• Crystal looked at the large building in front of her. It was made from a yellowish stone and had red shingles for a roof. There were three visible stories to this building, but something told Crystal that their were more. The mansion was surrounded by a large gate. The gate was iron and was molded into a Victorian style look. On tone of the stone pillars that held the gate up was a plaque. It said “Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters 1407 Graymalkin Lane Salem's Center Westchester County New York” The rest of the gate was iron with stone pillars. The stone was the same as the stone the mansion was made of. The drive way was long and it lead to the front of the school and into a round-a-bout.

    Crystal knew the grounds surrounding the mansion were large, and she couldn’t wait to go explore them, but first she wanted to see the inside of the institute. She walked up the drive with her eyes wide open, taking in everything. Once she stepped inside the front hall, she almost fainted. Right in front of her was a grand stair case that had red carpeting flowing down it. It led up to a sort of balcony that people could use to look over the front hall. It also had an arch way that lead to the other parts of the house. Above was a large chandelier, made of glass. Before she could say anything, Professor Xavier interrupted.

    “Crystal, you will be sharing it with Kitty, also known as Shadowcat, Rouge, Salone, also known as Shadow, and Jubilee,” he said while pointing to each one of the girls as he said their names. “Will one of you girls please show Crystal to her new room?”

    “I will,” all four girls said together. They then started to giggle.

    “Come on, Crystal,” Rouge said kindly. Jubilee grabbed on hand and Kitty grabbed the other while Shadow pushed her from behind. The three giggled as they pushed and pulled their new roommate to their room. Rouge picked up Crystal’s suitcase and ran after the four girls. Logan crossed his arms and leaned against the wall smirking to himself. Kurt had a huge look of embarrassment on his face.

    “I think she will do well here, don’t you, Logan?” the Professor asked his friend.

    “Yeah, I think so,” he responded. “Well, I better go see if she’s still in one piece.” Logan stepped away from the wall and headed down the hall the five girls had gone.

    “I think I will come with you, Logan,” Kurt sighed as he followed the short man down the hall. Once they came to the girls room, they immediately heard someone telling someone else where to put someone’s shirts. They also heard someone else say that they could put their own clothes away. Logan smirked again and opened the door.

    The four girls who originally owned the room were putting away Crystal’s clothes. Well, it was more like Rouge, Jubilee, and Kitty, who were putting things away. Shadow was directing. Crystal was sitting nervously on her bed, not knowing what else to do.

    “Are you girls sure that she wants her stuff put that way?” Kurt asked. All five girls turned to him.

    “No, it’s ok Mr. Wagner, I don’t mind. But they don’t have to put my stuff away if they don’t want to. I can do it,” Crystal said.

    “Alright, Crystal, but you can call me Kurt or Nightcrawler. We’re all friends here,” he said while giving her a huge smile. She responded with a nervous smile of her own.

    Later on, Crystal was being shown around by a guy named Bobby Drake, also known as Iceman. Crystal had gotten permission earlier to take pictures to send back to her “New York Family,” as Bobby called the turtles and her master. She was taking pictures of all the classrooms, making sure to remember which classroom was which. When she got into the elevator to go down to the sub-basement, Bobby told her that she should probably put her camera away. Crystal was confused. The Professor had said that she could take pictures of the sub-basement. She knew Donni would want to see it.

    “But, the professor said I could take pictures down here,” She argued.

    “I don’t know. He usually doesn’t allow that. It’s for protection, ya know?” He retaliated. He held out his hand for the camera.

    “Um, if I don’t take pictures, can I hold on to it? It’s Donatello’s. I like to carry something that my brother’s and my master gave me,” Crystal explained.

    “No, I think Prof would like me to hold on to it.” Then, Bobby heard a voice in his head.

    “I have given Crystal permission to take photos of the sub-basement, Bobby,” the voice said.

    “Okay, Professor,” he responded inside his head. “Crystal, the Prof just told me that it’s okay for you to take pics. I’m sorry ‘bout before.”

    “It’s okay,” she said with a smile.

    When the elevator doors opened, they stepped out into a long hall with light blue panels everywhere. The doors were shaped like giant “x’s” in a circle. To open the door, it split down the middle. Their were three doors on the left and right walls. Two on the right and one on the left. At the end of the hall was another door.

    Bobby stepped up to the first door on the right side and used a keypad to open it. The room had medical equipment and operation tables. Basically, everything was clear plastic or metal. Sheets and pillows were on top of the operation tables.

    “This is the infirmary. Jean is the doctor here,” he said.

    “Wow,” Crystal said as she snapped pictures of everything.

    After they left the infirmary, they went to another room. This room had a large metal table with seventeen chairs around it. It had monitors and other surveillance equipment. Some monitors were off while others were showing the mansion and the grounds around it.

    “This is the war room. It’s where we go to get briefed before we go on missions. A new chair has been added for you,” Bobby said as Crystal was taking pictures. Crystal looked up.

    “Really?” she asked.

    “Yeah, the Prof said that he wants you to feel like your part of the X-Men family.”

    “Wow, that’s really cool,” Crystal said.

    The next room was basically just a square with the same blue panels that lined hall and every other room that Crystal has seen. Their was what looked to be a control booth on the other side of the room. It had a large window for observing and Crystal could just barely see the controls.

    “This is the Danger Room,” Bobby said proudly. “It can project any scenario with realistic battle scenes. You fight robots that have realistic holograms placed over them. Some of the dangers are real, but no one has ever died in here. It has a safety program which keeps it from killing anyone.”

    “This is amazing,” Crystal exclaimed in astonishment. She then began taking more pictures. “Hey, Bobby, can we get up into the control booth. I want to take some pictures.”

    “Yeah, sure.”

    As they went up to Bobby started thinking about Crystal. How pretty she was, how smart she was, how strong she was. He had never met another girl like her. Then he remembered Rouge. She was his girlfriend, how could he do this to her? He shook his head as he led Crystal.

    Noticing this, Crystal asked, “Bobby, are you okay?”

    “Hmm, what? Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” he said, blushing.

    “Alright,” Crystal said skeptically.

    When they got to the booth, Crystal was amazed. The control panel was complex and had a microphone along with a lot of buttons, knobs, and levers. She started snapping pictures when she noticed Bobby looking at her. She pretended like she didn’t notice, but she did turn so she could see him out of the corner of her eye.

    When they walked out of the control booth, Bobby led her to the last door.

    “I’m sorry, but I can’t get into here. But this is Cerebro. It helps the Prof track down mutants. That’s how we found you,” Bobby explained. “It’s designed to amplify the brainwaves of the user. Only the most powerful of mutant minds can use it. So far, only the Prof and Jean have used it.”

    “Amazing,” Crystal breathed. “I bet Donni would love to get his hands on this. He just loves this kind of stuff.”

    “Well, I don’t know if he’s capable of tinkering with this thing. It’s pretty complex.”

    “You want to see complex, try having him make you a rocket out of spare parts. He’s done it before, too. It actually went into space, but then he lost it. I think NASA may have found it on Mars not too long ago.”

    “You’re lying.”

    “Nope. My big bro’s a genius.” Crystal said proudly.

    “Now, which one would that be?” a voice from behind asked.

    “Oh, hey Professor. She’s just braggin’ ‘bout how smart Donatello is,” Bobby explained.

    “Ah, I see. Well, Crystal, would you like a look inside of Cerebro?”

    “Yes, please, Professor,” Crystal said.

    “Alright.”

    Bobby then gently pushed Crystal out of the way as Professor X rolled his electric wheelchair towards the door. He then leaned forward and opened his left eye wide. A blue light scanned his eye and the door unlocked. The Professor wheeled himself inside and Crystal followed. They were on a platform that jutted out in to a spherical room. It was literally a sphere. The walls were made out of the same blue panel as everything else in the sub-basement. On the edge of the platform was a machine. It had a helmet with wires coming off of it and a sort of table looking thing.

    “Hey, Professor, do you mind if I take some pics in here. Donni would freak to see this,” Crystal asked.

    “Sure,” he said.

    A little while later, Rouge was showing Crystal around the grounds. Crystal was taking pictures of everything she thought Master Splinter would like. She even got some photos of some strange looking plants that Donni could look up later. They then sat down by a huge tree.

    “So, how do ya like it here,” Rouge asked. She had a slight southern accent.

    “It’s… different. I’m so used to only being able to go up above ground at night. It’s nice to be out in daylight,” Crystal said as she laid her head on the tree.

    “Why weren’t ya allowed above ground? Ah mean ya look like a normal human ta me.

    Crystal lifted her head off the tree and turned to face her new friend. “I’ve always promised myself I would be equal to my brothers. If they could only go out at nigh, then I could only go out at night. Sometimes, I feel like I betrayed that promise to come here.” Crystal closed her eyes and tried to keep her tears from falling, but Rouge saw them anyway.

    “Aw, Sugar, it’s okay. Ya did what ya felt was best. Don’t be sad,” she said caringly. Then Kitty came over, having seen Crystal tear up.

    “Hey, is everything, like, alright?” she asked with a Midwest accent. “Did Rouge, like, say something she, like, wasn’t supposed to?”

    “Hey, why does ever’ thing have ta be my fault?” Rouge asked furiously. Crystal then wiped away her tears.

    “Its okay, Kitty. I was just missing my bro’s,” Crystal explained.

    “Oh, um, like, sorry, Rouge,” Kitty said sheepishly.

    “Yeah, ya better be,” Rouge muttered under her breath. Suddenly, Shadow came running around the side of the house, yelling at the top of lungs.

    “Guys, Austin’s coming back today,” she yelled. Her eyes were wild and her mouth was formed into a huge and crazy smile.

    “Who’s Austin?” Crystal asked, confused.

    “My boyfriend. His codename is Hot Rod.” Crystal almost started to laugh, but she new better. “Now, come on, let’s go watch me beat him up for being a week late.”

    “Yeah,” Rouge and Kitty said as they got up.

    “Uh, I think I’ll stay here,” Crystal said.

    “Oh, no. Ya ain’t missin’ this fun. Come on, Crystal,” Rouge said as she grabbed Crystal’s left hand and Kitty grabbed her right. The two girls pulled the reluctant ninja up and Shadow pushed her from behind.

    Over in the garage, Logan worked on his black Harley. He got up when he heard the noise of the four girls.

    “Come on, Austin’s butt isn’t gonna just magically find my foot,” he heard Shadow yell.

    “Oh, so Hot Head’s back and it sounds like little miss Shad is gonna kick his flamin’ a**,” he said. “Scott owes me twenty bucks,” he said thoughtfully as he went towards the front of the school. When he got to the front, he found that the rest of the X-Men their and went over to his daughter, who was rubbing her writs.

    “Hey, Dad,” she said when she saw him.

    “Hey, kid. They hurt ya again?”

    “Yeah, but I’ll be fine.”

    Then, a yellow taxi pulled up in front of the group. Out stepped a tall boy who was wearing a black muscle shirt that showed off his abs and faded blue-jeans with holes in the knees and black skater shoes. The rest of him was somewhat well built, but not overly muscular. His eyes were a stunning bluish-green. His mouth formed a goofy grin.

    Salone pushed her way through the crowed and ran up to her boyfriend. She pulled him into a giant hug. She then kissed his cheek. Just when Crystal thought this would be a touching moment instead of a violent one, Salone let him go and slapped him. A look of shock crossed his face.

    “Ow, what the hell, Salone?” he said astonished in a smooth, semi-deep voice. He put his hand to his face.

    “That’s for being a week late. Where the hell were you?” she asked, furiously.

    “Salone, watch you language,” Kurt called out to his fifteen year old daughter.

    “Well, um … I was in Disney World,” Austin said in a small voice.

    “You were where!?!” Salone shouted.

    “My parents took me to Disney World for vacation.”

    “You went to ******** Disney World without me!?! I can’t believe you!?!”

    “Salone, what did your father just say about swearing?” Storm asked, with her hands on her hips.

    “Whatever!” Salone screamed. She turned and stormed back into the mansion. Kurt gave Austin a harsh glare and started to teleport after his daughter. Storm followed her husband, using the wind to carry her. Pushing his way through the crowed, Austin glided on ice after his girlfriend, calling her name. He accidentally pushed Crystal, knocking her down, which made Logan mad. He went after Austin, pulling out his claws.

    “Bobby, would you please take care of this ice. Crystal, I think we should go get your father before he gets himself in trouble,” Professor X instructed his students. Crystal got up and brushed herself off as Bobby powered up. He turned his whole body into ice and used his power to pull the ice out of the house and let it melt outside. Crystal then ran after her father, with Xavier right behind her.

    When they reached Crystal’s room, they saw it was locked and Austin trying desperately to get Salone to open the door and talk to him. Logan was about to come up behind Austin when Crystal stepped in between them.

    “Dad, it’s okay. I’m fine,” she said convincingly. When she said this, Austin did a 180.

    “Wait, Logan, you don’t have a kid, right?” he said.

    “Yeah, I do, Hot Head. This is my daughter and you just shoved her back their,” Logan said angrily. Austin eyes filled with fear.

    “I did?” he asked in a scared voice.

    “Yeah, but I’m fine,” Crystal said in a stern tone which was aimed at her father.

    “Are you sure? The moron didn’t hurt you?” Logan asked.

    “No.”

    Finally Kurt found Salone’s room and shoved Austin out of the way.

    “Salone, open this door,” he said furiously. There was a soft no from inside the room. “Fine, I’m coming in.”

    Crystal watched in amazement when Kurt disappeared in a puff of blue smoke that left behind the smell of brim stone. As soon as he did, Storm came running up to the door.

    “Kurt, open the door,” she said. There was no response from inside the room. “Fine, then I shall blast down this door.”

    Crystal’s eyes grew wide and before Storm could do anything, she stepped forward.

    “I have a key, Storm,” she said nervously.

    “Thank you, Crystal,” Storm said with a smile as she took the key that Crystal held out to her. She then unlocked the door. Austin tried to follow, but the door was slammed in his face. Austin looked hurt as he left to go unpack his things.

    “Crystal, you should go with your father. It’s time for his Danger Room session and I think you should watch to see how it goes,” Professor spoke up.