The bus came to a stop at the hotel the boarders were going to be staying at. They were half way to Garibaldi. The trip was a few days long, with stops in between. And no hotels from there to here… "We're finally at the hotel…" Mac says, he wasn't all that happy about being there right now. They just had to wake him up when they got there, didn't they? Moby was already off the bus when he walked off. Something seemed out of place… There was a new bus parked with the others… Wait, it wasn't new, it was Hiro's bus… "Hey, he was suspended, wasn't he?" Mac says to Moby who was waiting for him outside. "He was… I think the suspension's over mate" Moby says and starts walking to the hotel. "Dammit…" Mac curses and walks to the hotel. Everyone else was waiting in the hotel lobby. Mac figured they were going to all have a short meeting about Hiro, so he waited.
"Alright everyone, go on in" Some guy says and opens the doors to the room. Hiro was in there with a representative of Rahzel's. Everyone went in and sat down wherever they wanted. Mac could swear Moby was very unhappy about this… "Sorry about not announcing this meeting before, but Rahzel just made the decision to bring Hiro back last night" the representative says and looks at Hiro. "He will be racing at Garibaldi, and Hiro, try not to get suspended again, you know how the fans hate it" "Hah, arigato, I won't get suspended this time… Last time it wasn't even my fault" Hiro says and looks around to find Moby. "If I didn't get knocked down, it would have never happened…" He says with a nasty look on his face. "Meeting's over everyone… Go to your rooms and in the morning we will be heading out to Garibaldi," the representative says. Mac gets up and turns to see Moby, but Moby's already out of the room.
___
Mac walks down the hall to the room him and Moby always have. He hadn't seen Moby since that meeting that he could swear the representative ended so that Hiro wouldn't kill Moby. What did Moby do anyways? He wasn't there that day; he was out DJing at a local club. Mac walks into the room to find Moby laying on one of the two beds, looking at the ceiling. "Hey, Moby, what's wrong?" Mac says as he walks in the room. The door shut behind him. "… Hiro, that's what's wrong… He blames me for something I didn't do" Moby says. "I wasn't even there when he got suspended, what happened?" Mac says as he sits down on his bed. "We were on a tough part of the Alps and I hit him by accident… He shoved me down on the rocks and I got cut pretty bad… Got myself up and kept going though, and passed him. I won that race, bloody arm and all…" Moby says. Moby sits up and takes his shirt off. There was a huge scar on his left arm. "Damn… That's why they suspended him?" Mac asks Moby. "He was rather violent all the time… He had got a few warnings from Rahzel and still kept doing it, and that race was the last time I saw him too… Then again, had to get me arm bandaged up, so could be another reason I didn't see him that night" Moby says and lays back down. "Whatever happened, he knows Rahzel, that must be the reason he's back…"
Mac could tell Moby just wanted to forget that day, even though he had won the race. "Hey, let's just get some sleep, don't wanna miss the bus" Mac says. "They aren't leaving until one, we won't miss them" Moby says. "That's what I said the last time…" Mac says. "I'll wake you up then" Moby says knowing Mac would be up before one. "If you say so" Mac says and turns off the light in the room. The beds in all of the racers rooms were single person beds. No one else ever stayed in those rooms except the racers. Any normal people would stay down the other hall.
___
Morning came, and went. It was 30 minutes till one, and Mac was still sleeping. Moby got up and got dressed. He looked over to Mac's bed, and realized Mac was awake. "Good morning, love" Moby says to him. "Mornin" he says back. "You should get ready to go… Got 25 minutes till the bus leaves," Moby says as he puts his shoes on. Mac got out of bed and get ready to go. *2 days till Garibaldi* Mac thinks. They get their stuff and then head to the buses. Hiro's bus was parked right behind theirs. Moby wasn't too happy about that, and got on the bus, trying to pretend it was someone else.
The buses started off to Garibaldi. Mac wished they would get some real new boarders, not a boarder off of suspension… Mac was in his room reading the newest DJing magazine he got. He didn't know where Moby was, but it was no big deal, they had been with each other for a while, Moby probably needed the freedom.
"Hey, mate, how do you think Garibaldi will go?" Moby says as he walks into Macs room. Moby plops himself down on the bed next to Mac and looks at the magazine. "Hiro will win… It just seems like it…." Mac says. Moby frowns and looks at Mac. "You really think so?" He says. "I don't know…. Something seems wrong though," Mac says. Hiro was up to something, Mac didn't know why, but he felt like it was the truth…
___
Two days later they made it to Garibaldi. They had to stop for a little while because Zoe and Elise's bus got a flat tire. Hiro had helped them…. What the hell was Hiro trying to pull? Was he trying to get one of the girls? Mac knew Zoe was with Psy and Elise had a boyfriend who was in a different league sport…
Everyone got off their buses and walked into the Garibaldi arena. This was pretty much Psymon's track; most of the fans were his… Maybe Psy would kick Hiro's ass… Then again, Hiro had all that technology… This was going to be a tough race for everyone…
The first day was the racing competitions, and then the next would be for the Showoff competition… Everyone waited in the boarder's room, waiting for a chance to get on the track for a few practice runs. One of the maintenance crew people came in and said the track was ready, so some of the boarders went to go practice, and others stayed back to chat for a little while. Hiro was one of the ones to stay back, so Moby had gone out to the track. Mac went after him.
They stood at the top start gate and looked at the track. Kaori and Zoe were already going down it. "C'mon, I'll beat ya to the bottom!" Mac says and goes off down Garibaldi. "Aw c'mon mate, no fair…" Moby says and chases after him. They go speeding down the mountain, Moby finally catching up to Mac rather close to the end. "Hey Mac, you said you would beat me to the bottom!" Moby says as he passes Mac. "Er…. Um, I lied?" Mac says as he passes the finish line behind Moby. Moby falls back onto the snow. "You didn't sound like you were lieing…" Moby says. Mac takes his board off and goes to lie in the snow next to Moby. "Opps, I was supposed to" he says laughing. The two lie there for a few minutes. Moby gets up and takes his board off finally. He helps Mac up and they head back up to the Boarder's Room. But they don't get too far because Mac drags Moby off into the woods. No one would bother them out there; at least Mac thought no one would…
___
Psymon had finished his run down Garibaldi just in time to see Mac and Moby disappear into the woods. What the hell were they doing? Going on a nature walk?
___
Mac and Moby knew their way around the woods, all the boarders did… They stopped walking after a while, thinking they were far enough out that they wouldn't get bothered. "Why are we down here for, love?" Moby asks Mac when they stop. "I figured we wouldn't have any chance to be alone while we're here, so I made one…" Mac says. "You sure no one saw us?" Moby says. He kisses Mac and then leans against a tree. "I didn't see anyone behind us before…" Mac says.
The two guys stayed out in the woods for a while, enjoying the piece and quite. That was something all of the boarders could rarely do… They were always around loud areas; perhaps they forgot what quite was…
"They're going to be worrying about us, love, shouldn't we go back?" Moby says. "Yeah… We should get going, the event's should be starting soon," Mac says while looking at his watch. Mac gets up and looks at the sky, it looked like a storm was coming in… Mac usually checked these things, but he had forgotten this time… Moby got up and the two walked back to the Boarder's Room.
They walked in to find only Eddie, Kaori, and JP. "Where is everyone?" Mac says. "They went down the mountain one last time, the events start soon" Eddie says. Mac walked over to the window and looked out. People were starting to get to their seats to watch the event… "Quite a crowd today… Look how many Elise fans there are already! Geez…." Mac says. There was already a ton of people with Elise signs, and one or two with Psymon signs. "Qui… Hey, look, there's one of my fans!" JP says as he walks over to the window… Mac just walks away. He should have shut up, now that JP started, he would almost never stop…
The missing boarders walked into the room one by one. The door was only that big after all. One of Rahzel's million representatives walked into the room from another door. "Ok everyone, I have the first race's competitors listed here, so everyone sit down shut up, and listen for once," he says. *Why did Rahzel always send the mean ones?* Mac thinks. "The Quarter Finals competitors will be Zoe, Eddie, Hiro, Psymon, Moby, and Mac. Everyone else please stay here until your turn"
Mac and Moby just looked at each other with a "You've got to be kidding me" look on their faces. They get up and grab their boards and then go out to warm up. They go up to the start gate and wait for the countdown… *3…2…1…* Mac thinks as it's said over the loud speakers. They start off down the mountain and towards the huge jump Garibaldi is famous for. Almost everyone made it down… Although Zoe and Eddie collided at the bottom when they landed. The rest of the boarders kept going, Hiro was already far out in front, as if he was cheating… Mac looks up to see Moby and Psymon almost next to each other. Psy tries to shove Moby, but it doesn't work and Moby shoves back, sending Psymon into the snow. Mac goes past Moby and tries to catch up with Hiro, but it was impossible… There was no way to get 1st this time…
Hiro passed the finish line and set a new record, one that even the best Alpine boarders would never beat… Mac finished second, followed by Moby. Psymon, Zoe and Eddie all passed the finish line shortly after. Mac took his board off and started to go back to the Boarder's Room when he heard Psymon and Moby fighting. He turned around and walked over to the two boarders. "Hey Psy, man, chill, will ya?" he says. "If it wasn't for him knocking me down I could have beat that Hiro punk!" Psymon says. "Actually mate, I doubt you could…" Moby says. That started up the fight again and some of the officials had to break it up.
The next heat had Brodi, Marisol, and Seeiah joining the winners of the last run. Marisol was next to Hiro in the start gate… Almost as if she was trying to get him… She never gave up to find love even after all the stupid things she's done. Mac looked up to see the counter start going down. When it hit zero the boarders all went out of the gates, and Hiro had an obvious lead again… The race started and ended almost simultaneously, with Hiro winning again… and Brodi and Marisol coming in second and third, so maybe it was just Hiro's luck. They were all pretty close to him at the end. But then again, they all were using alpine boards.
Back in the Boarders Room Mac plopped down on the couch that was in the corner. "That sucked… There goes my winning streak…" Mac says pissed. "Hey Mac, will you shut the hell up? You aren't the only one that lost…" Psymon says. He was over playing pool with Eddie and Zoe. "Yeah, sorry…" he says as he picks up the remote and turns on the TV. Hiro was on the screen with Brodi following closely behind him. *Brodi was going to do it! He was going to beat Hiro!* Mac thinks and then looks the others around the room. "Yo, guys, I think Brodi's going to beat Hiro!" he says, making Zoe lose concentration and screw up her shot. If Brodi won he would be able steal the gold from Hiro. And that's exactly what Hiro needed to become a star again, that and fans.
Everyone crowded around the TV and watched. All the other boarders for that race seemed far away, but the cameramen kept the camera on Brodi and Hiro. As they neared the finish line, and Brodi was only a tiny bit ahead. He passed the finish line and beat Hiro by an inch or so. Everyone in the room started cheering. Ok, maybe not everyone, but they were all happy at least.
The boarders from the last heat walked into the Boarders Room. Hiro was the last one to come in. He didn't seem to care about what just happened, he seemed to be thinking about something else.
Moby looked up from the magazine he was reading. Mac didn't realize Moby didn't get up to check the action on the TV. Most likely because he must have thought Hiro was going to win. Everyone else pretty much crowded around Brodi, he did do the unthinkable after all, he beat Hiro. Mac didn't care much; it was all in the days work. Hiro on the other hand was missing. He must have went to his bus…
An SSX official came into the room, and the crowd around Brodi shutup to listen to what he had to say. "Rahzel says you all did good, and Hiro…. Where's Hiro?!?" He says and looks around. "Hiro went back to his bus" Kaori said after about a minute of silence and everyone looking around. "Ah well, Rahzel had some kind words for him, Kaori, if you could please tell him that Rahzel would like to see him It'd be nice" Kaori walks out of the room to get Hiro. Those two had always been friendly since the first SSX… "Everyone else have a good night, the Showoff competitions are tomorrow, don't forget!" he says and walks out of the room. The boarders started leaving to go to their buses. Eddie and Zoe stayed back to play more pool.
Mac got up and shut the TV off. Some sports news show was on that was usually boring… Except that time Psymon flipped them off on live national TV, but they asked for it, trying to interview Psymon on a bad day is usually a bad idea. Moby got up and followed Mac out of the room and down the hall to the exit. Neither of them really talked the whole time there, but then again, the other boarders didn't know their secret… At least they didn't think anyone knew.
They walked to their bus. Mac got to the bus and waited for Moby, being alone all day was hell. Sure, Moby was around, but they weren't with each other all day… Pretty much those two races and that time in the woods was all they had. After losing the second heat Moby had gone over to read the magazines they had sitting on the table in the Borders Room. Mac looked at Moby as he approached. He just wanted to kiss Moby; he didn't care if anyone else saw them. But he waited until they got on the bus.
Mac almost knocked Moby down when they got on. Kissing him in a way he never had before. Moby just stared at Mac, breathless. "You missed me that much today, love?" He says. "Yeah… What's up?" Mac says wondering what Moby was doing before anyways… "I didn't want to blow it somehow… That's why I was reading those magazines… I didn't forget about you, love" Moby says and kisses Mac again before going into his room. "Get some sleep, you'll need it for tomorrows Showoff if you want to beat me!" Moby jokes. "Aw c'mon Moby, you know I'd beat you even if I was half asleep at the time" Mac says as he passes Moby's room and goes into his. He sat on his bed and waited until Moby was asleep before he snuck into the boarder's room. Moby's bed was big enough for two people, unlike the hotel beds. Mac got onto the bed and laid down. Moby was fast asleep already. Mac just looked over at Moby as he fell asleep. He knew he would beat Moby at tomorrow's Showoff, at least he hoped he would… just to get him back for what he said tonight. He didn't care if he lost the actual event.