Chapter 11: Wheelie
Kirby was spending the day sleeping soundly. The previous day was quite hectic, and he honestly just wanted to sleep for most of the day. Suddenly, he woke up and rubbed his eyes.
"Hm... I guess I should at least take a short walk outside." He said with a yawn.
As soon as he stepped outside, he was almost run over by a loud, fast moving object. The object came to stop revealing itself to be Wheelie, Kirby's fast moving and fast-talking friend.
"Wheelie, we've been over this a zillion times! No speeding around my house!" He whined with a pout.
That was when his friend stopped.
"Sorry, my friend, but you know me, quick to arrive, quick to leave." Wheelie replied, talking quickly as usual.
"Well, you didn't crash into me this time, so it's not a problem, I guess. Did you need something?" he asked, rubbing some more sleep out of his eyes.
"Well, I was hanging out with some other friends, right? Well, one of them brought this book of world records and I got to thinking "Wow, wouldn't it be great to break one of those?" So, that's why I'm here. So, how about it, you want to help me out?"
Despite Wheelie's fast way of speaking, Kirby understood every word that was said.
"Sure! I'd love you help you!" "Great! Now let's get going!"
Without another word, the puff was grabbed by his friend, who then jetted off.
"You know what they say, time is money and time's a-wastin, and time is a limited commodity that few have so you have to make the most of it by using as much speed as possible and-"
Kirby didn't understand the rest of what his friend was saying due to how quickly he was saying it and only nodded along quietly.
Before the duo went to break any records, they needed to know what records they wanted to break. For that reason, they went to the local library and checked out the latest book on records.
"Hm... how about the longest amount of time running on water?" Kirby asked.
"Nope, me and water do not mix." Wheelie shook his head.
"Right, sorry... oh, here's one! Longest time spinning in place?"
"That'd be perfect for me! You know how everyone says I'm constantly spinning my tire anyway and-"
"Oh here's another one, most midair flips?"
"That, too! Everyone always talks about how much of a roundabout person I am and-"
"Ah! Here's another one that sounds fun! Fastest time in eating a whole meal... 5 seconds!? Oh, wait... that's my picture next to it. When did that happen?" Kirby asked with confusion, never once submitting himself to a world record.
"Who knows? All I know is that there isn't one person that's gonna be beating that record anytime soon and-"
"Ah! Meta Knight's listed under Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy! I didn't know they recognized that as an actual record!"
"There's no way I'm breaking that!"
The two continued for hours until they scavenged the whole book. The duo decided on breaking the records for spinning in place and most midair flips.
The first record they decided to attempt breaking was spinning in place. The duo decided to make their attempt in the arena generally used for tournaments, due to being an even and smooth ground.
"So I just have to spin in place for more than five minutes, right? That should be easy as pie!" Wheelie asked with pride in his voice.
"You should still be careful, Wheelie. You could get super dizzy and make yourself sick." Kirby said, thinking back to an accident he had using his Tornado Ability one time during a training session.
"Oh please! I make sharp turns every day! How hard could it really be?"
On the puff's mark, Wheelie began spinning as fast as he could... only to collapse at the thirty second mark.
"Ok...maybe this is a biiiiit harder than it sounds."
After Wheelie's 5th attempt at spinning, his best time only barely passed the one-minute mark.
"There's no way he's going to break the record at this rate..." Kirby thought with slight disappointment.
It was at this point that the puff decided to give his friend some advice.
"Hey, Wheelie. Why don't you try spinning as slow as possible? That way you won't be getting dizzy so fast."
"I mean, you're probably right, but slow isn't my style! It's either full speed or nothing!" Wheelie said stubbornly.
Kirby only gave a sigh. Shortly after watching his friend finish yet another failed attempt at breaking the record, he spoke up to get his attention.
"Wheelie, watch me."
Kirby then started spinning around, making it look like one of his dance moves. The spinning kept going until Kirby got to the three-minute mark before he stopped, barely looking dizzy at all.
"So, did you notice what I did?"
Wheelie looked stumped.
"Ok, I'll tell you. I spun around quickly without going too fast. Wheelie I know you like going fast, but you don't need to go full force for everything."
Kirby's words seemed to be its job this time as Wheelie gave a look of determination.
"Yeah, let's try it again!"
Following Kirby's suggestion, he attempted the record yet again and managed to break it.
"Congratulations, Wheelie! You did it!"
His friend gave a laugh. "Thanks! That felt awesome! Let's break another one!"
The puff could only respond with a slight sigh that was equal parts annoyed and amused by that statement.
The next record to break was simple. Wheelie just needed to get himself up in the air and perform more than 36 flips. However, it was likely going to be easier said than done as had been the case with the previous record.
"Ok, Wheelie, I managed to borrow this ramp from Meta Knight!" Kirby said as he returned with the item.
"Do you think this ramp will work? What if it's too short? I can't use a short ramp you know; I need to be able to get high up, you know? But it can't be too long either cause then I'll be going straight up, and I won't much air to work with in that case, and why does your teacher have a ramp in the first place, he doesn't drive, he has wings, I don't see the point in-"
"Wheelie, it'll be fine. And Meta Knight has it to practice jumping when we're practicing my Wheel Ability."
His friend then seemed to understand that, as he continued on. "The current record is 36 flips, right? I don't want to get the wrong number, you know, that would defeat the entire point of trying to break a record."
Kirby gave a nod as he looked in the book. "Yup, it's 36."
"Then I'm gonna hit 50!"
"Wait, wouldn't it be easier to aim for 37?"
"Yes, but easy is not my style, you know that."
The puff only shrugged in response. "Ok, fine, 50 it is. On the count of 3, go for it."
"You got it!" Wheelie and Kirby both got into their according ready positions.
"1...2...3!"
The moment the puff said "three", his friend drove at full speed, launching himself into the sky and started to vigorously spin as fast as he could. It was a bit hard for Kirby to count the spins, but he was soon able to keep up. Soon, Wheelie came back to the ground, making a perfect landing.
"How many was that, Kirby?" "37! You beat the record!"
"Cool, let's try for fifty."
"But you beat the record?"
"Yup, but didn't I already tell you? I don't just want to beat the record; I want to demolish it! Make it so no one would be able to match me for a long time!" Wheelie explained, showing a clear competitive streak.
As much as Kirby wanted to ask if it was enough, he knew he would get a "no" in response. Because of that, he remained quiet and only nodded.
For the next hour, Wheelie kept launching himself into the air over and over again, improving a little bit each time. Even though he wasn't doing much, Kirby was far too entertained by Wheelie's determination to really mind it.
"Ok, Kirby, how many was that?" Wheelie asked, still full of energy.
"49! You're almost there, Wheelie!"
"Alright! Hearing that really sets me on fire!" He shouted out, becoming a metaphorical and literal ball of fire.
"AHH! ARE YOU OK!?" Kirby screamed out in worry.
"Don't worry, my friend, this is something that happens when I get too excited, you know. Most people get headaches or some but not me, my body just decides to match my fiery passion, if you get what I mean."
Kirby didn't speak for a moment to process this. "Doesn't it hurt?"
"Not at all!"
While the puff thought it was good to see his friend be so fired up, there was something... off about Wheelie. While he was extremely competitive, it felt like all this was being done for another reason.
"Now, let's get ready for the next attempt and-!"
"Hey, Wheelie." Kirby said, gaining his friend's attention. "What's the real reason behind all this?"
Wheelie's eyes changed upon hearing that, showing an expression Kirby had never seen before. "One day, I'll run out of gas. I want to make sure I'll leave something behind when that does happen."
Despite his age and innocent world view, Kirby knew exactly what his friend meant. "Well, I'm not the smartest person in Dreamland but I believe that the best way to leave a mark is to be yourself."
Wheelie blinked in confusion.
"Um... so, how do I word this? Ok... how many people have you met?" Kirby then asked.
"Too many to count. I've met so many people while on my worldwide drives."
"Has anyone ever recognized you even though you've never met?"
"Yeah, I earned the nickname speed demon because of who... I... am." Realization washed over Wheelie's body.
"See? You've already left a mark, just by being Wheelie!"
There was a moment of pause as his friend appeared to process what he was just told. Then, it appeared that Wheelie returned to his energetic self.
"Alright, let's get back to breaking some more records!" Wheelie shouted, confusing Kirby.
"But why?"
Wheelie gave him an eye smile. "Because it's fun! Testing and surpassing my limits, trying new things. Variety's the spice of life my friend! Now, come on, we're wasting daylight!"
"But it's barely afternoon..." Kirby responded, pointing at the sun as it remained high in the sky.
"Exactly, we got plenty of time left. Now hop on!"
Kirby sighed again but was happy to see Wheelie back to his usual self.
"Ok then, let's go!"
The puff put on his riding hat and the two rode off.
A short but simple chapter, which isn't necessarily a bad thing to me. If anything, the only problem I had was writing fast-spoken monologues. I don't know how to best convey that in written language.
Omake (Bonus)
Kirby: I thought I told you a zillion times! No speeding around my house!
Wheelie: You see Kirby, the answers to all the problems that face everyone in Dreamland lie in speed! If you can do something that fast, it gives you more time to finish your next task! And if you do it slowly, then even in 20 years, even a fool can write a best-selling novel! The monthly is smarter than the yearly one and the daily one is smarter than the monthly one! And by that logic it means speed means talent and-
Kirby: (Slams door)