[center][img]http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i374/bensundeitestutho/raptor-man2_zpsbzrk09ho.png[/img][/center][center][b]Springfield, Illinois[/b][/center]

        On this dark and down-pouring night, a dark figure snuck his way into what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse.  While this is what it seemed like to the nearby residents, the building was actually the headquarters of a small operation for the Shroud Syndicate.  The man who just entered the warehouse stood just at the front of the entrance, drying himself off from the torrents of rain that had soaked him outside.

	“Did you get the files, Frank?”

	“Right here, Jimmy.”  The man pulled out a yellow manila folder from the inside of his coat, where it was protected from the wet weather outside.  “We better get going and set everything up.  [i]He[/i] will be coming any time now!”

	Suddenly, a large explosion detonated outside of the warehouse, blasting the entrance door inward.  However, when the handful of men took a peak outside, they didn’t see anyone.

	“Jimmy, you’re with me.  Everyone else, make sure this vigilante doesn’t get past that door!”  Unfortunately, Frank knew that the small force present at this headquarters would be no match for what was coming, as the operations in Springfield were quite minimal and only a skeleton crew manned the base.  These few men would only give them a short amount of time to get everything ready.

	“Who is this guy?”  Jimmy asked Frank as they dashed deeper into the warehouse.

	“He calls himself Odysseus, after the Homeric hero of Ithaca.  He apparently hails from Pacific Point.  Even though he does not seem to be a meta, he has been thwarting some of the syndicate’s lesser operations out on the West Coast.”

	Before Frank could give out any more information about their eminent assailant, an arrow flew from behind them and struck Jimmy in the center of his back.  However, instead of piercing the man, the arrow released tasers that stunned and incapacitated the thug.  A second arrow came from the same direction, but this time, it was shot at a lower height.  Once the arrow had flew past between Frank’s legs, the arrow shot out a coil that wrapped around his ankles, causing him to fall flat on his face. 

	Once Frank recovered from his hard fall, he realized that he was hanging upside down.  Looking over towards his left, he saw the man picking up Jimmy and tying him up in the same fashion in which Frank was tied up.  The man, ethically Greek (or rather Greek-American), was physically well-built.  Not quite to the same level as a weight-lifter would go for, but he was muscular enough for his bulk to not interfere with his flexibility and ability.  Hanging on his back was the bow, which he had used to take out the skeleton crew that was running Syndicate base.

	The man, so-called Odysseus, then picked up the manila folder, which had dropped out of Frank’s coat, from the floor.  “Thanks for cooperating, gentlemen.  Don’t worry.  The police should be here any moment now to cut you guys down.”  Turning away from the two men, Odysseus walked away, leaving the warehouse and entering into the dark, rainy night.

	After a while, prior to the police arriving on the scene, Frank’s partner, Jimmy, regained consciousness.  “The boss won’t be happy that that vigilante took that intel.  What are we going to do, Frank?  There’s’ nowhere to hide in prison!”

	Frank smiled when he heard his partners’ question, laughing silently about the naivety of his associate.  “No, the boss will [b]not[/b] be disappointed at what happened here.  In fact, this was his plan all the long.  Sacrifice one of his lesser operations in order to give the bigger fish some more time to prepare for any vigilante or metahuman interference.”

	“What false info did the boss give that wannabe hero?”

	“Oh, just that the Shroud Syndicate is cooking up metahumans in New York state.”

	“When did that start?  I never heard of that before.”

	“That’s the point.”  Frank gave another smile, knowing what this little ploy had orchestred.