Disclaimer: Mutant X and its associated characters, locales, etc. are the property of Tribune Entertainment and don't belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended.

Episode 6: From Hell – Part 2

"What the hell are you doing!" Dr. Grant shouted out.

Adam was lying unconscious on the floor. Standing above him, holding a steel pipe in one hand was Dr. Atherton.

"What I should have done a long time ago."

"But...why?"

"Why do you think!" Atherton pulled out a 9mm Beretta from his coat and pointed it at Grant.

As the snake man advanced towards her, Shalimar eyes turned yellow. She took a step back, braced herself and leaped. She jumped over the snake man, did a somersault in mid air and kicked the back of his head before landing behind him. The snake man stumbled forward and fell face first on the ground.

The wolverine, who was moving towards Emma, now turned his attention on Shalimar. Growling, he charged forward, baring his fangs. Shalimar stepped to one side and kicked him in the stomach. The kick didn't seem to faze him though and he sent a clawed fist straight at her throat. She ducked and countered with a punch of her own. They exchanged a few blows and then Shalimar spinned around, kicking him hard in the chest. As he fell backwards, he lashed out with his reptile-like tail and using it like a third arm, wrapped it around her leg and yanked. Shalimar fell flat on her back. Before she could get up, she found herself staring up at the snake man.

Emma hit the wolverine man with a very powerful psionic blast, sending him crashing into the wall behind him, making a big crack in it. The snake man standing over Shalimar opened his mouth and prepared to send a spray of poison at her. Before he could do so, an arc of electricity hit him, sending him reeling backwards. Brennan got up one knee and charged up an even bigger arc. It narrowly missed as the snake man jumped over the wall.

Shalimar got up off the ground, looking around for the wolverine. He had disappeared.

"You okay?" She asked Brennan as Emma helped him up.

"You're bleeding," Emma said.

There was a gash on Brennan's face where the wolverine had hit him.

"I'll be fine."

"I'm tired of living in your shadow and I'm sick of doing what you tell me to do," Atherton said with contempt in his voice. "All these years I have wasted, working for you, when I could have been doing my own research, my own experiments."

"I have never forced you to...." Dr. Grant began to say.

"Shut up!" Atherton cut him off.

He dropped the steel pipe on the floor and walked over to one of the computer consoles. He tapped a key and the screen in front of them lit up.

"What are you doing?" Grant asked.

"I told you to shut up. And stay where you are."

A few more taps on the keyboard and the screen divided itself into three portions, each portion showing a live video feed. A look of confusion came over Grant's face. As he looked closer, he realized that the live feeds were coming from the escaped creatures. The confusion was replaced by a look of surprise.

"You're controlling them?"

"That's right. I'm controlling them." Atherton pulled out a device about the size of a palmtop. "With this modified datacard."

He flipped a switch on the device and tapped a few keys.

"Those tracking devices that you made me implant. They were actually high frequency control chips that I invented. I had them implanted near their cerebrums."

His lips curled up in an arrogant smirk.

"And by the way. There was no miscalculation in the DNA splicing process."

"That was your doing!" Grant said his eyes blazing. He took a couple of step forward and stopped when Atherton brought his gun up, pointing it at him.

"What do you want from me?" Grant asked.

"I want you to suffer. And what better way than to take something that you value the most away from you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I have called in the creatures. One of them is bringing your granddaughter along."

"You leave her out of this, you bastard!" Grant shouted taking another step forward.

"Stay back. Don't make me shoot you now. It would spoil all the fun. I'm going to let the creatures take care of you and your friends." Atherton nodded his head toward Adam and Jesse. "Make it look like you released your anomalies and they came back and turned on their creator."

Grant's eyes widened.

"You can't do that," he said, a hint of desperation creeping into his voice.

Atherton laughed.

As his eyes flickered open, Josh thought he had gone blind. He couldn't see a thing.  He groped around. The wall behind him was rocky and so was the ground. He was in of a cave of some sort. He groaned as he sat up.

"Josh?" a nervous voice spoke up.

"Claire? Is that you?"

"Yes."

"I can't see anything," Josh said.

"Neither can I."

Josh heaved a sigh of relief as he realized that the place was very dark and that he wasn't blind.

"You okay?" Josh asked.

"I think so. What about you?"

"I'm okay."

Josh felt something wet on his cheek. He touched it and winced as he felt a stinging sensation. He tried to recollect what had happened. He remembered Claire having a shocked look on her face and then pointing to something. He remembered being smashed in the face and then catching a glimpse of a black skinned creature. He knew it was one of the escaped creatures, but which one? He tried to remember what he had seen in the lab. It definitely wasn't the snake man and the wolverine had greyish fur. It must have been the vampire woman. She must've dragged them into this cave. Was she still in here? The thought sent a shiver down his spine.

"Where's the creature," he asked.

"I don't know. She knocked me out too and she wasn't around when I woke up."

Josh brought his hand up to speak into his com-link, but it wasn't there.

'Great,' he thought to himself. 'It must've fallen off.'

He got up and scrabbled around.

"What are you doing?" Claire asked him.

"Looking for...Ah found it."

He picked up what felt like a stick about three feet long and as thick as his wrist. He then took of his T-shirt and tied tightly to one end of the stick. He held up the stick and sent a thermal charge at the portion covered by the shirt. As the shirt caught fire, the cave lit up.

"Wow! That's a neat trick," Claire said in surprise.

Josh looked down at her. Her face looked eerie in the yellowish-orange glow. There was a dark bruise on her cheek. A concerned look came over her face as she noticed the cut on his cheek.

"You're hurt," she said getting up.

"I'm okay," Josh said. "But I don't wanna be around if that vampire woman comes back. We'd better get outta here."

"Right. Which way do we go," Claire asked.

Josh looked in both directions and then shrugged.

"This way, I guess."

"Are you sure that's the right way?" Claire asked.

"Only one way to find out," Josh replied quietly.

"Adam," Shalimar said into her com-link as they entered the hotel. "Adam, Jesse?" she repeated when she got no answer.

"They must be down in the lab," Emma said.

"Josh," Brennan said into his com-link. There was no reply. "Josh are you there?" He looked at Emma and Shalimar. "I told him to wait in the room till we get back."

"You two head down to the lab. I'll find him," Shalimar said and started walking towards the elevators.

As she was about to board one of them, the hotel manager came rushing towards her.

"Excuse me madam," he said trying to catch his breath. "Do you know where Dr. Grant is? His granddaughter is missing."

"What! When did you see her last?"

"Somebody heard screaming coming from the direction of the golf course a few hours ago. When we got there, we couldn't find anyone. One of the bellhops had seen Claire and a young boy heading in that direction a few minutes before."

'Josh must've been with her,' Shalimar thought as she hurried towards the golf course.


Jesse opened his eyes and took in his surroundings drowsily. There was big throbbing in his head. As his vision cleared, he saw that he was in Dr. Grant's lab. He tried to get up, but couldn't. He realised his hands and legs were tied up. Adam was lying next to him also tied up and unconscious.

Straight ahead Grant and Atherton were standing facing each other. Atherton had his back towards Jesse and was pointing a gun at Grant. He phased and the ropes binding his hands and feet slipped down.

Quietly, he got to his feet and tiptoed towards the two. Catching Grant's eye, he brought his finger to his lips. Atherton, noticing the movement of Grant's eyes, whirled around. When he saw Jesse, he squeezed the trigger. Jesse massed and the bullets bounced off him harmlessly. The gun clicked indicating that it was out of bullets. Enraged, Atherton threw the gun at Jesse who ducked.

Suddenly, Jesse noticed a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. He phased just in time as a large ball of grey fur went through him. It screeched to a halt and turned around snarling.

Shalimar searched the portion of the golf course near a clump of trees where Josh and Claire had been earlier. Her eyes turned yellow as she scanned the ground. Noticing something, she bent down to pick it up. It was Josh's com-ring.

There were tracks leading away from where she found the ring towards the trees. There was one set of clawed footprints and it looked like something had been dragged along behind it. She followed the tracks through the cluster of trees. The tree cover led stretched away from the hotel and outside the grounds.

As she kept walking, a rocky formation started to appear to her left. It grew bigger as she walked forward. A few yards ahead was an opening about seven feet high in the rocky face. The tracks led into the opening. She cautiously walked into the opening, which opened out into a pretty large cave.

She suddenly, stiffened as her feral senses picked up something coming from further inside the cave. It sounded like a girl screaming. Using her eyes like a torch, she moved into the dark in the direction of the sound.

Josh led the way holding his makeshift torch out in front of him. Clare followed behind him. The flames of the torch danced about creating eerie shadows on the walls of the cave. Up ahead was a slightly narrow passage about six feet high and half as wide. The passage was a little cramped but not very long. A couple of minutes later, Josh stepped out of the small passage, into a much larger place. He stopped in his tracks and Claire Who was right behind, bumped into him.

"What in the world?" Josh said astounded.

Ahead of him, the rocky floor of the cave gave way to pure concrete and the walls looked like they were made out of some kind of metal alloy. The area was lit up.   

He turned to face Claire who was standing next to him looking as stunned as he felt. "How...?"

A loud, bloodcurdling screech cut him off. He turned back towards the concrete area to see a chilling sight. The vampire woman was coming towards them, fangs bared. Claire screamed.

"Get outta the way!" Josh yelled pushing Claire aside.

He thrust the torch at the vampire's face, but she dodged and swatted it out of his hand. She stepped forward and took a swipe at his head. Josh ducked and punched her in the ribs and then ducked again as she took another swipe at him. He punched her again, but his punches didn't seem to be affecting her in the least.

She brought her hands up and what looked like retractable claws came out of her fingertips. Before he could react, she slashed him in the chest, sending him reeling backwards into the wall. She started moving towards him, but stopped and turned around, hissing angrily. Claire was poking at her with the torch. The vampire woman caught hold of the torch, ignoring the fire burning her hand. She pulled it from Claire's grasp and threw it back at her. Claire shrieked and just managed to get out of the way.

Josh yelled in pain as the vampire woman slashed him and grimaced when he back-pedalled into the wall. There was a long, inch deep scratch down his chest and his face felt like it was on fire. He watched in horror as the vampire threw the torch at Claire. He rushed forward, sending a thermal charge at her. As the thermal charge burned her in the back, the vampire turned around and started moving towards Josh. He backed up, sending short bursts of thermal energy at her, but she kept coming towards him, not showing any signs of pain. He tried to get away, but she was too quick. She leaped at him, caught hold of his arm and backhanded him in the face, sending him spinning in the air and landing on the ground, flat on his back.

Josh felt the wind getting knocked out of him as he hit the ground. His head swirled. The vampire woman straddled him and pinned both his arms, her claws digging painfully into his forearms. She slowly brought her face down, her sharp canines gleaming in the light, opening her mouth to bite into his neck.

The wolverine man charged at him. Jesse massed just before the creature smashed into him. The wolverine amazingly unaffected by the collision, swung at Jesse. His claws hit Jesse's still massed body and snapped. Jesse then smashed his fist into the wolverine's gut sending him flying across the lab. The creature crashed to the floor and rolled over seemingly out cold.

In all the confusion, Dr. Grant tried to wrestle the modified control device out of Atherton's hand. The younger man pushed him to the ground and picked up the steel pipe he had thrown down earlier.

"If you so much as flinch, I will crack your bloody skull," he threatened.

He turned back to watch the fight, an insane look coming over his face as he started tapping on the controller.

"Jesse!" Adam called out. He had regained consciousness.

"Adam. You okay?" Jesse asked.

"Jesse watch out! Behind you!"

As Jesse turned around, something leaped on him bringing him crashing to the floor. He looked up into an ugly snake-like face. The hideous creature hissed and opened its mouth. A stream of venom sprayed out of its mouth directed straight at Jesse's eyes. Jesse managed to phase out just before the venom hit him. As the venom hit the floor, acidic smoke rose from it.

Suddenly, from behind, a huge arc of electricity hit the snake man sending him staggering forward. Jesse got up to see Brennan standing near the elevator door.

Emma stepped out from behind him and sent a psionic blast at Atherton knocking him of his feet. She went over and helped Dr. Grant to his feet.

The snake man got to his feet, shaking his head to clear it.

"Oh no. You're not gettin' away this time," Brennan said, charging up a tesla coil.

The wall on his left suddenly moved towards him. The wolverine shed his camouflage and leaped at Brennan.

Brennan ducked and rolled out of the way, in the process sending an arc at the wolverine and hitting him in midair. The wolverine fell to the ground, rolled and came back up to his feet. Behind him, the snake man got up and moved towards him hissing. Jesse moved in to block the snake's path.

"These things don't go down easily," he said to Brennan.

Brennan and Jesse were standing back to back as the two creatures moved towards them from opposite directions.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Brennan replied tightly.

Josh squirmed and struggled, but she was too strong. He shut his eyes tightly as she closed in to bite him.

And then he heard a growl as something grabbed the vampire woman and threw her off him. He nervously opened one eye and released the breath he was holding when he saw Shalimar.

Shalimar turned to look at Josh. He looked hurt pretty bad. There were cuts all over his face and chest. She felt anger rising within her. Her feral senses flared up as the vampire recovered quickly and leaped at her, slashing at her face. Shalimar ducked, moved behind her and kicked her in the back, sending her face first into the wall. The vampire spun around, grabbed Shalimar by the shoulders and smashed her into the wall and then tried to bite her.

Shalimar kneed her in the gut; head butted her, pushed her back and kicked her in the midsection. Then she leaped in the air, did a backward somersault and kicked her in the jaw. The vampire fell back, cracked her head on the wall and slumped down, unconscious.

Josh struggled to his feet. Claire helped him up.

"You saved my life," she said. "I don't know how to thank you."

"Don't worry about...Ow." Josh grimaced as he stood up.

"You poor baby," Shalimar said giving him a fierce hug.

"Ow!" Josh said again.

"Sorry," She winced. "You're hurt pretty bad." There was concern written all over her face.

"I'm okay...really..." Josh stopped mid-sentence and his eyes opened up.

Shalimar turned around. The vampire woman was up again, coming towards them.

Dr. Grant picked up the controller and typed something in it.

The wolverine charged at Brennan, who let loose an arc of electricity. It didn't hinder the wolverine's movement.

"Move!" Brennan said to Jesse.

The both of them got out of the way of the charging creature, who went past them and almost crashed into the snake man. Then the two creatures turned and started moving in their direction. Brennan and Jesse backed up against the wall. There was no room to get out of the way this time.

And then abruptly, the two creatures stopped dead in their tracks. Their bodies stiffened and they fell to the ground.

"Huh?" Jesse looked confused.

"What happened?" Brennan asked.

Dr. Grant strode across the lab towards them.

"They are dead," he said flatly. "I re-programmed the control chips in their brains to self destruct."

Emma untied Adam and helped him up.

"You guys all right?" he asked.

Brennan and Jesse both nodded.

"Looks like your little problem is under control," he said to Grant.

"And I'm glad it is," Grant replied.

"What have you done! You destroyed them!" Atherton stormed over in rage, his eyes blazing. "You will pay..." He was cut off as Grant, who had had enough, laid a punch across Atherton's jaw, knocking him out.

"No...It's your turn to pay now," he said.

Shalimar stepped in front of Josh and Claire as the vampire woman headed for them. Suddenly, she stopped and fell. Shalimar raised her eyebrows in surprise. She walked over cautiously and bent down. The vampire's eyes were wide open, but she wasn't moving or breathing.

"She's dead," Shalimar said looking up at Josh's puzzled face.

"Hey guys," Claire spoke up. "I think this passage leads to one of the lab entrances."

"Wait," Shalimar said. "I'll go in first. You two stay behind me."

"This explains how they escaped," Josh said to Claire as they followed Shalimar into the concrete passage.

"I want to thank you for everything you have done...all of you," Dr. Grant said as he shook hands with everyone.

"I'm glad we could help," Adam said with a smile.

They were on the landing field standing by the helix. Brennan and Jesse went inside to get it ready for take off.

Claire walked up to Josh. There were a couple of bandages on his cheek, but his wounds were pretty much healed.

"You were really brave in there," she said. "I want to thank you again for saving my life."

"That's okay. I was just doing my jo..." he stopped as Claire kissed him gently on the lips.

When she stopped, he just stood there blinking in surprise, mouth slightly open.

Claire smiled at him. "I hope to see you again," she said before turning around to leave.

"Uh-uh, me too," Josh managed to mumble out.

He turned around as she left. Shalimar and Emma were there, trying hard not to smile and not succeeding.

"Somebody's in luhv," Emma teased.

"I am not!" Josh said indignantly and face turned red.

"Aw, he's blushing," Shalimar said, ruffling his hair.

"I'm not blushing," he said, embarrassed, and ran up the ramp into the helix.

Shalimar and Emma followed him, laughing.

END OF EPISODE 6

Thanks a lot for all the reviews. I really appreciate them.

If it's not too much trouble, I'd like whoever's reviewing to rate my episodes. Like which one is the best so far and second best and so on.