Feel the Burn

You start the downward part of a fourth push-up, but the raw skin feels like burning acid. The pain forces you onto your knees.

"How does Transgression do it?" You stand up and smooth your hair.

"Saffire," Rabsy begins, "pain is a natural signal the body give the brain to stop doing something. Learning to ignore it is therefore unnatural, freakish, and foolish. And doing something over and over again while expecting the result to be different is the definition of insanity. So before you go insane, maybe you should listen to your body, you freaking idiot!"

You scowl at Rabsy as Blackfire comes over.

"Saffire," she says, "trying to do what Transgression can do isn't healthy for you right now, and probably takes years to master anyways. Just worry about strengthening your arms and legs, ok?"

"If that's what you want," you say. "Rabsy, do you have any spare rods?"

Rabsy hops over to the right wall of the garage and searches inside a big drawer.

"Here," he grunts as he pulls out a ten-foot steel rod. "You can use this, but don't bend it. We have it so that we can cut metal cylinder plugs off it."

"And a bench?"

Rabsy pulls out a wood bench from a back room.

You lie down on the bench, and hold the rod in both hands. You do bench presses with it, your hands set widely apart to isolate your chest.

"One..." you count, the pain in your chest burning. "Two..."

"Wait, what're you doing?" Blackfire asks. "You're still making your chest burn hurt!"

"Yeah," you say. "But I'm also weight lifting. I mean, this rod isn't light!"

"But you're still hurting yourself!" she shouts.

"I found a compromise... Three... Four... This will-- Five... help me get my arms stronger-- Six... while learning to-- Seven... endure the pain. Eight..."

Blackfire scowls, then lightens up and laughs.

"Well, you should use more weight than that. Flashfire, help me out with this."

When you bring the rod down, Blackfire quickly straddles it like a horse, and Flashfire quickly copies.

"Ni-- what're you two doing?!"

"We're being your weights," Blackfire explains. "Now lift us!"

"Niiiine!" you strain to say as you strain to life the rod AND the weight of Blackfire and your sister. "Tennnn..." You arms have had enough, and your the raw part of your chest is burning like a star.

"Keep going!" Flashfire says. "This is fun!"