[center][h2][b][u][color=#000000]G[/color][color=#19000E]a[/color][color=#32001C]e[/color][color=#4B002A]l[/color][color=#640039],[/color][/u] [u][color=#970055]V[/color][color=#B00064]e[/color][color=#C90072]r[/color][color=#E20080]e[/color][color=#FB008F]n[/color][color=#E20080]s[/color][/u] [u][color=#970055]E[/color][color=#7D0047]s[/color][color=#640039]t[/color][color=#4B002A]r[/color][color=#32001C]a[/color][color=#19000E]d[/color][color=#000003]a[/color][/u][/b][/h2][img]http://orig00.deviantart.net/ed9d/f/2013/345/d/6/pink_eye_by_momijigirl-d6xjcsb.png[/img][/center][hr]
Having settled into his new Chicago home several days prior, Gael was standing in his room gazing out the window. The house was situated in the middle of his block, but it was taller than the surrounding houses by a whole floor, making it a three-floor residence, not including the basement. With his room situated facing the street he had a relatively clear view of both his own neighborhood and some of the surrounding area--though he did wish he could have convinced someone for a larger place. Granted, he could have chosen an apartment in the middle of the city, but that would have made it more difficult for him to fall back to if need be. Hiding out away from the center of the city or its hot-spots where he might eventually be particularly active was probably wise.

So he had compromised a higher vantage point for a safer location. Give and take, that's what many things were...except for relationships it seemed. People had never given enough, so he had to take and take and take. It was annoying, but he had long since discounted it as a result of base human stupidity.

His mind turning to a new series of thoughts, Gael closed his eyes a moment, checking on the exploits of his working parents in their respective places of employment. He was working them to the bone, making sure they saved up extra money. It was all about playing the long game really. Still their measly income wasn't enough for what he had in mind for the Windy City.

Far from it.

Noting that his parents were faring just fine, their workplaces not too far for his ability to [i]just[/i] reach them, not to mention that his control wouldn't just suddenly cease. It took time, and they wouldn't be away from him long enough to recover. Not even close. Opening his eyes and turning away from the window, Gael turned to his left and walked to his work desk.

On its left were a series of file dividers, which served the purpose of holding a series of folders in which there were various sketches and plans. All of them were in the form of a storyboard, making it appear as if he was planning to write a book or sketch out a comic of some sort, but couldn't decide which he preferred yet. The reality was that they were plans for his career as a cape. More specifically as a villain.

He had a great deal of things planned out. Contingencies. Some for Chicago, codenamed Thýella, meaning tempest in greek, some for where he'd grown up. A few for other places, but that was much too far down the line now. He had needed to move to a quick response area. Somewhere that the Wards,  Protectorate, and PRT would show up in often.

Chicago had been his choice. Now that he was here he needed to do research and one of the ways he was doing so was through the internet, going through popular forums...and not so popular ones as well. The latter were the more important of the two. Leaning over his desk he searched through a few sites, flickering between pages and reading faster than a normal human would've been able to.

Once he'd looked for a bit a grin came across his face, he stood up and he slipped his T-shirt over his head before applying pressure to several places on his desk and then slipping a hidden drawer out of it. He extracted his hoodie, T-shirt, sun glasses, and other cape objects. He donned the T-shirt, tied the hoodie around his waist, then slipped a long sleeve shirt over the patterned shirt. He made sure to bring the T-shirt he'd had on earlier with him.

While it was unlikely that anyone would recognize the shirt yet, he figured it was better that no one saw it as he exited his house than if someone did and recognized it later.

Once he had prepared, making sure to take some eye drops and extra contacts, in addition to his sunglasses, he exited his room and headed down the hallway before he went downstairs, heading for the ground floor.

He had chosen his room to be on the third floor while his parents' room was below. After all if an unwanted guest visited his home, they'd have to go through two floors and his parents before they got to him. By then he could use the tree in the backyard, which was conveniently situated near a window at the far end of the hall opposite the stairs.

Reaching the ground floor he passed through the living room, entering the kitchen and briefly making himself a sandwich before he extricated a Mountain Dew from the fridge. With keys on his person Gael exited the house, locking it behind him before hiding his keys in the usual spot beneath the wooden stairs of the house's porch.

Happy with himself he debated on whether he ought to take the remaining car that his parent's had left or if he should take the bus instead. Eventually figuring that he could always park it a ways off. It helped that he knew he would sense parahumans and any antics they might be up to before they would even see him drive by.

This in mind he sighed and turned around, slipping his keys back out of the small nook beneath the porch. After a few minutes he was off, the garage closing behind him automatically and the car pulling out of the drive way. It really was nice having your parents as slaves. You could never do them wrong.

Everything was just...[i]easier[/i]. As he thought it he felt a pang of emptiness somewhere in his psyche. Frowning, he flipped the radio on and turned it up, drowning himself in the music while he drove closer to Chicago's center.

Eventually, once he was close enough, he exited the freeway and took less traveled roads, scanning the area with his field of influence in the form of a three-dimensional web. Some things slipped through, but most of them weren't people. This way he gathered psychic energy and scoped out the area in one go.

It was efficient.

For most of his ride he found little of interest except the occasional distress of a random human as well as the rare parahuman going about their daily life. It brought a not so pleasant grin to his face knowing that he might unmask or use a parahuman's identity against them if he ever neared them when they weren't in costume. He'd never make it public knowledge, but often the threat of doing so would likely be enough to garner favors. Still he knew he'd make enemies [i]fast[/i] if he went that route.

So he wouldn't. Not yet at least. Not till later.

Another ten minutes passed and he was about to decide he'd got a good enough feel for the lay of the land until he detected an odd number of capes in the same area as well as distress, anxiety and...adrenaline. A smirk spread over his face, he parked the car in the parking lot of a restaurant he figured he could enjoy later and then got out. Slipping out of the parking lot and into an alley several blocks up, making sure there were no cameras nearby before he slipped out of his long sleeve shirt, slipped his hoodie on and carefully took out his contacts.

Once he was done he looked around, eventually finding a trash can to stow his stuff in. Balling up his shirt around his keys, Gael made sure to stuff the long sleeve shirt into the short sleeve shirt he'd brought along before shoving it into the garbage can, using his gloved hands to shake the can so as to bury it somewhat. He'd dump it out later to retrieve the clothes. Better to hide them well and have something shitty to wear as disguise, than to be seen in the shirt once he'd revealed himself to the public in any fashion.

Or...that was the idea at least.

Pulling his hood over his head, Gael took in a deep breath, closing his eyes a moment as he flexed his power. He felt all the people around him, connecting thin strands of his field to each, making sure they always overlapped with strands that touched his body. He focused the web around people with lowered guards, but didn't press their minds instead allowing his power to focus on draining them.

The energy continued to build up in his field and he could feel traits and perspectives filtering into his mind. When he opened his eyes a minute later they were a fierce glowing pink that shone out from his hood. He directed a repeated suggestion towards anyone near the alley to disregard his presence and while it didn't make them look away their attention would shift subtly to something else.

He left the impression vague and so it was that he walked out of the alley unnoticed even if he had been seen.

At a leisurely pace he made his way towards the location of the parahumans he had sensed earlier. When his net touched the first two he began reading and draining. He started honing in on the capes, counting them as he made his approach.

[b][color=#E20080]“[/color][color=#DF007E]O[/color][color=#DD007D]n[/color][color=#DB007C]e[/color][color=#D9007B],[/color] [color=#D50078]t[/color][color=#D30077]w[/color][color=#D10076]o[/color][color=#CF0075].[/color] [color=#CB0073]O[/color][color=#C90071]h[/color] [color=#C4006F]t[/color][color=#C2006E]h[/color][color=#C0006D]e[/color][color=#BE006C]r[/color][color=#BC006A]e[/color][color=#BA0069]'[/color][color=#B80068]s[/color] [color=#B40066]t[/color][color=#B20064]h[/color][color=#B00063]r[/color][color=#AE0062]e[/color][color=#AC0061]e[/color] [color=#A7005F]m[/color][color=#A5005D]o[/color][color=#A3005C]r[/color][color=#A1005B]e[/color][color=#9F005A].[/color] [color=#9B0058]O[/color][color=#990056]n[/color][color=#970055]e[/color] [color=#930053]m[/color][color=#910052]o[/color][color=#8F0051]r[/color][color=#8C004F]e[/color] [color=#88004D]i[/color][color=#86004C]n[/color] [color=#820049]t[/color][color=#800048]h[/color][color=#7E0047]e[/color] [color=#7A0045]b[/color][color=#780044]u[/color][color=#760042]i[/color][color=#740041]l[/color][color=#720040]d[/color][color=#6F003F]i[/color][color=#6D003E]n[/color][color=#6B003D]g[/color] [color=#67003A]a[/color][color=#650039]n[/color][color=#630038]d[/color] [color=#5F0036]a[/color][color=#5D0034]n[/color][color=#5B0033]o[/color][color=#590032]t[/color][color=#570031]h[/color][color=#550030]e[/color][color=#52002E]r[/color] [color=#4E002C]s[/color][color=#4C002B]o[/color][color=#4A002A]m[/color][color=#480029]e[/color][color=#460027]w[/color][color=#440026]h[/color][color=#420025]e[/color][color=#400024]r[/color][color=#3E0023]e[/color] [color=#3A0020]o[/color][color=#37001F]u[/color][color=#35001E]t[/color][color=#33001D]s[/color][color=#31001C]i[/color][color=#2F001B]d[/color][color=#2D0019]e[/color][color=#2B0018],[/color] [color=#270016]o[/color][color=#250015]h[/color] [color=#210012]t[/color][color=#1F0011]h[/color][color=#1D0010]i[/color][color=#1A000F]s[/color][color=#18000E]'[/color][color=#16000C]l[/color][color=#14000B]l[/color] [color=#100009]b[/color][color=#0E0008]e[/color] [color=#0A0005]f[/color][color=#080004]u[/color][color=#060003]n[/color][color=#040002],[/color][color=#020001]”[/color][/b] he said his grin spreading wider. He narrowed his field further cutting off people who seemed to be even slightly resisting his drain. He quickly sifted through various surface thoughts he was picking up from those he was draining and as he did so he filtered out the thoughts of any normal humans he'd been draining before. He then isolated each of the seven capes to separate trains of thought in his mind and began analysis on each. Swiftly he noticed certain trends and associations. Three of them were working together, as evidenced by their communication and close proximity. There was an outsider who was meandering near the bank and someone who'd been caught up in the events inside. Hopefully neither would be problematic if not he'd just have to adapt.

Then there were the two others who were near one another. As he came into view of the scene, still a block or so away, but on the same street, he noted the color of the bank. As the two capes standing in plain view were revealed to him, his eyes darkened.

It may have been day time, but Nightfall was close on hand and it didn't seem that any of them were yet the wiser.

Not that they could've been.

Hopefully there weren't any power nullifiers close enough to stop him. That would be rather annoying. He'd keep a distance till he got a read on their powers. That was probably best.