2014.03.12 - You spent your weekend in space? Me too!

It's afternoon. Jocelyn has decided, for a rare change, to actually relax a little bit. That might be a rare sight for Rachel to see. It's warm enough, at least in Jocelyn's mind, to wear a t-shirt and a pair of jeans outside, even if it is just thawing a little bit. It felt more like Spring, at least! She's scrolling through some news websites on her phone, a pair of headphones stuck in her ears. She was pleased to see that 'Channel' didn't show up in the news reports about the battle. 
She liked to keep annonymous to the public eye. It just made things awkward, plus it meant that not everyone would be asking her if she was insane or not to go help the Justice League out.
She'd had enough of the whole age thing lately. But she didn't really have much stomach for it on the best of days.
Regardless, the woman looks almost bored as she flips through the sites outside. Jocelyn wasn't someone who often just stopped and did nothing but read, but she'd started making a bit more of an effort. It was...hard. How did people manage to do this sort of stuff all day? Ugh.
 
Rachel has been in and out of the mansion lately, and when she has been around she's seemed a bit preoccupied. She hasn't exactly been secretive about what she's been up to, but then she hasn't exactly been publicising what she's been up to either. 
Considering the events that have been in the news, that might not be surprising... except that Rachel hasn't been involved with any of them.
Having been missing most of the previous day, it's not clear that she got in before the morning. However, she's back home now, and although some of her preoccupied air has dissipated, she's in a restless mood, unable to settle. Finally having gotten bored with prowling the interior of the mansion looking for distractions, she's found her way outside, and also found Jocelyn.
Rachel crosses over to join the other woman, aware that Jocelyn will already know that she's there, and glances from the phone to the much taller redhead. "What'd I miss?" She asks in the tone of someone who already knows the big story. 
Incidentally, she's also dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, although she might have raided Kitty's closet for the jeans, as they're not the skinny style she usually favours, and a pair of flats are on her feet. Her arms are folded as if she's feeling a little cooler than Jocelyn.
Yep, Jocelyn knew that Rachel was there. She glances over at Rachel. "Darkseid got beaten back, though it was costly," the woman tells Rachel. "There's a fair bit the news doesn't tell, but that's normal. Some of it is kept out of it," the teen says to Rachel. The stance that Rachel was donning gets a slight raise of Jocelyn's eyebrow. "Someone is feeling mighty good about themselves," the teen observes. 
"What've you been up to? I'll admit I've been a little out of it the last few days myself". She hasn't dropped the bit that she WAS involved in the fight, but mostly because she's curious about what her friend has been up to that's got her feeling so confident. Not that confidence was bad, but this was noticable.
"You also seem pretty restless. Either I need to start working you harder in the mornings, or it's getting to the point where the workouts are giving you more energy during the day," Jocelyn jokes.
 
Rachel /is/ feeling pretty good. Which might be inappropriate given what's been happening, but there it is. She's not immune to the losses that were suffered, though, and her expression does turn more somber as Jocelyn reminds her of that. She nods. "I heard some of the reports." She looks up, a bit sharply, when Jocelyn mentions things being kept out of the news, but before she can ask her question, Jocelyn gets one in first.
Rachel grimaces a bit, shrugs, and then uncrosses her arms so that she can run a hand through her hair as she tries to figure out how to answer that question. "Yeah." She goes with first, and then stuffs her hands in the back pockets of her jeans while she tries to explain. "You remember when I dragged you down to the Danger Room? Because I wanted to get a handle on my limits? And I was worried about touching the Phoenix?" Rachel takes a breath. "I met someone. In a..." Rachel struggles to find the words to explain the alternate London that she briefly visited and then gives up. "Never mind. I met someone, and he recognised the... I don't know what to call it, the touch of the Phoenix maybe, on me." Rachel pauses. "He told me things. About the Phoenix, and things beyond Earth. He told me that Darkseid's just the start, that space and time is damaged, and..." Rachel pauses to look at Jocelyn with a smirk. "I know how this sounds, OK? But yesterday I went with him to a spaceship crash, and a few hours later..." Rachel winces. She knows how THIS sounds, too. "...I was on the other side of the galaxy eating Kree food with Shi'ar spices." She shrugs. "Wasn't bad, actually."
Rachel collects her thoughts for a moment. "I guess... I never knew why the Phoenix sent me back here. What it's all FOR. But I might finally find out. I'm just a bit... impatient." She admits, and pauses again, well aware of how little sense she's making. "Want to see, before you tell the Professor I'm crazy?" She offers simply.
Jocelyn, in much her usual way, takes all that in without any outward sign of judgement as to what she's thinking, unless you're Doug Ramsey and can read body language. "Well, yeah, we'd been practicing at the upper end of our power limits at times too, because it's sometimes hard to get a partner for that," Jocelyn says. She'd always felt they were relatively evenly matched, given perfectly equal starting ground. "I'm not surprised that Darkseid is just the beginning," the woman adds. "He's powerful, but I'm willing to wager there is far worse out there than him". And Darkseid wasn't a fun guy to deal with, honestly.
Even with the bit about a spaceship, Jocelyn just smiles. "I was given private by Carol Danvers". Pause. "This reality's Captain Marvel. She's had a lot of dealings with outer space and aliens and such. I've met a member of the Brood before, actually". Which was weird. "So no, I don't think you're crazy. But if you want to show me, I'd love to. I'm glad you've found your reason for being here," the teen adds with a genuine smile. There's no look that she thinks Rachel has gone over the deep end here.
 
Rachel knows that the X-Men have had dealings with alien races like the Shi'ar. She knows that her kinda sorta grandfather is a space pirate. But it's one thing to know it and another to experience it. It was a steep learning curve and she's not expecting it to level out any time soon. But once she got over her initial astonishment, she found herself wanting more. That's what's at the root of her extra assurance and her restless energy.
And considering Jocelyn's cool, calm reaction to the words Rachel can't quite believe she's saying, making her the first person she told looks like being one of Rachel's better plans. Her delivery definitely needs polish.
There's a definite touch of relief to Rachel's answering smile. "Maybe they should have picked you instead. You've got experience." It's a joke, nothing more, and Rachel adds, "I'm glad one of us doesn't think I am." Although that's said mostly to herself. She looks up again, a grin coming on to her face as Jocelyn agrees to her suggestion. "All right, then." Rachel says, and locks her gaze on Jocelyn, reaching out with her mind - the temporary link between them forged with confident assurance.
The images come through sharp and clear - materialising in a marketplace, surrounded by hundreds of aliens of dozens of different species. Feeling the touch of so many strange minds. Looking around at her companions, the golden-skinned Adam Warlock, the half-Kree Phyla-Vell, and the bounty hunter from a different future Johnny Alpha. And then, finally, the image of the station from outside, revealing it to be the severed head of a giant Celestial, floating in the void.
Rachel withdraws the link, unable to quite keep the grin off her features. She was actually there. She doesn't care that this is nothing out of the ordinary for Jocelyn, she's just glad to have told her.
Out of the ordinary is kind of the ordinary for Jocelyn. "Oh, I didn't have any space experience until a couple days ago," Jocelyn assures Rachel with a small smile. Yes, Jocelyn HAD been up to something herself. "Besides, a team is more than about raw power. It's filling it out with people who compliment each other, power-wise and personality-wise". Jocelyn, perhaps, has a bit more familiarity with that than she should, given she doesn't exactly run things at the X-Men base.
Then she's in the familiar mindlink with Rachel. Really, Rachel was the only telepath Jocelyn had any remote comfort sharing such a link with. Mostly because Rachel had never struck her as someone who was going to invade Jocelyn's thoughts without cause.
There's a small wrinkle of Jocelyn's nose when she watches the images. "It's always so weird now, seeing images without energy overlays". Rachel's memories don't have energy patterns flying around them, after all. "So they're asking you to join this team then. Cool. You'll do well there. You're still sticking around here though too, right?" Jocelyn would hate to lose her friend, though she'd be happy for her. "That station is a little creepy looking, I gotta admit. Maybe they need some drapes or a tapestry," she comments with a smile. "So, what all does the group plan to deal with?" Jocelyn doesn't seem to think Rachel's plan is bad at all.
 
There it is again. Rachel knows Jocelyn has a story of her own to tell, but she's been a little carried away in the telling of hers. Her curiosity is going to win that fight soon, however. Just before she puts the temporary mind-link in place, Rachel actually laughs a bit at Jocelyn's suggestion about compatible personalities. It's too soon to tell, really, but Jocelyn's about to see those new team-mates of Rachel's, so she'll probably understand why the comment about compatibility made her laugh. They're certainly an odd bunch, and Rachel's definitely including herself in that description.
"Next time I'll add special effects." Rachel suggest, amused by Jocelyn's complaint, but becomes a bit more serious as the other woman continues. "I hope so!" She says, a bit too quickly. "I haven't told the Professor yet." She's not really sure how well he's going to take the idea of splitting her responsibilities. She's happy to be distracted from that thought by Jocelyn's less than serious suggestions. "It needs something. It's a bit hard to forget you're walking around in someone's decapitated head once you've seen it from the outside."
Rachel shakes her head with a good natured smile when Jocelyn questions her further. "That part I'm still figuring out. Adam's long on doom and mystery and short on easy explanations. Besides." Rachel smirks. "It's your turn. Spill."
"If it helps, bring up Logan and all his affiliations. Or Piotr and his affiliation with the Justice League," Jocelyn comments to Rachel. Because, well, those affiliations existed, and it was reasonably common knowledge. Though Jocelyn had kept her affiliation with the Young Allies a secret. "Hey, even when you peek inside my mind, I don't know that you'd be able to recreate the proper energy signatures. It'd just look really weird and I'll get confused," the teen teases back. "Well, you'll get it out of him. And you know that if your team ever needs a hand with something, you can give me a buzz. I don't really care all that much what 'team' somebody is affiliated with, as long as it's doing something good, you know?" Jocelyn was an equal opportunity helper.
The teen chuckles. "Well, back when Darkseid first showed up and depowered Superman, I went and found some of the energy used. I took it to the Justice League to help them. It turns out they wanted a bit of help with the frontal assault on Apokolips, which is Darkseid's home planet. So I kind of found myself fighting alongside Wonder Woman, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, The Flash, Power Girl, and a couple hours as the frontal assault group". She pauses. "Fighting in space? Really kind of weird, even with a rebreather".
There's obviously more to the story, but Jocelyn pauses to consider. "If you like, I can show you, though it was a pretty rough fight, I should warn you". Because she was helping to fight one of the New Gods. Rough might be an understatement.
 
Rachel nods when Logan and Piotr are brought up, but it's with a knowing smile. Somehow she has a feeling that things won't be quite that easy, no matter who else manages to juggle the X-Men and their other responsibilities. But that's a conversation for another day. Jocelyn's teasing takes her mind off it and makes Rachel chuckle, but she's touched by Jocelyn's offer to help out if she's needed. "I know. Thanks." Rachel says simply, and then gives her full attention to Jocelyn's story.
She's impressed, and she doesn't try to keep that off her face. The nonchalant way that Jocelyn talks about having been right in the middle of it only serves to impress Rachel that little bit more. It takes the comment about fighting in space to get Rachel to say anything. "Hey, I'm going to need the practice, too. Danger Room, sometime?" She suggests, more than half serious, but... not right now. Right now is for shaking her head, letting out a low whistle, and just saying, "Wow. I just... wow." Rachel grins. "That's crazy. You're probably crazy." There's only approval in 
Rachel's voice, though. She nods as soon as the offer is given. "Are you kidding? Of course I want to see." It's not like she hasn't seen her share of rough stuff, and she wants to know what her friend went through. She touches the fingers of one hand to her temple, and raises her brows a bit, asking permission.
Jocelyn is quiet for the moment and focuses on the memories. There isn't a lot to say, because she's really focused on first letting Rachel in and then letting the memories flow upwards.
The first memory is at the Watchtower. The heroes are waiting as Channel and Iron Man work on completing the last bits to power the device, with Channel acting as a human battery to create and provide the missing Element X. Portals open up, and the group steps through. Channel's reflection is caught, and she's wearing a purple and teal one-piece sleeveless costume, complete with a teal mask and purple gloves. She's also wearing a rebreather. It is a costume that Channel didn't wear often, and certainly wasn't one that she wore for X-Men operations. Channel seems reasonably confident, as she typically does. It's her refusal to ever give up that comes through the mindlink that is the source of her confidence.
The next memory is entering space. A huge, metal 'planet' is in front of them. There is no gravity on the planet, and the planet appears to almost be pieced together. A shield made of a blue, unknown energy pops up, and parademons start attacking the heroes. Cannons and battleships rise from the planet, and all begin attacking the heroes, as does Darkseid himself. Channel focuses her energy on draining the shield, opening up to the full limits of her power and working on opening a hole in one of the mile-wide hexagonal grid squares. She's passing the extra energy on to Captain Marvel in a practiced technique. Her concentration is split, however, as she works on adjusting the energy produced by the generators to solar energy. The grid starts turning yellow with the energy of the Yellow Sun, and the Kryptonians in the group begin to charge up more fully, now that they have access to Yellow Sun energy.
The battle continues, with Channel disrupting Darkseid's own personal defenses by draining the energy from them as Wonder Woman strikes at the man, sending him flying. Captain Marvel intercepts a blast of Omega Energy aimed for Wonder Woman, yet somehow lives, though she falls. Several of the dispatched Iron Man suits form up into a 50 foot tall Iron Man and attack, drawing a lot of the firepower of the planet, though the heroes are still having to deal with a lot of the planet's military might.
The next image is of Channel converting the energy around her into a massive amount of Omega Energy. The woman glows red and then lets it fly at Darkseid, striking him and causing him to have to block it. This is at the same time other heroes all attack him, and the sustained attacks damage his eye when Wonder Woman finally strikes him again.
The memory shifts again. The planet shifts into literally a war planet, with anime-sized cannons protruding out, thousands of parademons reinforcing the lines, and even more airships. It's at that moment that Magneto rips a portal open, somehow, and the mutant army from Genosha arrives, all attacking with their powers at once. Channel isn't able to handle the amount of energy, and completely overloads. She practically becomes a comet, and there's a conscious decision to crash into the planet before she explodes, and hurtles downward at Darkseid, causing a massive crater as she strikes.
 
As before, the mind-link slips neatly into place, although this time its Rachel skimming off the memories Jocelyn brings to the surface of her mind, rather than projecting her own memories to the other woman. She's just as adept at doing so, which is fortunate because the memories are so dramatic that it's hard to hold her concentration and not get swept away by them.
To begin with, Rachel smiles, feeling Jocelyn's confidence even when surrounded by well-known heroes. It feels to Rachel that her friend belongs there, in that company, and she's happy to see it.
Rachel doesn't get much more time for reflection after that.
As the memory shifts, to the vastness of space and the shielded planet that's clearly the heroes target, Rachel's interest intensifies - and then she stops breathing as Darkseid and his armada rise to the attack. After that, it's wide-screen, high definition action in full 3D, and since Rachel's looking through Jocelyn's eyes, it really is just like being there herself. She's quietly astonished by how professionally Jocelyn keeps her head, does her part - and she's distinctly impressed by how central to the heroes' efforts her friend seemed to be.
The ebb and flow of the battle is breathtaking in its intensity, but Rachel's an experienced telepath. She brings her instinctive reactions under control and manages to observe with a modicum of calm - until Jocelyn overloads and goes hurtling down toward Darkseid. And yes, she felt the decision to attempt a kamikaze run on Darkseid at the end. And the sudden, fierce pride in her friend's bravery and refusal to give in probably washes back across the link just before Rachel closes it down.
Rachel blinks once, twice, as her eyes refocus in the afternoon sunshine, rather than the light of stars and explosions. For a moment she just looks at Jocelyn, her eyes that bit wider than usual. And then, slowly, a grin breaks out across her features. "I was right. You ARE crazy. That was absolutely insane." Rachel shakes her head. "I'm not going to ask how you lived through that, I'm just glad you did. And I'm sorry I wasn't there."
"I was overcharged, so I'm guessing my durability was increased as well," Jocelyn admits as the mindlink fades away. There is a small smile at the pride that slips through before the link is shut down. "I ended up below ground, and I started messing around with the planetary power and computers. Ended up wrecking a few things that way, but you don't see much of that, except for a lot of energy flow". 
Also, she'd shattered up her arm quite nicely and busted some other bones, and was in a lot of pain. But she didn't need her friend to experience that memory either.
There's a little grin. "And yeah. I'm a little crazy. But I figured at that point if I was going to go out, I may as well do some damage in the process, you know?" It made sense to Jocelyn. "Don't worry about not being there. You had your own thing you were doing, and we handled it as well as could be expected. Ultimately, Darkseid was driven back, and that's the important thing". She wasn't sure what exactly became of him. But she figured Superman had it under control.
"So. If we had to write a paper on what we did over the weekend, I think we could write a pretty good sci-fi adventure, couldn't we?" Jocelyn adds with a grin. There's a pause. "Maybe I'll program that scenario into the Danger Room sometime. Though I think I might get told I'm crazy in not quite as good of a way if I let too many people see it".
 
"Wait." Rachel says, actually holding up a hand as she says the word. "Let me get this absolutely clear. AFTER you survived that little suicide run I just saw, you KEPT GOING?" Rachel's a bit stunned, and mutters, "You said it." Under her breath when Jocelyn confirms her diagnosis.
Rachel has to laugh, though, when Jocelyn shrugs off her apology. "Yeah. I was playing space tourist and you were saving the universe. Sounds fair to me!" Still chuckling a bit, she does nod her agreement on one point - that Darkseid being driven back IS the important thing, after all.
"We'd never get the budget to film it." Rachel says at once. "But it WOULD be epic." She agrees with an answering grin. Because, well, the danger involved might be at opposite ends of the scale, but when you've had a weekend like either of the two have, what else can you do? "I'll run it with you." There is, of course, no hesitation when she says that, but she snorts at Jocelyn's caution. "Hey, my program's still in there, and no-one's told me I need to have my head examined yet." OK, the one based on Rachel's version of the future is a different kind of horrible, but the comparison is there. "Just tell anyone who asks you can't reveal your sources. And hey. It happened. We need to train for next time."
"I know you just muttered something," Jocelyn responds with a smile. "Sound makes energy, you know". Though she didn't hear what the woman said. "And I'm stubborn, what can I say?" She laughs. "Fair enough," she agrees on the Danger Room. The woman stands up. "I need to get something to eat. Join me?" Jocelyn suggests. Either way, the tall redhead was going to go get something to eat. Because she was feeling hungry at the moment.
Category:Log