Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.
This chapter and the previous one crosses over with my story First Crisis.
This is the last multi-chapter post I have planned, from this point on it's 1 chapter each Saturday.
Enjoy.
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Chapter Four
Publicity
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"Wow." McCoy said as he looked around. "This makes the science labs at school look like a child's sand-table."
"We're quite proud of it." Xavier smiled. "So, have you decided about tomorrow?"
"I… I'm torn." McCoy said softly. "On the one hand, I spent years keeping my mutation from fully activating for fear I'd turn into a… a monster. On the other hand… knowing that there are more like me…"
"Kurt is torn as well." Xavier admitted. "He has had many bad experiences because of his mutation, but Amanda adores him for who, and what he is."
McCoy nodded slowly.
"I… think I will try. If all fails…"
"You will always be welcome to work here." Xavier said reassuringly, then he looked round. "Good evening, Martha."
"Hello." Martha said as she bustled in. "Clark finally told me that we had guests, so I made some cookies."
Xavier gratefully accepted the plate and offered it to McCoy, who accepted one of the cookies, then paused.
"You aren't going to say anything about Sesame Street, are you?" He asked suspiciously.
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"Check this out!" Spike said as he frowned in concentration. An instant later, the ends of the spikes jutting from his bony armour started to glow. "These things can cut through almost anything! Just like Logan's claws!"
"Whoah!" Ray said, thoroughly impressed. "You going public as well? Gets loads of babes and I heard that we may be allowed to wear our uniforms to school soon."
"Hey, that means I'll be able to use my powers without risking shredding my clothes!" Roberto grinned. "More chances to show off!"
"Carefully." Clark said from behind them and everyone turned to see Clark and Kal.
"Whoah, that is still freaky, seeing two of you." Ray admitted. "At least he doesn't have a goatee."
Clark blinked. "What?"
"They've been watching the original Star Trek series." Kal sighed and Clark's eyes widened in realisation.
"Ah. Spock. Evil goatee. Right. I remember now."
"Hey, Clark! Kal, we got something!" A voice called and both Kryptonians turned to see Tony Stark waving for them. "Come on!"
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"Heimdall. Thor." Clark said in greeting. Behind him, Kal gave the two Asgardians a long look.
"We hath aided thine genius Forge and the tinkerer Stark…"
"Hey!" Tony interjected.
"…and have created a small portal through which a signal can be driven." Heimdall finished. Kal nodded.
"My systems are picking up encrypted transmissions… sending a comm request now."
"Link it to here." Tony said, pointing to a large screen mounted on one wall. "Let's see what your world looks like and it'll let them see us as well."
"Linking now." Kal said, one hand touching the side of his visor and the screen lit up with a styalised JL symbol. A moment later, the symbol vanished, being replaced by the image of a large hall filled with screens and computer stations, all surrounding a holoprojector that was displaying an image of Earth.
Although many of the people were wearing a uniform comprising mainly of a tunic and trousers, several individuals in unique costumes were staring at them through the screen.
"Kal."
"Batman." Kal replied with a smile. "Can you backtrack the signal?"
"It is coming through a dimensional micro-vortex." Said an armour-clad man with a sledgehammer attached to his back. "We may be able to reconfigure one of the teleport gates to breach the dimensional barrier, but it could take a quite a while."
"Steel." Kal nodded in greeting.
"Nice armour." Tony whistled. "Did you build yours as well?"
"Only the first suit." Steel said absently. "This suit is modified ceremonial Kryptonian armour."
"Really?" Clark asked curiously. "I've never seen any reference to it in the Fortress' archives."
"Different worlds." Kal pointed out.
Clark nodded, then he frowned. "You know, if we can make contact with one alternate reality, there are almost certainly others. I think I'm going to have to break out my final salvaged Type 6 Embassy for this and use it to do some serious building. Maybe on the far side of the moon… thank goodness I have so much experience with environment domes…"
Kal and Batman exchanged confused glances as Clark continued to mutter to himself.
"Hey, Steel, right?" Tony called. "I'm setting up a link here, sending my readings on the micro-vortex. If I'm reading this right, it could be possible to make it larger, maybe to a couple of meters or so, but the increase in instability could be an issue…"
"I agree." Steel said, then he half-turned. "Gear! Get to my lab and power everything up! J'onn, I need all the tech-types we have reporting in! Red-suit…"
"What?" Tony said in disbelief. "Red-suit? I'm Iron Man!"
"Really?" Steel asked curiously. "Huh. Imagine that. I'm going to transfer the datalink to my lab."
"I'll do the same." Tony said. "Forge! Get your lab powered up, I'll get Reed to help!"
"I'll go and help them." Clark said. "You catch up with your friends."
"Thank you." Kal replied.
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"Kal of El." Heimdall said in greeting as Clark entered the lab, looking around curiously.
"Heimdall." Clark replied. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"A chance to open a gate to a new realm?" Heimdall said with a slight smile. "How could I refuse?"
"We've got the main gates half-built and the theory is good." Tony grunted from his position half-inside one of the conduits that were wrapped round a stone slab three times larger than the ones used to connect to the Hall of Doors. "Did I hear jets earlier?"
"Kara and Logan have gone up in the Javelin to begin construction of the Moonbase." Clark explained. "They took one of the spare Doors with them to install once the Embassy is dimensionally unfolded."
"Hey, Clark!" Forge called. "Project Rao's Blessing is almost complete as well, it's currently producing the needed nanomachines."
"Excellent." Clark smiled. "That project took a lot longer than I thought it would."
"Agreed." Forge sighed. "Although getting quality control in place for mass-production was a pain, the real problem was getting the interface idiot-proof without undermining the effectiveness. Programming in all the safeties so that they couldn't be over-ridden without specific code-chips…"
Clark nodded. "It has too much potential as a weapon should it fall into the wrong hands, but the number of lives it can save…"
"Agreed." Forge said quietly. "Agreed…"
"Ummm, what are you talking about?" Tony asked curiously.
"Just something that'll really help a whole load of kids." Forge said quickly while trying to look innocent.
Tony suddenly froze, then swore. "Dammit! How the hell are we going to get the gate to Kal's dimension?"
Everyone froze, then a chime sounded through the fortress and the Fortress' AI spoke.
"A starship has appeared in orbit. It is broadcasting a message."
"Play the message, please." Clark said after several long minutes passed with no-one moving. One of the walls flickered and an image of a white-haired man formed.
"I am John Snow of the organisation known as Planetary." He said. "My companions and I are here to seek out the wayward traveller known as Kal-El. Kal-El, if you have received this message, please contact us on this frequency. Your brother wants you back. Message repeats. I am John Snow of the…"
The screen blanked at Clark's hand-wave and everyone exchanged glances before Forge broke the silence.
"I guess that we have a way of sending the Gate now."
"I guess we do." Tony agreed.
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Clark stared up into the morning light as Kal vanished above the wispy clouds, the Gate held by the webbing of straps in one hand and Forge riding inside the passenger pod strapped to his back. Focusing, he watched as Kal flew into the strange starship which then accelerated into a strange reality-rip.
"They gone?"
"They are." Clark nodded and a large, blue-furred paw clapped him on his shoulder.
"Then I guess we should be going, Clark."
Clark nodded, then paused at the sight of McCoy's wrist. "Decided not to use the holographic imager?"
"Well, I've been discussing it with Principal Kelly over the phone and he's given permission for all members of superteams to wear their uniforms as long as they are willing to act as prefects, providing help to the best of their abilities when asked. Evan has decided to attend without a holowatch as well."
Clark snorted with laughter. "So Generation X gets a taste of power and responsibility by upholding the school rules and helping others. Kelly's good."
"He'll be explaining it at the morning assembly." Hank shrugged. "Oh, he asked if you could pop in to support it."
"Not a problem." Clark smiled. "I hope he won't mind if I make an announcement too."
"Clark, Hank." A voice called and both men turned to see May Parker emerging from the Mansion. "The kids are almost ready to go."
"I'll meet you at the garage." Clark grinned, then he seemed to vanish.
"Now that's hardly fair." Hank grumped, then a blue blur raced past, causing Hank to suddenly vanish as well. May stared for a moment before sighing.
"I thought they were meant to be adults."
"Clark's still a kid at heart." Martha laughed from the doorway. "Why else would he wear a cape and tights."
May nodded slowly, her lips twitching into a smile.
"I wonder what they were talking to Thor about earlier." Martha wondered.
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The entire car park seemed to go silent as Clark, resplendent in his blue and red, stepped out of the minibus. A moment later, all the kids rushed towards him and he laughed as he shook hands and ruffled hair.
"Damn, he's popular." Ray mock-complained.
"He's been saving the world since before we joined the Institute." Evan said as he clambered out of the minibus, carefully checking that his spikes hadn't snagged on anything. "He's why I joined. I said I wouldn't unless Superman taught there, and guess who dropped in an hour later to offer me a place?"
Ray joined in the laughter, then looked round at the boy who tapped his shoulder. "Yes?"
"What happened?" The boy asked, nodding to Evan who was struggling to carry his bag without impaling it.
"His powers matured." Roberto supplied as he walked past, relaying the almost-true cover story that Xavier and Clark had supplied. "He now has his own armour plating. Means that he can play football without needing all that padding."
"Coooooooool."
Evan half-spun in pleased surprise as he heard the response to the explanation.
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"…and as such, I have agreed to this as it will help them become better heroes in the future." Kelly said, nodding towards Roberto, Ray and Evan who were standing beside Superman. "In addition, during the same incident that caused Evan's powers to fully mature, one of our teachers had his latent powers activated, giving him enhanced strength and agility. Please give a warm welcome back to Doctor Hank McCoy!"
The rising applause only faltered slightly as Hank walked onto the stage, then a voice called out.
"Cookie monster!"
Hank facepalmed as the entire audience burst into laughter, then he gave Clark a strained look.
"Okay, calm down please." He said with a wry expression and the laughter slowly faded into an attentive silence. "Thank you. First, I'd like to say thank you to Principal Kelly for not letting my… change in hairstyle affect my employment."
A laughing round of applause rolled across the field as Kelly nodded in acknowledgement.
"Second, if anyone is worried about having gained new powers, I am available to offer advice and a friendly ear. If I can't help, I probably know people who can, like Clark here."
Clark waved at the new round of cheers.
"Third and finally," Hank said, "I'd like to thank you all for your acceptance. Except for the one who shouted cookie monster. In addition, I am wondering what code-name I should have for if I deploy with the X-Men or the Avengers. If you can come up with one, please write it down with between one and two thousand words explaining why you think it would be appropriate. The winner or winners will get to meet the Avengers at Stark Tower while all entries will receive a T-shirt with their favourite Avenger's logo on it, so remember to state your size and which one you want. You have until next Friday to hand in the essays and the winner will be announced the Friday afterwards. Thank you."
The field seemed to explode with excited cheering and Hank stepped to one side, waving Clark forwards.
"Thank you, Hank. I also have an announcement to make. As you know, Mystique and I are getting married in two weeks time at the Institute, and I would like to invite all of you and your families."
Clark stopped as the audience erupted in cheers, whistles and shouts of joy. As it died down, Clark resumed his speech.
"Other superheroes will be there as well, as well as quite a few famous people, so I expect you all to be on your best behaviours. Food and drink will be provided for free, mum's in charge of the catering so we can count on it being great."
Spyke, Roberto and Ray all nodded with wide smiles.
"The ceremony will be at noon, the gates will open at ten." Clark continued. "More details will be on the invitations that will be delivered soon… if anyone wants to earn some extra money helping to deliver them, please speak to Piotr this afternoon. In the mean time, have fun and study well!"
As the students all cheered, Superman rose from the stage and circled the field, waving, before disappearing in a sonic boom, then a second boom echoed across the field. A moment later, a tall, well-muscled blond landed and looked round.
"I seek Kal-El, where may he be?"
"I'm sorry, what?" Kelly asked in shock and the blond sighed.
"I am Thor…"
"Then get thome athpirin!" A voice shouted from the crowd. Thor blinked several times as the audience virtually collapsed with laughter.
"Am I missing something?" The Asgardian finally asked in confusion.