Chapter One: Intro to Metro

The city lights flashed in his eyes as he lowered his glasses down the bridge of his nose and folded up the map he had received on the heli-plane. Isaac Green managed to spot a neat looking café with a nice little porch outside where he would be able to get a seat and maybe a bite to eat while he searched for a man named "Atomika". Isaac certainly didn't believe Atomika was his real name and plainly assumed Atomika was some sort of publicity thing he had to give out. He frowned and lowered his dark blue baseball cap over his eyes as he parted his way through the crowd, readjusting the weight of the backpack on his shoulder. The backpack, too, had been a complementary gift he got when he boarded the heli-plane. Apparently, all boarders were given backpacks with maps and instructions inside. On the map Isaac noticed a small shop had been highlighted, and only assumed he was due to arrive there at the time that had been hastily scrawled in the top right corner of the map. The shop was for snowboards, and Isaac was nothing short of delighted to see he was to meet his fellow boarders at such an interesting place. The heli-plane had chosen to drop him off in this city, where he had been awe-struck. It was amazingly dark, with flashing neon lights everywhere. People crowded on every street corner, their hands filled with either shopping bags or tourist souvenirs. Obviously, the SSX Tour had been a lot more than he expected, and a heck of a lot more intense. City life had escaped him and he wasn't accustomed to seeing so many people in one place. Lately, he had been in Europe, tailing people around Resorts and brushing up on his skills. A quick video clip his friend had sent to an apparently "popular" world-wide tour had proven "Trick Worthy" as the letter had stated simply.

Isaac sighed as he glanced half-heartedly at his watch. It was only a quarter till eight, and he wasn't due at the "Snow-Shop" until nine o'clock that evening. He came to a half in front of the café he had spotted, his eyes traveling over the people before him, who were elbowing their way inside. Occasionally, he spotted someone who could've looked like at least a novice snowboarder, but then again he would remind himself that probably about 85% of the people here were tourists. He quickly stuffed the map into his pockets and hesitantly approached the shops with caution, wary of any shoving he might—and was doomed—to encounter.

Eventually, Isaac found himself standing in front of a young woman—probably in her twenties, he assumed—with a tired smiled painted on her lips as she manned the cash register, her eyes glued to the counter as she recited a greeting almost mechanically, "Hello, can I help you?"

"Yeah…" Isaac said quickly, "Could you get…could you get just a vanilla milkshake for me?"

The girl met his eyes and smiled. "Me? No, not me. The people at the back can. I can serve it to you, if you'd like."

Isaac felt his cheeks redden, "Yeah…how much was that?"

"Four dollars." She answered brightly, brushing away a stray blonde hair that had found its way in her face.

Isaac's eyes widened at the cost of his purchase, but he otherwise shrugged his backpack off and reached inside and pulled out a ten, handing it to the still smiling girl.

"And…here's you change."

"Thanks," Isaac mumbled, his eyes downcast.

"Hey…" The girl said, leaning forward and letting her voice drop to a whisper. "You're a snowboarder, aren't you?"

Isaac raised an eyebrow. How would she know? He just plainly assumed he looked like any other tourist. Awkward, hesitant, and probably even resembled a pushover.

The girl laughed a little, her eyes twinkling. "Oh, don't worry, I won't tell." She winked, "Let's just say Atomika gave me a bag, too, huh?"

Isaac blinked. "You're part of the Tour, too?"

"Sh." She grinned, bringing her slender index finger to her lips, "Yes. The name's Elise Riggs. Nice to meet you—?"

"Isaac." He answered quickly, clasping her hand in a firm handshake. "I'm new here,"

"Yeah…I heard the Tour got a lot of newbies this year…" Elise said quietly, rolling her eyes, "Hey, I get off in a bit…you wanna just wait for me over there and we can head over to the…the place later?"

Isaac grinned and shrugged, "Alright,"

Isaac watched as the blonde across from him sipped her coffee sporadically, her hands drumming along the side of the styrofoam cup, "How long have you been boarding, then?"

"Oh, since forever…I'm a vet in this tour, you know," Elise said haughtily, "I was the poster girl my second time around, but I heard they got someone new to fill in my shoes. It wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"

Isaac paused. "No…I don't think so. I never heard anything about being a poster…erm…guy…"

Elise laughed, "Yeah. Thought not. So where're you from, anyway, Isaac?"

Isaac shrugged, "I was born in Ireland, but I've just been traveling around in Italy for quite a while. I didn't really want to stay in one place my whole life. I wanted to travel around and find someplace to snowboard…"

"Yeah," Elise nodded, "I know how you feel. Can't stay in one place for long, huh?"

"Nah…I've just been moving around from resort to resort around Europe."

"Ever been to Canada?" Elise whispered excitedly, scooting forward on her seat, "Now, if you want a challenging course, you get your ass to Canada! There are some stunning resorts there, too, you know,"

Isaac chuckled, "I'm sure there are…but this is my first time in the states. I've never been to North America. Once on a visit, but—"

"Didn't stay for long," Elise finished for him. "Yeah. So…ever boarded as a pro?"

"No, not really," He shook his head, "A friend of mine sent in some footage of me and a couple of my buddies jumping off ramps. I guess they thought I was alright."

"Alright?" Elise blinked blankly, "Guy, you're boarding for the biggest Snowboarding Tour on the face of the planet! Don't you have any idea how amazing this is for you? A newbie?"

"Well," Isaac replied, grinning slightly, "I guess I know now,"

Elise kept her silence, taking another sip of her coffee. Isaac tilted his head to the side, watching as people began to file out of the café.

"So…if you're a professional snowboarder, then what are you doing working in a café in Metro City?" Isaac asked, propping his elbow upon the table and running a hand through his brown hair briefly before snugly replacing his baseball cap.

"Well…" Elise seemed hesitant to answer his question, "I've been…headed downhill for a while, you know? Gotta do something on my free time. I know you get paid big for being a professional snowboarder, but let's just say I'm a little doubtful this time."

"Doubtful?"

"Yeah." Elise sighed, "I practiced up in Alaska a bit while I was off the SSX Tour, but I just seem to get worse and worse the more I try."

"Well," Isaac grinned, "maybe a newbie can give you some pointers,"

Elise smiled and met his eyes, her broad smile growing to a small giggle, which built up to a laugh. "A newbie giving me pointers…if Rahzel ever finds out…"

"Rahzel?"

"Used to be the Tour manager for the original tour and the Tricky Tour," Elise replied, "But now we got this new guy named Atomika. I dunno how it's gonna work out, you know?" There was a pause, until Elise let out a small gasp, clamping her hand down on Isaac's wrist quickly and twisting it up to see the time.

"Relax," Isaac said, pulling back his wrist and massaging it thoroughly, "We got an hour,"

Elise frowned and bit her lip, "I dunno. I think we should get a move on. You never know…you don't wanna be late to these meetings,"

The snow had begun to fall once again, the crisp layer blanketing various cars and rooftops. Isaac couldn't help but sigh and think of the snowboarding conditions as he walked along the sidewalk with Elise, this new snowboarder he would supposedly be working with.

"Something wrong?" Elise asked, raising an eyebrow.

"New fallen snow. Not good for boarding."

Elise laughed, "You really are into snowboarding aren't you?" When Isaac only nodded, she continued, "I guess this Atomika guy really now's how to pick 'em,"

"Scared of me?"

Elise let out a shrill laugh this time, stopping as she stooped over and clutched her stomach. "Me? Scared of a newbie?"

"I think you sound a little too confident."

"Well." Elise smiled and shrugged, "I haven't seen you move yet. We normally don't board until the second week of the tour, and things really don't start getting competitive until the fourth or fifth week, so we'll probably have time to rub your face in the snow when I pass you by,"

"Again," Isaac smirked, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "A little too confident."

"Yeah, sure…"

The sidewalk grew increasingly empty as they continued to walk along silently, observing the quaint little shops around them. "Isolated part of the city, is it?"

Elise frowned, "Well, the SSX stars are really big here in this part of the country. If anyone recognized me from any of the previous tours, expect some bruises from bustling crowds. I guess Atomika wanted to pick some place away from the crowds, who knows?"

"You want me to carry that for you?" Isaac pointed to her backpack, which seemed to be filled with various make-up items and it looked like two new purses she might've bought in a shop during a break.

Elise happily cursed Isaac with the additional weight, grinning. "Well, well, well. We got quite the gentlemen," She giggled, "Psymon Stark, look out,"

"Psymon?"

"Another boarder in the tour I'm sure has been asked to come back. He was one of the crowd favorites in Canada, and if he wasn't brought back to the third tour, I'm sure there will be some freaky riots going on around here to protest."

"Sounds like quite the guy,"

"He was." Elise said, before adding hastily, "Annoying, that is. He normally isn't like the show he puts on, I'm sure, but he likes to make everyone afraid of him just to make sure no one actually tries to beat him in a race or something."

Isaac chuckled, "Heh. Nice tactics. Was he really a good snowboarder, though?"

"Beyond good. As much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn't be able to beat him trickwise if my life depended on it."

"Any other people I should be warned about?" Isaac asked, tilting his head to the side and letting his neck pop a couple times before massaging it gently.

"Well…there's this one kid who's also been with the Tour since the beginning. His name's Mac Fraser, and he's probably one of the most arrogant guys here. Who knows, though? You might be even more proud." Elise sighed, letting her hands drip into her coat pockets. "Damn, it's cold."

"We are in the snowboarding season," Isaac remarked, grinning.

"Yeah, funny, smart guy," Elise glared at him jokingly, "Hey, there's the shop we're supposed to meet at."

"Right on time, too," Isaac added, glancing at him watch.