As the party trades introductions (and verbal jabs), Santana checks his wrist; an obnoxiously large gold watch sits there, though you couldn't say whether he was wearing it a minute before. "Well, I'm glad we're all friends, but now that you've all accepted my deal we're in a bit of a crunch. Time works different in the world of dreams, except when it doesn't. I'll let you finish this conversation and decide your next move in a more familiar location. Remember: be clever. Be quick. Cause as much trouble as you can." He gives them a wide smile, and his mouthful of gold teeth made it literally dazzling.

"If you need me, you have my card."

Santana snaps his fingers, and you are struck with what feels like an electrical shock from the card you are holding in your hand (or beak). It's not painful, but is is deeply uncomfortable, and you find yourself unable to release the card. The fractal pattern on the surface closest to you starts to resolve; the colors and shapes that have been moving at random now shift with purpose, revealing a picture painted in Baroque style.

Luka, in the middle of your card is what looks like the offspring of a unicycle and a penny farthing. Its single enormous wheel has eight spokes, and the four cardinal directions are marked with the Hermetic symbols of the four elements. The wheel is circumscribed on a circular map of the world, painted in green and gold. The four corners of the card are marked with different drink glasses--a glass of fine wine, a martini glass with garnish, a mimosa, and a lowball of whiskey. Sitting astride the great unicycle of the world is your likeness, hands outstretched down towards the Earth. Across the top of the card is written: X - The Wheel of Fortune.

Emily, your card is divided in half. On the left side, it depicts the front of a modern public library, in black and white. On the right, it bears the image of an old Greek temple, but the colors are all wrong; instead of stark white against green and blue, the image is a patchwork of colorful, saturated tones. Straddling the divide is you. Your likeness holds an open leather-bound book in front of her chest with one hand, its pages facing out, and her other holds an old-style fountain pen to the sky, placed directly in the middle of the card so it looks like she has drawn the divide between the two sides. On the right side, she is clad in your normal going-to-class clothing; on the left, she wears billowing Greek-style robes. Across the top of the card is written: II - The High Priestess.

Ashley, your card also depicts a library, but the inside rather than the outside. Specifically, it is the library you spent most of your time in growing up. In the background, stacks of books merge with the circulation desk merge with the computer lab merge with seasonal displays in an alien geometry. In the foreground, your likeness sits at a large wooden table. She is dressed in the rough brown robes of an asthetic monk, and the table is piled with dusty tomes. A scroll occupies the center of the table, and spills over the far side down past the bottom of the card. Leaned against a stack of books to one side is a ceremonial staff; as your depiction looks down at the scroll, finger tracing the lines and face locked in concentration, the carved sculpture of an eye that sits atop the staff looks up to the heavens. Across the top of the card is written: V - The Hierophant.

The Crow, your card, appropriately enough, has a metallic sheen to it. The border is decorated with the various objects you have appropriated over the years; a parade of coins, tie clips, credit cards, bottlecaps, and so on in alternating shades of copper, silver, and gold. The background is the New York City skyline. The tops of the buildings glitter in rainbow colors which vanish as you go down, eventually becoming solid black. Imposed on top of them is an iron-grey cocoon which has split open at the top; your likeness emerges from the top of it, your wings akimbo. You are flying upwards in the scene, forming a silouette against the dazzling buildings, except where your white feathers are etched in pearl. Across the top of the card is written: XIII - Death.

The sensation leaves as swiftly as it came, and when you regain your senses, you are all once again sitting in a booth in Mario's. This time, however, you are all sitting in the same booth. Each of you has a cup of coffee in front of you, and a small plate of creamer sits in the middle of the table. A small scrap of paper is tucked under the plate; upon closer examination, it's a bar tab slip, and scrawled on it: "A little pick me up, on the house ;)"

The hour is early, and the restaurant is almost empty, but the smell of cooking grease and strong coffee hang heavy in the air as the staff prepare for the coming breakfast rush. A waitress behind the counter watches the few patrons for empty coffee cups, while they in turn tend to their meals with various levels of lethargy. In short, the scene is all too familiar. Danger is around the corner--literally, in all likelihood--but you have a few precious minutes to talk among yourselves before you have to act. Your only advantages are a feeling of pressure--of potential--that you can now sense hovering in the back of your mind, and the fact that now, you know what's coming.

Luka blinked in shock as the swift transition from death to life and bar to diner came to an end. He quickly shook his head to get his mind back on task however. He looked to each of his newfound fellows sitting in the booth with him, his gaze lingering on Ashley the longest as he filed her answer to his question away for later. Then he turned his eyes upon the diner entire. Most of the guests that had been attending day two of his twelve day Christmas party had departed to rest up for day three. Of those that remained, only two held any real value to Luka. "Montague?" Luka spoke up.

"The young master has need of me?" Luka's faithful butler inquired from the next booth over.

"I do indeed." Luka replied with a nod. "Go and warm up the limo, if you'd be so kind."

"At once, young master." Montague voiced compliance with a bow of his head, before departing to perform the task.

"Calling it quits, Luka?" An androgynous figure who had been sitting next to Montague piped up curiously. "Usually you're the last one out."

"I'm nowhere near done just yet, Jesse." Luka reassured his favorite fixer. "Just figured I'd give Montague an excuse to be elsewhere. He hides it well, but I know parties aren't really his thing. And who knows, perhaps a warm limo might be useful." Luka leaned closer to Jesse and quietly added "It's amazing how quickly things can escalate around here."

"...It is?" Jesse asked with an arch of one eyebrow. A moment later, a look of understanding came to the fixer's face.

"Indeed." Luka replied. "...Say, didn't you say you needed to make a call earlier?"

"You're right." Jesse said while rising quickly to their feet. "I'll go do that now."

"It's cold out." Luka commented as Jesse began moving towards the door. "Feel free to join Montague in the limo."

"Thank you kindly." Jesse said before making their exit.

"That takes care of that." Luka said before turning back to his boothmates, taking a sip of the coffee, and continuing. "Now then, do any of you want to delude yourselves into thinking that yours is the plan that will survive contact with the enemy or can we all agree that the Indy Ploy is the greatest thing ever and let the fun begin?"

Just as everyone was introducing themselves, Santana seemed to think that pleasantries had gone on long enough. After a brief shock of pain, the Crow blinked to find himself once again in a completely different place. This time, however, the place was somewhat familiar to him.

"Huh," he said, a little surprised. "Never been on this side of the windows before." He looked around him for a moment before noticing the coffee on the table. "Ooh, what's this?" He flutter up onto the table and put his beak into the liquid... only to immediately withdraw at the both the mixture of intense heat and bitterness it gave him. "BLERRRGH!" he said, shaking his head. "You humans drink this stuff? Preposterous!"

He shook himself again before looking at his newfound teammates... and suddenly felt quite odd. He'd barely taken a sip of the dark liquid but it seemed it was already having an effect on his small form. He heard and understood Luka's words, but for him they seemed to be in slow motion. In fact, everything seemed to be slow motion for him. He himself however...

"Waitwhat?" he said, his words coming out quickly without him pausing for breath. "Whyareyoualltalkinglikethat? Whatshappening?" His left eye starts twitching as the caffeine starts to take effect.

"We need to work on your name later, I'll go call you Crow for now." Ashley decided as she conversed with the group, it appears that K-Pop guy and the crow have a history, something she should inquire for later.

Durand huh?, Ashley thought as if the surname explained a lot to her of course she will know that name. It appeared countless times in their classes after all.

There is also the news of them backing her father, god this life got more complicated.

"I would appreciate if we don't talk about my surname Mr. Durand, I've been trying to get it changed to Herrera for years and my petition is constantly blocked every turn. As far as I'm concerned I am not one those Whitlocks, got it?" Ashley's voice suddenly went colder in tone Emily never her take. The room felt it's been colder in an instant.

And Luka felt that he might actually die if he pushed further.

Seriously she met the whole family one time and any thoughts of tolerating them went down the drain. The tolerable one is Wesley, a literal infant and ironically his father not that she will say it to his face.

---

Ashley opened her eyes at the counter looking at the surroundings as she listens to Luka.

"There is too little information for us to craft a quick plan." Ashley answered as she looked at the door. "But we could use precautions to take the advantageous positions when we went into contact with the enemy." she spoke as she took the coffee and obliterated it in one gulp.

"I'm asleep when we got ourselves killed to can anyone explained to me what happened that time?" she further asked to the group before tending to the Crow.

"That's coffee, think of it as a surge of energy in liquid form. It seems it is more effective on you since you typically don't drink one."

She took a glass of water and placed it near the Crow.

"Drink up, I hope this could help you."

New Ties if approved

4. She must be careful around Luka, he might bring her unwelcome developments to her life.
5. She hates being a Whitlock.

The Crow's head jerked in Ashley's direction as the girl placed a glass of water in front of him. He looked for a moment, studying her face. Of his new teammates, she was the only one he had no prior memory of. She probably didn't frequent Mario's that often.

He hadn't appreciated her comment of wanting to call him 'Crow' as if he were some commoner, but he'd also noticed her discomfort when Luka had taken note of her surname. Interesting that someone so particular about their own name would be so careless with another's. Perhaps she just didn't understand, and he'd correct her later.

You know, when they weren't in immediate danger and when the room was no longer in slow motion.

"Ohthankyou," he said, before sticking his head in the glass of water. Ah yes, this was a much better drink, and it helped cool his still-burning beak. After taking a few refreshing gulps, he raised his head from the glass and shook himself, sending a cascade of droplets all over the table. He surveyed his surroundings for a moment. Things hadn't quite returned to their normal speed, but they were no longer slow as they were before. Plus, the room didn't feel like it was buzzing.

Yes, much more tolerable. He gave an approving nod to Ashley.

Upon hearing Luka ask about Ashley's last name, she shot Luka a warning glare. Of course it went ignored. Emily even knew that Ashley didn't like talking about the people who shared her last name. That was a line Emily herself learned not to cross while sharing the dorm room with Ashley.

But the conversation was quickly cut short when Santana spoke up, mentioning that they didn't have time, and snapped his fingers. Emily found herself gripping at her card and not letting go, as though she had been shocked and her fingers wouldn't listen when she thought of letting go of the card. She watches as the card takes form of a tarot card, the design bearing her likeness of her own appearance! One half of her is her normal self in jeans, shirt, hoodie, and sneakers, while the other half is that of a greek priestess!

Straddling between reality and imagination...
Bridging, defining, and also making a clear line between the two...
This is her...?!

She is brought back to her senses and found herself sitting at the booth in Mario's with Luka, Ashley, and the Crow...as though nothing had happened. She noticed the coffee left behind with a note, clearly indicating it was from Santana.

Luka easily takes care of getting two people he knew out of the cafe, but there were still others here...

When he mentioned the Indy Ploy and just having fun, she answers in sarcasm, "Only if you want to die again. I'm not so keen on that,"

While she would have helped the Crow with the caffeine, she became too focused on her thoughts and trying to figure out what to do. Thankfully, Ashley was able to help the Crow in her stead.

Emily recalled the mentioned gifts that Santana mentioned, and upon thinking about it, she felt her mind divert its attention to her journal and pen that she carries around everywhere! Her eyes widened as she pulls out the journal and pen in question.

The journal appears to be a small, black leather covered book on the surface, and her pen just a standard fountain pen, and that was all it was before she died. But...when Emily opened her journal, she finds that after her previous passage she had written, new words were appearing in beautiful cursive describing the present moment as the group speaks, not too unlike seeing how words appear in Tom Marvolo Riddle's Diary.

Yes, the very words you are reading now appear in the journal!

Emily could not help but gape in awe, and amazement upon realizing the possibilities!

She looks around the cafe, and she whispers to the group, "I have an idea. Hopefully this can give us more time and room to prepare, and get innocent bystanders out of the way. Just stay quiet..."

She proceeds to uncap the fountain pen, and the self-writing journal stops. She takes the point to the pages, and proceeds to write...

"In this quiet moment within Mario's, Head Waitress Diana feels the creeping sensation of danger lurking outside. Her intuition warns her not to ignore her senses. In order to heed this warning, she knows that she needs to close Mario's early and as quickly as possible. As she does so, she remains oblivious to the presence of Emily Sanderson, Ashley Whitlock, Luka Durand, and the Crow."

Emily then caps the pen again, and she watches as faint light dances across the words she just wrote before continuing to write on its own.

She looks up and watches to see if her idea works, biting at her own thumbnail nervously. She knew it sounded crazy on the surface, but she felt as though her writing would actually work to influence things in their favor...

She looks around the cafe, and she whispers to the group, "I have an idea. Hopefully this can give us more time and room to prepare, and get innocent bystanders out of the way. Just stay quiet..."

She proceeds to uncap the fountain pen, and the self-writing journal stops. She takes the point to the pages, and proceeds to write...

"In this quiet moment within Mario's, Head Waitress Diana feels the creeping sensation of danger lurking outside. Her intuition warns her not to ignore her senses. In order to heed this warning, she knows that she needs to close Mario's early and as quickly as possible. As she does so, she remains oblivious to the presence of Emily Sanderson, Ashley Whitlock, Luka Durand, and the Crow."

Emily then caps the pen again, and she watches as faint light dances across the words she just wrote before continuing to write on its own.

She looks up and watches to see if her idea works, biting at her own thumbnail nervously. She knew it sounded crazy on the surface, but she felt as though her writing would actually work to influence things in their favor...

Emily, you don't have to wait long to see the results. Diana was already standing behind the counter and looking out at the street, enjoying a rare moment of quiet to people-watch the early morning crowd. Her calm, contemplative expression tightens up by degrees, starting at the her eyebrows working its way down to her jaw. She's an older woman--a career waitress, who has worked in New York City since she in her twenties. She has learned over the years to trust her intuition when it tells her there's danger nearby. Closing the restaurant isn't technically her call, and she'll probably catch hell for it, but she's a fundamentally decent person, and it's not like it'll be the first time she's been fired. Still, she knows that the rest of the staff probably won't have her confidence...

"Gas leak!" Her voice rings out over the murmur of conversation, and just about everyone in the restaurant turns to look at her. "Everyone, you need to leave! There's a gas leak!" She starts herding her fellow waitstaff out from behind the counter, to the point where she almost shoves a young woman half her age into the lobby. "You two, get the customers out! I'll check back of house!" Diana squares her shoulders and marches into the kitchen; distantly, you can hear her animated conversation with the line cooks. At the same time, a middle-aged waiter and the young woman Diana had manhandled from behind the counter follow her instructions with equal levels of confusion and alacrity. You can tell that within a couple of minutes, the restaurant will be empty of everyone except your party. As they evacuate, neither the staff nor the patrons pay any attention to your party; it is as if they have forgotten you are in the restaurant.

However, you do not remain unaffected. You feel the psychic feedback as a rippling sensation running down your arm from your Eidolon, and when it reaches your head, you are filled with the same sense of danger and foreboding you inflicted in the waitress. You're distracted by the sudden urge to flee with everyone else; take -1 forward.

Emily, you don't have to wait long to see the results. Diana was already standing behind the counter and looking out at the street, enjoying a rare moment of quiet to people-watch the early morning crowd. Her calm, contemplative expression tightens up by degrees, starting at the her eyebrows working its way down to her jaw. She's an older woman--a career waitress, who has worked in New York City since she in her twenties. She has learned over the years to trust her intuition when it tells her there's danger nearby. Closing the restaurant isn't technically her call, and she'll probably catch hell for it, but she's a fundamentally decent person, and it's not like it'll be the first time she's been fired. Still, she knows that the rest of the staff probably won't have her confidence...

"Gas leak!" Her voice rings out over the murmur of conversation, and just about everyone in the restaurant turns to look at her. "Everyone, you need to leave! There's a gas leak!" She starts herding her fellow waitstaff out from behind the counter, to the point where she almost shoves a young woman half her age into the lobby. "You two, get the customers out! I'll check back of house!" Diana squares her shoulders and marches into the kitchen; distantly, you can hear her animated conversation with the line cooks. At the same time, a middle-aged waiter and the young woman Diana had manhandled from behind the counter follow her instructions with equal levels of confusion and alacrity. You can tell that within a couple of minutes, the restaurant will be empty of everyone except your party. As they evacuate, neither the staff nor the patrons pay any attention to your party; it is as if they have forgotten you are in the restaurant.

However, you do not remain unaffected. You feel the psychic feedback as a rippling sensation running down your arm from your Eidolon, and when it reaches your head, you are filled with the same sense of danger and foreboding you inflicted in the waitress. You're distracted by the sudden urge to flee with everyone else; take -1 forward.

Ashley watched as Emily began writing at her notebook at first she initially thought that she had a plan that she needs to list down for them only to 'feel' something is being changed. Like the world has a script it is meant to follow.

But as every single person leave out of blue, she can see the script slowly change, as the actors began to leave and stage is about to set.

Is this the gift that is given to Emily by Santana? If it is then this feeling was her gift.

Ashley closed her eyes and began to 'feel' harder, what Emily did showed her that the future can change and such process is something she could feel so that makes her wonder.

Could she see the future? There is only one way to find out.

Ashley closed her eyes and began to 'feel' harder, what Emily did showed her that the future can change and such process is something she could feel so that makes her wonder.

Could she see the future? There is only one way to find out.

Ashley, you focus in on that sensation. At first, it's almost like deja vu; you have the feeling that you've seen all this play out before, in some half-remembered past time. Consciously reaching for that power, you begin to dial it in like a radio, seeking more clarity and farther reach. It starts fuzzy and indistinct. The sense of deja vu intensifies, and you begin to catch little scraps of images, impressions of sound. Then something clicks--there's a second of vertigo--and you see...

Well, it's still the diner. All of the staff and customers have cleared out, except for your table. Ashley, Luka, and The Crow are still discussing and/or arguing over the best course of action. So are you, for that matter, but the "you" that is doing the arguing isn't the same as the "you" that is doing the perceiving. Glancing at a nearby clock, you see that your vision has taken you only about two minutes in the future. Not very far, but apparently far enough, because no sooner do you have time to register the information than the door of the restaurant flies open, jingling the hanging bells and sending classified scattering across the floor.

This time, though, you can see the creature that comes through the door. Its strange, elongated body looks tall, but upon second glance, it probably only comes up to your chest. It stands on cloven hooves that support too-thin legs; its upper body and face are that of a goat, but the neck is far too long, and great bat wings extend from its back. It has hooved forelimbs as well, but it seems to be bipedal, though its hooves slip and slide on the diner's tile floor.

It falls to the ground as it crashes in the diner, but immediately regains its footing and starts scrambling past the booths, making a break for the back of the restaurant. Its face is alien to you, but something in its expression and manner tells you that the creature is terrified and running from something. At the very least, it's definitely not the one in control here.

Out the front window of the diner, you see someone running down the sidewalk towards the restaurant. You're not sure what draws your attention to him initially--it's New York City, someone running down the sidewalk isn't exactly unheard of--but your eyes are on him as he skids to a stop in front of the diner. He's wearing a basic, black suit and tie with a white shirt, off the rack rather than tailored. His dark hair is cut Marine-style, high and tight. His face is red from exertion, and several band-aids have been stuck to it to cover small cuts. As he slows to a stop, he makes a gun with one hand and holds it out. His hand, like his face, is covered in band-aids, and as he points it at the creature, you see something start to materialize behind him. Just before the vision ends, the apparition's head takes the form, looking over his shoulder; it is a small metal drum, smiley face painted on it with safety orange, and a lit fuse extending from the top.

Then you blink, and you're back in the present.

Ashley snapped back to reality, her face suddenly serious as she looked around around one hundred twenty seconds to prepare a counterattack and put countermeasures into place.

She could do that...

"Crow." Ashley spoke giving orders like a chess player playing a script in it's favor. "I need you to find an specific man in a suit and tie somewhere outside, he is wearing bandages which is like a white cloth that covers the skin, he is the one behind this."

She then turned to Emily as she pointed the fire extinguisher pinned on the wall. "We're going to need that." she spoke as she moved around the restaurant for weapons, she would find a metal pipe abandoned on the floor and a baseball that someone left.

She will give the latter to Luka.

"I hope you knew how to play baseball." she spoke as she waits.

"It's the Crow," the Crow corrected Ashley, but he once again nodded. "But I will go search for this man. However, I will probably require a weapon more substantial than my claws and be-" As he's speaking, the buzzing in his mind starts to grow louder, more electrical... and now, his teammates would be able to hear it too. Suddenly, all the cutlery in the diner starts floating upwards before suddenly flying across the room towards the group.

They stop inches before making contact with anyone.

The Crow looks at them, at first thinking this was the work of whoever had killed them... but then he felt some kind weird sensation within himself. Like something in his core was pulling the cutlery towards him. He raised a wing, pointing up, which caused all the cutlery to move to that spot, correlating in a cluster of wicked, shining points.

"Huh..." the Crow tilted his head to the side. "Well, I probably don't need that many-" As he said this, the ball fell to the ground with a loud clatter, save one lone steak knife which remained suspended in the air. "Er, yeah, that... that'll do." He reached out towards it and the knife came floating over to him. He grabbed in his beak. "I'll be right back!" he said... or at least, he tried to say. Then he flew out of the diner, knife still in beak, and began surveying for the man in question.

"Huh..." the Crow tilted his head to the side. "Well, I probably don't need that many-" As he said this, the ball fell to the ground with a loud clatter, save one lone steak knife which remained suspended in the air. "Er, yeah, that... that'll do." He reached out towards it and the knife came floating over to him. He grabbed in his beak. "I'll be right back!" he said... or at least, he tried to say, at least. Then he flew out of the diner, knife still in beak, and began surveying for the man in question.

The Crow takes to the sky above the busy street to begin the hunt. They say an eagle can spot its prey a mile distant, and some hawks can reach dive speeds of over a hundred miles an hour. But this is your territory; even before your rebirth, no hawk or eagle could have matched you as a hunter here. Now, with your newly uplifted intelligence and the power of your soul singing through the hollows of your bones, tracking someone down here of all places is as easy as flying.

Your eyes are immediately drawn to the sidewalk about a block down. From your bird's eye view, you first spot the spindly goat creature that Ashley saw in her vision. Despite having wings, it's running down the sidewalk, pushing its way past pedestrians and knocking over objects placed on the street. Though the people it rushes past are taken aback, they don't seem to track the thing that just pushed past them. There's one exception to that--one man who seems to be locked on to the bat-winged creature--and it takes you but a second to determine that it's the man Ashley sent you to find.


You know where this guy is and where he's heading. He doesn't even know you exist. There are a number of metal objects either on or adjacent to the sidewalk--bicycles, metal trash cans, car doors, etc. An hour earlier, moving anything big enough to trip him would have been beyond your abilities, but now...

While contemplating the possibilities, you spot something else. The man's suit jacket is flapping in the wind as he runs, and hanging from an inside pocket is something that gleams silver and gold in the morning sunlight. Your newfound senses tell you that the object is metallic--you may be able to use your Eidolon to steal whatever that is from him. If you focus on that, though, you probably won't have time to do anything to slow him down.

Luka watched as the others began tapping into their powers, Emily rewriting the narrative of the world itself to clear out the diner, Ashley having some sort of vision, and The Crow exerting control over all things metal. Seeing all of this happen, Luka decided he wanted to get in on that. But first, he had to answer one tiny question.

Just what exactly was it that he could do now?

As he considered this question, Luka's thoughts drifted back to the card he had received. The Wheel of Fortune. An apt card for one so fortunate as Luka. And his depiction in its artwork was equally appropriate. On top of the world, sitting astride it as if it were a simple mode of transportation. Surrounded by many desirable things. And if something was wanted that wasn't there? Getting it was as simple as reaching down and claiming it from the earth.

And just like that, Luka knew what he could do.

Anything. He could do anything he wanted. The Fates were merely kind to him before, but now they would bend over backwards to accommodate his every whim. Luka simply had to will something to be so and it would be as he wanted it to be. Luka closed his fingers over thin air, and a watermelon popsicle appeared in his grasp. "Baseball." Luka said, finally responding to the question he had only half heard Ashley ask. "I know the rules, but I always preferred to a spectator more than a player. As he said this, a pale, almost featureless man with a baseball bat materialized next to the booth and took the baseball that Ashley had offered to Luka.

Luka took a lick of the frozen treat he had summoned and smiled in satisfaction at the taste. Then a look of realization dawned on his features. "It occurs to me that we should probably do something to conceal our identities." Luka mused. "It wouldn't do to have our enemies putting faces to names and names to addresses... I think I can at the very least reduce risk of that though." With a moment's flex of will, Emily, Ashley, and Luka appeared very different from how they were before.

Emily was now dressed fully in the holy vestments she had been wearing in part in her card's picture. The only deviation from the art being a ceremonial mask that fully obscured her face.

Ashley was dressed in the monk's garb that her card depicted her wearing. The hood was drawn fully up and over her head, creating an impenetrable darkness that kept her face from view.

Luka himself hadn't changed himself in terms of clothing. Instead, his star shaped shades had begun to shine bright enough to render their wearer nothing more than a silhouette in the eyes of onlookers. Emily and Ashley were unaffected by the light though, and could still see Luka through the glow.

"Now that our faces are hidden, I reckon pseudonyms would be a good idea as well." Luka said. "Hiding our faces won't do much if we're still throwing our real names around... What do you think of..." He pointed at Emily. "The Writer..." Then at Ashley. "The Reader..." Then at himself. "And The Reveler?"

The Crow catches sight of his target from the skies, and as he does so, feels the buzzing in the air increase. So many shiny things here! So much more than he previously realised! It's almost overwhelming as the Crow sees all the ways he could attempt to stop this man in his tracks. However, when he took a closer look at the individual in question, something about him drew the Crow's focus.

Something shiny in one of the man's pockets.

Suddenly, the goal he had been given by Ashley vanished from his mind as curiosity and pride in his newfound abilities took over.

He motions with a talon as if he was trying to scoop something up, trying to hone in on that object in the man's pocket and pull it towards himself.

The Crow catches sight of his target from the skies, and as he does so, feels the buzzing in the air increase. So many shiny things here! So much more than he previously realised! It's almost overwhelming as the Crow sees all the ways he could attempt to stop this man in his tracks. However, when he took a closer look at the individual in question, something about him drew the Crow's focus.

Something shiny in one of the man's pockets.

Suddenly, the goal he had been given by Ashley vanished from his mind as curiosity and pride in his newfound abilities took over.

He motions with a talon as if he was trying to scoop something up, trying to hone in on that object in the man's pocket and pull it towards himself.

The Crow, if the pile of cutlery laying on the floor of Mario's is anything to judge by, your skill with your new power still falls short of your full potential. In this situation, though, that turns out not to matter. You beckon the shiny object you spotted within the man's jacket. It responds to your command as if it were Thor's hammer, being called by its rightful owner (and when you think about it, if this guy can't hold onto his stuff, don't you have a better claim to it anyway?) The force you exert throws the man off balance for a second--he can't have failed to notice the pull on his clothing--but whether by coincidence or corvid cunning, you timed your move just as a teenager brushes past your target, and you see him turn to bark an angry word rather than follow the object's flight up into the sky.

What reaches your talon is a smallish leather wallet. It folds in half, but is currently inverted. The glint you saw was a shield-shaped object, painted in gold and inlaid with various other colors, silver predominating. You've seen these before, pinned to the clothing of strangely dressed humans, but you're not sure you've ever seen one carried in a wallet like this. Across the top, silver letters read IDLN; another line curved along the bottom reads FIELD AGENT. There's something in the other flap of the wallet, but you can't see it right away, because a cheap plastic smartphone has been attached to that flap with a thick rubber band.

Ashley watched in concern as Luka singlehandedly put the world to it knees with his gift. The power of literal imagination, it sounds like a thing shouldn't be handed to a guy like Luka. Now she thought about it, how is his brand reality altering different from Emily's? They seemed redundant when you think about it.

Ashley shook her thoughts away, today is not the time to think about it.

She eyed the featureless man that took the bat from her this is good, probably better than what she expected. The sudden attire change and codenames is admittedly a nice touch although the specifics is something they can workshop a bit more.

"Everyone stay behind the 'Batter"', she instructed to everyone as they wait for approaching monster.

"Emily once it changed forms, douse the thing with fire extinguisher." she further instructed.

"Emily once it changed forms, douse the thing with fire extinguisher."

"Once it changes forms you mean." Luka said, taking a moment to enjoy a little more of his frozen treat before banishing the rest of it by simply releasing his grip. "More importantly though, I feel I must reiterate that using real names won't be a good idea once the enemy arrives. If you really don't like my ideas, don't use them. That's fine by me. But don't just go around saying stuff that'll give whoever we're fighting hints as to who we are... Unless..." Luka tilts his head as a glimmer of morbid curiosity enters his eyes. "Could it be that you don't plan on letting our guy walk away from this fight? My my, I didn't realize I was signing up for that kind of story... Not that it bothers me or anything. I'm fine with either route."

Emily had not expected it to work, but it did! Diana, strict as she may have been, actually did care about the people around her and heeded the warning! She got everyone out of the diner with the excuse of a gas leak, while the four of them were as good as invisible. Before she could say anything, she felt recoil from her own journal, and the energy crawled up to her mind from her arm holding the pen.

Fear clenched its ugly fist around her heart again and she could feel her heart race once more. She tries to control her breathing as she speaks to her friends quietly, "So, there's a cost...!" Her words go unheard as she watches her new affiliates tap into their gifts from Santana.

Ashley suddenly seems to have an idea on what to do, The Crow is suddenly able to control metal, and Luka...is conjuring up things of his own accord? But there didn't seem to be a rhyme or reason behind his conjurations.

She blinked once to find herself suddenly wearing the grecian priestess robes from her card, and the ceremonial mask on her face! She nodded in agreement at the explanation for the disguises and code names. She answered the code names with a "Not bad. I can go with that. Makes us sound like we're a different variation of the Three Fates," before she moves to grab the fire extinguisher and stand by her friends with it.

She nods at Ashley's instruction, before she turns an irritated look to Luka disapprovingly. She reprimands him, "Now's not the time to be getting at each other for verbal mistakes. And no, we're not killing anyone, 'Reveler',"

With those stern words spoken, she readies the fire extinguisher.

"Perish the thought, my dear Writer." Was Luka's blithe reply to Emily sternly rejecting the possibility of using deadly force. The Reveler made a mental note to keep his actions during the upcoming confrontation strictly non-lethal. He had no strong feelings one way or the other, so he was more than willing to follow the preferences of those who cared more than he did. So long as nobody they were up against found out who they were, Luka was happy.

That last thought caused some strange newfound instinct to flare up in the back of Luka's mind. An instinct that conveyed a very important piece of information regarding his desire for anonymity while performing these supernatural shenanigans he and his fellows now found themselves a part of.

"Keep in mind that there is a range to my ability." Luka gave voice to his instinct and warned the others. "Should you at any point stray further than fifteen feet from my side, the disguises that I have procured for you will vanish until you are back in range again."

The party is as prepared as they are likely to be, which is fortunate because they are out of time. The goat-bat creature comes through the door at what, given its anatomy, passes for a dash. Cloven hooves immediately begin skittering on the tile floor, and its spindly legs almost fall out from under it, but it manages to recover and looks up at the three of you. Judging by the wideness of its eyes and the screeching, bleating sound it lets out, it is not reassured by your presence, and immediately goes to leap over the diner's counter, hoping to bypass you entirely and flee into the kitchen.

As that happens, the man following it reaches the diner as well. He sees the CLOSED sign hanging in the door--flipped by Diana on her way out--and the empty tables facing the street, but he doesn't see the three of you¹ until he's already opened the door and taken a step inside.

"Whoa! Wha--hey!" He's clearly surprised to see anyone in here, much less the strange, supernatural tableau he's been presented with. His tone doesn't exactly lack confidence, but the way he's stumbling over his words doesn't do a lot for his gravitas. "Who the fu--I mean, uh, identify yourselves!" As he speaks, he moves his hand to his waistband, where you can see a holstered pistol.

---

¹ Not counting Luka's baseball guy