Chapter 4- Confrontation
I find the answers aren't so clear
I wish I could find a way to disappear
All these thoughts they make no sense,
I find bliss in ignorance,
Nothing seems to go away,
Over and over again (5x)
- Humble Brothers; Jon Davis: 1stp Klosr
Ian plopped himself on the couch, watching the widescreen TV as Mac and Elise were on the screen, battling it out for first place at Snow Jam. He rested his head on the pillow next to him, clenching his teeth as Mac pushed forward, making it at first, and landing a new record to go along with it. Everyone else was out watching the race, even Zeke. Ian sat up and turned off the television, sighing lightly as he had his fingers onto his snowboard, deciding to take a stroll down Happiness, the first peak in the mountain. He grabbed his m-comm and tucked it into his pocket, pulling out some mini-headphones for easy listening down the course.
"The first race in the year was one thing: Magical. Fan favorite Mac won the first competition, showing that this year may be all his. Another announcement going out to all in the city: The Day Shack will be hosting a 'Rock Meets Hip-Hop' show tonight; what to look out for: Mac Fraser using his DJ skills and MC Perpetual throwing lyrics with the likes of local favorites 'S3D'" Atomika's voice lightened up Ian's attitude. He walked out into the snow, and into the trolley nearby. Ian defiantly needed to release some steam into the snow. He took the trolley up the mountain, seeing the Happiness course glisten in the fiery sun.
"Wow…" Ian said to himself as he waited to be dropped off at the peak, snow flurries attaching themselves to the sticky surface of the metal. He tied his shoes onto his snowboard as he finally reached his destination, pushing himself out and hitting the snow with a wet splash. He smiled as he realized how the name fit: he was in pure heaven. He zigzagged through various trees, trying to understand the feel of the snow. He slumped over a bit, toppling over. 'Okay, I REALLY need practice.'
Ian hit a few jumps, cautioning himself not to attempt any tricks. He had read articles from the pervious year about avalanches starting all over the circuit, and even crevasses happening on the more dangerous peaks. He closed his eyes as he felt the snow under his board. It felt so slushy and nice, but he had to admit it seemed hard to ride under. He smiled as he heard hip-hop beats through his m-comm, mixed with rock lyrics produced by Linkin Park. Ian figured it was a taste of what it would feel like later that night and so far, the boy liked what he heard.
Ian's breath stopped for a second as he railed on a fallen log, plummeting down a huge gap in between. He landed with perfect symmetry, shocking himself. Surely anyone else would have snapped something from that huge of a jump, but then again, SSX defied gravity all together. He grinded on another broken log; Ian saw a huge billboard with Race, Slope style, and Station written on it.
He quickly stopped and kicked off his board on spot. The radiant sun looked like it was going to set any minute. He sighed lowly to himself as he started walking towards the end of the curious, looking at the huge peaks from afar. How did they find such a place to make the Circuit. It had everything to make this place so eventful—and some danger never hurt either.
Ian kept his head down as he put on his board again, pushing himself forward. He pulled out his m-comm and noticed a little blinking envelop. He clicked on it and read the title:
From: Jubin
Topic: Come down to the Day Shack!
Ian blinked twice and read the message:
Ian, get down to the Day Shack ASAP, its so kick ass, bro. Seriously, we're about to see the locals blend magic!
He sighed and put his m-comm away, looking up at the crescent moon from afar. He shrugged to himself and looked around. Right next to the Station was the helicopter that could take him down to the city. He quickly slid his board in the back of the plane and looked inside the cockpit to find a gruff man reading a porno. His cheeks blushed furiously as he cleared his throat, getting the man's attention.
"Huh? Um, where you wanna go? Wait, are you a tourist? I don't take tourist, just SSX Com-"Ian flashed his m-comm. "Oh, well, okay youngin', I s'pose you wanna go down to the city to see that Hip Hop shit, right?" He slid the porno magazine under his seat and pointed Ian towards the back. Ian nodded and slid into the back along with his board. He closed his eyes and felt the helicopter lift from the ground. It seemed faster then he expected, because he was already dropped off as soon as he was picked up. He looked around the city and noticed two different starting arenas at both sides. He figured one was Metro City, a race, while the other was Dysfunction Junction, a Super Pipe.
He shrugged and noticed a figure wearing an L.A. Lakers jersey waving. "Ian! Ian!"
Ian picked up his board and walked across the icy street, clearly not dressed for any occasion. He wore what he always wore on lazy days: a black t-shirt, a blackish red hoodie and cargo jeans; a long with some rag-tag sneakers. He met up with Jubin, who was considerably tall, well; it was no wonder why he was on college basketball for a few years. Ian could see a large neon sign reading "Day Shack." He smiled a bit and looked around the street a bit, seeing the nightlife. He finally took a breath and Jubin led Ian into a huge room.
Fog lights raved all over the ceiling as Mac himself took to the right, placing himself with two turntables. Ian squinted and noticed all the other SSX riders enjoying the current music playing. In fact, Griff was already on the dance floor, trying to persuade Elise into a dance. Ian looked up at Jubin, then back to Griff. He looked like he had gotten a completely new look over the course of a few hours. His hair was now trimmed and spiked, and he wore an undershirt with an unbuttoned collar shirt over that. His jeans were somewhat tight and he wore what seemed to be new Adidas. Ian gave a quizzical look towards Jubin. "Eh, he's going through a phase. Actually, I'm surprised your not."
"What? You mean the phase where you turn prep?" Ian snorted. He shook his head lowly, then the room fell silent as three lights appeared; one of them on Mac. The crowd cheered as a man appeared at center, a microphone clutched in his hand. Along with that was a group of four people, one on guitar, one on drums, one on bass and finally another man with a microphone. The first man with the microphone stepped forward. His skin was ashy black, his hair in cornrows and wearing Sean John clothes; he also wore some black Adidas. "Welcome ladies and gents! Our Rock Meets Hip Hop show will commence as of…" Mac softly scratched the disk in his turntable, both guitar and bass beginning to play at the same tempo as Mac. MC Perpetual's voice echoed. "Now."
The man on drums began to play furiously, his head rattling as both MC Perpetual and the head vocals of S3D began to have a sort of "sing off". The crowd was in hysteria as the tempo of the playing grew faster and louder, Mac keeping his cool as he scratched furiously, changing around the styles at complete random.
Ian stood in awe. He had heard of stuff like Linkin Park's remixes, but hearing music like this live made him wonder how it all worked so well. The lead vocals turned into a screaming hook, Perpetual throwing out lyrics as fast as the guitarist's playing. The bass took a quicker tempo, and for about a minute, all that was playing was the band (minus the vocals) and Mac, their styles colliding with each beat. Mac turned around and could see Psymon howling like a wolf, starting a live mosh pit right in the center. He pushed himself around, going complete berserk; Ian took a few steps closer, so he could evade the frenzy. This was surely going to be a night to remember.
-
It was already midnight. They had finally stopped and Mac was heading for the back door. Ian spun around. He was having so much fun that he might have left his snowboard outside carelessly. The boy ran outside and quickly felt another presence around him. He turned around to see Mac looking directly into his eyes. "You know…I haven't spoken to Kaori this entire time."
"Why would that be my problem…?" Ian asked curiously. He felt a rush of wind, but moved out of the way hastily. Mac's face was furious.
"Why would that be your problem! You fucking kissed her!"
"I didn't!"
"Yeah sure, whatever you little prick." Mac said coldly. He turned around and began to walk away, his fists shaking. At the exact moment, all the SSX riders were walking, discussing the concert.
"Huh? You like her, don't you?" Ian's voice quivered a little bit, afraid of what Mac could do. Mac remained still for a second, all of the other riders silent. Other civilians began to walk out too, Atomika being one of them. Slowly, a circle formed around Mac and Ian, both forgetting about everybody. Mac's body shook slightly, a sudden burst of energy emitting from his feet. He spun around swiftly, his fist high in the air.
Ian held up his board out of instinct, Mac hitting the board instead of Ian's body. At that point, Eddie and Nate walked into the circle, Nate holding back Ian while Eddie attempting to hold back Mac. "Aww shit, we may have to call the ambulance soon!" cried out Eddie as he struggled to keep a raging Mac at bay. Atomika jumped in between them, holding up a pink slip. His eyes were serious, but that didn't seem to help out at all.
"Let me go!" Ian's fingers groped the snowboard, holding it as if it were a weapon.
"That's enough you two. Listen, the last thing I ever want to do is suspend you from SSX. Seriously, I may not be on the council, but if you ever attack each other, I won't hesitate to officially ban you from the Circuit." Atomika's voice was stern and slightly cold. Psymon lightly chuckled, but was silenced by Atomika's expression. "Now, I want you two to take a break from each other. Don't go within talking range for a week. Also; when one is participating in a competition, the other can't."
Ian's head drooped slightly, growling lightly. It wasn't even a week in the Circuit and he already received a warning. He spat on the icy street, Nate letting go of the boy and his snowboard. He glanced towards Mac and sighed lightly.
Mac took a different trolley then Ian. As of far, he didn't seem to enjoy the Circuit. He needed something to prove he was worthy as an SSX competitor. He needed something.
A plan.
-
Gotom: Oooo. Yeah, sorry for not updating recently. My PS2 was unhook for a bit, so i couldn't play SSX 3 to get ideas. Anyway, I never meant for Mac to be the villian, there isn't a such thing in this story. A rival, maybe, but a villan? No. Actually, Mac was the first person I ever used in the SSX franchise. Hope you like it. Maybe if I'm not lazy, I'll put up stats for the newbies in the next installment.