Later, Raven wasn't sure what had told her that Nero and Darkdoom were in deep trouble. It may have been the sudden realization that her employers were never to be trusted alone in London, or that they really hadn't gone so far from where they had escaped from, or simply the prickling of the skin on her neck which she had learnt to trust by now. Either way, this feeling prompted her to drop the clothes that she was holding on the floor, ignoring a dirty look from the shop assistant who had witnessed this action, and moving swiftly out of the large shop. It could just be a hunch, but Raven's hunches were very rarely wrong.
And so it turned out that she was just in time to see the black car pulling away from the pavement next to where Darkdoom and Nero had been standing, and where they were now absent. Raven scanned the situation swiftly - they could have just wandered off, after all, it is Darkdoom they're talking about here - and her attention fell briefly on the car. It had tinted windows, so she couldn't see inside.
That's weird. London taxis don't have tinted windows.
Then, while the taxi was still relatively close to the pavement, the window opened just a crack, just for a fraction of a second, and she heard Nero's voice, sounding indignant and fearful. "Wait!"
She heard a sharp curse from the front of the car in German as the kidnappers evidently realised their mistake of letting Darkdoom near the windows, and a second later the tinted windows were rolled up again.
It was more than enough time for Raven to assess the situation.
She hadn't even registered that she was sprinting from the doors of the shop until she saw the head guard's face reflected in his side mirror of the car, looking at her. They had obviously seen her.
They wouldn't underestimate her twice.
The taxi wasted no time in accelerating into the London traffic away from the pavement, and Raven knew that she wouldn't have a chance of following on foot.
But Nero and Darkdoom were in that car, and nothing would stop Raven from getting them back.
Right now.
Along the pavement there were a number of motorbikes parked side by side near Raven. It took a matter of seconds for Raven to choose one at random and climb onto the seat of it. Only another six or so seconds were wasted hotwiring the engine to respond to her command, until the familiar hum of the powerful engine underneath her body started up.
Raven hit the acceleration pedal hard, and immediately shot out from the pavement, hurtling at break-neck speeds into the London traffic. She couldn't see the taxi from here, but she could travel faster than they could, and she knew the direction of where they went.
Let them try and stop her now.
"Your friend is following," the head guard said, directing his statement at the other man in the passenger seat, though Nero and Darkdoom heard him clearly, his accent strengthening. Nero could hear the evident displeasure in his voice.
"You underestimated Raven once," Darkdoom said. "I assume you won't make the same mistake again."
"She'll never catch us now," the guard said calmly.
Nero had to fight back a smile as Darkroom wrestled with the seatbelt that was like iron around both of their torsos. "There you go with the underestimating thing again. You really need to have more sense. Raven isn't just anyone else. You really think she won't be able to get to us?"
"We in a fast-moving car," the other man reasoned, in the same thick accent as the lead guard.
Darkdoom rolled his eyes. "You really don't get it, do you?"
"How can she possibly follow?" boasted the lead guard.
"Er, sir..." the other guard suddenly said, his eyes widening as he suddenly saw the view in the side mirror. "It's her!"
That was when they heard the heavy unmistakable thud on the roof of the car.
Raven zoomed through the traffic, weaving around cars and scanning her vision from left to right, methodically searching the crowds of cars for the black car with tinted windows that held her friends. It had had around a twelve second head start, but Raven had a motorbike and was able to weave around cars and overtake them, so she was travelling faster than the captor's car would be able to.
It was around twelve seconds before she spotted it ahead of her, barrelling through the traffic, apparently unwilling to slow down for any cars around it. They knew she had seen them, although she wasn't sure that they would notice her on the motorbike. At least not until it was too late.
Raven swerved around yet another car, her eyes firmly focused on her target just twenty metres ahead. She almost grinned as she passed another motorbike, its driver enclosed in a helmet and looking at her questioningly. She realised how she must look, without a helmet, her hair streaming backwards and the black overcoat having been shed on the pavement earlier, revealing the tactical armour and the black catsuit that hugged her body underneath.
Ten metres now.
Raven overtook a line of cars, narrowly avoiding scraping them with the motorbike. Sometimes she forgot how much she loved driving a motorbike; there was just something about the unique adrenaline rush it gave her.
Five metres now.
She neared the car, which began to speed up. It had evidently seen her in the side mirror now, as it was twisting and turning, trying to find a way to get away.
But it wouldn't be able to.
Four metres.
Two metres.
One metre.
Raven tensed her body as she pulled up right behind the captor car, in an instant swinging her leg over the seat so she was only half sitting on the bike.
Then she sprung.
"Sir, it's her. It's her. She's on the roof!"
Nero and Darkdoom exchanged wondering looks, then they looked up at the roof as if they could see Raven through the thick metal.
She made a perfect landing, landing in a crouch and grabbing onto both sides of the car to stay on the smooth surface. It wouldn't keep her on there forever, but it was a start.
Now she needed to get them out of there, and she couldn't do it from up here.
Time to get down.
Raven pulled out one katana from the crossed sheaths on her back, flicking the switch to its sharpest setting and angling it downwards towards the surface of the car. She had to be careful now not to impale either Nero or Darkdoom, because that would certainly be a successful rescue.
So she carefully chose the very centre of the roof where she was mostly sure no one would be sitting, then made the tiniest of incisions into the metal until she felt no more pressure. She was through into the inside. Now she just had to warn her employers before she made any more cuts.
"Nero! Darkdoom! Move out of the way!" she yelled as loud as she could into the tiny crack, hoping they had heard her. When she was satisfied that they must have moved by now, she slid the sword in easily, feeling no real pressure. This metal was strong, but her weapon was stronger.
Nero and Darkdoom heard Raven's yell from up above, and were quick to move to both sides to avoid her swords.
The lead guard's jaw dropped. "She's cutting through the roof!"
"How is that possible?" asked the other guard frantically.
"I don't know, but she's cutting through like it's butter!"
Nero smiled. "Oh yeah. Did we forget to mention that she's in possession of a pair of mono-molecular swords? They can cut through anything."
The guards exchanged suddenly terrified looks, as the edge of the familiarly glowing sword slid through into the back seat of the car in between Nero and Darkdoom. Nero smiled. He knew Raven would be able to rescue them. No matter what.
Raven made another cut, so that there was a tiny hole in the roof. She spotted Nero's eyes through the crack, and they were smiling up at her.
Then the car swerved onto a side street, leaving the busy crowded main roads of London behind. The intention was evidently to knock Raven off with the abrupt turn, and it nearly worked. Raven had to cling on for dear life to her sword, which was wedged in the roof, to avoid falling off the top of the car. The captors obviously realised that this was a good tactic to employ, and the car began to swerve and twist through the street. Raven could do nothing but try and hold on to her sword, which she quickly switched to its bluntest setting so it would stay in the roof.
Hold on, Raven. Hold on.
"Twist! Twist and turn! We might have a chance of throwing her off then!" offered the guard, and Nero felt nervous for Raven as the car began to jolt from side to side. He knew she was strong, but was she strong enough to hold onto a swerving, fast-moving car with just her sword to hold her in?
"It's blunt," Darkdoom said quietly, touching the edge of the sword with one finger, as they heard a grunt from above them.
"C'mon, Raven..." Nero murmured. It was agonizing, knowing his friend was just above them, without being able to do anything to help her.
The car swerved again, and Raven nearly fell off the car. Much more of this, and she was toast. The drivers obviously realised this, as the car twisted and suddenly did a complete turn - right into the wall.
The abrupt turn was enough to throw Raven off into the wall, which she hit high and hard
However, the driver wasn't able to control his turn and the car careered straight into the same wall, crashing and coming to a complete halt.
It wasn't going anywhere any more.