15 Chapter 15: Cooking Contest
After a few days, we had finally arrived. Loguetown, the place of beginnings and endings. It felt good to finally be standing at the entrance of the city. Nami says that whenever pirates are heading to the Grand Line, they stop here to get supplies.
"Looks like I'll be able to stock up on fresh produce." Sanji says before grinning, "And fresh women." I sweatdrop and fight the urge to smack him. I know I'll be able to satisfy that urge when we actually start shopping. Usopp plans to go to some trinket shops, Zoro wants to find a sword shop, and Luffy wants to find where Gol Rogers was executed. He says as much before running off into the crowd.
"Wait, we have to pick a meeting place!" Usopp yells after him, but it falls on deaf ears. Ah well, it'll work out.
With our plans in mind, we all head our separate ways. As I guessed, Sanji has hearts in his eyes the minute we start walking. Luckily, having so many women around works to my advantage since he doesn't know where to start. Thank Arceus, I was afraid I'd be chasing him all over the place like Luffy.
However at one point, Sanji stops in his tracks, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. I follow his gaze to see a very pretty woman with long black hair wearing a cowboy hat and a long cape around her entire figure. Even I had to admit, she stood out compared to the rest of the women. However, she slips out of our sight the minute we blink.
"Huh? Where'd she go?" Sanji wonders frantically.
I roll my eyes, 'Don't know, don't care; can we just get the groceries already?' Of course, my complaint is lost in translation as Sanji begins to search for her. He finds quite a few girls who resemble that woman, but none of them are her.
After a while, he sighs, "I guess she's gone, like a rose in the wind…" he says wistfully.
I give his leg a smack with my tail (including a tiny shock) and point to the stands, "Pika pika!" I say. 'Don't we have shopping to do?'
"You're right Pika-chan." Sanji says, a tinge of disappointment in his voice. "We have shopping to do, so lets get to it." Finally! "Let's head uptown; the market should be around there somewhere." Sanji says.
I nod and begin to trot after him. We walk for a few moments until we're interrupted again. "Sanji~!"
Sanji and I both stop in our tracks and turn around. A woman wearing just about all pink was standing a few feet behind us, a fluffy fan in her hands and a...soup ladle in her mouth (the hell?). "Ten long years of searching...and I've finally found you!"
Two men appear behind her, making her presence even more known; practically everyone within a two mile radius around us has stopped to stare.
"Behold the Amazing Carmen!"
"The greatest cook in the East Blue!"
...Say what?
Carmen looks at us, but mostly at Sanji. "I am passionate; some call me Fiery Carmen!" The trio then does some weird dance move and pose.
"I am the first apprentice of Carmen; Leo!" The first man speaks up and we can see him clearly. Let's just say, I never knew someone's chin could take up so much of their face. Congrats man.
"And I am her second; Jose!" The second man at last looked pretty normal compared to the other guy, only his eyes were huge- wait… That's his nose?! Oh yeah, that's not terrifying at all! I sweat drop along with everyone else in the square. I don't know what kind of face I was making but it was probably a mixture of frightened and disgusted. Sanji and I had seen some weird stuff on both the Baratie and the Going Merry, but this took the cake. I can't imagine what Sanji must be thinking right now.
"You...are beauty itself!"
I fall and faceplant the pavement along with everyone around us. "Pika pika…" I mutter irritably, dragging a paw down my face as Sanji walks towards her, hearts in his eyes. 'Dammit Sanji...'
Sanji gets on one knee, takes her hand and goes to kiss it. I wince as he immediately gets a frying pan to the face. 'Ouch...'
"Oh...so passionate…" Sanji says dreamily, despite the pain he was probably feeling. Oh who am I kidding, whenever he gets this way, pain bounces off him like water. "Tell me Carmen, how is it we know each other?" Okay, at least he has the sense to ask a legit question! I wanna know too!
Carmen twirls back to her underlings and poses again. "Boys, tell him the story."
"Yes Ma'am!" Leo holds out a long wooden pizza shovel and points it to Sanji. On top of it is a big pile of cards. I jump on Sanji's shoulder as he picks up multiple cards. Oh wait, they aren't cards, they're pictures.
"These are other chefs." Sanji observes.
"Indeed!" Sanji and I recoil as Jose bursts through the cards appearing right in our faces. At least now Sanji and I have the same reaction. Seeing those huge nostrils up close is just...uncomfortably freaky and gross. "These are the most famous cooks of the East Blue!" he says before backing away (thank Arceus).
Leo poses with him again. Seriously what's up with these guys and dancing? "And the Great Carmen defeated every one of them in competition!" Oh Arceus, this isn't going where I think it is, is it?
"Yes, the cooks I've faced have all been...disappointing competition." Carmen says, fanning herself. "But then a former cook of the Baratie said you were the best chef in the East Blue and that you had no equal!" It's totally going where I think it is, I know it… "From that day forward, I spent the last ten years searching for you!"
Ten years? Damn, talk about commitment; that's pretty intense for a cook... "Actually, it's only been ten days." Jose points out. Aaaand the intensity is gone. She's just crazy.
Carmen then takes out her ladle and smacks both of her cohorts with it. Yep, definitely crazy. She points directly at Sanji. "Now, I challenge you Sanji!" she announces. "If you dare bring your spices to the cooking competition at the market place today, you shall be minced like garlic!"
Ah, there's the challenge I was waiting for. She lets out a hearty laugh and begins to spin, so fast that she actually begins to raise into the air. We all gape as she climbs higher and higher until she disappears. Holy crap! She can teleport?! Oh, no, wait, she just got dizzy and fell. Her two underlings catch her and run off down the street.
Sanji gets up and sighs, "Finally, a woman with the same passion as me."
I frown at him and give the back of his head a light smack with my tail. "Pika! Pikachu!" 'That lady has a screw loose! Seriously, out of all the women you've flirted with, she is definitely not for you!'
"So kid, you gonna compete?" An old man asks out of nowhere. To my surprise, Sanji shakes his head. "Nah, I'm not one for contests." I look at him as he walks down the street. I thought Sanji would love to do competitive cooking.
Sanji sees my expression and gives me a scratch under the chin. "All I care about is keeping people fed, Pika-chan." he explains. "A contest would be fun but just a waste of time." I can't tell if that answer is cocky or deep, but I understand. It was just one little contest anyway, and honestly, if not going meant staying away from that Carmen lady and her creepy henchmen, I was completely fine with it.
After a while I hop off his shoulder to walk on my own until we reach the docks. I jump up on the railing and we see the marketplace. Well, I guess now would be a good a time as any to stock up on food supplies. I jump back onto Sanji's shoulder to avoid getting lost in the crowd and we enter the fish market.
Both our eyes widen as we take in all the different varieties of fish, all iced and fresh. "This is incredible!" Sanji exclaims. "They have everything a great chef could want!"
"Pika!" 'I'll say!' Seriously, the amount of dishes Sanji could make with all these fish probably enter the hundreds, thousands tops.
Sanji leans over a box of iced fish, "These are superb!"
"Pika pika!"
"You certainly know how to pick 'em!" The salesman says. "You're looking at some coastal fish we caught fresh this morning!" Really? These are from the coast?
Sanji picks one of them up, "They're certainly firm and fresh," he observes. I lean in and sniff the air around it; yep, it's definitely fresh, almost perfectly. Thanks to living at the Baratie for a few months, my nose is pretty accustomed when it comes to food objects; perks of living with chefs.
"Are you sure they're from the East Blue; I've never seen fish like these before." Sanji says.
The salesman grins. "You certainly know your way around seafood." he says. "These fish are naturally from the West Blue."
Sanji and I look intrigued. "The West Blue...then why do you call them coastal fish?" Sanji asks.
"Young man, is this your first time here?" Salesman asks. Sanji nods and Salesman picks a fish up. He explains that a current brings a whole bunch of different fish from the different seas right near Loguetown, so people could experience all the different kinds of fish. Wow, this town is practically sitting on a culinary goldmine! I wonder if it was just luck that this town ended up having so many amazing things…
My ears twitch as I hear multiple exciting voices. We turn to the dock to see a crowd gathering; apparently the fishermen had just come in with some new fish. The crowd is huge; it must be something really amazing. Sanji and I get to the front of the crowd and- Holy mother of Arceus, that fish is HUGE!
"An Elephant Blue Fin Tuna! Nice catch!" Salesman exclaims. One of the fishermen grins, "It must have gotten mixed in from the South Blue; I caught her with a line and pole!" Wow, I'm surprised the line didn't snap; I mean that thing is bigger than Sanji, and that's saying a lot!
"A Bluefin Tuna…" Sanji says softly.
I look at him and see that he looks deep in thought. "Pika?" 'Sanji? You okay?' I ask, but he doesn't respond. I then catch a familiar glint in his eyes; it's the same glint he gets when he's talking about the All Blue. Ah, that explains it. The guy said it was all the way from the South Blue. How did a fish that huge get so far from home? I can relate to that…
The men start to carry the fish off when Sanji steps forward, "Hold on a second!" he says. "How much for it?" he asks. Whoa, what? "Sell the fish to me; I've got money!" Wait, we're actually gonna buy that monster? Holy crap, that would be awesome!
The fisherman shakes his head and my excitement fades. "Sorry, but this fish is gonna be the grand prize in the Cooking Contest." My disappointment fades like the wind. It's a prize? "The Cooking Contest starts today, and chefs from all over the world come to compete." Salesman explains. I can feel excitement starting to build up inside me as the men start to carry the tuna away.
"Registration is over there." Salesman says pointing. "Better hurry before it closes." He walks off and my eyes light up. We had hit the jackpot! All we had to do was win one measly contest for that amazing thing?
I can't believe our luck! Sanji will kick everyone's sorry butt in that contest getting a super rare tuna out of it that could feed us for weeks and maybe even give Sanji a hint towards the All Blue! It's a win-win! "Pika! Pika pikachu!" I say with vigor.
Sanji grins, clearly having the same thought process as me. "Yeah, a contest; sounds like a plan."
"Pika!" I cheer, fist pumping the air. As we walk towards registration I can't help but feel like we're forgetting something...something about a crazy lady who cooks…? ...Eh, probably nothing.
We register just in the nick of time and head over to the tables where the contestants are all gathered. I sit on the table and Sanji leans back in his chair, not nervous in the slightest. Yeah, that Bluefin Tuna is in the bag!
"I'm glad you decided to show, Sanji." That voice...oh Arceus, now I remember! We both turn to see Carmen and her cronies, sitting a few feet away. "This should be fun; I've never had any real competition before."
I blink and Sanji's already trying to kiss her hand again. I only sigh as his face gets another pan-smash. "Yes, that's the fiery passion I crave!" he gushes.
"Pika…" I groan as Carmen's henchmen shoo Sanji away. Save the flirting for after the contest, please? The I can give you some much deserved shock therapy.
"Heeeey! Sanji! Pika-chan!"
My ears twitch and I look to see Nami and Usopp among the crowd. "Pika!" I wave at them catching Sanji's attention. We both hurry over to them.
"Nami! You came to watch me compete!" Sanji cries.
I jump on his shoulder greet them. "Pika pika!"
"Heck no; we were just walking by." Nami says.
"What made you decide to enter a cooking contest Sanji?" Usopp asks. Oh, there's quite a story behind that…
"Usopp, when did you get here?" Sanji asks. Nami and I both sweatdrop.
"I'm the one who called you over here, jerk!" Usopp yells. I turn back to the stage where the first two chefs have already begun the first round; looks the contest has begun. "So you really want to be known as the greatest chef in the East Blue?" Usopp asks.
"Don't be stupid," Sanji says. "I'm only after one thing, and that's the fish." He points to the tunafish and I nod firmly; we were gonna get that monster for sure!
"Yeah, that does look like a nice fish!" Nami comments.
"It sure does, but the hard part will be getting that fish to talk." Sanji says. My face becomes confused for a moment, but softens after a minute; I really hope that fish has some kind of clue to the All Blue. "Pika-chan, you stay here with Nami and Usopp." Sanji says. "I'll be back in a bit with that fish."
"Pikachu!" I nod and leap onto Nami's shoulder. 'Good luck!' Sanji heads back to the table and the contest gets underway. I never knew competitive cooking could be so intense! Everyone cheers loudly and Nami, Usopp and I cheer the loudest when Sanji is up.
As I expected, he wins every round without any trouble, until finally, it's the final round. Sanji vs Carmen. I roll my eyes as Sanji gives a heartfelt wave to Carmen at the beginning; that flirty side of his better not cost him the contest.
We all watch intently as the round begins and they both start cooking. I keep my eyes on Sanji the whole time; he's focused and serious, all his attention on the food. I smile; I should've known that the All Blue would keep Carmen from distracting him.
Before we know it, the contest is over and both Sanji and Carmen have finished their meals. Everyone waits in anticipation as the judges try the food and give their verdict to the announcer. "The winner of this year's Cooking Competition is…" My grip tightens ever so slightly on Nami's shirt and my heart lifts when the announcer opens his mouth. "San-"
"WAIT!"
Huh? We all look to Carmen who stands up and walks over to Sanji. I frown slightly; what's she gonna do?
"I can never forgive myself…" My ears perk up. "I can't believe I thought I could beat you." Whoa, is she shaking? I listen as she says that she watched Sanji cook when he was a kid, back on the ship he worked on, and how his ambition motivated her to work extra hard to be the best so that she could show him what she's learned. Wow, she really wasn't crazy after all!
She smiles at Sanji, "You beat me fair and square." she says. "You truly are the number one cook in the East Blue."
Sanji smiles and gets up; oh I think we all know where this is going. "Carmen, that's the best compliment anyone has ever given me!" he gushes coming towards her. Thankfully, one of her henchmen takes up the frying pan to stop him. Thank you giant chin man.
"I'm forfeiting this round." Carmen states, her smile still on her face. "But be ready for the next round; I won't lose to you again."
Sanji smirks. "If it's a challenge from you, I'll gladly accept." he says.
I smile broadly as the announcer continues. "The winner of this year's Cooking Contest is...Sanji!" We all cheer loudly, Nami, Usopp, and I cheering the loudest.
I love the cooking contest in this arc so much! It's just always awesome watching Sanji kick ass in the kitchen; Chef Ramsay's got NOTHING on this man! (Please tell me I'm not the only one horrified by Carmen's henchmen *shudder*)
