Well..., Until....

"HERE!"

Cole got another pair to a window and signaled the firefighters before backing off and getting around a doorway. Once he was sure they got out he himself took off, a small shadow following him. Raven had left a small portal set up for him to use if it got to dangerous and to automatically yoink him out of trouble too. The fire was getting extremely hot now and the building was starting to groan. Raven's attention was split between looking for anyone else still trapped and keeping the building up; both without being noticed.

It sounded as if that was the last person though so she was doing one last check as Cole kept his head down low from the smoke. While he was glad to help, he really didn't want to be in here any longer than nee....

"....-lp!"

His ears picked up something, as if a bark or some other quick noise. Was there a dog in here? Raven would probably kill him if he stayed longer to try and save a dog... then again BB....

"....-et me g-..."

No that sounded like a person but where was it coming from? Down below? Wait did this place have a basement.

Cole booked it to the stair case, having to cloak himself in shadow to protect himself from the flames and had to jump a few times to get over the destoryed steps. Once on the ground floor, he found the stairs that lead downward a small ways from the main stair case. He slammed the door open and ducked inside.

The flames were just starting to eat away at this room. Odd, while it was below the main building, he thought the fire spread out extremely well. He wasn't an expect in fire paths at all but the fact this place wasn't engulfed in flames was... odd to him. Then again it might due to the fact most the above was made out of wood and this was stone, concrete or something...., AGH! He started to rub the back of his head.

"Think about it later, look around now; on a time limit here." he thought as he started to move.

There didn't seem to be much in this basement; several storage boxes and old furtinure that were in varying states of repair. Maybe they didn't throw it out as they could fix it but when the flames got to this room it was going to go up just due to all the kindling that was here. Maybe Raven could teleport it out of the room? No that wouldn't do, the place was already a lost cause, no reason to start saving stuff now. Besides he had to find where that voice came fr....

"SQUEEKEEEEE!"

He almost jumped out of his skin.

Looking down he saw toy under his foot; some sort of doll that made a noise when you hugged it. But there wasn't any toys in the basement so someone must have dropped this and recently. A young kid wouldn't let a toy of theirs sit down here if they knew it was gone but how'd this come to be here.... wait why was it half stuck in the floor? Getting down to the floor he poked at that part of the doll, tracing the floor before feeling a crack. He quickly summoned his shadow to flood into it and pulled, trying to get some form of leverage. It opened with a crack and he was staring at a dark pit with a ladder going down it.

"Okay what the hell?" he muttered as he jumped down. Better down here than the fire anyway.

The room he landed in was extremely small, like a closet but he could feel a door handle. Cracking it open he found himself in another room, one that had a fluorescent light fixture in the middle of the ceiling, and looked more like an actual basement than what was above him. He could even see the left over pipes and metal bolts from where heavy objects were once there before being torn out. That wasn't the part that caught his attention though.

It was the two figures on the other side of the room, mid convosation with a bound and gagged child over one of their shoulders.

"HEY!"

The two turned to him and they did not give off the vibe of rescue workers. For one they seemed to have some sort of armored vest and utility belt, with long black cloaks and a pair of what looked like combat boots. A pair of featureless white masks stared back at him, as they seemed to be doing math on just what to do.

"You don't look like someone 911 would send," Cole said as he took a step, "So how about you drop the kid and..."

He didn't even realize he had summoned his Shadow. It just happened on reflex... or perhaps some instinctual level. But one of the figures had fired a weapon at him and before it reached Cole, a wall of Shadow had raised up and hardened itself to protect him. The projectile still punched through it... somewhat. A sharp needle was lodged into the barrier, sticking out on both sides of it.

"That.... huh that's supposed to happen."

...., wait did two people say that? He knew he said it but did one of the kidnappers say too? He took a peak around his barrier only to get a few more darts/spikes/holy shit those are sharp, shot at him. He quickly backed up into the small room he was just in, getting behind a thicker wall as the two shot at him some more. This... this wasn't good for him. Wait a minute.

"Raven. Raven!" he hissed out looking for that small portal that was supposed to be following him, "Where are you?"

"I'm here." came her monotone voice, "There's no one else in the building so we're finished. Let me..."

"Raven! I'm in some kind of sub basement, getting shot at by two weird guys and they have a kid with them, I think they're trying to kidnap someone!" he blurted out as loud as he could without shouting, as he didn't want the attackers to hear him.

"....., SIGH." he could HEAR her eyes rolling, "I cannot take you anywhere."

He felt a rush of cool air as a large portal opened up and he heard her feet touch the concrete. Her voice was annoyed when she spoke next.

"What gunmen?"

"What?"

He looked out from around the corner and saw the figures and the kid were gone. Along with whatever they had shot at him. There were no signs they had ever been there; the two were alone in the room.

"Wait no they... they where here! I'm not lying."

"I believe you but, some proof would be helpful." Raven said folding her arms, "As I don't think you are brash enough to check the basement on your own. You said they shot at you?"

"Yeah they did, some sort of needle thing that.... wait a minute."

Cole stretched his Shadow out before him and in the sputtering light, there was a gleam of something that shouldn't be there. Raven walked over and carefully picked it out, showing a long metal needle.

"See?" Cole pointed at the object, "That's what they shot at me."

"And if they were shooting at you then they would be.... over here." Raven said as she walked over to the wall he had seen them by, "Let's just..."

Cole used his power like a crowbar to get the first hidden latch open. Raven however just ended up ripping out the entire hidden door out, banishing off to somewhere with her powers. That was... still rather scary to see the power difference. He KNEW it yes but seeing it was always humbling.... and maybe a little hot.

"There's a tunnel down here. Come on. Let's find this kid of yours."

"So what is it?"

The two walked in a hurry as Raven looked at the needle she held aloft with her power, turning it over as they moved. There wasn't any attackers but there was a maze of tunnels and hallways. It was lucky that Cole had been able to keep the needle; she was using it to track the weapon that had fired it with one of her spells. It was recent, and the projectile itself was magical, so it was easy to get the spell going. So the two moved, following where the needle pointed in the dim light she had provided.

"Some runes are carved into it. I think... these are anti magic.. or magic sealing runes but I can't tell. Things are a bit off." She explained, "Different dialect but simliar placement and structure."

"Different words, changed sentence structure, same meaning?" he offered.

"Something like that." she nodded in agreement, "That explains why it punched through your barrier and got stuck. And if that's the case they could maybe dispel them to hide the fact they were here. These aren't some random thugs like you fought before Cole."

"Yeah well, you're here this time, so just order me around and I'll do what you say but..." he gave a shrug as he hurried, "I heard something and acted on it."

"You were in a burning building and you took a chance to go try and save someone?" Raven mused, a smirk on her face, "Are you SURE you were just a boxer?"

"Hey maybe if this book shop doesn't work out, I'll try out as firefighter." he joked.

"Perhaps a comedian as well." she noted.

She suddenly came to a stop, plunged them into darkness, and pulled him close to the wall before pointing ahead. It was hard to tell but he could make out the outline of a door ahead. When Cole went move she pushed him against the wall again, harder and held a finger to her mouth. They waited for a moment before a slight mechanical sound was heard.

"Camera?"

"Possibly." she answered. "We'll have to hit hard and fast."

A guard had finished burning a few things in a file cabinet. They had to get going as the last two guys had been 'held up' by some weirdo in a dog mask or something. Boss wanted anything documenting anything about this building to be torched. There was barely anything but orders were orders. A knock startled him but no one entered the room. Then he heard it again, only this time coming from below. His head turned towards the latch in the floor.

Odd; all members were accounted for. At least he thought. Did someone else get tied up?

He moved over to the latch, drawing his gun as he did so and waited. There was another knock. The guard shot his arm out and opened it, gun pointed downward at someone in a mask..., a dog mask?

"Hey I got qusestion...," the figure began

He wasn't going to wait, his finger was already starting to pull down on the trigger.

"Have you seen my wife?"

....Wife?

That word crossed his mind as a foot slammed into his face, sending him spinning. He pulled the trigger, firing blindly if only for the noise to alert others but nothing happened. In fact his grip seemed empty. A few more blows slammed into him before a length of rope was wrapped around his arms and his mouth gagged. Through his mask mind you, and he was tossed to the floor.

"AH. There you are. I can't go anywhere with you." Cole said as he climbed up the ladder.

Dealing with the camera was easy; simply block it with a spell or shadow. But someone might be watching so they had to go fast. In the door under it was another small room with a ladder going up. Cole offered to check it, to lure someone over to the latch at the top, while Raven would take them out.

"You aren't funny." Raven replied as she put the left over fire out, "This the guy?"

"Don't know but he looks like one of them. Could be a group." he crouched down and looked at the guy they captured, "Think he's willing to talk?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. I don't think we have time to try and question him." Raven motioned with her hands and the goon quickly found himself suspended from the ceiling. "That should hold him. Now let's see where we are."

Cracking open the door just a bit, they found themselves in a hallway; an abandoned one but this one looked like it had been used and worked in rather than the empty maze like ones below. The rooms were offices or storage, but one door had to quickly be closed. Raven motioned with a hand upward and lead Cole in a search for a staircase. They quickly found it, going up to the second floor and seeing more offices. She took a bit to find the room she wanted but eventually they were in a fancier office room, or at least what would have been in it's hey day.

She motioned for him to keep low and to approach the long window the room had.

Looking down below, he saw they were in a warehouse of some kind. The office they were in had an overview of the huge empty space. Several figures were running around, trying to get things underway. A pair of trucks with large trailers were starting to get underway, a few other cars and bikes scattered around. But he got a good view of one of the trailers closing, with a bunch of kids inside it.

"The hell did we stumble into?" he muttered.

"I don't know. This does seem bigger than what you found last time..., you have a knack for this." Raven gave him a pat on his back, "I'm almost eager to see what problems you cause when we get back."

"Yeah yeah..., I'll probably unmask a trusted friend as double agent or something in 2 minutes of getting there." he gruffed and turned to her, "You HAVE a plan for this right?"

"Plan? No. Idea? ...., that's much easier to do." She answered.

Cole did not feel bad for these guys at all, whoever they were. But he did get just a small drop of pity for them, and a little fear as he saw Raven smile. These poor poor bastards. Hoooo boy.