From Ruby’s Go-Pro…

A lone banana-lime blur sits on the rooftops, looking over the streets below. The city is buzzing, but not as it usually does. The blue and red lights reflect in Ruby’s misty eyes. She wipes them with her green gloves, but her mask makes that pretty difficult.

She point the camera at her own feet and sits herself down on the roof’s edge, her feet dangling dangerously over the abyss below, but it doesn’t seem to bother her nearly as much as what else is on her mind.

Ruby: “Ahhh, my flippies. Ya girl’s a bit sad at the mo. I’m sure you’ve all heard the stories. Vita Valenteen didn’t just get ‘outed’, or so the story goes, but Theo even fired her. And boy, the trolls sure came out of their caves, spouting their mocking hate speech. I’ve lost count of the amount of ‘I told you so’s’ I’ve had to listen to this week. But in my opinion? All of the evidence towards Vita is circumstantial and circumspect, as if there’s something bigger at play here. Vita has never been predictable, mostly to her own detriment. But for now, this was a plot twist you saw coming from so far off that I have trouble believing it’s true.”

Ruby sighs and does a backroll, getting up into a handstand and landing back on her feet. If you’re drunk or suffer from are prone to epileptic fits, please do not envision the Go-pro’s camera movements, knowing that it’s clenched in Ruby’s hand at all times. Safety First!

The image stabilizes as our Super Dear’o points it back at her own self, and we can see her shrugging.

Ruby: “But life goes on! And while the police is in some serious need of defunding, and if that offends you please look up what that ACTUALLY means, I trust they’ll bring this investigation to a proper close. Odd words coming from the mouth of a vigilante, I know, but as much as I wanna help Vita I feel like this is something only she can fix. Unless she reaches out to me.

But until that happens, I still have streets to sweep clean of criminal scum, and an Anarchy title to defend. Some say the upcoming title defense might be the Rubester’s toughest challenge yet. But seeing as I beat good ole Lackersnackers before, and managed to overcome big strong boys like the Calvary, I’m feeling pretty good about this match against Osira. She did a good job positioning herself in this spot, you know. Unfortunately she seems a bit jaded, as if she peaked too early. Slow and steady does it, girlie. A lesson I had to learn the hard way too, believe me. But still, I can’t help but feel, as my boy Boris would say, pretty flippin’ cheeki breeki about the next show. Call me cocky. Did y’all know that phrase comes from the game of checkers, by the way? I looked it up on Urban Dictionary. And I also want to officially say that when he taught me some Russian backstage and taught me the word ‘blyat’ I had NO idea what it meant, and that it never should be used by anyone, ever. There I was thinking I was learning about new languages and new cultures, broadening my mind and perspective on things, but that ushanka-wearing ne’er do-well pranked me!”

Ruby scowls at the camera, before pointing a single finger upward.

Ruby: “BUT! We all learn from our mistakes. My mistake was not having Google Translate by my side when Boris was teaching me foul language. My mistake was not verifying if my very first sidekick was going to flake on me when the going got tough. My mistake was not being by Vita’s side at the very get-go before she got caught in a downward spiral that is beyond all control. My mistake was thinking the Bobbies wouldn’t resort to the cheapest of tactics. And maybe, just maybe, I made another mistake earlier when I was taking Osira too lightly.

Because there are a lot of good things about her! The Themes have made a name for themselves through hard work. Maybe this is just a momentary dip. And she wouldn’t be in this match unless it was deserved. She showed wit and cunning in the battle royal that got her here. Deception within the rules may be a grey area, but I can get down with that if need be. Besides, she’s Greek! They invented democracy… and other stuff. And I was talking about the water wheel, the alarm clock, the odometer, cartography and the flippin’ Olympics, before you start sticking your head in the gutter! And I mean ‘gutter’ in a figurative way, because if you partake in the things that the Ancient Greeks supposedly ‘invented’, which they didn’t because it’s not something you can ‘invent’, then there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. But… I’m getting sidetracked here.”

The masked Anarchy Champion shrugs.

Ruby: “My original point was that we have to learn from mistakes, and that’s what I’m going to do. I will respect Osira’s abilities, and assume that she’s going to go into this match full throttle and show this federation the respect it deserves. Because Anarchy needs order. Anarchy needs stability. Anarchy needs a leader to guide it towards a better future. Osira Themis, can you guarantee you are all of those things and more? Or will you just be another sidenote in the subtext of the XWF’s grand history? It’s a black and white way of viewing at things, to be sure. But I know which side I wanna be on. Catch you on the flip side!”

And after one last wink, the recording ended.