Re: Rifts - Dead Man's Hand - Obstacle Course - Stage 2
Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2025 10:27 am
"Alright, we're onto the stage two second attempts!" Larry continues, "We need Frank back up here. He's one of four competitors who's still got a second try." As Frank reaches the stage, Larry motions to Frank, "Will he be our fourth competitor to make stage three?" Many of the local townsfolk begin wildly cheering for Frank. Even some of the out of towners begin rooting for the underdog of stage two.
The light turns green. Frank makes a dash for the ascension plateau. Just like he saw Steve do, he scales the mats, making it look as easy as Steve. He figured out that the trick is to never tire out and never lose momentum. He realizes that his muscles are still sore from his first try.
He stands atop the first obstacle, finally triumphant. He looks down at the rapidly moving treadmill, the "Launch Vector" or more popularly known as "The Ejector." Steve and Teddy had the right idea. He lowers himself down, softly lands and falls. Luckily he fell on the runway, but is forced to roll backwards; up to his feet. He begins jogging backwards, trying to gauge his speed but he has no time to think, he just jumps. He manages to catch the zipline and lets go as he seems to glide towards the hangbar of the salmon ladder.
He hops the hangbar up the pegs, rapidly, just like Teddy did. Fast and steady seems to be working. Frank feels less tired than expected. He slides the hangbar down the parallel beams and swings out and lands at the base of the "slippy slide." Water is rapidly splashing and foaming from the bottom. Now Frank understands where most of the, "You've gotta be kidding me!" comments, from prior competitors, were coming from. This is going to be daunting and slow.
Yet, since only eight out of the thirty-six competitors have made it this far, the top and upper sides of the tube slide have dried. He only needs his feet to stick. He's barefoot and can sense prior to his feet beginning to slide. He maneuvers up the slide in almost record time, slipping only a few times. He's lucky that he removed his greasy shoes, they would've made this impossible.
At the top of the slide, Frank shakes his hands as dry as possible. His pants ended up mostly soaked. He examines the "shifting grips." A rock climbing wall with grips which randomly slide in and out of the wall, making it difficult to guess which is going to move. Frank knows that speed and luck will be the deciding factor. He checks the clock. 3:13. He coats his hands in talcum and gives it a go; now fast and steady.
Frank scales the 'shifting grips' like a cliff climbing professional. He never once grabs a grip that's moving and makes it across. He realizes that he needs to leap from the grips to the spinning baskets of spin cycle. He sees that the problem is that no matter where you grab the basket, it will rotate his grip at the lowest point, making it impossible to just reach and grab the next basket. He'll have to swing and leap to have a chance.
Frank grabs the first basket and swings out, leaps and catches the second basket. His arms are beginning to ache as he swings and leaps to the third basket, which hangs seven feet over and nine feet above the platform to 'beat the bulkhead.'
He knows that the moment he lands he must run fast. The sheer volume of the crowd is almost distracting, yet, for the first time, Frank is loved by a crowd. It gives him much needed energy as he drops down and sprints for the first heavy wall. He quickly lifts and slips underneath and past it, sprinting for the next wall as it falls and slams into the floor. This wall is 220 lbs and it shows as Frank struggles against fatigue and slowly hoists it over his head. The clock is still ticking; 2:46. He sprints for the third wall, but the second wall delayed him enough to be forced to lift the 240 lb wall. He lifts it to shoulder height, wedges his shoulders underneath and pushes through. Finally, the fourth wall, a 260 lb beast, which barely rests above his chest fully elevated, falls as he sprints and dives under it. He pulls his legs up to prevent them from being smashed.
The crowd is going crazy as he stands to face the final obstacle; 'pipe dream.' It's a series of pipes suspended from the ceiling and floor by chains, spanning twenty feet from platform to finish line. Frank's arms tingle and burn. The clock still shows 2:39. He leisurely dusts his hands with the last of the talcum powder. He's careful not to breathe any in, as it's said to cause mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer.
As soon as his arms quit tingling, he leaps out, grabbing onto the first pipe, reminding him of the greased pole climb, without the grease. He makes it halfway across when his arms threaten to give out. Frank manages to wrap his legs around one of the poles and gives each arm a rest, only a few feet above the safety mat. He knows that if he even brushes the mat, he loses. He waits for what seems like an eternity as the crowd chants, "Francis! Francis! Francis!" His adrenaline kicks in as he checks his time; 0:58.
He climbs the pole, reaching an acceptable height; high enough to safely dismount if he can just make it about eight more feet. He does his best to move from pipe to pipe as he clasps the final pole as though his life depends on it. His face and body are drenched in sweat. He leaps to the platform, staggers over to the buzzer. He slaps it, sending steam around the end of the stage two platform.
"What did I just WITNESS!" Larry screams to the crowd, "The least likely to achieve stage two victory has just pulled it off with 26 seconds to spare!" Frank feels as though he may vomit from exhaustion, leaned over resting his palms against his knees. He struggles to suppress dry gags. Larry waves him up to the platform. Frank, to keep composure, takes his time to catch his breath, ease his screaming muscles and smile at Johnny, who's excitedly bouncing around him like a squirrel, shamelessly tweaking on amphetamines. Frank, through unbearable exhaustion, is unable to understand anything Johnny is cheering. Frank finds it difficult to even speak. A spectator offers him water, which he unconsciously accepts and gulps, making him feel slightly better. He gasps for breath after drinking.
Eventually, Frank reaches the top of the stage, where Larry already has a second microphone ready, "Frank! Wwwow!" He hands the spare mic to Frank, "How does it feel to join the other three for stage three? All while being voted as the least likely to beat this stage! Tell us about it!"
OOC: I have to say wow. If I hadn't rolled the dice myself, I would have said, "There is NO WAY he made it." Good job.
The light turns green. Frank makes a dash for the ascension plateau. Just like he saw Steve do, he scales the mats, making it look as easy as Steve. He figured out that the trick is to never tire out and never lose momentum. He realizes that his muscles are still sore from his first try.
He stands atop the first obstacle, finally triumphant. He looks down at the rapidly moving treadmill, the "Launch Vector" or more popularly known as "The Ejector." Steve and Teddy had the right idea. He lowers himself down, softly lands and falls. Luckily he fell on the runway, but is forced to roll backwards; up to his feet. He begins jogging backwards, trying to gauge his speed but he has no time to think, he just jumps. He manages to catch the zipline and lets go as he seems to glide towards the hangbar of the salmon ladder.
He hops the hangbar up the pegs, rapidly, just like Teddy did. Fast and steady seems to be working. Frank feels less tired than expected. He slides the hangbar down the parallel beams and swings out and lands at the base of the "slippy slide." Water is rapidly splashing and foaming from the bottom. Now Frank understands where most of the, "You've gotta be kidding me!" comments, from prior competitors, were coming from. This is going to be daunting and slow.
Yet, since only eight out of the thirty-six competitors have made it this far, the top and upper sides of the tube slide have dried. He only needs his feet to stick. He's barefoot and can sense prior to his feet beginning to slide. He maneuvers up the slide in almost record time, slipping only a few times. He's lucky that he removed his greasy shoes, they would've made this impossible.
At the top of the slide, Frank shakes his hands as dry as possible. His pants ended up mostly soaked. He examines the "shifting grips." A rock climbing wall with grips which randomly slide in and out of the wall, making it difficult to guess which is going to move. Frank knows that speed and luck will be the deciding factor. He checks the clock. 3:13. He coats his hands in talcum and gives it a go; now fast and steady.
Frank scales the 'shifting grips' like a cliff climbing professional. He never once grabs a grip that's moving and makes it across. He realizes that he needs to leap from the grips to the spinning baskets of spin cycle. He sees that the problem is that no matter where you grab the basket, it will rotate his grip at the lowest point, making it impossible to just reach and grab the next basket. He'll have to swing and leap to have a chance.
Frank grabs the first basket and swings out, leaps and catches the second basket. His arms are beginning to ache as he swings and leaps to the third basket, which hangs seven feet over and nine feet above the platform to 'beat the bulkhead.'
He knows that the moment he lands he must run fast. The sheer volume of the crowd is almost distracting, yet, for the first time, Frank is loved by a crowd. It gives him much needed energy as he drops down and sprints for the first heavy wall. He quickly lifts and slips underneath and past it, sprinting for the next wall as it falls and slams into the floor. This wall is 220 lbs and it shows as Frank struggles against fatigue and slowly hoists it over his head. The clock is still ticking; 2:46. He sprints for the third wall, but the second wall delayed him enough to be forced to lift the 240 lb wall. He lifts it to shoulder height, wedges his shoulders underneath and pushes through. Finally, the fourth wall, a 260 lb beast, which barely rests above his chest fully elevated, falls as he sprints and dives under it. He pulls his legs up to prevent them from being smashed.
The crowd is going crazy as he stands to face the final obstacle; 'pipe dream.' It's a series of pipes suspended from the ceiling and floor by chains, spanning twenty feet from platform to finish line. Frank's arms tingle and burn. The clock still shows 2:39. He leisurely dusts his hands with the last of the talcum powder. He's careful not to breathe any in, as it's said to cause mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer.
As soon as his arms quit tingling, he leaps out, grabbing onto the first pipe, reminding him of the greased pole climb, without the grease. He makes it halfway across when his arms threaten to give out. Frank manages to wrap his legs around one of the poles and gives each arm a rest, only a few feet above the safety mat. He knows that if he even brushes the mat, he loses. He waits for what seems like an eternity as the crowd chants, "Francis! Francis! Francis!" His adrenaline kicks in as he checks his time; 0:58.
He climbs the pole, reaching an acceptable height; high enough to safely dismount if he can just make it about eight more feet. He does his best to move from pipe to pipe as he clasps the final pole as though his life depends on it. His face and body are drenched in sweat. He leaps to the platform, staggers over to the buzzer. He slaps it, sending steam around the end of the stage two platform.
"What did I just WITNESS!" Larry screams to the crowd, "The least likely to achieve stage two victory has just pulled it off with 26 seconds to spare!" Frank feels as though he may vomit from exhaustion, leaned over resting his palms against his knees. He struggles to suppress dry gags. Larry waves him up to the platform. Frank, to keep composure, takes his time to catch his breath, ease his screaming muscles and smile at Johnny, who's excitedly bouncing around him like a squirrel, shamelessly tweaking on amphetamines. Frank, through unbearable exhaustion, is unable to understand anything Johnny is cheering. Frank finds it difficult to even speak. A spectator offers him water, which he unconsciously accepts and gulps, making him feel slightly better. He gasps for breath after drinking.
Eventually, Frank reaches the top of the stage, where Larry already has a second microphone ready, "Frank! Wwwow!" He hands the spare mic to Frank, "How does it feel to join the other three for stage three? All while being voted as the least likely to beat this stage! Tell us about it!"
OOC: I have to say wow. If I hadn't rolled the dice myself, I would have said, "There is NO WAY he made it." Good job.