• Dear Mr. Banban,

    It pains me to say that if this letter reaches you, I am no longer alive. I leave you my beloved, young child. Her name is Crystal Howlett. She is three years old right now and her birthday is December 8th, 1980. Please, keep the identity of her father a secret until you think she’s ready. Her father is James Howlett, you know him as Logan or Wolverine. Due to him being an X-Man, he cannot take care of her. I want her to be happy and not to be worrying about her father all the time. Since Logan is a mutant, Crystal may be a mutant, too. If she is, Logan will come with the rest of the X-Men. If you haven’t shown her this letter when they arrive, give it to her. Also, watch out for the mutant called Sabertooth. He is the one who would have killed me. He thinks that Crystal is his daughter and he will do anything to get her back. If he does come, call Logan immediately. Hide her until he comes. And Crystal, I love you; I always have and always will. Your father loves you, too. He did what he thought was best for you, and so did I. Take care, my only beloved child.

    Love,
    Mariko Howlett.


    Crystal folded the letter as tears fell from her eyes. She heard movement and saw her brothers and the X-Men for the first time since she went into Master Splinter’s room. They all looked worried. Raphael had a look of a mixture of pain, fear, heartbreak, sadness, and worry. He came over to Crystal as she started to cry harder. He put one green arm around her and led her to the couch. Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello got off the old couch to make room for them. Crystal put her head on Raph’s shoulder as her brothers rubbed her back to soothe her. The rest of the X-Men looked helplessly at the scene.

    “Is their anything we can do?” Scott asked.

    “No, she just needs her family right now,” Leo answered.

    “Crystal, can I see that letter?” Raph asked.

    Crystal held out the letter to him and then wrapped her arms around him and cried some more. Raph’s eyes moved over the paper. When he was finished, he handed it to Donnie. After Donnie, it went to Mikey, and then to Leo. Every time one of them finished reading, the same look came over their face. It was a look of anger, sadness, and worry. Leo then gave Crystal the letter back.

    They sat their like that for about three minutes. Then Crystal went and washed up and came back.

    “You, all right, Chris?” Raph asked using the rarely used nickname they gave her.

    “Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered. “Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.”

    “Its okay, Chris,” Leo said, “I would have done the same thing if I were you.”

    “Any of us would,” Donnie piped up, “I mean it was a sad letter.”

    “Even Raph, the turtle with a heart of stone, would have cried,” Mikey joked. Raph gave him a cold stare.

    Crystal was just about to sit down again when a loud noise coming from the sewer pipe that she and the others had come through. Everyone jumped up and got ready to do battle. Master Splinter and Logan came out of Master Splinter’s room. Everyone waited in silence as the sound of large footsteps got closer.

    Logan sniffed the air and an almost un-human growl escaped his lips.

    “What is it, Logan?” Scott asked.

    “Sabertooth,” was all the answer that Scott needed.

    A fire fueled by hatred burned in Crystal’s veins. She pulled out her katana and got ready to kill. She had never killed or even thought of it before this moment, but she knew she had to kill Sabertooth.

    Logan ran up to the front of the group and extended his claws. He stood a little in front of Crystal, in almost a protective pose. Finally, Sabertooth entered the ninja’s home. He had pitch black eyes, blond hair that almost formed a mane around his face. He also had a beard and a mustache. His canine teeth were pointed like fangs and he had yellowish nails that looked more like claws and hair all over, like he had fur.

    “Ah, I knew you would lead me to her, little man. Now step aside so I can claim my daughter,” Sabertooth said in an extremely deep and gravely voice.

    “Not on my watch, Fur-Face,” Logan retaliated.

    “Or on ours,” Leo said as he and his three brothers stepped forward.

    “You foolish turtles! Stay out of my way,” Sabertooth yelled at them.

    Then Sabertooth looked at Crystal.

    “Look at you, your all grown up. Just look at how beautiful you are,” he said.

    “You stay the hell away from me! You’re crazy! I’m not your daughter,” Crystal shouted at him.

    Sabertooth stared in horror at the girl he thought was his. Then his stare shifted to the man in front of her.

    “You! You turned her against me!” he yelled at Logan.

    “No, she just knows her real father,” he said angrily.

    Suddenly Sabertooth launched at Logan. Unfortunately for Sabertooth, Logan was ready for him. Logan stabbed his claws into Sabertooth’s stomach and the mutant gave a yelp. Sabertooth recovered quickly and slashed Logan’s face.

    Finally, Crystal had enough. She took a step forward, but Logan shouted “Crystal, no. This is my battle, not yours.”

    The other X-Men watched with concern for their fellow teammate. They wanted to help him, but he had said no. The turtles turned to their master for advice.

    “We will not interfere, my sons,” he said.

    “But, Master, he needs our help,” Leo argued.

    “No, Leonardo. We shall stay out of this until we are asked to help or I deem it necessary to help out.”

    The battle was getting really bloody as the two mutants slashed and stabbed each other. Sabertooth then threw Logan, who was immediately knocked out. Sabertooth then turned to Crystal.

    “Now, Crystal, you shall come with me,” he ordered.

    “The only way you’ll get me to come with you is if you kill me,” she said.

    “I can’t kill you, you’re my daughter,” he said horrified.

    Crystal turned to look at her father, then her master. He nodded to her. Then he nodded to the four teenage turtles. The turtles ran up beside their sister. They got into fighting poses.

    “Well, if you can’t kill her; then try to kill us,” Leo challenged.

    “No problem,” Sabertooth answered. He launched toward Leo with his claws ready to slash. Leo pulled out his duel swords and sliced him. Sabertooth fell down and then got back up. He decided to not go after Leo anymore. He picked out Mikey and lunged for him.

    “Not this time, Fuzzy-Wuzzy,” Mikey said. He pulled out his nun-chucks. Using the skills he learned when he actually went to training, he struck Sabertooth down again. Then he went after him and started to use his nun-chucks to beat him. The others tried to help him, but Master Splinter called, “No, let Michelangelo do this himself.”

    “Raph, give him your Sais,” Crystal ordered.

    “What!?! Are you insane!?! Give him my Sais!?! Why don’t you just end the world now!?!” Raph said, astonished.

    “Just do it! Now!” Crystal responded.

    “Okay, okay,” Raph agreed. “Mikey, heads up!” Raph threw his Sais to Mikey, who put away his nun-chucks and caught them easily.

    “Aww, Thanks, Raphie!” Mikey taunted. He then turned back on his enemy. Using the two Sais, he stabbed Sabertooth dead center in the heart and slit his throat. When Mikey took a step back, he finally realized what he had done.

    “Oh, Crap! I-I didn’t mean to! It was like I was Raph!” Mikey tried to explain.

    Crystal stepped forward. “Its okay, Mikey. You did the right thing, right Master?” she said comfortingly.

    “Yes, Michelangelo, you did the right thing, my son,” Master Splinter said.

    “I did!?! Whoa!” Mikey responded.

    “Yeah, who knew you could actually do something right for once,” Raph teased as he took back his Sais.

    Logan finally regained conciseness and sat up, rubbing the back of his neck.

    “What’d I miss?” he asked.

    Cyclops came over to him.

    “Oh, nothing. Just that you don’t have to worry about Sabertooth anymore. That turtle, Mikey, killed him,” Scott said.

    Logan looked over to Sabertooth’s body, then to Mikey, and finally, his eyes rested on Crystal. She smiled at him.

    “Master Splinter, I think I would like to go to the Institute, for a while,” she said to her master.

    “Alright, Crystal,” he answered.