DISCLAIMER: Same as chapter 7, I mean, 5.

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who has read / reviewed the story so far. It really helps that people actually enjoy reading what I write. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Read on!


There Rose stood, at the soundboard. To her left, she saw Ein, without a scratch on him, and his clothes were in perfect condition. Malice stood out front, announcing that Ein was the winner and 'We Are The Champions' started playing in the background. She face faulted upon hearing the song whilst everyone else was cheering for him, including Ledah.

"...You've gotta be kidding me. This is the most farfetched daydream I've come across, even for his standards. " Rose said to herself, placing her hand across her forehead and shaking her head.

"...Rose?" said a distant voice. "Rose!"

"Who? What? Where?" Rose said with confusion.

"You kinda spaced out there...the same as when I told Cierra that blue and red make purple. Were you daydreaming about something?" Soala questioned.

"...I guess you could put it that way." Rose replied. "Wait, she didn't know blue and red make purple? How'd that topic come up anyway?" At this moment, Malice had quietly entered the stage without Rose or Soala noticing. Ledah was well aware of her presence, however, he kept quiet.

"Well...she wanted to know..." Soala murmured to Rose. At this point, Malice slowly tiptoed right behind Rose and Soala, eager to find out what the big secret was. She smirked to herself as Soala finished speaking.

"That isn't your natural hair colour?" Rose exclaimed.

"Sssh!" Soala put her index finger to her lips but it was too late. The five chefs looked at Soala with a quizzical look. Then they felt the cold breathing of Malice down their necks who had obviously heard the big news

"Well well, the cat is out of the bag, so to speak. So what is your natural colour then? Grey? White?" Malice sneered. "That might explain why you tried to set me on fire. Cierra as well. Please stop me if I'm wrong."

An eerie silence covered the room for a few seconds. Soala slowly sank into her chair, beaten by Malice. Sensing victory, Malice then turned to Rose.

"Speaking of cats, you wouldn't happen to know that little familiar who followed Ein around, would you?"

"...No I don't." Rose replied cooly.

"Well, how do you know about..." Malice's interrogation was suddenly interrupted by a loud explosion followed quickly by a earth shaking tremor. "...What the crap? Can't you five settle down for even a minute without something going wrong?"

"Did you just ask a rhetorical question?" asked Rose.

"Did you just answer the question by asking a rhetorical question?" Malice snapped back.

"You just did as well." Rose replied. A few seconds passed before Malice finally spoke out.

"...I have bigger fish to fry." Malice ended the conversation and surveyed the surroundings. Fia's bench had no sign of any explosion which was no surprise. Moving her eyes down the room, Lina was next in the firing range. Her bench was quite a mess, with bits of food sprawled over the benches, but nothing signifying a bomb going off. Lina had just placed a baking tray into her oven before Malice's eyes averted to Serene's area. She was checking on the lobster before adding a few balls, presumably food, into another steamer. Malice finally found the culprit. Cierra's pot containing the chilli casserole had expanded quite a bit, especially around the middle. The damage was minor though, as the contents inside were still intact as Cierra picked up the lid and put it back on. Malice glided along the floor towards Cierra.

"What the hell happened to that thing?"

"I'm not too sure." Cierra replied, "But from what I deduced from the damages, it appears that the dihydrogren monoxide in the casserole had evaporated into a gaseous state, but it was trapped under the confines of the lid. The gas built up, increasing the pressure and after the pot couldn't take much more, the evaporated substance forced itself out of the pot."

"Oh yes, I completely understood what you just said." Malice said sarcastically, "Yeah right, only an old hag like yourself could think of such an explanation which no one can comprehend what you just said!"

"She actually isn't that old." Ein butted in, "She's only a hu..."

Ein's face had met the cold hard surface of a frying pan which stopped his sentence entirely, before collapsing to the ground, face first.

"Oh my, sorry Ein. I didn't see you there." Cierra said in a clumsy tone with a smile.

"...Sure you did." Malice added. "Anyway, I demand a translation of what she just said!"

"The water in the casserole turned to steam and the lid stopped it from escaping. The pot couldn't take the pressure and the lid popped open, which was the loud bang you heard." Ein said with a muffled tone, his face still on the floor.

"And how the hell did you know that?" Malice asked.

"Well, after hanging around with Cierra for so long, one is bound to learn what happens during these types of sit...Oww!" Ein rubbed his head, only to notice a large frying pan which sat on top.

"Sorry, Ein! My hand slipped again." Cierra said, smiling innocently.

Suddenly, a booming voice echoed throughout the room. "Forty-five minutes have elapsed."

"Finally, this is almost over." Malice said to herself. "These bland intervals where nothing happens is so boring. I'd rather watch water boil."

"Hey! Serene!" Lina called out.

"What?" She replied.

"You done yet?" Lina asked.

"Almost, just have to wait for everything to be cooked. Serene replied. "Wait why do you want to know that?"

"Lina wants to challenge Serene!"

"Challenge? You're on!" She replied.

"Yay! Okay, rules are, whoever boils all of their water first wins." Lina exclaimed. At this moment, Malice raised her eyebrow. Ledah smirked to himself at the irony Malice put herself in.

"Okay!...Hey wait a minute! Boiling water? What the crap?" Serene said with confusion.

"And Malice can be the judge!" Lina added.

"No I will not!" Malice disagreed instantly.

"But you said you'd rather watch water boil..." Lina said, her eyes widened, looking at Malice.

"...Fine. Although, I find the idea completely ridiculous." She replied.

"Behold! Something else Malice and I agree with!" Serene added.

"You don't need to be so melodramatic about it." Malice commented

The two of them took a pot, filled it to the top with water, and brought them to a stove top. They turned the dial on the stove to release the gas and lit a match each.

"I can't believe I'm doing this...Go." Malice said, unenthusiastically.

Serene and Lina put their matches into the flowing gas and it set alight. The flames calmed down and the contest of boiling water began. Both of them were waiting for the first signs of bubbles in the water. Only a mere few seconds past when Malice walked away.

"This is stupid. You can referee your own damn water boiling contest." She said in an annoyed tone.

Serene and Lina were still waiting for the water to boil. Bubbles were appearing more rapidly in the water, signifying it was close to boiling point.

"Hey Lina! There's an applecot behind you!" Serene suddenly exclaimed.

"Yeah right! Lina isn't fooled that easily!" Lina replied. Serene then picked up an applecot from the table and threw it behind Lina.

"How about now?"

Lina turned around and scrambled for the round fruit which rolled around the floor. Taking her chance, Serene switched off Lina's gas, extinguishing the fire under her pot.

"Hey! You're cheating!" Lina cried out.

"No I'm not. You never said anything about outside interference" Serene said with a smile.

"Lina will show you!"

Lina suddenly tackled Serene down and both of them crashed to the floor. Malice suddenly turned around and came back, watching the scene.

"Now this is more like it." Malice said, pulling up a chair.

Both Lina and Serene were rolling around on the floor, trying to get the upper hand. Eventually, Serene managed to get Lina in a head lock, rubbing her knuckles on top of Lina's head.

"Ack! Stop it Serene!" Lina managed to cry out.

"Not a chance! You started this!" She replied.

Lina managed to give Serene a quick elbow in the ribs from the struggling and then jumped onto Serene's back.

"Hey! Get off me you little squirt!" Serene exclaimed, trying to get a hold of Lina.

"No way!" She replied.

Lina and Serene continued struggling whilst Fia looked on at the scene. She shook her head in disappointment.

"Those two can be so immature at times...right Cierra?" Fia looked around the room and there was no sign of Cierra. "Cierra?"

Fia then spotted Cierra carrying a pot towards the stove Lina and Serene were using. She placed it on the stove and pointed her staff at it.

"Hit the deck!" Malice yelled out jokingly.

"Calamity Flare!"

The flames emanated from the staff and engulfed the contents of the pot. The steam filled the room as the flames slowly died down. Peering down into the pot Malice confirmed the water disappeared and she raised Cierra's arm.

"Our winner is Cierra!"

Serene and Lina stopped fighting to briefly take in what had just happened. They took a quick glance at each other before starting another quarrel.

"It's your fault we lost!" Serene exclaimed, pointing a finger at Lina.

"Nuh uh! Serene's fault!" Lina countered, pointing a finger at Serene.

"You want a piece of me?" Serene said in a provoking tone.

"Yeah! Lina want those wings so Lina can fly!"

"Well, too bad shorty! They're mine!"

"Now now, there's no need to fight you two..." Cierra butted in.

"Yes there is! Because Cierra cheated!" Lina said abruptly.

"...That doesn't even make any sense." Malice added.

"She never does." Serene said.

Lina's frustration got the better of her and she threw the applecot she was holding right at Serene's head. However, the attempt failed as Serene easily caught it in the palm of her hand. Serene quickly threw the round fruit. The applecot went towards Lina's direction, but it passed right over her head.

"You suck! Get off the field!" Malice said, with her hands around her mouth, making her voice somewhat louder than it already was.

"Damnit, I keep forgetting Lina is shorter than all of us." Serene thought to herself.

"Where'd the fruit go?" Cierra asked bluntly. A moment later, a loud thud was heard.

"Oww!" Ein cried out in pain.

"Ah! Sorry Ein! Are you ok?" Serene said quickly. "Ein? You ok?"

Ein gave no response as his body slouched slightly. Worried, Serene hurried to Ein to make sure he was ok. As she got closer, she could hear him sniffling.

"Ein?" Serene asked again, but got no response. "Don't cry on me now! I'm sorry!"

Ein wiped a tear from his eye and continued chopping, ignoring what Serene had said. She placed her hand on his shoulder and sighed. She was about to say something when she immediately thwacked Ein on the head with her other fist before storming off.

"Serene! What has gotten into you?" Fia said in a shocked tone. "Why'd you hit him for?"

"Take a close look at what he was cutting." Serene said in an annoyed tone.

Fia peered over Ein's shoulder and glared at him after she saw what was on the table.

"Ein, you really should have said you were cutting onions beforehand..."

"Yeah...maybe I should have." Ein said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Here, let me help you with that." Fia said, taking hold of Ein's hand.

A loud, echoing ooh came from the audience as Fia helped chop the onions with Ein.

"Lina saw Fia help Ein learn how to play the piano as well!" Lina suddenly burst out.

"That Fia...acting all innocent...she's good." Serene added. "Someone should stop her."

At this moment, a tomato projectile was seen flying past the room and hit the back of Fia's head. It exploded upon impact as bits of tomato juice flew into the air. A few moments passed as everyone waited. Without turning around, words escaped from Fia's lips.

"Malice...that was uncalled for."

"Oh? What are you going to do about it?" Malice said in a provoking tone.

As Fia turned around, Malice saw a stack of onion rings in the palm of her hand.

"That's what you're going to shut me up with? Onions?" Malice started laughing, mouth gaping wide.

Fia took this chance and swiftly grabbed one of the onion rings from the stack. With a flick of the wrist, the onion flew through the air like a discus and straight into Malice's mouth. Coughing and gagging, Malice's eyes were filled with tears from the horrible stench of the onion.

"That was a cheap shot!" Malice finally managed to say without coughing.

"Very well, consider this punishment for all of the insults you threw today." Fia said without emotion.

She quickly threw another three onion rings but Malice dived for the ground, before rolling back onto her feet. As Malice peered over the table, several more onions came flying her direction which she barely dodged again. Crossing her arms in front of her, Fia held one onion ring on each finger. She released the rings. It made a high pitched whirling sound as it pierced through the air towards Malice. Desperately trying to escape, Malice dove for the floor again, but the onions followed her and shoved themselves into her mouth, one after the other.

"Aaah! The taste! It's so foul! Can't...see...world...blacking..." Malice's words were cut off and she lied on the floor, unconscious. Suddenly, the speakers started playing a victorious themed song.

"Nice timing, Familiar." Ledah said.

"Th...er I mean, I'm not a familiar." Rose said, quickly correcting herself.

"Denial is the first step..." Ledah added, trailing his words off into a soft whisper.

"Fia, that was amazing! How did you learn that?" Cierra asked in amazement.

"When one learns to cook in the kitchen with Lina running around, you're bound to pick up a few skills necessary to subdue the distraction."

"Hey! It's not Lina's fault that you take too long to get the food ready!" Lina argued.

Ein had just finished preparing his main course when he heard the noise of shuffling feet from a distance. As he turned to look, he saw Malice's hand taking hold of a plum.

"This isn't over yet sprite!" Malice yelled, throwing the plum straight at Fia.

"Fia!" Ein exclaimed. He dove towards Fia, sending both of them to the ground, successfully dodging the plum. The fruit traveled through the air and had smacked Serene square on the head, leaving a purple stain there. Serene placed her hand over the spot, nursing the minor pain.

"You'll pay for that Malice! Lina, give me the banango." Serene commanded.

"Serene...you're not going to..." Lina started, handing her the banango.

"Yes, Lina. I'm going to use that."

"You can't! You tried so many times and you still can't get it!"

"Watch me." Serene said confidently.

Serene with her right eye closed, held the curved fruit which was half way peeled, in her right hand.

"Banango Throw!"

The piece of fruit left Serene's hand as it circled through the air like a boomerang. However, the banango's flight wasn't stable and veered off course. It went right past Malice and it hit Ledah in the face. The yellow fruit broke into pieces as it covered his face. Rose noticed Ledah's eye twitching.

"Told you Serene! You're on your own now!" Lina said, running away from Serene.

Ledah picked up a serviette from the table and wiped himself of the fruit from his face before standing up. He glided along the ground using his wings. Everyone watched silently as Ledah stood in front of Serene, who was literally quivering in her boots. His eye was still twitching.

"Ledah...she..." Ein started, but Ledah put up his hand, motioning him to stop.

"Before I begin, is there anything you would like to say?" Ledah said in his usual monotone.

"...It was an accident..." Serene muttered.

"Very well." Ledah held up his diviner, Lorelei. The weapon shone beautifully under the lights of the room.

"Ledah! No! Don't do it!" Ein shouted.


Ooh! That's going to hurt. A cliffhanger right there. End of chapter.