Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.
This chapter overlaps the previous one.

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Chapter Twenty-Two

Aftermath

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"…and the attack by the mutants who saw the Cure as a threat to their continued existence has been defeated." The reporter said as behind him, soldiers and cops continued to collect and handcuff the mutants who had been knocked out, pausing to dispense medical assistance to the wounded. "The security guards, aided by a platoon of soldiers and a squadron of robotic Sentinels under the auspices of the United States Army managed to hold the line long enough for reinforcements to arrive, the reinforcements being the X-Men, Generation-X and the Brotherhood. These heroes prevented the destruction of the Cure, although they did not escape unscathed. Almost half of them are apparently receiving medical treatment for injuries ranging from minor to almost life-threatening, while the famous New York Superhero Warren Worthington III, better known as Angel, is currently missing and is presumed dead. Our thoughts and prayers go to his father in this trying time…"

The screen blanked and Xavier turned to look at the assembled group.

"For what it's worth, I am very proud of all of you." Charles said gently. "Given the circumstances, you did as well as, if not better than I could have hoped, despite Angel's loss. However, we now need to think about what could have been done better."

"We need a Door in the Blackbird." Scott said instantly. "That way, we won't be limited to whoever we can cram aboard before it launches."

"What about the Javelin?" Alex asked and Scott shook his head.

"I thought about that, bro, but the Doors have a limited range before they shut down. If you recall, the Javelin can and has gone FTL, all the way to Argo. We'd have to replace the Door every time it goes out-system and given how expensive that could be…"

"Yeah." Alex sighed.

"So, you are suggesting that we connect the Blackbird to the Hall of Doors." Xavier nodded. "It will also let us move some of the systems out of the Blackbird, like power generation."

"Pump fuel and power in through the Door!" Jean realised. "Heck, we can connect it to the Fortress as well, letting it fly the Blackbird to wherever we need it."

"A second Blackbird would be good." Logan growled. "We were lucky that it had just finished undergoing maintenance. If it had been down, we'd have been screwed."

"At least another Blackbird." Xavier nodded. "And possibly a less powerful plane for Generation-X."

"Can we have a helicopter?" Toad asked and despite the serious mood, several people chuckled. "What? I've been training in the Danger Room."

"I'll see what I can do." Xavier nodded. "Logan, can you check his skills afterwards?"

"Sure thing, chuck."

Xavier nodded. "I have already contacted Principal Kelly and informed him that there will be some absences due to injuries taken. He saw most of it on the news, so he was very understanding and asked me to relay his best wishes. Also, we will soon be having guests. Doctor Moira McTaggart and her fiancée Sean Cassidy will be visiting. Moira has been studying the use of Kryptonian technology to aid in medical treatment, so even broken bones should be healed soon. Governor Zod may visit as well, his people are already preparing to put the bridge back."

"Sean's coming?" Wolverine asked, then he grinned. "Heh, gonna be like old home week."

"Old home week?" Scott asked and Logan nodded, a distant expression on his face.

"I came in on the tail end, but the X-Men weren't the first group Chuck led, before he ended up needin' a wheelchair. He and Magneto led the X-Force."

"Magneto!?" Several people gasped and Logan nodded.

"It's true." Charles confirmed. "We shared a similar dream, a dream of creating a force for good, to stand against those who misused their powers, to show what we mutants could do and act as beacons to the world."

"Chuck and Magneto led the team, Sean's scream earned him the name Banshee. He can fly with it, but it's useless for stealth missions."

"The others were Darwin, Frost, Sage and Morph." Xavier said sadly. "Darwin died in an ambush, Morph vanished on a mission and Frost left to try and create her own team. I believe that she calls them the Hellions."

"And Sage?"

Xavier smiled slightly. "She decided that the life of an X-Force Agent was too… energetic for her, so she agreed to help in other ways."

"Yeah, she got my powers working great." Cannonball commented, earning several shocked looks. "What? Before she worked her mojo on me, I could only hold my field for half a second or so. She kicked it to full, letting me come here to become a hero."

"Her powers include limited telepathy, an incredible capability of thought far beyond mine, and the ability to activate X-gene powers in mutants." Xavier shrugged. "She is currently helping with an investigation into another group, but I'm afraid the details must remain confidential."

"I fought alongside them on their last mission." Logan added. "Couldn't move fast enough to stop that damned ricochet."

"What is done is done, Logan." Xavier said softly. "Tomorrow we shall hold the service to mourn the loss of Angel."

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"Director."

"General."

Stryker took the seat in front of the desk and leaned back slightly.

"Your troops brought enough time for the X-Men to get there." Fury stated and Stryker nodded.

"I've gone through the after-action reports. The key point in my opinion is that the other side had a Kryptonian on their side, one who took down most of the Sentinels. Without her, my force would have been able to hold the line long enough to link up with the X-Men."

Fury nodded, then hit a control on his desk. A screen blinked into life and Stryker's eyebrows rose as he saw the Golden Gate Bridge floating through the air back towards where it had been ripped from.

"I made a deal with Governor Zod as soon as the fighting died down." Fury said as the image zoomed in to show a pair of Kryptonians holding a portion of the bridge. "His group are putting the bridge back and fixing the foundations in exchange for several tonnes of foodstuff and a couple of million dollars to aid their trade balance. Given how much it would cost to do this conventionally, the savings are a not inconsiderable percentage of America's GDP. Zod has forty of his people helping with this mission, they think they'll be done within the next three hours. Once the ends are re-paved and the structure re-checked, the bridge will be re-opened."

Stryker whistled.

"However, it would seem that your people lost Magneto."

Stryker nodded. "We did. My analysts have deduced that it was a telepath who was responsible. The most likely suspect is the mutant known as Mastermind, a telepath who often works with Magneto. Unfortunately, we have no actual proof, only suspicion."

Fury nodded slowly.

"To slightly change the subject, I received notice that the Avengers have returned. Once they have landed, I want you to meet with Captain Rogers to discuss how to better co-ordinate the super-teams and the military. In just over a month, I have it on good authority that Cyclops will be becoming a full-time operative with more of his team doing the same over the next few years."

"By that time, we'll have several battalions of Sentinels ready to deploy, with entire companies of soldiers trained to deploy alongside them." Stryker nodded. "And what of SHIELD? Or am I not cleared to know?"

"We… also have a force-enhancement programme underway." Fury admitted. "As you said, though, you do not have the clearance at this time."

"Understood." Stryker nodded. "So, is there any other way that I can aid SHIELD in protecting America? And can I count on your support in creating a metahuman company? Having seen what rogue mutants can do, I think the Army needs a countermeasure."

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"Dammit." Scott hissed as he flexed his shoulder. "Exams next week and a quarter of us are still in the medbay."

"Hey, bro, chill." Alex said reassuringly. "Beast and Forge rigged up special holo-screens so everyone could revise. We're cool."

Scott sagged slightly. "Let me guess, I'm worrying too much."

"Yeah, you are a bit." Alex admitted. "Look, you can't control everything, so just concentrate on the things that are the most important and trust us to deal with the rest."

"Yeah." Scott sighed. "Sorry."

"No biggie." Alex shrugged. "Hey, how do you think Clark's group are doing?"

Scott shrugged. "Not sure, but probably good. I mean, they had over half-a-dozen Kryptonians and no matter what you think, we've never actually seen him going all out. Now, multiply that by seven…"

"Point." Alex shuddered. "I'd hate to be on the other end of a hammer that big."

"Hey, guys." A new voice said and everyone looked round as Clark walked in. "I heard that you dealt with a major problem while I was away."

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Sinister smirked as the last of the liquid in the glass cylinder emptied itself into Warren Worthington III's veins. Even as he watched, the skin of the hero once known as Angel began to take on a blue tinge, an indication that the nanomachines were infusing him as planned, increasing his healing exponentially while boosting his reflexes and strength enormously.

Turning his attention from the skin to the stumps of the wings, Sinister watched as his master slowly applied small pieces of metal to the skin that had once been covered in feathers as well as the area between the wings. Once placed, each hexagonal scale bonded with the ones next to it, as well as to the skin underneath. Had Angel not been unconscious, he would have been screaming in agony.

Sinister winced slightly in memory of when he had undergone a similar process just after he had sworn eternal loyalty to Apocalypse. Almost unconsciously, he touched the small red diamond on his forehead that was all that still remained of the technological circlet that had once adorned his brow.

"My Seneschal…"

Sinister jolted out of his memories and quickly reached for the first of the two Mithril wings. Passing it to his master, he watched as Apocalypse slowly slid it into place, carefully positioning it so that it connected virtually seamlessly.

The second wing joined it and Apocalypse stepped back, his lips quirked in a smirk of triumph.

"Begin his indoctrination, My Seneschal."

Sinister nodded and reached for a metal helmet on the side table.

"Soon My Archangel will fly to My will."

Sinister carefully placed the helmet on Warren's head, ensuring that the eye- and ear-pieces were lined up correctly, then attached several leads before pressing a button.

"Done, my Lord. It will take about a day and a half."

"Excellent, My Seneschal." Apocalypse rumbled. "Now, where is My Chariot?"

Sinister winced. "Ah… I am afraid that the place it was stored was crushed by a glacier a little over five hundred years ago, my Lord. However, I have found three craft being built which will more than serve."

"…continue." Apocalypse said and Sinister touched a control on his wrist, causing an image to appear on the wall.

"As you can see, My Lord, the three craft in question are heavily armed and armoured by modern standards while their modular design means that once they enter your possession, they will be easy to upgrade further…"

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Stryker leaned back in his seat as Deathstrike drove the modified Humvee back towards the base. Fishing out his phone, he typed in a number.

"Greetings, General Stryker." Master Mold said a bare instant later. "Do you require more Sentinels deployed?"

"Actually, no." Stryker said. "It has come to my attention that SHIELD has a project of some sort going on."

"At this time, SHIELD has sixty-two projects underway of which I am aware with another seventeen that I have yet to ascertain the status of." Master Mold replied. "This does not include the projects of which I am unaware."

"Interesting." Stryker mused. "Which one's the biggest?"

"Project Seraphim is currently consuming almost thirty-nine percent of SHIELD's discretionary funding."

"That must be it. Do you have the details?"

"Avatar Trask will rendezvous with you for a full briefing."

"Excellent."

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"Project Seraphim." Trask started as a small drone detached from his back. The drone turned and projected an image of three huge ships being constructed in a hangar. "Ordered by the World Security Council, the original purpose of Project Seraphim was to replace the Helicarrier with a new model of airborne aircraft carrier. With two parallel flight decks separated by a dorsal superstructure holding multiple defensive emplacements, the Gabriel-class Airdreadnaught is designed for use both as a launch platform for airstrikes as well as being a heavily-armed assault platform in its own right.

"The original design was optimised for pacification duties, but computer-tests showed multiple areas of vulnerability, especially with the computer core exposed in the ventral observation dome. It was promptly re-designed by several personnel drafted from the Navy.

"The result is a ship designed to be able to take a real beating. Powered by a gravetic micro-fusion reactor derived from Kryptonian technology, the Gabriel-class has more than enough power for four banks of defensive particle cannons, dorsal, port, starboard and aft. In addition, the Gabriel-class mounts two three-barreled plasma cannons, one each side of the bow, with a wide enough firing arc that they can both cover an overlap of forty degrees and have a firing arc of almost a hundred and sixty degrees, meaning that they can target any attacker not approaching from behind."

"Propulsion?"

The picture changed to a schematic view, rotating to show the ship from above.

"The Gabriel-class has six thrust engines for lift, the middle one of each side being the primary. A backup thrust engine for emergency use is located just under the bow, another just under the stern. This allows for significant damage to be absorbed before the air-worthiness of the craft drops below the critical point. The central engine on either side is the largest, being 1.75 times more powerful than the fore and aft wings.

For lateral movement, the Gabriel uses repulsor-boosted thrust engines, resulting in a top speed theoretically thirty percent greater than that of the Helicarrier. In short, it is faster, more agile, more heavily armed, carries more craft and better defended than the Helicarrier."

"Interesting." Stryker mused. "I wonder if I could get one. It would make a superior headquarters."