I had always thought that mutation had played an unusually cruel trick on Rogue. Yeah, it's a lottery even in the best cases, and there are some real horror stories out there, some of which I've already had a chance to help today, but her issue is more subtle than most. If you wake up one day, and your whole body is made of slime or something, yes, that really fucking sucks, but Rogue's mutation decided that not only would it make sure she'd become untouchable for the rest of her life, she'd still be one of the most beautiful women on a planet basically inhabited by supermodels already.
Yeah, obviously there are far worse things that can happen to you, but that is some Twilight Zone level of cruel irony there. Or hell, even The Outer Limits cruel!
Rogue looks at me expectantly and I realize I spent a bit too long staring at her and monologing to myself "Uh, yeah, I was just taking a break. Sorry, I zoned out for a bit there. It's been kind of a long day."
Rogue smiles "Ah didn't think tha great Magic Man could get tired."
"You're the second person to call me that today, where are you getting it from?"
"Tha kids came up with it." Rogue shrugs "They probably think it's a bit catchier than that Norse thing ya been using."
"Philistines. When I was their age, I'd read everything about Norse mythology I could get my hands on!" I was also an anti-social misanthropic bookworm, but I'll leave that part out "Nevermind, what can I do for you today? I understand you have a bit of an issue with personal space, so to speak?"
Her face falls and she looks down at her hands "Ah can't touch anyone without draining their life force, and their powers if they have any. If ah keep my touch on for long enough..."
Yeah, I remember what happened to Carol Danvers. I doubt that experience was fun for either party, even if Rogue ended up with a permanent copy of her powers as a result. Well, it's easy enough to correct. I focus my power, reshaping the function of Rogue's ability, adding control to where there was none before. Finally, I hold out my hand. "Take your glove off."
She looks at me like I'm speaking gibberish "W-what?"
"It's done. Your power won't stop you from touching others again. You'll have to will yourself to drain others now. Go on, touch my hand, see for yourself."
For a few long, silent seconds, Rogue just stares at my offered hand, until finally she peels off the glove from her left hand and slowly begins to reach out with a hesistant look on her face, like she expects to get a shock from touching my bare skin. Finally, her fingertips brushes against the palm of my hand... and nothing happens. Rogue gapes and presses her fingers against my hand a little firmer. Still, nothing. Finally, I simply enclose her hand in mine.
"There, as good as new! Enjoy your brand new ability to touc- MFF!" I don't get any further before Rogue yanks me off the couch with surprising strength and presses her lips against mine! I'm almost a head taller than she is, but height isn't much of an issue when the person kissing you has super strength apparently, and her grip on my vest doesn't allow for much argument.
Wow, her tongue is surprisingly long.
Eventually, Rogue breaks the kiss and lets my vest go, a faint blush appearing on her face as she steps back a little. I feel my own face heat up a bit as I try to shake off the surprise.
"Jesus christ woman, a little warning next time!"
She actually giggles as she tugs her glove back on before she remembers she doesn't actually need it anymore and instead begins pulling off the right one as well. "Ahm sorry, ah just... ah don't remember the last time ah could touch ANYONE without hurting them. When ah realized ah could... ah just went with the first idea that popped into mah head. Ah hope yer not too put off."
I sit back down on the couch, trying to ignore Ellie's amused look "Just don't make a habit out of it. It sets a bad precedent if people start shoving their tongues down my throat every time I do them a favor."
"Whatever yah say, Magic Man!"
"And stop calling me that!"
.....
Eventually, everyone who wants to have their mutation fixed have been treated, with the exception of McCoy who still sourly tries to ignore me when Ellie and me walk back up to the ground floor. The mood inside the mansion is a good deal more upbeat than it's usually shown, as the students are having a blast showing off their suddenly more managable abilities. Xavier and Storm meet us as we walk into the lounge area.
"Mr Ginnungagap, allow me to once again express my sincere thanks, there is no way I can properly repay you for the kindness you have shown my students, not to mention myself."
"Like I said before, Professor, it's no great effort on my part, it's like flexing a muscle. I wasn't planning on making a habit of this kind of thing after Genosha, but it's hard to look suffering in the face and just ignore it, especially when you have the power to change it, you know?"
"I know all too well" Xavier says, a sad note in his voice "Few realize that great power also comes with a great burden, or responsibility if you will. How tempting it is for those of us gifted with incredibly abilities to misuse them, and how the fear of doing so instead drives us into inaction, especially when we see the results of misuse in our enemies."
Yeah, that's actually a bit of a concern for me. I dont have a crippling martyr complex like Spiderman, so I'm actually willing to use my powers for occasional personal benefit because I'm not trying to punish myself, but it IS a worrying thought what I could do if I'm tempted badly enough. "Professor, I... I've been wondering, you're the strongest telepath on the planet, you must have been tempted to abuse that power atleast every now and then, right? Haven't you ever wanted to just rewrite the mind of every villain the X-Men fought and just bring an end to all the anti-mutant crap?" I know the comics showed him as actually misusing his powers quite a bit to manipulate people, but they were so inconsistent with it that I don't know if that happened here or not.
Xavier just looks thoughtful "It's true what you're saying, I have been tempted, and will continue to be so as long as I possess my abilities. The truth is, I have struggled with it since my powers first manifested in my youth, and it's been a constant balance between bettering the world and the cause of mutants, and respecting my own morals and the sanctity of free will. There are many who would not agree with the choices I have made, and I sometimes doubt them myself, only a madman never does. But this is how I have chosen to work for a better world, even if it is not a perfect way. It is still my way."
Hmm. I'm not sure I completely buy his argument, it feels a lot like prioritizing your own sense of superiority over other peoples lives. But then again, who am I to judge, I wasn't even going to use my powers to help others again unless I felt like it, basically. I glance over at Ellie, who's wandered over to chat with some of the students sitting and watching TV. Less than a week ago she was dead, because some asshole had a grudge against a person she had never met and she was collateral damage. She'd still be dead if the disaster hadn't been big enough to draw my attention.
I force away the thoughts "I'm not interested in being a saviour, Professor. But I'm starting to think I might have been a bit hasty deciding to just stay out of the whole superhero/supervillain thing. I might not do it the traditional way, but I think I should probably be a bit more pro-active with my powers."
"I'm glad to hear you say that" Xavier says, his voice a good deal lighter "Perhaps you would like to join us for dinner? We have some excellent cooks on staff, a necessity when you have a house full of teenagers."
"Sure, but just so we're clear, I'm not joining the X-Men. For one thing, I don't think I can pull off the tights as well as you guys can."
.....
"Reed, I'm telling you, we need to do this, and SOON! I don't care how dangerous the Stones are, having a reality warper running around and using the whole planet as his own personal playground is exactly the kind of thing we formed our group to stop!"
It had been a long day for Tony Stark, things had mostly settled down on the streets and most of SHIELD's registered metahumans had returned to their regular duties, but now they had to deal with the fallout of Genoshas return to the international community, something which was causing shockwaves all over the planet. Not only did the Magistrates refuse to allow any sort of SHIELD presence on the island or anywhere near their waters, several attempts at placing spies in the country to have some sort of idea what was going on had failed and their operatives had disappeared without a trace. On top of everything else, Norman Osborn had been sniffing around Congress, trying to take advantage of the political chaos for some plot or another.
Rubbing his temples, trying to stave off the enroaching migraine, Stark was currently trying to persuade Reed to move against the man who was behind endangering the fragile peace he had sacrificed so much to build. It wasn't going well.
"Reed, I NEED you on this! I already talked to Xavier, and he claims he's had no contact with this guy, but he also refuses to use his own stone against him. If we're going to have any chance against a damn reality warper, I need your expertise to maximize the potential of the other five stones!"
On the screen, Reed barely paid attention to him, too busy with whatever latest project had popped up in his head "Tony, it's not that I don't think this Ginnungagap is dangerous, but I am not convinced the danger is serious enough that the Stones are called for? What has this man really done, other than fix what had been damaged?"
"That's not the point and you know it! It's not about what he's done, it's about what he CAN do! You worked with me on the SRA, you know why we had to convince the others to register and work with the goverment instead of against it! Someone who can just wave his hand around and change the world to fit whatever random crap he thought up on a whim, it's going to tear everything apart all over again! This is why the SRA exists, to keep untrained metahumans from irresponsibly using their powers however they want! Imagine if he gets pissed off over something, it'd be worse than a thousand Stamfords!"
What went unspoken was the underlying fear the two had, that the goverment would look at what Ginnungagap could do, and what he had already done, and decide that the SRA wasn't restrictive ENOUGH. Just like their worst case scenarios. And in those scenarios, they didn't have to take an angry reality warper into the equation.
Finally, Reed responded. "...alright. Call the others. We meet in the usual place."