Jump 456: X-Men Evolution

>Jump 456: X-Men Evolution
>Six of Swords (Science): Passage from difficulty and progress towards a solution. The road to recovery.
>Age: 15
>Location: Bayville
>Identity: Student
>Drawbacks (+400) The Unstoppable
I wonder how I pissed off the Juggernaut THIS badly.
>On & Off (Free, Student)
Being able to turn powers on and off is an absolute must.
>Instinct (1200, Student)
And knowing how to use any power I obtain is also a must.
>Mutant Power Bonus (+300)
How generous! Thank you.
>Shapeshifting (1300)
>Duplication (900)
So... here's the thing. With those two powers, I don't intend to actually use them properly. Instead I'm going to basically use it as a 'manifest X simple objects of X size' power, as a red herring.
>Power Absorption (300)
This should only be used in emergencies, for the most part. If some mutant is going to do crazy things, tackle them, take their powers away for a while, and subdue them.
>Costume (Free, Student)
Eh, may as well blend in.
>Gem of Cyttorak (0, Student)
...oh, I guess that's how I pissed off the Juggernaut, swiping this thing. Crap, this probably means Magneto will be gunning for me at some point too. On the other hand, pretty sure that if I empower my three powers, the results will be very interesting indeed.

So, ending up in the right place at the right time at the start of the plot sounds fun. Getting in the thick of things, joining up with the good guys because it's fun and definitely not just because they've got that cute goth chick with the southern accent that got freaked out when I accidentally bumped into her on my first day at school.

Tweaking a few noses here and there is one thing, having more than one of myself helps if I need to do things during school hours. Like sabotage a company that's committing acts of biological terrorism - what else would you call that damn energy drink? - or wander through other cities, borrowing memories, derailing the best laid plans and slowing the inevitable escalation. Although this meant that the Juggernaut's rampages were not focused on a single city but across the country... indeed, around the world.

Right, that aside: once Rogue learned that she could touch me safely, I told her the truth about my background here: using power absorption, I was able to acquire various powers, but only a couple of them stuck due to the price of acquiring them permanently. Since I could turn my power off, however, I could make it so that she could safely practice whether to absorb to not. It took her time, but she was eventually able to control her power. Of course, this also meant she had access to my memories, so I had little choice but to tell her the whole truth, though I was able to put it off a few years. Still, she learned who and what I was, the nature of her universe and the larger multiverse, even showed her some of the alternate realities out there (Kaleidoscope makes for fun vacations).

Honestly, she was smarter than I gave her credit for. She asked why I didn't just fix the whole mutant problem, before she answered it for herself: "Because if you do, we won't learn anything, we'll just be puppets dancing on strings." And she was right. But, I told her, I may have cheated a bit; after all, I have this tendency to kick human evolution up a notch in every world I visit, and hers was no exception. It wouldn't be noticeable now, except those who I directly interacted with, but she'd see lifespans go up, overall health improve... and as proof of that, Xavier woke up more morning and was able to wiggle his big toe.

Other than that, I did work alongside the X-Men, but kept things low key as far as I went along. Xavier and Wolverine were wise to the act, but to everyone else... I was essentially support. Sure, I had this habit of being in the right place at the right time, making sure the logistics were dealt with, pulling others' fat out of the fire if their plans failed. And I might have been responsible for temporarily depowering Magneto when he was about to do something particularly stupid, like flying Sentinels through downtown New York, because false flag attacks definitely don't do anyone favors.

In the end, he and Xavier still had their disagreements, but they were at least on speaking terms and he wasn't actively trying to conquer the world. Lacking their primary foil, the X-Men were basically seen as a hero team and troubleshooters - they dealt with Apocalypse and trounced him, among other things, so they had some official recognition. And without the Brotherhood mucking things up overly much, mutants' names weren't run through the mud quite as easily. Between that, certain officials being outed as mutants themselves (okay, so I abused gene-tweaking perks there), and getting everyone to yell at Xavier until he relented and hired a PR team, things went better than expected.

As for Rogue, she was a sweet girl though, I'll miss her, but she adjusted fairly well once she could control her powers - though she did come across Carol Danvers and depower her. Turns out Carol Danvers was a total bitch in this universe, and though she hadn't actually killed anyone, she was definitely in some bad guys' pockets. Possibly intentionally. Xavier was kind enough to partition off her memories, at least. When the time came for me to move on, I offered to bring her along, but she declined - too much to do in this world. The question simply reminded her of who I really am, and she had trouble seeing herself running around the multiverse with what would effectively be an alien god, alongside lesser gods, while forgetting that she'd end up with the same potential herself.

Perhaps one day I'll see her again.