Chapter 3: "Jam on the Snow"

"Just beat it, No one wants to be defeated."

1990's Michael Jackson

…GO!

All of the racers exploded off the starting line, quickly volleying for position. John moved into 5th, right in front of Seeiah who was the last out of the gates. Zoe took 2nd right behind Moby, and went off the first small dip, holding a Nose grab. Rachel, right behind Zoe, pulled a nose grab too as Psymon rode the dip toward the first jump. Psymon took the jump and soared over Rachel with a Swiss Cheese, pulling himself into 3rd. John took off the jump doing a Crossbone to late Tail WAG, followed by Seeiah with a Stiffy. The group moved up toward the first drop. Moby leaned toward the middle and went off the large jump, getting huge air and performing a Springer, Followed by Zoe with a Clean Sweep. Psymon skipped the jump and just rode to the left, down the slope, slipping into 1st easily. Rachel followed, pulling into 2nd. Moby and Zoe both landed, having switch positions since Zoe jumped earlier. John took the jump, without holding anything back he twisted his body and spun Frontside as hard as he could while tipping a slow backflip, while Seeiah took the right side around the jump. Seeiah slid into 5th while John landed a big trick. The crowd got hyped as Rahzel announced "John with a Crippled Squirrel 1980 with a SKINNED Flying Squirrel to a late Flying Squirrel." Zoe, Moby, and Psymon were out of view as they took the banks behind the big dnL sign. Rachel pulled into the bank following their board tracks as Seeiah rook the guard rail on the left, going over the track itself. Zoe went off the jump over the first gap as Moby slid on the fallen tree, taking a nice Shortcut and moving in front of Zoe. Psymon moved off to the right and rode through the gap, moving to 2nd. Rachel took the gap and followed Zoe, riding on the rail in the next bend. Seeiah rode through the gap where Psymon went as John took the tree Moby used and plopped right in front of Rachel. The Brother and Sister looked at each other as they approached the next jump toward the crowd. With a move that made the fans in the stand go nuts, Rachel and John took the jump together, and like clockwork, John grabbed the tail of Rachel's board as Rachel grabbed the nose of John's board. They landed and gave a High 5 as the spectators went into a fit of cheers. Moby came out from the left exiting a Shortcut, and was trailed by Zoe. Psymon turned to the far right and slid up the rail over the stands, doing a Rail Edge grind. Zoe and Moby went to the right and left of the huge pillar jump, gaining a bigger lead. John let Rachel move ahead as they went off the Jump. Rachel soared above the snow, kicking an SSXorcist, while John went up with a Vacation. Rachel landed abit sloppy, losing some speed as John dropped down like a perfect 10. Psymon hopped off the side of the rail overhead, getting ahead of Rachel, but right behind John as he looked back at Psymon with a sly smirk. The three approached the humongous jump down into the forest John went off first, followed by Psymon then Rachel. John unhooked his feet from the board, he pushed the board behind him and reached over his back, like a dnL Flip It, only once he grabbed the board, he swung himself overtop and under, like on a Gymnast bar, he kept spinning as he wrapped his body around the board, spinning in the air performing his Signature 'Gymnast Croissant-Roll'. He unwrapped his body from the board and swung one last time, above the board doing a backflip before putting his feet back in place. He landed fairly well and threw his hands into the air with excitement, only to be brought down HARD as Psymon landed directly on top of his head. The black boarder crumbled face first into the snow as Psymon jeered behind him as he moved up to 3rd. Rachel landed and kept on going looking back to make sure her brother was alright. John slammed his fist into the ground and pushed himself to his feet. He spotted his Beanie and scooped it up quickly and stuffed it into his pocket before moving on ahead. He looked back to see Seeiah dropping down finishing a Body Board. Being so far behind, John looked around immediately to find a shortcut, He rode down a dip on the right of the track, unexpectedly smashing right through a blue SSX Out Of Bounds sign. He looked ahead to see a large log with a rail on top, and he hopped on and did a Butt Slide. He hopped back onto his feet and slid off the end of the rail back onto the track, right behind Psymon and Rachel. The two jumped over a log as he followed. As Rachel landed, she moved to pass Psymon. As she rode to his left, she came crashing into the powder as Psymon pushed her just enough to send her off balance. John swerved around his sister and brought himself up to Psymon with an Angry look. Psymon looked over his shoulder. He called out to the angry teen "Hey! It's the newbie! Didja like that snow?" John yelled up at Psymon about his sister. Psymon laughed and slowed down abit to let the newcomer catch up. Though, his taunting felt empty as John sped up and clotheslined Psymon, flattening him on the snow as John sped off down the steep banks and between the two cliff walls. Psymon got up with a "Damn!" and brushed off his hair, only to be knocked down again by a two-handed shove from Rachel as she went by. Moby and Zoe flew off the jump into the bank toward the 4-Hump section. John quickly closed the gap by hopping over the jump, cutting down his air time. Moby looked over his shoulder and saw John coming after being pushed all the way back to last. He swerved over to block John's attempt to pass, accidentally tripping Zoe in the process. Zoe screamed at Moby as John jumped over the downed boarder. Moby went off each hump, with a Method, a Stalefish, and a Bar Hop on the big one. John followed, determined to win his first race with a Seatbelt, a GLEEFUL Melancholy, and a quick Lukeloo. Moby increased his lead by riding over the next jump as John took it, pulling a NOSEBLEED. Moby pulled up to the left side of the bridge and did a 50-50 on the rail, John took the right and did a Tail Slide. Moby swerved to get in the middle of the path though the small tunnel as John pulled up behind him. Moby launched himself off the edge, with his Superman Barspin trick and John followed abit lower with a Svelton. John landed first slightly in front of Moby and crouched to gain speed on the final stretch of the race. They both came toward the finish line and John threw his hands in the air as a sign of victory, Moby took advantage of the situation and threw a backhand at John, causing him to fall, right in front of the finish line as Moby slid past it. Zoe came from behind and passed the line too. John sat up and looked at the two celebrating their first win. Psymon rode by laughing as John rubbed his head. Then he happened to look down to see that he hadn't crossed the finish line! John pushed himself to his knees and ghetto hopped toward the line, just as his sister blew past right before him, clinching 4th and a spot to re-race in the 4th qualifier. He fell onto his back and put his hands on his face. He just screwed up his first competition ever.

The three took their spots on the platform as the music died down. This was his race! He even got one of his own songs played for him! The shame was almost unbearable as he took his feet off his snowboard and picked it up. Seeiah crossed the finish line as John started walking away. She called in his direction "Hey! That was an awesome race you did today!". John just kept walking, ignoring Seeiah's comment. The crowd cheered for the race's winner: Moby Jones. Psymon jeered at John, rubbing it in his face "Hey! Next time watch what the hell you're doing! Hahaha!" Rachel looked over at his brother leaving, then looked up at the crowd. Even though chants of Moby were being thrown around… someone, somewhere just had to be cheering for the brother and sister.