Chapter 19: New Angles, New Sensations

Wednesday October 19th, 2014.

Another week passed at the Xavier Institute. Even faster than the last as life as a Mutant continued to become the norm. Whether it was training, studying, learning or socializing with his very complicated siblings, he was adjusting. Having less surprises in his life helped immensely. For a while there it felt like every other day, he was learning of a new mystery ability housed within him.

All that had ended during his last full Examination Lab session with Hank over a week ago when he'd been coined to have something called Mutant-Heterosis and a form of Evolutionary Genetic Synthesis. It was what explained his constant growth, and how his Mutant abilities were slowly growing to co-exist efficiently. Of course, there was still the events that took place with Illyana and the existence of Magic within him. But that was a mystery to be delved into at another time. He still had a myriad of other areas he needed to grow proficiency in.

And he was. Albeit slowly. Too slow according to Daken, who told him at his current state, he'd never be able to fully defend himself against a Lupine Pack. And as much as Bronte tried to conjure up a controlled rage-- a memory of what triggered his Storm-State back in the alley, they hadn't really gotten anywhere. Sure, he could get the hair glow, the boost of feral anger to grow his strength-- maybe even a current of wind to increase his speed. But the Storm-State that helped him vaporize dozens of Lupines in minutes was becoming more and more of a memory.

Even so, the training continued. They didn't give up. It caused Bronte to do the same, even as the X-Men watched warily, and Daken grew aggravated.

He'd moved on to try and find inspiration elsewhere. Maybe his rage lacked control. But his rage was inherited, so-- just maybe, he could learn something from the one he inherited such ferocity from....

Maybe there was something of value in the violent tales of Wolverine, The Avenging X-Man and Lone Wolf....

***

"Hey, Bronte-- whatcha readin?" Gabbie dropped down from the second floor as Bronte stepped down the final step in a long staircase along with the rest of the students heading to Training.

"What's good, Gabs." Bronte replied without looking up from his file.

Gabbie frowned as she jogged to keep up with his pace, "Why is my nickname so shit?"

Bronte looked over at her, ignoring the chaotic buzz of student chatter all around him, "Language. And it's not. Bro, Daken literally calls me, Ragdoll. Why are you complaining."

Gabbie continued to pout before she jumped up onto Bronte's back, climbing him as if he were a tree until her head was at level with his own.

He didn't mind. What would've once been an invasion of privacy had become an aspect of life. Fighting alongside her and Raze every day for hours also helped build chemistry.

"You still haven't told me what you're reading, Bronte...." Gabbie said as she peered over his shoulder to read the paper.

"Files-- News Headlines, Data Entries, basically unreadable S.H.I.E.L.D Evaluations with enough redacted portions to make it useless. Everything available on James Howlett."

"Dad?" Gabbie thought in confusion.

"Aht aht--" Bronte held up a hand, "That ain't my dad. I know my dad. This man is more like a gene-donor... who happens to be a Mutant Hero. Respectfully."

Gabbie sighed and rested her chin on his shoulder, the amount of muscle there made it almost like a pillow filled with solid rock. How comfortable, ".....Do you ever think about meeting him? Like now? You think he'd take care of us?"

Bronte passed a group of students, waving his hellos and bumping knuckles with classmates. One of which being Illyana. The two simply stared as he passed.

"Well." Bronte started as they headed down the long hallway leading to the Gymnasium. "I think there's a reason he gave up his children, and never pursued his... artificially created offspring, you know what I'm saying? His life wasn't suited for kids. But that didn't make him a bad person... it's kind of like with Laura actually..... he kept himself away from the people he would've loved... for their sake."

Gabbie listened in silence as Bronte continued. "I don't think anything would change if he was alive. And I don't hold anything against him for that. He was busy saving the city and..... running from his past according to Professor Xavier."

"Is that who gave you this file?" Gabbie asked.

"Yea. He saw me reading an eight year old newspaper and decided to step in."

"Well, have you found what you're looking for?" Gabbie asked as they entered the Gymnasium. The familiar sounds and smells of physical activity welcomed him.

"I don't really know what I'm looking for. I'm trying to learn from him through his documented achievements..... but this guy was wild. I mean look at this...." Bronte flipped through the file to a picture of a giant. It's skin green and covered in veins as thick as battle-ropes. Muscles thrumming with power visible even in the blurred picture. Green smoke and steam radiated from the creature, whether it was a source of energy or from the fact that it had just burst through a skyscraper he'd never know. It looked so angry the image made Bronte cringe. But, in it's grasp, another being looked equally as angry. Eyes white and inhuman, claws digging into the green monsters throat, teeth bared and saliva frothy. It was The Wolverine.

Unlike the other Heroes he'd seen in life and in videos, his costume was basically non-existent. A light protective shirt, gloves, and boots. His clothing had the sharp edging designs similar to Bronte and his siblings leading him to belief their uniforms were derived from Wolverines. Simple. Straight to the point.

"... That's the Hulk." Gabbie said flatly.

"Yea, this guy was bodying Wolverine, and he kept fighting..... even after being ripped in half. I don't know if that's something you can learn-- or something that can help my circumstances. The Wolverine is unreal."

"Yea....." Gabbie agreed, "I couldn't imagine fighting the Hulk."

"Literally." Bronte agreed as they approached their end of the Gymnasium.

"Hurry up, let's get to work." Daken called out to them, immediately bringing them back to reality.

"Yea yea, we're coming." Bronte replied.

And so, training commenced.

***

"Good work, guys. Stop telegraphing your movements and spread your attack field! Come on let's act like we've been doing this for a couple weeks now!" Laura coached from the sidelines as the Feral Trio faced Daken.

As the gym quieted, the sounds of their claws slicing through the air became a growing dominant sound that drew the attention of the less active training Mutants. As usual, the eyes were on them.

Bronte tried to listen to Laura's words, but Raze charged.

"AHAHAH!!! COme heRE DAKEN!" The wild Mutant yelled before taking off on all fours.

"Why are you like this, man?!" Bronte yelled before chasing after Mutant.

Daken welcomed them. Unmoving and calm.

"Gabbie go left. Don't engage until Daken's fought us for a while.... let him forget about you-- if that's possible." Bronte said to Gabbie. She nodded curtly before slowing to hide behind Bronte's frame as he ran.

Bronte kept his vision split between Raze and Daken. Laura was right. Another frontal assault was useless. They needed to utilize their numbers to hit all angles. If Raze didn't want to listen, he'd make him. Put the name of Ragdoll on someone else for once.

Bronte opened his hands, letting his claws sink back into his skin as he sped up onto Raze's heels.

"IM GONNA GET YA!!!" Raze yelled, his tongue flailing behind him as if he were some sort of nightmarish, blue-skinned dog.

He jumped, causing the ground to rumble from the power he generated. Bronte followed, jumping after him and grabbing his tongue.

"Work with us so we can win, goofball." Bronte snarled before yanking Raze's tongue, causing him to spin and face Bronte. Then, Bronte kicked him, causing the Mutant to soar over Daken's head and land behind him. Perfect.

Unfortunately, he landed right in front of Daken.

The First son of Wolverine raised in eyebrow at him, noticing his claws were retracted. Even so, he lunged forward with a blurringly fast front kick.

Bronte brought his hands up to block the hit with his forearms. The hit still hurt like hell, but he absorbed the majority of the blow, rolling off the impact with a back handspring. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he was on the offensive again just in time to see Daken shoving his elbow into Raze's face from behind.

Damn he was good.

Bronte brought out his claws. Daken's eyes went straight to the supposed threat, perfect. As he closed in, he dropped low and went to sweep Daken's legs. It worked. His shin collided with Daken's ankle and knocked him to the floor.

"There you go, Bronte!" Laura yelled sternly.

"Don't reward this, Laura." Daken said flatly from the ground.

Bronte kept up the offensive and lunged at the laying Mutant to shove his claws into his chest.

Before he could even get all the way up, Daken rolled over and punched him in the chest before kicking himself up onto his feet to catch Gabbie and throw her at Raze. The two collided and skidded off towards the wall near Laura.

"Fuck!" Bronte punched the floor as he got to his feet. His hair flickered in and out of a glowing white. His veins bulged and pulsed with power. Suddenly a hot wind swelled inside the Gymnasium.

"I'm getting tired of this psuedo-Storm-State. Show me the real thing already, dammit!" Daken spat.

Bronte growled and took off, exploded into blinding speeds by the burst of wind at his back.

Daken was surprised by the explosive speed, giving Bronte the chance to sink his claws in Daken's chest. Daken did the same, shoving his claws into Bronte's stomach and lifting him off his feet as he twisted his guts.

"AHHHHCK!" Bronte let out a roarish scream as thunder hammered the earth outside.

"CUT!" Laura yelled.

Daken groaned and threw Bronte off him, unbothered by the holes in his chest that were already closing.

"God dammit, Laura! Out there with the Lupines, there won't be any cut! or thats enough!"

Laura didn't back down from Daken, "Yea, but there will be here."

"The fuck does that do?!"

"It stops him from being mentally scarred by the only people that can help him, dumb ass!" Laura explained.

Daken took a step closer so he was cheek to cheek with her, "Maybe a little mental scarring is good. Look what it's done to us."

Laura snarled this time, "Get out of my face, Daken."

Daken spat on the floor, "Your choice. If he dies, he dies. Just like Jimmy. But I know, we could use that lighting. We could use the hell out of something like that right about now."

And then Daken was walking out of the Gymnasium.

Laura walked over to Bronte who writhed on the floor as blood spilled from his mouth and stomach.

He could smell her before he saw her.

"You made progress." Laura said.

"No.... Storm-State, though."

Laura nodded as she swept her hair behind her ear, "Yea. But you're learning the game. I saw what you did with the claws. I didn't learn to use them as a diversion until I fought Sabertooth for the first time. And what you said to Gabbie was good-- in tense moments, people often forget their surroundings. Unfortunately, you also forgot we all can hear well enough to catch a pin drop in the arctic."

Bronte relaxed as his body fully healed, "Awe damn..... I really gave away the plan before the game started."

Laura shrugged, "A solid plan though."

"Fuck man. Why is this so hard?"

"Language." Laura said before explaining, "Well, we have nothing to go off of for your most powerful ability, and we've given you a month to learn control over something that takes.... really a lifetime to be honest. We've made your circumstances here unfair on purpose, Bronte. Because that's how it'll be for you out there. We want you ready, for what's to come. Because it will not be kind out there to us."

Bronte sighed, "Remember why...." He repeated what she said to him often. Simple at face value, but profound.

Laura nodded, "Always remember why."

She got up smoothly and reached a hand out to him, "Get up, hermano. You still have time."

Bronte took her hand and let her pull him to his feet.

"Yea. I'll get it."

The crowd that once watched dissipated as they ended training.

***

No more than twenty minutes had passed since training with Daken had ended as always. In a loss. He stood on the upper floor, leaned over the railing as he watched the other students train down below. He continued reading over the file on all things Wolverine. Searching, studying, learning.

All he was able to draw from everything was that, Wolverine was wild. Angry. Violent and heroic. He was surprisingly sentimental-- based on the relationships he formed with the people he saved..... when he wasn't laying with them. His stories were almost like dark adventures spread through time. The guy was forever enduring until he wasn't.

He closed the file, watching as Illyana entered the room holding a stereo. She stood directly below him and placed the stereo on the ground before clicking the machine on to play music.

Immediately, he found himself pulled to the catchy rhythm. A pop song. Catchy, simple, explosive yet formulated. Nothing new or revolutionary. Just a hit in the moment. Even so, music was always special in ways he couldn't describe.

He took a deep breath and moved his head to the beat, letting his fingers tap along to the chorus. After a while, small sparks of lightning popped from his fingertips, electrifying the rail he leaned on in short bursts.

His spine tingled as the music heightened in intensity.

It felt louder in those moments. More clear-- more impactful. Every drum, every slammed snare, each segmented guitar riff. He could almost feel them. Man did he miss music.

Behind the growing tunes, the sounds of combat rose in reflection. He opened his eyes and found Sam-- often called Cannonball, zipping and dashing around the training area as Cyclops tried to hit him with his eye beams.

He'd grown as well in the past week. He was learning to control his wild bursts of energy that catapulted him at blinding speeds.

Havoc was beside his brother, cheering him on. He could hear Sam's laughter in between blindingly fasts dodges that were beginning to dent the floor and send sparks off his feet.

Bronte found himself growing anxious as Sam's field of movement grew. Nobody seemed to be paying attention. Too wrapped up in their own training.

This wasn't safe. Sam didn't have enough control, much like Bronte.

"H--"

As he moved to speak, another one of Cyclops beams lit the room red as it crashed into the floor near Sam's feet. In his quick bursts of movement, he'd canceled his blast-shield too soon, causing the beam to smash into his foot.

Bronte could hear the bone break on que with the bass heavy beat drop. He could almost see it coming. It was so bizzare.

And then, Sam took off, without meaning too, he blew through the Gymnasium like a rocket sent prematurely.

As Bronte's adrenaline grew, time lost importance. The music being the only sound in his ears as Sam smashed into Collosus, knocking the metal man off his feet and into Rahne. He could hear her arm snap, on beat with the music. Illyana flipped out of the way just barely. Leaving him flying straight the end of the Gymnasium. Gabbie's back was turned to him as he rocketed toward her.

"WAIT!" Bronte yelled as he reached for them.

Suddenly time regained normality and the sound of the gate in front of him ripping filled his ears as his vision pure white.

***

Chaos.

It only lasted a second, but that's what it felt like. Chaos. The wind in his ears was deafening. When combined with the odd sound of thousands of birds, he felt like his brain was melting.

Slowly his vision returned. His world was sideways and cluttered with the number of people rushing over to him. He was on the floor. His spine tingled like hell, radiating throughout his whole body.

"Bronte..! BRONTE!"

"Your hurting him!"

"Hey! Bronte. You have to calm down!" Cyclops yelled as he pushed through the crowd and approached him.

Bronte looked around the area. Past the dozens of people crowding him, Gabbie stood alone in shock. Sam hadn't reached her. Where was Sam.

Suddenly someone groaned, Bronte turned around and found Sam lying on the ground behind him. His back littered with burn marks as currents of lightning radiated from Bronte and knicked at his skin.

Lightning.

"What the hell?" Bronte thought, as he looked down at himself.

He'd entered his Storm-State. The only issue was, everyone had seen such a state when he was enraged. He was perfectly fine.

Warily, he stood up.

Everyone stood back. Looking at his altered state. Hair like lightning, an elemental aura raging. The gaping wound in his stomach was covered in lightning that looked as if it were repairing him. Cyclops raised a hand to his visor.

Bronte shook his head and raised his hands, surprised to find a gust of wind sweep him into hovering above ground.

"I'm..... I think I'm good....." His voice sounded like many.

Suddenly the song ended, segwaying into an advert that sounded off loudly in the tense silence. Bronte's Storm-State ended, and he hit the ground soundlessly.

Cyclops and the others rushed past him to tend to Sam. Some of the kids viewed him warily. Charles Xavier watched in the distance, never taking his eyes off him.

His eyes were pulled from the Telepath as Laura and Hank stood in front of him.

"I found another trigger....."

"Which is?" Hank inquired urgently.

"It's music..."