helland_damnation | TFLN and Continuations, bitches!

"I know, mate! Too fucking high already---"

Joe didn't want to look down because that would just make him a bit woozy since how high was he now? Definitely higher than any police station he'd climbed. Oh god. What was he doing? Pushing thoughts to the back of his mind he could see Minoru ahead of him. That wasn't fair! He didn't want to lose...

"Wait for me, honey!"

Gripping the ledge, Joe edged himself up slowly, just making sure his heeled boots didn't get caught on the ledge below as he pulled himself up and pushed his face to the glass.

“This was your idea!”

Fortunately, Minoru wasn’t one to get woozy from looking down. But he did stop, a little hesitant when he actually saw Joe struggle a few stories behind him.

Minoru had the pattern down thanks to lots of experience. Using the sides of the frames meant he could take smaller steps, and not tire his arms out as quickly. He had a good sense of when to engage his muscles and when to let them relax. Joe clearly didn’t. Had he ever climbed something this high before?

“What works on small walls doesn’t work on stuff like this!” He called back. “Keep doing pull-ups, and you’re gonna get tired too fast!”

"Yeah, it was. You wanted to join so why not?"

Joe didn't want to admit that he was nowhere near as good as Minoru at this climbing caper but he wasn't going to give up. No way! He listened to what the other bloke was telling him as he strained a little and could feel his muscles begin to tire already. His heeled boots still attached to his feet which was something. If he lost one of his shoes now then it would surely be game over. Also, they cost him quite a bit.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, honey!"

He shouted up at Minoru and didn't want to think about falling so took the parkourist's advice, making sure he wasn't doing so many pull-ups. He had to allow his muscles to relax and take on more oxygen so that he didn't slip and fall.

“Duh!” He shouted back. “This is my kind of fun! You sure you’re fine?”

Granted, at the speed they both were progressing, Minoru was going twice as far. He’d easily be right back to outpacing Joe, even after waiting for him to pull himself up another floor or two. It was a good break, really.

"This is my kind of fun too! Just never climbed this high before is all."

Joe wasn't afraid of admitting that since it made it all the more fun, right? To do something he'd never done before and in high heeled boots this time. Hell yes! He grabbed onto the ledge above and pulled himself up, using his heels to shunt himself upwards so that his torso didn't have to do all the work all the time. Looking up he saw Minoru up ahead of him.

"I'm ok! You're just faster than me---"

The bassist felt his hand slip a little on the ledge but maintained a good grip after kicking off a little with his foot.

With the additional confirmation that Joe really was all right, Minoru started his climb again.

Joe was right - even though he technically paused at each floor, Minoru was about twice as fast. For each story Joe climbed, Minoru did at least two. When he looked down again, the space between them had grown.

The crowd of onlookers had grown too!

A crowd? Now, Joe was interested as he looked down and behind him and saw some people taking photos of the brave dare devils from below. Of course they were. The bassist laughed and then began finding some more courage to climb higher. The wind caused his hair to wave all over the place but that wasn't stopping him.

"We've got fans! They're watching us from below!"

He yelled up at Minoru as he pushed up and made sure his heeled boots were on the railings properly as he climbed. It was getting higher and he could feel his heart hammering away in his chest. He could do this! Even if it took longer than Minoru.

When he reached the next frame, he stopped to take a look. At close to the 15 story mark, the people below were starting to look pretty small, but it was easy to see the numbers growing.

“Should have worn my Fan Man jersey!” He laughed out loud. “Not that anyone in this world would recognize that.”

In Ziggy’s world, at least to the best of his knowledge, he didn’t have a doppelgänger.

"Fan Man jersey? Awesome. I need one saying "Suck It."

Because Joe loved wearing dirty slogans all over himself, including his tattoos of the words "Eat Me" and "WTF". A Suck It t-shirt was a novel idea but one he would have to think about later, AFTER climbing this massively tall building. Why did windows have to be so shiny? He could hardly get a grip with his heeled boots as he climbed higher. It was lucky he could jam his heeled boots into the railings to get a better grip.

"FAN MAN!"

Joe shouted up at Minoru, then felt himself slip backwards. Shit!---He managed to jam one of his heeled boots into the railing and pull himself forwards, grabbing onto anything. If he fell....he would be dead. Then, his foot wouldn't move. Oh crap. Was he stuck?

"I think I'm stuck!"

He was getting high enough that they had to really shout to each other. So, while he didn’t catch all of the commentary on fashion choices, he sure as hell heard Joe scream his actual nickname.

Minoru nearly jumped. His heart leaped out of his chest at the panicked scuffling sounds below him, but his body anchored in place. He glanced down.

Thankfully, Joe was still there, but...

Minoru carefully inched his legs down the side of the frame so he was stable again.

“Stuck?!” He shouted back. “What do you mean, you’re stuck?!”

"Yeah, I'm---I'm fucking stuck!"

Oh crap. How did this happen? One minute he was doing really well and the next? Well....this! The bassist frowned and tried to wiggle his heeled boot out of the railing but it was jammed between the metal bar and the window. Damn!

"I have my heeled boot stuck in the railing. Shit---let me try to wiggle it free..."

It was the only option he had right now and he didn't fancy falling. He didn't want to die so was holding onto the rail above for dear life as he began moving his foot.

Minoru stared down, eyes wide. They were both up high enough that one wrong move could spell disaster. And here, he could see Joe literally hanging on to the frame above him, pushing and pulling against the window as he tried to free his shoe.

“Just relax!” He shouted. “Hang on!”

He meant that very literally.

“Give me a sec to climb down!”

He didn’t scoot down the way he went up, no. Instead, he braced himself on the side of the window, and carefully slid his way down the side of each of the frames. He descended surprisingly fast.

It was enough to make the onlookers gasp, point and yell. Or perhaps they were gasping and pointing at Joe for getting stuck.

"I am hanging on, mate! It's breezy up here....oh shit--"

The bassist was hanging on so tight that his fingers were going white and his whole body ached with the exertion. He couldn't fall though. No way would he fall! Gripping hard he tried to yank his boot free but it was wedged. Damn it! He could see Minoru coming down to help. Thank god for that.

"Bloody boot---it's stuck in the railing."

Joe marvelled at just how fast Minoru was making his way down. He was skilled at this and the bassist was not. This was obvious. But like hell was he going to give up just because of this one hitch.

Minoru slid down to where he was parallel with Joe, or rather, with his foot.

“Don’t let go, okay?” He insisted, carefully angling his own body close to the glass so he could devote one hand to getting Joe’s boot unstuck. Which, damn... it was REALLY stuck!! “How did you even...”

Minoru bit his lip. Try as he might, he couldn’t pull that heel out. Not at the angle Joe was at. Not at the angle he was at. So he did the only thing he could think to do - reach around Joe’s calf and undo the zipper.

“Pull your foot out of the boot! I might be able to get it out if you’re not in it!”

"I'm not going to let go---like hell am I. Oh god---"

Joe didn't even want to look down because there were people looking up at them from way down on the ground. They looked almost like ants. Shit---how high were they? The bassist could feel slight panic creeping in if he couldn't get his foot out. If Minoru couldn't help him then what the fuck was he supposed to do?

"Lose my boot? Oh, but I love this pair! Fine. Just---get me unstuck, honey."

He didn't want to lose his boot but it was better than losing his life. Falling from this distance? Yeah. Not good. As Minoru began unzipping his boot from the calf, Joe began pulling his foot out slowly.

“There you go, lift your leg, stay balanced.” Minoru encouraged, using his one free hand to pull the sides of he boot down so Joe could get his foot out easier.

"Right--hang on, I think I've got this."

Joe managed to hang on and pull his foot free of the stuck boot, feeling the suction on his calf as his foot came free. His fingers were now white as he was terrified of letting go. That wouldn't happen. Hey, he was still gripping onto the railing and wasn't dead!

"Ok, my foot's free, mate. Thanks for the assist---Let's go!"

He was already looking up, hoping to scale a few more stories before taking a short break in between. Joe wanted to get to the top!

And here, Minoru thought he would still be worrying about the boot.

“In a sock?! Are you crazy?!” Minoru screamed, reaching for Joe’s leg to keep him from trying to climb just yet. Hopefully, he wouldn’t get kicked for it. “No traction at all! You’ll slip right off!!”

He tugged at the other man’s sock. Bare feet wouldn’t be comfortable, and it still didn’t have the same grip as a good (or even bad) pair of shoes. But it would be better than sliding without an anchor!

"I'm not crazy, babe. Not really!"

Joe laughed a little and then kicked off his remaining sock and other boot because bare feet might help him grip a little better? Minoru was right. He had to use something to anchor himself to the side of the building. Otherwise it was suicide. Looking down at his now bare feet and then looked at the parkourist.

"Yeah...bare feet might be easier to climb up? This is my first time and I'm having a blast!"

He smiled and planted both feet on the rail feeling the cool metal against the warm soles of his feet.

Only somewhat crazy. The crowd below that was pointing and screaming were now fighting amongst themselves for the rocker’s socks and one remaining boot. It surprised even Minoru how loud they were.

Minoru shrugged, sort of, and made his way back to his original climbing position.

“As long as you’re still good.” He nodded before once again beginning his ascent. He was a little surer of his footing, having traversed some of this already, and was able to move even faster.

Unfortunately, the next surprise was the sound of sirens that soon overpowered the screaming fans.

“Great. Someone finally called the cops...”

"I'm still good---yeah. It's all good, mate. Thanks for the assist."

Joe was now planting the soles of his bare feet against the cool panes of glass hoping to stick his feet there like Spider-Man. He wasn't as agile as Spider-Man since that was more Minoru, yet he was still hanging in there at least!

"The cops? Shit! What the fuck do they want?"

That's all they needed. Ah well---who cared? They had a building to scale. Fuck the cops. Joe didn't care about them anyway since they were all assholes. Moving upwards he began scaling once more.

"Let's go!"

Minoru was far closer to Spider-Man, especially given how he was climbing. (That technique wasn't called the 'Jumping Spider' on American Ninja Warrior for no reason!)

"Same thing they always want! For us to get down!" Minoru shouted back.

They did have the benefit of height, though. The cops may not like it, but actually getting someone down was not exactly easy for them to do. But make them wait too long, and the cops probably wouldn't be too happy with them.

Minoru was closer to Spider-Man then Joe could ever be because the guy practiced parkour. Joe, however, did not. He was a bassist and musician which was a totally different profession. Either way, he wanted to climb higher.

"Fuck the police! We can go higher now that you've fixed my feet. Ready, mate?"

Even high, Joe didn't care what the cops wanted and they could fuck right off. Was he a rebel? Hell yes. Pushing himself up higher, Joe laughed as he could feel the drugs affecting him once more, making him reckless and not in charge of his faculties as he should be right now.

Minoru wasn't sure how much time they had left to climb before the cops made them come down, so he picked up the pace. As one does.

"I was ready three stories ago!" By the time he answered Joe, it was already getting hard to hear him again.

He kept glancing back every floor or so, just to make sure Joe was still doing all right.

"Yeah, ok--no need to show off, honey!"

Joe just shook his head and frowned because there was no way he was going to be able to reach the top as fast as Minoru was. Damn it. The cops could fuck off because there was no way he was climbing down now, not after he made it all this way AND lost his boots. That part hurt the most. He just pushed himself to climb without stopping but he was tiring and quickly.

He wasn't cut out for this sort of climbing. At all.

"Hey, dude----slow down, will you?"