The Return of Ruby Rubber

8: Dead Leg

Darkness.

You couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face. If you’d been able to put it there.

‘Hello? Hello, are you awake yet?’ Stuart had heard a few pained groans somewhere else in the room and had thought Ruth might finally be coming round. ‘Ruth is that you?’

‘Yes, yes, it is. Oh my throbbing head, it is me. Damn. I wish it was someone else.’

Ruth opened her eyes - or at least she thought she opened her eyes. When all she was presented with was pitch blackness she experimentally closed and opened them again, slowly realising that it wasn’t her vision that was at fault.

‘I’m not blind, am I?’ she called out into the void.

‘No,’ replied Stuart. ‘Just chained up in some sort of dungeon.’ He rattled his chains by way of demonstration. ‘And there isn’t a window or anything in here. I’ve no idea what time of day it is.’

Ruth tested her own chains. Her ankles were shackled, as were her wrists above her head. Also, her neck appeared to be in some sort of brace.

‘”A dungeon”? Do people still actually have dungeons?’

‘This person has.’ Stuart peered in the direction of Ruth’s voice, wondering if there was even the slightest chink of light to betray her presence. There was nothing. ‘His name’s “Kaleidoscope“. He’s an old enemy of the original Ruby Rubber’

‘The only Ruby Rubber!’ countered Ruth. ‘I told you, I’m not getting involved in this superhero business.’

‘Suit yourself,’ said Stuart huffily. ‘But you might not have a choice. Kaleidoscope was a brilliant mind trapped in a body whose identity and appearance would shift uncontrollably. He was always after the orig- ‘ Stuart paused. ‘He was always after my aunt because he wanted to uncover the secret of how she had total control over her form. Somehow, he got wind of my knowledge of how her power works. I think he only wanted to kidnap me, but when you came along... Well, the opportunity to examine a live specimen...’

‘Whoa, wait a minute! What do you mean, “specimen”?’

‘Oh, Kaleidoscope was always looking for some way to experiment on Ruby Rubber, to isolate the source of her abilities. I thought you said you saw that retrospective? Didn’t you see the bit where they toured the ruins of his Lair Lab?’

Ruth shuddered.

‘Is that where we are then? Stuck somewhere below this lair of his?’

‘I don’t know so much about being “stuck”,’ said Stuart cheerfully. ‘Now you’re awake you can just stretch your way out of here and rescue us.’

If Stuart was in an optimistic mood the huge sigh he heard from Ruth’s direction would certainly have put a dent in it.

‘Use your noggin,’ chided Ruth. ‘Do you really think they’d have simply chained me up if I could elasticate out of this set up.’

‘What?’ gasped Stuart, suddenly starting to feel uneasy.

‘That malleable mojo of yours must have worn off long ago. Look!’ Ruth gave a wiggly display of ‘Spirit Fingers’ despite being fully aware that Stuart wouldn’t be able to see a thing.

‘Oh my goodnight!’ It seemed Stuart was finally getting a sense of exactly how much trouble they were in. ‘I knew I’d be out of my depth with this sort of nonsense. I should never have listened to my dad.’

‘Stuart, shut up,’ said Ruth, a little unkindly.

‘It’s all right for you,’ Stuart spat back. ‘You’re brand new at this lark. No-one expects you to make a good go of it. But there’s a whole weight of expectation on my performance here. If word ever gets out that I cocked up on my first mission...’

‘Stuart, I said “shut up”. I need to concentrate.’

‘Concentrate on what?’

Ruth licked her lips. To be honest she didn’t have a clue how she had allowed herself to get caught up in all this rigmarole, but now that she was here she wasn’t simply going to hang around and complain about it. That would come later if she ever managed to get out of here. Along with a thorough beating for the man who had got her in this position. No, she may not be a superhero, but she wasn’t a half-wit. There must be some way they could escape.

‘This neck brace. It’s fairly loose around my shoulders. I’m not sure, but I think if I lean into it, I can get it to press into one of the pressure points that unlocked my powers yesterday.’

‘I don’t think that’s going to work,’ said Stuart dejectedly. ‘I should know. I’m a trained masseur. It takes a gentle and sensitive touch to ensure the relevant nerve centres are stimulated correctly.’

‘All right then, I won’t bother!’ snapped Ruth.

‘Ah, no. I see your point,’ replied a sheepish Stuart. ‘Er, good luck with it then. Let me know how it goes.’ Stuart’s voice trailed off into the darkness.

It was very unlikely that she would succeed, Ruth had to admit. But with the thought of a visit to the dissection table somewhere on the horizon she was happy to try anything that would give them a chance. More through hope than belief, Ruth started to twist her neck around, trying to manoeuvre the cold metal of the brace.

It proved easier than she had imagined to work the hoop of metal into a position where she could lean back into it. Now it touched the base of her skull, near to where she had once teased out her uncanny abilities with dextrous fingers. This blunt instrument couldn’t hope to be as effective, but nevertheless she was soon rewarded with a faint, familiar tingle. There was no opportunity for subtlety here. Ruth threw herself back against the brace.

‘Yarrgh!’ exclaimed Ruth.

‘What? What is it?’ demanded Stuart. ‘Did it work? Are you OK?’

‘Ah,’ responded Ruth, somewhat uncertainly. ‘Yes. Yes, it appears to have worked.’

‘Fantastic!’

‘Let me just stretch up to the ceiling. Yes, yes there is a light bulb. I’ll just see if the switch is inside the room. Won’t be a tick.’

There was a gentle creaking noise that Stuart realised was Ruth stretching about the darkened cell.

‘Found it!’ exclaimed Ruth. ‘Close your eyes, I’m going to switch on the light.’

Stuart obeyed, yet he still felt a stabbing pain as a red glare fought its way through his eyelids. Gingerly, he blinked until his eyes adjusted to the unfamiliar light. As his sight returned, he looked around the now-revealed confines of his dank prison, expecting to see Ruth there ready to free him. Instead, he saw that she too was still chained up. All except for her right leg. That was extended across the length of their cell, hovering over the light switch.

‘I don’t think I completely succeeded,’ admitted Ruth. ‘I’m not sure what buttons I hit there, but it appears that only my leg has become elastic.’ She looped it over toward him by way of demonstration, the foot bobbing in front of Stuart like the head of a cobra. ‘What do you think? Is there a market for a partially-rubberized superheroine.’

Stuart laughed. ‘A-ha! So you admit you’re a superheroine!’

Ruth deftly brought her leg over to herself, scratching her nose with a toe. ‘If I manage to get us out of here I think I earn the title by default, don’t I? Besides, I’m starting to get comfortable in this costume.’ Her foot nodded its agreement back at her. Ruth stared at it thoughtfully.

‘Hang about...’

‘Is that supposed to be funny,’ groaned Stuart, shaking his chains.

‘I might have you smiling yet,’ said Ruth. She didn’t say another word, choosing instead to focus on her foot. Her tongue slipped out of the corner of her mouth as she became lost in thought. Stuart was about to quiz her when he suddenly noticed what she was doing. Gradually, responding to Ruth’s mental commands, her foot was reshaping itself, the toes and sole stretching and altering until it began to resemble a hand. It wasn’t a perfect replica, but it would suffice for the task Stuart guessed Ruth needed it for.

‘Now, let’s see if this works,’ whispered Ruth. She stretched her leg further, extending it until it looped over her shoulder. Then, she placed her toe/fingers on the appropriate part of her neck and began to massage the muscles in a particular manner. Ruth felt the effect almost immediately.

‘Here we go,’ she announced. ‘Yikes!’

Ruth’s already elastic leg whipped back round over her shoulder, almost clobbering her on the rear of her head in the process.

‘What did you do that for?’ asked Stuart.

‘I didn’t,’ replied Ruth. Her leg was now back to its customary size and shape. Ruth peered down at it, her face a worried frown. ‘Oh dear. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.’ She shook out her leg, dismayed to see it wobble from side to side in pretty much the way you’d expect an ordinary leg to behave. ‘That doesn’t look very stretchy to me.’

‘So, we’re back to square one?’ moaned Stuart.

‘Not exactly,’ piped Ruth. ‘We’ve got one limb free between us. Only another seven to go.’ She tugged her other leg as if to emphasise the point and was surprised to see it pop out of its shackle, the foot simply squeezing through as it was pulled. Like rubber.

‘Six to go?’ said Stuart, attempting to appear nonchalant.

À SUIVRE...