(A/N: This chapter title should give you a general idea of what it's about.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 12: Dia vs. Clawdia
"So now that we've beaten the Big 4, does this mean we get to face Don Cook now?" Pie Tin asked as they walked up the stairs to the next level.
"Not sure." Chase muttered. "Guess we'll find out when we get there."
But when they reached the next floor, there was no one waiting for them.
"Maybe they're running late." Kayla suggested.
"Or still cooking." Albert added. "Though they've had plenty of time." He smirked. "Keeping hungry customers waiting is not a what a good chef does."
"Hey, blondie, you watch your mouth." Clawdia cried, suddenly falling from the sky.
Pie Tin glanced at the ceiling, which was a good 60 feet over their heads. "And just where'd she come from?"
Clawdia laughed, ignoring Pie Tin's question. "I hope your ready for a recipe of destruction."
"Seriously, where'd she come from?"
Chase glared at the cat-girl. "Why are you still working for the Gluttons anyway? Don't you remember how badly they treated you?"
Again, Clawdia laughed. "Fools. My loyalty lies strictly with the Gluttons. I am their faithful servant."
Chase sighed. "You know, Clawdia, even though we're technically enemies, I always considered you as a friend."
Clawdia's smirk fell. "Huh? You did?"
Chase nodded. "Yeah, why don't you join us? We'd gladly accept you into our group."
The cat-girl stared at him for a moment, seeming to consider his words. Then she shook her head and smirked. "Sorry, Chase, but like I said before, my loyalties lie with the Gluttons. Now feast your eyes on my latest Foodon."
She held up a dish, taking off the lid to reveal tacos. Taking up a Meal Ticket, she touched it to the food. The tacos and the Meal Ticket were engulfed in light, which suddenly burst outward, taking on a physical form.
Clawdia smirked. "Now serving Tacofly!"
The Foodon was enormous, larger than a school bus. It had the body of a butterfly, but its wings were tacos, two on the left and two on the right, flapping to stay in the air, its large black eyes stared at the Rebel Chefs.
"Taco, Taco, Taco." It said.
Albert smirked and stepped forward. "Guess that means it's my turn. Well let's go, I'm ready for you."
Dia placed a hand on his shoulder. "Wait, let me fight."
Albert blinked. "Huh? You want to fight?"
Dia nodded. "Clawdia and I are sort of like sisters. I should be the one to beat her."
Clawdia laughed. "As if you could. My cooking skills were gifted to me by none other than King Gorge himself."
"So were the Big 4's, and we beat them." Dia pointed out.
Realizing that she was right, Clawdia fell silent for a moment. "Ok, so you have a point. But still, you're a rocket scientist, not a chef. You're no match for me."
Dia smiled. "I'm sure I could whip something up." She turned to Chase. "Would you mind if I used the M.A.C. Cart?"
Chase shook his head. "Not at all. Feel free to use whatever you want." He slammed his hand against the M.A.C. Cart. "Alright, M.A.C. Cart, do your stuff. The kitchen is open!"
The M.A.C. Cart transformed, turning into a complete kitchen, ready to be used. Dia happily skipped over to it and began taking out ingredients, piling them on the table. She stopped when the pile was higher than her, then stood back and looked at it with a smile on her face.
"So…" Coco muttered, "what are you making?"
"…I don't know." the rocket scientist replied, not looking discouraged in the least. "I'll just improvise."
Clawdia watched impatiently as her counterpart went about her cooking. She tapped her foot as she waited for Dia to complete her dish.
"There, all done!" Dia announced happily.
"Finally." Clawdia muttered "Lets do this already."
Dia nodded. "Yes, lets." She remained where she was, not making any attempt to do anything. Then she scratched her head and laughed nervously. "But I don't have a Meal Ticket." The others fell over anime style. Dia laughed and turned to Chase. "Hey, do you think maybe I could…"
Sighing, Chase handed her a Meal Ticket. "Yeah, yeah, here you go."
Dia's eyes lit up as she snatched it out of his hands. "Thank you, Chase. You're a good friend. Now serving, my first official Foodon, Angel Hair!"
Her meal came to life. It took the form of an angel, complete with wings and halo. A great deal of pale gold hair, which was actually angel hair noodles, fell from her head, nearly touching the floor.
"Angel!" the Foodon cried happily. "Hello to all of you!"
"Taco, Taco, Taco, Taco." Tacofly chatted.
Angel Hair blinked up at the large Taco Foodon. "And good day to you as well."
Clawdia growled impatiently. "Enough fooling around. Tacofly, whip out that side dish!"
"Taco."
Tacofly spat out a stream of yellow liquid, that seemed to be melted cheese. Angel Hair dodged it and it splat against the walls, steaming and sizzling.
"Wow, that's hot." Angel Hair commented, turning back to her opponent. "But lets not fight. Lets use words to resolve our differences. Violence never solves anything."
Tacofly spat another stream of melted cheese at her. This time it grazed Angel Hair's wing, burning it.
"Ouch!" she cried. "That really hurt. Why would you want to hurt me? Haven't you ever heard of peace on Earth?" Tacofly spat at her again, missing her, but making her angry. "You know, even peaceful beings like me draw the line somewhere."
Clawdia crossed her arms. "If your not going to fight my Tacofly, then this battle is forfeit. That means you Rebel Chefs lose. Tacofly, get them out of my sight."
"Taco."
He spat more melted cheese, this time aiming for the Rebel Chefs. Angel Hair moved quickly, scooping them up before they were covered in the hot cheese.
"Hey, its cheddar." Pie Tin noted as Angel Hair carried them away. "I got some on my shirt." He wiped it off. "YEOW!!! That stuff really is hot!"
Angel Hair set them down at a safer location, then turned to glare at Tacofly. "Oh, you are wicked. As a defender of the light, I shall strike down the wicked and unrighteous." She hesitated for a moment. "But hopefully it won't come to that."
Kayla sighed. "Gee, Dia, you sure made a useful Foodon." She muttered sarcastically.
Dia beamed. "Oh, you think so too?"
"This is your chance for a life of peace." Angel Hair continued. "Just walk away. Remember, do unto to others as you would have others do unto you."
Clawdia was now pulling at her ears in aggravation. "I can't stand it anymore. Stop your preaching already. Tacofly, annihilate her!"
Tacofly flew at Angel Hair, spitting a continuous stream of melted cheese. Angel Hair flew away, avoiding the stream of hot cheese, but Tacofly followed her.
"Leave me alone!" Angel Hair shouted. "And watch where you're spraying that stuff, it's getting everywhere."
Tacofly took a deep breath and spat out a large ball of cheese. Angel Hair dodged it at the last possible moment. While it was still in the air, it exploded, becoming some sort of stringy cheese net, which got stuck between two pillars.
"That's it!" Angel Hair cried angrily. "Now it's my turn!"
Her hair sprang to life and extended towards Tacofly. The large Taco Foodon struggled as the noodle hair wrapped around him.
Angel Hair smirked. "Now surrender. Give up your life of sin and embrace peace."
But Tacofly didn't give up. He flapped his taco wings and a piece of lettuce flew out of them. The edges of the lettuce sliced through Tacofly's bindings.
"My hair!" Angel Hair cried, as it returned to its normal length after being cut. She gave a sigh of relief. "Phew, I thought I was going to have split ends- Whoa! Stop spitting that cheese at me!"
Meanwhile, on the ground, the others were facing a dilemma of their own. Every time Tacofly spat out his melted cheese, he poured out about 50 gallons. It now flowed like a river, covering the arena floor.
"Chase, that stuff's coming right for us!" Pie Tin cried.
"I see that, Pie Tin. Quick, everyone on the M.A.C. Cart."
He smacked the M.A.C. Cart and it turned into a boat, which everyone climbed on.
"Chase," Kayla asked nervously, "will the M.A.C. Cart float in cheese?"
"I sure hope so." Chase muttered. "Hey, Clawdia, you wanna get on? It's safe."
The cat-girl merely retreated up the stairs. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll just get to higher ground."
"It's filling up fast!" Albert cried, as the M.A.C. Cart began drifting down the river of cheese. "That stupid Tacofly is going to drown us all in melted cheese."
"Don't worry." said Dia nonchalantly. "My Angel Hair will save the day."
But Angel Hair was on the run as Tacofly continued spraying melted cheese everywhere, occasionally spitting out more nets of stringy cheese, to which Angel Hair almost fell prey to several times.
"If you don't stop, you'll only bring forth your own destruction." She warned her fellow Foodon. "Please don't make me hurt you."
Tacofly ignored her and proceeded to attack. Angel Hair sighed when she realized that he wasn't going to stop and she was left with no choice but to fight back.
"Fine then. Just remember that you brought this upon yourself. Parmesan Blizzard!"
Taking a deep breath, she blew. White particles flew out of her mouth, engulfing the entire room. Soon the whole arena was in a massive snowstorm of Parmesan cheese.
Tacofly stopped spraying cheese and looked around. The Parmesan cheese was blowing about so hard that it was next to impossible to see more than a few inches in front of his face. He didn't see it when Angel Hair came up behind him and delivered a powerful kick to his back. Tacofly was pushed forward and suddenly he became entangled in one of his own cheese nets that he had tried to trap Angel Hair in. It was like being caught in a spider web.
"Tacofly, Taco!" he cried, struggling to get free.
The net couldn't remain hanging from Tacofly's weight. Tacofly's wings got tangled in the cheese and he fell from the sky, right into his own river of molten cheese.
On the stairs stood a Parmesan cheese snowman. It broke apart to reveal Clawdia inside it. "Oh no, Tacofly!"
Angel Hair waved her hand and her Parmesan cheese blizzard died down. She looked down at the river of cheese with regret. "I'm sorry, but you chose your own fate. May you rest in peace."
She closed her eyes, saying a prayer for her fellow Foodon. At that moment, Tacofly burst up from beneath the hot yellow river, cover completely in burning hot cheese. He spat one of his cheese nets at Angel Hair, this time hitting his target.
"Hey!" Angel Hair cried, as the cheese net wrapped around her.
Tacofly held onto the end of the net. His body went limp from pain from the burning cheese coated to his body, but he refused to let go. Angel Hair flapped her wings rapidly, trying to stay airborne as Tacofly's massive weight pulled her down.
"Can't… stay… up…" Angel Hair grunted, unable to hold up Tacofly's weight any longer.
She fell out of the sky, pulled down by Tacofly. The two Foodons splashed down in the river of melted cheese, vanishing beneath the surface and not surfacing again.
"Angel Hair!" Dia cried, reaching out to her Foodon.
"Dia!" the others cried, as she leaned too far over and fell off.
She was saved by the Burnt Meatballs, who flew underneath her to form a raft, saving her from falling into the molten cheese. Though Dia was saved, the Meatballs were covered in the cheese.
"Meatballs!" Chase cried.
"Don't worry." one said. "We don't feel a thing."
"We're heat resistant." Another reminded him as they helped Dia back on the M.A.C. Cart.
Clawdia didn't seem to care about what was happening to them as she thought about the situation. "Hmm, Don Cook said that if they lost once, it was all over for them. But he didn't say anything about a tie. I wonder what his plan is."
Completely ignoring the Rebel Chefs, leaving them to get out of the river of cheese on their own, and raced up the stairs.
"Don Cook, sir!" she cried. "The battle's over. It ended in a draw."
Don Cook gave her a curious look. "A draw? That doesn't happen often."
"What are you going to do?" Ann Chovy asked.
"A rematch." Cole Slawter suggested, as if this were obvious.
"That is up to Don Cook." Grill pointed out.
The Gluttons looked to their leader. Don Cook thought about it a moment before smiling.
"Let them proceed. It's not like they stand a chance against me. These battles are mostly so I can personally study their fighting techniques." He chuckled. "Ann Chovy, you're the last one up. If they get passed you, then they get to me."
Ann Chovy nodded. "I will not fail you, master."
(A/N: Poor Dia. The only Foodon she created is gone. But hey, you can't have the heroes come out on top every time.)
Tacofly – Food: tacos.
Angel Hair – Food: angel hair pasta.