Chapter 100: Storms Rekindle

Wednesday January 12th, 2022. Manhattan, New York.

The skies were clear. Morning sunlight warmed Bronte's Vibranium-weave StormWolf suit as he flew above the city. Pigeons and doves flew in dusty white clusters below him, disappearing beneath the city bulk to rest on power lines and rooftops.

Bronte's rest stop awaited him less than ten miles ahead. He made it there in less than a minute.

The Baxter Building loomed as he closed in. A technological monolith of glass and materials not yet recognized by the greater world. Also where Bronte got his first physical since awakening his Mutant Gene. After Hank, of course.

As he closed in, the suns warmth was dwarfed by a beacon of heat rising from beneath him.

"Woahhhh— Someone got their swagger back!" Johnny Storm said as he flew beside him, cloaked in superheated plasma like a second skin of flame.

"Swagger? In the current year?" Bronte raised an eyebrow as he looked at the elemental. It made his eyes water.

"I'm old fashioned, what can I say? I also hang out with geeks all day." Johnny replied as he flipped over and rested his hands behind his head.

"Speaking of geeks…." Bronte muttered as they both hovered down to the Baxter Building rooftops.

"Yes, your dogs are fine. Reed didn't harvest their DNA and turn them into Dog-Men."

Brontë looked as Johnny as his flames dissipated leaving the blonde haired pretty boy in blue beneath, "Why would you even put that in my head?"

"Because Reed considered studying their DNA to see how Klyntar symbiosis may have altered it….. ERHM." Johnny replied.

"Man, WHAT!?" The clouds collected above them and blotted out the sun, leaving only Bronte's glowing eyes and hair as their shared source of light.

Johnny threw his hands up, "He considered it! He didn't actually do it. Scientists think aloud, alright. Relax, man."

Brontë sighed and the skies cleared as he pointed at Johnny, "This is why they keep sending you outside. You play too much."

"Women love to ride the roller coaster." Johnny shrugged as they opened the rooftop door and headed down the stairs into the building.

"Do I look like a woman to you?" Bronte asked in all his hairyness.

Johnny turned around halfway down the second flight of stairs and itched his chin as he regarded Bronte, as if to seriously consider the question. "I mean….. tie your hair up real quick—"

"Get the hell down the stairs."

"Moving!"

They reached the top floor of the Baxter Building and were met with what it always was.

Work. Innovation. Focus. Team work.

A couple of the white coats regarded Bronte with curt nods and smiles.

"You've grown famous since the Red Nation incident, Unc! WE should capitalize!…. This will MEND you further…" Mend suggested as they headed for Reed's office.

"I'm not even gonna ask what you mean by that." Bronte replied as they reached Reed Richards office.

Johnny went to knock but never got the chance due to the door shakily opening on its own.

In its wake, a black Husky with one folded ear and two colored eyes lunged at Bronte.

"Shadow! How you been, boy?" Bronte embraced his dog before being swarmed by a half dozen more.

"I wish all Vampire Hunters were this cute." Johnny commented as he shook hands with a pitbull wearing a spiked collar.

"Those boys are smart…. You woulda thought they were Reed's dogs."

Bronte looked up and found The Thing standing in the doorway holding a cat that matched the tone of his stony orange skin.

"Reed and Mrs Storm are out. Work related— but they told me you'd be here. They also told me you got your powers back, so you'd need this." Thing placed the cat on his shoulder and dug in his cargo pants pocket, pulling out a brand new ear piece.

Brontë felt a stroke of relief wash through him as he picked it up out of the massive orange hand and fit it into his ear, "How is she… Tigra— how are all of them?"

"The same as usual. Sleeper agents. Reed's about to work himself into a frenzy trying to bridge the gap between science and magic. I told him the hocus pocus stuff would always be just that….. he didn't like that. Mrs. Storm's practicing extending her barriers in case she has to put a dome over the whole nation."

Bronte's eyebrows raised, "She can do that?"

"She's the strongest of us all…. We can hope." The Thing shrugged. The cat on his shoulder bounced casually.

"She won't need to anyway. Me and my people got it." Bronte reassured the stone giant.

"Sounds good. If you need any backup, let me know….. Sabertooth and whoever's controlling these Vampires could always use some extra clobberin' in my opinion." Thing explained.

"Heard you." Bronte shook up with The Thing and Johnny Storm before taking his dogs and leaving.

But not before checking on Tigra. She was the same as always. Sleeping— but somehow restless. Her fur stood on end and her face was worn from constantly snarling and worrying.

When he told her how much SpongeBob her son was consuming and the new friend he made at The Abbey, she physically settled slightly.

With nothing more to do in the moment, he left. Not as StormWolf, but as Bronte… the dog whisperer.

In the city that never sleeps, he usually preferred traveling with his hounds at dawn and dusk. When people were too busy, tired and focused on not being robbed by maniacs to question the dreaded meathead with a handful of dogs walking.

But now— late morning, even in his basic attire of baggy blue jeans and a black hoodie, the stares were unavoidable.

He stuck the alleys and made it home in an hour.

When he reached his door, all his dogs had their noses to the floor with interest in all the new scents.

"Be easy. They're with us." Bronte pushed the door open— hesitating above the knob to temper the shake of his hands and lump in his throat.

The dogs flooded into his apartment, silently barking and circling the guests.

"A man of your caliber doesn't need so many working dogs…. Is it not unsanitary in such a small place?" Pietro said to him as he tried to avoid the dogs licking his hands and smelling his legs. He wore a running outfit. Shorts over compression pants and a hoodie to hide his Mutant features.

"My caliber isn't consistent. And dogs ain't dirty if you clean them….. kinda like people that way." Bronte stepped into his apartment.

Wanda stood beside the door wearing a black hoodie and leggings. Her brown hair spilled out of her hood and her eyes glowed like blood gems in the shadows. She couldn't not be terrifying.

"It's been long, Bronte. Yet you haven't aged in any ways but the best."

"Likewise….. likewise." Bronte didn't spend much time looking at her as he watched the Queen of Wakanda step away from his beatpad. Even in her blue windbreaker and black sweatpants, she looked like royalty. Her nappy white hair was pulled into a ponytail and rested behind her head like a storm cloud. Her earrings flashed like lightning.

"You know what's funny? When Anika told me you'd found an interest in music, I sent her Vibranium enhancements for your first beatpad— hoping you'd be able to hear music as a whole more clearly and make better music. But, one of the Elders sabotaged the transfer. I didn't even realize it till years later. By then you were already catering to a decently sized fanbase. It's like you've been saying you're your own man since childhood."

Bronte couldn't find what to say. Maybe he wasn't supposed to say anything.

He wanted to hug her— but their relationship was… strained to say the least. Storm, Ororo Munroe, was his birth mother. But functioned more like a guardian Angel his whole life. Always there…. He just didn't know. She couldn't be his actual mother in the classic sense because she believed making a better world in Wakanda could both save the avengers lost in space and give him a home without prejudice if and when his Mutant Genes awakened.

Unfortunately that goal was a lot like trying to pick up the entire desert with your bare hands.

Ororo took the initiative and hugged him.

Bronte embraced her and all her familiar smells.

"How's Azari and Kymera?" Bronte question.

"Azari trains with Gentle regularly. They'll make great Panthers…. Possibly better than T'Challa. Kymera is doing great in all her studies but prefers being outside. How are you…. Bronte? You never called…"

The two disconnected, "I was handling it…. Incorrectly. But I got it now. I'm good."

"So I see…" Ororo replied as W'Kabi stepped out of the bathroom yawning partially before seeing Bronte.

"Dad…" Bronte shook up with W'Kabi and brought him into a one armed hug. He smelled like Rhino hide, essential oils and hemp based materials.

"How have you been, my boy?"

"I been alright. How's Ma? And Junior? and—"

"Everyone is ok. I heard you had a long couple of days. Don't stress yourself."

Bronte exhaled. The overstimulation was tangible in the air.

He needed a beer.

As he walked over to his fridge, Wanda followed him. As uncaring of social queues as ever.

He chugged three beers in a row before grabbing a fourth and facing everyone.

"You have The Darkhold." Wanda said.

"I don't. But my people do."

"Good on you to be hesitant to offer more information. Stay paranoid."

"On behalf of my sister and Magneto's Sword, I will take offense." Pietro added as he poked Bronte's bed like it was a dead animal.

"Anytime you're interacting with it, I'd like to be informed. It would make me forever in your debt." Wanda rested her dark veined fingers on his counter.

"Heard you."

Everyone continued staring.

"So…. I know you all didn't come here to talk about a magic book. What's up?"

Ororo stepped up and rested beside Wanda, "You saved Mutantkind only a couple days ago. A couple weeks before that you were on the news…. Doing the same for mankind. Before this, you were a Vigilante figure all across the world. South America, Canada, Mexico. The internet is putting the pieces together…. Asking questions— growing fanatic. "

Brontë felt his skin crawl at the idea of being stalked…..

Again.

"Not to mention….. Daken's aspirations are very obviously global. Everyone has reason to get involved. But no one knows the details. Not like you."

"What are you saying?"

Ororo pulled a card from her pocket. The same cars Nightcrawler, Kurt Wagner, handed him when he teleported into his apartment almost a month ago. He was asking to join him at a Mutant Summit in a month.

"The meetings in two weeks. Join us. Our conversation isn't only in regards to Krakoa anymore….. Your voice holds power, Bronte. More than you know. It could sway powerful people and make real change where you need it."

"This is beyond the factions. Beyond Mutants, X-Kind, The people of Talocan and Wakanda. Daken wants it all, so we're all one." W'Kabi added.

Bronte took the card. He could hear Laura's voice in his head…. So angry and resentful as she cursed the Mutants for approaching life saving and her own demons politically at the command of Cyclops. He could also hear her sadness. Sadness at losing friends because she chose to go it alone.

Then he saw her time displaced twin sisters face— heard her voice. Felt the eyes of others on her.

He could stop history from repeating for her…. Maybe even himself. If he could've had the X-Men take on the Lupines as a whole in one stride, he would've taken it.

"Alright…. Who all will be there?"

Pietro looked up in surprise, "That was way easier than it was supposed to be."

Brontë took a swig of his beer, "Traveling changed my perspective on some things."