12656/The Cure: Powerless

The Cure: Powerless
Date of Scene:	17 January 2021
Location:	Conner's Apartment
Synopsis:	A depowered Megan recuperates with Conner's help.
Cast of Characters:	Pixie, Superboy
Tinyplot:	Mutant Cure

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Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn had been laying low for some time now, having spent a while in medbay without Shannon's talents to quickly heal her, and after that, she had lurked in the halls, keeping mostly to herself as she tried to adjust to changes. Conner had probably heard rumours of some mutants being depowered, but Megan had been pretty vague on her own state..

Until now. She had called him, said she wanted to come see him about something. She didn't seem her usual chopper self when she arrived outside his apartment, knocking on his door.

Superboy has posed:
It is not easy to guess the mood of someone from texts, but Megan is pretty transparent and Conner has been dating her for a time. Something very bad happened, and he was about to ask her directly when she requested to meet him.

Which is fine, really. Conner would have given her keys to his apartment months ago, but since she can teleport it was pointless.

That makes her knocking at the door a little odd. He doesn't expect it was Megan when he opens it.

Pixie has posed:
Well..She could always port in..But Megan didn't like to surprise him, plus she wasn't even sure she could still use magic safely..But who knows? Either way, he may be quite shocked when he sees that she no longer has those beautiful dragonfly wings of hers. And her bright pink hair is no more, now a faded ginger with streaks of black in it.

Aside from those pointed ears and dark eyes, Megan looks very normal, almost human now. She smiles sadly at him. "Hi, Conner.." she sighs.

Superboy has posed:
Conner blinks quickly when he sees Megan. "Megs, your wings..." he reaches for her, to touch her face. Then ushers her inside. "What happened? Are you in danger?" He reaches for her again, this time running a hand through her no-longer pink hair. Okay, it is not dye.

Definitely he is pretty shocked, and he looks very concerned. "This is... that damn 'cure' thing, isn't it?"

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn sighs, slumping her shoulders, nodding slowly, "Yeah...I lost my wings, my powers. It's..." she swallows, "It hurts.." her voice nearly cracks, though her tears have dried up by now and Megan nods, "They attacked Mutant town, we tried to stop them but..A lot of people lost their powers.."

Superboy has posed:
"Come here," Conner hugs the small girl gently. "You are still beautiful, wings or not, and we will get this thing undone soon." Which might be a merciful lie, but he imagines that something designed to suppress the X-Gen could be countered by a similar process. "Are you still staying in that school upstate?"

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn sniffles a bit, now that her guard is lowered, feeling some of those emotions coming back as she leans over to hug him tightly, "I just..I dunno what I am anymore! Xavier's was my home, my life, and the Xmen was my career! How can I even be an Xman anymore without those powers?"

She sighs, squeezing her eyes shut and nods, "I'm still there! for now, but who knows for how much longer? What if they kick me out? I'll lose my home, my job,my life...I dunno what to do, where to go.."

Superboy has posed:
"What? They can't do that," at least Conner hopes they don't. "If they do you can come here to live with me. Also, you still have magic, right? You could still be a hero if you want. Or you could go to college and learn about things you like."

Which technically she could before. Except she faced a very strong anti-mutant prejudice in the New York area. "Look, whatever you do, whatever you want, I am here. I am not letting you go."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn chuckles and nods, "You're right. I'm sure we'd be allowed to stay there for a bit, although it really is a school for mutants, not humans or fairies. As a college junior, I'm only here for another year anyway as they're a highschool, and only teach first year college classes.."

She shrugs helplessly. "But the Xmen are mutants fighting for mutant rights. I can hardly represent mutants as a fairy, as for magic.l" she sighs, "I was once told I'd be taught spells after I teach 18, so far I've only learned teleportation and a sleeping spell. Dr Strange has been hard to get ahold of, Morgana is who knows where, and Illy spends most of her time in limbo. Soo...I dunno where to learn more spells."

Superboy has posed:
"Come here, then," offers Conner. He leans forward to kiss her on the brow. Then leads her to the couch, so she can sit down. "We can maybe find books of magic somewhere? Or maybe Illyana can loan you some? That way maybe you could learn without a teacher."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn nods, following him to the couch. "Yeahh..,I hope so. I guess Illy's not so bad once you get to k of her, I actually had a chat with her brother recently, real nice guy, told me how she suffered a lot, his she was..." she sighs and laughs, "Oh I'm going off on a tangent, aren't I? I'll ask her again, it couldn't hurt. I just feel so vulnerable without any means to protect me. Especially as an X-Xman, I'm in the public eye with all these haters, it's a bit scary.."

Superboy has posed:
"Well, maybe they won't recognize you now," offers Conner. And it is not as if her powers were good to protect her. Which has always been a minor issue for Conner. "Or if you tell me which group are after you many I can go and do some disarming?" Probably not super-fam approved behaviour, but he is rather tired of violent anti-mutant groups that seem to be allowed act with total impunity in the US.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn smiles and shrugs, "Maybe. To be honest, I was never a battle tank but I was always good at evasion.." she sighs, leaning her head against his shoulder, "Always wanted to be a professional superhero, just not sure if I can be anymore, and wth a hit probably on my head. Hope you're right, hope they don't recognize me, though I feel bad for all the other depowered mutants out there now, who dint have a hero to protect them.."

Superboy has posed:
"I have friends that are heroes without powers," points out Conner, wrapping an arm around Megan's shoulders. "I am not sure superheroes are 'professional' per se. But some do train very intensively." Like the X-Men do, not that Conner knows about it. "You know, I am going to find a regular job when I finish college. I don't know if it is healthy for someone like me to focus only in crime fighting. I think it would leave me very detached from normal humans."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn oohs, "Really? I didn't know that. How do they manage, fighting baddies without powers? They must be pretty skillful." she sighs, "I guess I always depended on my speed and long distance attacks to fight..Now all I have is my porting and my soul dagger. I really would like to improve my melee fighting skills."

Superboy has posed:
"Yeah, they are usually top martial artists," admits Conner. "They also have an arsenal of high-tech gadgets. You know, like Batman and Hawkeye. They don't have powers, but they are very good in the hero business." He thinks a bit, "I think I can bring you to the Titan's Tower and you can meet some of them?"

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn oooohs, "That would be cool, but you think it'd be okay to meet them? I mean they probably have secret identities and I wouldn't wanted get them into trouble, being a mutant with probably a hit on her head and all." she laughs "Though it sounds like an amazing place."

Superboy has posed:
"Yes, most have secret identities, that is not important, Megs." Conner grins when the girl starts laughing, booping her nose. "Also, I don't think they care if you are a mutant or not. And also, the Tower is not a public space and you can get there without being seen."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn nods slowly, "No, I suppose not..Soo what exactly do the Titans do? I k ow they're a superhero group of sorts, but are they really just a junior Justice League, fighting g generic baddies, or do they have a more specific goal?" she shrugs, "Of course they would have a se feet location. How do you get there and are you sure it'd be ok for me to go there?"

Superboy has posed:
"They started as a group of young sidekicks," explains Conner, "but that was ages ago. Long before I left NOWHERE. Now they are a super-group like the Avengers or the League. Pretty public, with that tower in the middle of the river. But maybe not as public as the League, since the island is not open to tourists."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn oohs, "I see, sounds like a nice place. I'll bet the island is beautiful, a nice little retreat at least, right?" she sighs, "I haven't been on a retreat or real vacation in a long time. I'm not even sure if my magic will work right now that I'm missing part of who I am..But maybe that's silly. I'm still part faerie, right?"

Superboy has posed:
Conner nods, "there are some gardens outside, the living areas have these full glass walls." He arches an eyebrow. "You have not tried magic yet? Why not?" He stands up, sliding to the other side of the room. "Okay, teleport to me without standing up, just these five yards."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn shrugs, "Dunno, guess I just didn't feel like myself, abd since magic requires focus and calm emotions, I was a little scared.." still she nods, clenching her hands and murmuring the words. A moment later she vanishes in a flash of pink light, reappearing next to him, opening her eyes in relief, "Phew, I didn't blow up or anything, did I?"

Superboy has posed:
Conner chuckles, taking Megan into his arms. "Nope. Magic still works. Sometimes you worry too much," he returns to the couch and drops the redhead there. "If the X-Men are so dumb to let you go despite being able to do magic, then I will ask Kara to let you into the Titans. Deal?"

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn smiles, "I'm sure I'm just overreacting but, thanks, I'd like that very much.." she curls up on the sofa, looking tired."Soo do you enjoy the superhero business?"

Superboy has posed:
Conner flops down at Megan's side, pulling her so she leans on him. "Of course I do. I like helping people, and I get to meet interesting folks, travel quite a bit. Only problem is I might get killed anytime by a maniac; but hey, what is life without a little risk, hmm?" He smiles, stroking the girl's hair.

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn smiles contentedly, curling up next to him, "It does feel good, helping others, but it can be scary too.." she arches a brow at him, "But you're pretty strong and tough, far more than I am. Are even you afraid that someone might kill you? Has anyone even come close?"

Superboy has posed:
"Eh... there is always someone stronger and tougher," Conner hand-waves. "And yeah, I have gotten in some situation I thought I wouldn't make it for a minute. But I did, having friends watching your back helps." He hehs, pulling Megan closer. "Also, I am the one that needs to protects others in the team."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn smiles, climbing sideways into his lap, arms wrapped around his neck. "That must have been scary..How long you been at this? I think I've only been a professional hero for a bit more than a year, and I guess I've just been lucky so far..Til now, anyways.."

Superboy has posed:
"I am not a professional," laughs Conner. "But I have been getting into trouble since I got out of that lab near Metro. So seven years now. I began with Robin and Impulse, we had this group. We were dumb kids - well, not Robin, he was the smart one. And we did some good. It was all very fun, until some people died."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks, "Really? That's..I mean you're not Superman maybe, but you're still pretty strong and powerful, right?. But you couldn't...Save them?"she sighs and shakes her head, "How come..?"

Superboy has posed:
Conner shakes his head and sighs. "No, we can't save everyone. Sometimes we can't save anyone, not even those that matter most." He strokes her hair again, "that made things less fun, and made me want to... get a life like other human beings. Go to college, eventually get a job."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn pouts, snuggling up to him. "Gee that sucks, I kinda wish we could save them all but I guess there are bound to be things behind our reach..But if we do our best, maybe it's good enough?" she smiles, "Even if I'm nearly powerless, I refuse to give up on people, just need to try harder, hopefully I can meet your friend Robin some day too.."

Superboy has posed:
Conner smiles, then leans back and sighs, "that is it. There are many regular humans that... I wouldn't say they are nearly powerless. They just don't have powers or billion dollar power armors. But they go out every day to help others." He pets Megan's hair. "They train, and they get paid for it. Those are professional heroes. Not the vigilantes in the night, or secret freedom fighters with a political agenda, or demigods living in space stations. Paramedics, firemen, even cops."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn nods and hms, "I guess that takes a lot of diligence and training. I really admire people like that. I mean, I always figured you can't be a hero without powers, but maybe you can." she giggles, "I hope I can meet your teammates soon, they sound pretty interesting."

Megan shrugs, "Soo, these kinda people must take the superhero business pretty seriously, I mean yeah, I get paid for being an xman, but sometimes it feels like I'm getting paid more for simply having powers." she shrugs.

Mention of everyday heroes does cause her to smile. "Heh, I guess they're the real heroes, I mean it's scary facing super powered villains when you don't have any powers yourself. I guess that's how this whole mess started, with Metaforce." she shivers at the thought. "Who knows how many other superpowered villains are out there still giving us a bad name?"

Superboy has posed:
"That is another thing," comments Conner, tensing again. "Super-criminals are too strong for regular law-enforcement. Yet the US Gov keeps being horrible with super-humans. They keep doing the blackmail, or brainwash, or experiment upon them, or murdering them in dark alleys. Even little kids. They even tried shit with Superman. Small wonder they have so few super-powered operatives. We can't trust the government to do the right thing. Something needs to change there."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn sighs, shaking her head. "I don't get it, why don't they just try to work with superheroes instead of all this paranoia? I mean, I get that they might find a powerful being rather frightening, or the idea that metas might take advantage of their abilites. But..We're not all that way right? I just wish there was a way we could convince the general public and the government that.."

Superboy has posed:
Conner shakes his head. "Right. There is something going on in Washington. That is one of the reasons I went into political science and journalism. Eventually I will investigate all that, find out who is pulling strings and why." He wraps his arms around Megan again. "But that is for the long term. Short term is you. Getting your powers back or training you as a ninja-sorceress. Well, next weeks. Today I am just going to spoil you rotten."

Pixie has posed:
Megan Gwynn smiles, looking up to him snuggling in close. "Oh yeah?" she giggles, "Can't say no to that..What did you have in mind? I guess I have some extra time now that I'm no longer a professional hero."