Author's Note: This was originally going to be part of X High School, but do to certain circumstances I've decided to make this as an inbetween sequel between X High and the upcoming University of X fic which will make the series a trilogy. And details his journey into the Summer X Games in Los Angeles. I figured this would probably be the best way to do a story arc I've wanted to do from the begining. I hope you guys like it. Just sets up the basic storyline.
The Road to the X Games
Chapter 1
The Invitation
A week after graduation the gang held a pool party at Tara's house with recent graduates Kori, Rich and Slade. The gang was all hanging out in the pool except for one, Richard was nowhere to be seen. But all that was about to change, earlier in the day Richard found a package in his mailbox when he saw what was inside he couldnt believe his eyes. Rich jumped in his Vette and headed toward the house. On the way over he phoned the guys telling them that he had great news. A while later he came through the house to Tara's pool with the package in hand.
"Guys your not going to believe what came in the mail!" he said.
"College application?" asked Vic.
"No better than that, 1000 times better than that!" he said sliding his hand inside the package and pulled out a DVD.
"An invitation to the X Games." he said.
"They want you to play?" Kori asked excitedly.
"Yeah."
Kori screamed got out of the pool and hugged him soaking wet in a purple string bikini.
"That's great man!" Vic yelled.
"Way to go bro!" said Slade.
"Are you kidding me?" asked Gar.
"That's insane!" Tara said excitedly.
Kori kissed his cheek as Tara came up out of the pool and hugged him as well.
"Congradulations." she said.
"Yeah thanks Tara. Come on, let's check it out!" he said heading inside.
"Wait up! I have to dry off first!" Tara said grabbing a towel.
Kori did the same and wrapped it around thier bodies the guys dried off too as they went inside. Once inside the guys plopped down on the couch in thier towels while Richard popped in the dvd and grabbed the remote. The ESPN logo appeared on screen as he hit play.
"Hello Richard, I'm George Bodenheimer president of ESPN. For a while some of our scouts have been watching your races as well as those employed by the AMA. I have to say I am very impressed by your skills. After consulting several people within the organization I would like to invite you to compete in this summer's X Games XIII."
The gang smiled and looked at each other as the president continued.
"The X Games Council is waiting for your reply. To register go to the X Games website at or , keyword: X Games. We look forward to hearing from you Richard and would love to see you compete. As you know the X Games features both motocross and Supercross events and hope to see you go far this summer. Please reply soon so we can reserve a spot for you on Team USA. We look forward to hearing from you. Good luck."
A moment later a more familar face came on screen.
"Hey Richard, this is 6 time World Champion Travis Pastrana here to congradulate you on your invitation to the X Games. I look forward to meeting you on the track, should be a blast racing with you. I've heard your really good. Hope to see you at this summer's X Games." Travis said.
"Hey this is Tony Hawk, hope to see you at the X Games this summer really looking forward to meeting you and seeing you in action." he said.
"Hey this is Bucky Lasik, looking forward to seeing you here in LA at X Games 13." he said.
Several other athletes appeared on screen and congradulated Richard when Vic asked him.
"So what's it going to be?"
He smirked at him.
"You have to ask? Tara can I borrow your computer?"
"Sure, its upstairs in my bedroom." she said.
"Thanks." he said getting up off the couch.
"Can you believe it?" Gar asked.
"I know." Kori replied.
"He always said he was going to be in the X Games someday." Vic replied.
"Looks like he finally gets to live his dream." Raven added.
"I wonder if we get to go too?" asked Slade.
"I'm sure he'll take us along." she assured him.
Upstairs Richard was already on line signing the registration form at . He filled it out and hit send, the confirmation came in saying that it was sent.
"Yeah!" he said softly. He closed out the program and went downstairs.
"Guys, we're going to the X Games!" he said on the stairway.
"Yeah!" yelled Gar.
"All right!" yelled Vic and Slade.
"Thanks for letting me borrow your computer." he said as she enveloped him in a hug.
"Sure no problem. Congradulations Richard." she told him.
"Yeah thanks, it's going to be great." he said.
"So how does it feel knowing your going to be in the X Games?" asked Vic.
"It feels great, I think I may need to sit down." he said collapsing on the couch.
"Oh, I cant even begin to imagine it." he said overcome with awe.
"Well you got a few weeks to worry about that." Vic said.
"It says here on the package that it's in the middle of June." Raven said.
"So that means that I have about a week to get ready...AHH! A WEEK?! What am I doing sitting around here for?! I got to get ready! I got to make sure my bike's up and running, I need to find a place to stay, I-I... there's a hundred million needs I need to do before I can even think about leaving and...Gah! Ha! Ha!"
"Richard, Richard! Calm down!" Raven told him.
"Ay-gee! Whoo! Ho! ho!" he said sitting down in the chair.
"We'll help you out anyway we can." she told him.
He leaned forward in his chair resting his elbows on his knees and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"No that's fine. My crew will handle it. Besides you guys dont know anything about maintaining a motorcycle." he said.
"Now who says that?" Vic asked.
"We took auto repair class remember?" Slade asked.
"Those were just old junkers." he told them.
"Doesnt mean your crew couldnt use some extra hands." Vic told him.
"Fine. I still need to tell Bruce though. I'll catch you guys later, I need to figure out a few things." he said getting out of his chair.
"You going to be all right?" Raven asked.
"Yeah I'm fine, it's just a lot to take in at the moment." he said heading towards the door.
The gang watched him out of concern as he made his way out.
A while later he arrived back home and told his dad the good news.
"So you got invited to the X Games, that's excellent." said Bruce.
"Yeah thanks, there's only one problem. The games start next week and I need to get everything ready." he said as they walked down the hallway together.
"I'll call the team and have them go over the bike and make sure everything's ready. Did they mention where contestants were staying at?" he asked.
"No I dont think they said anything." said Richard.
"I'll make some calls and find out. Congradulations Richard."
"Thanks Bruce."
"No problem." he smiled.
Over the next few days the team worked on the bikes making sure they were in peak condition for anything the X Games threw at them. While they were doing that Richard worked out in the gym getting his body ready for the competition, building muscle and doing chin-ups among other things. He had to make sure he was ready for anything and used his martial arts skills to stay loose. This was it, after all his years in motocross he finally made it to the big leagues. Being on the professional racing circuit was one thing, even being an 18 year old rookie in the American Motocross Association seemed like one thing. Indeed being a rookie paled in comparison to being a 250s factory rider which is basically the top market in motocross racing. But now he was going to compete in the X Games, which is on a whole another level than professional racing. This is essentially the extreme sports version of the Olympics. And he wouldnt just be representing himself or a factory racing team. He's representing his country, the United States racing team, even now he had trouble comprehending this. It was like a dream come true, hell it is a dream come true! He's been wanting to do this his entire life! Ever since he was 7. And now he finally had a chance to prove himself to the world. Millions of kids, teens and twentysomethings will be watching him compete against the best in the world. This is what he's been waiting for, this is why he raced. To be the best in the world. He continued to train harder the rest of the night.
Author's Note: All right what did you think of that? Thought I'd put a little humor in there with Rich's frantic realization of how little time he has. Like I said this is a continuation of X High School. I hope all the fans of the original series will like this one. This is dedicated to my good friend PhinalPhantasy. My Grandma has been in the hospital for a while, hope she gets better and be praying they find out what's wrong with her. And that things get better for my good friend PhinalPhantasy.
Please review,
Green Gallant