Investigations were one of those things that took place over a long period of time. Time that the investigator in question didn’t always have. This wasn’t their fault a lot of times though, it was because of some sort of other engagement or because things just felt hopeless. Or even worse, the people paying or hoping the investigation would get done losing hope entirely. This was an unfortunate case in many missing children reports, many of those who go missing without a trace cannot be found afterword Whether they ran away, or otherwise. And sometimes, it's better if they weren’t found at all.

Many children and people alike had gone missing lately; the family’s beginning to lose hope when the private investigators would tell them that there was nothing they could find about them. Many times, people would do things out of desperation, trying desperately to pay a different and less legit investigator, or earn more money to pay for the expensive one they had. One of the stupidest things one can do is to try to hold up a very strong werewolf while she is on the way home from work.

After taking a small beating from the angry wolf, the man begged for forgiveness and explained the situation. Normal people would have just nodded and walked away, others would continue the previously mentioned beating but Emerald, well, Emerald decided she would help this guy out. Not as much out of kindness for him personally but more so to help out this group as a whole. Most of the parents of any of the children or teens that went missing had formed a sort of support group and each had decided to tell the young werewolf their stories.

None of the kids knew each other and none of them were connected really by anything other than the fact the fact that they missed their children. Even so, deep in her gut, she felt something very wrong about all of this, almost as if she was playing into something way bigger than she was originally planning to deal with.

To Emerald, even with the latest snub from the X-men mission (something she really shouldn’t be surprised about anymore), she was more than happy to do some sort of aide elsewhere, her own way. While normally she would resume the guise as Shred in order to perform good deeds, this required a more delicate and talking sort of touch rather than the masked Vigilante that roamed the streets at night fighting crime.

That and she just didn’t feel like going through the hassle she had to go through to dress up as the masked Cyclist.

After weeks of combing the streets and looking around her old contacts, she finally got some sort of lead. There had been a good deal of increased activity at a small “psychic” shop down in the Manhattan area. It didn’t used to be a psychic shop but there was apparently a group of unattended minors that changed it into that and a small detail like that was more than enough to perk the wolf girl’s interest. That and the fact Psychics just gave her a nasty feeling in her stomach that she just couldn’t get over. Maybe it was because of old wounds brought on by her Ex, but if there was one thing she had learned over the years of doing what she did was that a psychic could never be trusted.

The wolf girl pulled up to the front of the shop on her Green Machine not wearing her helmet this time around. The werewolf dismounted her bike, sliding her keys in the pocket of her leather biker jacket. The wolf girl wore her thick black leather biker jacket with combat boots, blue jeans and a long sleeved red t-shirt underneath. A tooth pick was lulling out of the side of her mouth before she removed it and placed it inside of her pocket.

Hesitant blue eyes would glance at the building not sure if she really be doing this or not. What if this was a bad lead? What if she didn’t find what she was looking for and start back at square freaking one once again? Well there was no point in hesitating this much, the wolf girl in took a deep breath, tail lulling against her left leg, fur slightly prickling.

Without another thought, Emerald would venture inside the front door of the shop, ready to question and try to find out what was really going on here.

"Don't you have homework?" The frenchman frowned at the girl who had her feet up on the table and was sewing patches onto the elbows of a very, very tiny sweater.

"Don't you have an older woman to suck up to?" The rat psychic snarked at him. Most of the Future Sight inhabitants hadn't noticed a difference when Jude had officially moved out. He had been exiled to the front entryway most every night anyway. The problem was that, as a consequence of Jude leaving, he was around a lot less and it wasn't his responsibility to open the doors every morning when it came time to open the shop.

Guess who had to take on that responsibility in his absence? Jude tried ti think that it was a lack of sleep that was making Letitia especially grumpy at him instead of any lingering sense of abandonment.

The bell chimed indicating a walk-in customer.

Thank goodness for distractions. Jude hadn't yet figured out what to say to Letitia. About the homework or his grown up girl issues. He'd known that settling himself somewhere around 20-something would bring trouble, but he had not expected this.

Jude pushed his sunglasses all the way up his nose and smiled broadly enough that the faint trace of freckles left from his youth stretched on his cheeks. "Welcome to Future Sight. May I help you?" He had a pretty strong French accent, but a clear command of the English language.

The shop was a modest one, that much was clear and it certainly didn't look like the shop of some famed child kidnapper that caused a large group of children to go missing. No, it looked like a normal psychic shop where people had their fake fortunes read and were amazed but the "magic" that they were seeing.

Yeah, Emerald was a bit of a cynic when it came to psychics, mutant or otherwise. It wasn't that she didn't believe in it, oh no, she just came to the conclusion a long time ago that psychics couldn't be trusted. Nearly no matter what experience she had with psychics it almost always ended up bad with both parties. She had met a few good psychics in her time, a few of them old teammates of hers, but things changed and now, Emerald didn't quite know how she would react if they came knocking on her door once again.

Once the young man with the french accent greeted her, the she-wolf would smile in a friendly way before walking further into the shop. This guy certainly did not look like the type of guy she thought she was looking for, in fact, he looked like the opposite of the type of guy she was looking for.

There was no harm in asking questions of course, even if she wasn't a cop (despite having some of the police training as one) she might as weld ask a few questions while she was there.


"Hey there, I was just in the neighborhood when I heard that this place can help you see the future, or something like that, that's not just a rumor is it?" Emerald asked with a curious glint in her eyes. While she knew it was probably true, because her sources have yet to lie to her, she figured it would be best to ask.

The young woman that entered the shop looked strong and maybe a little rough around the edges, but when she smiled, her whole face appeared younger. She looked keen and intelligent... like the sort of person who wandered in from time to time in order to pick a fight about whether the shop was ripping people off. Or maybe the friend of someone who felt ripped off.

Also. Tail. Some of Jude's favorite people had tails. He tried to remain hopeful that this woman wouldn't be trouble.

"Oh no, ma amie. I assure you zat ze future you may see is very real and, of course, cannot come free othzerwise we would not have a business."

Letitia snorted from the table, but she did remove her feet fro the table cloth before slinking into teh back kitchen area.

"Are you interested in having a reading?"

The young man seemed to be nice, just another guy doing his job like all of the other normal Joes that worked in the store. The difference here was that he had a bit of a French accent, but this was new York after all and the sheer variety of people that lived here was huge. So she wasn't exactly surprised that a young Frenchman was working at a "Psychic Shop." He was sort of cute, but she wasn't really interested in any sort of pleasantries like that at the moment.

The fact that this place was a Psychic shop and the visions they provided were real made thing sa little bit unsettling for Emerald. Maybe it was because she had hoped that they didn’t have any psychic ability or maybe it was because of her past experiences with Psychics. Whatever the reason, she was now slightly unnerved when thinking that she would be able to see her own future.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind one. I’m looking for answers for a few friends of mine and I figured what better place to look than the future?” Emerald said, trying to be enthusiastic about the whole thing. “So how would we go about doing it? I’m assuming you’re a mutant like me judging by the fact that you can see the future. "

Emerald felt a great pile of nervousness deep down in her belly , she didn’t fully trust anyone riffling in her mind even if it was to help her see the future. Emerald was always particularly susceptible to mind tricks that psychics had. However, she would much rather see these kids safe than to keep possible knowledge that can help her away from her all because of a phobia she had. Doing the right thing was far more important than anything else.

"Ze future holds many answers, yet, not always ze one you might be looking for." The frenchman tried not to have that sound too ominous as he pointed out a sign with prices. For a single reading, it was more than your usual pocket money. "We accept cash or check." He shrugged a bit apologetically. They really did need the money. Feeding and housing people took money. Renting this space took money. Like he'd said before. Business.

"What are you looking for? Maybe we can find a way to see somesing specific?" He usually didn't bother to offer because he didn't want to get anyone's hopes up. The future was finicky, but sometimes just stating an intention out loud could help. Sometimes.

> “So how would we go about doing it? I’m assuming you’re a mutant like me judging by the fact that you can see the future. "

"Correct. You pay, we have a seat at ze table and zen you look into my eyes." Jude wiggled the sunglasses playfully on his face without removing them. This stuff could get kind of heavy so he was trying to keep it light. The tail girl seemed a little nervous. "Ze future is partly based on decisions you make. So sink about your choices related to what you're looking for and maybe we'll get to see." Maybe.

"I'm Jude, by ze way." He offered his hand to the girl and braced himself for mutant contact. It wouldn't do to have his power switching over to hers when he had yet to give the girl a reading.

How did Emerald know that it would cost something to have her fortune read? Oh well, at least she would be paying in order to find those kids. A small monetary fee was alright if she could use it to possibly save their lives and reunite them with their families or at least give them closure. That was all that really mattered.

The wolf girl would fish around in her jacket pocket for a while before she pulled out a small wad of bills it was the “pay” that the parents had given her for this job. Even after the million times telling them that she didn’t want to take their money and flat out refusing they still stuffed in her pocket before they left. If they wanted to use it to help their children so badly, Emerald would use it to pay for this, a way to help get their kids back. While it wasn’t all of it, she didn’t think this young man would care all that much if he saw a few twenties missing from the wad of bills. Gas was expensive now a days so that gas money had to come from somewhere.

“I’m looking for leads on a string of missing persons that has been plaguing the city recently,” Emerald explained to the young man, placing the wad on table. “There’s at least 70 bucks in there, that should be enough for a reading right? It’s also nice to meet you Jude, my names Emerald.”

"Funny. You're not ze first person to come here looking for answers on zat topic." Jude accepted her money, counted the fare and punched the button on the register. The till dinged and spit out the cash drawer and just like that, they were in business.

"Ze othzer woman did not have much luck." Which was good considering the fact that this shop held quite a few of those runaways. The other woman, Jude had seen coming, though. This one? Not so much. Maybe her choice to come visit here was a whim? Or recent? Or maybe the future was getting a little out of hand. He was watching for too many things in too many different directions. He kept missing things.

Also, there was something a little funny about this woman. She seemed.... familiar?

"If you're ready, it iz better to take a seat." Jude motioned to the small table with the basket of candies where Letitia had been mending her rat's sweater only minutes ago. The power copier took his seat without taking a chocolate fro the candy basket. He had to mind his figure. "Remember. Your choices will affect your viewing of ze future. Let me know when you are ready and then take a good look into my eyes."

He put his hand on his sunglasses and waited for Emerald's cue. Once she was ready, he would lower the shades down to the end of his nose and the viewing would start.

It didn't surprise Emerald in the slightest that someone else was going around looking for the children. That said, she doubted they had succeeded yet. She had been asked to do this just a few days ago, and her motives were a little more heroic than most. She didn't like seeing children get hurt, and the thought of them being lost and alone made her sick to her stomach.

"I have a feeling I might have better luck than she did, or maybe I'm just being far too optimistic," Emerald said with a small smile. She did have a lot of confidence in her abilities as someone who always got things done. Maybe it was her old mission state of mind or her strong conviction to duty.

Not that she wasn't nervous about the whole thing. The last time someone tried this one her, she was manipulated into doing things she really didn’t want to do, and the werewolf would rather have that not happen again if she could help it. The she-wolf sat down before the young man, catching a familiar scent emanating from him. Had she met him before? Or maybe he was just someone she remembered or encountered a long time ago in passing. Whatever it was, she had a feeling that this was going to be an interesting vision. The wolf girl gave the signal, and all of a sudden, she was hit with the visions like a brick to the head.

A minotaur lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, not dead, but bleeding out pretty fast. All around surrounding him was a cage made of thick chain-link with the top covered in barbed wire. It looked like hundreds of people shouting loud things, ranging from obscenities to praises for the fighter who defeated him. The ground was slicked in blood and the part of the cage's wall looked torn out. The Minotaur’s wounds looked to be partially self-inflicted, judging by the puncture wounds that only horns could make.

The words chanted in the crowd were at first low and ominous but then grew to a resounding war-like chant. It was invigorating and also absolutely terrifying, as it would seem at the crowd gave into the blood-lust they must have just seen before them.

“BEAST! BEAST! BEAST! BEAST! BEAST!” The crowd roared, stomping their feet in synchronization to the words chanted.

And there the beast stood, though she didn’t look at her wounds. She only knew that she had won and the fight wasn’t even that difficult.

The scene changed into a darkened bar, the air thick with smoke and words of encouragement or sweet nothings to the other members of it. She walked up to it and sat down, her gaze to the bartender who shook his mustached head at her. The man looked worn beyond his years, his eyes a misty gray as well as his hair. The look in those eyes clearly said that he had seen far too many horrid things. It was a haunted look.

“The kids you're looking for isn’t here, but I know you are looking for somethin’ else, too. Win a few more fights, and you'll be doin' more than just saving some runaways.”

Darkness, cages, and cries. Emerald couldn’t make anything out, but she knew she was angry and judging by the horrified look from a greasy fat man before her, he knew that she was. A terrifying snarl elicited from her throat, and she dove at him, not caring what happened. All she knew was that somehow he was causing others to suffer, and she couldn’t allow that to happen.

Another body, but this one was definitely dead. It was the body of a white wolf with piercing red eyes that had long since been glazed over by the gaze of death. A horrible smell emitted from him, just about as horrible as the site of his body being partially torn open by what it looked to be a set of claws and fangs. No mercy was given to this wolf and no mercy was deserved. He was covered in his own wounds, but judging by the blood on his own fangs, he didn’t go down without a fight.

“I… am… not... your mate.” Emerald’s voice breathed out, looking at him from her own spot on the floor, bleeding out fairly badly from a gaping wound in her chest all the way down to her belly. She had far more wounds than that, but she had no strength to gaze at them right then. All she did know was that it was over. It was finally over.

A graveyard, soft breezes tickling through the air and a very small headstone with an angel on it with no date and no name on it, only a small quote..

“You will always be close to my heart, my precious one.”

“I’m glad you finally could give him a resting place Saph,” Emerald said, gazing over at her sister. The queen of darkness was dressed in all black and held a lacy umbrella over her head. She a single white rose with a golden ribbon tied around it in her hand. The normally cold eyed female looked at her with a sad gaze, just before dropping the umbrella and hugging her younger sister tightly, pale arms trembling terribly.

“Thank you…for finding his body,” Sapphire murmured to her younger sister, her body shaking with sobs.

The rest of the scenes from the vision were muddled and hard to make out, seemingly signaling that the wolf girl’s time in the future would be up soon. Emerald saw Ruby learning how to fight better and defending herself, Akshay and her second date and possibly more, her family, friend’s happier things, showing that Emerald wasn’t truly as bad as she seemed judging by the kindness and love that was shown to her. The final thing she saw was the soft words spoken by a young Doctor.

“Miss Lupin, your previous wounds from you attack ha-“

All at once Emerald jolted out of this vision, her head pounding like mad. This always seemed to be a side effect whenever she was near a psychic, perhaps an old defense mechanism. The she-wolf gazed up at the young man, wondering if he had just seen all that as well. Those blue eyes of her were filled with something, confusion most definitely, but also a little bit of disbelief as well.

The vision ended with a jolt. He did not close his eyes, neither of them passed out... that left pain or mental strength or some other trauma enough to stop the vision. "Are you okay?" He reached half-way across the table before realizing that touching was not a safe or politically correct option. He sent his hand on a detour to retrieve his sunglasses.

He always learned the most unexpected things from visions. Often useless to their cause, but a buck was a buck. It couldn't be completely useless if they made money off the deal. And besides, at least she hadn't figured out anything about the missing children. Jude would hate to think of what she might do... especially after seeing what she'd done to the white wolf.

Jude slipped his sunglasses back on to his face and his eyebrows scrunched down behind the lenses. "Are you... normally a cage fighter?" It seemed that Emerald was about to get suckered into a pretty nasty situation.

That vision had sure as hell sent Emerald for some kind of loop. It was not something that she didn’t expect nor did she want. This new information she got wasn’t what she was looking for, but this didn’t mean that it was bad information. Her life had always been full of surprises and this vision wasn’t an exception to that rule.

“No…well, I haven’t been one in a while, I used to be one to make extra cash back when times were tough and I couldn’t get a job. I wanted to be able to get my little sister nice gifts and medicine for her condition at the time so I went into it in order to help her.” Emerald explained to the young psychic in all honesty. It was way back when she had managed to get Ruby out of the labs, before Tricity found out Emerald went into some cage fighting in order to make some cash on the side. She had been doing it long before that as well, back when she was on the run and it was an easy way to make some quick cash and bolt.

The wolf girl’s eyes were clouded over with memories for a moment, finding herself lost in them, and thinking deeply about what she just saw. If all of that was true then she was into something far deeper than she originally expected.

"Sounds very selfless." Jude had no brothers or sisters. And even if he did, he wasn't sure that he would go into voluntary battle for them.

"I wish you luck." Jude offered his hand to Emerald to shake and thus conclude their business dealings. There wasnt much else that Jude could or would do for Emerald at this point. Cage fighting... Holy crow, this wolf girl really could rip him in half. His first instinct about her had not been wrong. Plus, as much as he would like to help her in theory, in practice he liked his face to remain attached to his skull.

"It was nice meeting you."