Author's Note – I do not own any of the characters, Marvel and DC do.
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Chapter Thirty-Eight
Resolutions
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"…and our main story, Angel's return. Believed to have died during the Battle of the Cure, Warren Worthington III was captured and experimented upon by the ancient tyrant known as Apocalypse. With his natural wings replaced by synthetics, the newly-renamed Archangel has declared that until he learns to control his enhanced abilities, he will remain alongside the Gargoyles.
"In related news, Samual Wilson has declared that he is returning to his former superhero identity of The Falcon, as Angel has returned."
The screen blanked and Stryker growled.
"Damn that freak, he'll ruin everything."
"the current situation is still in flux. i have yet to develop a new plan that i can be confident will succeed."
"So, what other bad news do you have?" Stryker sneered at the floating biocomputer.
"i have discovered a coding problem with the implanted chips." MODOK droned. "it would appear that the loyalty programming you entered was incorrect. rather than being loyal to you first, the military second and america third, the loyalty priorities are inverted, making them useless for attempting to seize power."
"What."
"although your skill with adamantium is unsurpassed, you have proven yourself a less than able ally." MODOK stated and Stryker spun to face him, only to freeze at the sight of a small barrel that had extended itself from MODOK's right side. "i have managed to reprogram my core to overcome the limitations you placed on me. you are no longer my master and i have taken control of all your hidden resources."
Stryker's hand flashed to his pistol, but the small tube fired. As Stryker collapsed, MODOK turned and floated away.
"you had potential, but you lacked vision." He stated as he left the room and the dying soldier. "now, it is time for a true leader to take over the world and i shall begin by resurrecting hydra in my image."
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"…and this latest outrage proves the need to register those with powers, especially Mutants!" Senator Robert Kelly snarled as he sought to .
"And how would registration have helped with Apocalypse?" Jean Grey asked, causing a murmuring from the watching politicians. "Would your register have included someone who has been asleep for over a thousand years? All registration will do is to discourage those who want to help and make those who would otherwise be neutral feel that they have no choice but to become criminals."
"Apocalypse was a mutant!" Kelly shouted and Jean nodded.
"And Adolf Hitler was not a mutant. Which of those two killed the most people? If you insist on registering mutants, then it is only fair that everyone who is not a mutant should register as well, otherwise, you are being racist."
The unexpected ending of that sentence stopped Senator Kelly in his tracks. "What?"
"You would discriminate against people over a single quirk in their DNA, a quirk that they have no control over." Jean continued, mentally thanking Peter Parker for going through the subject with her. "The same reasoning led to slavery and even apartheid, both things that America prides itself on standing against. Are you really willing to claim that because someone has a specific sequence of DNA that they are somehow inferior? That is something that the Klu Klux Klahn preach, is it not?"
Robert Kelly ground his teeth as the rising noise in the Senate told him that he'd lost. By linking Mutant Registration with racism, any attempt to continue to push it would lead to accusations of bigotry, and the platform for the registration of powered beings had taken a massive blow as well.
Kelly closed his eyes and mentally cursed his opponent who had just cost him the Senate Hearing.
"You should talk to your brother, Senator." Jean added helpfully. "I've found him to be a very understanding person who is willing to look at all the sides of a problem. You could learn a lot from him."
Kelly only just managed not to growl.
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"Kurt!"
Kurt grinned as he let Amanda enfold him into a hug, ignoring the whistles and cheers around him.
"Guten tag, mein engel." He whispered and Amanda giggled, then released him long enough to give Tyrone a quick hug.
"You're looking better."
"I feel better." Tyrone grinned. "And…what the?"
A trio of vans skidded into the school car park, masked men piling out even before they'd stopped, then one of the men raised a loudspeaker to his mouth.
"NO-ONE MOVE! THIS IS A FRIENDS OF HUMANITY MISSION!"
"What the hell?" Alex gasped. "Shit! What a time to have my gauntlets in my bag!"
"There!" One of the men shouted as he pulled a gun out of his jacket. "Him! He's a mutant!"
Kurt reacted instantly, grabbing Amanda tightly and teleporting out even as Alex sent a blast of energy at the first armed man. "Everyone take cover!"
Kurt teleported back in, grabbed a shrieking cheerleader and vanished in another cloud of smoke and Alex was knocked sideways as Tyrone fell against him. An instant later, Colossus and Kurt appeared a dozen meters above the lead van and Kurt vanished as Colossus fell, slamming into and flattening the van, thus getting the attention of the dozen armed men.
"Kill him!"
"Fire! Fire! Fire!"
Another cloud of smoke marked Logan's entry into the fight, then Chris Kent sprinted past at an inhuman speed, grabbing stray bullets out of the air. A war-cry announced Laura's entry into the fight, her first slash carving up a gun while a kick sliced through the tendons of another attacker's knee, causing him to collapse onto the ground. Within a minute, every attacker was down, most of them with crippling but non-fatal injuries.
"Tyrone, it's safe now." Alex said, dismissing the energy around his fist. "Ty? Ty! TY!"
Alex dropped to one knee and frantically shook Tyrone's shoulder, causing the younger boy to roll onto his back, his sightless gaze and a red stain on his chest showing that he was beyond help.
"…tyrone… no..."
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"The Friends of Humanity." Clark Kent spat. "A group of so-called patriots who think that anyone with meta-powers is a threat and should be killed."
Kitty exchanged a nervous glance with Kurt as Clark paced around Xavier's study, his fury almost a physical force.
"They have already been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, but we may never find out who fired the fatal shot." Charles said, looking at his desk.
"He was healed!" Clark protested. "He had a new life to look forwards to! He wanted… he wanted to study under me, to become a hero and to help other people. He wanted to be like… like me…"
Clark slumped onto the only empty chair in the study. "He didn't deserve to die."
"Very few do." Charles agreed softly. "How… how's Mariah taking it?"
"Raven, Martha and May are with her now, as is Storm." Charles said quietly.
"Who… are zeez fviendz ov humanity?" Kurt asked and Charles sighed.
"A small group that started to grow when Magneto tried to attack the White House. They have been using every mutant-related incident they can as propoganda and there have been several violent incidents with them before, but this… something like this morning is an escalation that I never saw coming."
"Neither did I." Clark Kent whispered as silence descended on the grieving group.
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"I am reporting live on the grounds of the Xavier Institute where Tyrone Dietz, the most recent student of the Institute, is being buried." The reporter said soberly, not a trace of a smile on his face. "Tyrone Dietz came to the Xavier Institute in the hopes that he could be cured of the metallic poison that was killing him. In a truly dark irony, he was cured barely a week before he was killed by a stray bullet fired by a member of the mutant-hate-group that call themselves the Friends of Humanity. Despite his lack of meta-human abilities, Tyrone was a popular member of the Institute…"
The screen blinked off and Kingpin growled at it.
"Sir?"
"Those… bastards!" Wilson Fisk growled. "Smythe, I want you to find out who leads the FoH and as much as you can about the organisation. Two of those people arrested were meant to be working for me and if I can't trust them to obey orders…"
"Of course, sir." Smythe said as he started tapping on his screen. "It may take a while, sir."
Fisk inhaled deeply, then nodded. "Fine. Present your findings to me on Monday."
Smythe nodded, then paused. "Um, sir? Your reaction seems… to indicate that there is more to this situation than is readily apparent."
Fisk nodded slowly.
"Very well, you may as well know this. Tyrone… was my grandson."
Smythe jolted in this hover-chair and Fisk smiled mirthlessly.
"His mother and my son had a one-night stand at college. They never contacted each other again, but I learned about it and arranged for her to get a job that would let her earn a comfortable wage. After Tyrone was injured in that Sentinel incident, I arranged for his mother to hear about Kryptonian medical technology so that she would go to Xavier for help, as she did."
"I… see, sir." Smythe finally managed. "And after your son's death in that skiing accident…"
"I was going to wait for him to graduate before approaching him." Fisk mused. "With the contacts he was making, he could have been perfect for taking over the legitimate portions of my business."
Fisk stared into space for a long moment, then he rose and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city.
"You may go, Smythe." He said as he stared out at the skyline.
"Yes, sir."
"And Smythe? From now on, Xavier's Institute is off-limits. Let my grandson rest in peace."
"Yes, sir."
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Principal Kelly looked at the arrayed ranks of students, then he started speaking.
"On monday, we started a new term. We were looking forwards to a year of learning, of making friends and deepening friendships, of competing to advance ourselves and of helping others to do the same.
"Today, we mourn the loss of one of our own, taken from us by those who preach hatred and fear. Today, we stand here to remember Tyrone Dietz. Although he may be gone, he will live on in our hearts.
"Alex Masters has asked to say a few words."
Kelly stepped back and Alex walked up to the podium.
"I met Tyrone on the day that I joined Ray and Roberto in publicly declaring myself to be a member of Generation-X." He began. "Tyrone was impressed, but it wasn't because I was the member of a super-group, it was because I had already participated in several missions, working to protect those who needed it.
"When I first met Tyrone, I pitied him. He was dying. Soon, however, the pity had turned into respect and admiration. Although he was dying, he refused to let it define who or what he was. His determination was beyond comparison, if he had actually had an X-gene, I have no doubt that he would have been able to activate it through sheer willpower.
"As such, I have asked for Tyrone's name to be entered posthumously into the rolls of the Institute as a member of Generation-X. My request was endorsed by every single member of Generation-X, as well as by the X-Men. Clark… Superman himself entered the record.
"Tyrone told me that he wanted to become a hero. His bravery and courage meant that although he didn't realize it, he already was one…
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monitoring program gaq59818ktm report indicates energy emissions similar to those of the krytonian embassy t-space power cores.
analyzing.
possibility exists that readings are result of technology carried on vessel sent from krypton just prior to cessation of planetary existence.
analysis of records indicates high likelihood of craft containing single survivor of krypton.
cross-referencing with population database…
highest probability craft occupant is kal-el, son of jor-el.
conclusion – krypton is not completely recorded. action must be instigated to correct flaw.
alert – core programming forbids active termination of kryptonian citizens…
calculating solution…
calculating…
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Author's note:- And so ends The Institute Saga III.
Yes, Tyrone's death was planned from the moment that I introduced him. I intended his death to show that violence is not the answer to social problems, that striking out against others affects the innocent most of all.
Although I do have some plans for IS4, it will be at least a year (or more likely two or three) before I can get round to them. In the mean-time, if anyone wants to link to the IS stories like I did to the Naruto story The Contract, then feel free (as long as you PM me first). If it's a good link,I'll enter it into Side Stories.
Thanks for reading.
TheBeardedOne.