in January. They are pretty useful, but I had to ride pillion on one of those things recently for a bomb scare in Battersea; I don't think my spine can take more punishment like that."
"Then ask Pyrrha to stop using her whip as a sex toy, then!"
Pyrrha and Ruby both spat out their drinks, whilst Jaune and Ren looked aghast and Nora bellowed with laughter at Yang's ribald joke as she sauntered into the room. Knowing that none of them could verbally chasten Yang without upsetting Nora, Pyrrha gritted her teeth and stood up to greet her.
"I shouldn't expect any less a risque greeting from you, Yang," she remarked all too pleasantly while she locked Yang's hand in a vice grip. To Yang's credit, she didn't flinch; however, she was taken aback by Pyrrha's strength.
"You know me well, Pyrrha," the brawler replied, before turning to Ruby with concern etched on her features. "What's this news I hear about you getting jumped by some pirates?"
"Well," Ruby replied as Yang sat down, "I got asked to write an address down for some pub nearby, then got tackled as I fetched my pen. Thankfully, Nora saved me with her hammer."
"Apparently," the Irish lass continued, "they were working for some woman called Vernal."
"That reminds me," Ruby realised. "Ren, you know something about her?"
The butler nodded. "The only woman I've heard about with that name is the pirate captain called Vernal Fausse."
Pyrrha looked quizzically at her butler. "Pirate captain? In this day and age? She's either absolutely harmless or extremely secretive, because we all know that pirates died out with the advances in Dust propulsion."
"She's neither, really," Ren replied.
Everyone else at the table exchanged uncertain glances, suddenly getting a sense of just how deep this rabbit hole extended. Finally, Jaune spoke up.
"How do you know of her, then, if she's managed to become unknown to the public?"
"It's actually quite an infamous story, whispered throughout the underworld," Ren recounted. "I only know of it because my old boss told me about it once when he'd taken a hit of opium. But it starts with a young woman who grew up poor in the streets of Paris. Her name was Safran LeVeus, but it became Vernal Fausse."
A/N: I've got to thank Top Gear for introducing me to the uniquely British phrase "Bloody Nora". Without it, Nora's introduction here wouldn't have been half as funny.
Stay tuned for a flashback next Friday; feel free to leave a review and favourite the work!