X-Men: The Mutant Problem
Chapter 2
"That's him," Logan said, nodding slightly. "He said his name was Alex. Found him walking along the road."
Several people stood around Alex, who was laying on a medical bed in a well let room. There were many machines around him, but all of them were shut off. In the room, Logan stood with four other people. The first was a tall and slender red headed woman wearing a lab coat. The next was a younger girl who had brown hair with white bangs, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, and wore black gloves that covered up to her elbows. The third was a man who wore red glasses and was dressed in casual clothes. The last was an older, bald man who sat in an advanced wheelchair and was dressed in a blue suit with a matching tie.
Logan looked up at the celling as the lights flickered momentarily, before returning to normal. "What's with the freaky light show?" he asked rhetorically. "Hey Jean, aren't you supposed to have him hooked up to all these machines to determine what's wrong with him?"
The red head looked up at Logan. "It's because of his powers. He can disrupt the flow of electricity around him," she answered. "But that's not all. It seems that his entire body is charged with electricity, making it impossible for me to hook anything up to him while he's unconscious."
"So what do we do?" the man in red glasses asked. "We can't even touch him without getting electrocuted."
"That's why I asked Rogue here," Jean replied. "Maybe she can drain enough of his powers for us to get the machines working."
The man in red glasses crossed his arms. "I don't like the sounds of the. Professor Xavier, there must be something we can do." The older man did not respond.
The girl with the white streaks sighed deeply. "I have no idea if my powers will even work on him. Can't you just go into his head and figure out what's wrong that way?"
Jean shook her head. "Because of the electricity running through him, it blocks my telepathy. Professor, your telepathy is stronger. Why don't you try?"
Xavier moved in behind Alex and placed his hands around Alex's head. He closed his eyes and sat very still, but only for a moment. Opening his eyes, he shook his head and said, "I'm afraid I didn't get much more than you. The electricity disrupts his brainwaves, making it near impossible for me to read his mind."
Jean returned her focus on Alex. "Then we have to try to get him hooked up to these machines. Rogue, do your thing."
The younger girl was hesitant, but began to take off the pair of black gloves. Logan patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry kid," he said, giving her a nod. "You can always borrow my powers if you need them."
Rogue smiled in return. "Thanks Logan." Reaching over, Rogue touched Alex's arms. Immediately she felt a tingling in her arms. This was not her powers, but Alex's. The sensation was both painful and pleasant. Slowly, she could feel that sensation crawling up from her arm, up to her shoulder, and spreading to the rest of her body.
"I think that's good Rogue," Jean decided, her glance going back and forth between Rogue and Alex. "Rogue, that's enough." Jean noticed that Rogue wasn't letting go. It almost looked like she couldn't. Jean focused on Rogue's hand, causing it to suddenly snap open, sending Rogue across the room and into the wall.
Logan ran over to Rogue and propped her up and touched her skin. A few seconds, and Rogue's eyes opened and she pulled away from Logan.
Jean turned to Scott and pointed to the equipment. "Scott. Help me get the equipment on. Maybe now we can run some tests."
They barely began to move some equipment into place when a faint beeping sound filled the room. The source was the watch that was around Alex's wrist. Turning it, Jean's face turned from curious to fear. Unstrapping the watch, her suspicions were confirmed when the watch did not remove easily. Instead, two thin metal prongs that were imbedded deep in Alex's skin pulled out with the watch.
"If I'm right, we have to get his powers back right away!" Jean exclaimed. "This watch keeps track of the amount of power he has in his body. It's currently below ten percent."
Scott darted over to the medical cabinet and prepared the defibrillator. "Will this be enough?"
Once again, Jean had a curious face. She focused on Alex, and slowly began to turn him over onto his stomach without touching him. She then lifted up his shirt, revealing a small piece of metal grafted into the middle of his back. "No need. But I do need an extension cord."
Scott didn't bother asking why. Leaving the defibrillator where it was, he exited through the automatic doors and disappeared down the hallway. A moment later, he returned with a long, orange extension cord meant for one plug. Scott plugged one end into the wall and handed the other end to Jean.
After a slight pause to consider what she was doing, Jean inserted her end into the slot. But nothing happened. Jean took the watch and returned it to it's position on Alex's wrist, sliding the metal prongs back into the piercings they had come out of. The watch returned to beeping, but it was a slower pace. A small lighting blot moved from one end of the screen, disappeared, then started over again.
"Jean? What's going on?" Logan asked, after helping Rogue to her feet."
"This may sound odd," Jean said, perplexed. "But I think Alex is charging."
Xavier moved in closer to examine the piece of metal. It rose over the skin level by half an inch, but was no larger than a baseball in area. "I wonder who did this."
Logan stood behind Xavier. "I may have been a mutant experiment, but this is taking things too far." Logan made a fist in front of his face. "Who would have the technology to perform this? And how did he even survive?"
"Wolverine's right," Scott added. "He only survived because his mutation involves healing. From what we've gathered so far, Alex's powers are all about electricity."
Xavier turned and began to head for the doors. "Jean, I want you to run some tests while you can. Try to figure out exactly what that port in his back does."
"What about you Professor?" Jean asked quickly.
"I'll be in Cerebro."