★Memorable Author: [Seldom = seldomlasts] Stories~collected

[Trinitus]

  I am at a loss for words just, amazing truly amazing. The way Dena losses all her self  control could probably be the death of Sheldon but he does not care because he is so happy to be with this amazon godess. Just amazing. Truly looking forward to seeing their relation evolve even further.
 

[seldom]

Special thanks to michael-leonard for editing. Any remaining faults are my own!

Climbers Part 14: Idiots

"So as 'x' approaches infinity, I get... two pi?" Dena said hesitantly.

"Are you guessing it's two pi? Or do you know for sure?" Mr. Melnik challenged her.

Quickly but deliberately, Dena worked through the equation in front of her again, double-checking that each step made sense. "I'm sure. It's two pi."

"Correct!" Mr. Melnik smiled broadly through his huge bushy beard. He was one of the most beloved teachers in the school and had been teaching Advanced Placement Calculus as long as the school had offered it. He was also immense, pushing three hundred pounds at only five feet eight inches tall, and could give Santa Claus a run for his money in the jolly fat man department. Just like everyone else at the school, he had to look way up at Dena.

But, unlike most other people at the school, he never patronized Dena. Nor underestimated her intellectual prowess because of her physical gifts. He pushed her, challenged her to do her best work, and kept her honest so she never let herself off the hook on her math homework. Mr. Melnik offered after-school tutoring sessions to all students, but this offer was rarely taken advantage of. However, Dena had been coming every week since her transfer. Math was her most difficult subject.

Dena stared down at her work doubtfully. "When you explain it, it all makes sense," she said. "But I'm worried about the AP exam. I'm not sure I should have taken AP math. I've never been really good at it. It's hard for me."

Mr. Melnik nodded. "It's hard for everyone, Dena. Mathematical thinking doesn't come naturally to our squishy brains."

Dena bit her lip in frustration and squeezed her big fist. "It's not hard for Sheldon," she said.

The math teacher grinned. "Sheldon struggles, too. But it's true that he does seem to have a knack for it. He's a bit of a special case. He also has something better than a gift for math. As an athlete, I think that you of all people, Dena, can understand."

Dena raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked down at the math teacher sitting across from her. "What?"

"He doesn't give up," Mr. Melnik said. "And neither do you. That's what all the great mathematicians have in common. Take this integral you just solved, Dena. That one problem represents thousands of years of the smartest people in history working on it. And now, because of all these tools that all of those brilliant people have thought up, you can solve this problem and a lot more too! But every single one of those tools had to be invented, through long hours of agonizing work. It takes hard work, Dena; almost everything worth doing does. I know you can do it, too. You're brilliant and one of the hardest-working students I've ever seen. You're in here with me every week working on your most difficult subject, and getting an A. I have no doubt you will do well on the exam. You can do anything you put your mind to."

Dena smiled at Mr. Melnik's earnest philosophy. She couldn't help but be buoyed and persuaded by his honest enthusiasm. She finished a few more problems on her own, said goodbye, and left.

Dena walked to her locker to drop off her books and pick up her climbing gear. Tonight was a rare night off from practice, so she was meeting Bobbi Jo at the climbing wall. She thought back on what Mr. Melnik had said about Sheldon. It rang true with everything she knew about him. He didn't give up and he always did his best. During one of their long, intimate chats he had confided in her how nervous he was when he took on the math team captainship, and how he studied every leadership book and website he could find for months to make himself worthy of the role. She smiled to herself, feeling a rush of affection and admiration for her diminutive, brilliant, supremely geeky boyfriend.

That warm affection turned to apprehension when she saw Leon coming down the hallway near her locker. She paused with her hand on her locker and watched the bully approach. She hesitated before speaking to him, but then thought of what Sheldon would do in this situation, and what Mr. Melnik would say about doing the hard thing. She made her decision.

"Hey, Leon," she said just as he stalked past.

Leon turned to her in surprise. "Hey," Dena said again, studying him. He forced himself to look up at her, which he obviously hated. It aggravated him that she was so much taller than him. The last few months hadn't helped with that. Dena was growing at a ferocious pace and she'd added another inch in height and ten pounds in weight. She stood at six feet, ten inches and weighed an overwhelming two hundred eighty-five pounds of lean muscle. Even relaxed, standing with her long arm resting against her locker, her powerful muscles bulged and rippled under her pale skin.

Dena waited apprehensively. She was curious about what he would say, but also felt a twinge of dread. He might say something horrible.

Leon reluctantly craned his neck back to look Dena in the eye. His mouth was set in a grim, serious line. He looked like he had something to say, but he hesitated. "What do you want?" he finally asked.

There were a thousand mean things Dena wanted to say, but she knew that while destroying him would make her feel better, it wasn't the right thing to do. She tried to think of something good, so she reached for the one good thing she knew about Leon: his friendship. "You should forgive Greg," Dena blurted out.

Leon looked started. "What? Why?"

"He's your best friend. You should forgive him." Dena didn't know if she should say more. She looked down at Leon, who seemed to be thinking it over.

"It's none of your damn business, anyway," Leon muttered.

"You're right, it's not," Dena agreed. She thought that would be it, but to her surprise Leon stayed.

Leon finally cleared his throat and reluctantly spoke, as if the words caused him pain. "Thank you for not telling anyone what happened when... that day. You know. I never said it before, but that was decent of you."

Dena nodded. She had never mentioned the incident to anyone. Not even after the school already knew. "You're welcome," she said softly. "I'm sorry it got out anyway."

Leon watched her closely for any sign of sarcasm, but she seemed completely sincere. "Yeah, that jealous little fucker really... one little fight and Greg just had to go running his mouth all over school."

This was the first time Dena had just talked to Leon like a person. He was still rough and unlikable, and she didn't forget that he'd viciously attacked her and Sheldon. But she appreciated his blunt honesty, and his thanks seemed sincere. So she tried a little blunt honesty in return. "You're an asshole, Leon, but so is he. Assholes have to stick together."

Leon grunted. "Yeah," he said slowly. "You're probably right." He barked out a surprisingly self-aware laugh. "I really hate that!"

Dena laughed in surprise. "I know," she said between giggles. Even Leon cracked a smile. She finally stopped laughing. "I never told anyone what happened. Why do you hate me so much?" she asked.

"I don't hate you," Leon said. He shrugged at Dena's raised eyebrow. "It's your boyfriend. You're just... in the way."

Dena was stunned. "You hate Sheldon? Why?"

Leon's look darkened. "You wouldn't understand anyway," he growled. Dena watched helplessly as he stalked away.

-----

"On belay?"

"Belay on!"

"Climbing!"

"Climb on!"

Bobbi Jo began her final ascent. She was tired; there were limits to even her very muscular and strong body. She was a big strong Amazon but she was also heavy, with lots of very non-muscular curves. She simply wasn't built with the frame of a natural climber like Dena, but she worked hard at it through sheer love of the ascent.

Dena admired her friend's strength and grace as she watched Bobbi Jo's careful ascent. She felt a twinge of jealousy -- and maybe something else -- at how damn good her gorgeous friend looked from behind as she climbed the wall, her big muscles rising and falling under smooth womanly curves, her big blonde hair bouncing rhythmically with her lunges.

When it was Bobbi Jo's turn to anchor and Dena's turn to climb she flew up the wall, then rappelled down, then quickly up again, in rapid ascents. She wasn't trying to show Bobbi Jo up, but everything physical that Dena did was like showing off simply because of her overpowering athleticism.

Bobbi Jo was a good sport though, and suppressed her natural competitive instincts enough to feel happy for her big strong friend. There was something almost beyond reality when watching Dena. As if Bobbi Jo wasn't watching a normal person, but some being of superhuman grace and strength, that took the sting out of Dena's explosive, overwhelming, hypnotic power. Dena was nearly one hundred pounds heavier than Bobbi Jo but her climb looked effortless. Her body had grown almost superhumanly strong and her physique was becoming freakishly muscular. She looked like an anatomy chart, all bulging muscles and big blue veins under paper-thin pale skin.

Later in the locker room Dena and Bobbi Jo sat together in the sauna, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation in agreeable silence. Dena looked down at her powerful body. She was proud of her physique, but in the way of insecure teenagers she didn't consider herself attractive. She knew she had long legs and a small waist with a V taper down her muscular back, but she could only think of the flaws in her body: her too-pale skin, her almost-nonexistent breasts, her too-large mouth.

"Hey," Bobbi Jo said, surprising Dena out of a self-critical reverie by cupping her cheek and pulling her head down. Dena's heart beat faster as, for a second, she thought Bobbi Jo was going to kiss her. Instead Bobbi Jo pulled her hand away and asked, "You remember Cheryl, the lesbian from Springfield?"

"Sure. Kind of hard to forget."

Bobbi Jo giggled. "I know. Before I met you she was the biggest girl I'd ever seen! How tall are you now?"

Dena blushed. "Six-ten," she admitted sheepishly.

"Hot." Bobbi Jo grinned wolfishly.

"Shut up," Dena muttered, looking away.

"I slept with her," Bobbi Jo said casually.

"Who? Cheryl?" Dena asked in surprise.

Bobbi Jo nodded. "I hope you don't mind. She offered, and I just thought... if Connor can have his gay fling... It sounds stupid now..." She trailed off into silence.

"Why would I mind?" Dena asked. In truth she felt a small twinge of jealousy she didn't want to examine, but she wasn't sure if she was jealous of Bobbi Jo or of Cheryl. Or both.

Bobbi Jo shrugged. "No reason."

Dena wasn't sure if Bobbi Jo wanted to talk about it. "How was it?" she asked uncertainly.

The beautiful blonde flashed an infectious grin. "Weird. And... fun," she concluded. "I don't think it's for me though. I like dick too much. Almost as much as you!" she teased.

Dena blushed even more furiously. Somehow Bobbi Jo had wheedled details out of Dena that she couldn't remember giving.

"You and Sheldon will come with Connor and me to prom, right?" Bobbi Jo asked. She knew her status with Connor confused Dena and made her uncomfortable, though her big friend tried to hide it. She envied Dena her uncomplicated relationship with the little nerd. Of course she should have known better; love is seldom uncomplicated.

"I... I don't know if I'm going. If we're going."

"What?" Bobbi Jo asked in alarm. "What do you mean? You have to come!"

"I don't know if he wants to go with me; he hasn't asked me," Dena said. She hadn't realized how much it had been bothering her until she said it out loud to Bobbi Jo.

Bobbi Jo stared at Dena for a long moment before a grin slowly spread across her face. She giggled at first, then roared with laugher.

"What?" Dena demanded miserably.

"You... You two deserve each other!" Bobbi Jo gasped out. She looked at Dena's forlorn expression and dissolved into uncontrollable giggles. "You're both idiots!"

[Trinitus]

Good to see that you are still alive seldom and writing, you had us worried. Or i might just be supremely stupid and haven't seen anything you have written. Anyway. Really nwell written chapter with nice dialogue and some character development. Just hoping that we don't have to wait this long for the next chapter again . But if it's this well written I would not mind.

[seldom]

Thanks guys. I'm alive! That last chapter took the longest for me to write for some reason.

Climbers Part 15: Insatiable

The end of senior year approached and prom night arrived. With a helpful prompt from Bobbi Jo, Sheldon asked Dena to be his date to the prom -- and she, of course, accepted.

Dena's unexpected growth spurt continued; she was now an astounding six feet eleven inches tall. In addition to her height she was packing on dense thick muscles at a furious rate and tipped the scale at nearly three hundred pounds.

She was still impossibly cut; her pale skin stretched tight over thick steely muscles. She was an unstoppable force on the court, and had earned a full athletic scholarship to UConn, one of the best women's college basketball teams in the country. WNBA recruiters were watching her career closely. It was rare for them to pay attention to high school basketball, but they were eager to see how she made the transition to college ball. Dena was pleasantly surprised to learn her sometimes rival, and Bobbi Jo's one-time lover, the enormously powerful Amazon lesbian Cheryl, was also recruited for UConn.

Sheldon was going to MIT, almost two hours away. With their busy schedules they would barely notice the long distance. Still, Dena wished they could be closer. Now that she'd awakened her ferocious sexuality, she burned hot and horny and wore out poor Sheldon whenever they could find time alone.

With her growth spurt Dena needed a new dress for prom. Bursting with pride at his daughter's achievements, Mr. Shepherd had splurged and bought her a beautifully-tailored purple evening gown that looked glamorous. It cost him a month of overtime, but it was worth it to see his daughter happy. The shimmering dress shone splendidly on her pale skin.

Mr. Shepherd had grown fond of Sheldon; the little nerd made Dena happier than he'd seen her in a long time. Dena had blossomed from her previously lonely high school life.

There was never any question about Bobbi Jo. With her legacy status, her father's generous donations, her spectacular grades, community service, and leadership on and off the court, Bobbi Jo was destined for Harvard. She and Connor had patched things up, but they both knew their relationship was drawing to a close and each were somewhat relieved. Connor was off to California to play football for Stanford. The unspoken agreement was that that would be the end.

The next year Tanya would be off to the south to play for Duke, another top tier team, though not as well-known as the phenomenally successful men's team. Still, she was happy with the full ride scholarship she was getting, and happy that Ning would join her on an academic scholarship. To everyone's immense surprise, Ning had asked Tanya to the prom and she had said yes. "He's one kinky little nerd!" was all the pansexual Amazon beauty would say on the subject.

DeShawn would be going to MIT with Sheldon, and Pete was going to CalTech. All top tier academic schools, but they were sad to break up their nerdy gaming foursome.

Prom was held in the ballroom of an elegant old New England estate-turned-hotel. Dena pulled Sheldon aside and dragged him along looking for a private area to screw his brains out before Bobbi Jo and Connor became prom queen and king. Sheldon had shed some fat from climbing, and the extremely physical Dena had forced him to a generally higher level of activity (in and out of the bedsheets). Dena packed on the pounds of dense muscle in her ferocious growth spurt, so she was double his weight and he was helpless to resist her raging lust. He ran to keep up with her long-legged stride before she plucked him off the ground in impatient frustration. In her heels she was over seven feet tall, towering more than a foot and a half over Sheldon, and nearly three hundred pounds of solid bulging muscle eager to pound his helpless body into sexual oblivion.

She found a spot secluded enough to satisfy her, and held Sheldon out in front of her, his feet dangling in the air. Over the months she'd come to appreciate how much her demonstrations of superhuman strength turned him on, and now was no different, for though his face was screwed up in exasperation, his pants were tented out.

"Let me take care of that," Dena growled. She held him up with one hand while with the other she unzipped his pants and pulled out his hard cock.

"Honestly, Dena; you're insatiable, what am I going to -- oh!" Sheldon was cut short by Dena's huge arms lifting him straight over her head. His weight was inconsequential to her enormous strength and bulging steel-hard muscles. He reached down and wrapped his little hands around her thick bulging bicep, like warm stone in his grip. Dena grinned wolfishly and inhaled his cock, gobbling it down to the base and slurping on his balls. She greedily gobbled him deep down her throat, mixing sloppy sucking burbles with a low humming moan that Dena knew would drive him wild. She knew he was about to cum when his fingers clenched and dug into the pale skin of her rock-hard bicep. She drank down every drop and pulled him out of her mouth with a wet sucking slurp. A string of saliva snapped back to her lips and she licked it up with a devilish smile.

"Your turn," she said huskily, setting him down. She reached under her gown and pulled her panties off, working them down her muscular legs with a quick shimmy. The musky overpowering smell of her arousal blasted Sheldon's nose. She was very wet; things could get messy.

Just as Sheldon was about to drop to his knees to service her, Dena put a hand out to stop him. "Your tux is a rental and you don't want to smell like me all night," Dena said.

"Says who?" Sheldon demanded indignantly.

Dena grinned. "I am so wet right now," she whispered. Sheldon grinned and grabbed her solid muscular hips. "Now get down there," Dena ordered, shoving him to his knees and draping her long powerful legs over him.

She settled her dripping wet pussy on his face, and leaned back, eyes closed as he licked and sucked and fingered her to a body-shaking orgasm. She clutched the back of his head and crushed him relentlessly into her pussy, her long powerful fingers digging into his skull like a steely vice. Servicing Dena was sweet pain for Sheldon, a constant reminder of just how unbelievably powerful she was, and how lucky he was to have found her.

When she released him he gasped for breath. His face was drenched. Dena looked down at him with a goofy, satisfied grin. He turned away but was stopped by her powerful hand on his chest slamming him into the wall. "Oh no you don't," she hissed, grabbing his cock in her steely grip. "That got you going again I see."

"I can't help it. I love going down on you."

Dena grinned. "Ditto," she said, dropping to her knees in front of him. She pulled out his cock for the second time and urgently sucked him off. Sheldon watched her short, jet-black hair tossing as she bobbed on his cock, her bare broad muscular shoulders, flaring upper back, and enormous biceps writhing and flexing. The powerful suction of her delightfully hot, wet, and tight lips, tongue, and throat weakened his knees. He imagined all the wonderful and terrible things she was strong enough to do, and came with a hard thrust and loud groan. His knees buckled but Dena easily held him up. She pulled off, gently sucking him until his cock plopped out of her lips. She licked his cockhead slowly and sensually, gave it a lusty kiss, then zipped him back up.

"Oh my god," Sheldon said hoarsely.

Dena kissed her way up his tuxedo until she got to his mouth. She kissed him slowly and sensuously, her wet lips lingering on his. "You taste like me," she murmured into his lips. "That's so hot."

"Want me to go down on you again?" he asked.

Dena laughed. "Down boy! Later." She winked at him. "I think we ought to get back to the ballroom."

That was when the screaming started.

[jcboyd]

Well THAT last line was unexpected.  Oh Leon. SMH.

[seldom]

Climbers Part 16: The Prom From Hell

As prom started, both DeShawn and Pete watched the first dance. Pete wistfully pined after the huge football superjock Connor, fondly remembering their sneaky trysts. DeShawn watched Bobbi Jo just as lustily, covertly eyeing her spectacular curves and towering Amazonian body. She looked splendid in a slinky red gown that showed plenty of her deep cleavage and hugged her perfect round bottom.

"Well this blows," Pete said.

"Yup. Pretty much the prom from hell." Rumors had gotten around that Pete was gay, and he'd finally shamefully admitted it to his friends, who were very supportive. DeShawn punched Pete lightly on the shoulder. "There will be plenty of jocks in California," DeShawn reassured him.

"Yeah," Pete said wistfully. He turned to DeShawn. "Is it true what they say about black guys?"

DeShawn laughed. "You can't suck my dick, Pete!"

Pete's eyes twinkled with good humor. "You don't know what you're missing!"

"Be careful what you wish for. It's true; once you go black you can't go back!"

Pete turned to the dance floor and eyed Ning, dancing with his face solidly planted in Tanya's borderline-obscene deep brown cleavage. "Certainly seems true for Ning," he observed.

"Hey man, we can't all peak in high school," DeShawn said. "We'll be alright."

"I'll miss you guys," Pete said sadly. The two sat in silence and somberly watched the happy dancers.

As the prom king and queen announcements were readied, Ning finally pulled himself out of Tanya's cleavage and returned to the nerd table. "Hey, guys. What'd I miss?" he asked as he plopped down, cheeks red, a giant smile plastered on his face. Pete made a disgusted face and DeShawn rolled his eyes.

"Having fun?" DeShawn asked.

Before Ning could reply came a shout of "Fire!" and the ballroom erupted into pandemonium.


By New England standards, the hotel was old and elegant. The ballroom was large, with a wooden dance floor and plenty of space for performers. At the opposite end of the room from the performers was a banquet and seating area. Above the banquet a balcony overlooked the dance floor and held more tables and chairs. Staircases gracefully curved down on either end of the balcony. Discreet doors connected the ballroom to the rest of the hotel; the suites, kitchens, old servant quarters and so on. Ornately carved antique shelves lined the room, holding trinkets and knickknacks of older eras.

Smoke tendrils curled into the ballroom from the hotel proper. "Fire!" someone yelled again, the call quickly taken up. Within moments a panicked stampede towards the exits began.

DeShawn, Pete, and Ning sat shocked as the reality settled in. "I have to find Tanya!" Ning suddenly shouted.

DeShawn looked at the increasing chaos and panic around him and quickly took charge. "Ning, go get Tanya. Pete, you're with me. We have to get some of the football players to clear a path to the exits and get these people moving fast."

Pete nodded, his face frightened and pale, but his courage bolstered by DeShawn's confidence.

Sheldon and Dena burst into the ballroom. They looked disheveled and more than a little guilty. Sheldon saw his friends and immediately bee-lined to the nerd table, while Dena took off in search of Bobbi Jo.

"Sheldon! We've got to evacuate everyone!" DeShawn said urgently.

Sheldon nodded. "What's the plan, Rogue Leader?"

They moved fast to recruit the biggest athletes they could find into evacuation duty. DeShawn found Connor first, who instantly grasped the situation once he shook off his shock. "With me!" Connor barked to his team. He ordered half the athletes around him to follow DeShawn. The team players were used to following directions and keeping cool under pressure. They made excellent impromptu fire marshals.

With the big jocks guiding the scared teenagers toward the exits, the crowd's panic subsided and some semblance of normalcy returned. Chaperoning teachers joined the football players and marshaled the stragglers with ingrained authority.

Sheldon and Ning found Dena, Bobbi Jo, and Tanya. Everyone hurried towards the exits as the rapidly accelerating fire started to consume the ground floor.

Suddenly, Dena stopped, horrified, and grabbed Sheldon. "The balcony!" she pointed. Students and teachers who had been too slow to leave were blocked by flames licking at one of the staircases. They started to stampede towards the other staircase. The fire leaped towards that escape as well, blocking all egress and trapping a dozen people. The fire seemed to follow the crowd with greedy malevolence as it roared along lines of combustibles and air currents.

Sheldon looked around. "Bookshelf!" he shouted, pointing at one of the solid, heavy shelves.

Dena kicked off her heels and ran barefoot over to the giant shelf. She heaved the solid, heavy wood into the air with astonishing brute strength. Trinkets and pottery jostled off the shelves and smashed to the floor as she ran. She slammed the shelf down on the ballroom floor, then leaped on top and hurled herself to the balcony. Her huge muscles easily powered her up. Dena's long body stretched out with her hands clutching the edge of the balcony railing and her outstretched toes braced on top of the solid display rack. Bobbi Jo and Tanya grabbed another heavy shelf and raced it over to support the first. "Go help the evacuation!" Bobbi Jo ordered Tanya, who nodded and ran to coordinate with Connor.

"Climb on," Dena yelled to the nearest student on the balcony. The small girl stared blankly, terrified and on the verge of panic. "Climb on me!" Dena ordered urgently. "Use me like a ladder! Tell everyone!"

The girl stared at Dena, looked over at the smoke pouring up either staircase, then looked back at Dena. She hesitantly edged over to the balcony railing and looked down Dena's long muscular frame and saw the shelf below. Understanding dawned on her face. "Hey, people! People! Follow me!" she turned and shouted at the trapped promgoers.

She turned back to Dena and slung one leg over the railing. "Are you sure about this?" she asked nervously.

"Yes! Come on!" Dena said. The girl nodded and awkwardly slid over the railing, no easy feat in her billowing prom dress. She wrapped her legs around Dena's muscular torso like she was mounting a horse. She clambered down Dena's long body and Bobbi Jo helped the girl down off the bookshelves.

"Run!" Bobbi Jo commanded. The girl ran.

Dena looked around and saw Sheldon wheeling a disabled student out of the building. She grinned with fierce pride and then turned back to the balcony. She adjusted her grip and told the next person to climb on.

Student after student, teacher after teacher climbed down Dena's immensely powerful body and were helped to the ground by Bobbi Jo. Not all of them were as light or limber as the first girl, and by the time the balcony was clear Dena's expensive dress was in tatters. Under any other circumstances she would have felt exposed and embarrassed, but there was no time for that now.

Bobbi Jo ran out with the last student. Dena did a pull-up on the railing and scanned the balcony to double-check one final time that it was empty. Just as she was satisfied, a door burst open across the ballroom. Mr. Melnik, the immensely fat, jolly, and beloved math teacher, rushed in. "Dena!" he called, spying her on top of the shelf. "Thank goodness I found you. This way!" He disappeared back the way he'd come.

Dena vaulted down from the shelf after the teacher and hit the ground running. The door led to an elegant old staircase once used by servants. Dena heard Mr. Melnik puffing up the stairs and gave chase, bursting onto the third floor.

The fire was racing through the building in uneven spurts, hungrily chasing fuel and oxygen. On the third floor the corridor was rapidly filling with smoke that stung Dena's eyes and lungs. Mr. Melnik collapsed and Dena ran over to him. "In there," he gasped, gesturing. Dena hauled his bulk along the corridor. He was coughing up smoke in horrible hacking spasms.

With an explosive rush, fire raced up the staircase they'd just left and cut off their escape. Dena felt the door the math teacher indicated. The handle was still cool but the door was locked. Dena backed up and with one powerful kick of her long thickly-muscled leg she shattered the heavy wooden door.

Dena found herself in one of the hotel's guest rooms. She heard a whimpering coming from the closet just inside the hall door, next to the room's small bathroom. The rest of the hotel room opened up beyond there. Dena immediately opened the louvered doors to the closet. Two small children, a boy and a girl, cowered inside; they held each other tight and stared at Dena with huge terrified eyes. They were petrified with fright.

"I heard them crying from the corridor, but they wouldn't open the door," Mr. Melnik gasped. He tore his white formal dress shirt off, ripped it in pieces, soaked them in the room's sink, and handed them out to breathe through.

Dena looked down the corridor, which was rapidly filling with smoke and heat and flame. She ran into the room and threw open the window, which overlooked a deserted courtyard.

"Go!" Mr. Melnik yelled, his face a mask of terror as he watched the approaching fire. "Take the kids and get out of here!"

"I'll come back for you," Dena said.

The math teacher shook his head. He was pale with fear and looked like he might be sick. "There's no time," he rasped. "Dena, save them! Get out of here!"

Dena shook her head. "I will come back!" she promised. She turned to the kids. "I need you to climb onto my back and hang on tight, okay?"

Though they were terrified, the children nodded and climbed onto the giant Amazon, clinging to her bulging sweat-slicked neck and shoulders. Dena looked down the side of the building, calculating her route. She swung out of the window, clinging to the edge. The children on her back gasped in surprise. Quickly and methodically, Dena climbed down the building. Her muscles were sore and exhausted; her adrenaline surge sustained the incredible power she was exerting, but it wouldn't last forever. She made it safely to the ground with the children and they slid off her back. "Go!" Dena shouted. "Find a grown-up!"

She turned back to the building and looked up. Smoke billowed out of the open window she had left. Dena set her mouth in a grim, determined line. Mr. Melnik didn't have much time left.

Dena ran at the building. Just as she hurled herself up the side, a superheated steam pocket exploded inside the building, shooting a hail of wood and nails through a ground floor window. Shrapnel ripped through Dena's hip, tearing through skin, muscle, nerves, and bone.

Dena slammed into the side of the building and clung tight, sick with pain. She struggled to lift her legs but they wouldn't move. She couldn't feel anything below her waist.

Tears leaked out of Dena's smoke-stung eyes. She looked up. Fighting through a red and gray haze of agonizing pain, she moved one arm up, then the other. She began to climb.

[jstans]

This is such a great story. You took the good qualities from Scott Pilgrim but made Sheldon and his friends very unassuming guys. Even the bullies and bad guys have redemptive qualities. A far cry from a lot of the antihero FBB stories on the forum right now (some of which are still very good). I hope Dena comes out the other side all right!

[seldom]

Thanks for reading, guys, and thanks for the kind words. I'm really glad you like it. I really enjoyed writing it.

Climbers Part 17: A Funny Boy

Reach. Grab. Pull. Reach. Grab. Pull. Fear and pain were a muted backdrop. Dena's world was fanatically focused on the only thing that mattered: the climb. She forgot why she was climbing. All she knew was she had to go higher.

Hell blazed around her. The side of the building grew hot. Windows exploded in showers of glass and geysers of flame.

Dena climbed with only her arms; her shattered hips and numb legs were useless dead weight. She hauled her nearly three hundred pound bulk up over and over again. When she couldn't reach the next handhold she recklessly hurled herself through the air with a quick burst of pull-up power, grabbed for a handhold, and kept going. Her muscles burned. Her lungs boiled. Red seeped into the corners of her vision. She was a creature of pure muscle and adrenaline. Only the climb mattered.

She climbed three floors, hand over hand, her arms shaking and burning; she was barely conscious by the time she dragged herself through the window into the room with Mr. Melnik. He had put the mattress up against the broken doorway, but smoke curled around the edges and filled the ceiling. Mr. Melnik lay on the floor breathing through his wet shirt fragment. He was alive, but unconscious.

Dena crawled over to the fat teacher and stripped off his belt. She awkwardly wriggled her limp lower body around and maneuvered him so that his chubby arms reached over her shoulders and around her neck. Then she tied his wrists together with the belt. The belt had to be tight for this to work. He stirred, moaned, and passed out again.

His dead weight dragged her, slowed her down, threatened to overwhelm her, but Dena crawled to the window with grim determination as the mattress burst into flames behind her. She stopped to cough out a lungful of smoke, then pulled them up with her big biceps knotted and hard as steel, burning with exhaustion as she dragged them both over the window frame.


Sheldon helped evacuate students, teachers, and hotel guests as quickly as he could, coordinating with Connor, who was the nearest jock in charge. He ran back into the hotel with DeShawn and guided a couple of coughing students out of the smoke.

Leon and Greg came out, both reeking of marijuana. They looked at Sheldon with slightly less hostility than usual. Greg even mumbled, "Thanks," as they stumbled to clear air and safety.

Sheldon was starting to worry about Dena. He hadn't seen her since the ballroom balcony. She was the strongest, most level-headed, calmly competent person he knew, so he was confident she could take care of herself, but it worried him that she had disappeared and he hadn't seen her leading anyone outside.

Two young kids raced through an archway on one side of the hotel yelling for attention.

"Hey, it's okay kids, you're safe now. What's the matter?" Sheldon asked, leaning down to soothe them and guide them to safety.

"A giant lady saved us, but then she got hurt. I think she needs help!" the little girl said.

Sheldon went cold. Dena! he thought immediately. He made sure the kids were safe with DeShawn, then he dashed over to the archway the kids came from and ran through.

Leon and Greg watched him run off.

Just as he entered the smoke-filled courtyard, a wide set of double doors burst open in a billowing fireball of burning smoke that hurled Sheldon to the ground. Eyes and lungs stinging, flesh burning, he picked himself up and limped into the small courtyard. "Dena!" he cried between fits of coughing.

"Sheldon," he heard a faint, rasping voice call from above. He looked up to see Dena clinging to a handhold in the middle of Dante's own inferno. Mr. Melnik the math teacher was unconscious and slung on her back like a trussed pig. Her dress was torn to shreds. Her skin was red and starting to bubble. She was coughing terribly, shaking with pain and exhaustion, and her fingers were slipping. Blood poured from her hip and her legs dangled uselessly.

"Oh my god!" Sheldon dashed over as fast as he could. Heat pushed him back but he gritted his teeth and ignored the primal screams of self-preservation from his oldest, most animal instincts. "Jump!" he yelled as he ran. "I'll break your fall!"

"What?"

Sheldon was now directly below Dena and staring up at her. "Land on me! I'll break your fall!"

"Are you sure?"

Sheldon looked at Dena and Mr. Melnik dangling above him and gulped in fear. This was going to hurt. "I'm sure!" he shouted, feeling anything but. "Jump!"

Dena hesitated, and then the decision was made for her. For the first time in her life, Dena's strength failed her. She lost her grip on the rapidly overheating building and plummeted.

Sheldon braced himself as six hundred pounds crashed down on him.


"Dena," Sheldon whispered hoarsely, drifting back to consciousness. "You're not invincible after all."

"Looks like it," she whispered, forcing the words out through broken ribs and burning lungs. "Sorry, Sheldon. I'm only human."

Sheldon coughed and laughed and winced in pain. "I had my doubts," he said. "I'm sorry. I wish you were invincible."

"Me... too..." she was fading.

"Dena. Dena!" Sheldon croaked insistently.

"Yes," she whispered in a rapidly fading voice.

"I think you may have broken my bones," he rasped through his damaged chest.

"I'm sorry, which ones?"

"All of them."

Dena laughed and coughed up ash and blood. "You're a funny boy, Sheldon. Funny... funny... funny..."

"Stay with me Dena!" Sheldon said fiercely. "I love you. I love you! You have to live, dammit! I love you!"

"I love you, too, Sheldon. My hero," she whispered. "You're the bravest man... I ever... met... love... love... you."

[Jeremy Lightning]

Is this the end? Really? Well, at least it was a heroic ending if so. k+!

[seldom]

Thanks Jeremy! Almost the end; one more part to go to wrap everything up for Dena and the gang.

[seldom]

Climbers Part 18: Epilogue -- The Prom Night Miracle

Dena woke with a start and immediately began coughing. She tasted smoke. Her ribs hurt. Everything hurt.

"Hey there; take it easy, baby girl," she heard her father's voice. Rough hands held a glass of water to her lips and Dena drank gratefully.

She looked up through bleary, red-ringed eyes. "Daddy?" she asked in a quiet, rasping, cracked voice.

Mr. Shepherd's eyes and cheeks were wet with tears. "I'm here, baby, I'm right here," he crooned soothingly.

Dena turned her head and smiled. "Hey, Gina," she whispered as her sister came into focus.

Gina's eyes were wet. "You scared me, dummy," she said with a catch in her voice.

Dena laughed, which turned into a long wet cough. "Sorry," she finally said once the cough subsided. "Won't happen again."

"You scared all of us, baby girl," her father said hoarsely.

"Hurts," Dena mumbled. "Hurts to talk." She looked down at her body, which was covered in casts and bandages. Pain was a constant presence, but it was a dull, vague pain, and her head felt funny. Thoughts came slowly. It took her a moment of puzzling over the multiple tubes coming into her arm to figure out that she must be doped up on pretty strong painkillers.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said after a few minutes of silence. Her father was startled; he thought she had gone back to sleep. "I ruined my dress."

Mr. Shepherd choked back tears. "That's okay, honey," he whispered. "I'm just glad you're going to be okay."

"Okay," Dena agreed vaguely. Then all of a sudden her thoughts sharpened. "Mr. Melnik?" she asked.

Dena was happy to see her father's expression brighten with pride. "You saved him! He's alive. Pretty burned up, in bad shape, but alive. You saved his life," he repeated in wonder.

Dena smiled. Even her lips hurt.

"Hey baby girl. Sheldon has been asking about you. I know he'd love to see you. But only if you feel up to it."

Dena nodded, relief flooding her as she realized Sheldon must be okay.


"Hey, look who's awake, sleepyhead!" Sheldon rolled his wheelchair into Dena's hospital room with a push on the joystick. His broken arms and legs were in casts, his ribs taped up, but he'd insisted that he was fine to visit.

Dena's huge body lay broken and bandaged. The hospital staff had never seen anyone as big and muscular as her. It had taken four strong nurses just to move her. They had also rarely seen anyone as badly burned and still alive. She was wrapped like a mummy.

"Hey," Dena croaked. Her throat and lungs were raw.

Sheldon grinned. "You have to get better fast. Everyone wants to see you, you know. Bobbi Jo, Tanya, every reporter in the whole world, just about." His eyes twinkled with mischief. "The President."

"Haha," Dena said, thinking he was joking. Seeing Sheldon, her memories drifted back to the fire. "How many people died?" she finally rasped, her heart pounding.

"Nobody, Dena. Nobody died. You saved everyone! It's all over the news. They're calling it the Prom Night Miracle! You're a hero!" Tears sprang into Sheldon's eyes. "You're my hero, Dena. I'm so glad you're alive! I was so afraid..." he trailed off, unable to finish; he was so overwhelmed with emotion.

Dena lay quietly, stunned. After a moment she allowed herself a small, proud smile. "The courtyard... how did we get out?"

"You'll never believe it. Leon and Greg pulled us all out just before the fire trucks and ambulances arrived."

Dena laughed. "Really?"

"Yeah. You single-handedly saved like fifteen people, but they're letting their heroism go to their heads. And those kids, and Mr. Melnik... wow. What you did..." Sheldon started to choke up.

Dena looked at Sheldon seriously. "You saved us, Sheldon."

Sheldon looked down, suddenly embarrassed. "I guess," he said.

"I remember what you said to me before I passed out."

Sheldon tensed. "Yeah?"

Dena nodded. "Yeah. Sheldon," he looked up apprehensively, "I love you."

A big smile slowly spread across his face. "I love you too, Dena."

"Worst prom ever?" Dena asked, settling back. She drifted back into an exhausted sleep.

Sheldon rolled his wheelchair to the bed and watched Dena's steady, rhythmic breathing. He reached his fingers over and cradled her big, strong hand, tenderly stroking her bandages. "I don't know about that," he whispered.

THE END