It's Great To Be Back
In the past two years, the popularity of the Snowboarding Super-Cross Tournament has sky-rocketed into a huge phenomenon, both competitively and financially. Major companies including Nintendo, Toyota, and Transworld Sports have jumped on as major supporters of this extreme sports bonanza. With the tour now opened for anyone with enough talents and skills to make it into the competition's scoreboard, and every single one of them have the hopes and dreams of becoming a legendary rider…
A tall blond girl, two almost identical brothers, a red-haired Australian, one by one they entered through the entrance at different times, smiling at her as she unwillingly smiled back. Giving her their names, she politely checked them off of the list. All but one was left. She waited for a while, and she begin to imagine herself in another place, away from the freezing cold and snowy mountain.
With her wheeled suitcase being pulled in two, Kaori Nishidake, in a half-shuffling run, barged through the revolving door and darted towards the elevator. "Miss!" called the blonde behind the counter, snapping out of her thoughts, "Miss! Please check in! This resort is not open to the public!"
Kaori turned around, still rolling her luggage, and hustled over to the clerk. "Sorry," she said, smiling sheepishly.
"Name?" asked the girl, looking on the list with a pen in hand.
"Kaori Nishidake," said the Japanese girl with an anxious smile.
After making a check-mark, the greeter looked up at Kaori with a broad but fake smile. "Here is your key-card, Miss Nishidake," she said, handing a thin plastic card to Kaori, "your room is #303." There was a pause. The blonde rolled her eyes. "We at Alpine Lodges would like to wish you the best of luck at your…" her voice trailed off as she looked down at the checklist, "fourth SSX tournament. As a sponsor towards you and your fellow snowboarders and or skiers, we will grant you access to any and all stations at this resort, free of charge, which we would not grant to other guests."
Kaori stared blankly at the girl.
"It's my job, college tuitions are high."
Giving a small nod, the Japanese girl once again darted towards the elevator. Pressing the up button, she tapped her foot as she inside the elevator and impatiently waited for the stop.
-
"I got it!" shouted Kaori Nishidake. She twirled the knitted beanie around her finger as Mac Fraser jump to grab it. Kaori held it right out of his reach, almost near the top of the elevator from her standing on the hand rails.
"Oh, come on, Kaori!" Mac said, exasperated. "Just gimme it! The race will start soon."
Kaori giggled. "Fine, here you go." She handed him his hat.
"Thanks," said Mac, fixing it on his head. "You excited for this course?"
"Yeah!" said Kaori. "Tokyo Megaplex is right up my alley! All of the guys from my dad's cartoon studio are going to be there cheering me on."
Mac looked out of the elevators window and saw the brightly colored, mostly metal course below him. He grabbed his board. "I wish I had that kind of crowd!" The elevator door opened and the two were greeted by DJ Rahzell's booming voice.
"Welcome to Tokyo Megaplex's round one race! Only one will eventually take home the gold for Tokyo Megaplex this year, year 2001!"
-
The number three lit up in an orange light with a beep, which snapped Kaori out of her flashback. The brown-haired girl dashed out of the elevator as she mauled and knocked someone to the floor. All that she saw upon impacted was a beanie a top of his head.
"Mac-chan!" she shouted in excitement as she recollected her composure and stood up. "You've gotten tall!"
Readjusting his beanie so it didn't cover his eyes, the man laughed. "Sorry, Kaori, not quite."
"Brodi!" shouted Kaori, once again, equally excited. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Are you racing again this year?"
"Nice to see you again, too," said the blond haired man, "but nope, I'm not competing, too old." He laughed. "In fact, I was just up here to see who everyone was. The greeter at the entrance was in a day-dream, so I just snuck in. I don't want to keep you; you have some unpacking to do. But here," Brodi placed a small crumpled coupon in Kaori's jacket pocket. "I own a rest and relaxation spa a few blocks down from here, it's in the shopping area, it's called Ukiyoe(1) R&R. Come down sometime, it'd be great to see you." With that, Brodi ruffled the hair on Kaori's head and stepped into the elevator. Kaori waved goodbye as the metal doors closed and the machine descended.
Making her way to the door with golden number 303 hanging above it, Kaori slid her key-card into the opening device, as it beeped and she heard an unlocking sound. Hurrying inside, she placed a few of her favorite photographs, after grabbing them out of her suitcase, on the end table next to her bed. They were all from past tournaments of SSX, one with her holding a golden medal, one of her signing autographs, and one of her with Mac, her riding partner. Actually, there was more than one picture with Mac in it, but she kept the rest of them in the suitcase.
After unpacking about half of her things, which included her orange comforter, a few pink pillows, loads of clothes, and her panda bear back-pack, she heard someone's voice from the doorway.
"I hear my favorite riding partner's back!"
Turning her whole body wildly, Kaori almost glomped Mac in the process of running up to hug him, knocking him down. Kaori looked down at him questioningly. "Where is you beanie(2)?"
Mac laughed. "Nice to see you, too!"
"Haha, yes, nice to see you again!" exclaimed Kaori as she grabbed Mac's green hat off of his head. "Well, where is your beanie?" she repeated.
The boy sighed, "I guess I just grew out of it. Where is your panda bear backpack?"
"Right over there!" replied Kaori, pointing on her bed where the backpack was neatly propped up against the wall.
"Oh," said Mac, sounding defeated, but Kaori just smiled.
"It's great to be back," said Kaori softly and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "It's great to be back."
"Haha, yeah," Mac said, chuckling, as he snatched his hat back from his long-time friend, "anyways, I was sent down here to get you up to the sponsor meeting. EA Big wants to meet their 'legendary' boarders. Everyone's up on the top floor, anyways."
The two stepped in an open elevator and remained quiet for a few awkward seconds. "I heard they're letting skiers in on this year's circuit."
"Yep," Mac replied. "Nate's little brother was invited this year, he's a skier, and so is this Australian chick with an accent. Zoe's trying out the skiing side this year, and Elise is on the edge. I'm sticking with snowboarding, myself." He paused. "There is also this Japanese guy, you might like him, and his name is Sid."
"Sid?" Kaori half-shouted as her eyes widening in disbelief. Just then the metal doors opened and a voice shouted back, "I heard my name!"
Mac and Kaori's eyes made contact with Psymon's and his broadened shoulders and new mohawk hairstyle made their insides jump, and the fact that Psymon's breathing was extremely loud didn't ease their concerns. "I heard my name…" he repeated, making his pants louder and his face was beginning to outstretch a malevolent smile and his eyes grew wider. Then he laughed and threw his head back. "Oh man," he said, his voice returning to normal, "you should have seen yourselves, that was rich."
End of Part One
(1)Ukiyoe Surf is the name of Brodi's final board (before uber) in SSX Tricky, his only appearance, unfortunately. Ukiyoe is a type of Japanese art, mainly printed on wood blocks. It translates to be "Pictures of a Floating World."
(2)Mac has appeared with a beanie on his head in SSX Tricky and SSX3. Though he would look better with it on in the first game, it also is not present in SSX On Tour.
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