Chapter 246: Welcome to the Superpower Academy
It turned out that George had locked onto Pierce's location through telepathy and Apparated over, casually taking out Pierce's subordinates and then conveniently used the Legilimency spell to read Pierce's memory.
As for why he chose to kill Pierce instead of handing him over to Coulson and the others for interrogation—
First, he didn't want Coulson and his team to learn the location of the Tesseract from Pierce, and then find that the isolated island had already been destroyed, which could lead them to suspect that he had taken the Tesseract.
Even though he wouldn't hand over the Tesseract even if they found out, it would still be a hassle.
Second, he felt that if Pierce wasn't killed now but instead imprisoned, with HYDRA's influence, he would eventually be rescued. So it was better to kill him now and be done with it.
As for the rest of HYDRA's intel, that had nothing to do with him.
Since most of HYDRA's soldiers had been dispatched to guard the lower levels, there weren't many left in the building. George dealt with a few of them by manipulating the surrounding metal with a wave of his hand, then joined up with Steve and the others who were rescuing hostages.
What followed was straightforward: Coulson, Black Widow, and other high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents took over, handling the aftermath along with the agents they had rescued.
Meanwhile, George, Logan, Steve, and Tony had some time to relax.
"I think we should leave."
At the entrance of Triskelion Tower, Logan looked at the swarm of Washington reporters rushing over and suggested to George.
Tony opened his helmet.
"I don't think you need to leave in such a hurry. The school will eventually need to face the public anyway. This could be a good opportunity for some publicity."
"Good point. Now really is a great opportunity."
George, who had originally planned to leave, thought about Tony's words and nodded in agreement.
Tony was right. They had just saved Washington, even the whole world—it truly was the best time to introduce the Superpower Academy.
"Excuse me, are you really Captain America?"
"Yes. I fell into a glacier and was frozen for sixty-six years. I was only rescued this year by Dean George."
"Are you the Wolverine from the comics? So mutants really do exist?"
"Mr. George, are you a mutant too? Why does Mr. Steve call you Principal? What school are you the principal of?"
The reporters swarmed around them, bombarding them with questions, leaving Steve and Logan unsure how to respond.
Tony, on the other hand, handled the questions with ease, though not many reporters came to him.
Normally, Tony would be the center of attention in any interview, but this time everyone already knew so much about him that it wasn't new anymore. At most, they asked a few questions about his flashy new suit.
So instead, the spotlight was on Captain America, Wolverine, and this seemingly angelic and divine Principal George.
"Alright, let me explain what's going on.
Mutants—there are no mutants left in the world. We're simply superpowered individuals with various abilities.
There are many others like us in the world. Anyone with skills beyond those of an ordinary person can be considered a superpower.
In my eyes, Tony is also a superpower, because his genius-level intellect surpasses that of ordinary people.
They call me Principal because I founded a Superpower Academy, which recruits superpowered students and helps them develop their abilities.
After graduation, they can better contribute to the world.
Our school has an impressive faculty lineup—Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine—all of them are teachers at our school.
If you or your child possesses abilities beyond normal humans, you can send them to our school for training.
We can help you better control your abilities, and help you use them more effectively to find your future path."
At this point, George paused.
"As for what happened this time—
We were invited by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Coulson to help deal with HYDRA's ambition to use the Helicarriers to dominate the world."
George revealed all the details about Project Insight.
If he didn't, how could the public know that they had not only stopped the missiles and saved Washington, but also saved the entire world?
The government definitely didn't want the public to know about all this. The very idea of launching nuclear missiles at Washington was already a nightmare to handle afterward.
No one knew how much work it would take to appease the furious citizens of Washington and give an explanation to the nation.
Now that George had exposed the details of HYDRA's Project Insight, it only made things more complicated.
But George didn't care. That was the problem of the world governments. Let them worry. It would also keep them from targeting the school in the future.
"In short, we welcome superpowered individuals from all over the world to join the Superpower Academy. Our school is located in New York."
After giving an address near the school, George exchanged a glance with Tony, then disappeared with Steve and Logan via Apparition.
He wasn't worried about revealing the address. After all, the school's true location could only be seen by those he had informed. Others who came near still wouldn't be able to see it.
But as long as someone got close, Professor X could detect them through telepathy, and after an entrance interview, they could be admitted to the school.
After this incident, the Academy's enrollment was sure to soar.
Using Apparition, they returned to the invisible X-Jet hidden nearby. George cast a tracking spell and began searching for Dr. Banner, who had been taken somewhere unknown by Gordon.
That night, the X-Jet returned to the school.
By the next evening, George received a call from Black Widow.
"George, does your offer to let me teach at the school still stand?"
It turned out that after this major event, S.H.I.E.L.D. was completely abandoned by the World Security Council and reduced to a domestic U.S. agency, similar to the CIA, tasked with handling abnormal incidents.
In other words, the former S.H.I.E.L.D. had been a global organization created to protect world peace, but now it had become a government agency serving only the United States.
The new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Coulson, with Hill as the deputy director.
Black Widow had joined S.H.I.E.L.D. to atone for her sins. She believed that fighting for world peace under S.H.I.E.L.D. could help lessen the weight of her past crimes committed in the Red Room.
After the HYDRA incident, she had already been thinking about leaving S.H.I.E.L.D.
And now that S.H.I.E.L.D. served only the U.S. government, she felt there was no reason to stay—doing so might not atone for her sins, but could even add to them.
Besides, she wasn't even American.
"Of course it still stands. We're short on teachers—welcome to the Superpower Academy!"
George didn't hesitate and welcomed Black Widow with a smile.
(End of Chapter)