The Mutant Underground


Kylie laid on a steel table while one of the Mutant Underground members worked on the gunshot wound in her shoulder. The sleeves of her sweater had been cut away so she could have better access to the wound. "There's a lot of muscle damage in her shoulder. Was this a through and through?" she asked, her cat ears twitching as she looked to John who was standing in the doorway.

He shook his head, "No. Lorna used her powers and pulled the bullet out."

"I keep telling her not to do that unless I'm there." the cat mutant hissed, her pupils slitting for a split second before returning to normal. She had blonde hair that was pulled into a low ponytail and bright blue eyes, along with a pair of Lynx ears and a tail. "It does more harm than good, at least in this case." Her hand hovered over the wound, her fingers gently moving as she used her telekinesis to repair the damaged muscle tissue.

"Is she gonna be okay, Lucy?" John asked.

"Yeah, she'll be fine." Lucy answered. Her computer beeped and on the screen appeared Kylie's prison file. "Alright, let's see." her eyes scanned over the information, "Full name, Kylie Rae Morrison. Born March 20, 1998 in Norman, Oklahoma. Was arrested in 2012 by Savannah PD." She scoffed and shook her head, "Man, 14 years old at that time, poor girl. Arrested at that age and she just broke out yesterday? That's five years." Her ears flattened against her head. "If anyone was in need of a jailbreak, she was." Lucy sighed and grabbed some gauze wrap from her storage shelf. "Go check on Marcos, I'll finish up here and when she wakes up, I'll talk to her."

"Great, thanks Luce." John nodded and walked out. In the next room over, Marcos was being patched up by another cat-like mutant; who had curly brown hair with black puma ears and tail.


Kylie stirred on the table, her head falling to the side. Her eyes moved rapidly beneath her lids as her fingers twitched. Inside her head, images flashed from years ago, the sounds blurring together. A few frames became clearer; a black Semi cab surrounded by open fields, rain pouring from the sky as thunder and lightning crashed in the distance, a gun moving slowly to where it's barrel is at eye level before it's yanked back by someone, then the shot rings out and a scream pierces through the storm.

Kylie's eyes flew open as she shot up, panting. She scanned the room, not knowing at all where she was, then she felt the pain in her shoulder. "Easy there sweetie, you're okay." Lucy soothed, standing beside the table. "You're safe now."

"Where am I?" Kylie demanded. "Where's Clarice?" She swung her leg over the table's edge and winced, her hand moving to her shoulder. "What happened?"

"Answering those in order: the Atlanta HQ of the Mutant Underground, she's talking with one of my colleagues, and you were shot." Lucy answered, handing Kylie a glass of water and a couple of pills. "Take those, it'll help with the pain."

"Mutant Underground." Kylie repeated, taking the pills and chasing them with water.

"We help mutants get to safe havens. Most are on the run, like you and your friend, Clarice." Lucy clarified, taking a sheet of paper from her desk and handing it to Kylie. "So, you up for answering some questions?"

When Kylie looked at the paper, her eyes narrowed. It was a single sheet with her prison record. "How'd you get this?" she asked, crumpling the paper in her hand.

"We have our resources." Lucy placed her hand over Kylie's. "It's okay, you're among friends here." Kylie looked up and saw Lucy's eyes glow blue before her pupils slit like a cat's and her ears popped out from her hair. "When it says resisting arrest-"

Kylie scoffed, "Resisting arrest. More like self-defense." she rolled her eyes, "Off-duty cops from Savannah PD pulled my dad's truck over and they asked all these questions." She bit her lip. "They didn't like the answers he gave so they started beating him, that's when I stepped in. I used my powers to protect him and-" her voice cracked as she squeezed her eyes shut, biting back the tears. "-I fought back, and when my dad tried to save me-" the sound of a gunshot rang in her ears, "-they shot him. Dragged me away kicking and screaming and left my father to bleed to death on a back country road."

Lucy's ears fell to the sides, "I am so sorry, that's horrible." she gently rubbed Kylie's un-bandaged shoulder. She looked down and saw a vertical scar on the underside of the teen's left forearm.

"I spent five years in that hell-hole." the silver haired teen shook her head, her hands clenching into fists.

Lucy nodded her head, looking away from the scar, "Well, you're with your own kind now." she assured, "You're safe."

Kylie hopped off the table and gave the cat-girl mutant a half-smile, grabbing her leather knapsack from the floor, "Thanks uh-"

"Lucy." she cut in, "Lucy Dawson."

Kylie gave a nod and walked out, searching out Clarice, who was sitting by herself on an old chair. She jogged up to her, "Hey, you okay?"

The green-eyed mutant looked up at her, "Yeah, just glad I can finally rest." she shrugged her shoulders, and motioned to the bandage on Kylie's shoulder, "What about you?"

"Barely hurts." the silver haired mutant replied, sitting on a small end table. She looked around the building, "This place seems alright." Kylie shrugged. "Maybe we can crash here a while until we figure out what to do."

"It's as good a place as any." Clarice sighed.


The two girls stood close as they walked around the building, which was the remains of an old bank, Kylie now wearing a grey zip-up hoodie over her clothes. They heard sounds coming from the vault, followed by a glowing light. They stood in the entryway, watching as Marcos used his power to cut through a cinder block. On the couch laid a dog with black and white fur and blue eyes.

"Is that your dog?" Clarice asked, her and Kylie stepping over the threshold. Said dog poked her head up and kept her eyes on the two girls.

"Zingo." Marcos sighed. "She's, uh she's everybody's, really." He went back to cutting the cinder block.

"We didn't mean to intrude." Kylie admitted, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "We just wanted to say, thanks for, you know, saving us." Clarice elbowed her in the side, and Kylie sighed heavily, "And I'm sorry for using my ice power on you."

Marcos chuckled, "Don't worry about it." he brushed off. "All's forgiven. If I was in your shoes I would've done the same thing."

"So this group." Clarice said, sitting on the couch with Kylie sitting on the armrest of a recliner. "You guys run it or something?"

"No. The network's nationwide." Marcos corrected. "Founded after the anti-mutant laws first got bad. Just before the X-Men disappeared."

"What about this place?" Kylie raised a brow, reaching out to pet Zingo.

"Uh, it's been abandoned since Oakwood." Marcos answered. "Figure it's the last place they'd look." he shrugged his shoulders. "I got brought into this station by, uh, John and and by Lorna." He finished cutting through the block and caught his breath.

"I guess this-" Kylie motioned to the part that had fallen to the floor, "-has something to do with getting her out of jail?" She raised an eyebrow.

Marcos nodded, "Yeah. Well that was the idea." He stood up and looked over his handiwork. "Should work great, as long as they have no guards or cameras-"

"-Or smoke detectors?" Clarice added, which made Kylie chuckle.

The silver haired girl cleared her throat, "For what it's worth, uh I know you lost her helping us." She looked to Clarice. "Hell, she pulled a bullet from my shoulder."

Marcos held his hand up, "It wasn't either one of your faults." He scratched Zingo behind her ears, before glancing in the girls' direction, specifically Clarice. "You got out of prison using some kind of portal, right?" he questioned, making Clarice look up at him. "Think you could get someone in?"

Clarice sighed, "It doesn't work like that." she admitted, biting her lip. "It's bad if I try to go someplace that I can't see, someplace I haven't been."

Marcos raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by bad?"

Clarice and Kylie exchanged a glance, before the green-eyed girl created two small openings which glowed a light purple, one was in front of her hand, the other above Marcos. Kylie grabbed a toy that looked like a cartoon frog and tossed it through the portal by Clarice's hand, the bottom half landed at Marcos' feet. Zingo let out a bark, her ears perked up.

"Right." Marcos sighed, examining the bottom half of the frog. "That was her favorite toy." His cell phone went off and he answered, walking a few paces away from the couch.

"Oh." Kylie mouthed, looking at the dog, "My bad." She held her hand out, which Zingo licked.

Marcos left the vault to talk with the man who called him and was discussing about setting up a meeting. What he didn't know was that Clarice was listening in on the conversation.

"What was that all about?" Clarice asked as Marcos walked back into the vault, grabbing a few things.

"Just business, helping a mutant family." Marcos answered, throwing on a flannel over his t-shirt. "Don't tell anyone." He left before either girl could say a word.

"Think that also has something to do with his girl?" Kylie muttered, glancing at Clarice, who just shrugged.


After creating a few small portals, the other half of the dog's toy fell from the ceiling. Kylie found some duct tape around Marcos' work station and taped the frog together. "See?" she smiled, holding up the toy and squeaked it, getting Zingo's ears to perk up. "All fixed." Zingo barked as the silver-haired girl tossed her toy on the couch with a giggle and scratched her behind the ear.

Kylie glanced up at Clarice, who was pacing back and forth, "Dude, you're gonna create a rut in the floor if you keep that up." she noted, getting to her feet. "What's on your mind?"

Clarice sighed and leaned against the table, "I'm thinking that, maybe we should tell someone that Marcos left. I mean, we kind of owe him and his girlfriend saved our asses."

Kylie nodded, "Alright, let's go find that other guy-" she closed her eyes and snapped her fingers trying to pull his name from her memory, "-John. He might know what to do." she shrugged, giving Zingo a pat on the head before following Clarice out of the vault.

The two girls found John on the upper level of the building, going over a map with another mutant. "Just do what you can, okay?" he told the other mutant, who nodded and left. John leaned back in the chair, his attention on Kylie and Clarice, "Something wrong?"

"No." Kylie reflexively answered, taking a deep breath and exhaling as she leaned against the table. "We just need to talk to you." She propped one of her legs on the table, the other dangling over the edge. "About Marcos."

John's lips cracked a smile as he chuckled, "Uh, listen Marcos is...he's an emotional guy." he informed the two newcomers. "So, whatever he said, don't take it personal-"

"No, it's not about that." Clarice cut off. "Its-He got a phone call from some guy. Something about helping a family."

"He ran off about an hour ago." Kylie added, "Alone."

John's demeanor changed after hearing that. He was on his feet in seconds and slammed his hands on the table, "What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because he told us not to." Clarice defended. "And he didn't want to get anyone else involved because it was dangerous." she leaned against the banister, "But then I was thinking about how Ky and I owe his girlfriend. And she'd be pissed if he died."

Kylie nodded in agreement, "And after seeing her go postal on those cops for shooting her boyfriend, we figured it'd be the smart decision not to get on her bad side."

John sighed, making his way to the stairs, "Come on." he motioned for the girls to follow him.

"Where are you going?" Kylie asked, keeping her eyes on John. "We don't even know where he is."

"I found the two of you." John reminded, turning on his heels to look at the two female mutants. "Trust me, I can find him."

Kylie scoffed, her jaw dropping, "Cocky son of a bitch, ain't he." she noted, casting a side glance at Clarice, who just shrugged.


Using his abilities, John was able to track Marcos to a large, abandoned warehouse facility. "Sentinel Services is here?" Kylie muttered, bracing herself against the side of the building, her hands clenching into fists.

"Marcos is that way, along with four others." John informed. "We can get in through there and head off Sentinel Services."

After catching their breath, the mutant trio ran into the warehouse, halting in front of a large, steel door. "How the hell are we supposed to get through that?" Clarice asked.

John cracked his knuckles and punched the door, earning a shocked reaction from the two girls, who exchanged a glance.


The clanging coming from the steel door startled the Strucker family, whom Marcos was trying to help. The two teenage mutants, Lauren and Andy, clung tighter to their parents, Reed and Caitlin, expecting the worst to come through the door. It swung open, revealing John, Clarice, and Kylie, all motioning for the family to follow them. They wasted no time to argue.

The group of eight ran across the open facility floor, when suddenly John came to an abrupt halt. Using his foresight ability, John picked up on the deployment of the Sentinel Services' mutant-hunting robots, known as Sentinels. "They're coming!" he alerted the others, "That way! Go! To the hallway!"

It wasn't long before the spider-like machines had the group in sight and started converging on them. Andy tripped and rolled to the ground, panting and trying to catch his breath and get to his feet. John pulled him up by his jacket and shoved him ahead, giving the Sentinel robot an opening to latch onto his leg. Not wanting to lose another friend, Marcos used his powers to burn the machine until it released its grip, giving the two men the chance to escape.

The group turned down the hallway and skidded to a halt when a Sentinel jumped down from the ceiling, its sights focused on the mutants. Kylie raised her arms, feeling the water from the pipes in the wall. She closed her eyes and flexed her fingers, the liquid bursting through the concrete walls. When her eyes opened, they were dark blue and her hair soon faded into the same color, her focus on the robot before her. With a surge of energy, Kylie pushed the wave forward, flooding the hallway. The color lightened to the steel blue as a sphere of water encased the robot before freezing solid.

However, things never go that simply. The Sentinel still had some fight and began chipping away at the ice, shocking Kylie as her hair and eyes shifted back to their normal platinum colors. "Damnit." she cursed under her breath, before taking off in another direction with the rest.

The group skidded to a halt when they came to a door blocking their exit. Another robot cornered them and sent out a signal, and more Sentinels started coming out from all sides. Marcos fired a solar beam and kept one down, but three more soon joined the party. The teenage girl, Lauren, stepped up and created a shield, blocking two the robots.

Kylie stood on the other side of Marcos, energy rippling around her hands and arms, giving off a subtle crackling sound. She took a few deep breaths, her eyes turning a bright, electric yellow, "We don't belong in cages." she breathed, her hair turning the same bright yellow, "We deserve to be free!" She thrusted her hands out, grabbing the remaining robot in a vice grip of pure lightning. The energy crackled as the robot was suspended in mid air.

"Clarice." Kylie yelled, her voice strained from the new power she awoke. "You got to get us out of here." Her fingers curled, the lightning intensifying. "You got us out of prison, you can get us out of here too!"

"No!" the purple haired mutant rejected. "It's too dangerous. I can't see where I'm going."

"Well we will die if we stay here." Marcos informed. "So can you please just do it?"

"They're getting through!" Lauren grunted, struggling to keep her shields in place.

Clarice closed her eyes as she held her hands inches apart, bright purple energy beginning to form in the space. A small hole appeared, the edges rippling and the image of a room appearing on the other side. "I can't do it." she sighed, struggling to enlarge the portal a bit more.

"Yes you can!" Kylie encouraged, gritting her teeth. She cast a quick glance at her cellmate and nodded, the corner of her lips forming a smile.

Clarice focused harder, her portal widening just enough for people to jump through. John was the first to go through, and motioned for everyone to follow. Lauren glanced at the two other mutants who were holding back the Sentinels and they gave the nod to let her go ahead. Caitlin and Lauren were the next two to jump through the portal.

Kylie tossed the fried remains of one robot aside before grabbing the two that charged foward once the shields went down. "Go Kylie!" Marcos ordered, the light from his palms intensifying. She met his eyes and nodded, thrusting the robots back with what she could muster, quickly turning on her heels and diving through the portal, bracing her hand on John's shoulder when she made it to the other side.

"Whoa, that was intense." Kylie breathed, her hair and eyes fading to normal. She moved to a kneeling position, catching her breath when all of a sudden she heard a gunshot. She jumped to her feet and saw Andy make it through the portal, and Reed falling to the ground in the warehouse.

The portal closed and Clarice's body swayed. Kylie ran and caught her friend before she hit the ground. The remaining three Struckers stood frozen in shock.