fandomhigh | Summer Shenanigans, Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Entry tags:

summer games

Summer Shenanigans, Wednesday, June 8, 2022

There was a definite smell of grease in the air along the beach that should worry anyone who'd every experienced one of Anakin's Wednesdays before, and that was only if they didn't notice the enormous, greased-up pole resting between two wooden scaffolds about ten feet above the water.

Or the greased-up pigs in a pen.

Or the greased-up flag pole.

Anakin liked a theme, that's what we're saying here.

"Today is all about adaptation!" Anakin yelled into the bullhorn when everyone had arrived. "Your teams have to attempt--individually--get get across the pole in the water and then up the flag pole. Your times, should anyone complete these tasks--will be added together, along with your efforts in the pairs greased pig collecting competition. Fastest team wins."

Who took Anakin to a county fair. Really.

"Listen for your names! There will be five teams of six and you may not use any special powers to assist yourself or your teammates. This is all physical prowess and mental stamina."

TEAM PRAISE THE LARD
Steve M
Aphra
Scott
Graham
Kennedy
Sakaki

TEAM HOT WIENERS
Isabela
Duke
Stark
Steph
Gray
Annie

TEAM TAKE ME TO THE FAIR
Vi
Libby
Will
Jo
Miguel
Hannibal

TEAM FUNNEL CLOUDS AND FUNNEL CAKES
Goose
Buck
Alexis
Lana
Travis
Jon

TEAM BUSTING BALLS
Rey
Belle
Beaker
Wanda
Steve R
Liz

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

All of these become easier as the grease falls off, so the first folks to go have about zero chance to make it across. It gets sliiiightly easier after about half the group has gone over. Take your shoes off, hope for the best, and run!

[RNG says the order of going across the pole is:
1. Annie
2. Libby
3. Travis
4. Aphra
5. Will
6. Alexis
7. Liz
8. Kennedy
9. Rey
10. Wanda
11. Gray
12. Stark
13. Miguel
14. Jo
15. Lana
16. Graham
17. Sakaki
18. Buck
19. Isabela
20. Steve R
21. Belle
22. Steve M
23. Goose
24. Hannibal
25. Scott
26. Jon
27. Duke
28. Vi
29. Beaker
30. Steph

for running across. Mod your result! No superpowers!]

Edited 2022-06-08 14:51 (UTC)

Travis . . . did not get far, no. He knew he wouldn't. He made it approximately three feet on pure momentum and then went flailing into the water.

Maybe being wet meant he could take that stupid shirt off now?

"All right?" Stark called out from where he was waiting his turn and very definitely not enjoying the view of a now thoroughly soaked firefighter, for reals.

Travis spat out a mouthful of water and gave Stark a thumbs up.

Please. Duke was a sailor. Balance on slippery surfaces? Not a problem. And he was nice and close to last.

He not only made it across, he made it look obnoxiously easy. Those who'd gone before him and ended up in the water were welcome to hate him for it.

Kennedy was a veteran Slayer, with all the improved reflexes and muscle control that came with the job and the powers.

That still didn't mean she was going to do that well on a greased pole when only a few people had gone before her, though -- she was going to consider it a win that she was only about six feet from the other end before she finally fell off, though.

She liked to think she made her somersaulting plunge into the water look really cool and flashy, though.

Steph actually did pretty well! Look, she was the last one to go, she had less grease to contend with.

Did it stop her from falling in the water, though? Nope. She was maybe a little distracted.

Aphra made it surprisingly far across the pole before she lost her footing, managing to grab hold and hang from it for one long moment before she lost hold of it too and fell into the water.

This was absolutely the kind of things SEALs did for fun and Steve was far enough back in the line to have a good chance of making it across.

He stretched out his toes, took a deep breath, and ran. He got across--not gracefully there at the end, but a win was a win, right?

Beaker was second to last! This would help Beaker...not in the slightest amount.

He took one step onto the pole, slid and hit the water with a tremendous splash. "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE---"

Isabela strolled across with about as much concern as if she were up in the rigging. Pirate.

Being 22nd meant that a good chunk of the grease was gone when Steve made his run and daily workouts and super-serum gifted balance meant that he didn't have that much of a problem getting across the pole.

He felt a little bad about it, actually.

This wasn't that much different from any of the maze of pipes and plumbing snaking through the undercity and Vi took it much the same way, at breakneck speed and no false steps.

Stark made it partway across, going carefully. And then his foot slipped, he almost caught himself, overcompensated and fell in with a loud yelp.

"That was impressive," Travis told him, ~~gallantly~~ offering Stark a hand getting out of the water. "You made it way farther than I did."

Stark ~~wishing for an icon where he was all wet~~ gratefully accepted that hand as he pulled himself up.

"Thank you," he said, flashing a smile at Travis. "I think it was less slippery for me? I don't know. You did fine."

"Yeah I really didn't," Travis said cheerfully. "But at least most people aren't doing that much better!"

Re: Pole Across the Water!

stykera - 2022-06-08 17:54 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pole Across the Water!

designateddadfriend - 2022-06-08 17:55 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pole Across the Water!

stykera - 2022-06-08 18:16 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pole Across the Water!

designateddadfriend - 2022-06-08 19:16 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pole Across the Water!

stykera - 2022-06-08 19:37 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pole Across the Water!

designateddadfriend - 2022-06-08 20:07 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pole Across the Water!

stykera - 2022-06-08 20:26 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pole Across the Water!

designateddadfriend - 2022-06-08 22:26 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pole Across the Water!

stykera - 2022-06-08 23:04 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pole Across the Water!

designateddadfriend - 2022-06-08 23:59 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pole Across the Water!

stykera - 2022-06-09 00:44 (UTC) - Expand

Annie was a literal superhero, which meant that for the most part, she was kind of low-key good at everything in terms of general athleticism. Her aim and precision tended to be just this side of perfect, she could run a sub-7-minute mile without too much trouble, and she had pretty much flawless balance.

Annie also had to go first.

So Annie was pretty proud of herself for making it roughly five feet out, mostly thanks to taking very long strides, before she went toppling into the water.

Libby let out a surprised sound at having to go second, immediately feeling nervous not only at the task at hand, but also in that she wouldn't have the chance to watch a lot of other people do it first to see if she was doing it right. But it was fine! She could do this, she just had to focus, so she took a moment to catch her breath, close her eyes, and pray for guidance.

....and balance.

And then she set that first step down, gasping again at realizing how slippery it really was, and then braced herself. She could do this. She just had to trust that she could.

She breathed out and ran out and surprised herself by actually managing a few good steps, but then it must have been her pride that got in the way, because those few steps were about it before she skewed to the side and went splashing down in a burst of awkward limbs and a surprised gasp.

But hopefully, if anything, the people going after her could see it was not as easy as it looked!

This...felt like something Lazarus would have made Gray and his brothers do for training when they were kids, if he'd thought of it. It was that sadistic.

Gray made it about halfway across, which he thought was pretty good, before he slid right off into the water.

You know, Scott could appreciate that it was a lot easier to go twenty-fifth than much earlier on. A lot of the grease had already been wiped off by the time he got there, and between that and a natural lightness on his feet, he made it a whole three-quarters of the way before the pole gave the slightest tilt and he went pinwheeling into the water.

Oh, well.

Edited 2022-06-08 16:43 (UTC)

Jo stared in dismay at the pole and the water that was below.

It took her a very long time to even get started, she very very slowly made her and actually got pretty far before she let out a scream and then went toppling into the water.

Hopefully it wasn’t that deep.

Liz was being reminded a lot of basic training only without all the grease as she attempted to make her way across and she was actually surprised she made it as far as she did before she ended up falling into the water.

Belle made it nearly three steps. Nearly. Then she was in the water, sputtering indignantly.

Goose actually found this to be quite easy, even though he was one of the last people to go across and he did make it very hard but balancing wasn’t something he was very good at and even though he did make it far, he still ended up falling into the water.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only