Note: Cars fan fiction. The McKinney family is known for entertaining carsonas nation and worldwide. Mr. "Wicked" Walter McKinney was the pioneer of this movement, and his risk taking family soon followed. When it comes to high flying action, count on the McKinney's to deliver. They're a family of 5 Corvettes. There's Walter, of course, sultry and beautiful "Sensational" Sandra, the adorable "Astounding" Andrew, the middle child "Tremendous" Terrie and the littlest and most precious daredevil, "Magnificent" Mary.
Chapter 1—High Flying Harold McKinney's Vision
At one time, daredevilry and stunts didn't exist until a Scottish immigrant by the name of Harold McKinney had an idea. It was probably a little unorthodox, but there were cars that were like him who wanted more of a thrill out of entertainment and he wanted more out of a small juggling act he was starting to perfect. He thought more and more about what kind of show he would put on. He couldn't do so himself. He would have to have a cast. With the help of a locally produced newspaper, he printed ads in the classifieds section to get the public interested about his "High Flying" variety show. It would be completely impromptu and unlike anything any automobile had seen in their lifetimes. It might not be conventional but it would be an adrenaline rush every time a show was held.
Harold had more of a response to his visionary idea than he ever imagined. He had met the thrill seekers part of his first revolutionary show, which, although low-budget, would be the most exciting spectacle that anyone had ever witnessed. Harold had started charging a relatively reasonable credit fee of two credits for entry, and for young motors, they were allowed to see the spectacle for free. He would be starring with a lovely yellow Corvette named Hilde, who was Danish. Hilde spoke eloquently and was ready, willing and able to go to the extremes to please the fans. The other cast members followed along in whatever Harold wanted, whether it was fire breathing, jumping through flaming hoops, bungee jumping, trapeze artistry, tightrope balancing and flying high into the air from ramps spinning and twisting in the air. From this, extreme sport was born and "High Flying" Harold's Variety Show took flight, literally.
Harold and Hilde married not soon after the variety show had become a hit. It was even broadcast worldwide. Before they knew it, they had become parents to a boisterous little Corvette named Walter. Walter was just as much of an experimenter as his dad when it came to stunts and he couldn't wait to start getting involved with the family in the show, but Harold thought it was too dangerous for Walter to become a daredevil at such a young age. For now, raising Walter was priority one for the new parents and they had to put the show aside for a while. The Variety hour suffered slightly from not having their two main stars up front and central in the limelight, but they realized that family was most assuredly more important than anything else at this time.
Chapter 2—The Beginning of the "Tires A Poppin" Phenomenon
Although Harold and Hilde died when Walter was relatively young and he was raised by the rest of the Variety Show took care of him, Walter took center stage and inherited his parent's love for adventure and risk. Soon he was nicknamed "Wicked" because of his incredible movements in the air. The more "big air" he could achieve the better. It especially wowed the European audiences when Walter decided to have the show travel from place to place.
Walter was now a young man and making a comfortable living with the original crew that he had come to know and love as family. He adored the rush he felt performing in front of sold-out crowds every night in different cities all over the world. His recent stop was in exotic Greece where he met a sultry white Corvette named Sandra. It was love at first glance and he knew that he was destined to be with her. She had been interested in the show and wanted to be a part of it with him. Initially, Walter was surprised at her honest interest. Immediately, they began chatting to one another.
"So you like the idea of 'Tires A Poppin' ?", Walter questioned, his hazel eyes alight and full of romance.
"Of course ! It's unlike anything I've ever seen. You're even better than Eval Kineval.", Sandra complimented. Her praise made him feel like he was soaring hundreds of feet above a cheering, whistling crowd although he was sitting on the ground.
"Would you like to become part of my cast ?", Walter questioned, truthfully.
"Affirmative ! I've spoken to my parents about my wish and they agree I should follow my dreams.", Sandra answered, leaning in to kiss him sweetly, but with enough passion that it almost made him feel week in his suspension.
"That settles it. We're a team from now on.", Walter said, a smile glistening on his grill.
After the show in Greece, Walter visited many other famous locales and got to see the world, taking small souvenirs as he traveled. The two were married not too long after in Sandra's hometown of Athens and they they returned to the big city of Detroit where they began to start a new chapter in the history of extreme sports.
Chapter 3—Traveling Family
It seemed that the children came into the world in a rapid succession. None of the births in the McKinney family had ever been difficult and each child had their own personality. The first to come into the world was the adorable yet spontaneous Andrew. Andrew took after his mother in the fact that he had her dark, soulful eyes. The only thing unique about him was the fact that he had amazing red racing stripes. A few months later during off time on a tour, Terrie came into the picture. She was red with hazel eyes and white stripes that took upon the shape of roses. The final child, which came as a surprise, was a precious little pink Corvette with dark eyes, but she was the most risk-loving of the five in the family. They all worked well as a unit and the original cast continued to stick with the traveling show. But sometimes, they had to endure horrific injuries during the performance. It was part and parcel of the business, but Walter did all he could to make sure his children didn't have to endure pain. Besides, his parents, who had started the whole revolution, had died horribly consumed by flames in one of their stunts. With the newfound technology he was building to make certain such a tragedy never occurred again.
Wicked Walter had just invented more resilient helmets and padding for himself and everyone else in his "troop". These protective measures were more than enough to keep the family and the original acrobats safe from possible injury. Despite that, there were always medical personnel around any show that Walter and his family held. One could only be so careful and it just so happened that one near unfortunate incident occurred with their eldest daredevil, "Fantastic" Frank.
There had been a performance in Boston and the family was working on a new repertoire that one of the elder offroaders had thought of. The children would be a main attraction of a death defying act known as the "Diablo". The Diablo was a stunt track set over a lake of fire, and a huge jump to another platform. Before the stunt was ever set up, everyone practiced a test run and had made the lengthy jump without any trouble. Then some sadistic crew member said they should add knives swinging back and forth like pendulums during the jump.
"Are you completely off your struts, man ? Listen, Franco...You're an old veteran at this sort of thing. I know you're into more risky and unusual manuevers, but we didn't set up the Diablo to be anything like that during the practice runs ! Besides, my children might be thrill seekers but they don't put themselves on the line like this !", Walter said, becoming irritated.
Franco, the old rusty Ford Explorer with odd eyes laughed.
"Fine then, they can be my lifeline. I'll be the one who makes this the most talked about stunt in the history of cardom !", Franco said, boastfully. Either Franco was exceptionally brave, insane, or touched in the head. Whatever he was, he was going through with the stunt and the others would act as his lifeline. Fortunately, they were all suited up with flame retardant paint and donned their protective gear before "Diablo" was introduced to the spectators of Boston.
Franco made the jump avoiding the pendulums and he screamed with elation, laughing all the way.
"How do you like me now, Walt ?", Franco said, his silver and turqouise logo "Fantastic" flashing in the stadium lights. He could hear the crowd gasping and cheering as he began to reach the other side. His engine began to turn when he saw himself plummeting, however. He was heading straight toward the lake of fire.
The children formed a link to grab him before he hit the flames and they swung him back up to the other platform.
"You could've crashed ! If we do Diablo again, we're not having pendulums, nor will we have the second platform so far away !", Walter scolded. Franco scowled, thinking Walter was being too harsh and restrictive. He said nothing, knowing the paternal overlooker was merely looking out for his family and especially for the crew.
"Oddball, please don't do that again, you scared me half to death.", the youngest McKinney said, her eyes beginning to tear.
"Shhh, Mary, please don't cry. I couldn't bear it if you cried.", Franco responded gently, nuzzling little Mary to soothe her.
"O-okay. I won't, but please promise me.", Mary said, nuzzling him back affectionately.
"Promise all of us !", the other children chimed in together.
"Of course, I promise you. I'll just stick to conventional stunts. Nothing crazy like what I did tonight.", Franco said, straightforwardly. He had never lied once in his life, and he hadn't been closer to death until the stunt. Thankfully everything had calmed down and the fire had been extinguished. Needless to say, Diablo wouldn't be performed for a while.
Epilogue
To this day, the McKinney's are possibly the most well known travelling band of extreme entertainers, and their shows are still quite popular. They might've been known only for their love of entertainment and thrills but they also enjoyed the less risky pleasures of life such as education, travel, and playing as a family. The crew was also a part of the family, particularly Franco, who had been with them the longest. Though he showed his age, he had the soul of a racecar within him.
Whatever the McKinney's did, they did it as a team and no matter how far away they were from each other, they maintained a bond that transcended the scientific world. Wherever there was a crowd to be entertained and a stunt to be done, they would be there, listening to the crowd cheer, whistle and ooh and ahh as they defied the odds and faced fears ordinary vehicles would never tackle. This is what made them irrisistable, and the fact that they were exceptional role models.
The End
August 3, 2006