:: Azura enters the alley and sighs. She just wasted a lot of time there with Veronica, she would love to shower and get the sand off of herself but she needs to tend to this premonition.::

(Paige.)

::Moments later, Paige orbs in. She's still hunched over her stomach. Stupid Prue.::

"Hey, sweetie."

::She straightens up but her arms are folded over herself.::

"What's with the sand...?"

:: Azura feels embarrassed by the state of her clothing and her hair.::

"Do you honestly wish to know?"

::Paige frowns slightly.::

"Depends what it involves..."

(Man, it's cold today.)

:: Azura looks suddenly guilty and averts her gaze.::

"Can we go, please?"

"Uh... sure..."

(Did she just call me for a ride?)

::Uncertainly, Paige moves towards her girlfriend and takes a gentle hold of her, orbing them to Azura's.::

"... I can just orb us there."

::Luke enters the darkened alley with Sharon, looking around to make sure that no one is around.::

"Grab a hold of me."

"..."

::Sharon places a hand on Luke's arm, certainly not thinking about the idea of grabbing a hold of him.::

::And voilá! To Sharon's they go, in a cluster of orbs.::

::Melinda orbs in and runs from the alley through the streets. She arrives at Ed's Diner.::

::Luke enters the alley with both Azura and Melinda and they orb to the hallway in the school's lower level.::

::From here, Majora shimmers Paige to the attic of the manor.::

::Birmingham shimmers in, still walking, and continues through the streets to Ed's Diner.::

::Birmingham returns about forty minutes later, this time with Dean in tow.::

"It's a pity he's so far away. He'll have to catch a cab."

"As long as he does."

::Dean smirks at Birmingham.::

"Ready?"

"Sure thing, sugar."

::Flashing her teeth, Birmingham wraps one arm around the back of Dean's neck and pulls him towards her. She tugs his face into her breasts, arching her back towards him, and slides one knee up the ouside of his thigh. She is such a poser. She shimmers them to Constantinople in this position.::

::Two men haul Maguire into the alley from the streets. Panting, they shove him up against the wall.::

"You dropped this, dork."

::One of them thrusts a copy of The Amazing Spider-Man into his face.::

"I guess that means you didn't want it!"

::He swiftly tears the book in two.::

::Maguire doesn't show much reaction. The comic wasn't cheap, but it's not a rarity. And if he expresses his dismay, they'll just get worse. He thought this would end after high school, he really did.::

"You gonna cry cos I wrecked your cartoons?"

::Taunting, the man grins into Maguire's face, then puts his hand around behind him and takes his wallet. He opens it and blatantly pulls the $30 from it, dropping the empty leather onto the ground. Naturally, it lands in a puddle.::

"Thanks, man!"

"My pleasure."

"Don't get smart with me."

::The man, barely out of his teens himself, delivers a smart punch to Maguire's stomach.::

::With a loud grunt, Maguire bends double - or tries to, but the other guy is holding him up.::

::Shaking his head, the man dusts his hands off and steps away.::

"Come on."

::He turns, stepping on the loosely flapping pages of the comic book while doing so, and starts walking away. The other lets go of Maguire, but not before punching him again. They leave.::

::The second one was hard enough to make Maguire drop to his knees, spit dripping from his open mouth as his face screws up in pain. He fumbles for a minute, trying to contain it, then eventually the pain subsides and he gets up. He picks up his soaked wallet. The cards will be fine, but he needed those thirty dollars. That's another extra shift he'll need to work. He wishes he had a job at somewhere better.

Sighing, he picks up the torn comic. It's totally wrecked. The ink has bled, the paper looks like someone's chewed on it and spat it out, and it's dirty with the murky puddlewater. He trashes it in a dumpster and walks dejectedly back out to the street.::