Nero didn't have to wait long for something to happen. He was drifting off slightly, on his back with his eyes closed, just letting his mind wander. Suddenly light streamed through the opening door as guards stormed into Nero's cell, the fifth time this had happened.

"Didn't even knock," reprimanded Nero sleepily. He could have sworn he heard Darkdoom stifle an amused chuckle on the other side of the grille.

The guards ignored his comment and two hauled Nero to his feet, hustling him swiftly from the dark interior of his cell. Blinking in the sudden brightness of the corridor, Nero noticed the cell door opening next to him and Darkdoom being shoved out by another four guards.

"He was in cell next to you," the lead guard said in a thick accent, somewhat unnecessarily.

"We would have never guessed," said Darkdoom innocently.

Nero was pretty sure the lead guard rolled his eyes, but he had no real time to tell as they were both moved swiftly up the corridor, flanked by four guards each. Nero flashed a meaningful look at Darkdoom, who shrugged slightly to signify they couldn't do anything right now.

They found themselves back in the large room they had started in, Samuel Harris standing in front of them evidently trying to look imposing. Raven was nowhere to be seen, Nero noted, again feeling a pang of worry about her, but trying to brush it off.

Nero expected Samuel to speak straight away, but the man avoided their gaze and seemed to be waiting for something. Nero raised an eyebrow at Darkdoom, who gave an imperceptible smile in his direction.

Presently Samuel glanced at his phone, looking slightly annoyed though trying hard not to show it. Nero couldn't resist a jibe, and spoke seriously to the man. "Having problems, 'boss man'?"

Samuel pretended to finally notice them, and stepped forward to meet them. "Ah, so our prisoners are here."

"We've technically already been standing here for almost -" Darkdoom checked his watch. "Thirty two seconds. Did you not notice us or something?"

Samuel had apparently decided to try and ignore all of their comments. "Enjoy your stay so far, Maximilian?"

"Oh yeah," answered Nero cheerfully. "Five star, at least. Though some food might not go amiss. Do you ever feed your guests, Samuel?"

"When it pleases us," was the answer.

"You would make such a rubbish hotel," muttered Darkdoom.

Samuel turned away, moving to the other side of the room and checking his phone again.

"Where's Raven?" Nero couldn't hold back from asking any longer.

"Oh don't worry. Raven will be joining us soon," Samuel smiled infuriatingly. For the third time he pulled out his phone and gave the screen a dirty look. "Where are they? They should be here by now." Although he spoke under his breath to himself, both Nero and Darkdoom picked up the words and looked hopefully at each other.

"Having - troubles, Samuel?" Nero asked innocently.

The young man met his eyes. "No. Everything is going completely according to plan."

He was an awful liar, Nero reflected.

"Are you sure?" questioned Darkdoom, sounding genuinely concerned. Nero had to try and stifle another laugh at his friend's acting skills. "Because you don't seem very happy at the moment. Do you need some help?"

Samuel didn't answer, but it was clear something was going wrong with his plan. Something that could prove key in helping them escape.

"Boss need no your help," the lead guard hissed in Darkdoom's ear.

Darkdoom shrugged. "Just offering."

The leader finally seemed to make a conscious decision and strode back up to them, an angry expression on his face. "Fine. We'll start without them," he said petulantly. "You have been most uncooperative."

"It's basically in the job description," Darkdoom replied instantly, grinning. "Don't give away your details to people who want you dead, it will end in trouble for all involved."

Samuel finally lost his temper. "Will someone shut him up?!"

The lead guard immediately clamped an iron clad hand over Darkdoom's mouth. Nero tried not to look too concerned and instead took over the role of annoyer. "I've been trying to shut him up for years and it never works. I have to congratulate you on that, even though you seem to be failing in most other respects right now."

He was pretty sure he heard Samuel growl. He was so bad at hiding his emotions, Nero thought. It made him so easy to wind up. "We are going to have to resort to more - unorthodox measures," he started, but just then several things happened all at once.

Alex's phone started to beep loudly, and a panicked voice suddenly emitted from it. "The men...three of them...dead...the rest unconscious...escape!" At exactly the same instant, loud sirens began to wail overhead, just as a figure clad in black smashed through the large window, brandishing a familiar pair of glowing purple weapons. Nero's heart leapt. Raven was here!

Raven's face was bruised and her lip was split, but her eyes gleamed a piercing blue as she landed lightly on the floor, an evil smile materializing on her face as she advanced on Samuel. He was gabbling very quickly into his phone, his breath coming in sudden panicked gasps. Then he dropped his phone and backed quickly away from the furious assassin.

After enjoying his fear for a further few seconds, Raven wasted no time in swinging one katana hard into the side of his head and he collapsed, blood running from a gash in his temple. The lead guard made as if to run to him straight away, but Raven pointed her other weapon at him. "Don't even think about it. Tell your tame soldiers to release them."

Quickly, at the lead guard's motion, Nero felt the pressure released on both his arms, and Darkdoom moved away from his tight gag hold. The guards moved towards their leader and Raven motioned them into a corner. "Now stay there until we leave. Then you can deal with - him." She gave a disparaging look at the slumped figure in the corner.

Nero and Darkdoom moved towards the door and Raven greeted them with a half smile, the most she ever showed. "You two staying alive?"

"Mostly," replied Darkdoom.

"Look what someone accidentally 'left' lying around," Raven said, gesturing to her black tactical outfit and katanas. "People should really know better by now."

"You'd think," Nero agreed. "Thank you, my dear. I knew you wouldn't let us down."

"When have I ever?" Raven asked. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

And so they did, leaving the scene of chaos and destruction that they always somehow seemed to create behind.

A/N) Don't worry, there's still plenty more to come! I'm not ending this here just yet. Hope you enjoyed!