Chapter 5: Survive on Mount Robson

SSX Resort Midnight

At midnight, Mac, Elise, Ty and Kaori arrived back at the resort. The main hall was completely covered in darkness as they tried to sneak back to their own room. They tiptoed their way.

"Alright just stay quiet, maybe we won't get caught." Mac said quietly as they were sneaking around.

"Hope we are not getting spotted by someone." Elise said.

"If we are lucky, we can go back to our rooms before someone noticed..." Mac said as somebody turned the lights on.

"Go back to your rooms without Zoe noticing it, hmm?" Zoe said as she looked at them with her arms crossed, finishing Mac's sentence.

"Damn, were we really that loud?" Ty asked.

"As loud as a bulldozer, where were you guys? You should have been all this time?" Zoe asked.

"Just in the city you know, having a little fun while you were training..." Mac said as Zoe interrupts him.

"And you didn't had even bother to watch the time,? We need everybody for this competition Mac, don't take it so lightly."

"Come on, lighten up a bit, you are worrying too much about winning. Moby knows it too, you need to earn to relax again." Mac said.

"I know when to relax, but now is not the time." Zoe said.

"But besides, we were bored, it's not that bad to have some fun while you guys were gone!" Elise said to Zoe.

"Whatever, listen I need all of you tomorrow morning. The Survive it event against Griff will begin and I need your support for Alex." Zoe said.

"Don't worry Zoe, we'll be there for you. Come on guys, we'll go to bed." Elise said as everybody went to there room and Zoe went back to her room take get some good night sleep.

Back in the girls room, Elise and Kaori were talking about their day. Elise was so called reading a magazine while Kaori was preparing to sleep.

"So, how did you think it was going, had any fun?" Elise asked.

"Today was a great day, especially when he won that stuffed dog for me, Max." Kaori said as she looked at her dog and put his down next to her bed. "That was pretty sweet of him to do, I would have never made that shot, I am really bad at ball sports like basketball." Kaori said.

"I think Mac feels the same about you." Elise said.

"You think so?" Kaori asked while she brushed her hair.

"Yeah really. Tomorrow, you should ask him out." Elise advised her.

"What! But I don't know I'm ready to do that yet. Can I get more time to prepare?" Kaori said scared and nervous in the mirror to Elise.

"Kaori, stop being so scared, you have already prove that he likes you too. You are best friends for 10 years, you are always ready for each other, and you always help each other out. What else do you need?" Elise said

"Confidants? Courage? Or maybe self esteem?" Kaori panicked.

"Wow, I never knew your English has improved that much." Elise said impressed at her progress.

"Yeah I wanted to learn it in case I might see you guys again, and I was right to take some lessons" Kaori said.

"So what are you going to do about it? You want to make the first move or should he?" Elise said

"Hmmm... I think I will let him make the first move." Kaori said when she turned to the other side.

"I guess you can do that." Elise said uncertain.

Kaori was done with her hair and went to her bed. She layed down and covered herself up with her blankets. Elise puts the magazine down.

"So, light off?" Elise asked.

"Yes, good night Elise." Kaori said as she went to sleep.

"Good night!" Elise said as she went to sleep.

SSX Resort Griff's Wing.

Meanwhile in the other wing of the resort, Griff was in his room watching the videotape of Zoe's training session. He played the tape a couple times over and over again to find the right course to use.

"Hmm, that first path that Zoe took, it had more trees on the ground, then in the middle. That would be easier to take on Robson." Griff thought.

Then he played the video again and saw that Psymon was racing and jumping over the trees.

"That goofball Psymon said that it's better to stick to the ground and to avoid long jumps and a lot of speed. That could be handy." Griff thought.

Right after that, he saw that Psymon took a tunnel next to the point where the finish line should be and paused the video again.

"Tunnels are great to surprise your opponent, that's all to know about Mount Robson. Watch out Zoe, this race will not end in a draw this time." Griff said as he turned the tv off.

SSX Resort Main Hall Next Morning

The next morning, Zoe was already up and got ready for her last event, the Survive It on Mount Robsen. Tane, Psymon, Moby and Alex were already up and wished her good luck.

"Good luck on your event Zoe, we are rooting for you." Moby said.

"Thanks Moby, this will be a piece of cake." Zoe said as Griff walked by and grunted with lots of confidants.

Zoe saw and heard him grunting as she only gave him a mad and challenged look on her face. She then thought about the couple races she had with him on Garibaldi and clenches her fists tightly.

"What is Zoe?" Alex asked.

"Nothing just... thinking about what happened earlier." Zoe answered.

"What happened earlier then?" Moby asked.

"I had a race with Griff on Garibaldi, I thought that he was still the same noisy little runt as in the third tournament. When I was racing against him, he proved to be way better then in the past." Zoe explained.

"Zoe, don't let a runt with an ego as big as a football field get you down!" Psymon said as he came closer and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"I got this Psymon, this race... will be a lot more different than before. I assure you." Zoe said.

"That's the spirit Zoe!" Moby said.

"Wait a second, we are missing Mac, Ty, Elise and Kaori. Where are those guys?" Zoe asked.

"I haven't seen them at all, they are probably still asleep." Moby said as Zoe got furious and walked away.

"Hey Zoe, where you going?" Alex asked.

"Just taking care of some business." Zoe said while still walking furiously away.

She first when to Ty and Mac's room to wake them up. Zoe opened the door and saw both of them sleeping like they haven't slept for months. The pillows and sheets were all on the ground as they were just in their shorts and t-shirts.

"Mac, Ty. Wake up you lazy bums!" Zoe yelled as Mac and Ty fell out of their beds.

"Wow, what... what's going on?" Mac asked as he scratches his head from confusion.

"This is exactly what I was talking about, you idiots! Both you of, take a shower, get dressed up and go to the main hall. The big screen tv I ordered is here so that you can watch me on a big HD TV." Zoe said.

"Alright alright, uuwwaaahhh, take it easy Zoe. We wouldn't miss your event. Come on Mac bro, let's get dressed up yo... Haha that rhymes." Ty said as both of them left the room and went to the showers.

Zoe left the boys room and went to Elise en Kaori's room. When she almost arrived, Elise and Kaori already walked out of their room and saw Zoe walking towards them.

"Oh hey Zoe, why are you here, weren't you supposed to get ready for your event?" Elise asked confused.

"Uh, yeah I was coming to get you two, I thought you were still a sleep like the boys." Zoe said confused.

"Nah, boys are always lazy like that. We knew about it, plus we can sleep out plenty of times. Being here is like a vacation. We are already done so we are now going to the main hall to watch the livestream." Kaori said smiling as they both walked away while talking to each other.

"Of course I can only count on the girls. I also bought a bigger TV with 1080P HD, so you can all watch like you are in a movie theater." Zoe said.

"Great, it makes the watching more fun." Elise said.

"Well, time to survive, let's go." Zoe said encouraging as she left the hallway and went to the main hall.

The Main Hall

A couple minutes later, every member of team SSX was in the main hall, the room was decorated by the big screen TV Zoe bought.

"Wow, damn this TV is like those movie screens." Moby said.

"I know, this will be our personal TV." Zoe said.

"Well it can help out our teammates to give advice." Tane said.

After the talk about the new TV, the team wished Zoe good luck with her Survive it on Mount Robson.

"Alright you guys, this is it. It's time for me to go to Mount Robson." Zoe said as she left.

"Crush the mountain like a demon Zoe!" Psymon yelled.

"I never thought I'd say this but, Psymon is right. Crush the mountain." Moby said as he rooted for her and she gave him a thumb up.

Zoe grabbed her surviving equipment and armor and took off to the helicopter. She met with Sam at the chopper who was smoking again.

"So Zoe, Mount Robson huh?" Sam asked.

"You know it Sammy G, where is Griff, I thought he would be here too." Zoe said.

"I saw him leave in his helicopter already, he must be halfway through, don't worry, he is not prohibited to begin without you." Sammy said.

"Alright, well are you almost done? We have to leave." Zoe asked.

"Almost done..." Sammy said as he blew one more time and threw the cigarette away.

"Let's do it Zoe, get it." Sam said as he stepped into the chopper. Zoe went in the back and took of to Rockies. Team SSX went to their seats and watched the big screen tv until the livestream started.

"Alright then, I wonder how Mount Robson looks like, Mark said that it had a lot of trees, this might be difficult for Zoe." Mac asked curious.

"It's really cool bro, it has so many trees, that you have to keep your eyes open, and don't even think about blinking once. Or you'll bump your head on the trees above you. You just have to slow down a bit and don't use too much speed." Ty said.

"Ty, how do you know that? You have never been to the Rockies have you?" Moby asked surprised..

"I have been there before, I tested that course a couple months ago myself before this whole competition started, I like to take risks you know Moby dude." Ty answered.

"Why didn't you tell Zoe about it?" Moby asked him

"Because Zoe doesn't need my advice, she is already good on her own. Besides, that wouldn't be fun, it's like a teacher already giving the answers to a test you know what I mean?" Ty asked.

"Well, yeah makes sense, I guess." Moby said.

While they were talking, Kaori was thinking hardly and nervous as Elise sat next to her right and Mac to her left side.

"Oh hey Kaori, whats up, had a good night sleep?" Mac asked.

"Yeah it was great, it really feels like I am on a holiday." Kaori said

"Yeah I love it too, before all of this I had to lead my own company." Mac said.

"Your own company, I never knew you had one, what's it called?" Kaori asked interested.

"Mac Fraser's Snow Business, I had been working ever since I quit boarding years ago." Mac explained.

"Wow, that's incredible, I knew you were smart, but leading your own company? That's really cool." Kaori said.

"You think so?" Mac asked.

"I sure do. But if you are here, who is leading your company then?" Kaori asked

"Oh, my secretary, Melissa, she is like my right hand woman that time. I gave her the leadership." Mac said.

"Guys quiet, this event is going to start, so stop your useless babbling!" Psymon spoke out rudely.

Kaori stick her tongue out to him, but Psymon turned his head towards her.

"Oogaboogabooga!" Psymon shouted.

Kaori only had a angry look on her face.

"Now I perfectly remember why I never like you." Kaori said.

"That's why you still tolerate me!" Psymon shouted.

"Come on, leave Psymon be and let's watch Zoe's survival event." Mac said.

Back in the helicopter, Zoe was cleaning her board and putting on her armor when suddenly the pilot turned his speaker on.

"Alright Zoe, Griff is waiting for you at the mountain. Looks like he is eager to beat you. Stay calm and watch out for the trees. Good luck." the pilot said.

"Thanks man, I'll win this." Zoe said when she opened the door.

Griff hinted for her to give the sign and at the moment she jumped out of the helicopter, Griff and Zoe started their event.

Mount Robson

As they were racing, Griff was in front of Zoe trying not to let her go past him. They both saw a jump and without thinking, she took the high jump.

"Alright, this ain't nothing." Zoe said as she landed on the ground.

To her surprise, she saw Griff way ahead of her and was shocked to see him ahead of her already.

"What the... How did he... Oh wait a second!" Zoe said as she thought about what she just did.

She thought about the big jump she did and about what her friends said to her while she was training.

"Damn, that's why he's in front of me, that high jump. Stick to the ground and watch out for the trees and my own speed, I am already messing up." Zoe thought.

Then while she was still thinking, she looked right in front of her and saw a fallen tree in her eye direction, blocking her way.

"Wow, damn this is even harder than Wrecking Crew." Zoe said as she jumped over the tree and sped up.

Back in the resort, Team SSX saw that Zoe was somehow not being her confident self.

"Man, what is she doing?" Moby said.

"Remember you guys, if something is wrong, you can always contact her on your headsets." Atomika said.

"Okay I'll go talk to her." Moby said as he turned the headset on.

"Zoe, Zoe can you hear me?" Moby asked.

Zoe heard a noise in her ear and turned her headset on.

"Who is this?" Zoe asked.

"It's me Moby, Zoe what's wrong, you're doing really bad, Griff is in front and you need to win!" Moby said.

"I got this race, I know what I did wrong already, I still remember what you guys told me." Zoe said

"Zoe, keep your sight on the road, avoid the big jumps and watch your speed. We can't afford defeat from someone like Griff already." Mob said

"Okay okay I'll do my best, have to hang up and catch up to him, I'll talk to you later." Zoe said as she hung up.

"I hope she knows what she is doing." Moby said as she sighted and leaned back in his chair while turning his headset off.

Meanwhile, Griff was still ahead of Zoe and tried to watch the dangerous trees on the road and in the sky. He avoided all of the trees and tried to focus on the road. But while he looked behind him, he didn't pay attention to his front.

"Ha, Zoe is done for. She already made a mistake taking a high jump." Griff said.

When he looked in front of him again, he saw large tree blocking the way.

"Woah! Dammit!" Griff shouted as he just in time managed to jumped over the trees. "That was freaking close, okay no more looking behind, I have to focus on the trees in front of me, or I might get hurt." he said as he focused again

While Griff was ahead of her, Zoe was trying to catch up, and at the same time trying to watch the trees.

"Come on Zoe, concentrate. Duck!" Zoe said as she ducked to avoid the tree.

She got a little worried on how the race was going as she sped up even more. But just in case, she contacted the others to ask about the situation.

"Hey, can anybody tell me how far away I am from Griff and where the finish is?" Zoe asked in her headset.

As the others heard it, they all turned their headset on.

"Zoe I'll tell you, you're 1 kilometer away from Griff and the finish line is 5 kilometers away. The last part you're at has trees on the ground and small tunnels. Keep jumping over them while speeding." Ty explained.

"Okay I'll do it, it's now or never. One more thing, you said that there were small tunnels Ty, is it handy to take them?" Zoe asked.

"Well it depends actually, tunnels... uuhhmmm..." Ty mumbled.

"Dammit Ty, answer now!" Zoe shouted.

"No don't take them, they might crumble." Ty shouted.

Zoe sped up.

After a couple seconds while Griff was still trying to survive, Zoe started to catch up to him and was right behind him. When she finally managed to ride next to him, Griff saw her next to him and tried to speed up.

"You won't win this Zoe, I'll take the first win." Griff said.

"Cross the line first, then you can talk. Also, tree next to you!" Zoe shouted loudly.

Griff looked in front of him and slowed down to avoid the tree, but due to his surprise, the trees were nowhere near him, and Zoe managed to take the lead away from him.

"Hey what the heck!" Griff shouted surprised as he got distracted and lost major speed and his lead.

"Rule number 1 fool. Stay focused and avoid distraction, later kid!" Zoe said as she speeds up faster, but not that much to make sure she does not go too fast.

"What the... Hey that's cheating Pane... You... Argh dammit, I cant believe this!" Griff said as she went faster.

The two were neck on neck and then suddenly both passed the finish line.

"Awh yeah, Payne won this race sucker!" Zoe said.

"You cheated Zoe, you can't distract people like that, I could have broken by skull onto a tree!" Griff shouted furiously.

"I didn't do anything, you're the one who fell for it, blame yourself. Grow up kid." Zoe said teasing

"Oh really huh, it's like that? It's my own fault for believing your lie? Okay, okay, cool. You can have this challenge if you win, you want to play it like that, fine. We'll see what happens on the other mountains Payne." Griff said as he pointed at her and went back to his own helicopter.

"What a sore loser, time for me to go. Damn, my armor looks awful, at least I'm not hurt." Zoe said as she also went to her helicopter.

Sam was waiting on the controls to take off, Zoe stepped in her helicopter and Griff in his own chopper.

"Zoe, great survival out there, I have been keeping progress, and you did great!" Sam said.

"I know I won this mountain event, Griff was so pissed when he almost fell on that tree." Zoe said while laughing.

"I don't know, I mean, I don't know Griff, but does he really deserve something like that?" the pilot asked.

"Hmmm... maybe I will apologize later on, but can you take me back to the resort?" Zoe asked Sam.

"Of course, we will arrive in a couple hours." Sam said as he took off.

At the resort, Team SSX was celebrating Zoe's victory of Mount Robson and already got a head start on Griff in the competition. After watching the footage back and forward, it seemed Zoe passed the finish right before Griff did, and won the first Decent of the challenge.

"Good work Team SSX, I got word that Zoe is already on her way back. This means that it's 1-0 for SSX. But this was the easiest mountain you could get, the other eight are way more difficult. Let's wait for Zoe to come back, then we'll pick our next contestant." Atomika explained as he left the room.

"You heard that, what if the other mountains are even more dangerous?" Kaori asked.

"Don't worry, we'll conquer them all, right guys?" Mac asked encouraged.

"You certainly have lot of energy in you, I like that attitude." Alex said as she winked at him.

"Uhh... You think so, hehehe?" Mac asked as he blushed and puts his hand on his head.

Kaori saw it and puts her hands on her hips lady like. Elise then stood next to her.

"Don't worry, she's not interested in him, I know her." Elise said.

"I know, just got a little jealous there, that's weird you know..." Kaori said when she calmed down.

"Why is it weird?" Elise asked curious.

"Well, I was never actually jealous before, what do you think?" Kaori asked.

"Maybe it has something to do with Mac." Elise said.

"Maybe, I don't know..." Kaori said calmed down again.

SSX Resort

After hours of flying, Zoe arrived back at the resort. The helicopter landed and she stepped out.

"Thanks for the ride man, see yah next time." Zoe said as she left the helicopter.

"No problem kid." the pilot said.

She stepped into the resort and saw her team.

"Just tell me guys who is the best snowboarder around?" Zoe yelled proudly.

"Zoe, that was awesome." team SSX said as they approached her and congratulated her with her victory.

While she was celebrating, she quickly thought what Ty said.

"Ty, how did you know about the course, nobody of us have ever been there before." Zoe asked.

"I did, I tried all those mountains before a long time ago and I know how they work." Ty said.

"What! Come on man, share your knowledge with us." Zoe said.

"No I won't say anything, I could have said something to you, but I didn't want to. You guys need to ride them on your own." Ty said.

"He does have a point, wouldn't be fun if we already knew what we were supposed to do." Moby said.

"Yeah agree with that one." Tane said.

While team SSX was talking, Griff also stepped into the resort and looked furious at Zoe for what she did to him at the event.

"Zoe, you won't get away with this." Griff said as he suddenly noticed something.

He noticed that while Mac was still talking, Kaori was looking away from him, but she still had her pupils on him

"Kaori, I remember her, she is really fast and good in racing. It looks like she has a crush on Mac. Wait a second... Hehehe I got an idea. If Zoe wants to play dirty, then I'll play dirty too." Griff said as he then got an idea and quickly went to his room.

While the team was still celebrating, Atomika appeared again and approached them.

"Hey where is Griff?" Atomika asked.

"Probably in his wing nagging about his loss, wassup Mark?" Zoe asked.

"Zoe at first, I want to congratulate you on your victorious run on the first decent. You are now 1 point ahead of Griff. Now it's time to pick our second decent. I got The Box of the Mountains and The Wheel of Decent right here." Atomika said as she grabbed the wheel and box.

"I wonder who's next." Mac asked curious.

"Who knows, I already know it's you Mac." Atomika said.

"You really think so?"

"Hahaha, no! Just kidding." Atomika said teasing.

"Funny Mark, I guess everybody loves to annoy me from time to time." Mac said when he puts his arms crossed and looked the other way.

"Yeah, you got it just right." Everybody said to tease him.

"Hehe, cute." Mac said as he crossed his arms.

"Anyways, I'll take a look at the box and see which mountain is next." Atomika said as he grabbed a card out of the box.

"Hmm... Okay the next place is Siberia, interesting." Mark said

"Siberia? Now that's a challenge, who the one that's gonna decent it?" Ty asked.

"What is Siberia like Ty?" Mac asked.

"I already told you, I am not going to tell you." Ty said.

"Fine, dammit." Mac said.

Atomika went directly to his Wheel and spun the next contestant. The wheel eventually stopped at a green card and he grabbed it off.

"Okay team, the next one that's going to decent it, is our very own and very lovely French woman, Alex Moreau." Atomika said.

"Me, okay I'll do it." Alex said excited.

"Listen Alex, in Siberia your deadly decent is ice. The ice is as thick as concrete, and very, very dangerous. If you make one mistake, you can either break your limbs or glide down a pit. You will be equipped with Ice Axes that will help you to keep a straight way." Atomika explained.

"Yeah... Thanks for that. Okay, I'll do best I can." Alex said encouraged.

"Great, now that it's settled, there is one more thing. Tomorrow you will all come with me so that I can get an analyze scan. I'm going to look which one of you is better at Racing and Tricking. This is no contest, just a scan." Atomika said.

"I'm cool with it, then we'll see which one of us is the best." Mac said.

"All of this will happen tomorrow in the afternoon. We'll have a Race It on your past course Snow Jam, and Trick It on R&B." Atomika said.

"Snow Jam and R&B, awesome! The new members should probably know that I was the Grand Master on Peak 1, right?" Mac said encouraged.

"And you probably already know that Elise and I beat you in a race on Snow Jam, right?" Kaori said teasing.

"Hahahahahah." everybody laughed as Mac leans back in his chair.

"Yeah I was right after all, everybody loves doing it." Mac said.

"Either way, for now, get some rest or do whatever you like to do. I'm out team, later." Atomika said as he left the room.