Be My Ship's Cook

Tim and Kou were forced to eat the well-cooked meal prepared by one of the cooks, known as Zumo, after visiting the Primal Restaurant. Just as they were about to finish their last meal, an enemy appeared and started an aggressive attack on their table. When Tim realized the beautiful lunch Zumo had cooked with care had been spoiled, he snapped and gave one of the marines a good thumping.

~ Tim pulled his right arm behind his back and in an instant his fist ignited in a burning orange fire that swirled around him and surprised everyone in the room. It continued to rage behind Tim's back and in a sudden moment Tim punched forward with intense might. His veins nearly popped as his knuckles rammed into Zach's face completely deforming his face into the most disgusting way.

"Don't ever say that to me?! The food was amazing, even when on the floor, and you have no rights to say something that is no where near being true?! You got that, Zach?!?"

Blood squirted from Zach's face as he went flying through the room toward the window through which Karisa and the others looked. They screamed in fear and quickly jumped out of the way as Zach's body crashed through the door... ~

When people saw a continuing altercation between a pirate and a marine, they quickly evacuated the restaurant and began swimming away in terror. Tim lowered his hand and crouched, picking up food and broken bits of plates without regret, while Zach swam into his ship in terror, screaming.

"You bloody pirates! You're not going to make a fool of me! Wait until I return and you'll be the one sucking my toes!"

The sailors aboard Zach's ship were told to sail away quickly and never looked back, so Zach left the woman alone to implore him to return to the water. Tim finished gathering up everything and placing it on the free table in the corner of the room in the blink of an eye.

"This should be all of the pieces..."

The cooks barged out the kitchen with pans and other tools, yelling loudly at Tim, who stared back confused. When Kou realized Tim had made a mistake, he hit his own forehead with his palm and heard the chefs.

"You pirate! You've scared off all of our customers! There's no way we'll forgive you for something like this! Get over here so that I show you what it feels like to mess with Primal Restaurant Cooks!"

Tim became astonished and swung his arms in front of his chest as the cooks prepared to attack him. He was embarrassed for causing a commotion. He attempted, but failed, to talk things out.

"Hey! Hold on! I'm not here to cause you trouble! I mean, I kind of already did..., but I don't mean to cause additional trouble! Please just listen to me!"

The chefs tracked him down, while Zumo gathered the broken plates and watched Tim being chased around the restaurant by the cooks swinging their pans. Tim leapt over one of the tables and dove to avoid the cooks' swings, then continued running around, while Karisa, Codey, and Ayuka peered around the corner of the torn down wall, blinking a couple of times in bewilderment. Ayuka sighed as she felt unimpressed.

"Why do we always get into the most unneeded trouble, and who else causes them than Tim, ugh..."

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After Tim and the cooks were chased around the restaurant for several minutes, Simon finally intervened by stepping in front of Tim and forcing him to stop. Tim looked at him, puzzled, as he had his arms behind his back.

"You're the 'White Haired' Pirate Tim with a bounty of $100 million, correct?"

Tim let his arms droop and blinked, trying to figure out what Simon meant when he said his name. Tim scratched the side of his ear and cast a sidelong glance.

"Uh, 'White Haired' Pirate? I don't remember having a nickname? Furthermore, my bounty was only $45 million. I think you mistook me for somebody else, chef..."

Chef brought out a replica of Tim's wanted poster with the exact same face and hair and a larger bounty beneath his name the moment he saw Simon was mistaking him for someone else. Tim's eyes bulged and he screamed all of a sudden.

"$100 million?! That really is me! I got a higher bounty! That's awesome!"

Karisa, Codey, and Ayuka's eyes bulged out of their sockets as he laughed out loud. They exclaimed, shocked, and realized that their quest would be even more arduous now that Tim's bounty had risen.

"Whaaaaaat?! $100 million?! That's even worse than the $45 million one!"

Yelled Karisa, who was disoriented and holding her head after hearing the increase in Tim's bounty. While being observed by the cooks, Codey sank to his knees and hung his chin over the shattered wall, smiling foolishly.

"Is there no respite? We'll have to make do with a higher bounty. I wish Byron's bounty hadn't been so high when we tried to confront him. It simply enhanced our chances of being pursued by some mad marines, other pirates, and most likely agents..."

Tim chuckled as he grabbed his own poster, while Kou stood behind him, smiling foolish. He was sweating from seeing Tim, who was excited over something awful, and he suddenly saw Tim cheering. The chefs all over the restaurant. They were surprised to see their chef communicating with a pirate and were blinking.

"I assumed you came to this restaurant with such a large bounty in order to demolish the entire structure and possibly cause difficulty for us and the troops. You did cause some problems on one side, but I believe I can overlook it this time. But you know that now that you've attacked a marine, more of them are going to show up and attack you and your crew."

"Eh, who cares? Even when we don't mean to, we inevitably end up in trouble. We've only come to get some food. I was hungry and wanted to try some of the restaurant's wonderful food, and I must say that your waiter is a fantastic cook! He made so many dishes for us, and each one was better than the one before it! I could have eaten everything from vegetables to meat if my stomach could have handled it!"

Simon and Tim turned to face Zumo, who ignored them and walked into the garbage room with the broken dishes, cleaning up the mess Zach had made by destroying the food. Zumo was visibly upset because his supper had been spoiled.

"He prepared the meals despite the fact that you are unlikely to be able to pay for it. He's the type of person who treats hungry people with respect and tries to fulfill their wishes. To be honest, I think he'd be better off cooking than working as a server. He is notorious for causing problems for those who do not enjoy the food. It has the potential to damage our reputation, and I'm still not sure why I haven't fired him."

"You shouldn't, though! His cooking is absolutely delicious! Those who claim the meal is bad are totally wrong! The food was delicious, even after it had fallen on the ground, and I have never eaten anything finer than what I had today!"

Ayuka shoved Codey and Karisa to the side and screamed indignation and complaints. She startled Codey and Karisa, who scrambled away before making sure Tim heard her.

"I'm not going to cook anything anymore! Tim, you got it!"

Tim instantly turned and spread both arms in her way. He began to sweat and felt afraid, almost crying out in despair.

"But how will we hold our hunger at bay if you don't cook? Ayuka, you know how much I enjoy your cooking!"

"I'm not bothered. If you prefer his cuisine to mine, I suppose you may make your own lunches for the day. I've finished my cooking job and will never do it again! You're out!"

As her pals cried for mercy, she flung the rubble on the floor and climbed back onto the ship. They tried everything to persuade her to change her mind, but nothing worked.

"Ayukaaaa!"

The kitchen door slammed shut, and there was no sign of Ayuka returning on the outside. Everyone was left standing still, and they all felt a lot worse. They were bored and gradually gave up until Tim came up with a rough notion.

"I got it! Zumo, be my cook! Join the crew!"

As they yelled with question marks surrounding them, everyone's gazes swung around to Tim, with Codey instantly shouting at Tim in response to hearing his horrible suggestion. "You've only just met him! Don't ask a stranger to cook for us! He might even try to poison us!"

Zumo swiveled around to face Tim. He had a sad and serious expression on his face, yet waved his hand dismissively. He tossed the dishes into the garbage and spoke up, making sure Tim could hear him well.

"There's something seriously wrong with your thinking if you believe I'll join up with some pirates only to cook for them. I'm not going anywhere; I'm staying right here. You might want to get out of here before an army of marines surrounds us. I don't have time to deal with your ridiculous excuses for wanting to become a pirate. Perhaps have a pleasant day."

"But, Zumo! Have you not heard Ayuka? Please join us because she will no longer cook for us. Nobody else on our ship can cook, especially not for a group of seven!"

"Why should I care? I said no! Stop bothering me! Be glad we didn't try to call the marines because of your recent visit to our restaurant! Get lost, as I told you! Hurry up and buzz off unless you want me to phone the world government and its marines. I still have several dishes to make for tomorrow."

Tim grew solemn and quiet. Before they left the Primal Restaurant, Simon felt intrigued and asked Tim another inquiry.

"Are you sure you solely came here to eat? Something tells me that's not all that's waiting for you when you arrive."

"Because of Ayuka, our ship's deck was wrecked, and we tried to go about to see if anyone might help us repair it. Finally, we got trapped next to the table, consuming all of the excellent food that had been prepared for us."

Codey discussed the situation before repairing the broken chair. He looked to Simon, who was staring at their ship. "A pirate crew that doesn't have a shipwright? It's not something you see every day. Don't you think you should find someone to help you fix it?"

"We are, after all, on a timetable. We're on our way to Castlemania because one of our friends is about to vanish from this world. They may be able to help us in creating or locating a specific object that a spirit can connect to."

"I haven't seen or heard anything about spirits in a long time. You must be quite fortunate to have one on board? However, I understand the anxiety. I believe we can repair the ship's deck, although it may take a day or two. We'll fix it for you if you don't mind waiting for a couple of hours."

"That would be amazing, but we don't have that kind of money right now. We haven't gone seeking for treasure or, as pirates say, our booty, so if it's not too much trouble, may it be fixed for free? With that hole on the deck, we're having a hard time staying on board."

"I'm not opposed to mending it for free, but you could repay us by volunteering at the restaurant for a bit. I'm not going to put you in the kitchen because I know you're all awful cooks, but I suppose waiter employment will suffice. What are your thoughts, young pirates?"

Everyone fell silent and gave Simon an unimpressed stare. They were already bored, but they didn't have much of a choice, so they accepted and worked in the restaurant for a few days until Tim exclaimed and raised his arms in joy.

"All right! I get to work in a restaurant! I always wanted to try on working as a waiter! This should be fun!"

Codey and everybody else shouted simultaneously.

"YOU DID?!"

To be continued...