Prison Break
A group of the Mutant Underground sat in a large meeting area on the upper level of the headquarters, with Eclipse and Thunderbird standing at the front. Kylie, sporting a faded black 'Hollywood Undead' t-shirt with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath and jeans with a few holes below the knee and a pair of old converse, sat on the old couch next to Clarice with Zingo laying between them.
"We know that Lorna and Reed are being held in a cell at the Sentinel Services Regional Headquarters. Along with them is a former Sentinel Services driver who was in charge of transporting mutants to detention facilities." John informed.
"Wait, they arrested one of their own?" asked a mutant with crystalized skin and a glassy eye.
John nodded in reply, "According to the intel, he was arrested for helping mutants escape." the station leader added. "As far as I'm concerned, this driver is one of us. Now, the three of them are being moved soon to an ultra-secure facility. And we don't know much about it, except that the people who go don't come back. That's why we got to move now."
Whispers filtered through the group as they listened to their station leader. Kylie leaned back into the couch, her elbow resting on the back and her head leaning against her hand, her wavy blonde hair falling over her shoulders. "And I'm not gonna sugarcoat this." John continued, "We're talking about attacking the Sentinel Services."
More chatter filtered through the group. Leaning against the banister, the Dawson sisters exchanged a glance. Both girls were wearing black combat boots, skinny jeans, and camo print tank-tops, their Army dog-tags visible over the fabric.
"We lost six people the last time we went up against them." Danielle reminded, her hands in her pockets.
"I know that better than anyone." John replied, meeting the cat-mutant's eyes. "It won't be like last time."
"You're right. Last time, we just hit a relocation center with a fence and some guard towers." the Underground's hacker, Sage, pointed out. "This time it's a prison. Their systems have improved, extrapolating from other attacks. We've got an eighty-six point five percent chance of failure."
"And if we do nothing, then there's a hundred percent chance we never see them again." Marcos retorted. "Look, Lorna's risked her life for everyone in this room." He looked to an African-American male sitting at the table, "Harry, your parents would be dead without her." Marcos' eyes fell on the hacker, "Sage, she pulled you out of a gutter, and she got you clean. She needs us."
Sage sighed and shook her head, "Doesn't change the math, Marcos."
"I don't care about the math." Marcos scoffed, "I care about Lorna. Who's with me?"
The group stayed silent for a few minutes, which concerned Marcos. Finally, Sonya was the first to speak up, "I'm in." she agreed, raising her hand. Next to her, Harry did the same, giving a nod.
Dani and Lucy glanced to each other and clasped hands, their Puma and Lynx ears popping up from under their hair, "We're in." they spoke in unison with a swish of their tails.
Clarice gave a quick glance to Kylie, "Yeah, I'm in too." she volunteered, her green eyes falling on her friend again.
"Oh you had me at 'attacking Sentinel Services'." Kylie spoke, glancing from Clarice to John, shrugging her shoulders and giving a small smirk.
"Eight of us to break into a prison." Marcos sighed, leaning against the wall of the small office.
"Marcos, don't be so hard on 'em." John consoled. "A lot of 'em lost friends the last time."
"Nine." Caitlin corrected, stepping into the office.
"So how are we gonna do this?" Clarice finally asked. "If there's a window, I can portal us in, but there's gonna be guards and cameras."
Sitting on the armrest of the lounge chair, Kylie brushed some hair from her face, propping her foot up on the small table, "Harry, is there anything you can do?" she asked, glancing up at the taller male standing beside her,
"I can make the guards see this..." Harry demonstrated, turning his lower arm invisible, "...but not the cameras."
John slid his hands in the back pockets of his jeans, "Well, if we go in like that, we're never coming out again."
Everyone let out a frustrated sigh, trying to come up with a better plan. "What if we don't go in?" Caitlin suggested, earning slightly confused looks from the rest of the mutants. "Look, I know I can't shoot lasers from my hands, or conjure lightning-" she glanced between Marcos and Kylie, "-but I do have an idea. My brother, Daniel, said the place they're taking them is far away. To put them on a plane, they'd have to move them."
"So, you're suggesting we hit them in transit?" Danielle guessed, her puma ears twitching.
"That's actually not a bad idea." Lucy agreed, flipping her blonde hair off her shoulder, turning her eyes towards the station leader, "What do you think, John?"
"It could work." John seconded. "But we don't know the route, and without that-"
"I think I might know how to get it." Marcos volunteered.
"How?" Thunderbird asked. "We don't have anyone with that kind of intel."
"The network doesn't, but I might." Eclipse replied, meeting his friend's eyes.
Seeing the look in Marcos' eyes, John let out a scoff, "The cartel?" he questioned, and Marcos lowered his head in response. "The last time the cartel got their hooks in you, you barely got out." He walked over and stood in front of his friend, "Marcos, are you sure you want to go back to them?"
"No." Marcos answered honestly. "But I'm out of better ideas, man."
Kylie rolled onto her back, her eyes squeezed shut and her breathing shallow as she clutched the blanket covering her body. A light coat of sweat covered her forehead as her breathing grew labored.
"Leave him alone!" a young girl's voice screamed as thunder crashed in the distance.
"Get back!" an older man's voice ordered, lightning crackling in the sky above.
Kylie gasped as her head whipped to the side, a light whimper escaped her lips.
The rain poured down as thunder and lightning echoed in the distance. A young, blonde girl knelt down by her father who was clutching his ribs. Another man in a police uniform yanked the girl by her hair and pulled her aside, before kicking the man in the ribs again.
"No." Kylie breathed out. "Stop.."
"Stop it!" the young girl screamed. She raised her hand and water splashed the officers, the girl's eyes and hair fading into a deep blue color.
"She's a mutie." a female officer noted with disgust.
"And she just attacked us." another male officer noted, taking a step towards the girl.
Kylie's face scrunched up into an expression of fear as her chest rose and fell in a rapid fashion, her hands fisting the blanket.
The young fourteen year old scooted away from the officer approaching her, her eyes fixated on the cross tattoo on his neck. Reflexively she held her hands up and lightning struck, hitting a nearby mile marker.
"She just tried to kill us." the second male officer said.
The lead officer pulled his gun from the holster, "Maybe we should kill her. The world will be safer with one less of these mutie freaks."
All Kylie could focus on was the gun in her face and her silver-eyes widened in fear.
"Stay away from her!" the man on the ground yelled, getting to his feet.
The next second her father tackled the officer holding the gun, wrestling it away. A shot rang out and Kylie screamed.
Another bolt of lightning hit the field close to them. Kylie tried crawling to her father, who was laying face down on the dirt road, struggling to sit up. She felt the tasers stab her in the back and sides as she was being dragged in the opposite direction. "Daddy!" she screamed.
Jackson lifted his head and reached out his blood-stained hand, calling out his daughter's name. "Kylie." He barely moved an inch before his hand fell to the ground and his body ceased to move.
"No." Kylie shot up in bed with a gasp. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she ran her hands over her face and hair, trying to calm herself down by taking deep, slow breaths. She glanced to the right and saw Clarice still asleep.
Kylie made her way to the bathrooms and stared at her reflection in the broken mirror above the sink. She splashed some cold water on her face and the back of her neck, feeling small raised burns from the collar she wore in prison the past five years. With a heavy sigh, she raised the hem of her shirt above her waist to see the faint puncture marks over her ribs, courtesy of the cops who arrested her. She lowered her shirt and rolled up the sleeve, running her thumb over the scar on the underside of her left forearm, her silver colored eyes hard as stone.
Still a bit wired to go back to sleep, Kylie wandered around the Underground Headquarters, rubbing her arms through the sleeves of her black shirt. "Hey there." a voice said from behind her, making the blonde turn around. Standing there in a navy-blue zip up hoodie over a red t-shirt and navy blue sweatpants was a man with black crystalized skin and a glassy eye. "You lost or something?"
"Couldn't sleep." Kylie answered, folding her arms over her chest. "Thought I'd just walk around and tire myself out." She pursed her lips together, swallowing the salvia that pooled in her mouth.
The other mutant nodded and motioned for her to follow him, "I can understand the not sleeping. It was hard on me too when I first showed up." He led her to a large room that acted as the pantry where various food and drinks were stored. He picked up a small bottle of water and tossed it to the blonde, "Here."
Kylie caught the bottle and cracked a small smile. "Thanks." she replied, looking at the Underground member, "Uh...sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"People around here call me Shatter." the mutant male answered.
Kylie nodded, "Kylie." she introduced. "Thanks for the water." She unscrewed the cap and took a swig, casting a glance around the pantry. "Mind if I get another, for my friend, Clarice?"
Shatter gave a nod and tossed a second bottle to her, which she caught. The two walked out together, "If you need anything else, just ask." Shatter offered, patting Kylie's shoulder. "Us mutants gotta stick together right?"
"Right." Kylie answered softly, glancing around the station. "Thanks again, Shatter."
"No problem." Shatter gave her a smile and walked down the stairs to the main level.
Kylie sighed and walked back to the room she shared with Clarice, still looking around. Her silver eyes landed on John who was leaning against a pillar with a cell-phone up to his ear. She saw his posture change as he talked before pulling his phone back and closing it, shaking his head. When he turned, he saw Kylie watching him and gave her a small smile. Kylie blinked and turned her back towards him, stepping past the curtain used as a door to her and Clarice's room.
Carefully, Kylie walked over and checked on Clarice, seeing she was still asleep, and set the bottled water down on the small desk between their two cots. Clarice stirred and saw that Kylie was awake and sitting on the edge of her own cot, "Kylie?" she whispered. "What're you doing up?"
"Couldn't sleep." the blonde answered, "And I was thirsty so I got some water from the pantry. Got you one too, just in case." Kylie brushed some of her hair from her face. "Night." She laid down under her blanket and rolled onto her side, her back to her friend and closed her eyes.
The next morning, the group who were planning to rescue Lorna and Reed met up in the office and listened as Thunderbird relayed the information Marcos had given him the previous night. "Eclipse found out that a convoy of military vehicles is taking Lorna and Reed to a military airport. Based on the route, the best place to hit it is gonna be an old warehouse district off Peachtree." he highlighted the route on a map pulled up on one of the computer monitors and zoomed in on the aforementioned warehouse area. "Can you open a portal, get us inside the transport bus?" John directed the question to Clarice, who was sitting on the armrest of a navy-blue lounge chair.
"Well, if the driver can see out, then I can see in." Clarice answered. "But if the bus is moving, then it can get messy real fast."
"If they're military grade, then stopping them isn't gonna be easy." Lucy noted, her and Dani standing side by side.
John pondered the thought for a moment, turning his attention to the platinum haired mutant sitting on the red lounge-chair's armrest, "Kylie, could you maybe freeze the road or the bus' tires?"
"Sure, if there's a heavy rainstorm that happens before this all goes down or during this little rescue mission." Kylie answered, crossing her legs. "I can't pull ice out of thin air. There has to be a source of water for me to freeze." She twisted some of her hair around her finger, "Maybe Marcos could melt the tires or something." she shrugged her shoulders, releasing her hair.
"Okay, that's hardly subtle." Caitlin cut in. "What do you think happens once they know we're there?" She looked around the office at the six mutuants. "A pitched battle, and people die. Our goal isn't just to get Reed and Lorna. It's to get them alive."
"She's right." John agreed. "Our job is to get in and out without dropping bodies. We need another way to stop that bus.
Unknown to the group, Lauren was standing on the staircase just outside the office and an idea sparked in her mind. She ran down the stairs and headed outside to find her brother, Andy.
Kylie found an empty room in the Underground Headquarters and sat on the window's ledge, one foot propped up and the other dangling over the side. She ran her fingers through her wavy, platinum hair, flashes from her nightmare crossing her mind. She fisted a portion when the memory of being tazed in the side came to her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut.
She gripped the fabric of her jeans, taking deep, slow breaths, trying to bury the memories from that night, but the sound of the gunshot and the image of her father's bloodied hand reaching out to her kept replaying in her mind. Small sparks of electricity radiated from her fist as her hair began to take on a faint, yellow tint.
A knock on the door caught her attention and her head whipped in that direction, and she saw Clarice standing there. "Oh, hey Clarice." Kylie sighed, swinging her legs over the window ledge. "What's up?"
The green-eyed girl just shrugged her shoulders, "Nothing, I wanted to see how you were doing." Clarice replied, walking over to sit next to her friend. "So, how are you?"
"Fine." Kylie answered, looking down at her shoes. "You?" She glanced to her friend, her eyebrow slightly raised. "What woke you up last night?"
Clarice let out a sigh, "It was nothing, just a weird dream." she replied, meeting her friend's eyes. "Must not have been important because I don't even remember it. And you?" This time, Clarice arched her eyebrow. When Kylie didn't answer, instead she just bit her lip and looked away, Clarice knew the answer, "The nightmare about your dad?"
"Yeah." Kylie muttered, swallowing the lump in her throat before jumping off the ledge. "He's been on my mind lately. It is getting close to the..."
Clarice nodded and stood next to the blonde, patting her shoulder. "Yeah." she breathed. Clarice knew what her former cellmate was about to say, the anniversary of her father's death.
Kylie let out a shuddering breath, blinking back the moisture in her eyes. "I'm gonna get some air." she sighed, giving Clarice a small smile. "I'll see ya later."
Clarice simply nodded and watched Kylie walk out of the room and make her way towards the building's entrance.
On her way out, Kylie saw John with Caitlin and her children heading towards the entrance as well. "What's going on?" the blonde asked, approaching the station leader.
Thunderbird shrugged his shoulders, "Apparently, Lauren and Andy have an idea on how we can stop the transport bus without injuring anyone inside." he answered. "Come on."
"Okay." Kylie licked her lips and followed. She climbed on top of an old car and watched as the Strucker siblings demonstrated their idea by combining their powers and knocked a tire off an old cab a few feet away.
Kylie's jaw dropped ever so slightly as she quirked her eyebrow, intrigued by the ability the two siblings could manage.
"You guys think you can do that at a longer range?" John asked, examining the tire before turning back to the two teenagers.
"Definitely." Andy answered. "Anything you need."
"The best part is no one will see where it came from, so..." Lauren added, but was soon cut off by her mother.
"My kids are not attacking a convoy." Caitlin said sternly, looking to John.
"We don't have a good alternative here, Caitlin." John reminded, keeping calm.
"What, so you're gonna use child soldiers now?" the older woman scoffed.
"We're not kids like that anymore, Mom." Andy tried to explain, but his mother again cut him off with a firm "No."
"Mom, please." Lauren begged, grabbing her mother's arm. The two continued to talk while Andy, John, and Kylie stayed back. After a few minutes if arguing, Caitlin sighed in defeat, her eyes traveling back to John, "If I say okay, I can't have them in harm's way."
"We just need them to stop the bus." John assured. "They get out of there as soon as that's done."
Caitlin nodded in agreement and walked with her kids back inside the headquarters building. Kylie watched them for a few moments, her head slightly tilting to the side. "Need a hand?" John asked, his voice snapping Kylie from her daze. She looked down to see him offering his hand.
"Knight in shining armor complex much?" the blonde scoffed, jumping down herself and brushing the male's hand away when he tried to help steady her. "I'm fine." she sighed, running her hand through her hair, her eyes flickering to the headquarters' entrance where the Struckers disappeared into.
John could see a hint of sadness reflected in Kylie's pale silver eyes, "Missing your family?" he guessed.
Kylie turned to face him, her eyes now hard. "Okay, look Johnny Boy, let's get somethin' straight here." she snapped, her voice taking on a southern drawl. "You and me, we're not friends. Sure you saved me from going back to the hell that was prison, and I'm grateful and all, but I'm not gonna spill my tragic backstory to some guy I barely know."
She took a breath and exhaled. "I'm only going along with this mission because Lorna helped save me, and-" she took another breath, the image of her father getting shot flashing across her memory again, "-Lauren and Andy shouldn't have to deal with the pain of losing their father. But if anything goes sideways during this rescue operation, just know my first priority is making sure Clarice doesn't get hurt. She's been through enough. If you want me to call you a friend, you're gonna have to earn it."
Kylie spun on her heels and started walking up the stairs, "Well, what can I do to earn your trust?" John asked, arching his eyebrow.
The question made Kylie stop in her tracks. She rolled her eyes and scoffed, looking over her shoulder, "I'm not sure. We'll just have to see." Kylie flashed him a smirk before heading back inside the building. John just stood there and let out a chuckle, before making his way inside.
The day dragged on into night and those who were going through with the rescue mission were restless. Caitlin laid on her cot and watched her children sleep, her mind jumping to the worst case scenario that not only would she lose them, but her husband as well. Marcos sat in his room, two loaded magazines on his desk and a rosary in hand as he prayed. John sat a desk, going over the convoy's route and the plan in his head to make sure everything would go exactly as intended. Sonya walked up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder, rubbing it gently. Clarice laid down, a vivid memory again coming to the surface, a memory she wasn't sure was even real and she sat up, realizing the cot opposite hers was empty.
In the basement of the headquarters, which had been converted into a shower and bath area, Kylie stood under the hot water, her hands braced against the wall, and she breathed through the flood of memories from her past five years in a cage. She remembered every kick, every punch, every shock from the restraint collar and the tasers from the guards. Kylie squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered the pain of her body being thrown onto the ground in the prison showers, her collar shocking her so she wouldn't be able to scream as a guard held her down, a wicked grin across his face. Her pleas of help falling on deaf ears.
She looked up, the water falling over her face, mixing with the tears. With a shuddering breath, she turned the water off and ran her hands over her hair, the excess water dripping down her bare back, which was covered in various scars.
John led Kylie and Clarice into an old abandoned warehouse with a window that gave them the perfect view of the road. "The convoy's gonna be coming through this way." John relayed to the girls. "We should be able to see inside the transport bus from right here."
Kylie and Clarice stood a few feet away from the window, "Looks fine to me." the blonde noted, turning to her friend. "Clarice?"
"It's great." the green eyed female quickly answered.
Kylie arched her eyebrow at the tone of Clarice's response, "Are you all right?" she asked.
"I'm also great." Clarice replied. "Just, haven't been sleeping really well."
"Preachin to the choir sister." Kylie scoffed, hopping up onto the desk and crossing her legs.
"Well, living at the headquarters, people coming and going, that could be an adjustment." John sympathized, glancing between the two females.
"Well, anything's better than jail, right?" Clarice scoffed, flipping her hair off her shoulder.
"A-freakin-men." the platinum blonde raised her fist in the air, cracking a smirk. Clarice rolled her eyes at her friend's remark. Kylie just smiled at her friend in return, before turning her attention to the warrior mutant. "What about you, Johnny Boy?" she asked. "Was it hard for you at first?"
"It was almost impossible." Thunderbird answered honestly, which caught Kylie off guard.
"Really?" The silver eyed mutant questioned, her voice laced with a southern drawl. "I wouldn't've thought anything was hard for you. You seem so, soldier-y." the blonde shrugged her shoulders, tapping her nails on the old desk.
"At first it was just me and Polaris and this impossible task." he went on, his eyes locked with hers.
Kylie hopped off the desk, her and John standing inches from each other. "You ever think about walking away?" she pressed, almost challengingly, her eyebrow quirked.
"All the time." again, John answered honestly, which again, surprised the elemental mutant.
"So, what's stopping you?" she kept her eyes locked with his.
The Underground leader kept his eyes locked with hers, "What we're doing here. The Mutant Underground." he replied. "It's important to me." John glanced between the two female mutants. "But everybody finds their own reasons to stay."
When John looked back to Kylie, she looked into his eyes for a few seconds longer, and quickly spun on her heels and focused her attention on something else, anything other than the man a few years older than her who made her start to feel something she didn't quite understand.
Kylie leaned against the wall and stared out the window, folding her arms over her chest, gripping the fabric of her flannel sleeve. She overheard the questioned Clarice had asked John about the night he saved them, "Did we go outside together or something?" the green-eyed mutant asked.
"No. We didn't." John answered, matter-of-factly.
"Right. That's what I thought." Clarice nodded and backed a few steps away. Hearing the confusion in her voice, Kylie glanced over her shoulder, seeing her friend walking towards her. "I'd remember if we went outside and then came back in." She shook her head and stood on the other side of the window.
"You okay?" Kylie asked, looking at Clarice with concern.
"Fine." Clarice answered, not making eye contact. "Let's just focus on what we need to do here."
The platinum blonde just shrugged and focused back out the window, not even paying attention when John walked up and stood behind her, waiting for their part of the plan.
The trio had waited in their designated spot, but when it was time to put the plan into action, things didn't work out the way the Mutant Underground had intended. "That's not good." Kylie breathed out when she looked out the window and saw the bus nowhere near where it needed to be for Clarice to portal them inside.
"Now what?" Clarice asked, looking to John for the answer.
"Follow me." John told them, breaking into a run through the warehouse.
The two female mutants ran after the station leader. "Why didn't the bus stop in the right place?" Kylie asked as they ran through the building.
"It doesn't matter now. Let's just find it." John answered her, not looking back. He turned a corner and ran right through the wall into the next room.
Both Clarice and Kylie skidded to a halt when they saw Thunderbird charge through the cement wall, and not even get a scratch on his body. "Damn." the girls muttered in unison, exchanging a wide-eyed glance before jumping through the hole in the wall.
The next area they were in looked similar to a loading dock of some kind and the girls looked around for Thunderbird. "Up here." he called out to them from a stack of crates by the window. He held out his hand and helped Clarice jump up, then Kylie, who stumbled a bit and braced her other hand on his chest, their eyes locking for a few seconds.
"Thanks." the silver eyed mutant cleared her throat and moved to stand between John and Clarice. From their new vantage point, they could see the transport bus more clearly. "Can you portal us from here?" she asked, looking to her friend.
"Yeah, I can." the green eyed mutant nodded. Clarice held her hands in front of her and closed her eyes, preparing to open a portal, when suddenly she felt a sense of dizziness. "Whoa." She shook her head. When she tried to access her powers, she felt something blocking her. "Something's interfering with the portal."
"What's going on?" Kylie glanced to John, who had his eyes closed as he focused his senses.
When John focused, he couldn't make anything out, it was like his heightened senses had shut down, "I can't track."
Kylie spotted a fire hydrant across the street from them and placed her palm against the window pane. "Let me try." She narrowed her eyes, focusing all her energy on bringing the water out of the hydrant, but felt nothing around her like she usually did. "Nothing for me either. It's like my powers were shut off somehow."
Hearing the way she described it, something clicked in John's head, "No, it's impossible." he muttered, swallowing a lump in his throat.
"What is?" the blonde looked to him, her eyebrow arched.
John gently patted her shoulder as he jumped down and motioned for the girls to follow him once again. "The only thing I've ever known that can disrupt mutant abilities like this..." he muttered out loud, leading the girls to another window to get a better look at the halted bus.
"Is what?" Clarice pressed.
"Not what." John corrected. "Who." A mutant with glowing yellow eyes turned around and John instantly recognized him as his friend Pulse, whom he thought died over a year prior.
Clarice and Kylie followed John's line of sight and saw the same mutant, who was also wearing a Sentinel Services uniform. "You're saying that guy out there is what's messing us up?" Kylie guessed.
"His name is Pulse." John clarified. "He has the power to disrupt systems and shut down electronics. He can also disrupt mutants. He can suppress abilities for at least two blocks."
"And he's working with Sentinel Services?" Clarice questioned, raising her brow.
John looked back out the window at his friend and shook his head. "Not when I knew him." he replied. "He was my best friend. I thought I saw him die on an attack at a Sentinel Services Relocation Center."
"Well, looks like you were wrong about that one, Johnny Boy." Kylie shook her head and rested her hands on her hips.
John shook his head, feeling guilty at seeing his friend working with the enemy and ran out to try and stop him. "Seriously." the platinum haired mutant sighed, running her hand over her hair. "Clarice, stay here and try to open a portal when he goes down."
"What about you?" Clarice asked, grabbing her friend's arm before she could leave.
"I'm gonna help John with his buddy out there, maybe knock around a Sentinel Services agent or two." Kylie shrugged, running out of the warehouse to catch up with John.
Inside the bus, the three prisoners sat still and listened to the commotion outside. Reed glanced to his left and saw Jaxson nod his head ever so slightly. "There a problem, Officer?" Jaxson asked as the two guards came towards them, one standing near him and Reed, the other walking towards Lorna.
The guard ignored Jax's obvious sarcastic remark, and watched his partner, who hesitated in taking off Lorna's inhibition collar. "Just take it off." he ordered. "She can't do anything anyway, all the muties in the area are shut down. We'll get a-"
He was cut off when Reed and Jaxson came free and knocked him down. The guard quickly recovered and pushed back, knocking the two men into the back of the plastic enclosure. The second guard shoved Lorna down and reached for the gun in his holster. "You got any other ideas?" he threatened.
"Leave her alone." Jaxson warned, reaching for the gun and wrestling it away from the guard. The weapon went off and Jax fell back, gripping his leg, blood dripping onto the floor.
Kylie kept herself as close to the building as she could, following the sounds of fighting nearby. She poked her head around the corner and saw a Sentinel Services agent come around the bus, gun in hand, and she ducked out of sight, bracing herself against the building and taking a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She exhaled slowly, her muscles relaxing and heartbeat slowing down.
She ran around the corner and came up behind the Sentinel Services officer, grabbing the front end of the gun and jamming the back end into the officer's face before tossing it aside. She then kicked him in the stomach and threw several punches, the officer fighting back and landing a couple hits of his own. Kylie yanked the officer's arm out of socket and elbowed him in the ribs, knocking him to the ground and continued punching his face until he was clearly unconscious.
Focusing what strength he could muster, John threw a solid punch to Pulse's jaw and knocked him out cold. He heard the grunts coming from Kylie as she continued beating the officer's face and grabbed her forearm when she raised it for another hit. When their eyes locked, he could see the burning rage, but also noticed the moisture. "It's done, Kylie." he told her, helping her stand. "Come on."
Kylie calmed down and let John pull her to her feet, taking slow breaths. Her knuckles were split and bleeding but she just shrugged it off. "You good?" he asked, watching her with concern. Since Pulse was unconscious, John could hear Kylie's rapid heart rate.
"Yeah." the blonde nodded, licking her lips. Her head whipped in the direction the distant gunfire was heard and she reflexively took a step back.
"The bus is in the direction, and so are the others." John reminded her, offering his hand.
Inside the bus, Lorna breathed a sigh a relief when she could feel her powers. "My powers." she whispered to the two human males. "They're back."
"Could you get us loose?" Reed asked her in a low voice, while one of the officers was calling for backup via the radio.
Lorna shook her head, "There's nothing in here I can use. It's all plastic." she informed. "Everything metal is outside."
Jaxson and Reed exchanged a glance, before moving their eyes to his bleeding leg. "Not everything." Jax corrected. "Use the bullet."
"Jax, that could be dangerous." Reed warned. "Not to mention painful."
"I don't care." the other male shook his head. "If it gets us out of here, then I can take it. I have to find my daughter." He looked from Reed to Lorna, and nodded. "Take the bullet."
The female mutant nodded, a faint green aura surrounding her fingers. She could sense the small, metal projectile in the blue eyed male's leg. In one swift motion, the bullet flew out of Jax's leg and he bit back a scream, but the guard still heard the commotion. Lorna used the bullet to cut the plastic zip-ties around their wrists, before launching it into the guard's kneecap, making him cry out in pain and fall into the side of the bus.
Once Marcos felt his powers return, he blasted beams of light at the agents firing at him and blew up one of their cars before ducking behind the vehicle he used for cover. "You okay?" Thunderbird asked his friend as he and Kylie joined him.
"Better now." Eclipse nodded, catching his breath. That's when he noticed the blood under John's nose. "You're bleeding?"
"I'll explain later. We've gotta get out of here." John warned, but Marcos shook his head. "Sentinel Services is gonna have reinforcements coming."
"John, I'm not leaving without Lorna." Marcos cut off, meeting his friend's eyes.
Sounds of creaking metal came from the prison transport bus and the three mutants ran in that direction. They turned the corner just as the back door flew off and out jumped Lorna, who stopped the barrage of bullets with one hand and sent the guns flying with a flick of her wrist.
Kylie's eyes widened when she saw Reed jump out the back, helping another male she instantly recognized, who had a bloodstain on his pantleg. Seeing the Sentinel Service agents pulling out their backup weapons, she knew what she had to do. Kylie outstretched her hand towards the fire hydrant on the corner, the water gushing out the top and pooling above her. Her eyes and hair faded into a deep, oceanic blue and she thrusted her arm forward, the water crashing down on the street and knocking into the cars.
She flexed her fingers, creating another wave which morphed into the shape of a horse and let out a whinny, before crashing into the large tank, making it topple a couple other Sentinel Service cars.
"Who is that?" Reed asked with wide eyes, him and Jax standing near one of the warehouses.
A grin crossed Jaxson's lips as he watched the female mutant lower her arms, her hair and eyes fading back to blonde and silver. "That's my daughter." he answered, removing his arm from Reed's shoulders.
Kylie blinked in surprise and she broke into a run, "Daddy!" she screamed, throwing herself into his open arms. "Daddy." She buried her face into the nape of his neck.
"My baby girl." Jaxson breathed out, locking his arms around her and lifting her up off the ground. He kissed her cheek and rubbed her back, "I never stopped lookin for ya, sweet girl."
Kylie gripped the fabric of her father's shirt, biting back her tears, "I thought I'd lost you." she whispered, the pair finally pulling apart.
Caitlin drove up to them in a Sentinel Services SUV, "Come on, get in!" she yelled.
Everyone ran to the car, Reed climbing into the passenger seat and embraced his wife, Marcos and Lorna slid into the backseat and John jumped into the hatchback trunk with Kylie and Jaxson. Once everyone was in, Caitlin sped away, leaving Agent Turning fuming.
"Damn it! Go after 'em!" Turner ordered.
"They're out in the open now." his partner, Agent Weeks, reminded. "We'll get 'em."
"I don't just want them!" Turner screamed, kicking the tire on one of the cars. "Shut down every safe house, every sympathizer, anyone who's ever helped 'em. I want them all!"
A/N: Okay, finally a new chapter is done. So sorry this took about three years. I'm trying to be more consistent with updating. Anyway, hope ya'll enjoy this one. Reviews are appreciated.