Linely could only watch as Jorge made his decision. It was make or break. If they didn't get this guy tonight, they would likely have another data point. If they did, then they might be able to save some semblance of the kidanpped women's sanity. Sadly that wasn't likely to be the case, but it was a hope.

"North it is then" Linely said, calmly. That was the decision made, on a coin flip. Hopefully one less victim to council for the psychologists, one less family to console about a mutant kidnapping. One less life ripped apart by that monster. Linely could only imagine what it must have been like for their relatives and friends, constantly worrying, knowing there was a chance that they would never come back. What if it happened to Emily?

....What if it happened to Emily? That wasn't a thought that Linely had ever caught in his mind before. She was a nice young lady and all, they were good friends, but worrying about situations happening to her specifically? He remembered how terrified she had looked when the bomb had gone off in the Restaurant, and when Utopia fell, and when the invincible man covered in tattoos got run over just outside her coffee shop. She didn't like him being a cop. Too dangerous. But...she was safe. He was being stupid. Overthinking, as usual.

Linely let Jorge take him away from the scene of the sobbing father. The light of day seemed to stun Jorge somewhat. The remark about the flashlights made Linely guess that it must have jogged his veteran partner's memory. Fortunately, Linely was always duely prepared for this kind of thing.

"Two torches, brightest one I could get my hands on, in the boot of my car. When a fellow police officer mentions that in a report, I don't overlook it." It was enough to see Mr Redfield's tears over Olivia that made Linely almost look forward to causing this "Rag Man" a severe amount of pain. "How much pain would you say it causes him?" Linely asked. If the torches failed, his mutation was always a backup plan.

****
Evening. Around 5pm Linely drove himself and Jorge to the side street next to the Happy/Friendly North warehouse. The shadows were getting longer, there was still a vague amount of light but that wouldn't last. Soon the streetlamps would come on, but nowhere near this particular alleyway. The Rag Man would be nearl active now, ready to cause more heartbreak. This time though, it was he that would be hunted.

"So, we get the torches and go in with them a-blazing?" He asked the experienced officer. It was always best to have some kind of plan before approaching as dangerous a mutant as they were dealing with. Particularly one that could suck them both into a pocket dimension and not bother with the helpless young women that had been his previous fare.

Jorge nodded his head when Linely confirmed that he had gotten the flashlights. He was glad for that. The Ragman, from what he remembered, was a diabolical creature and light was one of those few things that actually seemed to have an effect on him. That and a tidal wave of water so, either way, they should be set for handling this mutant when they came across him.

A shiver rolled up his spine as he looked up. The sun was out but not for much longer. Soon it would be time for the mutant to be hunting again. He truly and deeply hoped that they found him and soon so that those poor women could be freed. The last thing he needed was to have these conversation with sobbing parents, lovers, or relations again. It broke his heart every time and it was especially true with this case as they were in a clear race against time.

As they made their way to the car, Jorge paused when his fellow detective curiously asked how much pain light inflicted on the mutant. It was a particular but not something that made the officer worry too much about his makeshift partner. Instead the man continued on towards the car, answering the question as best he could.

”The brighter the more pain,” Jorge replied. ”When he was in the precinct holding cells, the windows had to be blackout and the lights turned off otherwise he howled for hours and cringed in a corner.” Jorge had been in the precinct when they first tossed the Ragman in and the screamed the echoed throughout the halls was utterly unnerving. The detective shook the thoughts away as he climbed into the car. ”It’s a sound I wouldn’t want to hear again.”

---

Happy / Friendly North warehouse. It was just as destitute and abandoned as Jorge imagined it would be. The building was large and fat, but the paint had been chipped away due to disuse and the windows were milky and broken. The building was deep in the industrial part of this down, with alleyways that ran through, most of which could lead to ever area that the girls were kidnapped. However, the same could be said about the south location. Really it was no wonder that the Happy / Friendly company went out of business – they put too many warehouses in the same radius of one another; ridiculous.

As the car came to a halt, Jorge took a second to stop and breathe. They could either be putting this case to bed tonight or they were in the wrong area and someone would suffer for it. Jorge really and truly hoped that it was the former of those two possibilities. He didn’t want to condemn someone else to this prolonged suffering if he could prevent it and he had a feeling that Detective Linely was of the same mind.

>> "So, we get the torches and go in with them a-blazing?"

Jorge pulled out of his thoughts and turned to face his partner. The man wanted to know if they had a plan in mind. What he was suggesting was straightforward and simple, but it may be too simple for Jorge’s liking. If the pair of them just charged in and swung lights around, they could easily startle the mutant and send him running out into the world. If he did that then they might not get another chance at finding him. Jorge shook his head.

”We do that, we alert him, he’s going to run,” Jorge sighed. ”If we lose him now then all this work will be for nothing. No, we have to think about this smart.” He chewed on his lip in thought. ”As risky as it is, I think we’re going to have to offer ourselves as bait. We sneak in, flashlights in hand, and we wait to turn them on only if we see him. That way if he tries to get the drop on us, we can catch him off guard and hopefully corner him.” It wasn’t a good plan but it was the only one Jorge could come up with now. However, he wasn’t here alone so he glanced to Linely. ”Unless you have a decidedly less horrible idea than my own?”

The look on Jorge's face said it all. Simply going in like a bull in a china shop wasn't going to work. Linely knew that too, but his partner knew this guy's habits better than he did, so it would have to be a plan coming from him. Even a bad plan was better than no plan at all was the old maxim in chess, and it held true to most other situations.

The Happy/Friendly Glass Co. hadn't exactly been the most shrewd with placement of warehouses, but at least it would be simple enough in terms of its layout. There weren't too many places for the Rag Man to get a jump on them, if he was there. Linely didn't like the idea of being used as live bait, but there was little other choice.

"Even if we don't get the light blasted on him at first, I have one or two tricks that should give him a bit of pause for thought, I'm sure you do with your water manipulation as well". Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but as many tactics needed to be used as possible, particularly as Linely didn't exactly feel like spending time in a maddening pocket dimension.

The inky black darkness of the alleyway was apparent the moment Linely turned off the headlights of his car. The streetlamps didn't shine anywhere near there. Perfect territory for a hunter in the dark. Linely went as quickly to the boot as possible. He took out two large flashlights, both heavy in the hands, but both perfectly suited to what they needed them to do.

****

Little known to the cops, the Ragman was in the Southern Warehouse, not the Northern one. He was getting increasingly hungry. He'd lumbered towards and engulfed a vagrant that had stumbled in to the warehouse, it was all too easy. Satisfied with his meal for that night, he had become dormant. The hunger was assuaged for tonight. The woman in question had been left off the radar of the police for sometime, and no-one even realised that she had gone. Just another one of those faceless homeless. Nevertheless, they would have a 4th data point that night.

It wasn’t the perfect plan. As a matter of fact it was probably one of the most stupid ones as they were going to be essentially throwing themselves into the lion’s den. The freely walk into a dangerous situation, just on the off-chance that they could catch the vile mutant by surprise was such a risk that even the more logical side of Jorge’s mind was trying to force him to turn back. What did he have to prove? Nothing. Not one damn thing. But it was the only plan that they had. If they offered themselves as bait then could surprise the beast when/if he attempted to grab them. Surprise was the only element that they had.

So it was decided. Linely didn’t have any better plans to concoct, at least that was what his silence seemed to be saying, as he started to get out of the car. With the engine off, thus the lights, it was quickly evident that it was definitely dark enough to be the Ragman’s hunting grounds. The alleys looked like concentrated paths of pure midnight while the warehouse itself stood in encased in endless shadows. With the dying of the sun came the pitch black of darkness.

>> "Even if we don't get the light blasted on him at first, I have one or two tricks that should give him a bit of pause for thought, I'm sure you do with your water manipulation as well"

Climbing out of the vehicle, Jorge turned back to Linely as the man commented that aside from their flashlights, they had other means with which the handle the beast. It was true, being in the MRC means that the both of them were most likely mutants. Jorge abilities were well known by all those in the force, but Jorge didn’t have enough time to learn about Linely’s. He truly hoped that they would come in handy – whatever they were.

Jorge agreed as he closed the door behind him and hefted the heavy duty flashlight upon in his hands. It was a strong one, just over the rating that he had informed Linely about. With it in hand, he started to make his way around the car and joined Linely as they walked towards the North Warehouse. Along the way, he found it was the perfect time to engage in a little bit of conversation.

”The last time I used my powers on him, he didn’t appreciate it much. Actually,” he admitted, ”It wasn’t until after I sent a torrent at him that I found the rest of the women all washed out. I dunno if he has an aversion to light and water or it just hit him wrong. Either way, it did something.” As they approached the doors, Jorge paused for a second and glanced back to Linely. ”I’ve been meaning to ask – what can you do? If you don't mind my asking.”

Linely watched Jorge get out of the car , bringing a particularly hefty looking flashlight with him. Good, they had a spare if they needed it. Failing batteries were the last thing they needed when it came to searching. A faulty battery could well be the difference between saving the women taken by this bastard, and not. That was significant enough in Linely's books.

Linely let Jorge join him and walk, carefully but quickly down the alley. It wasn't exactly easy to do without Forsyth's cat vision, but Linely's eyes did get used to it after a while. The alleyway ground was strewn with yellow glass and other refuse, even the occasional oily rag. None a big enough pile to be their quarry though.

As they came to the rusty metal doors, with their broken industrial glass windows glistening in the moonlight. Jorge asked him a question about his mutation. "It's something I wouldn't necessarily want to demonstrate. For example I know about that, what I assume to be a gunshot wound?" Linely pointed at Jorge's shoulder "on your left shoulder. Your body still carries the memory of the trauma. I know what its like to be shot in the line of duty, it's a very specific pain, otherwise I don't know for sure. Simply put, I can tell if you've been in pain before, and force you to relive the pain. I don't know the specifics other than where the pain was and how long ago you suffered it, roughly. I can also share any pain I suffer with others."

Normally cops got a bit scared after these abilities were mentioned, normally they expected people like Linely to be some kind of mutant-supremacist super villain in an arctic base or suchlike. But they got in line when they saw how effective he was. "That's how I got the nickname Spasm" Linely spoke again once Jorge had time to take in all that was said.

Linely carefully opened the door, which nearly came off its hinges. Fortunately, it didn't clatter loudly to the floor. They were on a lucky streak with this case. Something bad was bound to happen.

****

"Night Mum" Emily called to the cafe as it closed down for the night. It was going to be a well deserved rest from all the terrors of gang violence and the destruction of Utopia. She was just glad Samuel was OK. He was out of town until morning. The car was waiting for her outside, as Judith promised. Joseph had told her to be careful on the streets for the time being, what with a serial kidnapper on the loose. Well, he could rest assured that she was going to be far away from such trouble.

She opened door to the car. There were Rachel and Louis. "Hiya guys, you got my message about the luggage right?"
"Yes of course, don't worry Emily" Louis, in a distinctly Irish accent calmly put it. "It's all been nicely packed in the boot, along with your Bible!"
"Thanks, would have been a bad idea to forget that" They all laughed. The Church ran the retreats very well, but this was a focus on God, so phones were strictly off and put somewhere safe for the entire three days.
"Don't just stand there in the cold!" Judith, in her sickly-sweet tone called from the front of the car, prompting Emily to get next to Rachel in the final remaining back seat. The car roared into life, driving out, out of the city, and leaving it out of mind. The night was a starry one, with a beautiful full moon.

"Did you remember to tell anyone where you were going?" remarked Rachel to Emily, about half-way there to the journey. That was Rachel, always looking out for her. Emily's expression turned from happiness to somewhat panic then a complacent reassurance ....Shoot! She'd forgotten to tell Joseph or Samuel...but her parents knew where she was, and she could give Joseph a call tomorrow night. I mean, what could possibly go wrong within that short space of time?

Jorge was attentive, listening to the man as he began to reveal to him exactly what his mutation was. A demonstration wasn’t in order but judging from what he revealed, Jorge was glad for it. It seemed that the man had an intimate knowledge of the pain of others. Whether it was from a handshake that they had shared or just being in close proximity to him, Linely could tell that Jorge had been shot in the shoulder. Though he didn’t know the exact cause or reason behind it, he was certain of that fact. Add to that the notion that he could recreate that sensation of pain in another made the waterbender pause – that truly was quite the ability.

Briefly he began to wonder if the man’s abilities would even work on the Ragman. The last he remembered from processing reports, the man didn’t have many scares. Underneath the rags, the mutant was a pale as could be, almost skeletal in his appearance. One would expect such a terrifying visage to be instantly recognizable, enough to make every man, woman, and child if they saw the creature stalking them from the shadows. Surely he would light up like a beacon. But that was the second half of his mutation. Draped in his shroud of rags and cloth, he pulled all the darkness closer to him, making him virtually invisible, and in this city, that couldn’t be more dangerous.

Jorge sighed and shivered at the thought. He still marveled at the mutant’s abilities and the idea that Linely would have to get close enough to make his abilities effective only heightened the danger for him. No, the elder detective hoped and prayed that it wouldn’t come to that. He had managed to beat the Ragman once before by himself, but those were odds that he really didn’t even want to attempt to try again.

Nodding his head at the man’s explanation, Jorge muttered a soft, “wow” before he turned back to the door, flashlight in hand and at the ready. ”Remind me never to piss you off,” he remarked, counted, and awaited the door to open.

CREEAAAAK CLANG!

So much for a stealthy entrance. However they couldn’t turn their backs now. They needed to press on and hope that they were correct in their guess to come here. Another night with that lunatic out in the city was one night too many. With his light at the read, Jorge closed his eyes for a moment and reached out with his senses. He could pick up the stray puddles of stagnant water here and there, the water pipes lacking pressure buried deep underneath the concrete, and the few nearby that were running just fine. He could even sense Linely, his fellow detective, and the water and liquids that powered his body as the man sneak in next to him.

But that was it. There was no Ragman. There was always the chance that the mutant’s unique powers and physiology could have affected his abilities, but there was no way to be sure without looking. However, Jorge could feel the disappoint and the anger beginning to build up in him. If the mutant really wasn’t here and someone else ended up being kidnapped, then it was Jorge who had made that call and it was his guilt he would have to live with. Still, with a tightened jaw, he pressed on, ever at the ready.

”Nothing so far,” Jorge harshly whispered. He waited for a moment and then nodded to Linely. ”We search, but we always keep in one another’s line of sight, understand? That way, if he is here, one of us will see and, hopefully, be able to warn the other.”

With that understanding in mind, Jorge moved on and started the hunt. This was going to be a long night, especially if the bastard wasn’t here.

Linely delivered a shortened laugh at Jorge's quip about his mutation. Most cops knew not to annoy him, even though he would never turn his mutation on a fellow cop without reason. Angry outbursts with his mutation led to too many issues in the first place. Still, at least his reaction was more to do with being impressed rather than running fast in the other direction.

The loud noise from the opening of the door made Linely flinch with annoyance. If the Rag Man was here, he certainly knew that the cops were there. Stealth was out the window by now. "Might as well turn on the flashlights" Linely remarked, turning his on and scouring the warehouse for any signs of life.

There were a few rats and 'roaches that scuttled off into the detritus as the light fell upon them, and aside from the odd cleaning rag, no specific signs of a maddened mutant. The glass crunched underneath Linely's heavy duty boots. They were going to have a long night indeed. Along with a 4th data point.

There was not a sound of movement other than from the animals that had made this place their home, the broken machinery did not roar into life like some Stephen King-based horror novella. There was no Rag Man here. There was not much of anything here. The whole place was a perfect candidate for detonation and rebuilding. Linely could imagine the land would be cheap...Yep, this was gonna be a super villain hideout one day Linely thought. But not today.

Linely kept an eye on Jorge, who likely was having as much luck as he was in finding anything useful aside from seeing opportunities in land development. The hours ticked by, with little to no evidence , at least that Linely found, that the Rag Man was ever there. Hopefully Jorge would have something more substantial.

The long night lay ahead of them. As Jorge and Detective Linely searched through the gutted building, it was evident that there was nothing that could be seen. Jorge reached out with his sense, searching for any bodies of water, anything that could reasonably resemble a humanoid but there was nothing out here. There was nothing to be seen. As the night pressed on and Jorge searched level after level, crevice after crevice, it was becoming increasingly clear that the Ragman simply wasn’t here. They had made a mistake – he had made a mistake; after all it was him that chose which of the two warehouses to go to.

In the wee morning hours, Jorge found himself standing outside the warehouse, a disgruntled sigh on his lips as he pressed the phone to his ear. So far he had yet to receive anything from the precinct or the CSI team. It was a balm to note that there hadn’t been any more mysterious disappearances in the last twenty-four hours so he allowed himself to feel better about that. Maybe the Ragman had failed to catch another soul? That was his pattern, wasn’t it, to kidnap people in five successive days before he vanished into god knows where?

”Yeah, I’m still here,” Jorge said into his phone as he leaned against a support beam. He shook his head. ”That’s a negative. Linely and I have been here all night. We’ve searched the place up and down and staked it out, nothing suspicious so far.”

Jorge was clearly starting to feel exhausted. He had managed to get a couple winks of sleep thanks to watching in shifts with Linely from the car, but it was far from a comfortable night of sleep. Once it got closer to dawn the pair of them had crept back into the building to search again, hoping that they had just missed the creature with their first search and he would return in the early hours – that was not the case.

As Linely returned from another sweep, he caught the look the man gave him, imploring him to have good news. Jorge shook his head in response – they still didn’t have nothing. Jorge pushed off the support beam and wandered across the dusty, dirt-riddled floor. There were a few discarded rags here and there but they were so oiled and eaten away by time that there was no way that they belonged to their culprit. No, it was steadily dawning that they had the completely wrong place.

Jorge lowered his phone as he pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced to the detective. ”I don’t think he’s here. No evidence of him being here, anyways. And the forensics team haven’t gotten the results yet. They said it should be soon, but, they can’t tell me anything just yet.”

The man sighed. He turned back to his phone. It was still quiet on the other end. He had said he would stay on the line until he got his results, just to add some extra pressure to the forensics team that was working on his project. He knew that Linely was disappointed with this and spoke up again, trying to find a silver lining.

”At least there haven’t been any reported abductions. Maybe our guy took the night of—“ He was interrupted by the sound of someone trying to speak on his phone for his attention. Jorge snapped his phone up, brought it to his ear, and listened in. ”Yeah, yeah! I’m here. Tell me you finally have news, Mani.”

Jorge started to pace. He rolled his eyes as the tech was going over the technical details of what he had been able to uncover (the techs loved to talk about their ‘process’). When he had finally got to the point, Jorge straightened up and started immediately walking towards the door of the warehouse. He waved for Linely to follow as he covered the mouthpiece and harshly whispered to him.

”South. The glass came from the south warehouse.” Jorge returned to the conversation on the phone. ”Yeah, Mani. Great job. Honest. Yeah, yeah, I remember. I’m singing at your bachelorette party. No, for the last time, I’m not stripping!” He hung up his phone and headed out and back too the car. They had a perp to, hopefully, catch.

Linely couldn't help but swear under his breath at Jorge's lack of news. "Hopefully forensics would be done soon." He said , trying to find a silver lining. After all, they surely knew where he was now? Unless there was some other warehouse in the nearby area and they'd got the wrong end of the stick.

As Jorge tried to find a silver lining, even though they both knew that wasn't the case. A phone ringing caught both their attentions. It was forensics, giving the full techno-babbling detail. Linely wished they would stop trying to play CSI New York, everyone knew that wasn't how it worked in real life. It was all lights and weird sounds with no real meaning.

Then came what they knew already. The Rag-Man was in the Southern Warehouse. That would make things simply. Linely couldn't help but curl his face with amusement as Jorge gave Mani his assurance that he would be there at her bachelorette party with his guitar. "I'm surprised she didn't make you strip." He quipped. Her and Forsyth made a great couple, even if it came as a surprise to everyone when he proposed.

*Hmmmm*
Amusement and relief as they were walking to the car soon turned to concern. Linely's phone was giving the long buzz of a phone on vibrate.
It was Samuel-Emily's brother. "Excuse me Jorge, I have to take this." Linely said, surprised. What on earth could he be calling him for? Unless...
"Samuel? What are you doing up this late?"

Samuel was panicked. Emily hadn't come home from work this evening. There was no trace of her anywhere.The family cafe was not so far away. At first Linely asked him to repeat what he'd said. Then he began to shake. Tears were held back. Somehow managed to keep a calm, emotionless tone in response to Samuel's...news. How could he have failed? If they'd just gone to the Southern Warehouse...

"G-get down to the police station. I'll be with you as soon as I'm off this case." He hung up. Linely was now shaking uncontrollably. He could only imagine what Jorge was thinking. "That Bastard took Emily!" Linely managed to stay standing despite his quivering. "We're going down there fast Jorge, I'm not letting him get away." He began to storm towards the car. Opening his car front door with gusto. "I need you with me." He stated to the water manipulating cop. Flatly. This was an offer the veteran cop would have to take up if he didn't want to be walking back to the MRC.

Sniff…sniff…eggses…was good eggses…

The shambling mound of rags and dirt shuffled through the empty alleyway, returning from his latest capture. The transient woman was the simplest prey yet. So easy, so unmissed. She didn’t even struggle when he started to fold her into his rags, instead assuming that it was some hunger or drug induced dream. Even as she entered the nether pocket within the darkness, she simply hummed a little song of contentment. The Ragman liked a good and easy meal.

The trail of rags were soiled and glistening with the teeny-tiny sparkles of shattered glass from the south warehouse in which he resided. It was the most optimal place to him as it sat in the center of a hub of alleys that stretched throughout the city. It was a veritable maze and so easy to allow him access to anywhere and everywhere. So many good foods wandered his way, others he had to seek out, but they were all tasty nonetheless. This was good for him as the mutant had been nearly starving since his capture years earlier.

A thick and shaky wheeze cut through the air as the beast gave off a sickly growl. The memory of that horrendous night when he was capture, of the water that buffeted and hurt him. Of the lights of the interrogation room and the burning touch of the men and women who manhandled him. He growled as he grabbed the handle to the factory door and pulled it open.

Tastless…wateeeeer…wheeeeeze… he grumbled as he stepped in. Taste waterrrr…no moooorrreeee…

---

The man had scarcely got off the phone with forensics when heard the low and elongated hum of a phone buzzing. He glanced to Linely who was reaching into his pocket and informed him that he had to take a call. Jorge nodded his head, allowing the man to do what he needed to do. As he started to walk towards the door, he pulled up the address for the south warehouse. They had a location and they had just enough darkness left in order to hopefully catch the nefarious mutant. However he barely reached the door when he stopped.

Linely sounded in distress.

Turning to him, Jorge narrowed his eyes as the man visibly began to shake. He wasn’t close enough to hear much of what the man was saying. As he stepped closer, concern flashing across his face, he barely caught the end of the man’s sentence before his fellow detective turned to face him. The sadness, fear, and panic were evident in his eyes. What had happened?

”Linely…?” Jorge started to say but was cut off.

The detective looked like a man possessed. Before the waterbender knew it, the man had stated that “The Bastard took Emily.” He paused, his mind rolling back to earlier when he and the Linely were at the last witness’ house. He remembered he had gotten a call and saw the name on the contact as being Emily. A cute looking girl, of course, but now it seemed that maybe she was in danger?

Confused for a second, Jorge tried to stop him to get him to breathe before he continued. ”Whoa, Linely. Take a breath. Who has--?”

He was cut off again. As Linely quivered with anger, he stormed towards the door, saying that they needed to get down to the warehouse fast. It dawn on Jorge then that Linely was under the impression that Emily had been taken by the Ragman. The realization of that drew the blood from Jorge’s face as he started to follow the man outside the door and out into the early morning air. Linely was already at the car, pulling the door open when he said that he needed him.

It was clear that there was going to be no arguing with the man. Rather than let him go down there half-cocked, Jorge nodded as he jogged over to the passenger side door, pulled it open, and climbed inside. Once there he buckled his seatbelt.

”Alright, Linely, you need to calm down,” Jorge said. ”Are you sure he has her? Did someone see her be taken? Either way, you can’t go in there distracted. Don’t underestimate this bastard. That’s how he gets away.”

Linely was not feeling like calming down. The Rag Man was going to pay, and pay as much as he could. If he was in a rational mood, Jorge's advice would have made some sense. "I won't underestimate him." That pile of rags was going to get a blast of pain that would make most ordinary people comatose. Then Emily and the other women he had taken would be saved, and then there would be one less scum on the streets of NYC.

No sooner had Jorge strapped himself in Linely put the lights on and went full throttle down the road. "Glad to have you on board" He stated, then fell deadly silent. Buildings, the sounds of car horns and other traffic, the light from the streetlamps and headlights all rushed by as he put his foot down. . He had the common sense to slow down in the approach to the street by the warehouse. This bastard wouldn't know what hit him.

Linely carefully drew the car to a halt. "Are you coming or not?" He spoke to Jorge, cleanly, with a sense of understanding if he didn't want to come with. Some people couldn't cope with angry partners. Without truly waiting for a response, he opened the car door and got out his heavy-duty flashlight and gun. Once the women were safe, a bullet to the head would be too good for him, Linely wanted to see suffering.

Linely was driving like a madman but he wasn’t going to let him do this on his own. Anyone else would have let the man go, not wanting to put themselves at risk with someone who was going in so head strong. But Jorge was never that type of man. He may have just come off of having spent several years as little more than drifting particles of water. It was hard to think about those times and putting himself at risk like this was certainly unnecessary (he wasn’t fully on duty yet). But there was no way he was going to condemn Linely by throwing him at this monster by himself.

No, the Ragman was a mutant who could not be underestimated. Jorge had firsthand knowledge of that. He may have seemed like “damaged goods” but he was smarter and far more sly than most gave him credit for. Even with his broken speech and aversion to light, he was a monster and a monster that needed to be wrangled. Down to the deadline, he was going to be backed into a corner, more careful, and more paranoid than he normally would be. Linely couldn’t go in there half-crazed by himself.

As the car peeled out and away from the warehouse, Jorge turned a cautionary glance to Linely. The man was clearly upset, angry, sure that something had happened to someone close to him. All those made fir a dangerous cop and one that Jorge was going to have to keep an eye on. Letting emotions cloud judgement in this job was never a good thing. Hopefully the man would be able to regain some of his senses once they arrived at the south warehouse.

The man was quiet and focused the entire way, like a tiger stalking some prey (only with an extremely loud car as it tore through the streets of New York). When they had arrived, Jorge was glad that the man had started to quiet down the engine once they pulled closer to their final destination. The forensics said the glass found at the scene came from this warehouse and it was identical to glass found at the other locations. This was it but they couldn’t jump the gun and announce their presence from down the road.

They needed to be smarter.

Linely was quiet but to Jorge he looked like a storm getting ready to rage on the horizon. As they pulled up, the car engine was ceased and the detective’s attitude was short and to the point. Jorge nodded, confirming he was joining him and stepped out of the car. After he had closed the door, quietly, he hefted up his flashlight and followed after his fuming partner.

Gravel crunched underfoot as the older detective followed the younger. They approached the dilapidated, rundown, and half-destroyed building. Honestly just a glance around and it was the identical twin of the building that they were just at. Long, winding alleyways that cut through the town, dimmed or black street lamps intensifying the surrounding darkness, it was the perfect habitat for the beast they were hunting.

Though Jorge didn’t have his gun on him (he hadn’t been planning on need one so soon), the man felt the presence of water nearby. Down in a corner of the alley was a discarded jug of drinking water that was only about half-filled. Twisting his wrist, Jorge summoned the water from the jug to hover up into the air. It formed a tight, undulating ring of water around his wrist, at the ready for whatever battle that would come.

Approaching the doors, Jorge held his breath for a second before he breathed out in a deep, long breath. This was it. He could feel the hairs rising on the back of his neck, the pulse of his heart quicken, the monster had to be here. Pausing at the doors, Jorge shared a glance with the detective and, hoping to wrangle him in a bit, spoke in a firm whisper.

”We go in together. Just like at the last warehouse and we stay in one another’s line of sight.” Jorge waited until the officer caught his eye. ”If he has her, we’ll get her out. Don’t rush in with blinders on. I mean it.”

With a gulp, Jorge held up his fingers and started to count down with his free hand, mouthing the numbers as he did so. They would enter, quietly, at the count of three...

One...
…two…
…three…

It was now or never…

The building was in sight now, and gravel crunched underfoot. The scum would be in there for sure. It was a simple task really in his mind, save Emily, save the other women and then unleash all hell on the Rag Man. As powerful as the mutant was, a bullet to the head normally stopped people, and the few that didn't stop were possible to deal with by other means.

Linely at least had the common sense to listen to Jorge, meeting his gaze with steel in his eyes. "You're right" he stated to the veteran cop, quietly, nigh humbly. The Rag Man would best hope that it was Jorge that saw him first. Because then he'd get mercy. Linely watched Jorge count on his fingers. That would do, better coordinated after all.

On the count of three, Linely opened the door. Much like the first , a loud metallic thud announced their presence. The Rag Man now knew, most likely, that he had company. That wasn't an issue for Linely as he carefully began to search for that figure with his flashlight.

It was quite a mess, even more so than the first house, dirty rags littered the floor, combined with the yellow glass, that glistened in reflecting the flashlight back at Linely. Disused machinery covered the warehouse, most of it rusty, and unusable. Hopefully the controls wouldn't be put into action. Unless the Rag Man's skull was involved. Linely couldn't help but smirk at the thought of that.

The smell was the most obvious though, damp rags, oil and unwashed bodies filled the air. Linely had been on many a crime-scene before, including ones with messy and brutal murders, but this stench was up there as one of the worst. His vision didn't swim, but he certainly regretted not taking a nose-clip.

A movement that wasn't Jorge sparked his attention. "Jorge-there!" What looked like a mass of rags had just moved out of range of the flash light. It was like a shadow even upon the darkness of the warehouse. Linely dashed towards it. He was going to make that bastard pay.

He had Linely’s gaze. The man was focused, but thankfully he wasn’t stupid. As much as the man seemed like he had wanted to barrel in there, he nodded as he agreed with Jorge’s plan. They would sweep in, together, and stay in one another sight so that they couldn’t get the jump on. With that in mind the older detective started to count down on his hand. They needed to act in unison, to trust one another, otherwise they were going to be in for a world of hurt. When he reached the last number, they pushed their way in.

The door was loud and protested against their arrival. It seemed that the gods were against them having the element of surprise on this case. As it screeched into the empty air, Jorge narrowed his eyes as he shined his flashlight into the room. Linely took the lead, moving forward with both light and gun drawn. Jorge kept an eye on their back, light up and water at the ready to defend himself.

The smell in the room was putrid at best, that of sickness and decay both organic and inorganic. It was at if the warehouse itself were some discarded organ, rotting away in some dark corner of an alley. The smell that permeated from the four, towering walls was disgusting and seeped into their pores with every second that they stood in that room. All around them were littered scrapes and broken glass, the very same that had been found at abduction points. Though this place was in just as much disrepair as the last, it was clear that more vile corruption was rooted here than anywhere else.

If the Ragman wasn’t here, Jorge had no idea where else they could look. With a deep and calming breath, Jorge swept into the room, keeping Linely in his eye sight as the man moved through. It would take longer to investigate in pairs but they needed to stay together. It was dark, there was trash and rags everywhere, and Ragman could be particularly crafty. With another cautionary step, Jorge swung his light into a hidden corner, but stopped when the sound of rushing feet drew his attention.

>> ”Jorge-there!”

Jorge snapped his attention back. He didn’t see what Linely saw but instead merely spied the detective as he bolted from the room and into another, chasing a figure that Jorge did not see. Immediately he cursed under his breath as he chased after the man. ”Linely! Wait!”

He turned and started to chase after the man. However, when movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention, the detective stopped in his tracks. He turned, swinging his light with him and held his breath. There, mere feet from him, recoiled a humanoid shape of rags that soundlessly hissed and backed away from the light. Jorge was started by the fact that the shape made no sound as the last time he shined a light on the Ragman, the mutant ranted and screamed. Why was he quiet now? If this was the Ragman, who was Linely chasing?

Manipulating the water around his wrist to form a tightly coiled tendril, Jorge snapped it like a whip towards the mutant as he tried to advance on him. Damn that void under the hood. Why didn’t he say anything. The humanoid took lunging steps at him, but Jorge was quick to back away, snapping the whip of water and keeping the light shined on. It wasn’t until the Ragman took a clumsy step towards him that Jorge lashed out, whipping the water across the being’s hood and knocking it off. The sight that lie underneath took the veteran cop’s breath away.

There was nothing. There was no face, no head, no body underneath the hood, underneath the rags at all. It was merely darkness, a pure void of humanoid shape. With the hood knocked off, the entity recoiled more, swiping clumsy at the air in the detective’s direction before turning to run off. But Jorge was quickly. Lashing out with his tendril of water, he snapped the entity by the foot and brought him down, harshly, onto the ground. As he pulled him close he shined his flashlight to where the being’s head supposedly was. Soundless the being screamed as the darkness that formed his body evaporated into thin air, leaving the pile of rags to deflate and lie still on the ground. When it was fully gone, Jorge turned the light away and didn’t see the rags reform.

”What the hell was that?” He growled.

It seemed that in the Ragman’s absence, his powers had grown. He was no longer just a single mutant who could absorb others into the void, he had the ability to craft the void into semi-sentient entities and encapsulate them into pile of rags, much the same as he shrouded himself. Jorge only drew the most smallest bit of understanding of this, but it was enough to make him fearful. If the Ragman had created a copy of himself that he had just fought off…how many more were there?

”Dammit!” he shouted to himself. Linely was in danger if he wasn’t aware of this. Bolting after the man, he charged into the room that Linely ran into and caught up to him. ”Linely!” he gasped. ”The Ragman. It’s not just one anymore! He…” He stopped and looked around the empty warehouse. He gulped. All around them, laid out like a minefield, were piles and piles of rags. At one end stood a single Ragman, but as the seconds ticked, more piles began to rumble and take similar shapes. Though the rags were of different materials, sizes, and colors, they all held the same basic shape of the criminal they had been chasing. Jorge let out a silent breath as he finished his sentence: ”…he has an army…”

Linely chased after the figure, he was getting closer, in through to a second room, Jorge had been delayed somehow, he wondered why. He heard the lashing of water on rags and then a growl from Jorge. Whatever it was that he'd seen, it had surprised his partner. That could only mean one thing in Linely's book.

It was very dark in this room. Save from the light of Linely's torch, shapes moved in the shadow, waiting to leap upon them at a moments notice. Piles of rags littered the floor, with glittering golden glass upon most of them. Like looking for a needle in a haystack. Then...There! at the end of the room, the Rag Man stood smiling with a gap toothed grin. Linely rushed towards the figure...

He heard Jorge's shout to him just in time. He came to a grinding halt, with Jorge quickly catching up to him. At Jorge's second remark, Linely came to the realisation of just how foolish he had been.

He had run into the center of the room. He was surrounded by these rags. All of them were beginning to move, slowly at first, but beginning to ripple into an actual figure. The Rag man had multiplied. Only one of these figures was real. All looked very similar. The shine on them faded as the glass slipped off the rags , as they began to move. Linely began to say words he was going to need to repent for later under his breath repeatedly. The Rag-clones formed a shadowy circle and slowly but surely, that circle was getting tighter. The two cops needed a plan quickly... running wasn't an option.

Linely turned to Jorge "I think I have an idea, but we're going to need to move fast, and I need water to be sprayed on all of the Rag-men". Pain was the name of the game, water hurt the Rag-Man apparently, and Linely was betting something very basic: The clones would not feel the same amount of pain. They had one shot on this, hopefully Jorge would be able to take the gamble.