Chapter 13

“I'm Sorry”

Thursday : March 6th 2025

As the door slid open, rattling along its tracks, a man appeared. One arm was in a sling, the other was tattooed from shirt sleeve to wrist and in his hand was a massive wrench. He looked out with the aggression of an angry pitbull, but McClaire was totally unphased. She didn't say a single word, the two staring at each other for several seconds before the man began to shout.

“So it was you! Stephanie McClaire, I didn't think you were such a goddamn coward!” McClaire stood up as the man shouted. He might as well have been a duck quacking for all she cared as she stepped around him and peered into the garage at the battered Nissan.

“With great power comes great responsibility kid, and tonight you fucked that all the way up.” McClaire sighed, almost seeming sympathetic. He on the other hand continued his rant.

“Yeah, look at what you did you fucking bastard! Look at what's left of my car!” It was then McClaire's right hand balled up into a fist. With the speed and strength of a professional boxer, she spun around and punched the punk squarely in the face. He fell to the ground, unable to catch himself thanks to the arm in the sling. The wrench bounced away with a metallic clang, and with a swift kick McClaire knocked it away. Now she was looming over the man as he groaned in pain, like a statue of a god ready to strike down vengeful furry.

“That car behind you, I wasn't driving it when you decided to play bumper cars. I loaned it to a friend so she could give a child she was babysitting a ride in a Lamborghini.” McClaire explained.

“How was I supposed to know that?!” The man shouted and McClaire nodded in agreement.

“Exactly… how would you have known that? After you both wiped out on the highway and they got hurt or died? You take another look at that car of yours and you be thankful you got the worst end of that deal, because if there was so much as a scratch on either one of them, the police would find your body in that wearhouse tomorrow morning.” McClaire hissed down at the man, voice overflowing with righteous anger. She reached down and grabbed the man by his shirt collar, yanking him back to feet, and slamming him against the passenger side door of the Lamborghini.

“Okay, okay, I get the point, I'm sorry…” the man yelped, his tone suddenly changing. McClaire slammed him against the car again before leaning in close.

“I’m glad, but I'm not the only one you need to apologize to.” McClaire hissed. She wrangled the man around the car to the driver side and threw him down in the street. Then she motioned for Ruby to get out of the car. Reluctantly, nervously, she opened the door and sheeply stepped out.

“Say that again…” McClaire ordered, pointing to Ruby. The man sat up and with a certain school boy terror in his throat, he spoke. 

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry okay?! I just wanted to race her! I didn't mean to hurt you, or that kid…” As the man begged at her feet, Ruby didn't know what to say. Normally a dude like this would be quite the intimidator, but now standing over him like he was some sort of slave, Ruby understood exactly how a princess must feel standing before a knight who failed her. It was ironic, convenient timing even, considering it was the exact role she would be playing in Steel Princess. 

Shifting her stance to one more fit of authority, a small step to the side, her shoulders shifting back as she stood up straight and true. She scowled down at the man, copying the look McClaire had been wearing during this whole altercation. She could see his anxiety raise, a nervous glare of disbelief of what his life had been reduced to. A tough guy beaten up by a pair of girls. It was a sign her acting was working. She took a deep breath to steady her voice and then in as serious and as deep of a tone as she could mutter in the moment, she replied.

“I'm only willing to forgive you since we weren't hurt. Hopefully you'll make better decisions in the future.” In the corner of Ruby's eye, she could see McClaire smile at her response. With a single line she had played her part perfectly.

“I will, I swear to you. To both of you.”

“Alright, then we're done here.” McClaire said with a nod. As she spun around she motioned for Ruby to drive and she walked around to the other side of the car. 

“Good luck fixing your car, hopefully you won't be such an idiot with it next time.” McClaire barked at him one final time before slipping into the passenger side. With that, Ruby drove away, leaving the humbled and bewildered man sitting in the street within the mirror. The two girls sat in silence for a little while, Ruby guiding the Lamborghini into a nearby parking lot where she liked to camp. She was on autopilot, amazed at what had just taken place.

“Nice work Ruby! I didn't know you had that sort of Diva voice in you?” McClaire said with a laugh. 

“Hehe, I didn't either to be honest… that was kinda scary.” Ruby giggled awkwardly in reply, not wanting to reveal the majority of the scary vibes had come from McClaire. Looking at her at a glance, you would have no idea she could land a sucker punch like that, or even want to for that matter. But she had roughed that guy up like a professional, not going too far to seriously hurt him, but going far enough to put the fear of God into him. It was a delicate balance and once McClaire had clearly practiced over the years. Ruby didn't know how to feel, other than being thankful she wasn't on the receiving end of McClaire’s wrath.

“I have to be honest, I was probably a little too hard on him. Considering his car, and the broken arm, and everything…” McClaire admitted, pausing to make sure she agreed with what she had just said before elaborating further.

“The thing is, what a lot of these punks don't understand is the eyes of the world are on them. When they fuck up and someone innocent gets killed street racing, the legitimate sport suffers for it. Sponsors pull out, manufacturers disavow, the public protests, the whole nine yards. Some like those guys at the industrial park, do it right. Shutting down a road trying to be as safe as possible, and others like that idiot, think it's appropriate to ram other cars and swerve through traffic like a maniac because they saw it on TV once.” 

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” Ruby said timidly. Was that worth beating up a dude though? Especially a guy that wrecked his car and had a broken arm? As if McClaire could read her mind, she continued.

“You saw how angry he was, Ruby. When someone feels they are the victim, it's the most powerful fuel for revenge the world has ever known. Don't ask me how I know. By smacking him around a little bit, I hope I opened his eyes on not only what he has to lose, but what he could cost others too. That's why I wanted you to come with me. Otherwise, I'm sorry you had to be involved.” Ruby nodded, finally understanding where McClaire was coming from with all this. She took a deep breath, relieved this was all over, when a white Maserati pulled up beside them.

“Hahaha! I got that whole thing on video! You rocked that boy's world McClaire!” Star cheered triumphantly. McClaire just laughed a little and shook her head.

“Nah, we just opened his eyes a little. Great job finding him Star!”

“Don't mention it! I still got the skills to pay the bills after all! But uh, has anyone heard from Revz? He never responded to the group chat?” Looking at her phone, McClaire realized Star was right. Quickly she called him, and equally quickly he picked up.

“Hello?”

“Revz, you okay?” McClaire asked 

“Oh, yeah, I'm fine. After you guys found him, I, eh… I got distracted.” Revz replied. 

“Distracted?” McClaire questioned, before Star yelled across both cars…

“Are you at a strip club again?”

“What?! The fuck you mean again? I've never been to a strip club, period!” 

“Uh huh, like anyone is going to believe that…” Star muttered as Ruby was trying desperately not to bust out laughing. 

“No, there's a hobby shop downtown having a literal twenty-four hour sale! There's all sorts of toy trains and…” McClaire quickly hung up before Revz could start his ranting love affair for toy trains. 

“Ugh, he better not have a company credit card or he'll buy that whole place out.” McClaire groaned, meanwhile Ruby couldn't hold in her laughter anymore and started laughing like a hyena. Star in the other car just shook her head.

“He's going to end up with a whole shipping pallet to take back to the island, because God knows he doesn't have any Australian trains yet, somehow…” Star muttered.

“What? Does he like trains that much?” Ruby asked, confused why both McClaire and Star both were so concerned.

“Listen Ruby, you don't understand, Revz took an entire airplane hanger and filled it wall to wall, floor to ceiling full of toy trains. Like, we had to install solar panels just for that building because he was constantly blowing breakers…” Star explained before McClaire added on.

“Yeah he upped the entire island's electric bill by $1000 just with his model train setup. It was ridiculous.”

“Huh!?” Ruby's jaw hit the floor. What the fuck… how many trains does one man need? McClaire seemed to agree.

“Come on, let's go find him, before he doubles Australia’s GDP… Ruby swap with me, you're navigating.”