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 "You know, I was rather hoping to avoid the cemetery. It seems a bit on the nose after the whole Death thing-- ah, there she is." Marius spotted Nica at the cemetery gates and gave the young woman a wave. "Hello. We were summoned?" Rogue had to agree with Marius but because their friendship seemed to be built on making the other uncomfortable, she was partly amused as well. This entire mission seemed so strange already, and it was just getting weirder. Although, truly who was she to judge? "You got us here, to do whatever it is you need to do. Is it just us?" "Thanks for coming." Nica gave the two other X-Men a smile. "I'm sorry to drag you here, but we have a bit of a gamma radiation problem, and I wasn't sure that I could handle it on my own. Or at all, to be honest." Marius nodded. "We live to serve. I take it the problem is severe?" "Enough that it needs to be cleaned up before it contaminates the area. Or makes someone really sick. But..." And here Nica blushed a little. "Gamma isn't part of my usual range, mostly because I've never really encountered it before. So I thought maybe you guys could help?" "Yeah, that makes sense. Not much can really hurt li'l ol' me, so you just let me know where I gotta stand to help you out. Is Marius just being a mutant divining rod and I'm the spirit it speaks through then?" The Australian gave his chin a thoughtful stroke. "I'm no better acquainted with gamma than the next person," he said, "and no doubt considerably worse at conversion than either of you, but perhaps this could be turned to our advantage. Given my natural predilection towards passive absorption, if gamma is within Nica's capabilities to process I am almost certainly doing so already. What if I were to attempt to emit, say, infrared without making any particular effort towards refinement?" He flicked his gaze back to Nica. "You said if I don't focus my efforts I throw everything I've got. If I project an otherwise known quantity, would the two of you then be able to pick out the unfamiliar?" "See, this is why I asked for you. You know how to put this into words." Nica gave Marius a half-smile. "I mean, technically gamma's possible, since I channel the EM field. So, how do we do this? Marie? You need to touch me to get my powers, right?" Rogue nodded, almost apologetically. "I'll have to hold on longer than I'd like, kiddo. And it might knock you out for a li'l bit too, so I can start on one end of this here graveyard, and y'all can go to the other side to rest and relax. Marius here can be a bit of a babysitter as well, if need be. You just gotta clear your mind as best as possible, but I apologize in advance if I take out any memories, or feelings while I'm doing it. I don't try to do that, and I've gotten real good at compartmentalizing, and ignoring what I don't need. You just let me know when you're okay with this and we can start." Nica nodded, face a little pale but expression determined as she held out her bare hand for Rogue to take. "We're looking at absorbing the gamma and converting it to something else on the EM spectrum that's, you know, less radioactive. Think happy sunbeams or radio waves or something," she instructed the pair of them. "Let's do this?" "At your discretion, ladies," replied Marius, though he couldn't resist watching as the younger woman extended her hand to Rogue. He'd gone through great efforts to render borrowing mutations as clinical as possible, at least insofar as it affected his teammates. Even without the involvement of his natural extraction mechanisms Rogue's powers were far more elegant. Fewer sharp objects, for a start. But then, it was more than physical vulnerability that the woman's powers left you open to. It never did get easier, and in a way, Rogue hated doing repeat sessions. She would never admit this, but the more she took from someone, the more fleshed out the shadow in her head became. This wasn't the first time she'd absorbed Nica, and because her initial absorption was so long ago, her powers seemed to want to fill in the blanks. The memories of Nica's mother dying .... being on the team ... filling in for leaders. ...missions ... experiences ... it was a lot and it took more than she wanted. Rogue tried to let go, and she realized in horror that it wasn't as easy as she thought. It literally took all her mental fortitude to do so, and she was surprised that Nica wasn't passed out -- Rogue definitely felt like doing so. As Rogue let go of her hand Nica swayed on her feet. "Woah, headrush," she muttered, before taking a couple of wobbly steps and sitting on a park bench - there were plenty of those left out for mourners and visitors. "I'll be okay inna minute." |
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