Cured

Author's Note:

I was kind of stumped with this story because it felt like Casper was too OP, but I figured out how I wanted to keep it going. I got too bogged down in power scaling and focusing so much on fights instead of what I actually like writing; character interactions. There will still be plenty of fights, but I'm not going to sweat it as much and just write what feels natural while not doing anything that's frustrating for readers like nerfing him or making him situationally dumb to serve the plot. 

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"It's not going to work," Sue said after some time as she read the data we'd compiled. 

I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Yeah, I figured that might be the case. I can upgrade her power, but her power already had a built-in on/off switch, so it doesn't help her. Her problem is entirely mental."

Sue leaned back, looking at him. "So what're you going to do? I'm assuming you don't want to just leave her problem alone."

"Yeah, that leaves the situation where I'm the only one who can touch her and that's not an option."

"Oh, not interested at all?" Sue asked curiously.

I shook my head, tilting back in my chair and fiddling with a pen. "The idea of a relationship based on her inability to touch anyone else would be doomed to fail, but I'm with Laura and I'm not interested in anyone else."

"Sue, we've got to go," Reed called out and Sue got up.

"Well, I'll leave you to think about that while we have our little trip. Turns out we can mine gold in the Negative Zone, so funding isn't going to be a problem for a long while."

I waved her off and she left to suit up before the Fantastic Four all made another trip into the Negative Zone. I wasn't interested in the gold since I could just produce it with my powers anyway, but I was left to think about how to handle the Rogue situation.

'Maybe I just default back to my plan to placebo her into being able to control her power.'

Following that train of thought, I spent the next several hours plotting out how I would handle it. There had to be some noticeable effect on her power for her to really believe it could make a difference, and the best method to make it more believable was to do it to Scott first and cure him as Magneto did before. If she saw Scott able to control his power after I helped him, it'd make her subconscious feel that she could control hers as well.

This meant I still needed to make a device capable of properly focusing the energy from the Cyttorak Gem into a power enhancer, but I wanted it on a much lower scale than Magneto's. I was much more technologically capable than he was, so I could make it safer and more controlled than he had been, letting me manage the effects.

I considered having Laura use it as well so she could grow more powerful. If we were going to be traveling in space, her abilities would be a little too low on the power scale if we encountered any serious threats, but enhancing her current mutation might not have any significant helpful effect. Right now, she'd either become more feral like Wolverine did in a few comics, or she'd become able to heal even faster than she already did. That would mean there'd be an almost zero percent chance she could die, but it wouldn't help her damage output.

I put that thought on the back burner for now and focused on making the device. The time began to fly as my concentration was completely focused on working on the machine. Before I knew it, the sun began to set and I blinked away the fatigue in my eyes as I set down the small device I'd been making.

Glancing at the time, I realized it was getting late so I packed away my stuff. The device was essentially done, I'd just have to work on some fine-tuning before I could put my plan into effect. In a blur, I ran away from the building at superspeed and made my way home.

----

Laura and I were 'busy' when someone rang our doorbell. I sighed as Laura grumbled irritably at being interrupted. I quickly threw on some clothes and ran down to the front door while Laura got dressed.

When I opened it, I found Logan waiting. He took one look at my ruffled clothes along with a subtle sniff and wrinkled his nose. "There better not be any brats in 9 months."

"Ha, you're one to talk old man. One of my powers is complete control of my body, I'm shooting blanks. How many kids do you have running around?"

"Shut up." I laughed as I could see him mentally attempting to guess. "I'm guessing you don't have any beer here."

Logan made his way inside while I went to the fridge and grabbed a six-pack for him. When I handed him the case, he looked at me with an eyebrow raised. 

"What, with my powers, you think it's that hard to get alcohol?"

"Seems you're enjoying your freedom."

The two sat down on the couch and relaxed as Laura made her way down a short time later. It seemed that she'd showered and gotten dressed in a comfortable tank top and workout pants. She stopped in the kitchen and popped some popcorn before she came and sat down next to me. 

"So, not that we don't appreciate your visit, but what's up?" I asked.

Logan took a sip of his beer and stared at me. "Am I not allowed to check in on my daughter and her boyfriend who are living together?"

"No, but I still figured there'd be another reason."

"Nope, you thought wrong brat." Logan seemed to take amusement in the fact I was reading too much into it.

"It's nice to see you," Laura said, a got up, wrapping Logan in a hug. Her time with me had gotten her better at expressing her emotions. Kitty had certainly been a big help as well, the two girl's friendship going a long way in getting Laura towards the level a girl her age should be at in regards to emotional maturity. 

The three ended up putting on a movie and just relaxing, before their time was eventually interrupted by another ringing of the doorbell.

"Feeling really popular today," I muttered as I went to get it. When I opened the door, I found Kitty, Rogue, and Bobby. The three of them came by fairly frequently since Kitty was Laura's best friend and Bobby was mine. Rogue's visits were mostly comprised of her trying to secretly brush against me, which I knew all about but allowed because I was still putting the finishing touches of my plan to essentially gaslight her into controlling her powers.

Speaking of that plan, of the other two people who'd come, one of them was directly involved. This was the first time I'd seen Scott actually come over. He was the only one with a license at the institute, so usually either I would go pick the X-Men up to come over, or he would drop them off and leave. Surprisingly, he had gotten out of the car and come to the door, alongside Jean, who I hadn't seen much of recently.

She'd come over a bit when they'd first moved in, but she was busy finishing up her last year of high school and had only come over a bit before she had to study. Laura and I weren't good at making our house an environment that was very conducive to learning, neither of us bothering to still attend school after moving out, so she ended up studying at the institute. 

The only ones that weren't here were Kurt and Evan. Evan still had a bit of a problem with me, and Kurt probably didn't want him to be left alone so I was guessing he hung back to hang out with him.

"It's been a while Jean," I said, giving her a brief hug before pulling back and glancing at Scott.

"Scott, it's good to see you," I said and reached out, extending my hand. I'd never hated him, and I needed his help to fix Rogue's problem, so I didn't see any problem with interacting cordially with him. 

"You too Casper," Scott said after a moment, shaking my hand. He seemed to feel awkward being here, but it seemed that Jean had pushed him to come and bury the hatchet.

"Come in."

The entire group ended up in the living room, the X-Men were surprised that Logan was already there, but he just gave them a wave while continuing to drink and listen to Laura as she told him what she'd been up to.

We ended up playing a Super Smash Bros tournament, with everyone but Logan participating. Even Scott got into it, and he was surprisingly good for someone who acted like he would think video games were a waste of time.

I even did my best not to cheat and use my powers to make me react faster, which ended up causing me to lose to Bobby in the end. Looking around the room, Rogue was once again sitting close to me, which caused Laura and I to share a glance.

"Yeah yeah Bobby, you win. Don't let it go to your head," I said, rolling my eyes as Bobby bragged. "Anyway, since everyone is here, I figured I'd let you guys in on a little secret."

The group's attention focused on me as I pulled out a device. It was a grey device with a handle that led into a partition that split open, with a green screen in the middle. On the back was the symbol of the Plumbers, which at this point I was going to be using as my trademark.

"What's that?" Bobby asked.

"This little device is going to cure Scott and Rogue."

That proclamation certainly had an effect. Rogue looked at me hopefully, while Scott looked a little skeptical, but even that couldn't hide his hope. The fiasco with Magneto had been bad for him, but the one upside was that for a time he was able to see without his glasses.

"Are you sure it won't have any...unwanted side effects?" Scott asked, and the fact that he believed it would work and was only worried about stuff like that showed I'd at least earned some rapport with him. He'd seen plenty of my devices so far, so it wasn't like I didn't have a track record of making stuff like this.

"Yep, totally side effect free. No becoming emo, Magneto was just a hack with a powerful toy. He had no inspiration, and basically, just sent pure energy into you which is why it made you like that. I've refined his design so it should give you control, and maybe moderately improve your power."

"You mean I'd be able to touch anyone?" Rogue asked, her normally calm facade broken.

"Yep."

Rogue launched forward and wrapped me in a hug, and I patted her on the back while mentally praying that my plan worked. It'd be pretty embarrassing for it to end up failing to help Rogue at this point.

"Alright, I'm going to do Scott first just because his power is the easier one, okay?" 

Rogue hesitantly nodded as she pulled back, fighting her desire to have her power cured immediately. I had to do Scott first so that she could see it work and subconsciously believe it would help her as well.

"What do I do?" Scott asked in a show of trust. It seemed that Jean had done a good job talking to him. After the whole Magneto debacle, the two were hardly speaking to each other, but it seemed everyone was burying the hatchet as they seemed to be cordial again.

I gestured for him to stand in front of me as I held the device out. The screen widened as some information was displayed that only I could understand. It scanned Scott before it shrunk once again and turned into something that looked like a laser pointer.

"Alright, everyone else should back away. Scott's going to have to get a feel for his changed power, so I'm going to absorb it if he lets off any blasts."

Everyone moved away, leaving Scott and I facing each other. "Ready?" Scott nodded his head resolutely and I pointed the device at him, which shot a green laser directly into his chest.

The effect was immediate as green energy wrapped around Scott's body for a moment before it vanished. "That's it?" Scott asked and I nodded my head. 

"Yep, go ahead and take them off."

Hesitantly, Scott took off his glasses with his eyes still closed. Slowly at first, but quicker as he realized no energy was escaping, he opened his eyes and blinked them in shock.

"I can see. There's no red anymore."

Scott looked around, his eyes wide as he took in everything around him. The other X-Men were happy for him, smiles on their face and even Logan had a small one.

"Alright now try consciously activating your power. Just make sure to point it at me, I'd rather you don't destroy my house."

Scott nodded seriously and looked at me and flicked a mental switch, red beams erupting from his eyes more powerful than he had ever released before. My hand was already out, absorbing the energy that he released. Slowly, Scott worked out how to modulate his energy output until he finally cut the flow of energy again.

"Well, seems like I really am a genius," I said, clapping Scott on the back. He surprised me by pulling me into a hug before he pulled back and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Thank you."

I was rather surprised, but I couched and nodded. "Don't mention it."

"Aw, look at them. They're adorable," Jean said, her tone teasing, and Scott blushed while I rolled my eyes to hide my own embarrassment.

"Now it's Rogue's turn."

Rogue couldn't have moved any faster as she almost shoved Scott out of the way to stand in front of me. She'd seen how I'd helped Scott, so now her subconscious should believe that it would fix her power properly.

"Ready?" I asked and she nodded.

The same thing occurred, with the device first scanning her body. Only I could read that while it could improve her power, it would have no effect on her control. It returned to laser pointer form and Rogue was surrounded with the energy for a moment before it disappeared.

"I don't feel any different," Rogue said unsurely.

"I felt the same way, just give it a moment," Scott said assuredly.

Laura stepped forward. "Here, try touching me." This was the other part of my plan. It had to be Laura who she first touched because if she was still absorbing people out of fear, Laura would both be able to handle it better and control her reaction.

Hesitantly, Rogue reached out and lay a hand on Laura's. There was no outward reaction from Laura, but she glanced at me and I knew that Rogue was still draining her. 

"I can still feel her life force," Rogue said, her voice starting to panic. I'd been prepared in case this happened.

"Remember how it went for Scott, he had to feel for the switch, you have to focus." I moved forward, my hand reassuringly on her shoulder as she took a shaky breath and nodded, leaning into my touch as she concentrated.

"You're not draining me as much anymore, just keep going," Laura said.

Slowly, but surely, Rogue got control until finally, she said. "I can't feel it anymore, I'm not draining you."

Then, in something I maybe should have seen coming, she whirled around and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. She kept muttering "Thank you" over and over again as I patted her back reassuringly. 

Everyone else took this moment to crowd around and it became one big group hug, with even Scott taking part. Logan looked on like a proud teacher happy that his students were doing well, even as he continued to drink his beer.

Eventually, the group continued to hang out. Scott was much more relaxed, joking with Bobby and generally being in a better mood than he'd been in a while. Rogue reveled in her ability to touch people now, softly brushing up against people basically every chance she got.

I was also subject to those touches, but it wasn't any more than anyone else so I didn't think anything of it. It wasn't until Logan had gestured for me to follow him out of the room that he said "You know, I'm glad you helped them, but you didn't do yourself any favors getting rid of her crush."

"I mean, she was interested in me because I was the only one she could touch. Now that's not the case," I protested, but Logan chuckled and shook his head. 

"Despite how emotionally mature you usually are, you're a little dim when it comes to the mind of normal teenage girls. Laura's a unique case, so I guess you and her really are a good fit. How do you think Rogue's going to feel about the guy who cured her and made it so she no longer had to feel scared of touching someone."

"Oh."

"You've really got a talent for putting yourself in difficult positions brat."

Logan's amused chuckle as he went back into the room echoed in my ears before I sighed and followed him. In the end, it was a crush, Rogue would get over it. 

----

Author's Note:

So yes, Rogue's crush didn't go away. Realistically, him curing her would just make her crush more real instead of being entirely based on the fact he could touch her, which is how most girls would react to this situation. I've been liking the idea of polls on my other story, so I figured I'd do it here. 

I originally wanted this story to be my no-harem story. Humanity's Campione is my harem story, where I'm going to be balancing good character relationships with a harem. I'm personally leaning towards no-harem for this story still, but I figured I'd check with you guys just in case most people actually want it the other way. Been reading a lot of The Spider by imjusttryingtofindmyway. I figure most of you guys have probably heard of it, but if you haven't it's a pretty good long MCU SI with a well-implemented harem.

1. Harem

2. No-Harem

As always, YURI IS NTR, so if harem wins none of that BS will ever happen in one of my stories. I also don't want to alienate readers, so if its a close enough poll I'll be going with no-harem regardless.

Let me know, engagement fuels my muse and makes it easy to get focused on writing.