Chapter 73: Knights of the Dead City

The journey out of Harlem and through the sleepless New York night expanse was a tame one. One that led Bronte and Ilyana up and down memory lane as their comfort of each other waxed and waned like the moon overhead with each new conversation. 

It wasn't seamless. 

He'd had better conversations with dancers mid-set at stripclubs at times. But he liked that-- hell, he loved it. It'd been years since he struggled to talk with someone. It was so refreshing. She.... was so refr--

"Our stop is here." Ilyana said as she stood up and held a handout to him on the train.

Bronte stared at her hands-- remembering the last time. The explosion.

"Are you afraid?" Ilyana asked..... teasingly? He'd never seen her smile so wolfishly before. Her button nose crinkled up at the slight curve of her black glossed lips.

They were the only people inside the metal box, careening through the underground tunnels at blurring speeds. The rumble that rippled through the train caused them to shake. Ilyana's earrings and jewelry refracted the industrial lighting and made it seem like she was sparkling. The graffiti splashed across the walls and leather seats vibrated and made the world look like it was liquid. Trippy.....

Bronte took her hand, "We jumping out?" 

He peered out of the windows and into the dark beyond. "Looks like a tight fit."

"You're always joking, Bronte." Ilyana held his hand.

"Defense mechanism." Bronte shrugged.

"That's not your healing factor?" Her Russian accent thickened for reasons he wasn't sure of.

"Nah, that's so I stay handsome. I can't be out here looking like I box Vampires. I wouldn't be able to keep a job."

"....Right." Ilyana laughed quietly as she aimed her glowing blue hand at the closed train door.

A blast of energy slammed into the metal wall, starting as wispy spirals of magical essence that collected and expanded into a circular portal.

"I forgot. You could've used that way back in Harlem." Bronte suggested.

"But then we couldn't talk."

"That's real."

"Come on." She pulled him along as they jumped through the portal.

In a blink of crisp air and hair-raising winds, Bronte stumbled out onto grass grounds sparkling with freshly fallen snow. They stood at the top of a cliffside in Salem New York. Lush shades of green and browns beneath a blanket of snow spread for miles. In the distance, the familiar modern age electrical glow of the five boroughs glowed. It felt so small as they stood in the silence.

"Here we are." Ilyana announced flatly as visible air left her lips.

Bronte turned around to face what she faced.

Which was an empty field.

".....Yo?" Bronte caught Robbie's scent... and the man that smelled like wet dog. It led his eyes to the footprints in the ground. They trailed up the hill behind Bronte on his left side and then disappeared right where he stood.

Ilyana pulled a key out of her pocket. Despite the darkness, Bronte could make out the deep and precise cuts made into runic markings on the golden metal surface. As if an invisible door hovered right in front of her, she sent the key forward.

A wall of air wobbled like a transparent film. Sparking arcs of orange magic circles bloomed from the keys entry point and expanded as she twisted the key.

The air continued to wobble and expand into a dome, cluttered with hundreds of the steaming orange magic circles and articles of linework until the space ruptured and a mansion sat in front of them. It was old-- Victorian in design, with its ornate spires and shingled rooftops that spat shadows across the tall brick walls. Even so, each wall of kaleidoscope windows shone in multicolored brilliance. 

Ilyana put the key back in her pocket, "Doctor Strange is a talented Magic user."

"No kidding." Bronte followed Ilyana up the concrete stairs framed by plant life of all kinds. So strong in scent it made him lightheaded. Or maybe that was because of who walked ahead of him.

"Bronte. You haven't smiled this much since my birth. Let's stay close to the alt-woman!"

"Maybe I'm smiling because Blade knows where Daken is." Bronte replied.

"That doesn't sound healthy. We need a meat-lovers pizza."

They reached the top step and Ilyana opened the door to lead him in. Immediately, he was hit with the scents of the men from earlier, stronger. They'd spent time inside. A lot of time. They were part of the mansion. Part of the smokey scents of old rich woods not native to anywhere he'd been. Part of the expensive leathers and copious amounts of... Mexican food?

A long hallway bathed them in deeper shadow. Even still, Ilyana's hair shined. Her blue eyes watched him.

"I can take your jacket."

"Right." Bronte shrugged out of his coat and torn up sweater, leaving him in just his tanktop and cargo pants. 

Ilyana took his gear and hung it up on a coat rack behind her, leaving it to hang with a white cloak, leather jacket and trench coat.

"Looks like they got settled in alr--"

"Dammit!" Someone yelled from deeper in the mansion followed by a glass shattering.

Bronte looked at Ilyana.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Testosterone is more damaging to society than necromancy."

"I don't know what you just said, but yea." Bronte said as they remained standing in the dark hallway.

"So... you are still holding my hand." Ilyana said flatly.

Bronte looked down at his right arm, noticing he was in fact, holding her hand.

"Oh!-- my bad." Bronte removed his hand.

Ilyana quickly turned away from him, "Blade is this way."

"Mend, I'm going to put you in a container and send you to be probed by Reed Richards if you keep playing." Bronte whispered into his shoulder.

"But the movies say to do this! You're the leading man, you have to be bold."

"We about to cut the movies and listen to nothing but music." Bronte replied as they exited the hallway and entered a living room with the highest ceiling he'd ever seen. It was fitted with three leather couches, an artistic throw rug and a fireplace. Pizza boxes stacked up in three's sat beside the fireplace.

"I love your music taste. Especially when you play Illmatic haha! We must maintain a New York state of mind! Nas would agree with you needing to be bold with these bi--"

"Yep. I'm sending you to Reed."

"No please! My mission is to heal you, Bronte. As my uncle, you should not disown me." Mend pleaded as they passed through the living room, walking down smooth wood floors until they entered another gathering room of sorts.

"Damn..... you're my nephew." Bronte realized for the first time. For a moment a lump formed in his throat. But it didn't stay long. He wasn't about to let just anybody see him cry.

Especially not a Vampire.

"Everyone, this is Bronte. Bronte, this is everyone." Ilyana said from beside him, referring to the men surrounding the pool table full of weed smoke and blueprints.

"And.... who exactly is everyone?" Bronte said while eyeing them all casually. Sizing them up passively....

"Yes, Magik. Please introduce us properly." The man who previously was wearing a white cloak now opted for a white tuxedo and mask with a crescent moon insignia stitched into the forehead portion.

Ilyana's cheeks reddened briefly before she collected herself with the straightening of her spine.

"Magik?"

"We all have codenames. It's how we adress eachother. Some of us have families that could be traced using our literal names. Much like superheroes, yes?"

"Makes sense, makes sense." Bronte crossed his arms.

Robbie looked down at his own arms and pulled his sleeves down as he stood beside Blade.

Ilyana cleared her throat and referred to the man in white who just spoke, "Bronte, this is Moon-Knight."

"This is not." Moon-Knight replied.

Ilyana rolled her eyes, "He has many personalities. They all have a set amount of skills that are of great value to us. When he's wearing a suit, he goes by Mr. Knight. That's the intelligent one. And most mild mannered. Thought I prefer the Knight."

Mr. Knight walked around the pool table until he was in front of it and took a seat on the green surface casually, "I hear you're Wolverine's kid."

"I'm not a kid."

"And I'm not wrong." Mr. Knight replied flatly. Bronte felt his skin crawl once he noticed the mesh mask wasn't moving-- meaning the human face beneath wasn't speaking.

"What are you-- testing my manhood or something?"

Blade chuckled in the background as he looked over the schematics.

Mr.Knight shook his head, "You already passed the test. Blade's and Khonshu."

"Who the hell...." Bronte thought.

"I'm just saying, if you'd ever like to speak to your father, I can make that happen. I was an Avenger..... you know. Before they disappeared in space." Mr. Knight gave a seated bow before hopping off the pool table and returning to his previous spot.

"I don't like him, Unc." Mend growled inside Bronte's mind.

"Me neither." Bronte replied as Robbie stepped forward.

He was the most human appearing. Brown skin, goatee so fresh it almost looked like glued on strands and pierced ears just like Ilyana. He was lanky-- like a kid given a man's body that he hadn't grown into yet. He couldn't have been older than sixteen. By the looks of his undersized hot-wheels t-shirt Bronte was probably right.

"Hey man, sorry about Mr. Knight.... he can get real abrasive.... basically, all the time."

"Human fragility isn't something I need to make accommodations for." 

"Like that. By the way, my names Robbie Reyes." Robbie said as they shook up.

"Bronte. I like the hair." Bronte said, pointing out how they had matching white portions of hair. "Yours glow too?"

"No, it falls off when my skull catches fire." Robbie ran his free hand through his thick black hair.

"Type shit, type shit."

Robbie suddenly leaned in closer, "Ilyana said you can use fire too.. that true?"

Bronte tried to think up a lie before they were interrupted.

"And this is, Jack Russel." Ilyana introduced the man who stood behind Robbie.

He was painfully inconspicuous. Mundane, even. Just a bearded white guy a little on the hairy side.

Then the lights flickered.

And for a moment his eyes were yellow.

"Hi. If we could get the introductions out of the way and get to work that would be.... awesome." He itched his neck like a dope fiend. 

"Nah...." Bronte shook his head as he looked around at everyone, "I don't know about no work. I'm here to talk to you."

Blade looked up from the blueprints scattered across the pool table and pulled the cigar from his lips. "You know me already, slim?" Even under the lights his skin was impossibly dark and lacking vibrance.

"I know what I need to."

"Half-baked background checks get you checked out here, if you know I'm saying." Blade took a puff of his cigar, infecting the smell of marijuana in the air with every exhale.

Bronte clenched his jaw in consideration..... and slight irritation arising at the feeling of being pressed, "I don't get checked."

"Hahahah...." Blade slowly threw his head back and let out the most lifeless laugh Bronte had ever heard, "You know what I think?"

Ilyana stepped closer to Bronte.

"I think the whole reason you started sparking up the suckers is because..... you got checked. You got caught slipping. Now you mad... real mad. I've seen that face before. I've seen those eyes. The man who raised me looked the same way..... and guess what, slim. He got checked too."

Bronte turned his head to view him better as he leaned over the pool table, simply waiting for him to finish speaking.

"But that's fine. It happens to the best of us."

"Wish it didn't..." Jack commented from the corner.

"What's the prophecy about?" Bronte questioned.

Blade looked at Ilyana.

"I know you vouched for him but that's sensitive information."

"That's the most sensitive of information." Mr. Knight corrected.

"He's related to it. Directly." Ilyana defended herself.

"How directly?" Blade raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me about the prophecy." Bronte said again.

Blade smiled, "You trying to wager your information on a childs story?"

"You trying to downplay the prophecy so I offer up my business faster? I'm from the ghetto I know what scamming looks like." Bronte retorted.

Blade sucked his tooth as he stood up straighter, adjusting the belt lined with knives on his waist.

"Alright. Ride with us tomorrow night. Something big is going down at the docs in Coney Island. We could use the manpower, and I guess you could use some answers. Either way we all get to dust some Vampires."

"...."

Ilyana looked at him and nodded.

She might've been the deal sealing agent. 

".... Yea alright."