Rogue

Green Arrow Duck offered his opinion. "Perhaps she didn't come into contact with Zombies, but rather with an airborne virus. Although her symptoms do appear to be those of a viral infection, the diagnostic tools and test reports indicate she is not infected."

Professor X accepted this explanation. "So, do you have any way to resolve her current situation?"

"Can she exhibit two different abilities she has encountered simultaneously? Does she remember the abilities she has encountered before? Perhaps if we find a new ability to overwrite her existing one, the situation will be resolved."

Green Arrow Duck's suggestion sounded somewhat feasible. However, the X-Men all knew that Rogue's abilities could cause others pain, and even death.

In short, helping Rogue expand beyond his existing abilities is no easy task.

"Maybe I can help." The speaker was a New Generation X-Men member who had stayed behind to help, a girl. She probably hadn't even graduated from school yet, and it was unclear why Professor X had brought someone like this to the epidemic area.

"Theresa, would you be willing to do such a thing?" Professor X asked the student seriously.

Jean Grey stepped forward as well. "No, let me do it."

The young X-Men didn't back down or give up; instead, he faced everyone earnestly. "No, teacher. What If...? I fall, others can help. But if you fall, none of us can take your place. Let me do it."

"Well... alright." Seeing the girl's insistence, Jean Grey gave up trying to persuade her further. "I'll keep an eye on things. If anything goes wrong, I'll help you break free from Rogue's contact."

Of the adult members present, only she and Professor X remained. Neither of them chose to step forward directly, obviously out of some concern; Jean Grey was thus forced to watch her student take a risk.

Theresa Maye Rookie Cassidy, the Mutants known as Siryn, stood beside the bed. She pulled back the covers, revealing Rogue's hand and even helped him remove his gloves. But before she could grasp it, Siryn withdrew her hand. She looked back at Green Arrow Duck. "Is it enough for me to just touch Rogue?" Realizing he was the one being questioned, Green Arrow Duck nodded. "Of course."

How long should we stay in contact with them?

"I don't know the mechanics of that girl's abilities. So I can't answer that question," Green Arrow Duck said honestly, shrugging his shoulders. "Alright," Theresa Cassidy said without hesitation this time, taking Rogue's hand that was sticking out from the hospital bed.

The mutated ability that Rogue activated on its own began to absorb the energy of others through skin contact, gaining their abilities and power in return. This process was extremely painful for Theresa Cassidy. She felt a fear as if her brain was being ripped out and her soul was being controlled.

But for the sake of her classmate who had always lived so cautiously, she found a way to persevere, even though she was sweating profusely. This process felt like a lifetime.

In fact, within just a few breaths, Theresa Cassidy collapsed to her knees, her expression one of obvious pain, her eyes rolling back in her head. Jean Grey acted swiftly, pulling their hands apart and breaking the reckless connection.

Theresa Cassidy, who had already fainted, lay in Jean Grey's arms. The teacher of the X-Men's exclusive medical team looked at her student's condition with heartache and helped her to another empty hospital bed in the cabin.

However, some people, including Professor X, were worried, while others were curious; everyone peeked at the Rogue's condition. But the girl in the hospital bed was still sweating profusely, had dark circles under her eyes, and her skin was an unnaturally pale white; her symptoms showed no improvement.

"It seems your judgment was wrong, Mr. Duck." Although Professor X didn't call Green Arrow Duck by his real name, his dissatisfaction was almost overflowing.

Regardless, one of his students suffered because of this misguided advice; and another student didn't benefit from it at all. But judging from Siryn's condition, Rogue's mutant ability wasn't entirely unactivated. Yet, the result couldn't mask the virus's effects. Why was that? Green Arrow Duck pondered.

Considering that the woman in front of me is not the Rakshasa from the comics who was raised by Destiny and Mystique, and who almost drained Ms. Marvel's energy by chance, and whose strength is considered to be among the top tier in the comic book X-Men Rogue.

Furthermore, her mutant abilities haven't been fully developed yet. Without self-awareness, how these abilities will function is truly unpredictable. Seeing that Rogue is still suffering from the virus, Green Arrow Duck suspects that it might be because Siryn's abilities aren't strong enough to counteract the virus's effects, or perhaps the contact time hasn't been long enough.

But he couldn't say that out loud, because to solve it, he could only find a more powerful Mutants to test it on. Besides, he wasn't sure if this was the mechanism behind Rogue's mutant ability.

The best person to ask would actually be Wolverine, the Mutants with such powerful healing abilities that he's practically immortal. But this guy is out rescuing people and isn't in the base, so there's no way to ask him for help right away.

However, with one person already lost, making such a suggestion now would seem like an attempt to deplete a key X-Men unit. It's likely that the little trust that has been painstakingly built up today will be squandered once again.

Moreover... a devilish suggestion lured Green Arrow Duck to conduct a horrific experiment to see how things would unfold. Just as Jean Grey had settled Siryn and was about to confront Duck Plushie, Green Arrow Duck loosened the fasteners on his wrist armor and removed it, revealing his unprotected hands.

Not only was Jean Grey stunned, but even Professor X was taken aback. He had never imagined such a development, and of course, he had no idea what would happen. The Green Arrow Duck, revealing its bare hand, used the posture of an electrician testing electricity, bringing the back of its hand close to Rogue's hand. If things went wrong, withdrawing the hand by clenching a fist would be easier than releasing it.

But... the moment the back of my hand and knuckles touched the Rogue's skin, nothing happened.

Green Arrow Duck pushed his hand forward a little, with the third knuckle, the entire knuckle, pressed against Rogue's palm. He felt no pain or any strange sensation of being sucked away.

With a flick of its wrist, Green Arrow Duck grabbed the other's hand, even lifting it up to confirm that their palms were indeed in close contact, not just a hallucination. It even shook it, as if to make sure the grip was tight enough.