Later into the series, Spyke found out he could not retract his plates, so he becomes exposed as a mutant to the public. After seeing how cruel the world can be, Spyke joined the Morlocks (a mutant street gang) because he wanted to fight for mutants that look different from normal humans. Spyke's Aunt Ororo (aka Storm, a longtime member of the X-Men) did not take this well and tried to convince Spyke to come back but he refused.