Ruby Redfort: try not to scream

"Alright Trainees, listen up," shouted Ruby. They were standing in Downtown Twinford, in one of the deserted streets. Downtown was always empty and anyone who was there was either drunk, so they wouldn't remember seeing a teenager falling from a rooftop, or so mentaly insane that seeing those sorts of things wouldn't even bother them.
"As most of you will know, Agent Colt is currently unable to continue training you due to a Count encounter and Agent Kekoa is unfortunately no longer with us, so I have brought two other agents here to help me today. They are probably the two best field agents Spectrum has ever seen and they are insanely good at what we will be teaching you today. Trainees, this is LB and Hitch." Ruby expected them to walk in behind her. Silly mistake really.  They, of course, had to make an entrance. Hitch leaped from a high up platform, landing perfectly next to Ruby. LB slid down a pole and flipped over towards them. The trainees eyes were wide seeing LB do something that wasn't painting her nails or sitting behind a desk. Quite a few of them hadn't even met her before.
"So today you will be learning two things. Combat and Parkour. These skills are probably the two most useful things you will possibly learn. Without these two skills I would not be alive to teach you them. So I'm going to hand over to my butler to tell you what we're doing first," Ruby grinned at Hitch who rolled his eyes. There was a little uproar of laughter from the trainees and even LB showed a small smile.

"I would like to first point out that I am a house manager not a butler. We're gonna start with a fighting demonstration. Redfort and LB, do you mind?" This was revenge for Hitch for the three years of torture and bringing her banana milk.
"What? LB and me? Do you want me to die?" Ruby's mouth was in the shape of an o.
"Don't worry about it Redfort. I'll go easy on you," LB smiled, rolling up her sleeves.
"My ability to continue breathing depends on it," sighed Ruby. Hitch chuckled and so did the trainees. Everyone in Spectrum knew that LB was the best fighter ever to become an agent. The Spectrum 8 boss walked a little further back, intimidating Ruby.

Suddenly LB was running at her. Ruby wanted to scream and dash away. Then she remembered her Rule 19: Panic will freeze your brain. Ruby knew what she had to do. Using her strengths to her advantage, she leaped and flipped over LB's head. Her boss spun around. LB was not a tall woman but neither was Ruby so her boss was impressed by the height Ruby could get to. Luckily for Ruby, she was faster than her opponent. Not stronger or a better fighter but she was fast. The two threw several punches which all landed and knocked each other to the floor many times. Eventually, LB got Ruby in a headlock.
"LB, if I get out of this, will you fire me?" Ruby asked.
"Probably not Redfort," LB looked confused.
"OK. I'm sorry," Ruby took hold of LB's head and flipped her over her shoulder. LB landed on the ground with a grim expression.
"I'm so sorry. Please don't kill me," said Ruby stepping backwards. LB stood up and held out her hand for Ruby to shake.
"I gotta hand it to you Redfort, Hitch taught you well," Rubby grinned.
"LB, I'm not stupid. We all know if I take your hand you're going to throw me onto the other side of the road,"
LB nodded.
"I knew I hired you for a reason,"

Once all of the agents were practicing basic moves, Ruby went over to Hitch.
"That was not cool, man," she said, punching him on the arm.
"Next time, don't call me a butler," He winked and gave her one of his legendary smiles.
"By the way, what are we doing for the parkour demonstration?" she asked.
"Both of us are going to climb these buildings and then we are going to show them what to do if they fall."
"Close your eyes and await death?" joked Ruby. Hitch shook his head.
"You know, for a kid who's survived death multiple times you sure do make it sound like there was always a bouncy house underneath you to land on,"
"Well maybe not a bouncy house but several Spectrum gadgets and/or agents to help me,"
"Face it kid, I taught you well," He grinned
"Sure. Take all the credit why don't ya,"
Soon after they were both ready for the next part of the class. Ruby had ignored Dan all day and had no plans to stop. Hitch stood at the bottom of the abandoned printing warehouse. Ruby approached him and the two prepared to climb.

"Redfort and Hitch are about to first of all show you how to climb tall buildings. When they reach the top, you are all going to climb to the roof, via the stairs inside to prevent any agents dying. When we get there I am going to push Redfort off the roof and she is going to demonstrate how to land safely if you ever find that you are in a situation where a supervillain is pushing you off a roof. This being something Ruby has a lot of experience in, we feel she will be least likely to go splat on the sidewalk," LB announced.

Ruby rolled her eyes. It's not like it was her plan for Lorelie Von Leyden to shove her off the Hotel Circus Grande roof. Thank god for Spectrum gadgets. As Hitch and Ruby began to climb the faces of the trainees were expressions of shock. To see such a petite girl and a muscular man, side by side, scaling the side of an abandoned building was quite a sight. Ruby and Hitch talked all the way up.
"It's been a while since we've done this," laughed Ruby.
"Yep. I can't say I've missed it,"
"Why?" asked Ruby, landing on a window ledge, about halfway up.
"Well, last time this happened you were running away from me,"
"Ok, man. How many times do I have to apologize for that?"
They continued to climb until they reached the roof where LB and the trainees were waiting.

"I have a question," said Dan, stepping forward.
"Yes?" asked LB.
"How is Ruby supposed to survive falling off this roof when this time there's no pole for her to swing off or jumpsuit with wings or whatever?"
"In truth, Danial, I have no idea. All I know is Redfort has done it before,"
Ruby sighed. Brilliant. There was no way she would land without getting harmed.
"Why do you trust her not to die?" asked another trainee.
"Because..." LB paused. The thing she was about to say was clearly hurting her.
"Redfort has survived things and people that even Bradley Baker couldn't,"
Ruby shook her head.
"Not really," she muttered.
"What do you mean?" asked LB.
"Well, Baker was nothing short of heroic, brilliant, smart and just good hearted. I mean, how many people could survive their aircraft being blown up? Everything he did, he did for others. And yeah, maybe Marnie Novak got the better of him that time but it's not like I survived her all by myself. The first time she pushed me off a cliff and I would have died in a forest fire without Hitch. In that plane, it was actually Lorelie who saved me from her and LB's cape saved me from death. And as for The Count and Casey Morgan, it was Hitch, LB, my dog Bug, Blacker, Froghorn and many others. I never worked alone. Baker was just the best god darn agent to ever walk this earth and holy banana milk does it kill me to say that. But the best part about Baker was the fact that he never once thought that he was good at what he did. He died to save my ass but it should've been the other way around. So, I'm not even gonna act like I'm a good agent... because it's my fault that the best of all of us is dead."
LB looked at Ruby, shocked. She had never once seen her this vulnerable and unconfident. Ruby coughed, realising that she had just let people in. She hated doing that.
"Are you ready to push me off the roof then?"
LB nodded and walked towards her. Ruby turned to face away from the trainees.
"Three, two, one," she counted. LB pushed her and Ruby fell through the air. Luckily for her, she had a trick up her sleeve. Or rather in her hood. The jacket she was wearing was the modified version of LB's parachute cape. The fur around the hood of her coat was where the parachute was stored. She counted to five and pulled the sting. Suddenly the chute opened up and Ruby was gliding down to safety. When her feet hit the ground, it automatically folded and shot back into the hood.

In a few minutes she was standing back with the trainees, Hitch and LB.
"And that, kids, is why you always were a coat,"