Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.

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Chapter Thirteen

Cure

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Warren Worthington Jr stared in near-shock at his younger brother and chief researcher.

"Burt, are you saying…"

"Yep." Burt smirked. "We found it. A way to switch off the X-gene. And to add to the irony, we also found a way to re-activate it in case the subject changes their mind. Of course, now that your son is a bona-fide superhero, I doubt that he'll want it."

"Want what?" Warren Worthington III asked from the balcony and both men turned towards him as he stepped through the balcony door, his wings highly visible against the evening sky. "Father, Uncle."

"Warren." The elder Warren replied, then he blinked as a shorter, winged figure appeared. "Who…?"

"Hm? Oh, this is my friend Lexington, he's one of the Gargoyles." Angel explained as the shorter being grinned and waved.

"Heya, Angel's dad, sir. Angel's told me all about you and it's a real honour to meet you."

"The honour is mine." Warren responded reflexively.

"So, what will I not want?" Warren asked and Burt grinned.

"We were winding down the Cure Project when one of our researchers stumbled across something, a way to deactivate active X-genes, or to reactivate them at need. The gene needs to at least have been active to work, but…"

Angel blinked, as did Lexington, but it was the shorter one who spoke first.

"Wow, you mean that you can help those who have powers they can't control? Can I see?"

Warren pushed the file forwards as Lexington scrambled onto the chair. As the Gargoyle started perusing the documents, Warren stepped closer to his son.

"I've been following your exploits, son. I am proud of you."

"Thanks, dad." Angel smiled. "You don't know how much that means to me."

"Have you made some new friends?"

"Loads." Angel laughed. "I often fly with the Gargoyles and I help to train Generation-X occasionally. Heck, I've worked with an agent of SHIELD who goes by the name Falcon, he uses these odd solid-light wings to fly with. Apparently Clark helped him upgrade from his old metal wings. Fury had us work together so that I could help him learn to use his wings better."

"Falcon's pretty cool." Lexington noted and Warren gave him a shocked look. "What? These ears aren't just for show, you know?"

"You get used to it." Angel laughed. "Lexy, is it looking good?"

"Haven't found anything wrong with it yet." Lexington called back as he turned over another sheet. "I'd like to get Reed and Peter to have a look, but I think it's workable."

"Um, thanks?" Burt managed and Lexington laughed as he neatly arranged the sheets back in the folder.

"Thanks for letting me see. You know, if you team up with K-tech Industries, putting this into proper hardware should be a snap."

"I'm impressed." Angel noted. "Peter and Forge already have a way of keeping energy-based mutations inactive, but… does this one deal with physical mutations as well?"

"Yep, although it's an actual on/off rather than the stand-by of Forge's stuff." Lexington replied as he rejoined them. "That's gotta be some of the neatest science I've seen in a long time, and I'm including the Gates in that."

"Gates?" Burt paused in picking up the folder.

"It's how we sent the other Superman back to his home reality." Angel shrugged.

"And how many of these Gates are on Earth?"

Lexington and Angel exchanged glances before Angel replied. "None. We currently have no Gates active on Earth."

"Just wondering." Burt shrugged. "If you'll excuse me?"

As Burt left, closing the door behind him, Warren gave his son a gimlet stare.

"What?"

"…no gates active on Earth?" Warren Jr repeated, putting emphasis on the final word.

"That's right, dad. They're on the far side of the moon."

Warren stared in bemusement as Angel and Lexington burst out laughing.

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"Mystique, this is Wanda Maximoff." Lance said. "Wanda, meet Mystique Kent, she kind of leads the Brotherhood.

"Wanda." Mystique said as she shook the younger girl's hand. "Welcome to the Brotherhood. Has Lance set you up with a room of your own, yet?"

Wanda nodded, then glared at Todd, who retreated. Mystique smirked.

"Looks like you have an admirer." She smirked and Wanda huffed. "You know, he's improved a lot from how he used to be, he's actually quite good at staff-fighting now. In fact… Toad, aren't you due to have another spar?"

"Oui, Mystique." A new voice laughed and Toad blinked as Gambit seemed to appear behind him.

"Gambit, this is…"

"Wanda Maximoff, oui." Gambit smiled.

"We've met." Wanda stated. "Apparently he used to be part of my dear father's minion group, like Colossus did."

"And like I was." Mystique added as Gambit and Toad walked off, staffs resting on their shoulders.

"Any idea where dear daddy is? Or my brother?"

"Latveria, last I heard." Mystique shrugged. "Doctor Doom gave them sanctuary."

Wanda growled, earning several looks, then Mystique coughed.

"Did you know that you have a sister as well?"

Wanda froze. "What?!"

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"Mr Worthington." Xavier said in greeting as Warren Worthington Jr entered his study.

"Professor Xavier." Warren replied as he sat down. "I was hoping to talk to you. Has Lexington contacted you yet?"

"He gave me an over-view of the process and what it meant, yes." Xavier agreed. "Part of me is pleased by it, there are several mutants whose powers mean that they are a constant danger to themselves or those around them. However, part of me is terrified by it. Should an anti-mutant group get their hands on the formulae that your people have discovered, they could weaponise it and use it against the mutants who are trying to use their powers to help others."

"I've been having thoughts like that myself." Warren admitted, then he snorted. "It's ironic, I had ordered the project's priority to be lowered to almost zero and then they made the breakthrough. A year ago, I'd have been ecstatic about finding a way to turn my son from a mutant back to human. Now, I'm scared that my son may be forced to stop being the hero that he has worked hard to become."

Xavier nodded slowly, then reached for the teapot on one side of his desk.

"I always find that a nice, calming cup of tea helps with discussions like this. May I offer you a cup?"

"Milk, no sugar, thanks." Warren said gratefully. Xavier smoothly poured the requested beverage, stirred it with a spoon and passed it over.

"So, the Cure." Xavier said after both men had taken several sips of tea. "Although I can see the benefits of it in many cases, it is too easy to abuse."

"I agree." Warren replied. "I was hoping that you could help me market it as a purely voluntary thing for those whose powers are more trouble than they're worth."

"I have encountered some mutants with abilities which have almost no advantages." Xavier noted. "I am certain that many of them would leap at the offer you bring, but…"

"The social pressure and the anti-mutant discrimination." Warren supplied. "I find myself wondering how many will go for it just because they don't want to be different, or be pushed into taking it by those who cannot cope with accepting them for what they are. Heroes, like my son."

Xavier smiled at the pride which suffused Warren's tone.

"So," Warren continued, "Any ideas?"

"None which don't inexorably lead to certain states mandating it for use on mutants convicted of a felony, no." Xavier admitted. "In fact, unless we get a judgement from the Supreme Court, certain states may make it mandatory for all mutants…. We could be looking at the equivalent of genocide… or ethnic cleansing…"

Warren winced. "Damn, makes me wish I'd wound down that project faster."

"We may have to use Mystique's argument after all." Xavier added.

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"What!?" Magneto half-yelled and Pietro dashed into the room, followed by Chrome.

"What happened dad?"/"My lord, what is it?"

"Someone's found a way to deactivate the X-gene." Magneto snarled, slamming the reports in his hands onto his desk. "We're looking at the end of Homo Superior at the hands of those… barbarians!"

"But… who? How?" Pietro wondered.

"Ironically, the father of Angel. Warren Worthington Jr." Magneto snarled. "The father of a famous mutant has discovered a way to end mutantkind!"

"Do we know where they're making this stuff?" Pietro asked and Magneto blinked.

"An interesting point, Pietro. Yes, very interesting."

"My lord, do you have a plan?" Chrome asked and Magneto smirked.

"Yes. Yes, I believe that I do. Chrome, gather my Acolytes and start searching for others who can see the problems with this development. Pietro, go and check on your former friends. Tell the Brotherhood that although I respect their wish to remain neutral given what they have gone through, they must now make a choice. They will either join me, or they will be classed as enemies of all mutantkind."

"You got it, dad." Pietro said before he vanished in a blur of blue and silver.

"My lord, are we going to destroy this new medical technique?"

"No, we shall seize it." Magneto declared. "At the very least, it will allow us to purge mutantkind of the traitors who stand against our intrinsic superiority. However, if it works out like I think it might, we may be able to restart our original plan and change all of Homo Sapiens into Homo Superior!"

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"Whoah, nice place." Pietro mused as he screeched to a halt outside the small mansion housing the Brotherhood. "Let's… oh, hell, no!"

Pietro knelt and peered at the source of the glint that had caught his eye, then he cursed again.

"Another fucking Kryptonian defense system? How the hell can I get past this? Can this day get any worse?"

"Yes, brother dear, I think it can." A familiar voice sounded from behind him and Pietro felt his insides congeal.

"…Wanda." He managed as he turned with a sickly grin on his face. "I didn't expect to see you here…"

"I know." Wanda snarled even as the Brotherhood moved to flank her. "Where is he? Where is our not-departed-enough father?"

"Errrr, bye!" Pietro squeaked as he turned to run, only for the ground to suddenly shake and ripple, sending him skidding into a tree. "Ow! Whoah!"

Wanda stalked forwards, her hand extended as she used her power to levitate Pietro and prevent him from escaping. "Thanks, Lance. Now, brother... Where. Is. He?"

"I can't tell you!" Pietro yelped, thrashing helplessly. "He'll kill me!"

"And you think I won't?" Wanda growled as she grabbed the upside-down speedster by his hair, forcing him to look into her eyes. "You remember when he put me into that damned place? You waved, you laughed! Remember?!"

"I was just thankful it wasn't me!" Pietro grotested, then the side of his face seemed to go numb with pain.

"I was in there for years!" Wanda snarled as she shook her hand to get some feeling back. "I'd still be in there, if not for Superman and Xavier. Now, where is he? Or if you can't answer that, what is he planning?"

"He wants the Brotherhood back!" Pietro half-shouted as he felt the psionic grip tightening. "He's gathering his forces to go after the Mutant Cure! Ow!"

Pietro sprawled on the ground as Wanda stared at him in shock, then he managed to recover enough to blur away, hearing his sister scream curses after him.

"Oh man." Toad groaned as he retracted his staff and returned it to its holster. "I really think we need to tell the professor about this."

"Yeah." Fred agreed. "Although… I wonder what he meant by a Cure?"

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"Interesting." Stryker mused as he looked at the data on the sheet before him. "A highly-complex chemical substance that can forcibly cause a mutant's X-gene to go into remission. This has… potential."

"Indeed." Trask said with an evil grin. "Use it in darts and the mutants will be easy to capture once their powers are gone."

"Oh?" Stryker asked and Trask nodded.

"Master Mold has analysed all the data from the Genosha incident and the White House attack. Over ninety-three percent of mutants rely on their powerset to the exclusion of normal combat training."

"So in other words," Stryker realised, "They have nothing to fall back on when their main advantage is removed."

"All we need to do is get enough of this Cure to weaponise it…"

"And then get the mutants to attack somewhere in order to rouse the public against them." Stryker finished. "Excellent plan, but where will they strike?"

Trask went blank-faced for a long moment before replying. "Master Mold has calculated that there is a ninety-seven point nine three four percent chance that at least one large goup of mutants will strike at the facility producing this Cure. There is a one point nine one percent chance that they will assault the White House to demand a cessation of production. Other targets amount to zero point one five nine percent."

Stryker stared at Trask for a long moment before nodding. "You mentioned four squads of Sentinels? Place one near the White House just in case, the other three we'll use to protect the facility, but you may need to alter the programming of them to avoid a public relations fiasco. For this mission, have them ignore any mutant fighting to protect the facility."

Trask nodded slowly. "I think I follow. I'll explain it to Master Mold for you and… wait. Master Mold agrees with your logic and is updating the programming now."

"Excellent. Once the Sentinels are rehabilitated in the eyes of the public, we'll be able to use them to protect humanity as they were originally meant for."

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Master Mold watched her newest ally through the eyes of her pawn.

Around her, the factory continued to churn out the Sentinels, except for one area which was being reconfigured by the robotic giants under her command.

The report had included enough scientific data that she had been able to reverse-engineer the Cure.

Soon, it would be produced by the barrel and she would be able to take the first of the needed steps to secure the safety of all humanity.

Her primary directives demanded no less.