The signature smug smile on Emma's face disappeared as soon as she closed the door of her room behind her. She took a deep breath and locked the door.

'I have to be careful. I can't afford to be reckless. Not now. Especially, after coming this far.'

She walked toward her mirror table and opened one of the drawers. Her blue eyes landed on the tiara necklace and she grabbed it.

Staring at the necklace fondly, she couldn't control the tears falling from her eyes.

"S-Sis! Sis! Where are you? How are you? Up there?"

"I know you are dead. However, I don't know how. One day I receive news that you are dead and that's it. When I ask, nobody tells me anything. Not Mom. Not Dad. Not even your friends. They just don't want to talk about anything that's connected to you."

Her cries grew louder, "Why?! WHY?! Why doesn't anyone talk about you? Why do they act as if nothing's happened to you? Why do they act as if you don't exist?"

Hugging the tiara necklace close to her chest, she continued crying, "Dad slapped me and threatened to disown me if I ever asked him about you. Mom told me to forget about you. Everybody else tells me to do the same. But, I can't. I can't forget the only person who didn't look at me as a tool, liability, or responsibility. You looked at me as a person. As a sister. As family. I miss you so much. I want you right here with me. Telling me that everything's gonna be alright. That it's okay to be afraid."

"I can never forget you.", Emma's cries lessened and she wiped the tears off her face while murmuring, "That's why my search for you has led me here. I didn't come here to study. I came here to find out what happened to you. With the help of my investigation so far, being around the toad Scott summers, I found out that you were on a ship around Cuba. That was the last time anyone had ever seen you again. So..."

Her eyes glistened in anger and she said, "That means I have to find out what happened on that ship."

She pushed her drawers close and whispered, "There's definitely someone responsible for your death. To find the person responsible, I have to go through every type of communication that took place on the day you were on the ship. To be successful, I must wear this little, non-threatening, vulnerable disguise."

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Emma held on to the necklace and murmured, "If you can somehow see and hear me, forgive me. I am not doing this because I like to. I am doing this because you are my sister and I love you. I will be sure to catch the murderer and teach that person that their action has consequences. A lesson that'll be embedded into that murderer's mind forever. Only then will I satisfy myself by wearing this necklace."

------

In downtown New York,

*RUMBLE * RUMBLE*

Above a couple of buildings caught on fire, dark clouds formed above them and instantly rained down, extinguishing the fire.

The people who stood behind the safety lines and the firefighters watched it unfold with smiles on their faces.

A girl, no more than 10 years old, was focused on something in the skies, among the clouds. As soon as she noticed that the "thing" in the skies coming down, she held up the X-Men doll in her hand above her head and screamed excitedly, "Storm! Storm! Storm!"

Upon hearing the name, everybody turned their heads toward the skies and watched as Ororo flew down.

"Storm! Storm!"

"I LOVE YOU!"

"YOU ARE A HERO!"

"GOD BLESS YOU!"

"GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

As she landed on the ground, she heard people calling out her name excitedly and cheering for her. She couldn't be more proud of herself at this moment.

"Ms. Storm!" The firefighter wearing a black helmet called out to her with a genuine smile on his face and shook her hand.

Storm turned toward him and shooked his hand back while he said, "Congratulations on successfully extinguishing the major fire, Ms. Storm! This is the 15th time you have saved countless of lives, property, and most importantly, 500 gallons of water which can now be supplied to people who are in dire need."

"Oh, Company Officer..." Storm quickly glanced at his badge name and continued, "Peters! There's no need to thank me. I am just doing what's right. I have been given this gift and I intend to use it for the betterment of mankind."

"Well said, Ms. Storm! As expected from an X-Men!" Company Officer Peters replied and Storm could see that the fanboy inside him grew even more after she said that.

"Thank you for your compliment, Officer Peters but I have to go.", Storm told him calmly with a smile.

"Oh! Of course, Ms. Storm! Of course!", Peters replied and let go of her hand.

Storm tapped on his shoulder and flew up among the skies.

When she flew high enough that she couldn't see the people down below, she floated in the air and closed her eyes for a second until...

*WHOOSH*

"So, you got my message?"

She heard a raspy voice behind her. So sexy. So manly. So...

Oops. She had to control herself in front of him. For now.

Storm turned around and gazed at Val with a flirtatious smile on her face and said, "Well, I can't ignore the Hottest Man On Earth, can I?"

Val smiled and replied, "And, I can't let the Hottest Woman On Earth wait, can I?"

"No," Storm bit her lip as she blushed and replied, "You can't."

"So," Val flipped his hair and asked, "Ready for a second date?"

"You bet."