Chapter 9: Chilly
It was a pretty standard day for Kirby, as in it was a day where his sweet tooth started to act up. In a valiant attempt to combat this urge, he decided to visit Café Meringue. the bakery-café-store owned by his friends Chilly and Leo.
"Good afternoon, everyone!" Kirby greeted in his usual cheery way.
"Oh, hello, Kirby." Chilly responded in a tone that carried an unusual tone of sadness.
"What's the matter, Chilly? You seem down, did something bad happen?" The puff skipped up to the table where his friend was standing.
"Well, yes and no. You see, tomorrow this town is holding its annual baking contest, and Leo and I were planning on entering like we always do. The problem is…Leo's gotten sick and isn't able to do anything besides complain about how cold he is and sleep."
Kirby gave a slight gasp. "Oh no! I hope he gets better..."
"Oh, he'll be fine in a few days, thankfully. Just not in time for the competition. "
"Well, why not enter by yourself?"
"I would if I could Kirby, but the rules state that only teams of two can compete. I think that's a bit cold hearted for the rule makers to limit things, but it is what it is." The snowman uttered with a sigh.
Kirby sat at the table. and pondered for a bit before finally saying "Well… I could be your partner! I know the basics of baking!"
Chilly looked at him doubtfully. "Are you sure Kirby? Baking competitions can be pretty intense. I don't want you getting cold feet."
"Trust me! I can handle it! And if I really need to, I can copy the Cook Ability to help better! I'm sure that the organizers won't mind!"
"Well in that case…thank you, Kirby! You've just made my day!"
"It's not a problem! I'm always happy to help, you know!" he replied with a smile.
While Chilly was indeed thankful for Kirby's help, he regardless wanted to see what Kirby knew about cooking first. For that reason, he took him into the kitchen.
"Ok, Kirby, what kind of baked goods do you specialize in? We have to have a variety for the competition."
The puff stood there and thought for a moment. "Hmm…well, if I had to pick just one...it would probably be cake. I have the most experience with cake. I've baked it so many times I can do it without using Cook!"
Chilly gave a nod. "I see…any experience with cheesecake?"
The puff slightly furrowed his brow. "I think I'm decent with cheesecake..."
"Well, then show me what you can do, Kirby."
The puff jumped a bit in surprise. "Wait a minute, you want me to make one right now!?"
"Yup. Don't worry though, take as much time as you need. This will be good for both of us. You get to practice, and I get to see what areas you excel at. That'll make dividing up work for the competition easier on me."
"Ah…ok."
Kirby then began to get to work. Admittedly, cheesecake was something he wasn't that experienced with making. In fact, the last time he made it, he got so frustrated with himself that Bandana had to help him. Not only that, but he was also too stubborn to just use Cook at that time. Ultimately, it ended with an extremely messy kitchen, a lot of yelling from the king, and a lot of crying. But Kirby didn't want to think about that right now. He wanted to try and do better than he did on that attempt. He just had to remember how to do it.
Eventually, the recipe was complete, and he placed the finished product on the table, laying next to it with an exhausted plop. Curious, Chilly cut a slice and took a bite. While the presentation could use a bit of work, the cheesecake itself tasted perfectly fine, a far cry from what he was expecting from Kirby not using a Copy Ability to make something he's not used to making.
"There's a couple of cracks in it, but…"
"I know, shut up…" Kirby uttered with a slightly tearful pout.
Chilly gave a slight sigh and decided to move on from this. "Alright, Kirby, how are you with making bread?"
Kirby scratched his head, not moving from the table. "Isn't it the same as making cake?"
"Not quite. There're definitely similarities between the two...well, all baked goods really, but it's the differences that really matter. Since you clearly don't have any experience with bread, just watch me." Kirby gave a pout in response to that before Chilly rolled him off the counter and onto the floor. "And get off of the counter! I need a clean workspace!"
It took a few minutes, but eventually Chilly gathered all the ingredients needed to make a simple loaf of bread.
"The first ingredient we have is yeast, followed by water. Warm water to be exact. Cold water won't really achieve anything besides making it wet. We'll also need a good amount of sugar. Now you could make bread with no sugar, but snow way we're doing that. The yeast needs something to eat, y'know? Also, add a bit of oil. Leo likes to use melted butter, but oil is a bit cooler in my opinion. Now, the most important ingredient for bread is flour. Absolute zero chance of making bread without it."
While Chilly was in the process of explaining what to do with all these ingredients, Kirby was struggling. Not with the process of making bread. No, it was explained well enough so that the puff could understand. It was not groaning out loud because of Chilly's usage of terrible puns that was the issue. For the sake of his friend though, Kirby tried his best to get through this cool lesson. Eventually though, Chilly was done, and, as to be expected from a professional baker, it didn't take him very long at all. Now the only thing the two friends could do was wait for the bread to finish baking.
"So, Kirby, you think you'll be able to handle being my assistant tomorrow?" Chilly asked. He didn't express it, but he was a bit worried that Kirby would say no.
"I can handle it no problem! Besides, all I'm doing is assisting you, right? That means I can trust you to direct me!" The puff responded in his usual cheery way, dispelling any doubts Chilly might have had.
"Well, good. Oh! Here! You should take these!" Chilly said while giving Kirby a notebook with the words "recipe notes" written on the cover. "I want you to study them thoroughly, ok? This will help you a lot tomorrow."
"Sure, I can do that, Chilly." The puff nodded, though he was internally worried that he would have a hard time focusing on studying that night.
Then, the oven dinged, knocking him out of his thoughts as the snowman took the loaf out of the oven.
"Ok, now to let it cool." Chilly breathed a wave of cold air towards the bread, cooling it in an instant. "Now, let's eat!"
"Yay!"
The next day was the day of the tournament a large crowd was gathered in the town's largest show building for the event.
"Wow, this event must be really popular if there's so many people here..." Kirby thought as he followed Chilly, looking around at the large crowd of people.
Suddenly, the snowman spoke up.
"I'm going to get us registered, Kirby. Thankfully, they'll let us look around this place beforehand. This would be a good chance to see the competition, so could you do that for me if you wouldn't mind?" he suddenly asked.
"Ok, will you need help finding me?" The child asked.
"I don't think that'll be that much of an issue. You're very recognizable. Honestly, looking for you in a crowd is like looking for a pink marshmallow in a sack of regular marshmallows."
With that said, Chilly left Kirby to his own devices. The venue itself appeared to be a fairly big place, though considering that King Dedede apparently owned it, that was to be expected. While the competitors weren't allowed to go into the baking station until the actual competition, they were able to freely explore the rest of building and that was why Kirby was allowed to do so. Unbeknownst to the puff, he was being watched by three familiar individuals: Chef Kawasaki, Simirror and King Dedede. The three of them had earlier been selected as judges for the competition. Well... at least Kawasaki and Simirror had been. King Dedede had invited himself to be the third judge. The monarch only stared at the puff as he skipped along obliviously.
"Well, I'll be! Never thought I'd see the day that kid would be makin' food instead of eatin' it! Ugh...hopefully he doesn't get hungry and eat the entire pantry…" Dedede grumbled in a worried tone.
"Oh, you worry too much, your majesty! Believe me, Kirby has surprising amount of self-control in the kitchen! I should know, I helped him learn how to cook!" Kawasaki responded in a tone both equally joyful and proud, clearly happy at the idea of Kirby competing.
"From what I've seen, that's quite correct. He once made me a cake and it came out quite well." Simirror added in her usual calm manner. "Also, don't even think of disqualifying him just because of your stupid one-sided rivalry." She followed up, directing a harsh glare at the penguin monarch.
"Calm down, missy! I wasn't gonna disqualify him anyway! Wait... AND WADDAYA MEAN STUPID?!"
"Exactly what I said." Simirror responded, sipping tea in a way that indicated she was completely unfazed by the king's outburst.
"Ok, you two, save the excitement for later." Kawasaki uttered, trying to calm the two of them down before a fight broke out.
The king gave a huff.
"Fine, whatever! I'm interested in how well he can bake anyway!" He didn't say it, but Dedede was also intrigued after Kawasaki mentioned that he taught Kirby how to cook. "An' why the heck are you here anyway, missy? I thought MK would be here. He shoulda gotten one of them invites..."
Simirror took another sip of tea. "He did, but then he recommended me instead due to being busy. Since I had nothing of importance going on today, I happily took the offer. There a problem with that?"
"No, not really, just confused." The king gave a slight chuckle under his breath. "Too busy... heh... sure. Bet he's actually just too embarrassed about being seen eating sweets in public."
While the judges continued to talk among each other, Kirby was looking around at the competition. Almost everyone he saw was someone he was completely unfamiliar with.
"I guess the culinary community is a lot bigger than I thought it was. Hey... wait, is that...?"
Kirby then saw someone he was really familiar with. "Hey, Joe! What are you doing here?"
The now-identified Knuckle Joe jumped in surprise.
"Joe, why're you wearing a fake moustache?" The puff tilted his head in confusion.
"I-I-I don't know what you mean, Kirby-I mean, person I don't know! My name is err... Jim! Baker Jim!"
The duo remained silent for quite some time after that declaration.
"Joe, I might not be the smartest person in Dreamland, but even I know a bad disguise when I see one." The puff replied with an annoyed pout.
"Ok, ok, fine, you got me! I just don't want people knowing that I like to bake. Fighters aren't supposed to bake...like my rep's gonna tank if anyone from those tourneys finds out that Steel-Fist Joe bakes..." he grumbled in embarrassment.
"Chef Kawasaki bakes and fights though? How's that a pro..."
"That's not what I mean! Anyway, what're you doing here?"
"Oh, I'm helping Chilly today as his assistant. Leo is sick so he needed someone to take his place."
His friend gave an understanding nod. "Ah, I see. Well then, for now, we are enemies Kirby and I don't plan on losing!"
"Well if you bake just as well as you fight then this will be a fun competition!"
The two friends then high fived each other in their usual friendly manner. It was at that moment that Chilly arrived.
"Alright, Kirby we're all signed up and the competition begins in 30 minutes. You ready?"
"Yup!"
"Excellent!"
Then Chilly spotted Knuckle Joe, who seemed to sweat profusely the moment they locked gazes.
"Joe, what's with the fake moustache?"
"…is my disguise really that bad?"
"Yes. Yes, it is."
"Well what do we have here?" A loud booming voice said, causing the trio to jump a bit.
Turning around, Kirby and Chilly saw the source of the voice. It was an on-and-off foe of Kirby's, Mr. Frosty. Though instead of glaring at Kirby this time, his attention was squarely on Chilly.
"Hey Chilly, I don't see that Leo anywhere. Did he finally ditch ya for someone else?" He uttered in an intentionally obnoxious manner.
"Hey, Kirby, you hear something? It might just be a bug buzzing." The snowman commented, not even paying attention to the walrus.
"I don't think Bugzzy cooks, Chilly." Kirby gave a confused response as Chilly shrugged.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Kirby, let's just get to our station."
"Hey, just so you know, I'M taking first place this year, and now that you don't have Leo with ya, victory is all but assured."
However, Chilly seemed to either be very good at ignoring him or he just didn't hear him, as he only continued to walk away with Kirby tailing him.
"Um...Chilly, shouldn't you say something to him? He was talking to you!"
"Nah, he's just an annoying rival. Don't worry about it."
The puff could only shrug in response.
Soon enough, all of the participants got settled into their designated workstations, waiting for the contest to fully begin. Kirby was still a tad on the nervous side as he was not sure if he could really be that much of help, despite the fact that Chilly kept reassuring him otherwise. Suddenly, Kirby felt a cold hand being placed on his head, knocking him out of his thoughts with a slight jump from the sudden temperature drop.
"It's ok, Kirby. I understand that you're nervous but trust me, as long as you follow my directions everything will work out." Chilly said in a calming tone. This honestly only made Kirby more worried.
"But what if we lose because of me? What if-"
"It doesn't matter." He was suddenly cut off by his friend. "Kirby, I don't participate in these contests to win. Winning is nice, sure, but that's not why I enter. Do you know why I enjoy these contests so much, Kirby?"
The puff went silent to think for a moment. "Is it that you really like cooking?"
"Not just that, but I like seeing what other chefs can do. Comparing skills and recipes, seeing what other chefs can bring to the table. It's fun. Winning is just a bonus. So, try your best to chill out, Kirby, understand?"
The puff gave a nod in response.
"Now, we should be starting soon, get ready."
There was a tapping sound on the microphone out front. Everyone looked over collectively to see that it was Chef Kawasaki.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this year's baking competition." The cook began. "Before we begin, we're going to go over the rules. I know we have some returning faces, but we're required to go over them before we begin."
He pulled out a sheet of paper and began to read it off. "The first rule is the number of rounds. There will be three rounds, one for each type of baked good. Yes, you must make a different kind of baked good for each round, please stop complaining. That last part was from the organizers. The second rule is that each round will have a time limit of one hour and thirty minutes. You must make whatever food you're entering within that period of time. That means you are not allowed to bring in premade food items to the competition. That would be cheating and therefore if you are caught, you will be disqualified on the spot. The third rule is about the scoring system. The scores are ranked on a scale from 1-10, with each judge giving an individual score for each. All of these will be tallied at the end. As a result, the highest score you can receive in a single round is 30. The winner, of course, will have the highest total score. Are we clear on this?"
There was a collective silence in the room.
"I'm going to assume that everyone's silence is a "yes". This first round, you are to make a type of bread. Any kind of bread you like. And with that, your time begins...now."
Before Kirby knew it, Chilly threw a bowl with three bananas in it in front of him.
"Alright, Kirby, I want you to mash those up while I get everything else ready, got it?"
It took a small moment for Kirby to register what he just heard, due to a combination of how fast that order was given and his nerves still affecting him. Though the moment he understood what was said, he immediately got to work. With impressive speed Kirby mashed the bananas up until they were a smooth paste.
"Ha ha! I knew you'd be perfect for that, now combine it with this!"
Chilly then handed him a bowl full of melted butter. With the same speed he used before, Kirby wasted no time in combining the two bowls.
"Excellent work, partner, now take a moment to breathe. I can handle the rest from here."
While Chilly was mixing the other ingredients together, Kirby took the opportunity to look at the other bakers in the competition. Funnily enough, the station Joe was at was the one right across from his own. The puff was a bit surprised at what he saw, as Joe was apparently partnered up with Mr. Frosty.
"Well, I guess I never did ask who he was teamed up with. Can't say I was expecting that." He uttered to himself.
"Oh, Frosty has a new partner every year. No one can stand working with the guy more than once." Chilly replied, now done pouring the banana bread mix into the baking pan. "He's actually not that bad at baking, it's just that his personality makes him force most of the work onto his partner. What's worse is he always takes the credit for all the work."
"I wonder why Joe would work with him then. Joe isn't a fan of arrogant people like that." Kirby uttered, rummaging through his mind while trying to think of a reason why Joe would work with such an off-putting person like Mr. Frosty.
"Well, Frosty's really good at getting what he wants. Probably gave Joe an enticing offer." The snowman then closed the oven and set the timer for the required amount.
"Well... knowing how Joe is, probably involves a fight of some kind..." Kirby scratched his head.
"Yeah, that's probably likely..."
Eventually, the round ended, and the time had come for the judges to taste and score each contestant's bread. Teams were picked at random for both tension and to be fair. As luck would have it, Kirby and Chilly were the last team to be picked.
"Here you go, our signature banana bread. Enjoy." Chilly said as politely as he could, placing the plates in front of each of the judges.
The judges ate, though it was more accurate to say that Kawasaki and Simirror ate it. King Dedede, on the other hand, devoured it in seconds after he first tasted it.
"Man! That was the best bread I ate all day! Bananas aren't even my favorite fruit an' I still love it! That's an easy ten from me! Now y'all wouldn't happen to 'ave anymore, would ya?"
"I can make more for you later, your majesty." Chilly replied.
"Excellent! And you, Kirby..."
The puff seemed to jump a bit upon hearing his name. "Uh, yes?"
"Good job on clobbering them there bananas! You clobbered 'em almost as well as me! Ha ha ha!" The king gave a hearty laugh as the other two judges finished their plates.
Next was Kawasaki's turn.
"Hmm, did you add anything to the bananas, Chilly?"
"Just a little bit of sugar."
"Hm yes that would do it. The taste is very addictive, and as always you got the perfect temperature. I give it a 9!"
Finally, it was Simirror's turn.
"It was good, but for me it's a bit too simple. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but nothing about it stands out to me. It's perfectly serviceable as banana bread, but I guess I was expecting a bit more out of it. 7 out of 10." Simirror replied bluntly. This gave the duo a total of 28 points for round 1.
"Thank you." Chilly and Kirby said together before returning to their station.
On the walk back, the snowman spoke up. "That Simirror is gonna be a tough one to please, Kirby, but I'm sure we can pull it off together. You ready for the next round?"
"Yup! What are we going to be making for the next round?" The puff asked.
"The second round is always cake. For that, we're going to make cheesecake."
Kirby became a bit nervous when he heard that. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to pull most of the weight on that.
The second round began, and Kirby was awaiting orders. What he heard was not what he was expecting.
"Kirby, I want you to handle the cheesecake." Chilly said bluntly, leaving no room for arguments.
"Chilly, are you sure? What if I mess up like last time? Or what if I do worse? Or-"
Chilly gently put his hand on Kirby, attempting to get Kirby to cool down, both figuratively and literally. "Kirby, it'll be just fine. I'll be here to help you out, ok? Any mistake you make, I'll help you correct."
Kirby was calmed by this but still looked unsure. His friend gave a slight exhale, inadvertently creating a few snowflakes that fell onto the floor.
"Kirby, instead of trying to be perfect, just focus on doing the best you can." This seemed to free the puff of his doubts, as his eyes were now full of his usual bright and cheerful energy.
"Ok, Chilly, you can count on me!" With that, Kirby got to work and Chilly just watched with a satisfied look on his face.
Time went by and Kirby finally finished preparing the cheesecake. Surprisingly, Chilly didn't need to help Kirby much at all, outside of a few details here and there.
The only thing that was left to do was to have Chilly perform his cooling trick to cool it off to a perfect temperature, and with that done, they took a look at the finished result.
"Well, would you look at that Kirby." Chilly said, with a slight laugh. "Not a single crack. See? I knew you could do it."
Kirby couldn't quite find the words to describe how happy he was at this. Instead, he just gave the biggest smile Chilly ever saw.
Once again, it was time for the judges to taste the food. This time, Kirby and Chilly were one of the first teams chosen.
"Since you did most of the work, it's only fair that you present the cheesecake, Kirby. Unless you'd rather have me do it."
"Don't worry, Chilly! How hard can it be?" Kirby responded, still in a cheerful mood.
"I present to you all, cheesecake!" He placed a plated slice in front of each of the judges and stood back, waiting for their consensus.
Simirror was the first to speak up this time. "As far as basic Cheesecake goes, this is one of the better ones I've had. There's room for improvement, but as it is right now, it's nearly perfect for me. I give it an 8."
King Dedede seemed pleasantly surprised by how good the cheesecake was, as he quickly finished off his plate. "Not bad at all, kid, much better than your last attempt that's for sure." Kirby simply pouted, earning a laugh from Dedede. "Anyway, this is king approved. Just like the missy, I'm giving it an 8."
Finally, it was Kawasaki's turn, though he was oddly quiet. Seemingly deep in thought. The chef's unusual silence was starting to get to Kirby, making worried about what he was thinking.
"Kirby, you did a great job. While there isn't anything about the cheesecake that makes it stand out, there's also nothing that detracts from how good it is. Simply put, it's a great example on how to make a cheesecake. I also give it an 8."
The puff gave a nod in response. "Thank you."
He then walked back to their cooking station with Chilly.
"That's 24 points. So, our current total is 52 then." The snowman uttered to himself.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Kirby asked.
"Nothing, it's just an observation. I do this because I enjoy it, remember?"
He nodded in response. "Oh, by the way, what's this last round going to be for anyway?"
"Oh, the last round is always pie. You better prepare yourself."
Something about the way Chilly said that made Kirby feel a bit off.
The third and final round had begun. Just like the first round, a bowl was placed in front of Kirby the moment the round started. Though this time was different, as Chilly had his own bowl as well. One of the bowls had blueberries while other had cherries, which made Kirby want to question what this was about.
"Alright, Kirby, time for me and Leo's signature creation, the blue and red special. Let's get to mashing." The snowman quickly answered for him.
Kirby simply nodded his head and got to work.
"You want to know how Leo and I came up with this?" Chilly asked, without any story.
"Honestly, I am!" He gave a simple reply.
"Well, let's start at the beginning. It was actually before we decided to become business partners. At that point in time, you could say we were culinary rivals. We would have weekly contests with each other where we'd try to make specific baked items to outdo each other. Sometimes I'd win and sometimes he'd win. Honestly speaking, the results were very 50-50 on who won. Then one day, Leo came up to me and said "Let's compare our specialties. My cherry pie will be victorious for sure!" So, I said "Sure thing, just know that there's no way my blueberry pie is going to lose." Well, eventually, we finished making them and ate them. I tasted his and he tasted mine. Then we both tasted the pies that we had made ourselves to compare them. Ultimately, we both arrived at the same conclusion: "Blueberry and cherry actually taste pretty good together!" and that's actually how we became business partners."
Chilly finally finished, his face full of nostalgia.
"Wow, that's an interesting story!" Kirby exclaimed as he continued to work. That was when he got an idea. "Hey, maybe we should make some extra pie for Leo so that we can bring him something to help cheer him up!" The puff followed up in his usual innocent tone.
"Hmm... sure, we can do that. I think he'd like it." They then stopped mashing the fruit. "Now that we got all the berries and cherries smashed, time to mix them up Kirby."
"Aye, aye, sir!"
The two continued their work well into the third round.
Soon the round ended, and it was time for everyone's dishes to be judged. Yet again, Chilly and Kirby were picked last. This time, it was the snowman who took up the plates for the judges.
"Well, Chilly, I assume you made the classic blue and red pie?" Chef Kawasaki asked, gazing at his plate.
"Correct, though I did add a little something to change it up a bit."
Hearing this made Kirby a little confused, he had memorized the recipe and was sure that nothing that shouldn't be in the pie was included.
"Well, enough waiting! Let's hurry up 'n eat!" Dedede yelled with his usual enthusiasm as he dug into the dish before him.
The rest of the judges followed suit. It didn't take long for Kawasaki to notice what was added.
"Wait a minute... did you add marshmallows to this?"
"Yes, pink ones to be exact." As Chilly said that he turned and winked at Kirby.
"When did you add those?" The puff asked, trying desperately to remember.
"While I was telling you the origin of the pie."
Kawasaki cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the duo. "Well, I must say, the marshmallows, while a bit unusual for a pie like this, definitely enhanced the flavor. If I could give an 11, I would, but we'll just have to settle for a 10!"
The next to speak after Kawasaki was King Dedede.
"Ugh... do the marshmallows really hafta be pink?" The king asked with a grumble, but he also sounded slightly disturbed by the idea of eating anything resembling his pink friend/rival. "Well... not like it matters, anywho. This here's still the best piece I've had in a long time! Just like how momma used to make! Anyway, y'all gettin' a 10 from me as well!"
With the first two judges finished all eyes were on Simirror. The usually hard-to-impress mage was strangely quiet, as if the pie had left her speechless. In fact, that's exactly what happened. After a moment to regain her composure, Simirror finally spoke up.
"To be as blunt as possible, this pie..." She then paused for dramatic effect, which slightly annoyed Chilly and worried Kirby. "...was the best pie I've ever eaten. I have no complaints. I also give it a 10. Congratulations, you were the only team to get a perfect 30."
Kirby wanted to cheer, but he was quickly suppressed by his friend.
"Thank you very much." He said as he walked back to their station.
"Ah! Chilly! What was that for?!" Kirby whispered with a pout.
"I'd prefer you don't make a scene...yet. They still have to tally up all of the scores."
The child wanted to question if they didn't need to worry about that thanks to them being last but relented.
"Besides, for security reasons, we all have to wait outside of the building for the final scores to be announced."
That was when Kirby gave a nod in understanding.
A couple of minutes later, the teams were all gathered outside of the building, waiting for the top 3 teams to be announced.
"So, Kirby, did you have fun?" Chilly asked his friend and partner.
"That was more fun than I thought it would be! I think was able to improve as a chef too!"
Chilly smiled warmly at that. "No matter what happens, always remember the fun you had, Kirby. Trophies are nice, but memories are priceless."
Just then, Kawasaki stepped on to a podium in front of the building. "First, I would like to say thank you to everyone who participated. This year's competition was even bigger and better than last year's. Now let's not waste any more time, on to the top 3 teams. In 3rd place with 79 points, the Poppy Bros!"
"Oh, I didn't even notice that Jr and Sr were here..." Kirby thought within the applauding crowd.
"Next with 81 points, the Mr. Frosty and Knuckle Joe team!"
"OH, COME ON! WAS MY DISGUISE REALLY THAT BAD!?"
Frosty simply glared at Chilly's direction.
"And finally, the moment you've all been waiting for, with 82 points, the champions are. Team Chilly and Kirby!" The crowd roared loudly as Chilly and Kirby went up to grab the trophy. "Congratulations, you two! And thanks for all the good food!" Kawasaki said, sounding even more jolly than usual.
While attempting to give the trophy to Chilly, the snowman stopped him, and motioned towards Kirby. Understanding what that meant, Kirby walked over towards his friend and was given the trophy.
"Chilly, are you sure you want me to have this?" Kirby asked, unsure of whether or not he really deserved it.
"Positive. You earned it. Plus, think of it as my way of saying thank you for helping me out on such a short notice."
"Oh, that's nothing! I'm always happy to help my friends!"
"No, please, I insist!"
Kirby could only relent to that.
"Also, if you ever want to enter the baking business, Leo and I wouldn't mind having a third baker around."
"I'll keep that in mind!"
The two friends shook hands, ending this eventful day on a good note.
This was quite an interesting chapter to write. I think it also ended up taking the record for the longest chapter in this series so far...