helland_damnation | TFLN and Continuations, bitches!

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?"

When it’s boots vs life, it’s not that hard of a choice. You can buy new boots, but not a new life.

Not that Minoru seemed to think his own life was ever in any danger. Even as the sirens grew louder and the city police started corralling people and shouting into megaphones.

“We’re not even half way up!” And this was with him picking up the pace. He paused, though, watching Joe strain to pull himself up one more story. His tone softened a little, but he still had to shout so the rocker could hear him. “Seriously... You’re not gonna make it to the top!”

"Not even half way up! Shit----I thought we were further than that!"

The truth being that Joe didn't want to look down because it made him queasy. Had he ever been up this high before? Hell no. The cops and spectators below all now looking up at the pair doing this crazy stunt. The bassist gripping on hard as he tried to pull himself up at every ledge without wobbling. Minoru was way up on the lead but this didn't deter Joe at all.

"We can do this, mate! I want to get to the top---"

He wasn't giving up.

“Maybe a third?” He called back out. “I lost count after I had ti climb back down and get you out of your shoe!!”

From where they were, it was impossible to see the top, and the distance from the bottom was an estimation at best. But safe to say, they were thoroughly in the middle.

The crowd on the street had grown significantly, and the police were spending just as much effort corralling people as they were yelling at the daredevils on the building.

Were Minoru by himself, he would have easily kept scaling the frames, but he kept stopping to look back at Joe. The musician really wasn’t prepared for freeclimbing a skyscraper. Every time he pulled himself up to the next floor, he looked like he was straining just a little bit more. And they still had a lot more ahead of them as they did behind them.

A third? Was that it? Joe felt it was much higher than that because he could feel the wind whistling in his ears and the way it waved his hair about. Shit. It wasn't looking good at all. Would he even make it without losing his grip or suffering a sudden leg cramp? He didn't need those at all.

"It feels higher, mate! I'm sure of it--!"

The bassist was high and being intoxicated on drugs whilst trying to scale New York's highest skyscraper wasn't the best or smartest idea. But then the Brit was crazy and loved to do stupid things like this. Fuck it all. Pulling himself up, Joe groaned a little with the effort but didn't want to give up.

He wasn't a quitter!

"How are you doing this? I'm slow----"

He felt a bit annoyed that Minoru was better than him at this.

How was he doing this? Experience. Sobriety probably helped a little too, but it was mainly years and years of practice.

“Hey! You hear the helicopters?!” He shouted down. He hadn’t spotted them in the sky yet, but he could hear them from somewhere. “Think we’re gonna be on the news!”

That, or it was a police helicopter called for a ‘search and rescue,’ just without the search part.

"Yeah, I can hear them. Fucking annoying! Why don't they piss off?"

Joe didn't care about the helicopters since he was more focused on trying not to fall to his death whilst climbing up a very tall skyscraper. Suicide? Perhaps. But the rock star didn't think so as he pulled himself up another level and panted a little. Fuck, this wasn't easy but Minoru made it look so easy!

"Oh yeah? Hell yeah, baby! Let's get on the news for being the first two blokes to scale this tall bitch!"

The Brit laughed and then felt his arms begin to tire a little as he pushed up onto the ledge above still determined as ever.

When the noise got louder, Minoru could see that it actually was a news helicopter. At least, it didn’t have the markings of a police helicopter (and it stayed enough of a distance away that it could get a good shot of both of them).

Somewhere in a hotel room, maybe band mates, managers or (worse) Tom were watching live coverage of the crazy daredevils attempting to scale a building - complete with interviews with passersby, concerned police and fire department crews.

Minoru gave a cheeky wave in its direction before quickly bounding up another couple of floors. At which point, he slowed down again, checking back on Joe.

Joe noticed the helicopter as he turned his head and laughed. A news chopper? Hell yeah! Now they could get him and Minoru live on fucking air! This amused the bassist who used the strength in his thick arms to pull himself up, jamming his fingers into the ledge hard so he wouldn't fall while his legs caught up.

"I think we're going to be on fucking T.V! We're famous, mate!"

Another slight wobble as the Brit looked up, noticing how far Minoru had gotten too. Aw, he was fast! Shit. Keeping himself steady, Joe pushed himself to climb higher, feeling the air whip against his hair. He couldn't give up now---no way!

"Nice moves up there!"

Minoru shimmied his way up another floor before calling back, “Aren’t you already famous?!”

Surely, news outlets would be reporting on Joe and his band by name. Minoru was a complete unknown in this world - probably not even born yet if he was even meant to exist in some form.

Slowly, but surely, Minoru neared the halfway mark, with Joe still somewhat behind. The shouts from the police on the ground, much like the crowd, continued to grow.

The way Minoru was shimmying his way to the top had Joe frowning and huffing because there was no way he could physically do that. He was more stocky than the parkourist and didn't have the skill or practice so he was at a disadvantage to start off with. Yet, the Brit was not going to give up.

"Yeah I am but for playing my guitar not this! This is fucking crazy, mate. I'm loving it!"

Joe smirked as he pushed himself up to another level, realising that there was no way he could fall now. He would surely die. Shit. This was intense as he suddenly had a fear of falling as he gripped onto the ledge and could feel the coke high beginning to ebb off a little.

"Oh fuck---this is high. Shit. I don't want to fall."

The bassist closed his eyes for a moment or two just trying to steady himself. There was no way he could fall now. Were his palms beginning to sweat? That wasn't good.

By this point, people on every floor of that building were pushed up against the glass trying to crane their necks one way or the other for a better view.

“Should be kinda half way!” Minoru shouted. It was really hard to tell at this point. “Second half’s always harder than the first!”

Not because it was structurally more difficult. But because fatigue could, and often did, set in. He felt it during his American Ninja Warrior qualifiers for sure. But he’d done a good job pacing himself here, and felt absolutely great.

After another floor or so, he looked down to see Joe with his eyes closed, clutching the rail above him.

Not exactly looking as great.

It didn't look great at all.

From above or below. Joe was determined not to die so made his eyes snap open and offered up a loud scream as he pushed himself to move past the fatigue and focus more. The pain was now becoming more of a thing as the drugs wore off and he found himself facing fear and pain in one fell swoop. Coming down from a coke high was bad enough but finding yourself halfway up the tallest skyscraper in New York? Yeah. This was even worse.

"I'm ok! Don't worry about me, mate. I can do this----"

Could he?

Joe wasn't a quitter and he was now thinking of Aarne and the other bands. He couldn't slip because dying would suck and make his Fin very sad. Not only that but it would fucking ruin his career as bassist! He couldn't have this. He grunted with each push as he made his way up another level, pleased that he was doing this. A trickle of sweat tickled down his back as he climbed. Yeah, he was getting tired but his wanted to do this. He had to.

The scream was more startling than the silence, and Minoru had to grab onto that ledge as his foot slipped slightly. That... that was very close. Too close.

“Warn me before you do that!” He shouted back, relieved that Joe was merely finding his second wind and not falling to his doom.

The last thing he needed was to fall to his doom either. (Because yes, dying would be very inconvenient. He wouldn’t get to take the American Ninja Warrior Finals by storm if he were dead. Not to mention how his friends and family would feel... Ziggy especially. He did make a promise to always come back from his adventures, and he intended to still keep it.)