helland_damnation | TFLN and Continuations, bitches!

State the date and name the time!

How about today and.....NOW?

[Because Joe wants to do this.]

The last text the rocker got was one that said, ‘On my way’

But in about half an hour, Minoru was jogging up the block. And it was obvious he meant serious business. He stopped long enough to put on good shoes, some fingerless climbing gloves and even to tie sone of his unruly hair back.

“All right, is this the one we’re climbing?” He looked up, wondering who the heck worked in all those floors. Boy, were they going to get a treat!

This was about to get serious and Joe really had no idea what he was doing compared to Minoru who had the equipment. His hair was even tied back! The bassist was out of his depth but like hell was he about to give up. This was a challenge and he wanted to do it.

"Yeah, this is the one! You're all dressed for the part. I'm not."

Looking down, Joe sighed and shrugged. Whatever. He had a skyscraper to climb! Also, he would aim to win. Ok, time to climb. Being high meant he was jumping up and down, giggling slightly as he looked up at the huge building.

"Ready, hot cakes?"

To be fair, he was dressed the same as he would be for a more serious workout. Those were his usual shoes and gloves made it so the pavement didn’t tear up his hands.

He stretched a little, looking up the skyscrsper.

If this were a little shop in the Nexus, with its quaint brick or stone layout, there would have been a ton of natural handholds and footholds. But this was a modern skyscraper, complete with way too many windows set against metal frames. Still, the gaps in the framing was wide enough for a hand to slip through, and stuck out far enough that you could brace a foot against it. You could even stand on it, albeit uncomfortably. So, while difficult, it wasn’t an impossible climb.

“The Fan Man is always ready.” He grinned back.

He took a few steps back, got a running start, and sprinted up the entire first story, grabbing onto the first metal frame and pulling himself up.

“What are you waiting for?”

Joe had climbed up a lot of buildings before, usually whilst high or drunk, most of them being police stations or some random blocks of flats. But this? This was on another level, literally. Was he making a huge mistake trying to climb the highest skyscraper with this guy? Maybe. Of course it was a stupid idea.

"Fan Man?"

That got the bassist laughing out loud before trying to compose himself. What the hell are you doing, Joe? You're no expert climber nor a parkourist like your opponent. Well, here he goes---

"Nothing! Let's do this, bitch!"

Joe screamed out loud, running towards the building whilst leaping up and grabbing onto the first railing and frame he could get as he tried to climb. Oh yeah---one minor snag. He's wearing high heeled boots. Being high as fuck he forgot and hoped they made for good stepping aids. This was such a bad idea.

“Hey!” Minoru’s face lit up. “Not a bad jump! You can really get some air!”

He braced himself on the metal railing, carefully positioning his feet. Grabbing the side of the frame with his hands, he lifted his leg, wedged one foot against the side of the frame, and then repeated the process with the other side. One hand slid up the frame, then the other.

It was like a very, very narrow spider climbing obstacle. The technique required constant, equal pressure to keep from falling. Should one side buckle in the middle of a window, it was all over. But for now... steady as she goes!

"Oh yeah? Thanks, honey."

Joe grinned and then tried to focus on what he was grabbing next. This was much different from the climbs he'd done before. The police station was easy and wasn't so tall! His right foot slipped a little on the windowsill below since heels weren't the best climbing shoes to start with. Oh well, too late now.

Grabbing each frame, the bassist giggled rather nervously as he climbed higher, looking to where Minoru was. He was much faster and more skilled but this wasn't putting the Brit off at all. No way was he giving up!

"You're good at this, babe...."

Another hand hold and Joe could feel the cool air behind his back as he peeked into the windows. Offices? There were people in suits walking around and sitting at desks. Joe smirked and stuck his tongue out at any passing office workers then stuck a finger up and realised he was then only holding on with one hand---

"Fuck----ah---"

He quickly grabbed back onto the ledge and realised he could have lost his grip.

A one or two story building is child’s play. This was a challenge. Minoru was concentrating on his grip and his footing. He was already a few stories above the bassist, and above the safe height for jumping and surviving unscathed, when he heard the man cry out.

As soon as he could brace himself in a way that he could look down, he did.

“You okay?!”

"Yeah---I'm ok, mate! Just---nearly lost my grip. Let's go!"

Joe pushed himself up with his large powerful bicep muscles and managed to kick off a little from the railing he was stood on. So far so good. Oh crap, this was starting to get seriously high and he'd never been up such a height before. Still, it was fun! The bassist used his upper body strength to grip onto the next story and shook his head to clear it a little because the coke was still making everything a bit blurry.

"Wait for me, runner boy!"

“This is NOT the spot you want to lose your grip!” Minoru shouted back.

After three floors, falling (even in a controlled manner) is likely going to result in some pretty serious injuries. The higher they go, the more likely those injuries might be fatal. Not that those statistics bothered Minoru at all, given that he already had several floors on Joe by this point.

And was definitely starting to attract various office workers’ attention.

"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!”