Chapter 24: Understanding

The Limbo Dimension, what a place to be.

A hell of sorts with it's horrific living monstrous skyscrapers, winged demons and cannibalistic slaughterhouses endlessly spitting out massacred demonic corpses into the tongue-textured streets. Endlessly. Endlessly was a long time when that very thing didn't have any semblance of solidity. Time, that is. It lost form and shifted in waves, seemingly uncarring of the world outside or the other dimensions around.

Not that that mattered to Bronte. He was already in his own personal dimension of hell on earth. Sabretooth was ripping and tearing through everything-- seemingly to torment Bronte who he'd chosen to take Wolverine's place as his punching bag.

And he was in a different dimension. Unable to do anything. Unable to save Rahne, unable to help the X-Men or Laura and Daken.

Would he even come back to anything other than a wasteland drowned in rain? Would Sabretooth wait for him?

Would the red haze ever fall from his vision? For a while he didn't know, he didn't see. He only did. Slaughter, rage, rip and tear.

Eventually, the rage died in intensity. He came back to himself in time. Time, so weird.

He was walking. He must've been moving for a while because his skin was slicked with sweat and his muscles ached. He could feel his healing factor changing that feeling by the second. The same could be said for the cuts, the breaks in his ribs.

He felt heavier. A mystery to him until he looked down at his hands and found what he was dragging.

Two obese demons with shredded wings, missing bodyparts and burn marks. His metal covered bone-claws dug through their heads as he dragged them. Their blood died the streets for miles behind.

On the borders of the road, Demons hopped in and out of the shadows and alleyways full of giant insects clinging to the walls. They watched in silence, following like ghosts.

"Bronte..."

Illyana's voice came from the mouth of a demon with no eyes and four tongues that perched on top of a streetlight. The streetlight was a black serpent wrapped around a pike endlessly spitting fire.

"Bronte.... are you back?"

Bronte didn't speak, letting his claws slip back into his skin to drop the dead Demons in the middle of the street. With little more than a sigh, he exploded off the ground in a burst of wind.

A few seconds later and he landed on the cliff where he and Illyana had first entered the Limbo Dimension.

She stood in the distance with her flaming blue sword drawn. The ornate dark armor covering her arm had grown to cover her midsection and her skin took on a dark coloring followed by a single horn growing from her forehead and a spiked tail swaying at her backside.

Despite the aggressive transformation, she looked the same as usual. If not a little sad. Felt wrong to see on her usually expressionless face.

A face that grew in detail as she approached him.

"You did everything you could." Illyana said.

Bronte grunted and looked away from her in an attempt to stifle the tears, "Yea...."

"I think it's safe for us to go back now."

Safe? Safe from what? What was safe?

Illyana hugged him again, this time Bronte sunk into her. Her platinum blonde hair smelled like metal and brimstone, and their magical difference made his skin tingle. But it felt nice. A hug, so mundane compared to everything else that had happened in the last few hours.....

A hug from a Demon-Girl.

In a flash, their world changed from a hellish fiery dimension of monsters to a forest of Mutants..... and men and women that looked strikingly like FBI Agents.

Agents with guns and grim expressions. Expressions that fell on them instantly.

A Demon-Girl and a Boy with fangs and lightning for hair.... and enough muscle definition to question the use of steroids.

Guns were pulled from holsters, even bigger guns were aimed and powered within to glow in a strange blue electrical light as they surrounded them.

"Contact! Two suspicious individuals of Mutant..... possibly magical, origin." One of the Agents yelled into his wrist while he aimed a handgun at Bronte.

Never in his life had he been so unthreatened by a weapon. He fought Sabretooth. Speaking of Sabretooth...

His Storm-State faded, and Illyana had slowly transformed back into her lithe and pale skinned self.

"We're students attending The Xavier Institute." Illyana said.

"Verify your status."

"My name is Illyana Rasputin."

As soon as she said her last name, the Agents relaxed, "What about you?"

The eyes of the Agents traveled to Bronte, who wasn't listening. He was searching. For Sabretooth, the X-Men, Laura, Daken-- anybody.

The field at the entrance into the forest was blocked off with yellow tape. Agents spread through the forest, vans crammed inside with medical teams working to patch up the various injured individuals.

"Let them go. They're good. Word from Mr. Xavier is enough for me. They're not what we're here for anyway..... I mean.... unless you brought some of those Demons back with you, Miss Rasputin. That would be bad..... unless they're good. But then they wouldn't be called Demons, would they?" The most mundane yet awkward sounding voice said from within the forest.

The Agents dropped their weapons.

"I bring no demons. They do not belong here." Illyana said.

"Of course. I'm glad you have a respect for boundaries, your brother on the other hand does not." The leading Agent said as he approached. Once he was out of the forest, his features became more visible.

Like the other Agents, he was plain in appearance. White man in his early forties, balding brown hair, square jaw, average height and all black clothing. Nondescript.

He breached the dissipating circle of agents only to be stopped by one of them who whispered to him.

Bronte's ears picked up on the Agents words as he continued to search the area anxiously.

"He's.... he's like Logan. Just like the others."

The leading agent nodded, "Another one..... huh. Why don't we know about him? Hopefully this one isn't part Alien."

Bronte suddenly had the urge to leave. More than anything he wanted to get into the forest and find everyone else. He wanted to know what happened. His feet were moving before he'd even settled on what to do.

Illyana followed and quickly came to a stop just as Bronte did.

They walked no more than five steps before the leading Agent stood in their way.

"Hi."

Bronte stared. Illyana moved to speak but was interrupted.

"My name is Phil Coulson..... to some people my first name is Agent. I'm working off the books on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D and Charles Xavier in search of an escaped person of interest-- which is why all of us are here really. It's nice to meet you, may I have your name?"

Shield. The government organization heavily associated with the Avengers..... who were off in space. Maybe they were out of work until the Heroes returned.... maybe Sabretooth was their missing person of interest.

"No." Bronte replied.

"May I ask why?" Agent Coulson asked.

"Because you're a secret government organization. I know how y'all get down. I don't need you searching around my people's place and spying. I'm good on all that." Bronte replied.

Coulson shrugged and nodded in understanding, "Fair enough."

Bronte moved to get past him and enter the forest. Coulson moved back into his way.

It started to rain.

"What are you doing?" Bronte asked angrily as his claws slowly started to rip out from the top of his wrists and knuckles.

"Well, those are familiar." Agent Coulson commented, "This area is only for authorized personnel. Sorry."

Bronte's face twisted with confusion, "What?-- I'm not authorized? I cut the fuckers fingers off!"

A lightning bolt hit the ground somewhere in the forest and got a startled yelp out of one of the agents.

Agent Coulson looked up in response at the sky. When he looked back down, Bronte and Illyana were gone. He spun around and found them entering the forest as they jumped over the yellow tape barriers.

In the dark, Agent Coulson could see portions of Bronte's long black hair flashing in and out of white.

He pressed the mic at his ear, "Hey, get me the files on the last known individual to enter Wakanda..... yes, I'm talking about the Panther's Wife."

***

Blood was everywhere. Soaked into the tree bark, reddening the craters in the mud floors filled with rainwater. The air smelled of smoke and fire. Busted logs rolled around where tree's were blasted out of the ground. Torn fabrics hung from branches and tangled bushes. Some were colored yellow and brown.

Sabretooth.

He was nowhere to be found. Neither was WildChild or the female Mutant of similar power. He killed WildChild, they must've confiscated the remains..... not that there was much left.

As he walked deeper inside, he found varying members of the X-Men, seated in the backs of vans and covered in bandages while being stuck by needles and such.

He would've kept walking if he didn't almost trip on an arm surrounded by the markers used for objects in open investigations. The arm was white skinned, muscular and covered in the X-Uniform.

A flashing memory of Sabretooth bounding from an active explosion to pounce of Havoc and rip his arm off entered his mind.

He physically cringed.

"Bronte, you shouldn't be here." Hank's voice was urgent as he came jogging out of his van in the distance.

"Yea well I am." Bronte replied. "Where is everyone, what happened to Sabretooth and the other Mutant?"

Hank was covered in cuts that stood out against his smooth blue fur and had his arm in a sling. If anybody would know it was him.

"Sabretooth was overwhelmed. He can't take the whole of the X-Men.... even if he's grown stronger somehow. He ran off. But not before taking out Havoc-- Alex..... and of course, Rahne. I fear for Scott's mental state. And yours, Bronte. How are you?" Hank said as he rested his only free hand on Bronte's shoulder.

"I'm fine....." Bronte lied. Illyana's smell was still strong in his nose as she stood behind him, "Laura was right, Hank....."

Hank's eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at him, "You're referring to..--"

"Yea, I am. We can't do this..... we can't.... she was right." Bronte's anger fueled the storm as he remembered the story of why Laura left.

"And what does that mean for now, Bronte?" Hank asked, his hand still firm on his shoulder.

Bronte looked up at him and held his gaze, "That means I've made my decision."

"And what decision is that, hermano?" Laura's voice echoed from his left.

He didn't have to look away from Hank. In a way he could feel their presence. It must've been the same for them.

Laura, Daken, Raze, Gabbie. They flanked him as if they'd always been there. The only other people looking untouched on the battlefield aside from the Agents.

"That means we're leaving."

Speaking the words was like activating an intense urge. He wanted to be gone in that moment. He wanted to be away from everyone innocent-- everyone vulnerable. Everyone that could be taken. Rahne, Sam, Danniele, Hank, his family back home. As much as it hurt, he wanted it more than anything.

"We're leaving now." Bronte said again.

Sabretooth was gone. He didn't slaughter everyone. Bronte was alive, and the dangers that followed him as a birthright were scheming. He was ready to join his siblings in hunting the hunter. There were no greener pastures inside the Institute, earths mightiest were gone, there was no safety. Not for long. There was only the hunt. The thick of it that must be waded through no matter how muddy-- how blood-filled, and grimy.

He sighed suddenly and bumped knuckles with Hank's chest, "I guess that means no more tests to stress you out."

Hank chuckled, "I'll miss your presence and refreshing demeanor inside the lab, Bronte."

"And I'll miss your classes on Mutants, Blue. See ya around."

Bronte turned to leave and found Illyana staring.

"You're leaving...?"

"Look around..... all this, because of me. I can't keep letting this happen. Twice is more than enough."

Illyana took a step forward, "I know it's only been a month.....--I can keep you safe."

Bronte shook his head, "I'm not looking for safety anymore, Illyana."

Illyana's shoulders slumped faintly. It felt bizarre since she always stood so tall despite her lacking height.

"I'm..... not good with people." Illyana started, "But you still spoke to me every day... even after I...."

If she started crying he was screwed.

"I wanted to learn more about you, Bronte... we were so close to... being friends."

"Girl, come here." Bronte brought her in for a hug despite the mental tiredness that seemed to line his bones. "We are friends."

Illyana sniffled.

"Tell, Sam and the others I said goodbye. And tell them I'll get that bastard back for what he did to Rahne. That's a promise I'll put on anything." Bronte said.

"Ok...." She was so quiet he could barely hear it.

Then, he was letting her go. Her and the rest of the Institute.

"Stay safe, Magic."

He walked past her.

"What?"

Bronte turned around, "It's what got you talking to me-- it's the one thing we have in common." He shrugged.

Then, he exited the forest. Laura, Daken and the others fell into step with him.

Outside the forest Agent Coulson watched beside a fellow Agent.

"Are we just letting them go. Without a statement and everything?"

"No." Agent Coulson replied before speaking to his earpiece once more, "Let's get the Surveillance Unit on them. Keep a distance-- if they're anything like their father, they're temperamental lone wolves.... as odd as that sounds. Just stay close enough for us to know who they're running into on their travels. If Victor Creed is hunting them, it's officially our problem as well, especially if he still has our property running through his veins. That goes for the people spearheading the hunt of Wolverine's children as well. The search for Romulus is back in full swing from this point onward."