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Senses alerting him of a new individual entering the vicinity, Gael's eyes glanced briefly at the bank before turning back to the alley near it. It appeared his attack was going quite well. In fact Chroma hadn't even managed to report to his superiors if his thoughts were anything to go by, not to mention what he could see of his actions. Smirk growing ever so slightly as he felt the ward struggle against his attack, trying to get a hold of himself, Gael hollowed out the drills and began pushing trace amounts of aggression, annoyance, worry, and even more confusion into the ward. Oddly there was some resistance, despite there being no evidence that the PRT had taken precautions in teaching field agents or wards techniques to fend off psychic assault. After all, telepathy was not a terribly common ability, though master class capes were. It seemed no one had even considered the possibility that someone like him existed.

It made him smile to know that the ward had no idea who his assailant was or where they were attacking from. It helped that the edge of pain from the ward's mind [i]fed him[/i]. It was almost like a high really, he mused with a light chuckle. As he went about his musings he allow his drills to speed up their rotation and begin to "wobble," within the psychic inicisions they were making in Chroma's mind. It would certainly amp up the pain, making it feel as if red hot knives were stabbing through Chroma's eyes, temples, neck, and crown.

While he did this he fed off of the people in his surroundings, finding their minds far less resistant to him. [i]Interesting,[/i] he thought as he began making correlations. When he fed suggestions into their mind he [i]saw[/i] flickers of hesitation, but when he tried it on the capes...resistance and awareness. It appeared that his power was more effective against normal humans...or perhaps just useful in a different way.

He'd need to work on that.

Watching the scene unfold he noted Blackout's decision to rush Chroma while one of his fellow villains fled, the other approaching the young [i]hero[/i] from behind. As Blackout moved Gael took in a deep breath and let his drills slow down and ease up. The pressure would reduce considerably for Chroma. If he let his guard down, Gael thought, then it would be all the easier to feed a sudden burst of disorientation into his mind at an opportune moment.

If Chroma let up his focus even slightly Gael would strike the moment that Blackout and his invisible compatriot got near, or the moment that Chroma attempted to throw his paint. If he did not let up then Gael would slam the drills back into place, along with several psychic constructs to batter the outer walls of the ward's mind. One was cripplingly painful, while the other would be particularly troublesome given the timing.

If his disorienting trick went through he would immediately follow up by resuming with his drills, the mind hammers attacking in unison. The act would likely increase the disorientation further, not to mention allow him to pierce deeper into the adolescent's consciousness. While he knew he'd not be able to break him faster than he could call for reinforcements, he knew that he could plant the seeds for later development.

Perhaps even plant a dangerous idea in the arrogant [i]artist's[/i] fragile mind. The idea made his eyes glow fiercely with a sick sort of glee. He was going to enjoy terrorizing this city, but first he'd have to make sure he was safe from the clutches of authority.

This in mind, regardless of Chroma's reaction, Gael would procede to enter an alley entirely out of sight to the group, heading to another street. As he exited the alley no one even glanced his way, despite the eerie glow of his eyes. Granted, they all barely noticed him, if at all, as he made the most subtle of suggestions to ignore him. He did love how the PRT would have a hell of a time finding witnesses to his presence despite how many there really were.

None of them would remember him because to them he was just another person in the crowd. Another face in a sea of faces. It was a useful trick. He continued his path, now trailing the villain who had retreated, though not by the same path. He knew they were going to rendezvous somewhere and luckily one of them had led him right to the spot. People were so easy.

As he neared the location of the van, for he knew there was a van there, Gael considered what he'd do upon arriving. Should he join them? They clearly needed someone to lead them after all. Blackout, despite his troublesome power, was apparently worthlessly incompetent. It didn't surprise him really, many people were. He knew he could help them better coordinate jobs and they could give him reputation and safety in numbers. Plus...he could prioritize their minds over their powers and in doing so eventually gain himself a group of uniquely [i]useful[/i] puppets.

In theory it would be easy, but in practice.... Well, things were never that simple. He'd had people catch on to him before. The question was, could he stop it from happening again and could he avoid Blackout's power stopping him.

The likely answer was yes. For now all he knew was that he needed a team and he needed resources.

It seemed that the team would have to come first. With this in mind he stopped at the edge of the alley where he knew the van was located. He didn't need to peer within to know that the cape he had trailed was there. Now all he'd need to do was wait and hope that Blackout wasn't so worthless as to get captured. If only temporarily, he would need the cape for the simple fact that he seemed the unifying figure of the group.

If Blackout was removed from the picture, they would disband. He needed to make them [i]like[/i] him first. After that, well, maybe he could get rid of Blackout.

He put it on his itinerary for later.