A Walk Down City Streets

Neal Winters was walking along the streets of Chicago, wearing his black pinstriped suit with a white shirt and red tie. It seemed fitting for the area, it made him seem more intimidating than most of the suits he had in his possession. Of course, that was only a good thing because of the area; Chicago was a mess of crime, and something he wanted to clean up. If his physique were greater or he had some better equipment, Neal would not waste a second in destroying this town and cleaning the streets. Of course, he was working on several pieces of equipment that may eventually get him to the point where he could effectively combat any of these miscreants. Neal made it a point to keep his surroundings in check, this was not a place where he could go without the fear of an attempted mugging. Still, the gun hidden beneath his jacket would likely prevent most attempts on his wallet.

He was near to some skyscrapers, but then when aren't you in this city. He saw names of lawyer's offices and banks adorning the signage of every skyscraper, it almost came as surprise to him that this many people could make it in one place. But then, every mob boss needs a lawyer and these lawyers were all thirsty for some cash. He walked with a certain swiftness that was common in large cities, but he knew that his top speed was well under most meta-humans. Compared to the average thug, he might be considered around average; people with actual skill though made him look like a standstill. Only his combat prowess through practice and extensive study separated him from a common criminal. That and an intellect that made all regular humans seem as if they created only toys for weapons. That was something that he would not think to now though.

Many people walked beside him, some seemed eager to try and steal money off of unsuspecting stragglers. He of course was far more than that, and would leave anybody attempting that with flayed skin on bone for an arm. He looked in the grimy windows that adorned a small flat stuck between two large buildings. From the side or the rear, he looked like an old man, his white hair in stark contrast to the youth and gifts he held. At the same time, he felt it made for an excellent cover when out in large cities. Most would look at a person wearing a suit with white hair to be an old man with little strength. He was quite the opposite, able to resist even the strongest gun shots or powerful explosions while sustaining little to no damage. It was something that made most people who tried to steal from him run in fear, weapons not working often meant that they would not get away without some serious injury.

For now though, he would continue walking. Perhaps he would be able to meet some new people, make a friend in the city most laden with crime in the United States. Of course, a friend to him would not mean he could trust that person. He would just wait and see what would happen on his visit to the "windy city."

It was a cold day in the city of Chicago and Brandon Hale was out and about. Niall was perhaps doing whatever it was that he did when not around the manor, the little blonde Sean had disappeared and that meant that Aaron was back to the apparent gloom that he was so used to being in. He was doing a little evening exercise, or how that came down was a simple jog, dressed in a wife beater and dark blue colored cargo pants. The male would have needed to jog around the planet twice to really have felt any fatigue, but then again it was just nice to run about the city, the one that he was raised in for most of his life.

Apparently the werewolf population had begun to grow rowdy within the city, and it was up to Brandon to deal with them, even though he was sure his mom could grab a silver blade and kill them in one night. A soft breeze ran through his hair, causing Brandon to shudder lightly as he continued his jog, the pace far quicker than most people, even when he wasn’t trying. Just punch some werewolves, and then come home for that chocolate pie his mom was baking. The thought of the sweet made him salivate and caused his attention to swerve slightly.

It was within this moment of attention lost that he managed to bump into someone, a little hard but not enough to cause any damage to someone, just hurt. The male’s eyes widened for a moment, finding that the person in question was a rather unimposing silver hared male. Something about the hair was strange, but not enough to really warrant suspicion, so he simply smiled at him and let hands drift into his pockets. ”Er,..sorry about that.”

Neal looked at this person closely, the other person walking into him was stiff, something that would have probably knocked the wind out of a regular person. Neal looked carefully upon this person, a blonde man with a tank-top and blue cargo pants. It seemed peculiar for anybody to dress this way in the weather as it was. Of course, there were many meta-humans in this city and at least some likely capable of walking without being cold. Still, this person felt like a brick wall. That was something Neal usually associated with himself, but this person seemed to hold a similar level of endurance. One that would brush off even the full power of his gun as if it were nothing. 'I better hope he isn't after anything' At that moment, the man that bumped into him apologized for running into Neal. 'I guess my temporary worry has no base, this person seems to be rather polite.' Looking at this person carefully, Neal investigated every bit of him. The man was short, at least four inches shorter than himself, but far more built.

Even though this person seemed apologetic, Neal checked for his wallet before responding. Finding it still there, Neal felt no need to be unsociable to this rather kind stranger in comparison to most around here. "Thank you for apologizing, it is not common for people to be sorry for accidents around here." Neal paused for just a moment, seeing if he could figure out who this person was. His knowledge had given him a bit of disadvantage in talking to people, most people with a picture online could be pointed out by Neal. It made them a bit uncomfortable around him, but this person seemed to be less popular. Either that, or it was some kind of celebrity, those people always escaped him also. "My name is Neal, Neal Winters. What is yours, if you don't mind my asking?" Neal had already scanned the area thoroughly, he knew that there was nobody around beside this person for now. At least not that would be willing to go around to steal is wallet.

Neal let himself relax slightly, showing that he was even younger than his face may normally show him to be. It was strange to see a person not even legally considered an adult walking about an area like this alone, but then not all of them were meta-humans capable of hyper advanced thought processing. 'A friend perhaps, that would be convenient. At least then I'd have somebody to look up when heading over to Chicago.' He would pause now, awaiting a response from this mystery stranger, perhaps he could recall some information about him with a name to work off of.

"You’re welcome..I guess,” Brandon said shrugging as the guy seemed to thank him for apologizing, when the correct response would have been to tell him to watch where the hell he was going. Not that Brandon minded the kindness, considering that it was better than being yelled at, so he somewhat shrugged it off. The guy then introduced himself, the name seeming rather exotic in a  way, but then again it was perhaps just not a name he heard much of. With a slightly large grin forming across his lips, Brandon would answer his question. ’I’m Brandon…Brandon Hale..” He said extending a hand forward to be shooken before letting it fall to his side. It was then that he noticed the kids hair color and for a moment wondered if it was natural, or perhaps dyed in that manner. ’nice hair, is it natural or..did ya dye it?” It was a question worded with a kind enough tone.

Neal recognized the name Hale, but was not as familiar about them as some of the families he had heard about. He thought it likely that this person was related, but since he knew very little of the family was not about to make any assumptions about him. Still though, having friends in high places was never a bad thing. Especially when it was in an area that was rarely visited, which was very true of Chicago for Neal.

Brandon asking about Neal's hair, was something that Neal had expected of him. For a person at Neal's age to have white hair was unheard of, the total lack of hair pigmentation at the age of just seventeen. Of course, Neal used this to his advantage in educated society. Many considered him wiser or older because of his hair, especially because it was such a pure white. His hair caused few to guess that his true age was under twenty, and even fewer to suspect him of being a genius. Such hair with a face like his was thought to be dyed that way, and an intelligent person would never take the time to dye their hair.

Still, Neal would respond to Brandon's question with the honest answer. "My hair is naturally white, but very few expect that. Anything else you want to ask right away?"

So his hair was naturally that color? Brandon found himself amused by that, not that he was too surprised since his master hair color was as red as a strawberry or something like that, and it was natural too. However he did not really have any other question for this stranger that he ran into, nothing that was of real importance. 'No, I actually don't at the moment.” He admitted cocking his head to the side, perhaps not too pleased with how poor of a conversationalist he was being.

Neal had to think of something to saw to this stranger, knowing that he could speak more than enough when he had best leave his mouth shut. Just then, Neal thought he remembered something about the name Hale. Still, he wasn't about to bring anything up.

"Anything you do for work Brandon?" Neal wasn't going to say what he did for work just yet, as he wanted to better know this person he was interacting with.

'I wonder if he's seen me in magazines before, I have been in Time at least twice before, and one time the front cover picture.' At the very least, Neal would wait to say anything more until Brandon had spoken.

What did he do for work exactly? Brandon knew he had some kind of vocation, though he was more than capable of using the Hale family money whenever he needed to. It was then that he remembered what he did, a simple vocation really, yet a few people found themselves surprised that he did so; which was modeling. ’Yeah, I do a little modeling….well a lot of modeling but it’s mostly for fun. When I’m not doing that I don’t really need to work.” He scratched his chin for a second as if trying to rid himself of an itch. "Not like you need a major job when you have a ton of money or anything.”

Neal was slowly awaiting a response from this man who had run into him, who seemed to be in deep thought wonder what he did for a living. If he really took this long, it seemed likely to Neal that he was probably a very rich individual. Or at least his money had enough money that he needn't worry about anything. Either way, it seemed that he was a very fortunate man.

As he spoke, Neal wondered how he took so long to remember that he was a model. Not that he would have immediately guessed it, but it wasn't outrageous or impossible. In fact, it wasn't even improbable. At the same time, he confirmed Neal's suspicion that he came from money, and probably lots of it.

In response, Neal would speak himself, telling this person what he did for a living. "Very interesting, sounds like you have a relaxed schedule. I am a lecturer, I visit colleges and universities around the world. An interesting job also, but so much travel can get tiresome." Neal spoke with absolute honesty about everything he said, looking almost distraught about needing to travel so much when he said it.

”You could say that, I kinda make my own schedule.” He admitted with a shrug, when in all reality that was the complete truth. In fact part of him was planning to just keep walking on, but then something crashed through a building, a large serpentine being that Brandon could barely catch sight of. A large lashing tail swatted about, flattening a car and digging deep grooves into the ground. It was not what he was expecting but then again Brandon would have to deal with…what was that. The thing thrashed about on its back as if something had thrown it there, and within a few moments the being simply rolled onto powerful legs, dark scales glistening within its own way. A loud guttural growl emanated from its jaw as it shattered glass, as well as sending a pang of pain through his eardrums, something about that sound seeming to hurt his ears gretly. This was not going to be a fun day at all.

Neal listened to this man, and then figured that he would walk on now. That was until he saw a giant snake-like creature emerge from a nearby building, it seemed that Neal would have a fight on his hands. He immediately reached into his jacket, removing a pistol from it and setting it to the highest power piercing setting. He needed to damage this thing, and that is what Neal figured his only chance was. Snakes have very strong scales, and this thing was probably the same. His concussive and slashing settings would likely not do enough damage, as they were too widespread, but the piercing setting was pinpointed damage.

As he was about to fire, there was a growl that set him on edge, bringing his hands to cover his ears but holding onto the gun still. 'What is this thing? It's roar is capable of putting me down like this? I'd had to see what the bite of this thing could do.' Neal fired off two shots in rapid succession, aiming as best as he could at the head of this thing. He wanted to at least stop it from growling and hoped that one of the shots would hit inside the mouth of this creature.