Ryuji "The sauce. Get me the tomatoes and basil."
He says calmly as Lucy grabs them. She hands him the tomatoes with a concerned look.
Lucy "Is that one gonna be okay?"
Ryuji looks at it before smiling at her.
Ryuji "Of course."
They get to work in preparing and cooking the food.
Atsushi "Stir faster! Faster faster! Alright, now get over here and flip that meat better! What are you doing? Throwing up in the pan? Move, I'll do it!"
She shouts while snapping her pointer at the sous chef, hurting them as they obey her commands before being shoved out of the way.
Team 2 "How can I help now?"
Sharley "Just shut up and let me focus."
She says sharply while preparing a part of her dish. In team 1's station, the sous chef rushes around while trying to do everything as Alphonso kicks back in a chair.
Alphonso "Let me know when you're done there. I'll double check your work."
He says while leaning back. The group sweats and cooks rapidly putting effort in everything they do. Shiori runs back and forth a few times with different ingredients they need or forgot as do the other teams' runners.
Shuhei "Let's get a word in with our judges. What do you have to say about the teams you see before you today?"
He points the mic in their direction as the first judge, Jordan Ainsley.
Jordan "Well, I can say I've never been a part of a competition with kids before but I'm sure they'll think of something wonderful to cook up for us today. I just hope it isn't raw."
He says with a strong tone. Shuhei moves over to Keller Plake, a younger woman with a soft happy look on her face.
Shuhei "What do you think of the contestants today?"
Keller "I think it's so sweet to see such youth with so much passion. It is certainly a hard industry so starting young is very good."
She says with a smile as Shuhei moves onto the final other judge.
Shuhei "And you, Augustine Gouso, what do you have to say? Thoughts on the competition so far?"
The slim man with an aged face and a very serious look stares at the teams as he speaks.
Augustine "I think that the contestants are doing average at best except for team 1. They seem to have this whole thing perfected. But I must also agree with Ms. Plake. The industry can be harsh and very difficult to enter without any kind of background or assets to support you. That means they each will need to work even harder if they want a shot at working in a high end restaurant let alone their own. Having said that, I must take note about team 4."
He squints as he stares at them. Shuhei looks confused.
Augustine "Their head chef, Ryuji Sato, seems to have no culinary background at all. Neither of his parents have any stake in the industry nor is he taking any kind of classes or extracurriculars for it and his team is even worse. Surely, they don't expect to win with such a lack of training and assets."
He says sharply as Shuhei looks at them.
Shuhei "I suppose you're right. But let us wait and see how they compete. Who knows? Maybe they'll surprise us all!"
He says with a smile as Augustine sits back a bit.
Augustine "I doubt that."
He says under his breath with a smirk. Back in the stations.
Ryuji "We have to start the chicken now."
Lucy "Right, here."
She says while bringing over the pack of chicken. Ryuji quickly slices it open and preps it while looking around.
Ryuji "The parmesan…"
Lucy stirs a pot of pasta as Ryuji looks up with a slightly stressed look.
Ryuji "We need parmesan."
Shiori "Right!"
She nods and takes her basket in hand and rushes to the ingredient table.
Shiori "Parmesan cheese please!"
She shouts as Tsuki rushes and locates a small amount of cheese.
Tsuki "Right here! This is the last of it."
He says while placing it in her basket. She nods and turns around. As soon as she does, Atsushi in her station looks towards the crowd to the right of the judges table. She nods with a glare as a student in the crowd in an incognito outfit nods back before pulling out a slingshot. He pulls it back and aims as Shiori dashes across the field. The student breathes for a moment before releasing the shot and shooting a small stone directly into the forehead of Shiori. It hits her hard as she is shocked and slightly hurt by the stone. She falls over, dropping her basket and the cheese in it. It flops on the ground towards Atsushi's station. Shiori lifts herself a bit, holding her head when a foot stomps on the last of the parmesan cheese. Her eyes widen in shock as she looks up at the runner of team 3.
Runner 3 "Aw, sorry did you need that?"
She asks with a smirk and devious glare before laughing and turning away. Atsushi stares at her on the ground with a belittling look.
Atsushi "Looks like you guys should've gotten a real food runner on your team. Maybe then the food wouldn't be on the ground."
She says with a glare and smirk. Shiori gets an angry look before hitting the ground, grabbing the basket and getting up.
Shuhei "Oh no! It looks like they forgot a key ingredient and now there's no more! Team 4 is in a sticky spot, what will they do now?"
He says with a shocked look.
Shiori "Ryuji, I'm sorry. I dropped the parmesan.."
She says disappointedly. Lucy is shocked as Ryuji stares for a moment.
Lucy "What now? What should we do?"
She asks worriedly. Ryuji thinks for a moment before looking at her.
Ryuji "Bring me sesame seeds and olive oil."
She nods before rushing back and doing just that.
Shuhei "What's this? It looks like they're still on the move! What could they be cooking up now?"
He asks enthusiastically.
Keller "How interesting! Switching up the recipe mid session. How youthful and exciting!"
Jordan "I suppose that is worth a few points. Things go wrong in the kitchen all the time. Quick thinking is a must."
Augustine "It will be hit or miss, coming from a preset recipe that is."
He says while examining them through his glasses. In the crowd, the slingshot student chuckles before trying to step away but is stopped when he bumps into someone large. He looks up with wide eyes as Touma stands before him, his arms crossed and anger across his face. The student gets a scared look before being grabbed by the face and dragged away by Touma out of the crowd. As they continue to cook, time continues to drop. Eventually, team 2 begins to plate their four dishes well before the other three teams. As the food runner delivers the first two to the judges, she is stopped by Sharley before running the other two plates. The runner looks at her confused as Sharley hands her a small needle. The runner begins to sweat as Sharley stares at her.
Sharley "Why don't you show team 4's runner some love?"
The runner stares at the small needle and sweats nervously.
Runner 2 "What am I supposed to do?.."
Sharley "The needle is coated with a numbing agent. Just stick her leg when you're running by and she'll definitely collapse, taking their dishes out with her."
The runner sweats as she grips the needle.
Sharley "Hey."
The runner looks up to see Sharley staring at her intimidatingly.
Sharley "If you mess this up I'll kill you."
She says scarrily as the runner gulps and nods. She grabs one plate and rushes to the judges table, passing Atsushi's station and approaching Ryuji's. She sweats and shakes a bit before taking a deep breath. She quickly walks past Shiori who is staring at Lucy and Ryuji, waiting for the plates, and as she passes her, she quickly pokes the needle into Shiori's leg while closing her eyes and holding her breath. As she speeds on by and places the dish next to her other ones, she looks back at Shiori expecting her to be in slight discomfort or for the agent to be working already but nothing happened. She sighs in relief before rushing back to her station. Sharley smirks while staring at Shiori.
Sharley "Soon enough, you'll be out, no problem."
Eventually, Ryuji and Lucy plate the dishes as Shiori grabs them and rushes them to the judges table with no problem whatsoever. Sharley's jaw drops and eyes pop in shock.
Sharley "WHAT??"
She turns to the runner and starts slapping them on the head and back angrily.
Sharley "What did you do?! It should be working already! How did you mess this up!?"
She shouts as the runner covers herself and yelps. Soon after, the dishes are plated and brought to the table. Shiori, Lucy and Ryuji sweat and pant as Alice and Tsuki join them. They stare at the judges as the dishes are brought to them.
Lucy "Hey, what did you change to fix the cheese problem?"
She asks Ryuji and waits for a response but realizes he isn't even looking at her.
Shiori "Ryuji?"
She calls him but he pays them no mind as he focuses on the judges and the food he put before them, awaiting their response intently. Team 1 sweats a bit as they watch the judges begin with their dish. Alphonso sits back and peaks one eye open at judges.
Sous Chef 1 "Chef, shouldn't we be up there waiting for their judgement?.."
Alphonso "I wouldn't worry about it. I have no doubt I'll win."
He says relaxed as he's been the whole time as Augustine smirks.
Shuhei "Okay! Let us begin the judgement with team 1's dish! It seems they cooked up a classic egg omelet with garden veggies and rice!"
The judges take a few bites as Keller pushes the plate away with slight disgust.
Keller "I think not. Mushy veggies are never a good idea…"
Jordan "The rice is undercooked and so are the eggs."
Augustine "I don't know what you are talking about. The classic dish is genius and wonderfully prepared!"
He says without having taken a bite as he sweats.
Augustine 'I will admit, this dish is quite concerning. Letting the sous chef do all the work wasn't the best idea…'
He thinks to himself as Shuhei spits out the food he ate.
Shuhei "Yeah well mine was burnt… Anyway, the scores will be presented at the end along with a winner. Let us move on to team 2's dish! A stew is roasted corn beef and steamed vegetables. A thick broth of beans!"
The judges partake in the stew, receiving better reactions than the first dish.
Keller "I appreciate the traditional flavors."
Jordan "The corn beef needed some more time."
Augustine "A bit too much salt in mine. Perhaps focus more on better seasoning."
Sharley "I'll show you seasoning…"
She says angrily under her breath.
Shuhei "I'm really loving the edible food, unlike last time… Anyway! Moving on, team 3! Atsushi went with a fairly safe choice of… well sushi haha!"
He laughs as Atsushi jumps up on the counter.
Atsushi "Prepare yourselves for you are about to taste a slice of delight with the Atsushi Sushi Roll!"