2/5 Instance: The Edge

[Svartfreja]

Timelined before [Instance]Soft Targets.


<Carol> It was a nice day for it, she supposed, looking up at the cloudless sky as the generator ran noisily behind her. Carol ran a hand through her hair and dropped her gaze back to Rogue, "Are you absolutely sure you want in on this insane experiment?"

<Rogue> Rogue laughed and shook her head, "Darlin', have ya met me? Ah'm tha definition of insane. 'Course Ah do!" She grinned and looked at their surroundings, "Seems as perfect time as ever, too."

<Carol> "Yeah, the weather'll help." She patted the generator, "So will this." She took a breath and blew it out slowly, trying to relax, "Guess it's about time you borrowed my powers again..."

<Rogue> Rogue took a deep breath of her own and looked at Carol with critical eyes. "Are y'all sure ya wanna do this? We don't hafta if ya ain't comfortable with it."

<Carol> "I have to get comfortable with it... we're supposed to be working together and there might come a time when you need to use my powers. It's better if you learn how they work in a controlled environment..."

<Rogue> "Ah definitely agree. But Ah don't want y'all ta be uncomfortable in tha controlled environment. Do Ah need ta sign a contract?"

<Carol> Carol shook her head, "No, that'll take too long... I'm good, really." She held out her hand to the other woman, "Go for it."

<Rogue> "Alright, gal. Let me know if ya need me ta stop. But, remember, Ah gotta get enough so Ah'll be alright up there." Rogue pulled off her glove and reached over to take hold of Carol's hand, carefully watching her reactions.

<Carol> "Yeah, yeah, I got it..." she winced a little but that was the only show of discomfort, the energy she'd absorbed acting as a good buffer for the energy being drained.

<Rogue> Rogue focused on breathing instead of the rush of memories she was getting, trying to dull the psychic headache that was starting. After about a minute, she pulled away. "Ah think that should be enough... Ah hope it's enough. Ah'm scared ta take any more'n that."

<Carol> "Yep... just gimme a minute..." Carol put her hand on the generator to steady herself, attempting to shake the dizziness away from her head. "That wasn't so bad as before..."

<Rogue> "Well, we've both come a long way since b'fore. Ah had barely gotten mah powers then... Ah still cain't control 'em, but at least Ah can feel what's happenin' better." She put her glove on and reached out for Carol's shoulder, "Y'all need a second?"

<Carol> "Just a couple..." She absorbed some energy to compensate from the generator, "You might want to try out the absorption thing now."

<Rogue> Rogue nodded and walked over to the generator herself. She pulled her glove back off and closed her eyes to search for how to work Carol's new powers before touching the generator. Once she had found it, her hand touched it gently at first, timid, wanting to make sure it worked, before putting her palm against it. "Wow. What a rush. Especially when doubled with tha energy Ah got from y'all."

<Carol> "Power sources like this are easier... burst is, well... it can be painful... depends on the kind of energy." She felt much better now but kept up her contact with the generator, "Those sentinel things? They're great."

<Rogue> "Yeah? Suck up a lot from them?" Rogue felt like her veins were on fire in the best ways possible. "How much do ya think we'll need ta reach tha moon?"

<Carol> "Yeah I did and used it to kick their tin can asses," she smiled, "As for the other thing... I have no clue but I'll totally race you."

<Rogue> Rogue laughed at both statements, "Yeah? Ah bet it'll be a tie unless one o' us cheats."

<Carol> "Best way to get you to learn how to channel all that stored up energy." She gave the generator a pat, "Okay, think I've got as much as I'm comfortable with."

<Rogue> Rogue held on a few moments longer, trying to get an edge on her competition. She pulled her glove on once she had let go and gave Carol a short nod. "Ready?'

<Carol> "Yep. Sixty-five miles straight up.... not that far really. The question is how long can we stay up." She turned her attention to the sky, waited a beat, then took off.

<Rogue> "Hey!" Rogue took off a split second after her, "You cheated!" She torpedoed up, making her body as compact and narrow as possible to avoid any wind-drags.

<Carol> Carol laughed, the rush of energy and competition making her feel better than she had in days. It took only minutes for them to reach the Karman Line where Carol slowed down, not wanting to get too high up for fear of getting into some trouble.

<Rogue> Rogue hesitated when she caught up to Carol, "Everythin' alright?"

<Carol> "There's no air after here..." it was thin where they were but there was still some. On some level, she knew the absorbed energy would protect her but still...

<Rogue> "Aw, worry wart!" Rogue whooped and shot off past Carol, not having had this much fun in a flying race since Sam had been alive.

<Carol> "Now who's cheating?!" That was all the motivation she needed to speed up again, heading for the darkness beyond the atmosphere. It was so close.

<Rogue> Rogue laughed and stretched her arms over her head as she pushed towards the limits of the sky, much like Superman in the comics some of her students read.

<Carol> The colours ahead of her began to fade into black, stars became visible ahead of them and she slowed down again to marvel at it. The vast empty expanse stretched out before her, if there'd been any breath in her it would have been stolen by the view. She came to a stop, gazing out at the universe.

<Rogue> Rogue realized that she had lost her competitor and turned to find her. She grinned at Carol's awestruck face, then took off again towards the moon. Time was short after all.

<Carol> The competition was forgotten as she stared out at the stars. It was so beautiful. Her vision blurred and she wondered if she was crying until she realised it was her energy reserves; unwilling to push them, she hadn't absorbed enough.

<Rogue> Rogue looked over her shoulder to find Carol still not following... But, in fact, falling. Race forgotten, Rogue turned on a dime and rushed to try and catch Carol, but she was moving a bit slower than she had been and the force of gravity and the atmosphere was sucking Carol down faster than Rogue could fly. Shitshitshit!

<Carol> The heat generated from her rapid reentry into the atmosphere was easily absorbed by Carol's body, conscious or otherwise and it was enough to give her a kick back into consicousness. She came to a very sudden stop, still some miles from the ground and very disorientated.

<Rogue> Rogue zoomed right into Carol, surprised at having caught up that fast. She stopped in mid-air, arms wrapped around Carol's waist and looked her over. "Y'all alright?"

<Carol> "I'm... fine?" She eyed Rogue, "Are you?"

<Rogue> Rogue blinked at her, "Yeah... Y'all plummeted. Like ya lost all consciousness'r somethin'."

<Carol> "Oh... yeah... I think I should have absorbed more energy. I'm fine now," she gave the other woman a smile.

<Rogue> Rogue let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and carefully let go of Carol. "Back home then?"

<Carol> "Yeah... I think I'm going to have to get used to pushing my limits with how much I can absorb before I try that again... oooor bring a power source with me..." She made a mental note to call Agent Kent sometime.

<Rogue> "Well, at least it's farther than ya ever been b'fore. That's definitely an accomplishment, don'tcha think?"

<Carol> She nodded, "Yeah it is... and that's a sight I won't forget for a long time." She started back towards ground. "Thanks..."

<Rogue> Rogue followed, making sure to keep an eye on her companion, just in case. "Any time, sugah! It was fun. Ah ain't had that much fun since Sam. So, thank you."

<Carol> "No problem... next time, the moon, right?" She glanced over her shoulder at her.

<Rogue> "Definitely. Work on that absorbin' thing an' we'll totally make it!" She grinned at Carol, "Just gotta trust yaself, gal."

<Carol> "I just don't want to overload... that'd suck a whole lot." She slowed down and landed gently, running a hand through her hair.

<Rogue> Rogue landed softly next to her and shrugged, "Agreed. But ya won't know 'till ya try, right?"

<Carol> "Yeah... but I might need your help again for that... just in case..."

<Rogue> "Hey, Ah'm always willin' ta race ta tha moon," she smirked. "Ah bet Ah'll still beat ya."

<Carol> "Well we'll see..." she mirrored the expression back at her, "I'm curious... were you always this competative?"

<Rogue> "Mostly. But only when it comes ta fun things. Ah don't let it get dangerous. Why?"

<Carol> "I'm just wondering how much of me is still in there..."

<Rogue> "Well, a lot currently. But not a whole lot normally. Ah mean, bits o' ya personality did meld with mine... Ah think..."

<Carol> "So how can you be sure?" She decided to walk the rest of the way back to where they'd started, they'd landed on the opposite side of the property.

<Rogue> Rogue paused with a frown, "Ah don't know." She started following again, "Ah guess Ah just assumed?"

<Carol> "I'm not mad or anything... really just curious... it's kinda funny, my brothers always joke that one of me is enough of a headache..."

<Rogue> Rogue laughed, "Well, we could sure see how much of a headache we can give 'em, if ya wanted."

<Carol> "Maybe when we can get them both at once, it's no fun otherwise." She gave her a grin, "Besides, I might have to explain first that I didn't pound you into the ground."

<Rogue> "Oh... Yeah, that'd be good ta do. They may not understand it at first."

<Carol> "I'll add it to my 'to do' list.... That list is getting super long...."

<Rogue> "At least it ain't a giant 'ta do'. Ah'm sure y'all can knock that one off tha list easy."

<Carol> "Well it would be but one of my brothers is in the military like I am so he's kinda busy right now... doing stuff for you guys, actually. I kinda roped him in..."

<Rogue> "Well at least you can tell one of them fairly easily, then?"

<Carol> She nodded, "Yeah... in theory... I'd rather do them both at the same time then I only have to go through it once... but it's okay, that's my problem." She shook her head, "I better get the generator back to where I stole it from and get back to work..."

<Rogue> Rogue laughed and gave a nod of her head, "Alright. Ah gotta prepare f'r mah next student anyhow. See ya soon?"

<Carol> "I'm sure you will," she gave her a small wave and headed back to the generator. She had a lot to do but she was glad she'd had a bit of down time that wasn't so violent as her other passtimes, she made yet another mental note do more of that.

[steyn]

Spaaaaaaace