The drop was shear and in the darkness Quinn couldn't even try to see any handholds in the four walls. She ran her hands over them as far as she could reach without falling over the edge. She stared into the nothingness that was the pit she was supposed to go down and grumbled curses under her breath. "What now?" she mumbled. She tried to remember if they had been put in a situation like this in one of their many training sessions, but her brain wasn't cooperating. It went off in different directions, wondering what was happening with the others.

Do you need help Nightmare?

Jean's voice rang through her head and she blinked, startled.

You're projecting some confusing scenarios, what's going on?

She ran her hands through her hair and took a breath.

I'm stuck, she projected. The vent goes straight down from here but I can't see or feel any hand holds. My wings are too big for me to just drop and catch myself. I don't know how long the drop is either so I can't just slide off the edge.

Is there anything around you that could help? A loose piece of metal or something? Iceman is the closest to you but he's occupied at the moment and I don't think that he would be able to get to the bottom of your drop to help you.

I'll look around.

Quinn felt the connection break off a bit and she shook her head, getting the feeling of the other girl out of her mind. She shifted a little bit back from the edge and moved her hands over the walls around her. The snake shifted around her neck and Quinn wondered if Ink could see her situation. Even if he did it wouldn't matter, he wouldn't be able to come help her. God, if that thing sticking into her calf would just stop she could think-

She twisted and reached back, pulling Mark's present out from her boot. She smiled. Now she had an idea. She took the knife and stabbed it into the metal of the far wall, tugging on it experimentally. It slid through the sheet, though not too easily. That was perfect; she didn't want to go crashing down the chute.

Removing her hand from the knife and leaving it in the wall she turned over onto her back and shifted herself so that her legs hung over the edge of the shaft. She paused, wondering if she should try to hunch herself over, but decided that she would probably only hit her head when she dropped. Instead she let herself lie on her back and take a deep breath. "It's just like a roller coaster," she told herself, even though she had never been on one. She had seen lots of pictures though, and commercials on TV, so she got the general idea. It didn't help her too much now but the idea chased away the truth, which was that this was a possible suicide plan. If her hands slipped from the knife's hilt or if it cut down through the metal too quickly she could possibly go into free fall down the chasm. The best case scenario in that case was a broken leg or other parts of her leg or legs damaged. The worst scenario would have her dead. But she tried not to think about either. The roller coaster idea was a happy idea associated with life and smiling faces. She held onto that thought as a solace for the coming ride.

Taking another deep breath she wormed closer to the edge. Her feet were braced against the wall as she slid down into the position she had thought about earlier. Surprisingly she didn't fall, her legs kept her up, but she knew that she'd lose that strength soon. She gripped the knife hilt and tugged; it jerked down the metal an inch. She took another breath and closed her eyes. Like a roller coaster, like a roller coaster, like a roller coaster…

She let her legs fall from the wall and she began her swift decent.