I don't own anything that DC and Marvel own. I'm just playing in their world…
This short story introduces a character that'll be important to a plot-point in IS4 when I write it...

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A Holiday Treat

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Franklin Theophilous sighed as he looked around at the decorated ward that he was a resident of. His parents had joined the Church of Humanity a year prior and had decided not to allow him to have his illness treated by the new Kryptonian-produced Med-Pods, since "those things are abominations in the sight of the Lord". As a result, he was one of only five children in the ward, the other four suffering from medical conditions that even the med-pods couldn't heal, although the use of med-pods meant that the doctors now had far more time to come up with cures for the rarer diseases and other medical issues.

Hence why he was still ill and in hospital on Christmas Day.

A slight noise caught his attention and he looked round to see Miss Whitedawn scurrying to the large window at the end of the ward. Opening it, she stepped back and Franklin's heart almost missed a beat as a familiar figure entered, a large sack in his hand.

"Superman!"

"Hello, everyone." Clark Kent smiled as he moved aside to let a second figure enter the same way. The new blue-skinned arrival looked round and smiled at the staring children even as he folded his metallic wings.

"Archangel and I were on patrol when we met Santa, who was a bit behind in his deliveries." Clark explained as Miss Whitedawn pulled out a wheeled table for Clark to place the sack on and Franklin stared at the gift-wrapped box that was sticking out the top. "Anyway, since he was trying so hard to catch up, we asked him if we could do one of his deliveries for him."

"He agreed, so here we are with his presents for you." Archangel finished. "Now, shall we begin? Do we have a… thanks, Clark… a Serena Martin here?"

The girl almost opposite Franklin managed to raise her hand slightly and Archangel carried the present across to her.

"Do you want any help opening it?" He asked quietly as Clark pulled out the next present.

"Franklin Theophilous?"

"Here!" Franklin waved and Clark floated over, causing two of the others to ooh in appreciation.

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"And in the mid-day news, Santa's Superhero Helpers!" The anchorwoman said with a wide smile. "This morning, superheroes from virtually every superhero team on the planet paid flying visits to childrens wards around the world, bringing presents to the children still awaiting treatment for their conditions. These children now have pictures of themselves with superheroes in addition to the presents that they received…"/

The screen blanked as Franklin's mother jabbed at the remote to switch it off while his father glared at the gift Franklin had received, a collapsible hover-chair to help him move around.

"How could they give you something so… non-human!" His mother whined and Franklin closed his eyes in an attempt to not shout at her. "First they try to stick you in that alien device that'll probably brainwash you, then they give you that thing… I forbid you to use it!"

Franklin made a mental note that as soon as he turned sixteen (assuming he could live that long), he would apply for emancipation and the use of a med-pod, just so that his bigoted parents wouldn't want to have anything to do with him.

What sort of parents placed their philosophies above the life of their child?