[center][img]http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i374/bensundeitestutho/raptor-man2_zpsbzrk09ho.png[/img][/center][center][b]Kelly Brown[/b] | [b]Samantha "Sammy" Kadowsky[/b][/center]
	It was a snow-covered and chilly February afternoon in Albany, New York.  For most of the residents of Albany, the snow and the cold deterred them from venturing outside the warm comfort of their homes, unless it was absolutely necessary to leave the warm confines of their dwelling.  However, that did not stop Sammy and Kelly from taking a trip to the local Washington Park.  In fact, this little outing was prompted by Sammy because for the past few days she had been stuck indoors because until recently she had the body of a cat that was large enough to support her human head.  Cabin-fever would drive anyone insane, especially in Sammy’s situation.  Zac, however, had to go to the Albany State College athletic center for a conditioning program that was, although not required, highly recommended.

	Once the two young metahumans had arrived at the park, they began to circle around the Washington Park Lake, which was now frozen over by a thick sheet of ice.  Flakes of snow were gracefully floating down onto the ground.  Since they have not seen anyone else at the park, although there were a car or two in the parking lot, Kelly and Sammy did not have to worry about anyone bothering them about Sammy’s appearance.  While Sammy was wearing a toboggan hat that covered her feline ears, her tail was still visible, even though the metahuman had covered it with two knee-high socks that was held in place by a few hair ties.

	[color=F0E68C]“So, are your professors going to let you make up the work that you missed?”[/color]  Kelly asked Sammy, since her best friend had missed a couple days of classes due to her little ‘problem’.

	Sammy turned to her friend, needing to look up to see eye-to-eye.  For both of them, it felt really strange.  For their entire life, Sammy had always had an edge in the height department.  She even thought that her time being a human-headed cat had distorted her ability to judge distance because she was only a few feet tall.  However, now that she was back to her normal stature, Sammy found out that she was not imagining anything and that Kelly was taller.

	“Well, they weren’t buying it at first.  However, once I whipped out the ears and the tail, I was able to change each of their minds.  I even accidentally caused one of my teachers to faint when I tried to prove that I was not just playing hooky.  I needed to explain the whole thing a second time.”  The two girls broke out into laughter at the thought that one of Sammy’s teachers fainted when she realized that Sammy had cat ears and tail.

	“We [i]monster girls[/i] need to stick together.”  Sammy joked with her best friend.  However, right after she said that, an arrowed dropped from the sky and landed in front of the two girls.  For a moment, the two girls gazed blankly at the missile, confused at why one would have been shot in their direction.  Then they quickly scanned the area to see if they could find the culprit.  Standing several yards away was a tall, muscular man, who despite the weather was still wearing a short sleeved shirt.  Snow had already accumulated in his grizzly, yet neat, beard and the wind was tossing his long hair about.  He wielded a large bow, which he had obviously used to fire the arrow at them.

	Then suddenly, the arrow released a shockwave that hit both Sammy and Kelly, knocking them both out.  Once the two ‘monster’ girls fell down to the ground and were knocked unconscious, the man walked over to where he had shot the arrow.  When he had reached the two girls, he realized that somehow, since he did not know how, his taser-arrow had caused Kelly to revert back into her wasp form.  The man wandered whether some kind of device had been hiding her insectoid appearance.  However, if that was the case, then why was Sammy not using one too?

	“What type of monstrosity has the Shroud Syndicate created?”  The man, so called Odysseus, pondered as he looked down at the two girls.  “I cannot allow those criminals to create monsters like those, lest they consolidate a power that even the independent vigilantes cannot contain.”

	At that moment, Kelly, due to her enhanced endurance, began to wake up.  She looked up at her assailant, peering at him with her dark-colored compound eyes.  [color=F0E68C]“We’re not [i]monsters[/i].”[/color]  Kelly then threw a punch directly into the Odysseus’ gut, causing him to bend over in pain.  As Odysseus was trying to regain his breath, Kelly turned to Sammy, trying to get her to wake up.

	“Wake me up in an hour or two.”  Sammy responded in her half-conscious state.

	[color=F0E68C]“We don’t have time for you to take a cat nap, Sammy!”[/color]  After she said this to her best friend, Kelly heard laughter behind her.  When she turned around, she saw that the laughter was coming from Odysseus.

	“Finally!”  Odysseus said with a grin on his face.  “A challenge!  I haven’t had one of those for quite some time.  Those goons that work for your boss are push-overs, but it seems like you pack quite a punch!”

	Kelly was beginning to panic.  What was she supposed to do now?  Her assailant seemed to have been only temporarily stunned by her punch.  Plus, she has to deal with an unconscious Sammy.  And one thought came into her mind.  Why does it seem like everyone has been trying to kidnap her, Sammy, and Zac?