[OP: "The Judge"-- 21 Pilots]

Unfortunately, Polaris left them before they arrived at the camp. She was too upset by what they told her about everything that had happened, and refused to be dissuaded from running back to Magneto for an explanation.

Silverfish made no move to stop her from going, probably knew better.

The team supposed she really couldn't make it much worse for them.

* * *

Whatever they were expecting to find, Caliban's underground camp was a far cry from it.

Where the Resistance had just had bare necessities, and not even all of those, this was a huge, hollowed out cavern that must have been more than just a sewage pipe. Maybe some underground vault or bomb shelter.

Very National Treasure.

And it was actually decorated in a mish-mash of old posters, some that looked historical in nature.

 There were also a few flags, old ones, American, Canadian, Mexican, and one from Germany. Probably they were an outlawed commodity.

Silverfish didn't tell them much to prepare them and didn't seem to listen to their quick talk along the way, trying to fill each other in.

Caliban himself was not the one Jubilee remembered; he must have been the 1081 version.

While still bald and inhuman looking, he seemed far more intelligent and dressed with a sort of style that suggested he was the leader, even if it was made of cheap, fraying material like everyone else's clothes down there.

The smell in the place wasn't as bad as the tunnels. It was more ventilated, and had more things in it to counter the oil and dirty water, so the team felt a little less nauseous, and in Storm's case, much less claustrophobic. Somehow she'd kept it together while in the tunnel, but she still sighed in relief.

https://youtu.be/n0v_72YSCYw

Caliban was waiting on what seemed like a throne, though it was really just an old office chair with an even older looking desk.

"So," he said, "Fish, you brought Caliban a lot of goods today." He put his hands together.

"Okay, how is he the only one who seems like the movie?" Wally said.

Caliban stood up and came closer to them, studying them.

"Interesting," he said. "You've been through a lot, just by looking at you, but Caliban doesn't sense as much fear as he'd expect. And...a telepath...a rare find these last few months."

He came a little too close to Emma and touched her hair like she was a horse he was inspecting. "Get high reward for turning one in. In the underground, that is. Up top, they just take them."

Emma leaned away. "Do you mind?"

"Caliban just like to inspect merchandise." Caliban held up his hands. "No offense intended.... So...you already lose a few members."

"Well, you work fast." Shine was the only one who didn't seem to be finding this weirdly intimidating. The others were all a little freaked out.

"Caliban live by working fast," Caliban said. "And sources were not going to miss two blue-colored mutants being arrested in one day."

"So you've heard of Mystique?" Morph asked.

"I heard of someone who looked like her," Caliban said.

"But she was in disguise." Shine didn't miss a beat. "So, how would you know who it was? She was found out already."

To be fair, it had been at least 5 hours by now--it would have been a lot to hope for that Mystique could have evaded detection this long.

"Caliban have sources in the main Temple." Caliban shrugged.

"I see," Shine said. "You're the criminal underground, but you're tolerated by the Capitol because they want to keep track of any rebellion, and you trade information both ways. Otherwise they'd have a hard time finding people who knew how to evade their primitive and overly obvious security."

Caliban seemed surprised for the first time and gave Shine a closer look. "Caliban rarely meets anyone who understand nature of our relationship so quickly."

"And let me guess, the highest bidder gets your loyalty," Shine said dryly.

"Why yes," Caliban said.

"Well, we all shouldn't have come, then," Shine said. "Unless you have something else you want more than money."

"Ah, a wise question." Caliban returned go his desk. "Come, have some refreshments.... No doubt you haven't found much but that awful survival ration. But for guests, Caliban bring out some reserves."

Some of the other mutants underground brought some packaged food. It wasn't any that fancy by the usual standards of their time, but it didn't look bland and tasteless.

The kids shot the adults questioning looks.

"If you're worried about it being tampered with, you see it's in packages." Caliban gestured blandly. 

Logan sniffed at it. "I don't smell anythin' off."

"We don't have much of a choice," Storm said. "Our own rations are running low already."

"I'll risk it," Roach said. "They haven't fed us since yesterday in the Pen. They barely feed us, period." He tore into it, the other two rescues did too.

Reluctantly, the rest of the group did. They also were given bottled water...which tasted less pure than the water they were used to...but at least it was clear...and the chlorine taste meant it wasn't straight up toxic, though not that good.

[Like pool water, you can drink it, but that much chlorine isn't really recommended, but if it's in a pinch, it's better than water out of a stream or lake would be.]

"Well, thank you," Shine said. "So...you want information, right?"

"Very sharp," Caliban said. "You know what's going on? Caliban's sources already tell him of many strange things. Confusion and people swapping. Even old friend, Psylocke. And all telepaths and all teleports, even one in our own group."

"Did you turn them in?" Emma wasn't trusting him.

Caliban shrugged. "Not important to answer that question. Here and there, a random mutant is wanted. Collateral damage for us. But when it's that many, we get suspicious. Of course Capitol tells us nothing. What do you know?"

"Are we trusting this guy?" Domino frowned.

"No," Logan said.

"We haven't the time to deliberate too much." Shine leaned on her hands. "But aside from food, Caliban, what do you plan to give us in return for our information?"

"Caliban not turn you in yet," Caliban said.

"And we're grateful, but as far as we're concerned, that was just a favor," Shine said. "Which we'll be happy to return by stopping the impending disaster that we came to prevent. I say that breaks even. If you want more than that, you give us more than that first. We've been here for hardly one day, and everyone either wants us dead, captured, or mind controlled. So you'll pardon our lack of confidence in this operation of yours."

"But of course," Caliban said. "And Caliban isn't ever empty handed. You want to know where to find Blue friends, no?"

Morph leaned forward.

Caliban pulled something out of his desk.

"Telepaths and Teleports have been untraceable, even for us," he said. "Best guess? They're not currently in this dimension. There're rumors that such things are possible for our Lord Apocalypse. No proof, but, anywhere else, Caliban hear about. However, some of the unexpected guests at the Temple are within reach. Some only recently arrived. Traitors and rebel are questioned at the Re-educating Center usually, but you were already there."

The young Rogue almost choked. "How--?"

"Oh, he's good," Bolts said, between bites of food.

"Caliban knows guards." Caliban shrugged. "Guards need contraband sometime too. Why, just sell wedding ring to one guard last week."

"I'm sorry, wedding rings are contraband?" Storm said. "It's a Western custom to be sure, but what's wrong about it?"

"Marriage is what is illegal," Caliban said without missing a beat.

They all gaped.

"But some people prefer to follow tradition," Caliban went on, like he'd said nothing that shocking. "And want ways to show it. Have to hide them, but little rebellion against the system...for the highest-powered mutants, sometimes it's overlooked, no? Apocalypse allows small signs of defiance to keep his favorites feeling they are still free, as long as they follow orders."

"It's true," Bolts said. "I mean about marriage. People are assigned partners based on their powers, usually, or just random selection if you're not that powerful. We get tested for genetic compatibility."

"Sinister's idea," Scott said. "No doubt." He shuddered.

"Yeah, if your kid isn't that powerful, then they let you raise them for a while until they go to the nurseries," Roach said, munching on snacks like this didn't bother him. "Sometimes they don't bother, though. A few people I knew knew their parents...they seemed upset about having to leave them to work, but I don't really see why. Most of us have no idea who our parents are. If Spray and I weren't twins, we wouldn't even know we had the same parents."

Spray nodded.

"You mean you could have siblings out there and never know it?" Storm said.

"Oh, sure, a lot of people probably do," Bolts said. "Only ones who'd know are the higher ups' families. Oh, sometimes they have life partners too. They can afford it, and usually their compatible enough to have a lot of powerful kids.... Boy, you all really don't know anything about us, do you?"

Caliban was listening to this with a weird smile. "It's very different from what you're all used to, eh, Time Travelers?"

They were silent.

"It's horrible," Marie-Rogue said finally. "Who'd want to live in this world?"

"We get by," Caliban said, shrugging. "Caliban give you floor plan and key codes to where your spy friends will be taken, and, pro tip, you have probably one day to get them out before they are reassigned. They'll want to question them and fit them with trackers and do DNA tests, all this takes time, but not that much time. Lose window and you never find them again, probably."

He slid papers towards them. "In exchange, Caliban wants to know why people are taken. And what the outcome of it is."

Shine and Wally exchanged a glance and then looked at Storm and Logan.

They shrugged.

"It's up to you," Storm said. "But we'll have to give them something.... I don't get the feeling they'll let us leave till we do."

And since there were now several armed mutants standing behind them and behind Caliban, looking at them warily, her instincts seemed on point.

"All right," Shine said. "I suppose there's not much harm in it. All you could do is help it. Making it worse seems fairly impossible."

So she explained, and the others helped but not much.

Caliban didn't seem that surprised by any of the information.

Shine didn't say all of how they got here, or what they planned to do about Apocalypse--she knew better than that. But she dwelt heavily on how dangerous the Merging would be.

Some of the other people under Caliban looked uneasy listening to it.

One woman, who was dressed like an Arabian costume in an old movie would have been, spoke: 

"If this is true, Caliban, all of us are in danger."

She had an accent also.

"Caliban understand that, Dust," Caliban said. "I must think about this." [She is a canon reference.]

He leaned on his chin.

"Is there any way you can help us?" Forge asked nervously, rubbing his neck.

"Caliban is in difficult position," Caliban said. "On one hand, Capitol wants all of you turned in and figure you come to Caliban for help."

Most of them swallowed hard, but Shine had seen this one coming, and she just gazed at him narrowly.

"On other hand, Caliban not want to risk his future on you being wrong," Caliban said. "I don't understand much about what you're saying, but it's a matter beyond my humble interference. However, if the Lord Apocalypse has a plan to circumvent all this you're saying, and Caliban is in defiance of said plan, and you fail, his whole people will get stomped out."

"So you won't help us," Storm said.

"Caliban not say that," Caliban said.

He sat back.

"Caliban have compromise," he said, with a strange smile.

Emma had not tried to read his mind this whole time, being exhausted, but feeling a little better since sitting and since Shine and Wally's help earlier, she risked it for a brief second.

And then she jumped up.

"Run!" she screamed. "It's a trap!"

The others jumped to their feet.

But everything happened way too quickly.

The other mutants leapt up on them and restrained all of the stronger fighters, and Shine and Wally, using their mutations or just regular rope and nets.

Wally tried to use friction to break free, but one of them levitated a heavy object and hit him with it, knocking him out, before he could finish.

"Wally!" Shine cried.

"All right, all right," Caliban said, standing up and putting his hands together. "Don't harm them too much. Caliban has given matter thought, World Travelers...and has perfect plan."

They stared at him angrily.

"Let us go, ya slug," Logan snarled. "Ya fool! You'll doom us all."

"Perhaps," Caliban said. "So Caliban is going to let you go--some of you."

"Some of us?" Scott said warily.

Caliban came a little closer.

"You're thinking of using your eyes again?" he said. "Well, don't. Float over there will lift your visor off if you do, and then you can't aim. So stand down."

Scott frowned at him.

"Caliban not want to give Capitol too much power," Caliban said. "But can't afford not to.... Let me see..."

He studied all of them. 

"Best prizes are too risky to turn in," he said. "A pity, the telepath would fetch a high price, but...too risky."

Emma gasped.

"You're making a mistake," Shine said. "Turning any of us in is too risky."

"Caliban know what you think, but he has to stay in business," Caliban said. "But will let World Travelers go. And Time Travelers." Nodding at Morph. "And will let legends go." Meaning Logan and Storm, as well as Forge and the two Rogues.

"You escaped once already, not much worth giving you back," he mused.

"And me?" Scott said warily.

"You an X-men, no?" Caliban said. "You fetch great price, but also too risky. All of them can go--after we finish deal."

His workers pulled them away.

This left the teens and Domino, as well as Colossus and Quicksilver.

"Most of them don't have much power," one of the others remarked to Caliban. "According to our sources."

"Yes, they won't be much better than fodder," Caliban said. "But, for their information? They are a little better. Be enough to appease the scouts."

"What?" Storm said. "No, you can't turn over the children. That's barbaric!"

"And I'm an X-man!" Jubilee cried.

"Yes, but one no one has heard of," Caliban dismissed her. "So it not matter that much."

"But Domino is literally lucky," Rogue said. "You want to just hand her over?"

"Lucky, eh?" Caliban said.

"That's correct, Caliban," one of them said.

"Well...wouldn't want to make the guards too lucky," Caliban said, smirking unpleasantly. "Fine, take her out."

They grabbed Domino and tossed her with the others.

"Hey!" she said.

"The rest of them not that important," Caliban said. "Turn them in. Tell the guards we couldn't catch the others because they were too powerful and fast for us. Make it look convincing."

"What?" Shine said. "No, wait, this is wrong. Won't you at least hear us out?"

"Caliban love to, usually, but unfortunately you've stayed here too long already, and guards will be here soon to check us," Caliban said. "All of you must be gone by then."

"Oh, like h---!" Logan broke out of the grasp of the others.

One of Caliban's men pulled a gun and shot at Jubilee, hitting the ground right in front of her.

She screamed.

Logan stopped.

"If you not like Caliban's deal, Caliban can turn in dead prizes also." Caliban's voice was suddenly cold and hard. "You say if you fix all this, all this not matter anyway, correct? Look at it as an investment."

"You sick, twisted--" Scott began.

"Caliban is losing patience," Caliban said. "If you not want to play by rules, Caliban can turn more of you in after all. Next threat Caliban hears, and he change his mind about Telepath."

"What?" Emma said.

The mutant holding her in place leered at her nastily.

"Don't push Caliban's generosity," Caliban said. "Only taking half of you is very generous. Give up lot of money."

"But..." Shine said, tears springing into her eyes, "they...they're just kids."

"Caliban is sorry about that, but business is business," Caliban said. "Take these ones to the far exit. Make sure no one sees it. Give them pass if they don't put up a fight. If they do, take any necessary precautions."

"Yes, sir," the mutant said, one grabbing Wolverine again.

"But..." Kitty said. "But you can't! They need us!" She tried to phase through, but someone else, who could apparently do something similar to that, got in her path and shoved her back.

"Ghost here can put her hands between dimensions," Caliban said. "More than match for you. Now, no more of this, or Caliban have to stop playing nice with all of you."

"Jubilee!" Logan cried, as they were being hauled away despite his best efforts. The mutants elected to ignore his attempt to break free. Apparently they assumed Wolverine just couldn't be reasoned with.

The others wanted to fight, but the other person still had a gun on the kids and was smiling at them like he was just waiting for them to give him an excuse to shoot them.

"But what will happen to them?" Young Rogue cried.

"Oh, they'll probably be sent to the Arena," one of the people escorting them out said callously. "They love a good junior fight with rebels there. High bets on the one who can phase. She'll probably last the longest, but rookies usually don't last more than a day or so."

"What?" Marie-Rogue cried. "You can't do that!"

"Oh, quit whining. Be glad we're letting you go at all." The mutant didn't care.

"Kitty!" Shine was crying. "Trinity! Jubilee!... Don't do this! Listen, please don't do this! You don't understand what you're doing!"

She was ignored.

"Ryan!" she kept saying, sobbing. "Kevin...no...no, no, no, no! It can't be!"

She was making everyone else feel about a 100 times worse just listening to her, on top of how bad they already felt.

Emma was crying also, and so was Storm.

Heck, so was Logan, though he was trying to hide it.

Scott tried frantically to break free but was warned again that they'd just hurt the kids more if he did--and then told nastily that that would hurt their chances of survival, so if he really cared about them, he'd stop struggling.

He was powerless to do anything about this.

Shine, seeing that there was no chance of winning this, turned to yell as she was dragged out.

"Pray!" she yelled at them. "Pray and maybe there'll be a way! Don't give up! Try to be smart about it! Protect each other! We'll come get you, I swear, if there's any way under the sun--kids!"

"Shine!" they yelled. "Logan! Storm!"

Jubilee was sobbing already.

Kitty was shaking.

"I take care of them!" Colossus called. "No worry--find sister for me! Colossus take care of them!"

At least he wasn't panicking.

Ryan was already losing it.

Kevin began to get upset. "No! Bring them back! You're not taking us!" 

He turned orange.

It seemed the mutants were ready for this, and some kind of mutation-nullifying thing was used on him directly, and then they hit him in the stomach, making Trinity gasp on his behalf.

It felt like all their hearts were being ripped in half, but no one could stop it...

* * *

Wally didn't come to till they'd been carried and dragged out the other end of the piping system and to the far exit.

Most of them were still crying, and those who weren't were boiling in silence.

"You're inhuman." Scott wasn't completely silent. "How could you do that to people? Don't any of you have families?"

But his anger was falling on deaf ears for the most part.

But Dust, who was with them, turned to make shushing motions at him.

That just made him more angry.

"All right, here you go," one of the other girls said. She looked kind of like a pixie...and that was her name, in fact.

[Yes, that's a real X character, but a minor one.]

She handed Shine the papers. Shine took them with the most contemptuous look imaginable.

"Hey, you wanted help, you got it. You broke even," Pixie said. "We could have taken all of you. Have a little gratitude. Caliban is just doing what it takes for us to survive either way. Best time to sneak into the Temple is at dawn or dusk or noon. The guard switches then, and sometimes they're late because of meal breaks. Most of them are lazy and can be bribed to let you go by if you don't seem that dangerous. Take this." She handed them an envelope. "This is our currency. Oh, sure, look at me like that. You don't want it, but if you want to live to try this, you take it. Consider it a bonus for us taking your little friends. We'll get 6 times as much as this for turning them all in, so it's a small price to pay. On the record, we never caught the rest of you at all. Dust will take you around the portals until you're away from our entrance. What you do after that is up to you. If you succeed, I guess none of this will have ever happened anyway, so what are you mad about?"

"Spoken like someone who knows they should feel guilty," Shine said in a quiet voice. "I've always believed that barbarism is barbarism, whether or not it's in your mind and you think it won't matter. What you stoop to when you think no one will care is what you really are."

Pixie stared at her for a second.

"You haven't lived my life," she said tightly. "Now get going before we decide we're letting too many of you go. Any more questions, you ask Dust."

She turned to the other mutants and barked, "Alright, you heard him. Get bloodied up and make it look like they whipped us soundly, and you heroes make sure you look like you--well, actually you already look like crap, so not much to do about that. But if they ask, you fought through us, got it? That in exchange for us not telling them anything about you, otherwise they'll question us and we'll spill."

She flew away, and the others set about taking out what appeared to be special effects things and putting fake blood and things on themselves.

Dust motioned all of them to go out the grating after her. She turned into dust, fittingly enough, and flew through it herself.

No one said a word as she led them around corners and didn't stop, except pausing at times to let patrols past.

She was untraceable, pretty much. No wonder she'd been picked for this job.

But if she thought they were calm after that, she was mistaken.

They only waited till they were a distance away from the hideout.

Dust had a pause. "All right," she said in her strange accent, "this may be far enough now--"

Logan slammed her into a wall. She gasped for air.

"You monsters are goin' to pay for that," he said. "Now tell us how to get to where they'll take those kids."

Dust coughed.

Storm's eyes were turning white, and she whipped up winds. "If you turn into dust, I will scatter it," she said. "I'm not sure what that will do to you, but it won't be good, is my guess."

Dust's eyes widened, and she tried to speak. "Not...understand..."

"What don't we understand?" Scott had his hand to visor. "You all just screwed us over, and for what?"

"Hold on," Emma suddenly said. "She's trying to tell us something. For goodness sake, Logan, let her speak already. What's her corpse going to do if you suffocate her?"

Logan let her go a little. "Well, Storm's still got a bead on 'er if she tries to get away."

"Why did you do that?" Wally knew what had happened by now. "I ought to run right back in there and get them."

"If they could be stopped with speed, Pietro would already have followed us," Shine said in a dull voice. "It's no good, Babe, they'll just turn you in also. There were too many of them. You know you can't take that many, not with all those powers."

"But..." Wally looked crestfallen. "The kids...they can't do that to them..."

"I'm sorry." Dust sounded genuinely sorry. "Caliban's plan was cruel. It is how he thinks."

"And you went along with it, so save your apologies." Scott was mad.

"I didn't want to go along with it." Dust held up her hands. "But if I resisted, I would have been sold with them. I could not have helped you that much. My power isn't that strong.... It just lets me evade people, that's all. I'm a spy, nothing more. This way, I can help you. Would you have me not able to help at all?"

Scott wasn't that appeased.

"What is it that you want to tell us?" Emma said. "I can't possibly read much right now."

"I did think it was odd that you didn't use your power," Dust said. "You can't...can you?"

Emma bit her lip.

"Maybe it has kept you alive," Dust mused. "I can't help you find your friends, I'm sorry. It would be suicidal to take you to the Arena.... All of you would be caught. They expect that. Caliban knows this, but didn't want to risk all of you getting caught. He is just unsure enough to think you need a chance. So he left you stronger fighters."

"That doesn't make it right, lady," Logan said. "We're still gonna kill 'im."

"If you do what you say you are here to do, you'll get your chance," Dust said. "But not before. He is not worth your time, World Travelers. You have a higher purpose, right? Now listen...a long time ago, I knew one of your X-man...Nightcrawler. I was on Genosha.... I was a prisoner. I can't explain how I ended up in this position, is too long of a story, but I always remembered his kindness and willingness to see truth. I think if X-men were still around they would help.... You are like an answered prayer for me. And I know someone who can help you. You can't fight like this. You're in bad shape. I was only supposed to guide you out, but...I have other resources. Ones I pray even Caliban doesn't know about, though it's hard to say...but it's no matter--he wouldn't meddle with it. Too useful. Will you follow me there?"

"And why should we trust you?" Scott said.

"I believe in this case, the answer is that you have no choice," Dust said. "What will you do without a guide and with half your team?"

They were all silent.

"So to make up for takin' all our kids, ya take us to someone else who can help?" Logan said. "That's sick."

"I understand your feelings, but it is all I can do," Dust said. "And we can't stay put here for long. Please decide. But the help I know will most especially want to see you, Wolverine."

"An old friend of yours, Logan," Storm said. "I'm not surprised.... I see no other choice but to trust her. It may be a trick, but anything could be now."

"If it helps, I'm pretty sure she's telling the truth." Emma had a hand to her temple, then she winced. "I better not push it."

"Finally," Morph said dryly. "Well...guess things can't get much worse. At this point us getting captured would at least get us to Apocalypse...so...what do we have to lose?"

"The freedom to make our own plan about it," Shine said. "But maybe this is God's answer..." She wiped her eyes. "I can't say I like it, but this is the first bit of kindness we've been offered that seems at all genuine to me.... Very well, Dust, right? We'll follow you. I hope you are not deceiving us."

Dust bowed respectfully. "You will not be sorry. Quickly now, this way."

* * *

Dust expertly guided them just under the radar of the patrols, all the way around the main Temple itself, and to what apparently were living quarters for some people, no doubt the rich ones. They overlooked the temple. According to Dust, that was a high honor.

According to the others, it was sickening.

They never saw the Arena and supposed Dust purposely took them a route that wouldn't show it to them...but they had nothing to do.

Logan might have been able to track the kids...but they'd been covered in oil and other things, which didn't make it so easy...and he was not given leave to try.

Dust finally stopped at the back of a large house--by this timeline anyway. It would have been a beach front house for an upper middle class family in their time, but it had three stories and it didn't look run down, so...it was probably a Mansion here.

It also had security, but Dust seemed to be recognized by them, and they looked the other way.

"They never saw us," Dust told the X-men. "I can't stay long. Just let her know you are here. Don't try to harm her. She will help you."

She disappeared for a moment.

"I don't like this," Scott said. "Anyone who's this well off here has to be part of the problem. It has to be a trap."

"I couldn't pick up on that at all," Emma said. "But then, it's hard..." She winced. "What choice do we have?"

In fact, all this walking had made her turn grey and breathing hard again, and they all knew she wasn't going to make it even another hour if she had to walk.

Both Rogues were moody, but the old one was more angry moody, and she kicked at the dirt.

"I just feel bad about the other teens," Forge said. "They...I don't think they have a chance, you know? At least they didn't think so. But why would they send them to the Arena...? They're grunts."

"You don't think there's exceptions?" Domino was in a black mood now. "Probably just for sport, but to make an example of them, sure. I'm sure they'd put it out there. Maybe they'll fight each other."

Dust reappeared.

"Just walk in," she said. "The cameras are off for 30 seconds. Get to the door fast, and no one will notice the gap."

She pointed. "She's waiting inside."

They had no choice but to hurry along the walkway--the most normal looking walkway they'd seen since arriving here. It was just regular sidewalk with some plants around it, sickly ones, but still...

They came in the back/side door of the house, which had an electric lock on it, but otherwise was fairly normal also.

Inside, in a kind of kitchen/pantry, was waiting a woman of about 35-40, with blondish, brownish hair, blue eyes, and the most normal looking outfit they'd seen also.

No one recognized her for a moment.

Logan sniffed. "I have no idea who this is."

"I guess you're not the one I know, then," the woman said, a tad sadly. "Well, I did think you didn't look right, but I know you."

Emma gasped suddenly.

"Oh my...Cristy Nord?" she said.