Disclaimer: I do not own EA, any of the characters or anything else in the SSX games or anything else, just the story.

SSX was booming in its third season. The championship race was in full swing with four events left to go along with the big 3 Peak FinaleRace,which went all the way from the Throne to Metro-City,and there were plenty of SSXers still in the hunt for the big championship trophy. The fan base was as large as ever, broadcasts with soaring ratings that outdid even the NFL's playoff games, and sellouts at every event. Local DJ Atomika, the commissioner, was the most excited of the buch, knowing that SSX was not only popular, but poised to become the biggest sport in America. Not only was it the jaw dropping courses(and the fact that not only was everyone surviving them, but mastering them too), but also the controversies it created. There were big arguments over the safety of the courses and how someone was bound to die on one of them soon, about allowing helmets to be voluntary, whether SSX just wanted to kill off people and using this as the bait. The last one was considered ridiculous by most, but some people stood by it. But perhaps what drew in fans more were the intense rivalries, the rumors, everything invloving all of the riders. It had gotten the nation's attention.

It was Saturday morning on Peak 3, and the temperature was5 degrees below zero and snowing. Today wasthe biggestrace yet, the highly anticipated Gravitude race.DJ Atomika was resting in his suite rightby the course watching Sportscenter, which, of course, had multiple reporters on the mountain covering the big race, ready to fly up to Peak 3. He watched just to see how much hype the event was getting. After the segment, he switched to CNN, which, of course, was disputing whtether or not Gravitude was too dangerous. Nobody except for Atomika and most of the boarders knew for sure what the course was like, but they had a pretty good idea of it.He then switched to Fox News, which was arguing that the liberal media had tainted SSX's reputation. Even his own league was the center of political talk now. Meanwhile, the SSXers were at the Three Peaks Luxury Hotel on Peak 1, heading towards Gravitude in a few hours. The morning consisted of the typical pre-race smack talk, verbal wars, and catfights. In today's instance, Elise and Marisol were once again brawling. Most of the tension wore down when the helicopters came to escort them, but you could tell that there would be some action in the race.

A few hours later, while the qualifier rounds of Gravitude were in session, Atomika had his own business to do, mainly with event organizing for next week's Ruthless Ridgerace and Launch Time after that,and a few phone calls to take care of. But he kept a close eye on the circuit, knew extensively of all the strengths and weaknesses of every rider, and even made bets on who would win. He had his money on Nate winningfor Gravitude with Allegra nabbing sliver andZoe with bronze.He bet on Psymon to repeat as SSX champion. Only Atomika and the bookie knew about these betsto avoid controversy. After his business was done, he went down to the bottom of the course to check the results. Psymon and Nate had both finished first in their races along with Elise and Eddie, and Allegra beat out Brodi for third and a trip to the semis. Zoe finished 5th in her race, and Atomika let out a silent sigh of disappointment. But he still had plenty of chances to win big. But the chance at a big pay day turned into a living hell for not only the DJ, but the SSX boarders themselves, too.

Briefly after the first round ended, Atomika was talking with Zoe, one of his favorite circuit members, about a variety of things, mostly SSX, until he got interrupted by a call on his M-Comm, and talked for a few minutes before hanging up.

"Who was it?"

"Just Rahzel, we talk every now and then. He's still pretty pissed that he got booted from the commissioner position," Atomika laid back in his chair.

"Oh yeah, wasn't he involved in that gambling scandal? Didn't he bet on Psymon to win all the time?", Zoe asked.

"Uh...yeah, he was." Atomika was a little afraid now, or perhaps just a bit startled, remembering the fact that he did and still was doing the same thing.

Then he got another call on the M-Comm. It was Powder Pete, the ski patroller. This one was much worse.

"Hey Atomika, looks like we have an emergency up here. I just found JP's body in thie river over by the second bridge, you know, the one that keeps tumbling over during the race. He fell off some gap higher up on the course and it looks to be really bad. We've got a pulse but he's unconscious, we're taking him up to the Peak 3 hospital. You need to get up here NOW!"

"What's it now?"

"It's Powder Pete, JP got hurt pretty badly and fell into the river, they're probably taking him up to the hospital right now. I need to go, sorry Zoe."

You could tell there was a hint of a smile on Zoe's face since she hated JP, but she was willing to help anyway. Meanwhile, on his way up to the hospital, Atomika checked the results. Allegra, Nate, Elise, Danny, Kaori, and Moby were in the final. Psymon got stuck near the beginning of the course after he lost his board and didn't finish the race. Once again, Atomika made sure nobody noticed his disappointment.

Don't worry, this is just setting up the scene, it'll get more interesting. Just so you know, there are 24 SSXers in this. All of the veterans from SSX-SSX 3(no Tyson, Skye, and definitely no Sid), Marty, and five rookies. Here they are with brief descriptions:

Sam: An Australian in the group, a bit angry at times, good friends with Moby and Jurgen, enemy of Eddie, will be the center of chaos in some instances

Luis: Marisol's girlfriend, the biggest drinker in the history of mankind, friends with Viggo, Psymon,and Marisol, enemy of Brodi,Jurgen,Griff, and Luther

Dana: Looks similar to Elise,not as much of an arrogant prick, but still has a big grudge against her, friends with Mac, Nate, and Zoe, enemy of Allegra, Elise, and Marisol

Danny and Ashley: Brother/Sister combo here, have different friends and only enemy is, yep, Psymon