Up close in his beastly form, Logan was terrifying. Logan was what Bronte saw in his dreams. The beast of the storms. It seems that's what Romulus was always looking for. The Apex. The peak of evolution in terms of power.
He got close with Logan.
Too close.
Damn near right on the nose.
In his transformation he didn't grow much. Only a handful of inches, making him the same height as Brontë at six feet tall. He packed on the mass along the way with iron cords of muscle that rippled beneath his fur that spread in sections like armor. Where there was no fur, the skin was dark and leathery.
He snarled— causing his snout to bunch up as his lips curled, as he did, he shook off the blood and guts before jumping off the dead Draco-Rex.
Brontë couldn't help but notice. "He looks like—"
"The Lupines, I know." Laura finished. "It makes sense. They're our relatives."
Logan spared them a glance for a moment before huffing and turning to face the creature. With a practiced efficiency, he started cutting and quartering the creature with animalistic slashes and grunts.
He stopped only to throw a massive slab of meat behind him.
It landed at the feet of the sabertooth Shana rode in on.
The beast purred in thanks and began eating.
"Alligator tastes like chicken….. alligator tastes like chicken…. Alligator tastes like chicken…." Gabbie repeated to herself.
"This ain't even close to a gator." Bronte patted her back and walked over to Logan as he chopped away at the beast.
Laura took a step forward to stop Bronte, "I wouldn't—"
"I would." Bronte finished and popped his claws as he approached the carcass on Logan's side.
Like a wild dog, Logan snarled and snapped at him as soon as he was within reach, even lunging to attack.
Brontë caught him by the arm. Logan snarled and stabbed into his midsection with his other hand.
Brontë didn't move as the knuckle blades stopped right at the scarred surface of his Vibranium suit.
Everyone behind him gasped.
The father and son eyed eachother in the tense silence.
Brontë shook his head, causing his locs to sway, "You reacted to his name like you knew all about it. I bet you know alot."
Logan growled.
"You're not an animal. Not all the way. So imma need you to fight through those instincts like you fight through everything else." Bronte said.
Logan continued growling. But he didn't stab or gut Bronte as he could've. Specialized suit be damned.
"Come on, man. You've been a superhero longer than anyone alive at this point. That's gotta be instinct too at this point. Or at least familiar."
Nothing.
Brontë was silent for a moment before shaking his head. His next words— whether it was a familiar name or reminded purpose, worked. Ever so slightly, Logan's human form returned, "Nah, you can fight this. You've fought worse. Hulk, Omega Red, Sentinels, god damn confederates…..lock in. You've got a daughter or two waiting on you on the other side and it's been that way for a decade—"
Something let off an alien shriek in the distance that echoed like it followed its own tailored brand of physics and audial norms.
Pulse waves of twisted and warbling air distorted the clouds softly and threw flying flocks off of their intended paths in the distance.
Logan's ear twitched in response. His primal form returned— more aggressively than before with his hackles raised.
He shook his head and pulled away from Bronte. Brontë let him return to his work on the carcass.
"Ohhhhh… family drama in the wake of some mysterious big bad that'll ultimately force us all to come together. I love this trope! Almost as much as the one where the love interest is later revealed to be your sister!"
They all turned around to find Savagepool putting his head back on. It was crooked.
"Can you die at all?" Laura asked.
"Probably. But it's probably not easy. Why else do you think I was put here?" Savagepool said with a shrug.
"Do you have any idea what that was?" Bronte asked as he continued cutting up the Draco-Rex.
"PACING, PEOPLE!" Savagepool yelled with a finger up, "We're trying to get the pacing down here. So no. For now... I have no idea what that extremely familiar and unsettling shriek was."
"Should I remove his head again?" Ilyana asked.
"Yes." Laura replied before they were interrupted by Logan grabbing one of the dissected pieces of carcass and throwing it into the distance with a roar.
"So much testosterone!" Savagepool commented and fanned himself femininely.
"What is he doing?" Gabbie asked Laura in reference to Logan.
"Spreading the remains so our cave stays hidden. There's a lot of scavengers in the savagelands, and we can't clear six tons of meat fast enough to not attract them. There's also a lot of tribes that are stronger than you'd think." Laura explained.
"Oh yea, we read about a few." Gabbie said. "so, we should help?"
"Uhhh…"
Brontë waved Gabbie over.
Hesitantly, she headed over.
Rien shared troubled a glance with her mother before following after her half-sister.
They watched as Brontë picked up a slab of meat and threw it with his only arm.
The winds picked up and sent the quartered leg miles further than he could've on his own. Even with his Wendigo Magic boosted strength.
Logan watched the meat whistle off into the distance and gave a quieted grunt before picking up his own portion and walking over to Gabbie.
"H-Hi…." Gabbie couldn't meet his eyes.
Logan huffed and put the slab of meat in her hands.
Gabbie threw the piece of carcass higher than any human could, but not far enough.
Brontë controlled the winds and carried away the rest.
He did the same for Rien.
Slowly, he backed away and let the two kids work to clear the dead with Logan until all that was left were the massive ribs covered in layers of fatty meat.
"I bet you miss ribs." Bronte said to Laura.
"You have no idea." Laura said.
"Anyway, we'll let Logan, Shana and Rien take their kill back to the cave. You want to start showing us around?" Bronte asked.
"No."
Brontë turned around and found Shana standing behind him.
"We will join."
"You can speak English?!"