TOWARD THE END OF class, Stephen, Castiel, and Maxwell were passing notes to each other. The two couldn't believe that their leader had been rejected.
Maxwell commented that if Willis was a girl, he would have said yes. Brushing that strange thought aside, he asked the two to share the information they had on Willis. And so they did.
'When class ends, go straight to the park by my house to start practicing. The two of you are still rookies, so you're gonna need to learn the basics. Be sure to read the instruction manuals thoroughly. Lastly, don't go challenging anyone without my permission.'
Right as Stephen sent the message to Castiel, the bell rang, indicating school was over. What troubled him was why he had been rejected. He didn't bother saying goodbye to anyone and went straight to Willis's classroom. The two eventually met, agreeing to talk about the matter in Salt Lake City's Veneto restaurant.
Veneto serves some of the world's best authentic wood-fired pizza. Stephen wasn't planning on eating since he had no money, so Willis offered to pay for his meal. Quite kind of him, but Stephen refused. Not liking the idea that a brother in Christ was planning to watch him eat while he himself didn't, Willis wouldn't take no for an answer.
"I don't mind having a Wheels War with you, but I'm still not joining your team," Willis said, biting on three supreme pizza slices at once.
"Why's that?" Stephen asked, blowing steam from his lasagna alla bolognese.
"The world of Dyna Blades is chock-full of opportunities. All ya have to do is work your way up. If I can win a lot of parts like I have been, I can make a lot of money to help support my family. Joining a weak team would just get in the way of my goals."
Of all the things Willis said, the word "weak" stuck out the most. Stephen finally understood why he had been rejected.
The owner of the restaurant came to greet the two, excited that Willis had brought a friend this time. It was evident that he had been the number-one customer. Pleased at how much he had ordered, he added a special dish free of charge. Willis scarfed it down like it was nothing.
If Stephen were to guess, the young man could easily bench press over five hundred pounds several times. Meanwhile, his own plate had only been finished halfway.
"I don't mean to offend, brother Steph! It's just… I read about all your races online. How ya put the Lion's Den emblem on the line against the Skull Raiders and won! Oh, and how ya won a Sprint against the Rottweilers!"
Stephen had almost forgotten that most of those events had happened. He won most of those battles by chance. If it hadn't been for him conveniently taking Allison's Dyna Blades—which were modified—he might have lost. Then there was the fact that the Rottweiler's leader took a pause to rescue a beagle.
Whatever sort of rumors people were spreading online about him, he was oblivious to them. What troubled him the most was that people were reading about him without his knowledge.
"The problem is," he added, "your races were all F-rank. How're ya planning on challenging me anyway? Didn't yer DBs break?"
Rumors online spread faster than he imagined.
Stephen pondered for a second. What was being said online could wait. His duties were about the here and now. So he answered him, stating that he was planning on having a custom battle without him using Dyna Blades.
As much as Willis thought that was funny, Stephen was being serious. He had that much confidence in winning.
Considering that his team wasn't complete yet, he didn't have an emblem to put up. Nor did he have any real good parts that weren't gifts. Given that Willis knew more than he expected, Stephen was positive he wouldn't accept whatever he had to offer now.
"My team doesn't have an emblem to put up," Stephen said. "I also don't have good parts I'm willing to offer. Before we came here, you mentioned that you had enough parts to sell and make money from, right? So… what do I have that you're willing to accept my challenge for?"
"That's an easy one!" Willis smiled. "How 'bout you put up that bird that's always followin' ya around?"
Raising an eyebrow at the comment, Stephen couldn't tell at first if he was joking or not. Then he remembered the first thing Willis said to him when he saw Chappy. Did he really like eating bird meat that much? If that were the case, Stephen would have just had his closest peers buy a dressed one at the local farmer's market.
"Why do you wanna eat Chappy so bad?"
Willis explained to him how rare his Steller's Jay was. Apparently, he had never seen a large one like Chappy before, despite them being common in Utah. Perhaps it was because Stephen took the time out of his day to properly care for Chappy that he grew naturally. Whatever the reason, Stephen grinned, saying, "Alright then, fat boy, you got yourself a deal."
Willis was taken aback. He didn't expect those words to be said. Stephen, however, wasn't finished.
"Forget wagering any parts or emblems you have. Chappy's practically priceless to me. I need something from you that's just as equal."
"And what's that?" Willis asked.
There was silence before Stephen decided to answer. It made Willis a tad uncomfortable.
"Your loyalty."
Stephen was seen walking home. He had left Veneto not too long ago. The two of them, Willis and him, agreed that their battle would take place tomorrow night after school. Since Willis was an E-rank, he didn't want to do any F-rank challenges; as such, they agreed upon an E-rank one called "Obstacle."
Obstacle was a simple challenge in Wheels War. It was similar to Sprint, but with objects placed on the racing path. The only difference was that the objects could range from cars to buildings. The first person to make it to the finish line while racing across those obstacles would win.
Stephen had read a lot about Willis from his peers. There was a little more to his story than just being a Christian. People who read about him online traveled to the school to challenge him to a Wheels War during the night. All of them had been F-ranks, so despite him going undefeated in over ten battles—having collected all their emblems—he remained in E-rank.
One such person commented that he was like a guardian of the school, eliminating anyone who trespassed on his territory. Those people had perhaps met his aggressive side instead of his kind one.
What was strange about Willis were two things: The first was that he wore these custom Dyna Blades that no store sold, and the second was that he was affiliated with one of the "lords of the roads."
Almost home, Chappy flew by his shoulders. He started pecking at his neck, almost as if he knew he was being put on the line for his big Wheels War challenge tomorrow. Resting him on his two fingers, he brought Chappy close and said, "Don't worry, buddy. I don't accept challenges that I know I can't win."
Chappy danced around, chirping a little, before flying off. Whatever people saw in this bird, he really was quite a rare one.
Opening the door to his home, Stephen was immediately greeted by one of Victoria's infamous dropkicks. He managed to dodge it, causing her to go flying out the door. Surprised, she turned around and said the next one wouldn't be so slow. Kimberly immediately approached him, knowing he had gone to Veneto.
That entire time he was away, Victoria and Mila had been teasing her on how he had likely taken a girl out on a date. Anxious to know what he had been doing there, he explained that it was to challenge Willis to a Wheels War. She scolded him for having put Chappy on the line. His comeback to that was asking her why she had thoughts of him losing.
That question made her feel embarrassed. On top of that, she couldn't hide the fact that she was jealous if he had been with another girl instead of Willis. The only way she found out he had been at Veneto in the first place was because of Castiel and Maxwell. They were the only two informed he was going there.
Nonetheless, their conversation in the foyer ended when he decided to head straight to his room. There, he tried to get some rest. He fell asleep but was suddenly awakened by a knock at his bedroom door. The time was four in the morning, so he wondered which of his roommates could be up at this hour.
To no surprise, it was Kimberly. In a tired tone, she said, "Sorry for waking you. Do you have a minute?"
Turning the lights on to let her inside, he noticed she was still wearing her school uniform. He thought to himself that she must have been awake all night.
"Wheels Wars are official battles between Road Riders," she explained, revealing a rolled-up sheet. "If you look, you can find records of past battles. With Willis, I had some difficulty finding this since he was an E-rank rider."
On the floor, Kimberly opened up what looked like a blueprint design. The design was of their high school.
"You mean you went through the trouble to get this for me?" he asked.
"Yeah… I felt kinda bad about not showing my confidence earlier, and I—"
Before she could finish, he hugged her, saying that what she did was thoughtful. He was going to tell her that she didn't have to go through all that trouble, but that would have been inconsiderate. Kimberly had sacrificed her precious sleep. How could he not be moved?
When he looked at her, she had a dazed smile. Her face was also bright red.
"Ugh… Kim, you alr—"
"Right! To put it simply, this is a sketch of the race for your Obstacle race," she snapped. She was speaking a lot faster than before. "With this map, you can figure out where to do certain tricks and where to go. These things are essential to know when blossoming into an elite rider!"
He analyzed the map. Considering the school itself was the obstacle, Willis had the advantage. It was his territory, meaning he knew all the shortcuts and best places to grind. However, with this blueprint, Stephen was undoubtedly going to win.
The two spent a little time focusing on the textures of different walls, pipes, rails, rooms, and gutter locations. While he was staring at the map, Kimberly was trying to ask him about his wheels. He didn't hear her. His vision was clouded with images of grid lines that looked three-dimensional.
"Hey, are you listening to me?" she asked.
Every layer of the school, from its lowest floor to its highest, was evidently on another plane. The path was being shown to him like a navigation map. He could see the perfect route to victory, regardless of where the finish line was.
"Steph, why are you spacing out?!"
"Hmm…"
"What's wrong with you?"
"Never mind that," he replied. "What were you asking again?"
Kimberly repeated her curiosity about his wheels and his Dyna Blades. After telling her he still didn't have the parts for them, she was ready to wake Victoria up. The punishment had been too strict. But he stopped her, explaining that he wouldn't have challenged someone to a Dyna Blade-only battle if he didn't have access to one.
His plan was to borrow either Castiel's or Maxwell's. The two had spent hours at the park training, so today would be the appropriate time to ask. Even though they would gladly give them back without hesitation, he only needed to borrow their wheels for a short duration.
Jovial about how far he's come since his first time putting on Dyna Blades, Kimberly gave him a heartwarming smile. Thanking her again, she left his room as he went back to sleep.
Night came again quickly. Sitting atop the school's building was Willis. He was doing his normal habit of eating whenever most people saw him. Though, he looked more upset than usual.
"Gosh dang it!" he yelled. "Just who does he think he is? Makin' fun of me just 'cause I'm still in E-rank? No… I'm gonna—"
"Yo…"
Stopping in the middle of his rant, Willis turned to see Stephen a few yards down on the other building. He calmed himself and jumped off from where he was sitting. Crash landing, he left a decent-sized crater on the ground. Willis then took his shirt off to reveal that he actually had a muscular six-pack.
Stephen, however, was more interested in what was on his feet: two fourteen-inch skates with four wheels on each of them to resemble miniature tanks!
"Yo, brother!" he said in a deep tone. "I'm glad to see you got your DBs fixed."
The two eventually met by the school's outdoor basketball court. Standing in front of him, Stephen said, "Don't misunderstand. I'm still the head of a gang called the Westside Toris… These DBs aren't mine alone."
Looking at Stephen's feet, Willis noticed that the wheels on his Dyna Blades were different brands. Stephen then pointed behind him to show that Castiel, Maxwell, and all the other gang members—male and female—were all spectating from a nearby roof.
[1] The author insisted on breaking the fourth wall.