yoshua171

The Prophecy

Sorry for the shortness of my post. Just ran out of content I suppose. Oh well.

The Prophecy

I'onriyi Stonehand

---

His worry assuaged by Violet's response, the penin nodded and dismissed the topic from his mind. However, with that gone he had plenty attention to spare and so noticed when Ixion glanced his way. He made no indication that he had seen the action, though he cataloged it as a silent warning from the assassin. He knew he was in a precarious situation, but it was something that he was familiar with. Neither vampire nor assassin frightened him, in fact, despite the assassin's strange teleportation, he was quite sure that he could take at least one of them--though both at once would be a stretch for his skills as weaving magic and defending himself physically were difficult acts to achieve simultaneously. While he managed it here and there he often had to resort to either runes or elemental magic to achieve such results, amplifying his efforts with short spells and a smidgen of necromancy.

Turning his attention again to Violet as he heard her warn Ixion of the dirge he had acquired, I'on's eyes widened slightly and he took a step towards the man before stopping himself short. He had never laid hands on, nor seen a Stone of the Doom Mage, but he similarly knew that it would be unwise to ask to do so now. Things were already to unstable. "An interesting revelation, I think," I'on said as he glanced at the Dirge, then Ixion. He wondered where the conversation was to go from here.

He was beginning to wonder about a great many things really. Again he felt a twinge of anxiety twisting at the edges of his awareness. He breathed to let it out, but it only helped slightly. The more he heard, the more apparent the danger he might be in became.

Troublesome, he thought.

Worm - Chicago (High casual) (Superheroes and villains)

Gael, Verens Estrada

---

Watching by peering 'round the corner every so often, supplementing his actual physical vision with his power and of course his ability to hear properly, Gael listened as someone entered the scene more prominently. He let a small tendril of his influence connect to them and as it did he had to take a step away from the edge of the alley, staggering slightly. There was a return in pressure, something he had never experienced before, even if it was indeed quite faint. Then the man announced that he was a precog and it all fit into place.

Thinker, he thought, iridescent eyes narrowing within his hood. Having realized that he'd been called out in the same moment and by his cape name no less, Gael let a breath out and then walked into view, hands in his pockets--his gait and body relaxed, casual even. He raised a hand to any of the 'villains,' that could see him as he spoke, "Hey," his voice level and non-committal. He crossed half the distance to them, then stopped, looking over the small distance at them. He glanced at the precog, Seth had been his name, and spoke "I'll follow you to base. I think joining up would be cool," he said, smiling slightly in the shadow of his hood. He made a mental note that lightning was going to be troublesome, he ought to fashion some kind of mask. Something that allowed view of his eyes and mouth, but perhaps hid his forehead, nose, and cheeks.

Frowning slightly beneath his hood, the shadows managing to barely shadow his upper face, with the exception of his eyes, Gael spoke again. "But, no offense, I've got my own ride. Be better not to be seen just yet, being new and all. Anything anyone needs to know before I go get my ride?" He turned partially, as if beginning to leave, eyes drifting from Seth and to any of the others. Now they'd simply have to give the go ahead and he could follow them back. Later stake the place out to see if it was set up in a truly...safe location. Nonetheless, he'd need to meet up and have an explanation for his bailing them out. They'd want to know, he figured. He had no intention, even with their precog, of explaining the full breadth of his power.

If only he knew what sort of precog Seth was. Maybe asking wouldn't be so terrible later on. Though, he hoped to know sooner than later.

The Prophecy

I'on is going to notice that little glance and since his thoughts are already addressing the possible obstacle he might be to them (should they decide to no longer be allies of a sort) he's going to likely draw a few more conclusions (or educated guesses). It'll be something of confirmation for him.

This is surely going to be an...interesting relationship between these three, provided they remain associated. Also it's kind of interesting because it seems as if these three are almost their own party, rather than several people who are destined to join the main group at a later date :P

The Prophecy

@Mercinus3 Did Ixion glance towards I'on when he considered that he might be a threat to them (due to his affiliation with the authorities). Conversely did his expression change at all?

Worm - Chicago (High casual) (Superheroes and villains)

Gael, Verens Estrada

---

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 fed him. 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. Interesting, he thought as he began making correlations. When he fed suggestions into their mind he saw 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 hero 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 artist's 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 useful 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 like him first. After that, well, maybe he could get rid of Blackout.

He put it on his itinerary for later.

hi im matty b

Welcome. I have to ask, is the title to this a Leafy reference?

[yoshua171 Vs. LilyGold] Magic's Essentials

@Rilla @Innue can we have a ruling?

Worm - Chicago (High casual) (Superheroes and villains)

Bam a mean assist from Nightfall :P

Worm - Chicago (High casual) (Superheroes and villains)

Gael, Verens Estrada

---

It appeared that getting a sense of abilities was not so difficult as he would have thought, namely as he could recognize at least two of the individuals present by appearance and reputation alone. He smirked as he noted that one of them was a ward known as Chroma, while the other he'd identified appeared to be Blackout. In short he was not terribly impressed with the villain. What an idiot, he thought to himself with a chuckle even as he felt the tiniest amount of pity enter his psyche.

So it appeared there was a nullifier, but he was not a problem. He knew Blackout's effective range and he knew he was outside of it. The others appeared to have much less straightforwards powers as one seemed to be invisible--his being able to locate her entirely based on how she moved through his psionic web not to mention the fragmented impression of her surroundings that he found at the surface of her thoughts. The other ward was still a mystery to him as was the individual who appeared to be somehow molding the asphalt. He wondered how that was being done. Nonetheless half of both parties were idenitified in terms of ability and that meant one thing.

He could move.

Well, not literally as he had decided to stay where he was, but that was hardly the point.

Letting his awareness shift, the psionic web he had cast began to focus around Chroma becoming thicker and more solid, in a fashion. It would not physically impede the ward, but that was not the idea. Casting out tendrils of his influence to Blackout and his two compatriots, Gael utilized his telepathy to communicate a very simple message. "On the count of three attack or run," he telepathed to them, making his voice sound not like his own, but instead like their thoughts, disguising it as something that belonged.

He then counted to three, building layer upon layer of piercing needles around Chroma's head even as he sapped energy from everyone in his surroundings. "One..." his smile grew," ...two..." he continued, channeling hostility and pain into the psychic needles, "...three."

He snapped his fingers and in that moment the needles would slam into Chroma's undefended mind. Pure malice, fear, and a splitting pain would bombard the cocky ward as Gael fed the energy he was gathering into the attack. He was glad that cities were so jam packed with people, it made sustained psychic attacks much easier when he could be constantly sapping upwards of 50 people at once. Perhaps it would be more fitting for him to be active during the day till he gathered enough energy. That way he'd never be at too much of a disadvantage, he thought.

All the while he altered the shape of the needles, allowing them grooves and giving them a spin so that they acted like drills, burrowing into the Ward's mind. A dark smile played across his face as he drank in the suffering of his victim. It was too bad that it wasn't yet wise for him to stick around and wait till the ward succumbed to him.

It would have been wonderful to have a new puppet, especially one with such a useful ability.

Oh well.