After letting Darkdoom pull the grill away, Raven climbed into the sewer first, Nero second, and Darkdoom last, pulling the grill closed behind him. They slowly crawled through what felt like mud, but smelt suspiciously like something unmentionable, they crawled through water, more muddy substances and finally, there was another grill. This one was on a latch, and was easy to get up, so Raven clambered up first, Nero second and Darkdoom last again. Raven stood up and pointed in the direction of the Shroud.
"If we can get to the Shroud, I can pilot it, and we can make it back to H.I.V.E. or somewhere similar, fast. Nero nodded.
"So what are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Raven nodded, and stood up, and she took off running towards the Shroud, the two men following her. They reached the runway, and Raven looked around. There was no one in sight. Johnston clearly still had a lot to learn about how to keep prisoners captive. Raven began to walk out onto the runway when she noticed a small, black square placed on the ground. She looked around and saw another only a metre away from the first. Sure enough, they were everywhere. Every metre, there was another one. Raven looked to the Shroud. It seemed as though Johnston had tried to get inside, but he failed, because there were scratch marks around the doors. When Nero and Darkdoom caught up, Raven pointed out the things on the runway, and then began to carefully cross it. She reached the shroud, opened the door and got the Shroud ready for take off. When Nero and Darkdoom were on board, she turned the Shrouds engines on and attempted something only ever done in theory. A standing start with a Shroud. She pulled as much power to the engines as possible, and then activated the downward thrust engines which gave the Shroud it's extra lift. The engines protested, but then after hovering for a moment, they pushed the Shroud higher and higher, until Raven could safely take some power away from the engines. Raven set the course of the Shroud to H.I.V.E. and set the ship to autopilot. Once she was sure everything was correct, she left the cockpit, and entered the cabin where Nero and Darkdoom were. Before she sat down, she checked all the cargo compartments, even the backup ones hidden in the metal plating on the floor. When she was satisfied no one had gotten into the ship, she sat down. Darkdoom was sitting staring at a wall, lost in thought. Nero was watching Raven, a look of mild amusement on his face.
"Always too cautious, Raven."
"Better safe then sorry." Raven took Nero's coat off.
"Have your coat back. I've got spare body armour in the cargo." Nero nodded as Raven left to change out of the dress. When she returned, she sat at one of the seats with her leg up. She pulled Nero's hastily made bandages off, and thoroughly cleaned the wound, before covering it with gauze, and bandaging it properly. She winced as she swung her leg down onto the floor and tested her weight on it. When she was satisfied, she walked over to sit next to Nero again.
"Remind me never to go to a party with you ever again." Nero sighed at Raven. He knew that something was most likely going to happen, and yet he still went. He opened his mouth to reply, but smiled instead when he saw Raven fast asleep, her head resting against the wall. He smiled, patted her hand and spoke.
"I'm sure you don't need reminding my dear, and I'm sure you'll agree next time I ask, anyway." He smiled and stood up, walking towards the cockpit to check on the coordinates he knew were correct, and to find out what the ETA was. As he reached the top of the ladder, he looked back to Raven, and smiled once more.
Nero looked at the coordinates for the location they were going to. He checked them once, making sure they corresponded to the coordinates for H.I.V.E. that he had long since memorised. He nodded, and then changed the screen. The second screen said ETA, 1.32 hours. Nero looked up and out the window for a moment, then looked back down. The ETA had changed. It now said 4.52 hours. Nero frowned. He changed the screen back to the coordinates. They had changed too. Nero frowned harder as he tried to figure out where the coordinates were. It seemed that they were being sent somewhere in the middle of the Australian Desert. Nero activated the keypad and punched the coordinates for H.I.V.E. in. They changed, and then changed back. Nero frowned again. The only explanation for this happening, Nero thought, was that someone had hijacked the ship's communication systems. He realised that the only person likely to have hijacked the Shroud was Johnston. Nero cursed, and he ran out of the cockpit, and down the ladder before realizing that that had been a mistake. He head a gun cock, and a muffled thud. Nero turned around.
"Hello, Doctor Nero. Nice to see you again." Nero narrowed his eyes angrily.
"What do you want, Johnston?" Johnston smiled evilly.
"Oh, I think you know what I want." Nero shook his head.
"You bothered to hijack a Shroud just to convince Raven to leave?" Johnston smiled.
"I can be very persuasive when I want to be." Nero sniggered.
"I can see that." Nero heard a shout of complaint from one of the small cargo areas just behind Johnston.
"That's right, Nero. I have taken the girl and Darkdoom, and you will come with me too. You escaped last time, and you will not escape next time." Nero smiled.
"Oh, I think I can find a way." Johnston frowned and stepped towards Nero. Nero stepped towards him. Johnston clenched a fist behind his back, and he swung a punch at Nero. Nero stepped back, and then swung a punch at Johnston. He missed, and Johnston took advantage of his lack of balance. He grabbed a baton off one of his Mercenaries, and he swung it at Nero. Nero threw an arm up in surprise, and he heard it crunch. Johnston threw the baton down, then threw a punch at Nero's ribs. He connected, then stepped back howling, his hand bleeding.
"Oh, yes, that would be the metal plate in my rib. An unfortunate incident." Nero smiled again, and Johnston picked up the baton, throwing it at Nero's head. It clipped the side of his temple, and Nero staggered to the ground. Johnston towered over him, and Nero tried to pull himself up. Johnston grinned, and kicked Nero in his arm. Nero cried out in pain, and Johnston kicked him in the arm again. Nero rolled to cover his arm, and Johnston kicked him in the back of the head, laughing like a maniac. Nero was pulled to his feet, and the last thing he saw was Raven with a black eye. Her body armour was torn, and there were fresh wounds all over her arms and head. She was trying to force her way through the Mercenaries, and Nero could see that she was about to be beaten down, and he tried to break free. He got about a metre before he felt a searing pain in his arm. He yelled out and fell to the floor, clutching his arm. He saw a boot coming towards his head, and he knew there was no way he could avoid it. He took one last look at Raven, and closed his eyes.