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

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Chapter Thirty-Seven

Aftermaths

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Nick Fury looked out of the panoramic bridge window at the debris-covered landscape slowly scrolling by below them. As they passed over the first of the wrecked helicarriers, he sighed.

"At least we'll have plenty of spare parts."

"It looks like, with a slight adjustment, we'll be able to replace the gravetic turbines with the repulsor-engine wings." Tony Stark noted and Fury nodded.

"Given the damage, I doubt that even one of those ships could be salvaged without requiring a total rebuild. What the hell were the Council thinking, anyway?"

"I think that we need to get them scanned to check that they aren't linked to Hydra." Tony said. "I've already made an appointment with Sage to check myself, Pepper and the rest of the Avengers. I don't think any of us are at risk, but…"

Fury snorted. "You're setting a good example? You?"

Tony paled. "Aw hell! I'm becoming… respectable! No! I'm too handsome to be respectable!"

Fury smirked at the panicking multi-billionaire, then turned his attention to the orbiting screens showing different views of the three battlefields.

"Sir!" A voice called, "Communication from Governor-General Zod, Apocalypse has been secured in stasis."

"Communication from Genosha!" Another voice called. "King Marko sends his regards and… thanks us for his new Kryptonian Guardian?"

"The clone." Fury and Tony chorused, then they glanced at each other.

"The clone that Magneto had made. Has to be her." Tony continued and Fury nodded.

"So, Genosha is about to get its own Kryptonian." Fury grumbled. "Who next?"

"Well, Doom has two, sorta." Tony shrugged as his fingers danced across a nearby screen. "Pulling up battlefield after-mission stats. The air force took significant losses, almost half the craft were shot down by the Sentinels although all but seventeen pilots managed to eject. No hero fatalities, but several of the teams will be at half-strength or below as their members heal. The military ground forces report only a few injuries, but they hadn't fully mobilised by the time that the action was finished. They're moving in now to help with the clear-up."

"It's going to take months to get things cleared up." Fury sighed, then he summoned a new screen. "And the Triskellion… sorting that mess out will take years."

Tony blinked. "What? But… it was barely damaged!"

"But Hydra were inside from the first day." Fury countered. "They infiltrated SHIELD before we even started building the damned place! Who knows how many hidden rooms and spy systems are in it now! And as for the staff… I'm going to have to hire a team of telepaths to sort out the SHIELD agents from the Hydra infiltrators."

"Shit." Tony agreed in realisation. "Man, am I glad that I'm not in line to lead SHIELD."

"You are number four, actually." Fury said absently and Tony froze.

"What?!"

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Tyrone Dietz blinked as the pod he was in opened, then a towel landed on him.

"Hey, what?"

"Well, if you don't mind showing us all what you have…" A female voice chuckled and Tyrone blushed as he almost frantically wrapped the towel around his waist, then he froze.

"I… there's no pain…"

"Then it worked." A second voice said and the sides of the pod lowered, turning the near-sarcophagus into a flat altar. Tyrone looked round and saw Doctor Moira McTaggart and Medic Hara Chi-Sho smiling at him.

"It… worked?" Tyrone asked as he sat up.

"It did." Hara agreed, walking across to him. For a moment, she simply looked at him, then she effortlessly picked him up and placed him on his feet. Tyrone grabbed at his towel before it could slip, tightening it.

"Here." Moira said as she handed him a bundle of fabric. "Clothes, no doubt you want them. We'll leave you to get changed. Call out when you're done."

"Don't worry, we won't peek." Hara added as the two women exited the room. "Besides, as medics, we've seen it all any…"

The closing door cut off her comment and Tyrone blushed.

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"Quite a fight, Kal-El." Zod said with a wry smile, one somehow magnified by his black eye. "Quite an opponant you provided us."

"Thanks… I think." Clark replied as Logan chortled in the background. "And thanks for coming to our aid."

"I could do no less for an ally." Zod shrugged. "Although I admit that I did not expect it when I agreed to take Venus and turn it into New Krypton, Earth has become… useful. Krypton may have reached great heights before it died, but with the knowledge of we Kryptonians and the eternal energy and curiosity of the humans, we may see our planets become even greater, and sooner than we may expect."

"That's all well and good, but what did you do with the big blue bastard?" Logan interrupted.

"We have established a prison on New Krypton, in a valley several thousand miles from our capital." Zod shrugged. "There are a thousand stasis-cells designed to hold those as powerful as he, or even those more powerful. Right now, Apocalypse is in stasis... just next to Thanos."

"Heh." Logan grunted. "Nice. I just hope no-one tries to break them out."

"We have multiple layers of defence in place and as time passes, we will have more Kryptonians to help guard it." Zod said reassuringly. "Galactus may be able to penetrate it, anyone else would find it virtually impossible to get even half-way in."

Before Clark could continue, his communicator beeped. "Excuse me a moment. Superman here."

Logan watched as a dozen almost-indecipherable emotions chased each other across Clark's face, then he looked up.

"That was Moira." He said with a wide smile. "The med-pod worked, Tyrone's healed!"

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Warren Worthington III opened his eyes, then screwed them tight and grabbed at his head. A moment later, something pressed against his arm and the headache faded.

"Welcome back, Warren." A voice said, the smile obvious in its tone and Warren opened his eyes cautiously.

"Lexy?"

"Good to have you back." Lexington whispered as he rested one clawed hand on Warren's shoulder. "I missed you… we all did."

"While you were unconscious, Professor X removed the controls that had been implanted into your mind." Goliath rumbled from the other side of the bed. "You are now yourself once more, Angel…"

"Archangel." Warren muttered, causing the Gargoyles to exchange glances. "My wings… my strength… my skin…"

"Archangel..." Goliath repeated, then he nodded. "I understand. A trophy of what you went through, not unlike how Hudson carries and uses the sword that took his eye. Apocalypse tried to turn you into a weapon under his control and now you use the abilities he forced upon you to do things that he would hate."

Warren blinked in surprise, he hadn't actually thought that far.

"Archangel." Lexington repeated, then he nodded. "I think it suits you. Of course, I might be somewhat biased."

Warren gave a faint smile, then tried to sit up. Bruised muscles protested, then he felt Lexington lift him so that he could actually sit, allowing him to shift his wings into a more comfortable position.

"Thanks."

"Any time." Lexington smiled as he shifted onto the bed so that Warren could lean against him. "You've been through hell, but I'm here for you. We are here for you."

Warren looked round and his eyes widened slightly as he saw that the entire Manhattan Clan (including Eliza, Fox and David) had all congregated in the room.

The stone room…

"Wyvern Castle?"

"Yes, the medical bay here is finally up to Kryptonian standards." David Xanatos smiled, then he looked over at his wife and their son cradled in her arms, the little boy staring at Warren.

"…'ings." Alex finally managed and Fox giggled.

"That's right, wings. Just like most of our other friends."

"…other friends?" Warren blinked. "But… I did terrible things…"

"You did." David agreed. "But you were being controlled, you had no choice."

"And believe me, I know, having seen your memories." A new voice said. Warren stared as the crowd shifted to allow Professor Xavier to float through. "Welcome back, Warren. Welcome back."

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Master Mold finished analysing the data from the Sentinels and mentally paused.

The way that the mechanical soldiers had been torn apart showed that they were not the right tools for what her plans required.

She needed something else.

An alert caught her attention and she triggered the relevant programme, uploading several interesting files scavenged from the SHIELD databases, including an in-depth one on Raven Darkholme.

Master Mold examined the data closely and had she been human, she would have smirked in triumph. Another file opened, one on the Asgardian Destroyer, and Master Mold started to cross-reference the two files.

A new designation would be needed for the outcome of her new project.

The Adcommodatio Sentinels.

But humans would find it hard to call them that, so maybe…

Yes.

The Silver Sentinels.

A new file opened and design specs began to be calculated.

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"Hello, Morph." Xavier said quietly as he smiled at the man on the medical bed.

"Charles… I… can you…"

"I can help you, if you let me." Xavier confirmed and Morph nodded, then lay back as Charles floated round to the end of the bed, the remote link to Cerebro deploying from the back of his chair.

"This could take a while." Charles noted as he placed his fingers on Morph's head.

"Please…"

Charles closed his eyes and dived into Kevin Sydney's mindscape, ready to find and repair the damage inflicted upon his psyche.

*Charles, let me help.*

*Sage, your presence is most welcome.*

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King Marko smiled as his newest Guardian entered the Throne Room accompanied by his daughter.

"Galatea, welcome." He smiled. "Are you settling in well?"

"I… am." The blond woman nodded. "Thank you. Although, I had to slap down that winged idiot."

"Iago was being an idiot and she punched him into a hillside." Polaris giggled. "Don't worry, his self-repair systems mean that he'll be fully fixed by the end of the week."

"As long as there is no permanent damage." Cain shrugged, then he tilted his head slightly. "Interesting outfit."

Galatea looked down. "It's what Magneto designed for me, but without his symbol."

"I'm jealous." Polaris pouted. "I wish my boobs were that big."

"You try to wear something like that and I'll ground you." Juggernaut rumbled. "Galatea can, because she's more than strong enough to protect herself."

"Daaa-aaaad…" Polaris began, then she sighed as she saw her adopted father's expression. "Fine."

Cain nodded, then turned his attention back to the smirking clone. "So, why the… cleavage display? And what do you want to be called in the field?"

"Booby trap!" Polaris giggled and Galatea rolled her eyes.

"The… cleavage hole is where Magneto's icon was. By leaving it out, as well as the material underneath, I'm saying that no-one will force me to serve them again." Galatea stated. "As for my code-name… I'm still slightly stronger than a normal Kryptonian of my mass, so I was thinking something Power or Power something."

"Power Girl!" Polaris interjected and both adults exchanged long glances, then nods.

"A good name." Marko agreed.

"I like it." Galatea shrugged. "Power Girl it is."

"Hey, what?" Polaris gasped. "I was kidding!"

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"No!" Lance shouted as he was overtaken on the final stretch, making him come in second again. "How?"

"When I was ill, I couldn't do much other than computer games." Tyrone smirked as he rested one foot on the ground, patting his bike. "I learned all the tricks of Mario Kart, this was simply switching from holding a game-pad to holding the handlebars."

"I think your reign as a champion just ended." Alex laughed, earning a scowl from Lance. A moment later, Lance chuckled ruefully.

"Shame you don't have meta-human powers." He smiled. "If you did, I'd be trying to recruit you for the Brotherhood. Heck, I may just make you an honorary member anyway."

"Hey, he's with us." Alex laughingly protested. "You know, Clark was saying something about maybe putting together some powered armour for him in a few years."

"Really? That would be cool." Tyrone grinned. "Wonder if I could get a super-bike as well? Peter's got a really cool bike."

"Yeah, his spider-cycle." Toad laughed. "You know, I'm quite surprised that he hasn't asked for it to be scanned into this game."

"Well, the wall-riding bit may be a bit of a cheat." Alex mused, then he looked round. "Dammit, Lance, warn us when you choose a course!"

Lance laughed as he accelerated away.