Life at the Top A Story by Bardic Jester and Ghost Of Fish

Prologue

Season two of the SSX circuit. It started with the North American races. After all five were all done. The riders then moved on to the European and Asian courses. But one didn't, Mac Fraser during the last race in Alaska the last course in North America. He collided with a tree and broke his leg, wrist, and arm. He was done for the season.

The producers of SSX then did something no one expected. Instead of just continuing the circuit with only 11 riders. They brought in Marty. Macs cousin from Germany who was a real hit in the more underground snow skating circuit. The main reason why they brought Marty in was said to have been because the producers didn't want to lose Mac's fan base (which was the biggest in the circuit) so they brought in someone who was exactly like Mac.

The producers themselves have never given a statement on why they brought Marty in. And why didn't they just leave it at 11 riders. Or why not bring in one of the other snowboarders that were of greater skill than Marty.

That Season ended and Mac returned. The producers were planning on just getting rid of Marty and not have him back for the next season. But it was brought to their attention that the fact that they were getting really bad press about the whole matter that getting rid of him was just going to make them look worse. And so Marty was back the next year.

Since Mac came back he never has really liked Marty. He has always been afraid that since Marty replaced him once, he could do it again. Marty's only real friend on the circuit had been Kaori. But Mac doesn't like her spending time with Marty.

Welcome to BIG Mountain Part 1

Marty walked off the airplane. He landed in a small airport. The place was dreary, unwelcoming and in Marty's opinion a bad start He walked around a bit, trying to find his stuff. He got his luggage after many minutes of searching. Marty never did like airports.

He left the airport to find a white sky hover over his head. He saw a man with a square jaw and a slowly aged face holding a sign that read Marty on it. Marty rolled his eyes; he could have gotten a cab himself. He got into a black car, with a leather interier. He sat down and watched as the driver sat in the car. He didn't even bother saying a word to the driver. He really wasn't a social guy and the driver didn't seem to want a passanger who never shut up.

He looked out of his window. He could see Metro City. It was a lot bigger than he had thought, they had their fair share of skyscrapers. The city seemed to be built around the idea that snow was here to stay. The place seemed to be filled with unhappy people who were enslaved by the cold.

He then remembered that the letter he received didn't mention where he would be staying. But he was a SSX rider so it would be a nice big and fancy hotel. Those other riders wouldn't eat anything unless it was served to them on a silver platter. Marty on the other hand was living quite happy making about 15 thousand a year during the snowskate circuit.

It wasn't long until the car came to a stop. Marty looked to see what was probably the biggest and most expensive looking hotel in the city. Of course the first thing that popped into his head was 'how did I know.' He got out of his car and saw two men standing right outside of his car. One looked like age had hit him like a crowbar, while the other one seemed to look quite youthful and filled with life, his hair was long, his face was quite triangular and he was a little talled then Marty. Marty guessed that the second one and himself were around the same age.

"Good day Mister Stieber. I hope your trip went well. I am Edward Ainsworth the manager of this fine hotel that you will be staying at during your time here on big mountain," the older one informed him. The man had a large British accent, that many may argue was larger then Moby's.

Marty shook the man's hand then looked at the younger one. "Hello Marty I am Ben Weller. I will be with you for your first few days on Big Mountain. Just to help you get used to life here. Come let me show you to your room," the younger one said.

Marty nodded and Weller guided him in. They walked to the elevator it was taking a long time to come so Marty suggested taking the stairs. This was something though he would regret, for his suite was on the top level of the hotel. So it took a while before they made it to the top level. Weller then got out of the staircase and Marty followed. He guided him to a room. Weller then got out a key and opened it.

The two then walked into it and Marty was in shock. It was more than a room. There was a kitchen and a living area. The place seemed to radiate with expensive taste. The room seemed to make an "L". The living room and kitchen were right there when you opened the door, while the bedroom and washroom were around a corner to the left of you when you first enetered the room.

"Ah I see you are surprised about the size. I am sorry to say that other riders took all the other larger rooms, mainly because they have a roommate. But since there is 19 riders one doesn't have one and that one is you," Marty was shocked. Bigger? This hotel suite was the size of his apartment in America. "Now on your coffee table is a package which has the time when you will be interviewed on radio big. Your key is in the package too. There is a bar on the bottom level in this hotel. But remember it is 10 O'clock right now. If you need anything else just go to the front desk," With that Weller left the suite.

Marty walked over to a windows. He looked out to see the entire city. The view was awesome. But it was looking down the mountain. He bet that the guys on the other side of the hotel have a much better view looking up the mountain. He sat down on a couch. He then realized there was a television across from him. He turned it on he flipped through the cannels. After a while he got bored. "God I need a drink," He got up and left his room.

Once the elevator doors opened Marty came out. Then he realized that Weller never said where in the hotel bottom level the bar was. He walked around for a bit before he finally found it. It was small and definitely nothing special. He walked in and took a seat on a stool. The bar tender turned and looked at him. "Hey your one of the riders isn't you. God you people are everywhere in here."

The bar tender then pointed a little farther down the counter. Marty turned to see a large bald man named Nate sitting on a stool drinking a beer and smoking. Then he pointed behind Marty. Marty turned around and saw Psymon, Moby, and Zoe sitting at a table. He then pointed at another table that had Elise, Eddie, and Brodi, and finally another table with Luther and JP. The majority of the riders were in there.

Marty turned back to the bar tender. He ordered a beer, and started to drink it. He slowly turned back to look at the other riders. He peered over at the table of Psymon. Psymon slowly gripped some nuts and tossed them into his mouth. He pushed his chair back, slowly got up and head to the bar. He got up to right next to Marty. Psymon raised his hand to order something. But he stopped and turned and looked at Marty

"Hey your that German Mac right. How about a drinking game?" Psymon asked, he was already drunk. Marty rolled his eyes. He hadn't done a drinking game in years. Sure he won that but he didn't want to go and get extremely drunk his first night here.

"Sorry but I'll have to pass," Marty replied. He slowly then turned his head slightly trying to avoid and gaze that came off of Psymon.

Psymon then reached into his pocket. Then he got something out of his pocket. He then slammed it onto the bar. As hard as you would slam a hammer into a nail. Marty looked down to look what Psymon had just slammed onto the bar. It was two 100 dollar bills. "Would 200 bucks change your mind?"

Marty thought for a second. He figured two hundred bucks was two hundred bucks. "You are on, you need to learn something anyway. Never challenge a German to a drinking game!" Marty said.

Psymon laughed as he ordered many beers. "I don't think you realize this yet but you were just challenged by a Canadian. Where everyday is October Fest," Psymon picked up as many of the beers as he could. "Come on take a seat at one of these fine tables," Marty got up and sat across from him. Apparently this got the attention of most of the other riders in the bar as most came over to watch.

Moby then reached into his pockets and pulled out a whole whack of bills and tossed them into the centre of the table. "300 bucks on my mate Psymon," Moby said. Everyone was kind of blow away by the amount.

But not to be undone by a stupid Englishman JP reached into his pocket as well "Okay l'homme trois cent dollars on Marty," JP said putting 300 bucks on the table. About four minutes later the betting pool had reach more than 2 grand. With only JP and Luther betting on Marty.

Moby counted off and the drinking game began. It lasted for quite a while. But after a lot of beers they were both ready to collapse. Psymon was standing up and singing when he was drinking. Marty just continued to drink. Until Marty stood up "Hey Psymon cheers!" The two of them hit each others glasses and drank their enter glass and both collapsed at the same time.

Everyone was quite for a few moments until Moby went for the pot. "Well I think you all saw that Marty hit the ground before Psymon,"

But right when Moby was about to grab the pot Luther grabbed his hand. "I don't think so buddy the Canuck hit the ground first," At that point the place was about to turn into a brawl until the bar tender stepped in.

"Okay people clear out all of you," Moby grabbed a handful of money and pocketed it quickly. Then everyone then grabbed the money they put in and left. Moby and Zoe dragged Psymon out. But Marty was just left there on the ground.

The Bar tender called the front desk and had to have employees of the hotel drag Marty up to his room. after a few minutes a group of bell boys came and grabbed him. The bell boys then took him up the staircase. Cause it would have looked bad for the hotel and Marty if someone saw them. They got to Marty's room but realized they had forgot to get a key from the front desk. They decided to just leave him there and thought that someone should find him and let him in.