Beauvillage Chronicles:Episode 4:Miss Beauvillage

by HarpieKing07

A heavy battle is going on in Beauvillage among its teenage girls - a battle for the hearts of Miles and Wiseman, and its getting more heated by the day. Lola and Lily try to find a solution until the mayor finds another one - a beauty/talent contest and the special prize is a date with the one the winner chooses...and Cherie is determined to win.

10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Deep inside the Hidehole´s computer living room, Lily was rolling on the couch, positively shrieking in laughter. Much like April, Phil and Billy, who could barely hide their laughter as another wail rang across the Hidehole.

"NOOOOOO... WHHHHHHYYYYYY?!"wailed Miles, his eyes in real tears thistime.

Lola and Chichi smiled at eachother in a satisfied way before turning back to Miles who was in the centre of the room, his hands on his face in pure horror.

"Well... you DID promise, that the money will end up for the orphanages. On LIVE TELEVISION, I might add."said Lola in a matter-of-fact voice.

Miles fixed her with a tearfull, puppy-eyed look – his sunglasses on the table nearby.

His heartwarming story was so powerfull that everyone believed it. So much in fact, that his contact Pierre – a Megacity art dealer was almost instantly bombarded by people willing to pay very large sums for even the lousiest of art produced by the contestants – even Candy´s Dream, which scored only a measly five points from Wiseman and a double zero from Miles and Rodney was auctioned and bought by a wealthy lady from Middletown for 500 dollars. The auction itself was heavily viewed and medialized – in the wake of the popularity of the contest itself and Miles´ story and even with the tiny percentage for Pierre, Miles brought a bag back to Beauvillage which held a sum of four milion dollars – positive that he hit the jackpot. However as soon as he got back, Chichi tricked him into coming with the bag into Town Hall, where he was instantly on the recieving end of the attention of numerous reporters as he had to personally turn the money over to the head of the charity organization, that provided funding for orphans of the entire country. He and Wiseman were then interviewed on the entire thing and the media gave them the title "Men with hearts of gold". Lola savoured Miles´ comeupance with almost sadistic delight and was highly impressed by Chichi´s plan – the way he engineered the entire thing with the mayor, yet still not breathing a word about Miles´ innitial plans for the artworks – this way he brought a powerfull wave of popularity to Miles and Wiseman, whose tearfull embrace on live tv had drawn him into the story. Which turned out to be his saving grace, because right after the live performance of round two, Wiseman got a highly unpleasant phonecall from his elder brother who yelled himself hoarse as he went on about the shame Wiseman brought on the family and how the sight of him wailing like a sisie on live television almost gave his grandfather Sylvester Wiseman a heart-attack. The popularity he gained however was instantly viewed very nicely by the country´s Police Public Relation Division and even the high-up law-enforcement officers viewed the concept nicely. As the media wrote "A detective ruthless against criminals and gold-hearted to the people" – such a concept was a powerfull one indeed. Wiseman´s siblings ended up in shapes of towering rage until their father put his foot down and ordered them to drop the matter – he himself viewing his son´s growing popularity with neutral interest, determined not to take a side. His mother on the other hand wasted no time in congratulating him with affection enough for all of them. Mayor Haveitall was shining with happiness since then, now that Beauvillage was gaining country-wide popularity along with its heroes and young ones. Only one person was positively miserable about the entire matter. And that one person was now wailing in the Hidehole surrounded by his friends, much to their humor.

"Come on, Miles... you´re the "Man with a heart of gold"."said Chichi slyly.

Miles fixed him with a pouty glare.

"I wanna be the "Man with pockets-full of Greed". Chichi Tofu, THAT was nothing short of cruel!"he said, pouting like a child and pointing at him for accusation even as some of the others laughed.

Chichi however wasn´t fazed.

"Can´t you see how a reputation like THAT can help you?"

Miles looked at him confusedly.

"What d´you mean, Chich?"

Chichi sighed as though the truth of it should be obvious to anyone.

"Imagine how many people will happily do business with a popular person like that. Imagine the contacts you can make. All because you did good on your promise."

Miles´ expression was brightening.

"Why didn´t I think of that...?"he said in a quiet voice.

Chichi grinned.

"That´s what you have ME for, remember?"

With a happy whoop he launched himself on Chichi, grabbing him in a hug.

"You are the best, Chich! Super-head! Knows everything!"he exclaimed before jokingly kissing the top of Chichi´s blonde head with a loud sound, drawing everyone´s laughter.

"Okay... with that behind us... me and Phil are gonna check out the rubber statue you got from Lis. I´ll try to fix it... in fact... I have an amazing idea, that can make the statue even more fun."said Chichi as his eyes sparkled with an all-too familiar twinkle.

Phil nodded and the two made their way towards the door.

"Wait, Chich!"

Stopping, the twosome turned back, looking at Miles who seemed to have one more thing to say.

"Promise me one thing... that you will never do such a thing again to your dear chum, boosom pal and best friend."said Miles pointing to himself with his thumb.

Chichi quirked an eyebrow and after a few seconds turned to Phil.

"I promise never to do such a thing to you again, Phil."he said with a straight face.

Phil grinned at him as they turned back towards the doorway and made their way, even as Billy, Lola, Lily and April exploded in laughter again.

"That´s nice to know, Chichi."said Phil loud enough for them to hear and the laughter was renewed even as the boys dissapeared outside.

"You three would make awesome comedians."chortled Lola as Miles sat down on the couch next to Lily.

Lily grinned at Miles.

"You can say that again Lola... afterall... where do you think I get so much inspiration for my humorous situations for the book?"

Miles folded his arms and humphed slightly as Lola and April shared a giggle.

"Well... I think I should go along after them. I´m looking forward to seeing what they do with the statue."said April smilingly, before she made her way out of the room as well.

Watching her retreating form Lola suddenly got an idea. Smiling happily, she quickly shared a look with Lily who was still seated besides Miles. Winking at her she turned to her boyfriend.

"Billy, we should go upstairs."she said plainly.

Billy gave her a slightly surprised look and his cheeks took on a small blush.

"You know Chichi... the thing, he wanted us to check on."she said pointing upstairs.

Billy quickly got the idea and nodded.

"Y...yes... yes, of course... the thing..."he said blushingly before taking her hand and allowing himself to be dragged upstairs by his loving girlfriend, already giddy about what she had in store for him.

Lily was barely able to restraint a giggle as they left upstairs and even Miles snickered.

"Sheesh... the thing upstairs? If she wants to smooch her boyfriend she could´ve just said so."he said once more snickering.

Lily giggled too, but she was very aware of Lola´s plan. Instantly she felt a rush of gratitude towards her best friend. Also, she came aware of another fact – she and Miles were sitting on the couch in the room alone. That brought a crimson blush to her cheeks. Miles however took no notice of it and instead once more slouched on the couch and let out a loud "OOOUGH".

"Gotta hand it to Chich... he really got me. But still... four milion?! That´s king-kong cash, flower-girl... I mean... I always dreamed of having such a sum..."

Lily directed her attention to him, suddenly intent on asking the question that bungled her for a while.

"Miles... why are you so intent on making so much money? I mean...you make quite enough to get along... why make milions?"

Miles looked taken aback by the question and he took a moment to ponder on the answer.

"Weeelll... you see, Lil... eversince I was a little dude... I... well, envied my classmates in school – I mean... they had everything I didn´t...A home, a family, nice clothes, cool toys, siblings... what did I have...? An orphanage and though Count Louie was always fun to be around... well... he just... never exactly was the parent type... he was more like a cool uncle or a very good friend. As for the clothes and toys, Count Louie was never rich and he always maked some deals with guys around Megacity – we kids often helped... but whatever income he made, he always made sure that ALL of us would be better for it. But let´s just say, that Count Louie wasn´t exactly made to be a businessman. Many of the clothing and toys we got were second hand and everything. I hated it, Lily... I hated the fact, that my well-mannered classmates had their things brand new and everything... and everytime they teased me about it, I did some prank to get revenge. Funny enough, that´s how I become friends with Roger. The class bullies were teasing him and I pranked him out of it. Heh... back then he was nothing like the Roger I know today. He was just a tiny scared kid back then. Wisey was an outsider too, but the others feared him, because he was a cop-kid. Rog never had that advantage. So we joined forces and made our own way. From then I had nice times with him – we always shared, but deep inside I always felt guilty, that I had nothing to offer him. And that´s when I decided, that I will use every trick in the book – and a few of my own invention, to never feel that way again. I vowed that I would earn cash to be able to buy myself anything I ever wanted and to my friends too. That I would be able to give, share and take care of those I care about."said Miles, looking at the floor as he finished.

A moment´s silence endured. Miles felt kinda surprised, that he chose to reveal so much of himself – to open up so easily, when life taught him otherwise. But there was this comfortable feeling inside that told him, that somehow... here in the Hidehole... with these cool friends... this cool girl sitting besides him... that he can be himself... reveal things he doesn´t dare to anywhere besides Roger, Melanie and the rest of the Jumpers. He suddenly realized just how much have Chichi and the rest of the gang won him over during his time in Beauvillage. His musings were interupted when he felt Lily grab his hand. Looking at her face, he saw her fixing him a somber look.

"I can´t even imagine the kind of growing up you had to endure, Miles."she said sadly.

"Well it wasn´t all bad, Lil... afterall I scored amazing friends, had a ton of adventures and learned much more than any school could ever give."he said earnestly, grinning at her though his cheeks were taking on a small shade of red.

Lily shook her head.

"But you never had anyone to love you..."she said plainly and Miles knew just how she meant it.

"Weeell... I can´t pretend I didn´t miss it... but I´ve always had Rog, Count Louie, Mel and the other Jumpers, and..."

"Now you´ve also got us."said Lily cutting him short.

"You´ve got Chichi, me, Lola, Billy, April, Phil, the Tofu and the Hubbub elders. Plus the entire town now looks up to you... unlike Megacity."

Miles smiled happily at what he was told. For some reason hearing it was suddenly giving him an extremly warm feeling in his heart – one that he hadn´t felt in years...

"Thanks flower-girl..."he said quietly before grabbing Lily in a gentle hug, one that the girl returned, her head resting on Miles´ shoulder.

They stayed like that for a few moments, completly content but suddenly a loud "OOOUCH!" was heared from outside followed by hilarious laughter. Breaking apart from eachother, they looked at the doorway leading outside and could hear Lola and Billy moving from upstairs towards the stairs. Looking at eachother, they smiled at eachother shyly with red cheeks.

"C´mon... let´s take a look at what the commotion is about..."suggested Miles as he rose from the couch and offered a hand to Lily.

Nodding smilingly she took it and walked out with him out of the room towards the main door.

"What was that?"asked Lola, who was just coming down the stairs hand-in-hand with Billy.

"Dunno. Came from outside."said Miles, quickly letting go of Lily´s hand.

Lola sighed knowing already who screamed.

"Uh-oh... let´s see what our creative twosome got themselfs into thistime."

The foursome exited the Hidehole´s main door. There, outside stood the rubber-tire statue Lis had made, tools and parts layed next to it. Chichi was just sitting up on the ground where he must´ve lay mere moments ago, his right palm resting on the side of his face just over his eye. April was kneeling besides him torn between humor and concern. Phil however was still chortling and catching his breath, his eyes sporting tears of laughter.

"Wow... what a shot..."he chortled still as Chichi grumbled.

"Are you okay, Chichi?"asked April as he got to his feet.

"What´s going on here? What did you do?"demanded Lola, looking at the statue then at her brother who was still holding the side of his face.

As he let his hand fall down the others saw, that the side of Chichi´s face was red and judging by the half-closed right eye he must´ve sustained a hit into it.

"Nothing, Sis... we were just fixing the statue and..."he began but was cut off by his best friend.

"Chichi had the idea of the doll serving as a training dummy and he added springs to the jolts of its arms and legs. And it looks like it worked."he finished explaining, shooting a grin at Chichi, who shot him back a small glare.

"When Chichi punched it, it punched him back, right into the eye."added April still close to Chichi.

The older teens looked at eachother.

"Yup. And apparently, this thing can pack a pretty good punch."noted Chichi once more placing his fingers over the skin around his eye – he will undoubtably have a black-eye in mere hours.

Lola slapped her forehead.

"You and your little inventions..."

Billy chuckled slightly, Lily shook her head good-naturedly, but Miles suddenly gave out a loud, overjoyed whoop.

"Awesome idea, Genius-boy... I always wanted something like that since I was a kid... lemme try, lemme try..."he exclaimed animatedly, jumping up and down like an happy-go-lucky 5 year old.

At once he started to the statue and delivered a punch into its belly. At once the statue reacted as its belly was pushed. Its hands swiftly slapped on Miles´ head with as much force as Miles himself put into the punch. At once Miles jumped away from the statue yelping in pain and holding his palms over his throbbing ears, jumping and twisting around as the others gasped.

"Miles, are you all right?"asked Lily in concern, but Miles swiftly gave out a loud laugh.

"You gotta be kidding... the ol´ Wind in the Ears...? I didn´t expect that..."he laughed even as he still fondled his ears.

"I also didn´t expect something like that..."nodded Billy, who moved closer to Chichi and Phil in curiosity at the statue, which returned to its original pose.

Chichi grinned.

"As I said, it packs a pretty good punch... well the ammount of rubber on it I´m not surprised much. I added springs on its limb jolts and the skeleton was very well built... that allows the statue to return to its original pose after the punches cease. The rest is basic physics – action and reaction. In other words, the more strength you punch it with, the more strength it returns in its punches."

Billy gave Chichi an admiring look, Phil gave him a happy nod and Miles once more roared in pure joy.

"Aaaamazin, Chich...! You are truly a genius... this´ll be my favourite toy to play with."he exclaimed as he ran to the statue again and once more punched it.

The statue at once returned the punch with its opposite arm, but Miles was ready thistime. Swiftly blocking the incoming arm with his other hand and delivering another punch in the lower parts, the statue´s leg reacting thistime in a swift kick, which Miles blocked with his knee, laughing in pure joy at the training. Chichi, Phil and Billy moved closer laughing also and already making agreements, who would try the battle-dummy out next.

"Hoo-boy... so little to make them satisfied..."said Lola shaking her head with a small smile.

April and Lily giggled just as the boys whooped happily at Miles´ set of punches, kicks and blocks, which the statue answered to instantaniously.

"Boys will be boys..."chortled April, watching the boys with affectionate eyes.

"You can say that again."giggled Lily as she watched Phil punch the statue´s flying arm towards Miles, who in turn punched it away, Chichi blocked its flying leg and Billy evaded another kick, all four boys laughing.

"Well... I´m off to the kitchen. I´m kinda thirsty and Chichi honey-bun said, that the fridge is full of Coola."said April happily and without another word made her way into the Hidehole.

As she left Lola and Lily continued to watch the boys having a blast with the rubber statue, laughter and happy cheers ringing trough the air.

"So, Lily... did my little diversion help?"asked Lola curiously as she looked at her best friend.

Lily smiled remembering the small exchange.

"Kinda... I think I now understand a little better just what a childhood Miles had. I´m glad, that he turned out the way he did..."

Lola frowned a bit.

"Well... I would guess that there was not much love in his life... after what he told us of his first love, I would like him to finally find happiness. Just between you and me, Lily... Miles has grown on me a bit... as crazy and wild as he could be sometimes."she said earnestly, looking affectionately at Miles, her little brother and her boyfriend.

"He appretiates you very much, Lola. As well as the others."said Lily smilingly, though a bit unnecessarily.

"And what about you, Lily...? Are you really sure about this?"

As she turned to Lola, Lily´s face sported a determined look.

"More than ever, Lola. I will win his heart..."

...

"So... the sabotage attempts have gone unnoticed by the majority. But not to US, my brothers... I have assembled all the information here... Mark my words. We WILL find whoever is sabotaging the contest and throw him into jail TILL HE ROTS!"exclaimed Wiseman, slamming his hand on to his desk.

Nick, Tex and Archie gave a similar exclamation of agreement as they sat on their seats, behind their OWN desks which Wiseman had procured for them into his office, which was now as much THEIRS as well as his – something which was widely accepted by each and every police officer of the Beauvillage Police. The large room had many blackboards and bulletin-boards, that the foursome dedicated to their investigation. Also Archie, as the one who had the most experience with computers, worked for a few days to created a computer database for their cases. Tex as the main writer of the office had also made point to gather and write down all possible facts about the contest by now. Nick also made point to question many people straight after the second round. Now all the evidence was scattered across the room and the foursome were determined to find the answer to the sabotage.

"Well... let´s go over what is obvious first..."suggested Nick, pacing between the desks towards the large globus between Tex´s desk and a large blackboard.

Looking at the blackboard, he scanned the results of the second round as well as the first. Wiseman, Tex and Archie watched him in expectation as he mulled over what was written on there.

"Soooo... let´s begin with the top 5. I believe that whoever is behind the sabotage is determined to win this contest. We should therefore start there... from the first round, these 5 passed – Lis Milo, Cherie Peters, Candy Liferich, Hazel Summerville and Anabell Richerly."he said, looking at Tex who was already having his pen and pencil out, determined to write his every word down into his notebook.

"These five girls won the first round. Let´s look at the second round´s Top 5 and see who we stumble across, starting from the top – Lis Milo, Tamara Hoodwood, Irene Ivory, Cherie Peters and Hazel Summerville."

Tex wrote furiously as not to miss any fact.

"There is another fact I thought of... in order to get that kind of sabotage done... they have to have someone in the cast as a accomplice. Archie, who is present in the crew?"

Archie quickly ran his fingers across the keyboard of his computer.

"Billy Hubbub, Steve Rowan, Phil Conners, Victor Rogers, Joeseph Summerville, Maurice Chambers and Chichi Tofu."he recited checking the names.

"THAT´S IT! Soy-brain must be behind this!"exclaimed Tex, pointing to the cieling in revelation.

"Excellent, brother Tex! A real detective deduction!"exclaimed Wiseman from his desk.

Archie whooped too as Tex scratched his head sheepishly. Nick however paced around looking thoughtfull.

"Not that I wouldn´t believe it... but... what´s the connection to some of these girls?"he mused, posing the question more to himself than anyone else.

A moment´s silence endured.

"LIS! Rumor had it, that he made friends with the mystery girl!"remarked Archie.

Nick´s eyes went wide. He swiftly started pacing up and down, shaking his head a few times as though to clear it. Suddenly he turned to his brothers.

"We must make a small map in order to map the suspects."he exclaimed as though it should be obvious.

In one instant he moved towards Wiseman´s desk and stopped at the empty blackboard, grabbing a piece of chalk, at once starting to write down the names making a small diagram.

"First up we have to focus on the girls in question..."he said, at once writing the names down.

Wiseman, Tex and Archie looked on in pure awe as he finished writing and turned back to them.

"All right... here are the girls who are in the running."he said pointing to the names on the blackboard.

Turning back he started to write the names of the crew members.

"Now we have to find a connection to these girls."he said mulling everything over, determined to find a pattern.

At once he linked Lis´ name with Chichi´s.

"Next... who else from the crew has some connection with the contestants?"he asked once more turning to them.

"Hazel Summerville – Joe is her younger brother!"exclaimed Archie in revelation.

Nick at once linked the siblings and turned back.

"And Steve Rowan is reported in spending a lot of time with Cherie Peters."said Wiseman checking over his papers just to be sure.

Nodding Nick linked another pair of names. After a few minutes of checking, everything seemed very clear to Nick.

"All right, so our suspect pairs are Bio-trash and Lis, Rowan and Peters and the Summerville siblings. Another question is who they are after – who do these girls want to win a date with..."

Suddenly Wiseman whooped and made his way towards Nick embracing him happily.

"Amazing brother Nick! Absolutely amazing! You are thinking like a real crime-fighting genius! I see, that the cute blonde friend of yours has really charged you up with powerfull energy."

Nick´s face flushed bright red.

"Don´t YOU start too, brother Fred! That stuck-up blondie has nothing to do with it!"

Tex and Archie fixed him with a "yeah, right..."look and the red in his face immediately increased, as well as a muredrous look appeared on his face.

"I´ve already TOLD you ... ! You won´t catch me DEAD going out with Mia Liferich! AM I UNDERSTOOD?!"he roared the last part so fiercely, that his two peers took cover under the desks.

Wiseman however took no notice of it.

"You don´t have to be ashamed, brother Nick. I am most pleased, that you have found yourself such an amazing ally."he said clapping his back encouragedly.

Scrowling a bit he looked at Wiseman.

"Ally – yes... girlfriend – NEVER!"

The fierceness in his voice was too much for even Wiseman to miss. Raising an eyebrow, he shrugged.

"Well... if you say so, brother Nick... In any case, we should get a move-on... the third round is begining tommorow and I rely on you three to help me uncover this sabotage before something more serious happens."

Nick nodded and returned to the blackboard, happy that the subject was getting back on track.

"Now... we will have to investigate the suspects troughoutly... time to think of a strategy."he said, turning to Tex and Archie who were still peeking from beneath their tables.

...

Cherie was walking an all-too familiar path down her street.

"I´m happy for his help and all, but all in all... I have no idea what could be done for the third round..."she thought sadly, as she replayed the suggestion that Steve gave her yesterday.

-Flashback-

Cherie was pacing up and down, now positively panicked. She has just got the contest envilope, which told her the details for round three. Not to mention, that the results of the second round weren´t very much to her liking. She scored only measly seven points! She was still in top five that´s for sure... but...

"Now what am I gonna do?! My position in the contest is not good at all."she exclaimed turning to Zoe, Nina and Steve – all of the sitting at their chairs in their empty classroom.

"Its not that bad, Cherie..."piped up Steve, raising his arm into the air, like a first-grade child asking permission to speak from his teacher.

Cherie´s eyes flashed.

"Oh, yes it is! I´m in fourth place! FOURTH PLACE!"she exclaimed and all three remaining winced at her rage, though thistime it wasn´t directed at anyone in particular.

"And now look at this stupid round...! A COOKING ROUND! Cooking?!"she exclaimed, scared of one single fact – a very serious one at that.

"I DON´T KNOW HOW TO COOK!"

Steve at once made his way from his desk, closing the distance between them and grabbed her gently by the shoulders.

"Cherie, please... calm down... we can get you trough the round."he said soothingly.

Cherie fixed him a look which was a heavy mix of skepticism and worry.

"How, Stevie...? I mean... I have no idea what to do for the round... how can I sabotage anyone...?"

Her voice and look were ones of despiration and she turned over his shoulder imploringly, hoping her two friends would have an idea.

"Don´t ask me, Cherie... I can´t cook... I have no idea what to do."said Zoe apologeticly.

"Me neighter."Nina piped up, looking very sorry indeed.

Steve gasped at what he was hearing.

"You guys are not serious."he breathed, terrified at the prospect.

Nina and Zoe gave long sad sighs as they stood up.

"You got it, Steve... its just the way it is."said Zoe in a defeated voice as she and Nina made for the door, locked in Cherie´s shocked gaze.

"We´re very sorry for not being able to help you with this, Cherie..."said Nina sadly as the two made their way out of the classroom, leaving Steve and Cherie alone.

Cherie directed her sights on the floor, a powerfull chill coming over her, shocked beyond her belief. Steve scrowled as they left – that was one of the reasons he didn´t like Zoe so much, she always gave up pretty fast.

He was broke out of his musings as he felt Cherie´s shoulders shaking and heared a few small sobs.

"Cherie?"he asked, looking at her – her sight still fixed on the ground.

"Now what do I do, Stevie?"she whispered miserably, her lower lip shaking.

"I can´t cook a thing... and I can´t even cheat myself out..."

"You don´t need to, Cherie."he cut her off suddenly, making her raise her gaze and settle it on his eyes.

Cherie was stunned to see a rare, determined flash prominent in his eyes.

"Cherie, you can get past this round without any cheating at all. You just have to believe me."

Cherie bit her lower lip. Steve was emiting something that made her feel... safe, comforted and consoled... but...

"I believe you, Stevie... but... but how? I mean... I can´t cook a thing and..."

She was once more cut off as she felt Steve´s hands tighten on her shoulders and the determined flash positively shining in his deep brown eyes.

"But I can..."he said.

-End of Flashback-

Replaying the memory, she felt her lips twitch into a small smile. He really had a way of making her feel better... Smiling happily, she decided to completly trust him on this as she stood at the main door of the Rowan family house. Pressing her finger to the doorbell, she wondered just what plan did Steve had in mind. She also had to admit to herself, that she was very surprised by his revelation. In all the years she known him, never once did he say anything about being able to cook. The front door opened and there stood Steve´s mother Marion, smiling at her warmly.

"Hello, Cherie... come on in, sweetie... Stevie is already expecting you."she said kindly, ushering the girl into the house.

Cherie smiled gratefully as she followed Mrs Rowan trough the house. Looking around she felt right at home here, dispite the simple furniture and the... well... normal air the house gave. Dispite the fact, that glamour was her lifestyle she couldn´t ignore the sence of calm she felt everytime she visited over the years. Plus the fact, that Mrs Rowan was one of the sweetest beings on Earth – Cherie had no question where her son´s sweet and caring personality originated. Dispite the plain clothes the older red haired woman was wearing, Cherie viewed her with utmost respect and affection. Cherie was however slightly surprised. Instead of directing her upstairs into Steve´s room, she was leading her to the kitchen.

"Stevie? Cherie is here."called Mrs Rowan as she opened the kitchen door.

As Cherie entered behind her, she gasped. There in the kitchen Steve was standing beside the stove preparing something on a frying pan. As she scanned the kitchen she noticed, that the kitchen table was full of groceries and various kitchen-tools. Also there was a very pleasant smell in the air... something that smelled like...

"Pancakes?"she breathed in amazement.

Steve turned from the stove and grinned at Cherie.

"Seeing with how tense you were today, I guessed you´d be hungry when you arrived, so..."he explained happily.

Over the years he already knew her little habits, one of which he found very troubling over the years – whenever Cherie gets too tense about something, she refuses to eat a thing, no matter how hungry she gets – luckily, Steve thought of a foo-proof plan to remedy that...

"So you´ve made pancakes – my favourite!"exclaimed Cherie happily as she closed the distance between them and gave him an affectionate hug.

"Well...well... I ..."he stammered sheepishly, his face so red, that it completly outshone the color of his hair and was going deeper as Cherie was tightening her hold on him.

Mrs Rowan beamed happily at the scene in front of her. She had to admit, her son has thought up of a most subtle way to show the dear girl his undying love.

"Well... as they say, a way to someone´s heart is trough the stomach."she thought smilingly as she saw them separate.

Judging by what she´d seen, plus what she knew already, she was certain that Steve´s efforts would eventually have their success.

"Well... I´ll leave you two alone now. Enjoy your pancakes, Cherie... and your lesson."she said with a small smirk as she closed the kitchen door, but not without shooting the pair of them an overjoyed smile.

As she left, Cherie fixed Steve a suspitious stare.

"Lesson?"

Steve flushed again.

"Well... since the third round is a cooking one, I figured we could refrain from cheating for once and actually do things fair and square."

Cherie raised an eyebrow.

"How, Steven? Afterall I can´t cook..."

Steve grinned just as he moved to take the last of the pancakes off the frying pan.

"But...as I said – I CAN. And I can teach you..."

Cherie fixed him with a completly wide-eyed look.

"You are NOT serious... ME? Cooking? You have to be out of your mind!"

Steve´s face took on a very rare defencive expression.

"What´s so wrong about that, Cherie?! Everyone should know how to cook some simple dishes, just so they can take care of themselfs... and anyway, cooking is not so bad as you make it out to be..."

Cherie almost flinched at his fierce reasoning, but couldn´t deny that he DID have a point.

"B... but, Stevie..."she started, but Steve busied himself with adding something to the pancakes, his back turned to her.

The lack of responce made Cherie feel another feeling – something so sad, that it almost brought tears to her eyes. Thinking that she might´ve really offended him, she moved forward wanting to make this right. However Steve suddenly turned around, his face sporting a happy smile.

"All done... sit down Cherie... your favourite food is ready for you..."

Before she could say anything in reply, her stomach gave out an allmighty roar. Blushing deeply she fixed Steve a shy smile, just as Steve laughed happily. Obeying him, she allowed herself to be seated behind the kitchen table with Steve serving her the pancakes with the elegance of a top-restaurant waiter. Taking a seat on the opposite side of her, he fixed her an eager stare as she took the utensils into her hands. Blushing at the bright attention she was recieving, she cut a small piece of the pancakes and placed it into her mouth.

That one piece was what started it... Cherie almost melted at the sweet taste. Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself gobbling the entire pancakes as though she didn´t eat any food for an entire year. Steve let out an overjoyed happy giggle – the sound filling her ears in pretty much the same way her stomach was filled. All of a sudden she felt like the top of the world, being so troughoutly pampered by this happy boy. It made her want to...

"What AM I thinking?!"she thought panickly, just as she finished the pancakes.

The thought panicked her so much, she barely registered Steve putting away her empty plate and washing it in the dresser.

"So, Cherie... its time we begin our lesson."said Steve over his shoulder.

Taken aback by this mix of new feelings, Cherie felt herself nod.

...

Two days later, the Rising Sun restaurant was packed full. A large area of the street was sectioned off infront of it as well, a few food and refreshment stands were set nearby to tend to the needs of the happy fans, who were not fortunate enough to secure themselfs seats inside the restaurant – the place holding only a small enough room for it, plus the resturant´s owner, Monsieur Michell Saveur had been very troublesome to negotiate with. Not only he provided the setting for the third round, but he also had to endure the presence of his top competitor in Beauvillage – Beth Hubbub. Needless to say, that the two were not exactly on friendly terms. And Beth´s new little idea didn´t exactly help.

"I´m not sure you should´ve done this, Mom..."whispered Billy as the pair watched out the restaurant´s window, where the few stands, surrounded by eager and hungry people were standing.

Among them, was one of her Burger Palace stands, which was now served by none other than Titus Hubbub himself – positively bullied into doing this by his darling wife, Titus was looking troughoutly miserable, not to mention annoyed.

"Oh hush, Billy... You know I can´t pass up on an oppoturnity like this."she said quietly, her eyes narrowed in an almost sadistic delight at the sight of her rival, who was now completly shaking from anger – being absolutely unable to do anything about the situation.

Billy sighed at his mother´s scheme.

"Come on... the show is about to start."said a feminine voice from behind them.

Turning they saw that Violet Tofu was standing behind them, but unlike Beth, she didn´t bother to change her ussual clothing. Beth was dressed in her special new Burger Palace uniform – something which only further enraged Monsieur Saveur, who shot the three of them his coldest glare before turning on his heel and storming off into the other room.

"Oh my... what a wave of negative energy... what is the story behind you two, Beth?"asked Mom Tofu in small wonder.

Beth giggled a bit.

"Well, Vi... me and Michell go a long way back... we were rivals even as we grew up in West Side City. If I remember correctly, we were rivals since we were 10 years old in pretty much everything we did."

Both Mom and Billy gaped at Beth – this piece of information was unknown even to her son. Both of them NOW understood, just why she was in such a rivalry with the Rising Sun. Beth let out a menacing laugh.

"But thistime I´ll get on ahead... Michell doesn´t stand a chance."

Billy shared a look with Mom Tofu and both desperately searched for a change of subject.

Luckily the solution presented itself in the form of Chichi Tofu, who came into the room along with Mayor Haveitall and Martin "Trashbin" Skylark walking past them and stopping at the window to peer at the going-ons outside.

"Don´t worry... I have the rest of the boys on the lookout and we already double-checked all the appliances. No sabotage will happen this round. I promise."said Chichi in complete confidence.

"I really hope you´re right, Chichi-m´boy... Afterall there´s a LOT depending on it."said an anxtious Mayor Haveitall.

"I´ll take Chichi´s word for it, mayor."said Trashbin staunchly, grabbing Chichi on the shoulder.

The mayor actually breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed Chichi´s other shoulder.

"All right... eventhough I still AM a bit anxtious, I want you to know that I trust you, Chichi-m´boy..."

Chichi flashed the two men his infamous tenthousand-watt smile.

Suddenly he was embraced affectionately from behind by none other than his ever-loving mother.

"That´s my wise little sunflower seedling. I´m so proud of you, Chichi."she breathed, cuddling closer to her precious son.

Turning around he grinned the very same smile at his Mom

"Thanks Mom..."he breathed quietly, but obviously moved with emotion and the others present surpressed an affectionate "awwww".

"Come on, guys... time to get this show on the road."yelled Miles from the other side of the room, holding the door leading to the kitchen open.

As the entire group moved into the kitchen they saw, that several of the supply stores were overturned and Monsieur Michell was yelling at someone. Answering to their confused looks, Miles snickered.

"Well our beloved detective foursome insisted that the crew´s checking of the appliances was not enough and that the ingredients in the storage room has to be checked as well.

Returned from the storage room all four of the Brotherhood of the Wise were dirtied in something. Apparently Wiseman and Archie made a small "check-up" on the chocolate stores and their faces were stained here and there in the sweet substance, both of them grinning as though they were on cloud nine. Tex on the other hand couldn´t resist not taking a sample of the various fruit jams. Nick, though haven´t sampled a thing himself had a small accident in the main storage room – convinced that the large bag there could hide something to be used for the sabotage, he dived into it, only to find out that the bag held a giant load of flour – now his entire upper body was completly white and he was still sneezing here and there, raising a white dust cloud whenever he did.

"Calm down, mister Gishel... at least we know, that the supplies are completly okay."defended Wiseman calmly.

"How can I calm down?! You completly besmirched my supplies! How am I supposed to cook my specialities NOW?!"the man exclaimed, completly beside himself.

"But you´re not cooking anything today – the girls are the ones who are going to cook."Archie pointed out smartly.

"That is NOT the point, you stupid boy!"the man yelled angrily.

"As Beauvillage´s Brotherhood of the Wise it is our duty to put our own safety on the line. The food may have held something unpleasant in order to sabotage the contest, so we HAD to make sure."said Nick defiantly, pumping his chest proudly and drawing a flour dust cloud, which made all of them cough.

"cough... Exaxtly, brother... cough... Nick... it is our...cough... duty."nodded Wiseman, while still coughing along with the others.

The crowd, which was sitting in the make-shift placed bult for them by the crew were a bit wary of the row, as well as the contestants.

"Oh, I really wish they would drop it already."exclaimed an exaspirated Mia as Monsieur Saveur remarked angrily again.

"Don´t you think they look cool?"breathed Candy, gesturing to Wiseman and Nick, who were standing beside eachother even as the argument continued.

Mia fixed her an exaspirated look.

"YOU might think they do..."

Candy however took no note of her tone and put her arm around her shoulder.

"Come now, Mia... I know that you are rooting for your sweetheart."

Mia instantly took a large breath, her hair almost spiking with anger.

"You dumbass COW! ME AND NICK?! GET REAL!"

Candy once more laughed and ruffled her hair.

"Say no more, little sis... I know your heart beats for this boy, just like..."

"DOES NOT!"

"And you really seem made for eachother..."

"WE´RE NOT!"

"And I know you´ll be having many little nieces and nephews of mine..."

"AAAAARGH! I CAN´T STAND YOU! DROP DEAD ALREADY, YOU STUPID COW!"she yelled, completly red-faced for the entire room to hear, outvoicing even the argument before storming away from her elder sister in a towering rage, one that made several people in her way back away and make room for her to pass, utterly terrified of the sight she made.

Still growling, she sat besides April, Chloe, Emily and Abbygail and several of her classmates, all of whom regarded her warily, even fearfully.

"Sheesh...calm down a bit, Mia."advised Chloe, rolling her eyes.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN WITH A BLOCKHEAD SISTER LIKE THAT?!"

The respoce made most of the boys from her class including Oliver flinch. Liam actually hid himself behind Alice, eventhough he was far wider than her.

"Jeeez Blondie... tone it down for God´s sake."came a voice Mia knew more than well by now.

But it did little to cool her rage. Sniffing, she swiftly directed an ice-cold glare to the owner of the voice.

"Oh shut up, whiteface! I can´t tell who gets on my nerves more! My brain-damaged sister or YOU! What do you want anyways?! Come to have a nice little laugh?!"she ranted, working herself up once more.

Completly unfazed by her obvious anger, which was leaving most of their other peers shaking in fright, Nick however rolled his eyes.

"Actually... I wanted to tha...tha...AAACHOOO!"

A giant cloud of flour came off him, covering his classmates along with Mia who was the first to recieve the face-full.

"NIIIIICK!"she growled icily when she stopped coughing.

"Hey, sorry Blondie... I didn´t mean to..."Nick swiftly apologized and started to brush some of the flour off her shoulders.

His gesture seemed to have stopped the explosion that Mia wanted to unleash on this... this... she wasn´t even sure what to call him now, for she was feeling a set of very mixed feelings – one part of her wanted to slap him with all her might, while the other was franticly telling her that he had done nothing so badly wrong and that he was trying to make up for the little that happened – something which deserved a gesture of pure affection rather than violence.

"Anyways, Blondie..."he started, breaking her line of thought.

"... Brother Fred told me and the boys to ask our allies for help, since we´re gonna go uncover the cheating and sabotage that´s been done... and...and..."he trailed off, suddenly looking the other way, his cheeks brightening.

Mia´s cheeks were brightening as well.

"You mean, I´m your... your... ally?"she asked, almost unsure how to take this piece of information.

Nick fixed her with a small look and Mia was almost shocked to see shyness there.

"Well... yeah..."he whispered blushingly.

It took a small moment for her to respond – half of her still wasn´t sure how to deal with this, but the other one, for reasons she couldn´t grasp, was jumping up and down in pure joy. Fighting this inner battle, she failed to notice an overjoyed Emily taking Archie´s reached hand and kissing him in utter joy, as he too asked her for help. Also Tex, blushing like and stammering like an idiot asked Abbygail to come along, something the girl did with obvious happiness before Tex could even finish his plea. Mia also failed to notice the incredulous looks the boys of her class were shooting them, as well as the lovestruck looks of the girls. She even failed to notice Chloe folding her arms in a statisfied way and muttering "I knew it." to April and Oliver. Finally reaching a decidion she looked at Nick, who was standing there defiantly, his face as red as a tomato.

"All right... you got it...ally..."she whispered, a small smile playing on her lips as she made her way over the audience sector and came to meet him.

"But let´s get something straight, Blondie... you and I are allies – nothing more, GET IT?! No lovey-dovey stuff!"he warned blushingly as soon as she reached him.

Mia let out a small giggle and met his challenging gaze with one of her own.

"You got it, monkey-face... and..."she let out another giggle.

"Lovey-dovey stuff?! With YOU?! That´s a good one."

Nick scrowled at her giggle, but suddenly she grabbed his hand and steered him towards the place, where the crew was assembling along with the guests, Mr Skylark and the mayor.

As they moved past the contestants, Candy watched them with happy eyes. Letting out a deep lovesick sigh, to her classmate and best friend Mary, who came in to wish her good luck.

"Those two are just made for eachother..."

Mary chuckled a bit and shook her head. Candy however turned her sights to the place, where the three judges stood and chatted.

"And now Mary, its time to go get the sweetheart who is made for me..."she whispered, her determined eyes watching one judge in particular – the one who has captured her heart.

...

A few minutes later, the cameras were rolling, the people were cheering and clapping as the three judges once more presented themselfs to the crowd. Rodney Philips once more looking plainly dressed in a simple light blue longsleeved shirt and black trousers. Wiseman was full on in his detective coat, being the only one of the brotherhood who was, and in his ussual attire – sunglasses included. With Miles on the other hand, the sunglasses were the only thing he took from his everyday attire. Now dressed in simple sneakers, short grey pants and a shortsleeved red T-shirt that had a large pig´s head in the middle and above it were written the words "Chow Champ". He was drawing the laughter of many in the audience and responding to it with some happy gestures of his own.

"Our dear judges will be tasting the results of our girls´ work."announced Lola, grinning at the three of them.

"However... as we all can imagine, 20 portions of food is way too much for anyone to eat. That is why, the judges have decided to share their portions of food with the hard-working boys of our crew."said Angie, directing the crowd´s sight to the seven boys, all of which made their gestures of acnowledgement – Chichi, Phil and Billy simply smiled and waved, Joe and Steve scratched their heads sheepishly blushing like mad, while Maurice and Victor looked very shy.

Wiseman however took the microphone away from Lola.

"An not to mention my three brothers and their allies."he announced and gestured to his group.

Standing there, eachone of the brotherhood and the girls also gave their separate gestures of acknowledgment – Archie and Tex waved, Emily and Abbygail shied away and Nick and Mia folded their arms importaintly as one. Most of the crowd looked at eachother in confusion. Miles however swiftly took the other microphone from Angie and stepped infront of Wiseman.

"Of course, we´ll happily share the food along with them... I mean look at the three of us, girls..."he announced pointing to Wiseman and Rodney.

"You wouldn´t like us handsome young judges getting all fat on you..."he finished good-naturedly.

The confusion of the crowd was broken and instantly replaced by approoving laughter and cheers. Rodney breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in appretiation at Miles´ quick save. Lola quickly took the microphone from Wiseman, before he could say any more.

"And now I think its time to introduce our contestants..."she announced and pointed to the place, where the twenty girls were now standing.

Most were dressed quite plainly in simple attire, but also had aprons and some like Candy even white longsleeved shirts and cooking hats. Lis, though wearing her mask had also dressed quite plainly, but her combination of a dark pink shirt and a light blue long - apron was something that made her stand out a bit. Cherie on the other hand was dressed completly plainly in her everyday attire and looking extremly calm and confident.

"A nice color combo..."whispered Miles to Lola as the applause rang, while looking hungirly at Lis.

"Hm... I could´ve sworn I know that combo..."he mused and Lola took secret pleasure in the remark – maybe he´ll figure out, who Lis is...

"The girls, as in the previous round will have a two hour limit, during which time they can use this wonderous kitchen to cook their best possible dish. Our respective judges will then dish out their verdict... Judge Philips..."said Angie before passing the microphone to Rodney, but not without a small wink at him – something that made his cheeks color a bit. He took a few seconds to recompose himself, before looking smilingly at the crowd.

"My dear contestants... as you know... this round is kinda the final breaker. There are twenty of you and with the final round looming, we have to make things harder for you. So thistime,

the requirement will be a little different. Since there is a relatively big point gap between those with least points and the top five – we decided to anull the entire point system up until now."

Rodney´s words stirred a giant gasped from everyone in the restaurant. Rodney raised his unoccupied hand in order to speak.

"I know most of you, especially the top five will find this unfair, but the opposite is true. This round is to be the round which will send the top to the finals. And me, judge Miles and judge Wiseman want to give each and everyone of you girls an equal fighting chance. So thistime no points will be given out, only the express pass from the three of us. I assure each and everyone of you all, that we will be most impartial in this... "he said with obvious seriousness.

The crowd was stunned into silence and the contesting girls exchanged worried glances. Almost every one of them looked worried except three – Candy, Cherie and Lis, who seemed unfazed by this new change in rules – something that chaught the attention of both the brotherhood and Chichi.

"Something´s a miss in here..."muttered Chichi, whil Billy and Phil shot him a small curious look.

"Look brother Nick... that Lis girl is completly calm."whispered Archie, pointing with his finger to the opposite side of the room, where Lis Milo was standing.

"Archie... its rude to point."Emily rebuked him gently, while grabbing his outstretched arm.

Archie swiftly blushed ashamedly and lowered his arm.

"But he´s right... looks like you theory is right."noted Tex , his eyes narrowing at the said girl.

Nick however watched the girls as though mulling things over.

"Its not just the mystery girl who´s all calm... Look, Nick... that Ultra-cow sister of mine is too..."said Mia, grabbing Nick´s arm while still watching her sister.

Nick raised an eyebrow as he looked at her.

"You think its HER cheating?"he asked geniuilly astonished.

Mia sniffed.

"How else could a brain-damaged airhead like her get so far...no one is that lucky!"

Nick´s eyes opened in revelation.

"Looks like we have many more things to watch out for."he muttered.

Mia nodded just as Michael Miles took the microphone from Philips.

"My fair competing ladies, I want to confirm what Rodney said... we will be extremly impartial... Girls, believe me... Milesey here would already proclaim all of you the most beautyfull flowers of Beauvillage..."said Miles, adressing the contestants – most of which positively swooned on the spot, blushing like crazy.

"... hoooowever... as you all know this is a contest and what fun would that be if all of you would win, right? Someone just HAS to be the best... "

His carefree voice and boyish grin worked for all its worth and an air of acceptance gripped the restaurant, the contestant´s tenseness lifted in a second and replaced by sheer and utter determination. Lola couldn´t help but grin appretiatively.

"Smooth talking, Michael Miles... really smooth."she thought, her eyes locked on Miles in obvious affection as the crowd sprang into happy applause.

However she was suddenly a bit confused as Miles smoothly moved towards her.

"And now I believe, its time to introduce our dear guests, who will help us by giving some of their advice based on their own professional experience... "said Miles before he turned to Lola.

"Ms beautyfull, wonderfull, amazing, narratin´ Lola... May I?"he asked nonchalantly giving a small bow.

Lola couldn´t help but giggle at his antics as he took her hand and pressed a small gentlemanly kiss on it.

"Why of course, Mr incredible, handsome, dashing, judgin´Miles..."she agreed in good humor and the crowd have out another cheer coupled by a few "awwws".

Miles grinned at her like he was the top of the world, before turning to the crowd again.

"Cooool... aaaand without further ado, peoplezzz... allow me to intorduce our precious guests... fiiiiiirst up we have here Beauvillage´s master of good quasigne, that magician of good taste and the owner of this very Rising Sun restaurant – Monsieur Michell Saaaaveour..."

The crowd sprang into applause as Monsieur Michell stepped up to present himself to the crowd, but not before shooting a smirk at Beth, who fummed.

"Neeext up, we have our town´s own hamburger queen... that one and only mistress of fabulous fast food... folks give it up for Beeeth Hubbub."

The crowd once more applaused as Beth stepped up, taking a place next to Monsieur Michell, returning him the smirk as he fummed.

"Aaaand last, but definitely NOT least... our expert on healthy nutrition... that amazing magician of Green kitchen... our very own... Mrs Violet Toooofu..."

Mom Tofu approached the applauding crowd happily, though there were sighns of shyness evident on her face.

"My thornless rose... my beautyfull wildflower...my one and only thornless rose..."rang from the crowd and there was no doubt in anyone´s mind just WHO was shouting that.

Mom turned in the direction of that voice and waved teary-eyed at Pop, who was completly beside himself with utter joy and like her sporting the tears of that happiness. Miles grinned happily as he watched it.

"Folks... let´s give a special applause to Mom and Pop Toooofu."he announced and the crowd obeyed the command without question.

In the crowd the Spocks, the Robins, the Conners, the Rowans and even some of Lola and Chichi´s classmates including Chloe and April joined into the applause happily.

"Weeelll... stay tuned folks... in a few moments the countdown to the cookout begins."he announced and the cameraman gave a hand-signal, that the transmission was over.

As the contestants started to move towards the kitchen places and the guests grouped with the judges, Chichi called his crew to him.

"All right guys... first up, Mr Skylark had given me this envilope to share among us."said Chichi drawing an envilope from the breast posket of his vest.

"Woah, Chichi..."breathed Phil as Chichi took out the bills.

"Mr Skylark felt that we deserve a great reward for our work..."he said sheepishly as he passed a bill to each of the crew.

"Chichi... this is a...a..."breathed Victor completly awed.

"A hundred dollar bill? Chichi...!"said Joe shaking his head.

Phil grinned at his best friend.

"You´ve had nothing to do with this I suppose."he said smirking.

Chichi fixed him a defiant look.

"No I didn´t. In fact, it was Trashbin who gave this money to us. He said that to contest was drawing so much popularity, that this money is nothing more than leftovers."he whispered to Phil.

"Well... I´m certainly not complaining."breathed Billy, already pocketing his hundred dollar bill.

Chichi cleared his throat breaking the rest of the crew from their small transe.

"In any case guys... we´re to keep a lookout for any sighn of damaging appliances and sabotage. I promised the mayor, that this round no sabotage would be done – and I hope you will all help me keep that promise."

"You got it, Chichi!"exclaimed Victor punching his fist into the air, the rest of the crowd following suit.

As they separated towards their intended stations Chichi took Phil and Billy aside.

"Don´t want to be paranoid guys, but keep an eye out on Cherie. She was looking way too calm during Professor Philips´ announcement."he said quietly and Phil nodded.

"I´m still not sure she has something to do with this Chichi."noted Billy hesistantly.

"All the same Billy... we´d best keep a lookout."reasoned Chichi and Billy also nodded.

Unbeknowst to them, their conversation was heared by none other than Steve Rowan.

"Believe me, Chichi... thistime... there won´t be any need for sabotage."he thought happily as he waved to Cherie, who was now just behind her cooking section – Cherie returning the gesture with giddy happiness.

...

The two hour limit was already spent and the show took much progress. Both Chichi´s crew and Wiseman´s brotherhood were still on the lookout but still failing to find one single piece of evidence of sabotage. The three guests were interviewed many times to give their opinions. This turned into a two-sided battle of Beth and Michell, who promptly tried to give their best possible kitchen advice – turning into a word battle, that had to be cut off by Miles and the narrating pair. Mom Tofu also expressed her opinions of the ingedients ( especially meat) which also had to be saved by the judge-narrator combo. However the girls seemed to fare considerably well. Emboldened by Miles´ support each one of the twenty contestants took to their cooking with much enthusiasm. All of them looked very professional and some even helped one another in their tasks by sharing the tasks of cutting the vegetables – there was a real air of friendship in the air, mixing along with the sweet smells of cooking food. All were under the watchfull eye of both Chichi and his crew and the brotherhood and their allies. Their snooping however didn´t go without small accidents. As Archie and Emily looked on, Archie suddenly chaught wind of an amazingly good smell. With hungry eyes and a grumbling stomach he followed it, hand in hand with his girlfriend.

"Archie... not again..."sighed Emily as Archie´s stomach gave out another growl.

Archie looked at her innocently, but his cheeks were red – clear evidence of what she suspected.

"You haven´t eaten all day again, have you?"she asked, her eyes narrowing.

Archie´s blush deepened.

"Brotherhood business, Emmy..."he answered simply as though that explained everything.

Emily sighed deeply and took him into her arms.

"Archie... you can´t keep doing this to yourself. You and the others too... you have to eat something..."she implored smartly and for once, Archie was actually listening to someone.

"Well... okay Emmy... I´ll do it for you..."he said in a small voice as he cuddled into the embrace.

Emily´s lips turned to a radiant smile right before they crashed on to Archie´s. Halfway into the kiss however, Archie´s stomach announced itself again.

"I can´t wait for the end of the round... I really AM hungry..."he whispered making his girlfriend giggle happily.

Another giggle right after them sounded, promting them to turn their heads to the source, who was none other than Tammy Goodwood.

"Don´t worry you two... there´ll be plenty of food to go around."she told them grinning happily as she continued her work on the sweet smelling food.

Emily smiled and moved closer still with her hand wrapped around Archie´s.

"So... what´cha cooking, Tammy?"she asked smilingly.

Tammy grinned at her, being on very good terms with Emily dispite the 6 year gap.

"Well its my masterpiece – my Cabbage Pig Blast."she announced proudly just as she finished cutting up small pieces of pork meat and placing them on a frying pan.

Emily couldn´t help but giggle at the name of it.

"Sounds lovely... and smells terrific."she said good-naturely.

Archie seemed to agree with her, because he was taking the scent deeply into himself and his stomach was grumbling once more. The two girls giggled and Tammy grinned at him.

"Wait a mo, hun... I think you should have a few pieces to silence the beast."

Archie blushed deeply and turned his head away shyly.

"You... you don´t have to worry about m...OOOOOOUCH!"

He yelled, jumping up and down and clutching his hand with the other. The girls looked in alarm and quickly pieced what happened – as he turned away, he placed his left hand on the stove, however it was one of Monsiour Saveour´s automatic cooking stoves and Archie placed his palm on exactly the spot, which was still hot from the cooking. The girls wasted not a moment. Emily swiftly grabbed Archie and forced him to stop jumping and Tammy just as swiftly took to the kitchen´s giant icebox and took out an icepack. Archie winced and whimpered as Tammy applied the icebox on his burnt palm, Emily who had her arms around him rubbed his back soothingly and whispered into his ear to calm him down.

"Sheesh little guy, THAT´S why you boys should stay out of the kitchen."joked Tammy smilingly as she returned to the frying pan, Emily sitting down with Archie nearby.

"She´s kinda right, teddy-bear. You really should be more carefull."said Emily quietly, still holding the icepack on his open palm.

Archie looked at the ground in shame. Knowing exactly what was going on trough her boyfriend´s mind, Emily swiftly placed a loving kiss on his cheek.

"But that´s what you´ve got us girls for, you know."

Now Archie looked positively dumbfounded at this piece of information.

"She´s right, you know... where would you boys be without us?"added Tammy good-naturedly as she moved towards them holding a fork in her hand.

On the tip of the fork was a piece of the pork meat, she placed on the frying pan just moments before, but now it was cooked, gold-colored, warm and smelling amazingly. Archie instantly looked from the piece to Tammy´s smiling face.

"Here tiny-one... a sneak preview."she said with a wink feeding him the piece.

Archie opened his mouth obediently and allowed Tammy to place the small piece of pork into his mouth. His eyes flashed open at the amazing taste and for possibly the first time in his life, he chewed slowly, savouring the taste as much as he could. Emily giggled affectionately and she placed a kiss on the top of his head.

"See, teddy-bear... where would you be without us?"

Archie smiled up at his girlfriend, completly ignoring the pain in his hand, just as Tammy was coming back with another piece of meat.

Unbeknowst to them, they were being watched.

"Well look at that... isn´t someone lucky."giggled Lola as she watched the exchange.

"That´s an understatement. Being pampered by two girls like that."nodded Lis smilingly over her work place a giant bowl in her hands as she proceeded to mix the ingredients.

"Come on girls... let´s not get jealous here."added Angie happily.

The remaining two girls let out giggles.

"Not getting jealous, Angie... buuuut... let´s just say, that the scene IS giving me ideas."noted Lola mischievously, her eyebrows wiggling as she turned to look at her boyfriend, who was now dutyfully watching for any sighns of cheating along with Phil and Steve.

"Its not just you getting ideas, Lola."noted Lis smilingly as she looked the opposide side to the judge´s table, where Miles was.

"Oh no, you two... now you got ME thinking too."whispered Angie giddingly, looking at exactly the same spot Lis was, for Miles was chatting animatedly with Rodney.

Suddenly a loud paired scream rang trough the entire kitchen.

"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?!"

Everyone´s head snapped to the source of the sound, where Candy was working, both Beth and Mom surveying her work with looks of pure horror in their eyes. Candy looked at them innocently from her work even as the crew, brotherhood and the judges ran towards them.

"Oh... its my brilliant idea for my one and only Homemade Ultraburgers Deluxe."she announced proudly, taking their shocked reactions completly the wrong way even as she reached for another ingredient – the two women gasping at seeing what it was.

"Artoficial flavouring?!"breathed Mom, her face deathly white.

"Forget that... but Blueberry Type B?! That´s totally wrong..."breathed Beth, though Candy didn´t hear that statement as she took the bottle of the ingredient over the bowl, where she was making the hamburger meat.

However she seemed to have trouble getting it out of the bottle. She shook the open bottle, turned it around over the bowl, shook it numerous times, but still it wouldn´t budge. Finally with her other hand she slapped the bottom side of the bottle and instantly a great ammount of a powdery green-yellow substance fell into the bowl. Candy looked at it for a few seconds and then started mixing the thing happily.

"Oh, well... the more the better..."she announced happily.

This was too much for both Beth and Mom. The two women swooned on the spot and fainted, falling backwards. Luckily their respective sons were there to catch them. Both Chichi and Billy lowered their mothers gently on the ground.

"Jeez... some people sure have sensitive stomachs..."remarked Nick, earning himself a few glares.

"Not really surprising considering WHO´S cooking."noted Mia directing her glare on Candy.

"Oh don´t worry, sis... I´ll be sure to make enough for everyone. You can sample them too."called Candy kindly from her work.

"Forget it, you brain-damaged COW! I´d rather eat earthworms."remarked Mia angrily before grabbing Nick by the collar and started to yank him away from the spot.

"Hey... blondie?! What d´you think you´re doin´?!"yelled Nick, but Mia persistently pulled him away.

"We have a job to do, remember?! And I´d better NOT catch you eating that garbage of hers."

Nick made an angry retort, but allowed himself to be pulled to the other side of the room.

"You´d better get back to your posts."advised Wiseman to Archie, Emily, Tex and Abbygail.

The foursome nodded and also made their escape.

"Ditto for you guys... me and Billy will handle this."said Chichi as he and Billy were still trying to revive their mothers.

The other boys nodded and left, but Miles, Rodney, Wiseman, Angie and Lola remained. Both boys were fanning their Mom´s faces with their hands, desperate to bring them back to consiousness. It appeared, that Chichi was having more success than Billy – Mom opened her eyes weakly and looked imploringly at her son.

"Chichi... sweet artichoke... please... promise me... that you won´t eat any of that... that... that FOOD MONSTER."she pleaded weakly, still not getting up.

Chichi smiled kindly at her.

"Of course I won´t, Mom..."he said encouragingly.

"I like Beth´s hamburgers more anyway..."he added quietly in an afterthought, while shooting a small glance at Candy.

Mom´s eyes widened and she gasped.

Lola slapped her forehead and Miles let out a low whistle, even as Chichi gasped and clapped a hand to his mouth, realizing just what he said, but... too late. Mom was out cold again.

"Hoo boy... very bad choice of words, genius-boy."noted Miles, shaking his head.

"For once, Miles... I agree with you."noted Lola.

Chichi was swiftly fanning infront of Mom´s face again, determined to rectify his mistake.

"No, no... Mom... Moooom... come on... I like your Dandylion surprise better..."he stammered, before starting to try his luck with many of Mom´s famous recipies, but to no avail.

Beside him, Billy was having about the same luck with Beth.

...

With the elegance of a well-mannered gentleman, Rodney Philips took the first mouthfull of the first food to judge.

"Hm... very sweet taste... and the combination with the sour cabbage is very well done, Tammy."he said kindly.

Standing in front of the judge´s table, Tammy Hoodwood smiled in appretiation.

"Thanks, professor."

Philips took another mouthfull and turned to his other two collagues.

"Well boys... what do you... think?"he finished unsurely as he looked at Miles, who was sitting next to him.

Miles was litterally wolfing down his protion as though he hadn´t eaten for weeks.

"Amazin... perfect... you´ve got my vote... sweetie..."he said between the chewing, not bothering to notice, that he was eating so feverishly, that small pieces of his food were flying all over the table.

"Charming... you have all the manners of a pig."noted Wiseman, sitting on his other side.

"C´mon... Wisey... its called... Cabbage PIG Blast, right? And you´re right, Tammy... It IS a blast. Perfect work."remarked Miles, giving Tammy a thumbs-up.

As the judges were eating, they were making notes into their small notepads. They were not the only ones enjoying the meal though. Members of both the crew and the brotherhood were sitting at nearby tables made for them and were now helping themselfs to a small feast – all the food the girls cooked, minus the three small portions for the judges to judge. Billy and Phil were helping themselfs to pancakes made by Alanna Aberfoth, Steve to Cherie´s speciality, sending her a thumbs-up and a look of utter pride, Archie was being fed Tammy´s Pig Blast by his girlfriend, who seemed to be enjoying the task of sharing the food with him, Abbygail was trying to get Tex to try the speciality made by her elder sister Alanna, Nick and Mia were arguing over which dish was better tasting – everyone seemed to be having a blast. All except of two certain siblings, who were standing besides their Mom, Beth Hubbub and Monsieur Michell.

"I´m so happy, that you decided not to taste any of that."remarked Mom watching her two children with a look of relief.

Lola and Chichi shared a small look, both were hungry like wolves but they didn´t want to risk Mom fainting again – not when it took almost 20 minutes to snap her out of it.

"Not a problem, Mom."said Lola in an convincing voice.

"Yeah... we´re not hungry anyway..."nodded Chichi, but his stomach was growling the very opposite.

"WAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

The loud scream of Michael Miles brought them back to reality in an instant. Right now it was Lis´ turn to have her food judged. And by the looks of it, she had one certain judge in the bag.

"I LOVE STRAWBERRIES! AND... THIS... THIS... AAAAH... AMAAAAZIN´"he yelled, obviously in seventh heaven, jumping up and down in his chair.

"WILL YOU STOP YELLING?!"roared Wiseman, but Miles took no note of it and proceeded to wolf down the thick pink substance from his bowl.

"I have to admit, Lis... this is one fine piece of work. The taste is simply amazing... just what do you call this... this tasty dish?"asked Rodney in bright curiosity.

Lis smiled at the three of them.

"Its my Strawberry Fruit Surprise."she announced and Miles gave another whoop of happiness.

Rodney seemed to think upon this and then laughed.

"I can definitely taste other fruit in there besides the strawberry... but I guess that is the surprise. Brilliant work, Ms Milo."

Lis smiled happily at the praise.

"Brilliant doesn´t even cover it, Rod... Yo, Wisey... what d´you think?"asked an overjoyed and happy Miles.

Wiseman however was pulling himself away from his portion.

"I... I don´t like strawberries... I´m not sure I can..."

Before he could even finish his sentance, Miles placed a spoonfull of the pink strawberry surprise into his mouth. Wiseman got up angrily to retort, but in an instant he froze on the spot.

"... hey... this... this IS pretty good."he said quietly, a surprised look on his face.

"See? What´d I tell ´ya?"exclaimed Miles happily, clapping him on the shoulder as Wiseman pulled his bowl towards himself.

Chichi couldn´t help but snicker.

"Seems our Mystery girl is still in the game after this. Maybe she´ll even be crowned Miss Beauvillage."he noted to his big sis quietly.

Lola mulled it over.

"She mentioned something about only wishing to participate... but if she wins..."

"The mask will have to go off..."finished Chichi knowingly.

"And that might cause trouble with the press."nodded Lola, not even surprised that her brother was already thinking among the same lines.

"Well... she can always forfeit... but how is she gonna get Miles then... I mean this is the last round before the finals and judging by the looks on the judge´s faces, she passed."

Lola took a deep sigh.

"Looks like this is a matter that will have to be solved in the Hidehole."

Chichi nodded.

"Over our special supper."

Lola fixed him with a surprised look.

"I´ve had some of the food saved and Miles is gonna bring it to the Hidehole, so that the two of us can sample it too."he explained with a small smile.

Lola placed her arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer to her.

"You´re a real genius, you know that...?"

"Say no more, sis... say no more."said Chichi with a small chuckle, cuddling closer to her as they watched Lis walk off and another one of the contestants was called.

Both of them instantly scrowled as Cherie made her way towards the judge table with three plates in her hands. As she moved, her eyes found Steve and she flashed him a wink, making him blush.

"Well, Cherie... what have you prepared for us."asked Rodney as she placed the plates on the table.

"Smells delicious..."noted Miles, sniffing the air.

"I agree."nodded Wiseman.

Cherie smiled proudly.

"Its kind of a new recipe of mine. I call it Emperor Style Chicken Treat."

The three judges looked at eachother in surprise befor taking first bites of their food.

"I didn´t know, that Cherie could cook."whispered Chichi to Lola.

"Neighter did I..."Lola whispered back, genuilly astonished.

The three judges were slowly chewing on their portions, addieng piece after piece into their mouths, savoring the tasty food.

"Very good... this tastes amazing..."said Rodney softly.

"Agreed... positively incredible..."nodded Wiseman.

Miles looked at Cherie, flashed her a boyish grin and a thumbs-up.

"Perfect food... Emperor Miles is most pleased..."he said before starting to wolf down the entire plate.

Cherie beamed, inwardly jumping around in pure joy. She suceeded... by the looks of it, she had her passing guaranteed... and without cheating... Steve was right... the recipe they constructed together during his lessons really paid off...

She swiftly looked at the crew table and surveyed Steve with undying affection and gratitude, even as Steve sported a proud look as his younger cousin Phil commented the very same dish, the judges were still eating..

...

Half an hour later, as soon as almost everyone was rubbing their bellies happily, the three judges conveyed for a meeting to discuss their views and make results. However, as all of the crew noticed , they seemed to be taking a very long time... and they were apparently in feverent discussion.

"What do we do now?"asked Rodney with concern.

"Well... its bad all right... apparently the girls did such a good job and are determined..."nodded Wiseman.

"We just can´t fail them, guys... we just can´t... I mean... we can´t fail ALL of them... OOOOH"Miles exclaimed in frustration as he slamed his head on the table numerous times.

"What´s going on?"asked a voice, that drew them from their thinking.

All three of them looked up to see the Tofu siblings standing before them.

"Can´t you two see, that we´re in the middle of our judge duty?!"asked Wiseman miserably, shuffling his papers.

"Wait, Fred... maybe you two can help us a bit."said Rodney mulling it over.

"You can´t be serious, Rodney... What help can they be?!"

Both Chichi and Lola glared Wiseman, though he took o notice of it.

"MY SAVIOURS!"exclaimed Miles.

In one swift motion, he jumped over the table and swiftly hugged Chichi and Lola to himself.

"Guys... we have a super, ultra, mega, hyper and turbo-extra problem... you are our saving grace... our ultimate solution... guys..."he started animatedly as he steered the two of them closer to the table.

"The problem is... the girls did soooooo well... we can´t even decide who´s cooking is better... what do we do...?"asked Miles, sounding kinda like a lost little boy asking advice from his teacher.

Lola couldn´t help but giggle.

"You´re pretty desperate aren´t you...?"she asked mischievously, wiggling her eyebrows at Wiseman and Rodney, her head still under Miles´ arm.

Wiseman folded his arms, turned his head the other way and "humphed". Rodney on the other hand, shot a puppy-eyed look at Lola.

"Yes... I have to admit, that your most favourite professor in the world is hopelessly lost and unable to decide... Lola... could you help your poor dear professor?"

Rodney´s playfull tone of voice and the acting plea threw Lola into a fit of giggles – her sympathies towards her homeroom professor shining in all of their glory – she knew she liked the guy for a reason.

"Well... let´s see your notes so far..."said Chichi smilingly.

And so, they went over the notes, discussing the views of all the judges for more than ten minutes with everyone looking over at them. Lola and Chichi were now happy, that they haven´t sampled any of the cooked food – this made them the perfect objective pair to help. Rodney looked at the two siblings in pure wonder as he watched them work together, looking over the notes, asking both Miles and Wiseman - who was very reluctant to answer any question at all, laughing, joking with eachother, but still moving on to a solution.

"The rumors are true then... these two, are really a powerfull team."he thought, happy to finally witness this, making an honest and true opinion of the Tofu siblings.

He also unwillingly started to apply his observation skills. Upon what he was seeing, his affections towards the Beauvillage´s Greenest family´s siblings increased tenfold.

"Okay... here´s a suggestion... each of you three write down the food you liked the most."said Chichi, handing papers along the table.

After the food was written down, Chichi scanned the results along with his sister.

"Well... your suggestion cut down the girls to a half, but the ammount of girls nominated for passing is still ten... and only five can pass."noted Lola as she looked over the improved notes.

"Damn, its really hard to decide with these girls..."muttered Wiseman, scratching his head nervously, his eyes darting to the contestants, who were grouped in one corner of the room – a small blush colored his cheeks as he remembered, that somewhere among those girls, was his secret admirer.

Chichi once more scanned the papers, then closed his eyes and took a moment to compose his thoughts. Lola and Miles smiled at eachother knowingly, while Rodney and Wiseman were looking curious. After a moment, Chichi opened his eyes and his infamous grin was in place – as well as a brilliant plan in his head.

"Let´s get Trashbin here... I´m sure he´ll love this idea..."he said.

"WAAAHOOOO! I knew I could count on you, genius-boy."Miles exclaimed, grabbing Chichi in a headlock and ruffling his hair happily.

"I´ll get Trashbin right away."he said, setting out.

"But you don´t know where he is."called Wiseman after him.

Miles turned his head back and let out a mischievous snicker.

"Sure I do, Wisey... he´s in the ladies-room."he said with a wink before dashing trough the room like wind.

...

"The time has come, ladies, gentlemen and of course, our dear contestants..."announced Angie after the applause died down.

"Our judges have reached their decidion and its time to find out, who stays and who goes."nodded Lola – her statement making some of the contestants fret over the outcome even more.

The three judges stepped forward and the crowd applaused.

"Gotta hand it to you, Chichi... that was one brilliant idea."whispered Trashbin to Chichi as they observed.

Chichi smiled, but still snickered at the sight Trashbin made. His clothes were dishivelled and he still had lipstick marks all over his face.

"No problem, Trashbin... it´ll be more fun this way."he said as he looked on at Miles showing off to the crowd.

"And by the way, Trashbin..."he added with a mischievous smirk.

"Your fly is still undone."

Trashbin gasped, and hurriedly zipped up his pants before turning to Chichi, blushing and scratching his head sheepishly.

"Yeah well... the girls were... well... oh... I love it when they´re so friendly..."

Chichi snickered again just as Miles took the microphone.

"Well ladies... me and my collagues reached our decidion. Boooooy, your cooking was out of this world, I think each of you have what it takes to cook in this very restaurant."

The statement rose giant applause from the crowd, blushing gasps from the contestants and a horrified one from Monsieur Michell.

"Well this was supposed to be the breaking round, where only five would pass into the finals. However since you all did sooooo good... we´ve decided that TEN of you should pass."

Almost everyone gasped in surprise. However Rodney took the microphone from Miles.

"Of course, the finals can´t be held with such a high number, which was our dillema. Luckily it was solved by our own boy-genius, who had an engenius idea."

Chichi blushed at hearing that and was happy that he was hidden in the back with Trashbin.

"Since the finals need five contestants and no more, we will stage one more bonus round, where each of you will get a chance to advance. It will also be a chance for everyone to have more fun with this – you see... this one will truly be a blast."finished Rodney happily and the room was filled with excitement at the promise as Wiseman took the microphone.

"We will now read the girls, who made it trough this round..."he said in a business-like voice.

"So let´s see... 10 eggs, milk, honey, bread, chocolate..."he read out loud before gasping just as Miles, Chichi, Lola and several others exploded in laughter.

"Dude... that´s your grossery-list..."Miles exclimed, clapping his knee in hilarious laughter.

Red as a tomato, Wiseman quickly searched his pockets and finally managed to pull out the right paper. As he cleared his throat to read out the girls, he scanned them troughoutly.

"I know that you´re there somewhere... and I´ll find you... for sure..."he thought, thinking of the mystery girl, who sent him all those love letters.

...

A/N: Ooookay... a long one... This one took me nearly three weeks... I have to apologize, but a lot has been going on and well... some of it inspired me into these scenes... looks like love is really in the air in Beauvillage. Heh my pride couple is Nick and Mia - Mia is really fun to write... I really enjoy these two. But it looks like our Cherie is also experiencing something new... In any case, I´ll try to make the next chapter as soon as possible... and I already plan on a little twist so stick around for the bonus round of Miss Beauvillage – Its bound to be full of surprises...

HK07