"Why are you dragging your feet?! Let's go already, Hunter Heffernan," said Chef Baci.
Hunter places a bag on the table and takes out the meat he planned on using for his dish.
"Hm. That is oxtail, isn't it?"
The sprite only smiles and places the meat in a pan.
"No wonder he was making demiglace before we left the villa," said Alice.
"What's that?" Petra asked Alice.
"Oxtail is known to have the most gelatin of any part of the cow's body," said Alice.
Hunter adds some salt, pepper, and flour to the parboiled oxtail. He sauté the surface to a golden brown, before letting it simmer.
"The demiglace will impact all that gelatin and oh my goodness would it taste amazing!"
Hunter added black pepper and clove to his meat. Clove added a sweet and powerful flavor but he wanted to prevent its overpowering taste. He planned to serve his dish with a stew and knew that clove would increase the mellowness and enhance the savory taste of the dish.
The sprite took out some vegetables to prepare a combination of vegetables called a Matignon. He was going to take minced carrots, onions, and celery, and sauté them in butter until they were tender.
"Impressive knifework," Chef Baci said almost silently. "Wow ... Now I'm the one who's dragging their feet," she said out loud before presenting her meat.
"What!" exclaimed Alex as Chef Baci opened a box holding her main ingredient.
"Uhm ... Is that supposed to be an ingredient?" said Petra.
"There's no way!" said Thomas
Yui looked surprised. "I think it's still alive! It's an alligator!"
Chef Baci smiles. "This little cutie here is going to eat you up!" She exclaimed.
"She's really putting out an exotic ingredient for a competition?!" said John, watching from behind the cage.
"She must be very confident in her cooking skills!" says Oliver.
"Of course she is!" Misan exclaimed. "Chef Baci is the master of rare foods and Hel's very own Master Chef!"
"Hel's master chef ..." Hunter mumbled under his breath.
"Oh, it's gone ..." said Chef Baci looking at the empty box in which she brought her alligator.
"Huh?" Misan said as he caught sight of the alligator approaching him. "Ah! Get away from me! Get away from me, you filthy creature!" He exclaimed evading the reptile.
"Bad alligator!" said Chef Rana Baci as she grabbed the sharp-teethed reptile with her gloved hand.
She walked towards the dark-haired boy. "Hunter Heffernan. I have a lot of respect for you and the Sprite Guardians ... But this is a food competition we're talking about ... I will not hesitate to crush you."
"That's good ... I feel the same way. Bring everything you've got, Chef Baci," said Hunter.
With a smile on her face, the pure demon nodded before turning to the reptile which she placed on a table in front of her. "Alright Mr. Alligator, it's my distinct pleasure to now take your life." And with that, Chef Baci killed the reptile, using her knife to remove the armored layer and break it down to the flesh.
"Now that is some top-quality meat," she noted.
"She broke it down in a heartbeat!" Yui noted.
"How could she render that thing down so effectively?!" said Alex surprised by the action.
Scales, skin, flesh, and the tendons too. Chef Baci expertly used the most effective knives for each and every part with impeccable technique.
'Her technique is not the only thing that's incredible here. It's how she broke it down the way she's arranged it. She has a wealth of knowledge for her ingredient.'
"If you must know, Chef Baci does three things as a specialist in rare foods. She travels often, fulfilling her passion for gastronomy. She spends time in the field, systematically studying exotic cuisine, and she always makes sure to put any and all ingredients that she comes across," said Misan.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," Rana belted hysterically. "Chop! Chop! Chop! Chop! Chop!"
Hunter placed a cooler on the table. "Alright."
"What's that?" Yui asked Alice.
The sprite opened his cooler presenting his various cuts of meat. The dark-haired boy had beef cheek, tongue, fillet, and tripe.
"More meat?" Petra said confused. "Why?!"
"I think that is his garnish."
"What?"
"Hunter is making a beef stew," said Alice. "Beef bourguignon the French stew dish which consists of beef simmered in wine is said to be the original beef stew, it has always featured a garnish. Croutons are most often used as are sautéed mushrooms, and bacon."
"How do you know about all this?" asked Yui.
"Hunter told me what he was making last night, I did a little research."
"Chef Baci's dish seems to be coming up nicely," said Petra.
"Yes, she's seasoned the alligator meat and she's now giving it the generous coating of flour."
Chef Baci throws the meat in hot oil and watches as it fries. "Mmm. What a lovely aroma."
"Now it's time to let this tasty alligator meat rest for a bit. After all, this is where things get started!"
She took a bag of chili peppers and began unloading it in a pot.
"Holy shit!" Petra cussed.
"Chef Baci is adding a ridiculous amount of pepper in there."
"Light it up!" She exclaimed as she put the pot over the flame of fire creating some bold aromas.
"Just looking at it is making me sweat like a damn pig!" said Petra.
Hunter's beef tongue had been boiling for a few minutes so the sprite takes it out and quickly removes the skin.
"He's fast," Misan admitted.
The teal green-eyed boy takes out butter and olive oil to fry it in. The beef cheek was marinating in red wine, celery stocks, and bay leaves. He seasons it with salt and black pepper before giving it a light dust of flour and cooks.
Next, he placed the beef fillet in a pot and then inside an oven. The sprite races to the materials Chef Baci had brought for their competition and grabbed a small charcoal grill.
"Wow, Hunter seems so focused right now," Yui noted.
"Yeah," Alice agreed.
"Okay judges, why don't you taste some of this dish before it gets too cold?!" said Chef Baci as she presented each of the judges with a plate of her dish.
Petra's eyes widen. "What the?!"
"The meat is totally buried under the chili peppers too?!" She exclaimed.
Chef Baci smiles widely. "I call this awesome dish: Exploder caiman!"
"Alright peeps, we're going to start tasting the served food," said Oliver as he took a spoon to get a taste of the food.
"Oh wow! The juicy thickness of the alligator meat combined with the heat of the chili pepper is simply exquisite!"
"I feel like my tongue could melt right off me!" said Yun.
"Chef Rana Baci's cooking has eclipsed whatever food I've ever tasted," the third judge stated.
"She used the chili peppers and took the mild flavor of the alligator and gave it a whole new dimension," said Yun. "This is unbelievable."
"He, he, he," Chef Baci laughed before turning to Hunter and licking her lips. "I cannot wait to see what you taste like."
"First of all, ew!"
Hunter cracked open his charcoal grill which released thick smoke into the arena. As the smoke enveloped her, Chef Baci broke out into cold sweat. The pure demon wiped it off, she felt afraid but she couldn't comprehend what she was so afraid of, surely her exploder caiman was better than whatever the sprite was serving.
"Chef Baci? I hope you remember what you promised me when you lose," said Hunter as he passed the pure demon a dish before walking past her with three dishes in his hand and towards the judges.
"What?" She laughed nervously. "Do you think this dish of yours is better than mine?"
Hunter placed a bowl of beef stew in front of each judge. "Dinner is served!"
"..."
"..."
"This looks like a chaotic mess of various beef parts," said Yun. "There's no way this is a stew!" He exclaimed.
"Just try it, after all, the meats are all garnish," said the sprite.
Oliver was the first one to pick up his spoon and the others soon followed suit.
"Mhm ... The charcoal grill gives it a rich aroma."
"Looks like it's simmered to absolute perfection."
Oliver and the other judges taste the food presented to them.
"Oh ..."
"Oh my ..."
"Oh God!!!!!"
"The beef cheek is so tender and juicy that it practically melts when you chew it!"
"I love the texture of the tongue and tripe!"
"The fillet was sliced thick so the amount of juice flowing out of it is something entirely new ..."
"... When paired with the stew it turns to a bounty of splendid loveliness."
"It looked like it was thrown it carelessly at first but each cut was prepared perfectly, an expertly built thrill ride of flavor. They have different tastes and yet he managed to achieve perfect balance," Yun admitted.
"Impossible! There's no way his dish came even close to the beauty that my dish bestowed on the world," claimed Chef Baci.
"Why don't you see for yourself," said Hunter. "You already have a plate in front of you. Go ahead, try it."
Chef Baci takes a spoon of the dark-haired boy's dish and tries it.
She took another spoon again, the more she chewed on the different cuts of meat, the more she remembered. Almost like she was taken back all those years, back to the Hel's Kitchen, back to her past.
The travel ban on demons in Hel was imposed by Lilith towards the end of the Class wars, the move caused a major uproar amongst the dwellers of Hel.
Many pure demons had deals with people on Nym'Roal but because of the travel ban, the dwellers of Hel could not cash in on the favor own to them.
Additionally, humans and human souls had become food for the demons, and the travel ban also put an end to the man-eating ways of many dwellers of Hel.
However, the lack of human souls would leave a craving in the tongues of the pure demons, one that would only be satisfied when Rana's parents created Hel's Kitchen, a diner in Hel that looked to use ingredients and other materials found in Hel to create meals that taste as close to human souls as possible.
While some pure demons would argue that human souls were much better than whatever was served in the kitchen, the Baci family did a good job of creating a dish close to that as the diner was filled to the gills with pure demons at any given time.
Rana was born after the Kitchen was created, she was one of the twelve heirs of her parents. She lived in the kitchen, sweated for the kitchen, cried for the kitchen, and bled for the kitchen ... All her life, she strived to become the kitchen.
When her mother passed, her father decided to retire from cooking and announced the Kitchen succession wars to her and his other eleven heirs. "Only one of you would inherit the Hel's Kitchen and the rest of you would end up in the bottomless pit of obscurity!"
He commenced a series of cooking battles, one in which Rana would destroy her siblings.
Chef Rana takes a spoonful of the dish in front of her and stuffs her mouth. She remembered the day her father announced the winner of the kitchen succession wars. She could tell her siblings were nervous but she wasn't, she was calm even.
"Rana would be the inheritor of the Hel's Kitchen," said the oldest Baci. "As for the rest of you, you have served nothing worth more than embarrassment for our entire family. You don't deserve to be in my kitchen! You don't deserve to hold my name!" And with that, he ordered Rana to eat her siblings but when she refused, he started to eat them himself despite his heir's pleading.
Only four of her siblings were still alive when Rana put an end to her father's terror and ate her father and when she turned, she found before her were her brothers bowing. Pledging to her not only their respect but also their loyalty.
Chef Baci soon took over the kitchen and her dish was better received than her predecessor's.
Tired of making the same dish over and over, Rana traveled around Hel searching for more ingredients to use, and whatever she found, she made sure to use it in a dish.
Several more meals were added to the Kitchen's menu and that drew even more customers like Vali, and Bahajid.
Lilith herself even once invited the Chef to make her a dish and the ruler of Hel was so impressed she requested Rana become her personal chef. The latter refused as she had a lot more ideas she wanted to try and she felt being someone's cook would limit her creativity.
Chef Baci takes another spoon of Hunter's dish, her eyes becoming hooded with tears. She remembered the years that followed, they felt like a blur to her. She had not only run out of new ingredients but also customers. There was no one new to impress or dish to attempt creating and she felt caged and limited.
She wanted to try something new, she wanted to cook for new customers ... And that's when a portal opened. Chef Baci didn't know how or why but it led to Nym'Roal and with her brothers by her side, she went through it.
There were so many possibilities when she got to the new and strange realm, she had so much to try and explore and ...
Chef Baci placed the spoon in her mouth but felt nothing. She looked down at the plate in her hand to find it empty and then up at the scoreboard to see all three of the judges had voted for Hunter as the winner.
All her life, she's strived to be the kitchen, and just like that, someone from Nym'Roal -- "Hunter Heffernan! You deserve death!" She jumps to her feet and leaps at the sprite. Her brothers do the same, targeting the other sprites.
"Alright, you can take them in," Hunter said.
"Yes!" Alex cheered, untying the headband around his left hand and tying it around his head.
"Finally!" Joe exclaimed
Thomas puts his clenched fist in the air as he prepares to face the demons. "Bring it on!"
"What? No!" Hunter shook his head. "I didn't mean you guys! I meant them," Hunter said, using his thumb to point at the gate to the arena which flew open, and several agents in black armored clad uniforms stormed the arena.
"Huh?!"
Some of the agents were holding guns.
"What in the -- who are these guys?!" asked Petra.
"I already told you guys I wouldn't let you guys go up against a pure demon without prior training ... So I called the experts," Hunter stated.
"Are they ..."
"Yup. You're looking at agents from the Public Safety and Demon Control agency."
The agents almost effortlessly subdue all five pure demons and move them out of the arena and into custody while more agents move to handle the civilians.
"There's no way that is the Demon Control agency. Why would they use guns?!" said Joe.
"Because of all the civilians around. The last thing we need is them going on social media networks and talking about being rescued by people controlling fire and shooting laser beams out of their hands."
They all turned to look at the speaker. The figure of the agent was that of a female as was the voice and she was wearing the same uniform as the other agents except her's had blue stripes here and there.
Hunter could tell that Joe was shivering. "That is true, ma'am," the brown-eyed man said.
The agent turned to the dark-haired boy. "It's been a while, Hunter," she said.
Though the agent's face was covered, the teal green-eyed sprite could tell who she was. She was one of the few agents from the Public Safety and Demon Control agency he got along with. "Likewise, Agent Asper. Jade let you lead the team here?"
"Kara is fine. And you know there's no way she'll send a peasant like me to rescue her golden boy."
Hunter laughs. "Yeah. Where's Leah then?"
"Hi, Hunter," said Leah.
"If it isn't my second favorite vampire!"
"You know, like, two vampires," Kara pointed out.
"Don't you have demons to arrest?"
The Public Safety and Demon Control agent threw her hands in the air before walking away.
"Hunter ..." Leah started. "Jade said to tell you she's doing her best to make sure you return to the agency. She also wants to apologize for not keeping in touch lately, she's trying to root out any Circe loyalists in the agency."
"I get it, tell her there's no need to worry about me, I'm sure it's difficult being director. I'll try to visit next time I'm in New Lanes."
Leah smiles. "I'll let her know."
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