The night came alive with random acts of crime that sent the whole city into a frenzy. Metas were popping in left and right to deal with the chaotic mess along with a majority of the Lost Haven Police Department. The night sky was tinged an ominous red as flames licked the heavens and consumed buildings greedily. Far from the epicenter of the destruction, Predator perched on an office building and watched the madness from a clear distance. He was extremely tempted to go in and wreak havoc among the criminal element with extreme prejudice. His demon blood surged and burned in sheer excitement at the possibilities. However, he stamped out the blood-pumping passion for destruction with all of his willpower. To reveal himself before so many people would be... catastrophic. Anonymity was his ally and no matter how much his nature seethed and thrashed to be acknowledged with fear and awe by the humans and metas alike, Predator could not lose focus. While he couldn't be sure, it seemed that the Cowl had made a play against the city.
"A warning perhaps... or a taunt? No... this is too flamboyant for the Cowl to be simply flexing his Syndicate's muscles. So much going on in the inner city. There's no point in investigating that mess with so many... variables." mused the half demon as he pondered the conundrum before him. His enhanced vision darted to and fro as the tiniest details of what was going on seemed to barely escape him.
"What am I missing? This is far too sloppy to be a concerted effort." continued Predator to himself as a deep seated growl started to rumble in his chest.
Frustrated, the shadowy beast started whipping his massive head from side to side as he looked to various locations away from the inner city. He thought back to his previous findings from the reports he swiped from Jim Wilson. The information was slim and lacking concrete details but it seemed the he played an important part with the smuggling around the ports. The fact that they took no real effort to replace him bothered the demonic hunter. It was like he was just a place holder for something. Of course he could assume with such a large organization that Jim Wilson was a relative non-factor but it was sticking in his craw like an unpleasant fish bone. His intuition was pointing him towards the port. There was something going on here and he had little to lose by backtracking a bit. He could not risk his cover to gallivant around the streets; picking off criminals and thugs.
Decision made, Predator pounced from building to building with cat-like agility and grace. Powerful muscles rippled under black scales as he loped across rooftops in relative silence. With all the activity going on in the city, most people were smart enough to stay inside and out of the way so Predator was fairly confident that there would be little chance to be seen from the streets. As he neared the docks, he slowed down and stuck to the darkness. His suspicions were raised as he approached his intended destination. Too many people were traipsing about the docks. While corporations did tend towards the "business as usual" mode of operations, even they would be hesitant to boldly place their workers out in the open when there was a city-wide riot going on. These workers were a little too complacent and calm given the circumstances. He needed a better vantage point.
The shadows jealously guarded their inhabitant as he quietly stalked through the less busy parts of the docks and avoided detection by the workers and guards. He kept his eye out for cameras and sensors as he picked out a suitable building near where the ships were unloading and loading cargo. He climbed up the building and scouted the top thoroughly. There were guards. He stayed calm and observed their movements while keeping an eye on his surroundings. They were far more interested in jabbering to each other than looking around much. He watched their patrol pattern and found a blind spot. They didn't seem to check the small elevated rooftop above the staircase exit so while they were looking away he crawled up and settled there for the moment. It wasn't ideal but it would have to do since he couldn't off the guards without drawing attention to their absence eventually.
It would be silly to assume that he knew what exactly he was looking for. Predator kept an eye out regardless. He was patient. He was in this hunt for the end game. It mattered little how long he had to wait. Tonight he would either find another clue or find another Jim Wilson. He deeply inhaled the briny air and collated the data within it. Lots of gunpowder tonight.