Hehe… No comment except to say that it is really hard to
write vert demos :-p
And, some of you who have been reading my main man Titer Bloodred's
story about Halkon will realize that you will quickly
begin to see some intertwining between my story and his. :-)
Please, I could really use some other people's opinions on this story…
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Location: LA, CA, Holiday Inn
Time: 11:00 AM
*The vert demo wasn't being held until a little later
in the afternoon, so Razor found no real rush in getting ready. He waited
around for a while, though nothing really was to happen between that time and
when they needed to be at the skatepark, 3:00
PM. Razor took a little money and got himself something to eat at
the nearby McDonald's again. It was really all he could afford to spare money
for, really. After he finished eating, he sat in his room and watched ESPN2 for
a while.*
Location: Holiday Inn
Time: 2:20 PM
*Razor, catching the time, picked up his backpack and headed down to where the
bus was parked. It would take about 15 minutes to get down to the skatepark,
and he sort of expected at least one other person to be down there. As he got
down to the bus, he almost turned around as he saw that the only one down there
was Brach. Razor sighed, and walked down there with board in hand. Razor went
down beside Brach, and remained standing, putting his board on the ground
upside-down. Brach just ignored him, and Razor was grateful for the lack of
attention. As the rest of the touring group came out, they all got on the bus,
headed to the skatepark.*
Location: Tony Hawk Memorial Skatepark, LA.
Time: 2:50 PM
*Razor was suddenly sparked with curiosity as the bus pulled up to the
skatepark, and he looked over at Conseco.*
Razor: Hey Conseco, where do we go after this?
*Conseco looked at Razor for a moment, chuckling.*
Conseco: Nowhere, this is the last stop.
Razor: Oh…
*Razor got out of the bus, and headed over to the halfpipe. This time they
didn't need as much time to get ready for the demo, mostly because not as many
were skating. Razor mostly watched the other skaters in the halfpipe while
freestyling on the top, and sometimes dropping in to do a stall or an invert.*
Location: Tony Hawk Memorial Skatepark
Time: Showtime: 3:30 PM
*Razor sighed, unsure of what would be done different that day. He scanned the
crowd real quick, and noticed that, no doubt, the red hedgehog with the black
streak in his hair was in the crowd, and his little, erm, "Cheering section"
was back. Razor watched as Bucky Lasek dropped in, starting off everyone. Razor
stood back, trying to figure out about what they were doing throughout this
demo. Bucky Lasek did a kickflip to indy on the first wall, landed cleanly, and
then did a melon over the roll-in on the ramp. As he got to the far wall again,
and did a Heelflip 540 Ganflip, and on the wall with the roll-in, he did a FS
Rodeo 540. On the far wall, he did a Heelflip FS Invert. As he came back, he
came out of the halfpipe, and Rune Glifberg dropped in. Razor stopped for a
moment, and recalled the tricks.*
Razor *thinking*: Okay, so each person
does 5 tricks. Okay.
*Razor watched as Rune Glifberg finished his five tricks, and Tony Hawk
dropped in, to several cheers from the crowd. Razor watched as Tony did a
kickflip to indy on the far wall, then did a big nosegrab on the near wall,
then another on the far wall, then a third on the close wall. Razor watched as
Tony did a nice 900 on the far side, which got the crowd in an uproar. Razor
smiled.*
Razor *thinking: Hate to show him up...
*Razor watched as Tony came out, and Nagisoki dropped in. Razor smiled;
Nagisoki was a nimble fellow, doing a FS 540 straight off the roll-in, then
turning around and doing a Heelflip 540 Ganflip over the roll-in. Nagisoki then
did a vert kickflip to fakie, and rode up the roll-in, doing a fakie 360 flip
on it. As he rode back up the far wall, he did a 720 Mute grab, getting quite
inverted, and headed back up the side all the skaters were on, the crowd still
roaring. Razor smiled as Bob dropped in, and he slowly, discreetly made his way
to the side, watching the entire way whether or not someone else was thinking
about heading out. He caught the eye of Conseco, who only signaled for him to
go ahead. As Bob came out, Razor dropped in, and his little cheering section
seemed to go a long way in supporting him. Razor went up the first side, doing
a FS Rodeo 540 there. As he came back, he did a 540 Tailgrab, and smiled as he
went back to the other side. As he got up into the air, he pulled through a
900, and as he landed, he got an uproar of cheers for the combination of the 540
Tailgrab and the 900, back to back. As he came up the next side, he lined
himself up for a double heelflip, and as the board spun out, he grabbed the
board, and stretched his arms straight out, into a perfectly tweaked Christ
Air, pulling it back in just in time to make the landing. He got to the other
side, and did a quick disaster on the lip, dropping in and coming back out on
the other side, watching as Conseco dropped in. Razor knew one thing for sure;
Conseco really loved technical tricks. In fact, the first thing he did was a
double kickflip varial indy, a trick Razor often found
himself barely making. Conseco, on the other hand, made it look easy. On the
side the pros stood on, Conseco pulled a 360 Varial McTwist to follow up, and
then on the far wall did a 360 Heelflip Madonna to Fakie. Coming back, Razor
saw Conseco do a varial invert, switch. And, as if that wasn't enough, Conseco,
while going back down into the pipe, did a quick fingerflip, riding away
smoothly.*
Razor *thinking*: The Rodney Mullen of
Vert.
*Razor watched as Conseco pulled off his final trick; an inverted 540 mute
grab, then came out of the pipe. Razor hardly watched Andy McDonald's 5 tricks,
and instead headed over to the panther.*
Razor: That was amazing, Conseco.
Conseco: That? That wasn't much following you.
Razor: Dude, that 360 Varial McTwist. I couldn't land that in a million years,
and you made it look easy.
Conseco: Yeah, well… A 900 after a 540… Tony can't even do that.
*Razor's attention was drawn away as he saw Andy do a nosestall, and got off
his board, getting immediately back on, ready to drop in. Razor soon figured
out what was going on when Tony got on the edge, and the two dropped in. Razor
watched as the legendary duo gave up a sample of their work. They got about 8
turns in the pipe, and Razor enjoyed each thing they did. Board transfers
always struck Razor as a good way to get good props, and they seemed to do it all
the time. Razor remembered actually pulling one off with one of his old skate
pals, about a year ago, and turned to Conseco.*
Razor: Is this just them that does this or are all 8 going to—
Conseco: All 8… Why don't you drop in with me when the time comes?
Razor: Why not?
*Razor smiled as he looked back at the demo, and for the first time, he noticed
someone in the crowd. The man was dressed in full army fatigues, and had on
what appeared to Razor to be a visor. Though it was possible for the man to
simply be posing, the way he conducted himself assured Razor of discipline
comparable only to that of a military agent. Razor practically froze, for the
agent looked as though he were looking right at him, even if Razor couldn't see
his eyes. Razor kept his eyes locked on the man, watching any movement he might
make. The man did not make any suspicious moves, and by the time Razor removed
his eyes from the man, Conseco was moving to the pipe, and Razor looked over
just in time to see him start to tap him on the shoulder. Razor dropped in with
Conseco, and Razor could tell right off the bat that Conseco was preparing to
go into the air, and Razor smiled, taking a slight angle up the vert ramp,
doing a tailslide toward Conseco as he launched into the air, doing the
tailslide underneath Conseco, who did a kickflip to indy. Razor dropped in just
as Conseco landed, and pumped as hard as he could through the transition,
picking up a little speed. Razor started to get ready for a big air trick, and
Conseco acknowledged. Razor got a slight angle to Conseco, and as he left the
halfpipe, doing a FS Rodeo 540, Conseco went up into a Gymnast Plant. As Razor
landed, Conseco dropped back in. Razor and Conseco did a few more tricks before
coming out of the halfpipe, and Bucky and Bob dropped
in. This continued as such, afterwards 4 and eventually all 8 of the skaters
dropped in at the same time, resulting in a great display of skating.*
Location: Tony Hawk Memorial Skatepark
Time: 7:30 PM
*The demo was completely over, and the skaters were
starting to make their way to the bus. Razor and a couple of his pals he had
made, one a red and silver hedgehog named Ian, the other a black and white fox
named Chrys, stopped in front of the teen that had
asked Razor for an autograph the day before.*
Razor: I'll meet up with you guys on the bus…
*The two nodded, and kept going. Razor looked back at the red and black
hedgehog, and looked around for someone around that looked like they might be
his parents. Finding none, Razor looked back at the hedgehog.*
Razor: Hey man, where are your parents?
*Razor saw a look of depression slowly wash over the teen's face, and he
started choking back tears. Razor raised an eyebrow, and looked up into the
hedgehog's eyes, for he was a little taller than Razor.*
Razor *concerned*: What man, what happened?
Hedgehog: My dad died… i-n a drive-by…
Razor: Then, where's your mom?
Hedgehog *trying to outrun his tears*: Shediedwhenshewashavingme…
Razor: I'm sorry… um… what did you say your name was?
Hedgehog: Sam Camron… but… everyone calls me Sparks.
Razor: Ah… *thinking for a moment, noticing that Ian and Chrys
had stayed nearby, and were motioning to him to bring Sam along.* Hey, we're
just headed back to the hotel in the bus, going to have a little get-together
when we get there, why don't you come along?
*Razor smiled, seeing Sam's ears perk slightly, and he smiled, and nodded.
Razor walked away, Sparks following.*