Ryori no Shinzo: Heart of Cooking

Story and concept by Wonder-Chefs-Cupcake

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Wonder Chef, Dark Chef, or anyone for that matter! (cries)

Synopsis: After thwarting Dark Chef's plans to obtain the Ultimate Recipe in Meltokio, Wonder Chef recognizes Regal Bryant as a great chef with the heart of cooking, and tells him he could be the next Wonder Chef. Dark Chef overhears this and tricks Regal to join him to obtain the Ultimate Recipe. Rated PG-13 for violence, language, and some sexual content.

Notes: Since Wonder Chef and Dark Chef have no true names (at least not in the game); I am giving them simple names. Wonder Chef will be known as Hikaru Odoroku and Dark Chef will be known as Shikoroi Yami. Simple names make me happy! If I think of something more "creative", I will change them. Also, I would like to say that this story is NOT a shounen ai, so I don't want you people to think wrong. You'll see what I mean… I have the plot of this story written out, but I have no idea how many chapters it's going to be. I can prolly stretch it to around 5 moderately length chapters. I would to thank my friend SerpentKnightWingweaver for letting me use her Japanese dictionary! And thanks to the awesomely awesome Dark Magician Fairy who edited and added stuff to my story. Arigato tomodachi! The first few quotes are italicized because they are from the game and not from me. I added the detail though in case you never saw it… Well, on to the story, no da!

+Prologue: The Nightmare Begins …+

"That was a marvelous battle, Regal Bryant!"

The party jumped, startled by the Wonder Chef. "Whoa! He came back!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"In commemoration of your victory in the cooking showdown, I have a gift for you." The Wonder Chef smiled brightly and held out a neatly folded costume.

"This is…" Regal stared at himself. He was wearing a white chef costume with a purple ascot. The sleeves had belts at the ends and he had brass buttons on the lining of his starched white vest. It made him look very sophisticated. He even had a chef hat that had a crest with a stitched "R" in it, sitting comfortably atop his blue hair.

"You can feel the heartbeat of this costume! Become the next Wonder Chef and pursue the path of cooking. Regal, keep it up! You have the necessary qualities!"

With that, the mysterious Wonder Chef disappeared in his usually array of smoke. Regal stared in confusion, and sighed deeply.

"I guess I will take these clothes with gratitude…"

After a moment of silence, the group headed toward the inn for some RR. Little did Lezareno's president know, he was being watched by a sinister shadow. The shadow walked away, a small "chinging" noise following it. It stopped, and pulled out a small-decorated fork hanging off a chain.

The fork had a pentacle on the prong and on its handle was engraved vines and decorations. The most unique thing about it though was the heart shaped gem at the bottom, which was half white and half black.

The shadow gave a toothy grin and said in a low mumble, "So Odoroku has his eyes on this man... Hmmm… He may be the key to the ultimate recipe. Handy I have my amulet." The figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal himself as the Dark Chef.

He was wearing his red cape wrapped around himself so he was concealed, and his blue chef hat was missing from its spot on his light blue hair. He smiled and glanced at the fork.

"If I can brainwash him and make him confront Hikaru…heh. The Wonder Chef family will finally fall, and the Dark Chef Alliance will finally obtain the Ultimate Recipe!"

Dark Chef smiled and pulled the fork off its chain. Chanting an incantation, the small fork grew to the size of a pitchfork. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out his hat and placed it on his head.

"Time to work my magic."

He ran in the direction of the inn and barged in. "Excuse me, Mr. Bryant! May I have a word?" he called, working around his deep voice to make it sound like an innocent child's call.

Regal blinked, then nodded. "Of course. What is it?"

"Can you join me outside? It's a conversation between cooks, not wannabe's-"

"HEY! Who ya callin' a wannabe? I'm an experienced cook!" Genis yelled, standing up abruptly, knocking over Lloyd's card castle. Lloyd screamed and dropped to the ground, crying.

"My-My….Car-Card Castle…."

Genis and Regal sweatdropped at the pitiful sight. Dark Chef cleared his throat.

"Oh! Yes sorry. I will join you outside."

"Excellent! Now please, if you would…"

Regal followed the mysterious chef out into the chilly evening. It was just about sunset and the sky was a colorful blend of purples and pinks.

"So what is it you need?"

Dark Chef turned around sinisterly and pointed his fork at Regal. "

YOU! Now leave your journey behind and join me!"

Regal's eyes wided as a black light came out of the fork and engulfed him. "What are you doing to me? Release me now!" Regal cried out. Dark Chef laughed and said, "Hikaru Odoroku as recognized you as the next potential 'Wonder Chef'. There is no higher honor! Becoming Wonder Chef gives you the power of the Ultimate Recipe! I strive for that! So I'll be using you to get the Ultimate Recipe. You have my deepest thanks, Regal Bryant."

"AGG!" Regal screamed. Feeling his mind go blank, he closed his eyes, a feeling of eternal sleep washing over him. Dark Chef laughed sinisterly as he touched Regal's new attire, the honor of Wonder Chef, and concentrating the force of his energy into his fingertips, he pushed the dark power into the clothes.

"G o o d n i g h t, R e g a l B r y a n t…W h e n y o u a w a k e, y o u w i l l b e l o n g t o m e…"

+Endnotes+

End of prologue…Chapter 1 should be up REALLY soon. If you noticed, I changed my account name to this, so no more Wheeler-KaibaGrl. Sniff. I'm going to work on Wrapped in your Trenchcoat maybe sometime this weekend. I have a chapter almost done. I've sorta gave up on that story. I just haven't got enough reviews to motivate me. Anyway, I've got plenty of motivation for this story. So see ya next chapter.

3, Wonder-Chef's-Cupcake