Nine's A Crowd

"Mr. Stark, please sit down, I see you've had your fun." A short, portly man with a thick neck that was barely able to separate his cheeky face from the rest of his body waddled over to the head of the table where seven other riders were seated, and ushered his hands for Psymon, Kaori and Mac to sit down. He cleared his throat once his audience was seated. "I am simply here to explain the rules and regulations to you. Mister…" he paused. "Mr. Valentino is unable to be here, but he will be the announcer for you, and will be handing out awards, checks, and the other honors that will be bestowed upon you during this season of the Snowboarding Super-Cross Tournament."

During the man's speech, which Kaori had heard three times before, the Japanese girl's eyes followed Psymon's fingers as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pair of small ear-phones. Psymon looked around the room, eventually meeting eye contact with Kaori, and smirked at her, and then proceeded to open his mouth and wiggle his tongue. Disgusted, she rolled her eyes and focused her attention back to the man.

"And you should all be honored to be supported by our company here. We expect you to follow the rules of conduct that I have just explained. Are there any questions?"

Psymon, completely unaware of his surroundings started to bob his head violently to the song playing in his mp3 player and his mouth burst with sound, "I'm going off the rails on a–(1)"

The man slapped his forehead. "Since the rest of you seem to understand the concept of the competition, I will excuse you while Mr. Stark and I…" He wasn't even allowed to finish his sentence, as the nine incredibly antsy riders hurried out of their chairs and headed to the elevator. With all of them trying to get crammed inside at once, there was barely any room to breath.

"This isn't going to hold all of us," stated a low, raspy voice coming from a girl with brown hair that was being held up with in a ponytail with two chopsticks. She leaned up against the side of the elevator as the rest of the riders moved closer together, causing Mac to squeeze right next to her.

"Hey, Zoe–" he started while looking at the girl, but Mac felt the weight of a full person jump up on his back.

"I've got a seat, so now there's room for one more!" That voice came from Allegra, a girl with piercing brown eyes and hair to match. She looked down at Mac's face from being propped up near his shoulders. "Lucky you!" she chuckled. Hearing her response, Sid, who was waiting for an available spot, stepped in.

"Ohmigod!" shouted Elise, as Sid squeezed right in front of her, "Someone has to get out of here!"

"Maybe if you're boobs weren't so huge," muttered a boy standing next to the blonde, "we could all make it in."

"Excuse me, but who are you for noticing?" Elise questioned the boy, whose ivy green hood from his sweatshirt was propped up over his head. Elise could sense a rolling of his eyes underneath the darkness given to him by his clothes. She snorted in return.

"Ouch!" shouted an Australian girl named Skye, just as another quick jerk from the elevator occupants caused them all to move positions, causing the public-acclaimed mountain man(2) to crush her into the wall.

"Sorry," replied Nate, "I'm so sorry."

Forcing a quick, but genuine smile, the girl replied back, "It's 'k, mate!" in a thick Australian accent.

Allegra, leaving her conversation with Mac for a second, looked at the girl. "Mate? What are you two, lovers?" she sneered.

Skye looked quizzically at Allegra, but than focused her attention back to Nate, who continued to apologize for his action. "It's just too crowded in here," he said loudly enough so that many murmurs of agreement sprang up from the riders.

"Some one needs to get out!" exclaimed Elise, soon after saying that, she shot a deep glance at the hooded boy next to her.

Kaori sighed. "I'll get out," she said stepping out of the elevator, "I'll just wait for the next trip down."

The Japanese man cloaking his eyes with dark glasses put his hand out to stop Kaori and stepped out himself. Kaori watched as he used his finger tips to move his shades down his nose revealing dark brown eyes. He then proceeded to give her a wink while keeping his emotionless face, before quickly moving the shades back up to their previous resting spot as the metal door closed.

-

"Great race, Mac!" Kaori shouted to Mac, as Kaori held her silver medal proudly around her neck as she waved to the bellowing, cheering crowd.

"Haha," laughed Mac, shouting up to her from the ground, "maybe for you. Ugh, if only Moby hadn't pushed me down near that one air blowing thing."

"Which one?" Kaori asked.

Mac, again, just laughed in response. "Never mind, have fun on your podium. I'm going to ride back up the elevator."

Kaori nodded. Mac left and the crowd started to die down. Kaori eventually dismounted her podium, but not before congratulating the Venezuelan beauty, Marisol Delgado, on her first place victory.

After that, Kaori was about to board the elevator, but heard her name being shouted. "Chichi(3)!" Kaori shouted as she ran over to her dad.

"Good job!" said her father, as the short, thin man gave his daughter a hug. After a short hello, Mr. Nishinake introduced someone that had been standing behind him. "This is a new guy from my cartoon studio. He's been working with me at my studio and has done some great things with Orange Explosion Fun Girl. His name is Sid."

-

Kaori blushed as she looked around the elevator to see if anyone saw her reaction. She only saw Elise eyeing up the unnamed boy, Nate and Skye making small talk with each other, Zoe looking intently at the ceiling of the elevator, and Allegra talking loudly to Mac from atop his back, who answered with the bare minimum. That sent a stab of envy in her heart for a second or two, but it quickly passed, as she thought about what was to come.

The glory that was able to be given to her as a rider on the SSX Circuit was greater than any negative emotion she was going to feel here. The snowflakes drifting into her face and the sweet smell of pine trees in the winter air were just some of the thoughts that drifted into her mind.

"What if there are going to be photographers snapping pictures at us as we leave the elevator?" chirped Skye, snapping Kaori out of her thoughts.

"You wish, mate," snorted Allegra, mocking her accent as Skye shot her a dirty glance. Embarrassed by Allegra's immaturity, Mac assured the Australian that their rooms were private, and Kaori smirked remembering how Brodi snuck in.

With a light blinking atop of the door well, the metal doors opened with a beep as the eight riders flooded out.

End of Part Two

(1)Psymon's outburst contains a short line from the song "Crazy Train" performed by famous heavy metal rocker: Ozzy Osbourne.

(2)"Mountain Man" is the nickname given to Nate in his SSX On Tour profile that comes up as your events are loading.

(3)If Google is right, then "chichi" means father in Japanese.

Thank you everyone for your kind and positive reviews. Sorry about the month-long wait, but I will continue this, and I promise the updates will come more frequently, since these aren't long chapters. Happy boarding!