Chapter 8: Boiling Point and Remorse

I do not own any of the characters or locations of the SSX series. EA games BIG owns all characters and places mentioned in this story.

Psymon sat quietly at the table eating a bowl of cereal. Zoe slowly walked into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing her head.
"Morning." Psymon said calmly, causing Zoe to jump.
"Sorry, I didn't see you there." She sat across from him and leaned forward with her elbows on the table, smiling sleepily.
"So, Moby thinks everyone from Alberta is a lumberjack eh?" Zoe looked confused for a second, then remembered the previous night.
"Oh my God you heard that?" Psymon nodded, not looking up at Zoe while he finished the last spoonful of breakfast. "Did you hear anything else?" Psymon did look up this time.
"Enough." Zoe looked uneasy from Psymon's word. "Let me see your arm." Zoe paused, then slowly stuck out her arm, he looked at her bare arm critically. "Your other arm, Zoe." She hesitated, then finally laid it on the table." Psymon gently pulled the striped stocking down off her forearm, revealing a large dark bruise on her arm. He looked up at her with his eyes, she didn't know what to say. Psymon stood up and started walking to Moby's room, but Zoe quickly got up in front of him.
"Simon, no. Please! Simon it's not what you think!" Psymon looked down at his little sister, though his eyes no longer twitched, there was obvious anger in them.
"Then what IS it?" Zoe looked anxious as she scrambled for a story.
"Look, this doesn't happen often."
"It shouldn't happen at all." Psymon took another step forward but Zoe kept in front of him.
"Simon please, Moby's already in rough shape." Psymon paced for a few seconds then looked back at her.
"Oh what, did he get to find his bar fight?" Zoe sighed and nodded.
"Yes. Yes he did. He picked a fight with Nate Logan." Psymon didn't seem impressed. "The guy's huge... Moby got his ass kicked."
"Good, then he'll be warmed up for what I'm going to do to him." Again Zoe pleaded with Psymon to sit back down. She was close to tears, which caused Psymon to try to relax. He looked her in the eyes and felt his frustration grow. Finally he reached out and took her in his arms, she reciprocated with a tight squeeze around his waist. "Psymon Stark didn't allow this crap to happen did he?" Zoe shook her head while he held her tightly around the shoulders.
"Oh God no, if he found out then I wouldn't have been able to keep him from ripping Moby apart." Psymon shook his head while he ran his hand through Zoe's hair to try and comfort her.
"Well, ain't this special?" Psymon growled quietly to himself as Moby's thick accent joined the morning air. Zoe quickly let go of Psymon and went to put Moby's bagel in the toaster. Moby was sporting a dark black eye, and he had a bandaid on his nose where the hoop through his nostril used to be.
"So." Psymon started, trying to act friendly. "Looks like ya got a little roughed up last night, are you alright?" Moby nodded while Zoe brought him his straight black coffee.
"Yeah, it was dark, I 'it a tree." Psymon went and sat across from Moby.
"Looks like the tree hit back." Moby eyed Psymon while he sipped his coffee.
"... yeah."

Psymon looked all around the worn path that led to the farthest lodge. While he watched the tapes the previous night he made mental notes of things he had to do that morning. He walked up the wooden stairs of the lodge and knocked loudly on the door. He buried his hands in his pockets and bobbed his head to imaginary music while he waited for someone to come to the door. Finally the door opened and a tall man stood in the doorway. Before Psymon left that morning he made himself memorize the orster of SSX, and he knew the man he faced at the moment was Nate Logan, also the guy who roughed up Moby the previous night; one would never even had known he had been in a fight.
"Psymon, this is a surprise." Nate greeted. "Are you feeling better? That was a scary moment the other day." Psymon nodded.
"Hey Nate, look, this may seem really weird but I need to ask you something." Nate gave a bewildered look to Psymon. "Ever since the day you met me, have I done or said anything to you that... I dunno, upset you? Made you angry?" Nate tilted his head then slowly shook it.
"Nah man, I've never had a personal problem with ya, I haven't cared for the way you treat some of my friends, but you've never given me any grief." Psymon nodded, feeling a little relieved.
"Look, umm, you share a lodge with Grif, right?" Nate nodded.
"Yeah, Grif and his folks stay here... why?" Psymon paused, he knew this one for sure would be hard.
"May I speak to them, please?" Nate nodded cautiously and walked away from the door.
"Come on in, I'll get them."
"I'll wait out here, thanks." Psymon stood patiently while the wind blew through his hair, causing it to wave lightly. A stout man came to the door, looking upset at the company, a lady followed him also looking unhappy.
"What do you want Psymon?" Psymon looked up at the couple that stood in the doorway at the top of the stairs.
"Mr. and Mrs. Simmons?" The pair nodded critically, still glaring at Psymon. "I, I just wanted to come by and say something to Grif."
"What do you want, buttmunch?" The obnoxious voice of Grif shouted from behind his parents while he shoved his way in front of them. His mother briefly chastised him for what he said, but his father let it slide.
"Grif, I know since you've joined SSX, I've been a real jerk to you, and honestly I don't know why." The Simmons stared at Psymon cautiously. "Look, I can't list off the things I've done and said to upset you, but, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." Grif eyed Psymon suspiciously.
"That's it? You're sorry? After all the crap you've said to me you can only say you're sorry?" Psymon looked up the stairs at the Simmons with sad eyes. "Like the time you told me that you're the monster that hides under my bed at night and one night you'll 'get' me?" Psymon grimaced.
"I actually did that?" he thought to himself. Psymon slowly walked up the steps, then knelt on his knee to bring himself to Grif's eye level.
"Grif, I don't blame you if you don't forgive me, I've done some terrible things to you, but I need you to know that I am sorry." Grif looked ready for a remark, but stopped himself.
"You... you mean it don't you? Your eyes aren't twitching, you're serious." Psymon nodded and stood.
"Very serious Grif, I hope someday you can forgive me." He reached out to muss up Grif's hair gently with his hand, but Mrs. Simmons quickly pulled Grif away. Psymon paused and slowly pulled his hand back, he didn't blame them for not trusting him. "Thank you for your time." Psymon said quietly while he turned his back and walked back down the stairs.

This went on for the rest of the morning and early afternoon, apologizing to every single person on the SSX roster for anything he ever may have done to hurt them. Many of his apologies were met with doors slammed in his face while some others accepted and some other ones wouldn't even open their door to him. He came to the last lodge he needed to hit. He felt intimidated as he headed for the most extravagant lodge on the property. This was the private lodge of the pride and joy of the SSX circuit, the franchise, Elise Riggs. He walked through the automatic sliding doors and into the heated front hall. This lodge was much nicer than the other luxury cabins the other SSX boarders stayed at, this place was borderline palace. He went to the main door and knocked loudly.
"Just a minute." Elise's voice said from the other side. The door swung open and a very attractive young lady stood in the threshold.
"Oh, Psymon, I wasn't expecting you." Psymon opened his mouth to speak but he got cut off. "Look, I know you're making door to door apologies, I've already been called by several of the other boarders. What are you up to?" Psymon didn't speak for a few seconds while he recovered from the barrage he just faced.
"I'm not up to anything, I just want to try and start over again." Elise raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Look, if I'm wasting your time, I'll just get it over with. I've wronged you in the past, and I hope you will someday forgive me, but until then, please know that I am sorry." Elise examined Psymon carefully while he spoke, she then sounded a little concerned.
"Psymon, you're, not acting like yourself, are you okay?" Psymon smiled slightly, making himself look down at the ground, trying to fight any urge to check out Elise.
"Actually, for the first time in a long time, I think I am myself." Elise leaned against the doorframe.
"Oh? And why is that?" Psymon looked up with his eyes.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me." Psymon was not prepared for this encounter.
"I, I don't think I should tell you."
"Psymon if you want me to forgive and trust you, then you're going to have to start being honest with me." Psymon was caught, he even laughed slightly at how Elise snared him so easily. He finally caved and told Elise the story from the accident in Alberta to the recent one. Elise listened closely while he talked about how he and Zoe had to make it on their own, and how now that he was his old self again he wanted to make things right with everyone else. Finally he finished, Elise looked at him.
"You're right, I don't believe you." She stepped backwards to close the door, Psymon sighed deeply and turned to walk away, then Elise paused. "Psymon." He stopped and looked at her from over his shoulder. "Don't think you're not forgiven, but don't assume you are either."
"What the hell is THAT supposed to mean Freud?" Psymon thought to himself.
"It's one thing to say you're sorry, but if you want everyone to believe, show us." She gently closed the door, Psymon thought hard about her words while he walked back to his lodge.

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Well, Psymon's TRYING to make peace with everyone, how can he go about gaining the trust of so many people that he's hurt? Plus will he finally snap and confront Moby? And if so, how will Zoe handle animosity between her brother and her boyfriend? You know you want to keep reading to find out.