[04] Cook For The King!

[Kaden]

“I believe he had a short meeting with the king or something,” were the first words Kaden heard upon stepping through the kitchen door.

“Or something,” he chimed in. “Hope I didn’t keep you… waiting… Piper?!”

It took the courier several moments to recognize the other chef in their event. As he scanned the woman up and down, the only thing that really tipped him off was the gleaming metallic gauntlet sheathing her hand. It was all Kaden could do to keep from laughing. As the woman confirmed her identity, he took a moment to compose himself.

“I gotta say, that look suits you,” Kaden waved a hand at her bright orange apron. “It’s very… domesticated.”

If the look that flashed across Piper’s face were any indication, Kaden found himself very thankful that there were no sharp instruments within arm’s reach. In truth, though, he was quite interested in seeing the soldier in a different light. Though an apron was usually about as flattering as fatigues, it was a nice change of pace. From Kaden’s perspective, at least.

“So… I guess we start cooking now?” Kaden cast a glance around the kitchen, taking his eyes off of Piper for the first time since he had realized who she was. “Oh yeah,” he gave a quick nod to the other chef in the room. “Who are you?”

“I am Jean-Claude. I am here to assist in whatever way I can.”

“Excellent. Look forward to working with you, Jon.” Kaden smiled at the man and extended an open hand.

“It’s Jean,” the chef repeated.

“Uhhh…” Kaden looked to Piper. “How is that not what I said?”

“Can we move on to the actual cooking?” the woman replied.

“Just itching to put that apron to use, huh?” Kaden teased.

Before another word could be said, a fourth figure entered the overly-elaborate kitchen. Upon hearing the door open, both Kaden and Piper turned their attention to the newcomer. Jean-Claude cast a quick glance in the same direction, but he had obviously been expecting the arrival. The woman who entered the kitchen stood at about Piper’s height, but the similarities between the two women ended there. Her skin was fairly dark, obviously not a tan, and the rippling locks of her hair were an incredibly dark brown. Her deep, chocolate eyes flashed from one person to the next, accompanied with a practiced smile.

“Good morning, Chefs,” she greeted everyone. “I’m Padma.”

“Good morning, Padma,” Kaden and Piper returned her greeting unison.

“I’m sure you’re both eager to begin cooking, but before that we have a special treat for you. You’ll both be competing against the clock in our first-ever co-operative Quickfire Challenge!” Padma looked from one contestant to the other, obviously expecting some kind of reaction.

“Ok,” Piper spoke up after several seconds. “I give. What the hell’s a ‘Quickfire Challenge’?”

“I’m with the housewife,” Kaden hooked a thumb at his comrade. “No clue what you’re talking about.”

“In this Quickfire Challenge,” Padma continued, unfazed by the chef’s complete lack of knowledge. “Our cheftestants will be thrown together to make it through the toughest test of their culinary skills.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Piper sighed.

“Waiting for us, downstairs, are the catacombs, filled with some of the fiercest beasts we’ve known to man. In only sixty minutes, these two chefs will have to hunt down and defeat any number of them. And…”

“Wait for it…”

“More importantly,” their hostess continued, “whatever they slay during this Quickfire Challenge will have to be featured as a main ingredient of their regal recipes.”

“Thank you and good night,” the soldier shook her head.

“Did she call us ‘cheftestants’?” Kaden whispered out of the side of his mouth.

“If you’ll follow Chef Jean-Claude, he’ll escort you to the catacombs.”

With the same smile plastered across her face, Padma looked on as Kaden and Piper were escorted out of the kitchen. Unlike the posh interior that the courier had seen upon his arrival, Jean-Claude’s route took them through an area of the castle that was far less impressive. Three sets of footfalls reverberated through the stone passageways.

“So,” Piper turned her head to Kaden, who was walking beside her. “You seem to be in a better mood.”

“You know how it is,” Kaden smiled at the woman. “A couple heartfelt revelations, a little property destruction, a quick nap… It does wonders.”

“Glad to hear it. I actually like the sound of this Quickfire thing. Should be a great way to work off some stress.”

“Ha ha ha. No argument here.” As they continued on their path, the courier reached out and rapped his knuckles against the walls. “Hey… what do you think would happen if we just, like, blew up the event?”

“I imagine Gamer would just love that.”

“Seriously, though. Instead of cooking for the king, we just blow his head off.”

Both the soldier and the courier exchanged glances. Neither one of them would have expected such a statement to have come from the blonde-haired idealist. Even to him it sounded like a strange proposition. Conceptually, it sounded like something he would do – bludgeon through a problem with brute force and damn the consequences to himself – but the details were not very Kaden-like.

“I’d think we’d lose the event,” Piper supposed.

“Or maybe we’d both win. Gamer doesn’t strike me as the type to punish people for random acts of excessive violence.”

“You have a point,” the medic mused.

“Any guesses on what they’ll have waiting for us?”

“Does it matter?” Piper shot the courier a confident smile. “I can’t think of anything the two of us couldn’t handle.”

“Well, I certainly have been known to blow things up. And you, well there’s no one better at… uh… what is it you do?”

“Kick ass,” the woman replied, punching her partner lightly on the arm.

“Want to bet we run into a giant fire-breathing dragon?”

“Bet what?” the solider asked, her interest piqued.

“Loser buys the winner a drink.” Before the woman could point out the silliness of betting on who buys a fake drink with fake money in the fake carnival that was waiting for them, the courier continued. “And I mean a real drink. In the real world.”

“Alright. You’re on.” Piper extended her hand.

“Ha!” Kaden grabbed her hand and gave it a quick shake. “C’mon, girl. A huge castle, serfs working the field, high priests advising overly dramatic kings. Fire-breathing dragon’s a given.”

“We’ll see.”

Before more words could be exchanged, Jean-Claude cleared his throat and informed the cheftestants that they had arrived at the site of their challenge. The piercing creak of rusted metal echoed off the stone walls as he pulled open a large door and motioned for the two to enter. As Piper and Kaden stepped fully across the threshold of the catacombs, the door slammed shut behind them, the dull thud of the wood sounding ominously through the poorly-lit tunnels that spread out before them.

“Now,” Jean-Claude spoke through the door. “We’ll come to get you in one hour. Your Quickfire Challenge starts… now!”

As Jean-Claude finished, a menacing roar exploded from deep within the catacombs, signaling the beginning of their event. The very walls around the contestants seemed to quake in fear of whatever had produced such a menacing bellow. Kaden couldn’t help but feel a seed of dread plant itself in the back of his mind, but he had resolved to do his best not to let Piper notice. Surprisingly, the next thing either of them heard was a stranger’s voice.

“You there!”

Turning, Kaden and Piper saw a man chained to the walls of the catacombs, obviously left to let either nature or some unnamed beast claim him. He seemed elated to see another person, but when he locked eyes with the courier, his visage become one of neigh uncontrollable rage. Lunging forward as far as his shackles would allow, he spit several choice phrases in the courier’s directions.

“He was going to attack the king,” Kaden explained to Piper. “Instead I blasted him through some pillar and then the guards took him away.”

“That’s a pretty bad plan of attack,” the soldier commented.

As the brown-haired man continued to hurl curses at the man who had struck him down, Kaden made a slow approach. He couldn’t help but empathize with the man. He had simply been trying to do what he thought was right, and then some jackass got in the way. It was a very relatable scenario. When the man’s temper ebbed, the courier spoke.

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened earlier.” To emphasize his apology, Kaden pointed a finger at the iron shackles binding the man. They disintegrated in a flash of blue light. “Me and my friend here have to cook a meal to please the king. I couldn’t let you kill him before that happened.”

“Know you nothing of the man you call ‘king’?!” the brown haired man pulled himself to his feet. When it became obvious that neither of his rescuers knew what he was talking about, he elaborated. “He is no man, but a lost soul summoned from beyond the grave by the dark arts of the priest Shaft!”

“That High Priest you were talking about earlier?” Piper asked Kaden. The courier nodded.

“High Priest?!” the man spit upon the ground. “He defiles the prestige of such a title. No, Shaft is a the very embodiment of greed and lust. He thought to use the dark arts to bring forth and control none other than Dracula. That a mere mortal could control the powers of so dreaded a being is laughable. I had arrived at this castle to slay Dracula.”

“Smart move,” Kaden nodded. “Eliminate a powerful enemy and Shaft’s trump card in one shot... Knocking you out was kind of a dick move, huh?”

“My name is Richter Belmont. My family has been charged, for generations, with slaying Dracula. He has risen many times, a tribute to his demonic powers. Several years ago, I slew both Shaft and Dracula myself. When I heard of their return, I made haste to this castle. I could never have imagined that one as… unassuming as you could fell me in a single blow.”

“Again. Sorry.”

“I believe Shaft seeks not only to use Dracula’s power to control the land, but actually possess him and claim his powers for his own. I cannot describe the hellish horrors that would befall the land and its people were such a thing to happen.”

“Ok, well, now’s your chance,” Piper said. “Go do whatever it is you have to do while wonder-boy here is stuck gathering ingredients.”

“Alas, were it so simple, I would have already been on my way. Nay, I would stand no chance against Dracula’s magic without the legendary whip Vampire Killer. It has been passed down from Belmont to Belmont for generations. It is the only thing capable of defeating him, and he seized it when I was captured.”

“Of course he did,” Kaden sighed. “I guess I could try and help you get it back. Seems only fair.”

“So you’re going to leave the ingredient gathering to me?” Piper asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Pipes. First we’ll slay some monsters, grab some slabs of meat, and then I’ll… I don’t know. Go from there, I guess.”

“Sounds like a real solid plan you have there.”

“It’s better than nothing. Slightly.” Kaden turned from Piper to Richter. “You can either come with us or wait here. I don’t imagine it will be particularly safe either way.” As Richter nodded in acknowledgment, Kaden turned back to Piper. “Shall we get going?”

“Might as well,” Piper replied. “Clock’s ticking.”