Brontë made it to the Savage Lands.
He found his sister— and another, his biological father and fought a dinosaur dragon hybrid off the wake-up.
Better yet, the She-Devil— wolverines new love, could speak English. But it was more like, she chose to, because after her decision to join Bronte and his team of mutants in jungle exploration was declared, she was back to silent.
Brontë had bigger fish to fry. If she didn't want to talk, that was fine by him. Her presence meant more protection for Junior.
As they walked through the jungles, Bronte watched his younger brother. With his ears and nose since he was at the front of the line.
Junior traveled in the middle of the traveling party with Gabbie and Rien. He was already starting to tan under the jungle sun. His red hair was sitting a little wilder due to the humidity of the climate they braved. With his bonding to Mend, he was even aging at a faster rate. Producing more beneficial hormones. Growing stronger muscle— denser bone, all while his mutant gene was activating. To be like the two teenage girls he played coconut catch with. Fitting that they were all around the same age.
Gabbie was visibly the oldest with her height and social stature while Rien was easily the strangest. Even still, Brontë could see their relation. The tone of their skin, the curl of their hair. The length of their canines was just a half inch past human norms. Even the way they moved— their propensity to drop low to the ground and exhale through grimaces and clenched teeth. Very animal. Very much like—
"It's so bizzare, no?" Ilyana asked as she walked beside him.
"What?" Bronte asked.
Ilyana looked around their group. Her gaze settled at the back of the line where Logan loomed in a loincloth and animal fur facemask.
"Yea…." Bronte replied, knowing what she meant, "I met my….. dad." Bronte put up quotation fingers, "And he's a were….lupine? And he has another kid with a suspicious partner. This is how it goes for a lot of adopted and foster kids when you look past the exact details. The reconnect is never what you imagine."
"Did you ever imagine it?" Ilyana asked. Her golden hair frizzed in its tight ponytail and poofed around her head like an electrified mane.
"No, actually." Bronte said, "I had the real parent obsession a lot of kids like me get for a very short time. I love my parents. I didn't need anything else. But that's not the case for all my people, obviously."
"Si, Mijo." Laura said as she walked on his other side wearing a skirt and bra of hides and plant fiber, "That was a nice thing you did for Gabbie. Even if it was….. heavy handed. You did something I never could."
Bronte looked over at her.
"You gave her the real thing. I spent hours of our lives on the road feeding her white lies and half-truth so she could sleep with a smile no matter where we were. Pero, you gave her reality. And you didn't let it eat her alive." Laura patted his back.
"Pun? That's crazy work." Bronte said.
"I know you want me to take point on things, but you're doing stuff better than I would." Laura shrugged and punched his shoulder affectionately.
"I'm doing things I think you'd do." Bronte replied.
"Did you think I would run off to a prehistoric jungle world hidden under the ice caps?" Laura asked.
"We all react to loss differently." Bronte didnt even need to say their brothers name.
Laura blinked back tears.
Ilyana suddenly leaned closer and whispered something to Bronte that had him looking back at Junior.
"Laura….."
"Yea."
"There's someone I need to introduce you to." Bronte said before calling back, "Junior, I have to borrow you real quick."
"That's fine. I can't compete with superhuman mini wolverines anyway. And your slime isn't helping me." Junior said.
"His name is Mend."
The mention of the name was like a trigger.
Junior's veins went black and pulsed with wind-rider magic as the Symbiote slithered and unfurled from within the young mutant. He grew from his height of five foot however many inches all the way to six and a half feet of cord-like muscle, claws and sigil tattoos topped by a head with a Wolven snout and thunderous blue eyes.
"WHERE ARE THEY? I DIDNT SENSE THE ENEMY."
"Because there is no enemy." Bronte said, "Come here, man."
Mend stood up out of his fighting stance and jogged over.
"Yes, unc?"
Laura watched him with a sort of odd smile.
Mend noticed her and waved, "Hello pretty lady."
"Hi, Mend. I'm used to seeing your kind with spiders, this is a nice change." Laura said.
"Spiders….." Mend's skin went rigid as he shivered.
"Same." Laura said.
The two looked to Bronte, leading him to speak, "Laura. As you know, part of... Raze's biology was alien. He was a symbiote mutate….. mutant hybrid, thanks to Rom….that persons involvement with the life foundation. Well, when he was killed. He….."
Laura stopped walking suddenly.
Mend stopped with her. "I sense tension…..where's the god damn dinosaur, I hate hide and seek."
"Venom made Carnage asexually. Symbiotes reproduce asexually in times of need…." Laura put the pieces together herself, "Your Raze's offspring."
Brontë turned to Mend. "You've been so busy protecting Junior that you didn't notice. This is Laura. She's my sister— like Gabbie. And that makes her your—"
Mend's wolfish ears popped up, "AUNTY!" He jumped onto Laura.
Laura caught the giant alien beast-mage in a hug.
Gabbie came to a stop as she caught up with Bronte, breathing hard with a coconut in her hand, "We completely forgot introductions."
"I know. If not for Magik, I wouldn't have ever done that….. but I'm glad I did. I don't….." Bronte quieted as he watched the two hug.
"What?" Gabbie asked.
"I'm not sure…. It feels like.. I don't know."
"Closure." Ilyana said.
"Hmmmm." Bronte nodded and took her hand.
After a few minutes, the She-Devil tapped Bronte's shoulder from behind.
He turned begrudgingly from the heartwarming sight and faced her.
"We near the city of Vala-Kuri. Home to the lizard-people."
"Friendly or hostile."
"Depends." Shanna said as Mend and Laura disconnected at her words.
"Then lets get an overhead view." Bronte began to let the winds collect beneath everyone's feet.
"No. We can't." Laura said quickly while Logan snarled behind them.
"What? Why? It's safer that way."
"It's not." Laura said matter of factly. "The sky is owned by the Aerians."
"The who?"
"One of the Beast-men races." Ilyana said, "I thought they were only concepts made by adventurers on psychedelics, no?"
"No. I've seen them. They hit hard as hell, fly fast and belong to an even stronger group of beings." Laura said.
Brontë raised an eyebrow, "I thought this was just a jungle full of animals."
Laura shook her head, "The longer I've been here, the more I'm starting to realize, The Savage Lands hasn't gone unnoticed this long on accident."
"What you mean?" Bronte asked.
"I mean human mutates on Krakoa aren't the only beings that are ahead of humanity in more ways than one." Laura said. "You're the king there. I think there's a king here too."