• Crystal followed the intruders down the manhole and into the sewer pipes. Keeping her slim body hidden in the shadows, her curly, dark brown hair blending effortlessly in the dim light, she used her ninja training to not be seen or heard. She noticed there were fifteen of them, nine boys and six girls. She couldn’t see anything but their dim outlines in the poor light. From what she could see, they were all very well built and physically fit.

    After thirty seconds, she noticed they were headed toward her home! She didn’t know if her brothers and Master Splinter would need her help to defeat them, but she couldn’t take any chances. Crystal had to warn them, but how? If she went in front of the intruders, she knew she would be seen. She thought about going down another manhole, but there wasn’t enough time. All she could do was watch helplessly as the group slowly made their way toward her family.

    Suddenly, a short man with hair shaped like wolf ears stopped. He held up his hand to signal the group to stop and started to sniff the air.

    “What is it, Logan?” asked another man with what looked like visors over his eyes in a stern voice.

    “She’s here,” Logan said in a deep, husky voice. He sniffed the air again.

    ‘That voice! I know I've heard it before, but where? Who is this “Logan”? Why does his voice sound so familiar?’ She thought.

    “Where?” The question broke Crystal’s train of thought.

    Logan turned and looked straight at Crystal. Her heart skipped a beat.
    “Right there, in the shadows,” Logan answered and pointed at Crystal. The group turned and looked right at her.

    ‘Oh, man!’ She thought. ‘They found me’. She started to back up as the group slowly came towards her.

    “It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you. We just wand to talk,” a woman with long, red hair said in a high, silky voice.

    ‘How could I trust them? I don’t know them. They could be enemies for all I know.’

    “We’re not enemies. You can trust us,” the woman reasoned.
    ‘Then why are they staying hidden?’

    “Oh, I almost forgot. Dark Flare, Pyro, can you please give us some light?”

    As soon as she said that, one of the guys lit his whole body on fire. The fire was black with a small glow of white at the edges. His eyes turned solid red. Crystal couldn’t see any part of his eyes, only red. Then the black fire formed the shape of his body. This all happened so fast, it was amazing she could tell that it happened.

    Surprisingly, the black fire gave off a large amount of light.

    On the other side of the group, Crystal heard the soft “click” of a lighter and she saw its small flame appear. Then the flame grew bigger and turned into a giant, orange ball of light and heat. It gave off the same amount of light as the black fire.

    The entire group was lit up and Crystal couldn’t help but gasp. They all looked like those mutants on the news. ‘What were they called?’ She asked herself. ‘Oh, yeah, the X-Men.’ Now she was almost sure she could trust them.

    While she was deciding what to do, her sharp hearing picked up a conversation coming down the sewer pipes.

    “Raph, where the shell do you think you’re going?” Leo’s voice questioned.

    “I’m going to go get Crystal,” Raph’s answer echoed down the dripping pipes.

    “How do you even know where to start looking?” Leo responded. It sounded closer that before.

    “’Cause I’m the one who usually goes to get her.”

    “Hey, that’s not fair! You always offer to go get her!” Mikey complained.

    “Guys, can we please stop fighting? Lets just all go and get Crystal together,” Donni reasoned.

    “Fine,” Leo, Raph, and Mikey said together.

    Crystal wanted to scream at them to go back and just forget about her. The only reason she didn’t was she was now frozen with fear.

    Then she saw the two-towed foot of one of her brothers come around the curve in the pipe.

    ‘Oh, no!’ She screamed in her head. They were going to get mauled all because of her!

    Before she could move, they all stepped around the corner about 100 feet from the awaiting X-Men.

    “Who the shell are you?” Raph challenged.

    Logan pushed everyone out of his way and quickly closed the gap between them. Claws extended from his clenched fists. ‘Who is this Logan?’ She asked herself ‘why is he so familiar. How do I know him?’

    Logan put his claws up to Raph’s throat. “I could ask you the same question, lizard-breath.”

    “I’m a turtle, air-for-brains. Now back off before I hurt you.”

    I’d like to see you try, shell head.”

    Raph pulled his Sais out of their holders on his belt. Before anyone could get hurt, Crystal jumped over the group of watching X-Men. She got in between Logan and Raph.

    “Alright, I’ll talk with you.”