The day they went to battle the 'Heavycliff' was the day Adam finally met Toriko.
"Torkio!," this is Adam he's a 2 star chef from a foreign city, said Komatsu.
"This is the ingredient hunter who steals you from your kitchen," Adam smirked at the pro-wrestler sized man with shoulder length blueish-black hair. He was intimidating but he couldn't be any worse then Zebra.
"and my greatest inspiration" Komatsu said in his usual perky voice. "Don't you have someone you consider you partner, your best friend?"
It was an interesting question with many possible answers. Though out the years he gained and lost many friends due to drugs, booze and the overall cut throat world of cooking at an elite level.
But for whatever reason the first name that came to him was "Hellene", his current best friend; a chef he stole from an old friend turned manager's kitchen (the old friend agreed to fire her, forcing her to work for him). The strong, beautiful blonde single mother possessed creativity and innovation with the more modern culinary tools and technology that Adam had otherwise turned away from in the name of authenticity.
"oh like Ren!" Komatsu said happily since he just like to talk. He went on to explain Ren was Sunny's sister and the group's childhood friend. She wasn't a cook, but rather a food scientist; it was sort of a valid comparison, in terms of the mind require to think outside the box.
Sunny and Coco were waiting at the sight. Zebra arrived 30 minutes later. A Heavycliff was not a difficult creature but it was a pack creature. It's flesh was edible and it's body could be used for building material (the reason Sunny was there.) But it's stone body and aggressive personality was more than a little difficult to take down.
Long story short each of the culinary warriors brought their own skills to the party. Zebra used his voice blast ability to smash in to the cliff forcing the creatures out. Coco and Toriko teamed together using Coco's paralyses powers and Toriko projectile attacks named after silverware to take down their prey rendering them unconscious (or dead..Adam couldn't really tell) as they fell.
Sunny's ability to create a massive invisible net with his colorful ,supernatural, hair caught the falling creatures as they fell from the cliff and encased them.
All while Komatsu taught Adam how to watch from a distance to avoid getting killed and then how to actually prepare the strange creature. First how to actually remove the edible parts, then how to season using a variety of strange plants and animals they found in the surrounding area.
"Is that a gummy dog?" Adam asked as they were preparing to cook over an open fire. The animal had wondered in on their campsite. He had cooked a wide variety of strange animals in his time (Sea cucumber, abalone, snails etc), but that was by far the creepiest thing Adam had ever seen.
"The Pugour is a species of pug dog which is made of first-rate dried plums that boast deep flavor and elegant sourness. It appears to fall from the sky like a meteor." Komatsu said as if that made any sense. Adam was sure he was quoting some sort of guide book.
"And only Zebra would even consider eating it." added Sunny collecting the shell pieces in a large create. He would later call for his giant snake to carry it all back to the tree house.
"Eating what?" the large man asked looking around. His booming voice was enough to scare it away.
"To be fair there are allot of cute animals that are edible." Adam said still a little creeped out by a gummy dog. He assumed it was because he was from a culture that did not eat dogs, much less cute ones made of an asian candy.
Toriko lead a version of grace where he gave thanks to the animals and ingredients they were about to consume then slapped his hands loudly.
"We may not always see eye to eye, but we are stronger together then we could ever be apart." said Sunny as they all enjoyed the fruits of their labors.
Sunny called in his snake, Toriko called in his wolf and Coco called in his crow. Zebra apparently had no need for a giant animal.
"He had a Zebra once but it was just a loner." Komatsu felt the need to say.
Adam fell asleep by the fire looking up at the stars until his mind slipped away.
He awoke in the kitchen of Reece, his former friend and long time rival. Apparently Adam , while severely drunk, had trashed his kitchen before passing out. But Reece was not mad. He explained, although they were rivals he did not want him to go off the deep end. "You are better than me, you always have been. But the culinary world need you alive, you inspire the rest of us. Eat this and get out." He gave him a 2 egg omelet to help him sober up.
Your team needs you."he was going to say 'your restaurant/or kitchen needs you' but it came out as 'team' it still made sense and Reece still needed him to GTFO.
Adam now knew what he needed to do. Stars meant nothing if he didn't love what he did and loved the people he worked with; when the world was crumbing down, it was not his job to bear the burden alone. His team was skilled and talented; if they wen't they would not have been chosen (by him.)
'your team believes in you, you can believe in them.' said a disembodied voice.
"Komatsu?" he said as he walked back to his hotel room. No that was just a really messed up dream.
Adam came back a changed man ready to truly accept his new start.