Dark Matter: Undermine (DeviantArt Short Story Series)

Dark Matter: Undermine was a series that started in 2019 as a continuation of Dark Matter Rises. It was meant to be exclusive to Taylor W. Wilson's DeviantArt page, with each chapter being uploaded as a separate "deviant." Only four chapters were uploaded, then the series was lost when Taylor took all art off the channel and uploaded new art. As of now, the written chapters are lost.

## Description

*Collin Williams embarks on another adventure! While taking some time off from the battlefield, Collin is brought in by IGA to track down a gang that managed to steal a dropship. But Collin will have to go to a place that even IGA won't go to: Undermine City.*

## Plot Summary

Collin Williams was taking a break from patrolling Aura City on Alpha Prime when he was approached by Agent Ray Pearson and tasked with going to Undermine City, an outlaw colony built deep below Aura City. A gang in the lower Aura City sector stole an Intergalactic Alliance (IGA) dropship and was now in hiding. Collin was dropped off at a run-down pub in the lower city and is informed that the entrance to Undermine is somewhere within. Eventually making his way to the bathroom, Collin saw a hole in the wall above a urinal, and an eye was peering back at him. Collin stepped on a strange ring on the ground and was teleported beyond the wall.

As he is not used to teleportation, Collin awoke and vomited, and was immediately met by the Gatekeeper, who was guarding Undermine's entrance. The Gatekeeper led Collin deep into the planet and into a trap. While the encounter was not violent, the group of ambushers made themselves known as guards to the final hall that led to Undermine. They know who Collin is and were hesitant to allow him into the city, but eventually take Collin to Charles Yortana, the self-proclaimed mayor of Undermine City.

## Unreleased Content

The series would have gone on to show Collin aiding Undermine City. A rising gang was stirring up trouble for the rest of the city and Yortana insisted that Collin stop them. As it happened, the gang was the same one that Ray Pearson asked Collin to stop.

Collin would eventually travel to a small shop in a bazaar where a witch gives Collin the location of an informant with information on the gang's current whereabouts. The informant turned out to be a mutant, and Collin was forced to fight, eventually taking down the man and extracting the information. Meanwhile, Lisa Harkins discovers Collin's misadventure and contacts Collin, concerned he was in the outlaw colony.

Ignoring Lisa's words, Collin located a gang member and stopped him from attempting suicide. The gang member revealed more intel on his colleagues. Finally picking up a trail on the dropship, Collin located the gang and engaged with a mutant that was able to absorb metal and convert it to fire. Yortana's men joined Collin in a street brawl, though they were angered that Collin would not use his dark matter powers due to the inhibitor band on his left bicep (Yortana's men were also unaware of such a device being used by Collin). Eventually ripping off the device, Collin engaged the rival mutant with dark matter powers, but still refrained from going all out and using his dark matter weapon abilities (Collin learned to manifest weapons at the end of Dark Matter Rises).

The fight moved to a restaurant where Blake Kraniks was busy eating lunch. Blake, recalling Collin trying to save the remaining survivors aboard an escape pod after the destruction of Nova Station, tried to help Collin. However, he blamed both Collin and the other mutant for ruining his lunch, and he and Collin began to bicker rather than work together. The gang mutant escaped, and Collin and Blake began to exchange blows. Yortana's men finally caught up and broke up the fight. Seeing that Blake was acting as a mere bystander, the men let Blake go about his business. However, Yortana did not want Collin to stay in the city anymore, blaming IGA and Collin for causing the gang to flee to Undermine to begin with. Collin ran and dipped into the shadows of the city, now a fugitive amongst fugitives.

Collin made contact with Agent Pearson, who was able to provide a small amount of intel that led Collin to the gang's new hideout. Collin found Blake nearby, who also was interested in taking out the gang. He believed the group was going to do nothing but cause trouble for the city. Just before the two started fighting again, Collin asked if they could resolve their disagreements on how to handle the situation and work together to disable the dropship so no one could escape. Blake agreed. Collin spotted the mutant that he fought earlier, but neither he nor Blake engaged until they snuck to the dropship and disabled it. Blake began taking down the gang members while Collin focused on the enemy mutant. While Collin struggled alone, once Blake rendezvoused with him, the mutant was defeated. Blake and Collin disappeared into the shadows together as Yortana's men arrived.

Some time passed before Collin dropped through a vent into Yortana's office. Yortana was displeased that Collin didn't use the door, but he was more than happy that Collin stopped the gang. He asked if IGA would be coming in to retrieve the dropship, but Collin said to "keep it as a gift." Collin told Yortana that he was glad to see an entire city of people surviving under IGA's nose. Most of the people in Undermine City were good people looking for a second chance in life. Yortana is glad to hear it. Yortana's last words were that Collin was permitted to come and go as he pleased. Collin thanked Yortana, then departed.

The next day, Collin met with Ray Pearson and the two exchanged words on the mission to Undermine City. While disappointed that Collin left the dropship to Yortana and his men, Ray was at least satisfied that the gang no longer had it under their control. The story ended with Collin running off to find another adventure.

## Notes

* The story takes place during the three-month gap between the first two chapters of Dark Matter III. During this time, Collin fought in several of the battles between IGA and the Industry, but every now and again, he was forced to rest by IGA and spent his time searching for adventure.
* While Taylor has stated that he would like to return to finish the story, he will likely not release it as a DeviantArt exclusive again.
* The information in the "Unreleased Content" section of this page is based entirely off of the finished summary of the series, but while the story was not fully released, what lies on this Wiki page is considered canonical to the Dark Matter Universe..
* The story would have been Blake Kraniks' third appearance in the Dark Matter Universe. Taylor has stated that he has a strong interest in the character and plans to use him more frequently in future content.