7205/Rooftop Hopping

Rooftop Hopping
Date of Scene:	11 April 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Duskbringer, 87

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Duskbringer has posed:
Not gonna lie: Dusk had missed his freelance thieving he did when he was younger. There was something so freeing about the adrenaline coursing through his veins, the sheer excitement, the risk, the danger of getting caught. It had been a while since he felt a similar feeling.

Until right now.

The offer stood: showing off his abilities in a friendly race, though the final destination wasn't determined - and frankly, Dusk didn't really care. He wasn't running to get to a crime scene. He wasn't running to chase a rampant vehicle of robbers. He wasn't running to protect himself from danger.

He was running for the fun of it. He was running because he could. He had forgotten that...but that spark returned.

He moved from his seat at the outside table of the restaurant (still satisfied at the food selection), the delicious recommendation given to him by the Cheshire Cat, Vorpal. With a nodding glance and a cheerful smile, Dusk tied his hair back behind his head as he moved his way into a nearby alley. Anyone paying attention to the darkness off the shadows would've watched a spectacular sight as Dusk stepped into the wall's shadow and emerged out a similar cast of dark atop the fire escape.

Walking through shadows like doorways ALWAYS proved itself useful. He leapt onto the roof, looking down at the seat where he once sat to his newly formed acquaintance. "Ya comin'? The wind feels great up here!"

Vorpal (87) has posed:

Vorpal laughs, watching how Dusk's power works. He takes advantage of his Rabbit Hole, landing up on the roof and appraising Dusk, hands on hips.

"You are just full of surprises, aren't you? So... tell me what does the world look like, when you're inside a shadow?"

Curious cat will always be curious. He stretches a bit, crouching to get his legs moving.

Duskbringer has posed:
A small grin creeps across Dusk's face as he hears the question be asked of him. "Like ours, mostly. Except the sky is a grey monotone, no color, no sound. The Shadow Realm - a void, really. Parallel to this one, any and all structures that cast a shadow here are mirrored in the Shadow Realm. I use the shadows to traverse places in this world almost instantly. Within a certain range, of course."

He soon follows the cat's lead, stretching and flexing his muscles to prep for their rooftop excursion.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Alright... so, the most important part of the job is getting around obstacles. Parkour, traceuring, that sort of stuff. If you can get around without your powers easily, with your powers will be a snap. SO..." the Cheshire cat stands up straight and looks around at the uneven landscape of rooftops. "Hm. What do you say we race to the rooftop of the Brown Palace down over there?" he points to a rooftop that is considerably higher than the others. "Sort of show me what you've got, and then we can add in powers. How's that?"

Duskbringer has posed:
Dusk was never one to turn down a challenge.

"I accept these terms." In preparation, he stretched his arms as he mapped out the first few steps in his head, anticipating where to land and how far to jump. This was his specialty.

And if he failed, how in the world did he ever become a thief, let alone an amateur superhero?

"On your mark."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
After strething out his hamstrings, Vorpal grins and nods. The rooftop is your usual mixture of inconvenient ventilation equipment and other accoutrements. Some rooftops were completely bereft of obstacles, most were not, and the test was going to be how Dusk got around them. "Alright, then... get set... and..." he crouches down, takes a deep breath, and shouts, "Go!"

Soon, he is leaping across, sailing over the surface of one of the vents, keeping low to it. His feet land on the other side with a 'thud' and he springs off his landing, conserving his forward momentum.

The race was on.

Duskbringer has posed:
WOW, that cat was QUICK!

But Dusk refused to let himself be bested by the feline, and took off just feet behind him. He encountered the same vent, vaulting over it and pushing his feet into the ground, keeping the bounce in his own step. As he uses his own momentum to barrel forward, he encounters 2 seperate beams of an air conditioner, one in succession after the other. There wasn't enough space to leap over them both at once... tuck and roll it was. Vaulting over the first, and transitioning into a roll under the second, allowed his legs to push off the ground with just enough force to get him backto his feet and keep him moving forward, losing sight of Vorpal in his peripheral vision.

He was ahead.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Vorpal laughs. He expected the kid to have some experience, but it was clear that there was a greater deal of experience here than he had anticipated. He knows that the only way he's going to get ahead is if he tries out some of the riskier short-cuts. Which meant a lot of narrow ledges traversed at high speeds.

He leaps off the edge of the building and lands on the very narrow metal bar that connects the space between the two buildings. His feet traverse the narrow space expertly without tipping. It gains him a foot or two, but he is still behind by the time that he makes it to the other rooftop.

"You've done this for a *long* time, haven't you?" he asks, doing a kong vault over a power box.

Duskbringer has posed:
The shadowbender let out a laugh of glee at the cat's comment, impressed at the tightrope maneuvers the cat seemed to pull off with ease.

"I dabbled!" he answered. He was already looking ahead, anticipating his next few moves.

It was time *he* test Vorpal's prowess.

Ahead of them stood to be three metal constructs, each an equal distance apart with several bars on top. In front of those, two similar constructs blocking their path. They could go around... if they wanted to risk shimmying along the edge of the roof. No, the only way to go was up and over.

He gave a quick glance as the quickly-gaining-on-his-position feline made his way behind him. He looked ahead, keeping a note of his foot position as they approached almost at the same speed before...

*CLANG CLANG CLANG* The metal of the constructs billowed out a heavy tone as Dusk wall ran between them, right-left-right between his side of the two walls. With all he had, and thankfully achieving a good height to leap from, he extended his arms out to an outstretched thin beam above him. Using his forward momentum, he swung up onto the top of the metal that was in front of him, laninding. With the sound of rapping metal, he continued to dash forward, knowing the kitty was right on his tail.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
This is the first time Vorpal has actually been on anything close to a rooftop chase. Most of the time he is chasing from the rooftops while the goons are running on foot. It is, he has to admit, a nice change of pace.

He is usually sure-footed, and what happens next is not something that may have usually happened to him before... but he is also over-confident, truth be told, and that is a perfectly good cause.

One of the principal commandments of parkour is that you never take your eyes off the path. Never. Even if you think you know what is ahead, there is no telling what may happen because your attention and intent shape your way, and in parkour, several stories up, you can't waver.

Vorpal wavers, mostly because he wants to check on his competition. He spends, perhaps, two seconds too long staring at Dusk, studying his movements and his style. And thus, the navigation of the constructs becomes Vorpal's dorwnfall.

His right foot doesn't clear just enough, which sends him tumbling. He tries desperately to regain his footing while progressing on one foot, but by then another obstacle comes up and-

"AAaah!"

He keeps his momentum, but unfortunately his momentum right now is off the edge and down, towards the ground.

Duskbringer has posed:
Dusk had attuned his senses during his youth to keep both an eye and ear out to alert him of a potential threat. Tuned to the creeping sounds of footsteps, jingling keys, or even the lightest whispers.

So when he heard what sounded like a foot catching, followed by a yelp, his hardwired instincts informed him danger was nearby.

Correct, he was.

"Vorpal!" He shouted, dashing back towards the metal constructs he just cleared, only to catch sight of Vorpal just disappearing over the edge. With a gasp, he slid to the ground on his knees in hopes to catching the feline with an outstretched arm, but Vorpal was already past his arm length.

//Don't think, act!!!// Those words echoed through his mind as his eyes soon turned completely white, a smoky drift coming off of them as he summoned tendrils forth from the shadows on the alley's walls in an attempt to catch the cat...

He just hoped he was within range...

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Vorpal created Rabbit Holes to trip through locations. Technically speaking he could have saved himself, if it hadn't been for the conk on the head he gave himself falling over the edge.

He opens his eyes and sees his momentum has stopped, and he is hanging upside-down in the alleyway, just a foot or two away from the ground. Oh, and tentacles are holding him up.

"... well, that could have gone better!" he says, trying to look down, which is up, to see where Dusk is.

Duskbringer has posed:
Looking down with white smoking eyes in bright contrast with his dark suit, he gave a chuckle as he slowly pulled Vorpal back up to the top of the building. It's an odd sight, the manuever: inky black solid tendrils emerging from the wall very delicately pulling the cat back up to safety and solidity of the roof.

He shifted his hand as the tentacles of shadow slowly righted the cat's position back to standing. With a pat on the head from one of them, they retreat and sink back into the shadows of the alley, physical no more.

"Are you alright?" Dusk asked with a fairly noticeable amount of concern in his voice.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Tugging down on his suit to arrange his dignity a little, and tries a sheepish grin. "Well, I am physically alright, but I have to tell ya- my pride wants to jump off that ledge."

He chuckles and crosses his arms. "Well, it definitely seems you've got the saving people part of the job down, as well as some fine A-grade rooftop hopping."

Duskbringer has posed:
He smiled at his answer. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better: the first time I fell off a building, I didn't have anyone to catch me. Fell straight to the ground. And that was BEFORE I knew I could do anything. Hurt like a mother." He chuckles.

"Not bad yourself, kitty. Comes with instinct, I guess. Nearly caught me there at the end. You know, before you decided to practice Olympic diving without water." He gave a teasing grin to the Cheshire Cat before him, tying his hair back from the scuffle.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Yeah, well, we'll have a rematch at some point." Vorpal smirks and raises his eyebrows, "And I don't dive. Do you know how much people hate you for leaving fur in the water, ugh."

He scratches the back of his head and sighs, "Well, I think we should probably call it a day. I need to head back to study for an upcoming test... but, maybe we can do this again? Maybe patrol for real this time? You know, give me a chance NOT to be a total dork." the Cheshire cat chuckles and tilts his head.

Duskbringer has posed:
"I can see how and why that'd be a problem." Dusk gave a hearty laugh, tickled at the thought of Vorpal looking like a sopping cat that got tossed into a bathtub.

"This was really fun. I'd definitely love to." He gave a warm smile as the cat extended the offer to him. "I'd be honored. And I'd get to see your true skill at Olympic diving." He gave another teasing grin.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Yeah, well, maybe someday, when I buy myself a speedo or something. Not for many a year." Vorpal smirks and reaches out to pat Dusk's shoulder. "Tell ya what, we should have lunch again sometime. How about I call you and we can go somewhere and chat some more. I'll even use an illusion to cover us so we don't have to reveal our secret identities. And then maybe you can brag some more about parkour." the Cheshire cat winks and grins, wagging his eyebrows up and down.

Duskbringer has posed:
He smiled at Vorpal's suggestion. "All in preparation. Olympics are a big deal." He laughed once more, his attention grabbed. "That'd be nice. I like lunch and I like parkour. Consider it a done deal." He chuckled at the wink, giving one in return.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Well, then, we'll make it a play-date. We'll have lunch, and then patrol and hopefully ruin the day for some criminals." The Cheshire salutes Dusk, and begins to walk away. "In the meantime, I guess I will practice my roof-hopping a little extra. I intend to wind that rematch."

And with that, the Cheshire cat disappears into a Rabbit Hole, heading back to his place after giving a cheerful wave to Duskbringer.