The Contest, One-Shot

Remy awoke from his spot on the ground. After a yawn, Remy looked out Janus' tent entrance. It was the morning of the contest. From the looks of things, every animal and person was gathering at the grand pavilion. Remy looked back at Janus, who was still asleep. Upon hearing a voice, thinking that voice was calling her name, Janus awoke in an alert state. She jumped down from the bed and looked out the open tent entrance.

"Let's go, Remy. Today's your big day. Time to show these animals who's really in charge," said Janus.

Remy grabbed the recipe book, closed it, and followed Janus out the tent. Janus looked back at him with a confusing look in her eyes. Remy chuckled guiltily, before saying in a serious voice:

"All right! I'll put it back." Remy zipped back into the tent.

He heard Janus call, "They're going to give you recipe cards to look at, Remy, or so I was told."

Remy scampered out of the tent. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."

Remy was faster than Janus when coming to the grand pavilion. Knowing where to go, Remy made his way to the makeshift stage, where was gathered a couple of tables, some appliances, and an assortment of ingredients, fruits, and vegetables. He looked at his crew, which was a group of talking rats, much like himself. They looked at Remy, unsure what to make of him.

Remy said, as if he was in charge, "All right. I know this contest was built by other talking animals, excluding ourselves. I am here today to prove that I will be a valuable member of this campsite's kitchen. So, if you will please…"

"Hey," said a brutish female rat. "You sir, Remy, are not in control of this makeshift kitchen. We follow according to what the rules are given to us, according to the contest rules. That means you will not get in our way."

Remy, nervous now, asked, "Right, and you are?"

"My name is Consette. You will address me as your boss. Follow the rules and recipes, and there won't be any trouble. Got that, alley rat?" asked Consette, pointing a knife at Remy's throat. She moved the knife away as she said next, "Good. Now do us all a favor and go stand over by that wall."

Remy looked befuddled. "Pardon me, Miss Consette, but the whole point of the contest is to see whether I will become a great chef. That means you need to…"

Consette ignored him. "Go stand over by the wall. It's what your best at. Keep out of our kitchen."

"Can I ask why you and your rat crew are here?" asked Remy.

Consette looked at him now. "Since you were almost late, the animals gave your spot to me. Now, back away. We have work to do."

A grey rat told Remy, "Your work station is next to ours. Do you need a crew to work with?"

Remy looked at the empty kitchen area in awe. Like the other tables, there was an assortment of fruits, vegetables, and ingredients. There were also appliances and cookware.

Remy told the grey rat, "No, I should be fine. I can see my competition is Consette." He pointed out the brownish-grey rat that was busy cooking some food.

"Yeah, she was a last-minute addition. She says she can cook up a storm, but I haven't seen it-"

"Bruno, get back to work!" called Consette.

Bruno turned to Remy. "Just so you know: there's still a half an hour before the contest starts."

"Thanks Bruno," said Remy. He returned his gaze to the makeshift kitchen block.

Entering the kitchen block, Remy rubbed his hands together. The first thing he did, after realizing the chefs were making an assortment of dishes, was wash his hands. He worked fast getting his appliances and food together. He did not know what he was making, nor did he care to notice. A few of the animals recommended he should look at a recipe, but Remy ignored them. He wanted to prove himself, even then, that he could become a great chef, in spite of the constant protests. Eventually, he had his first dish made and ready for the judges.

When it was time to start the contest, each chef presented their chosen dish. The first category was chef's choice dish, so it was a freehand category. The judges gave the chefs reasonable scores, until Consette brought out her dish. She nearly received all tens except for one judge who gave her a nine. Then it was Remy's turn. He brought the plates filled with his dish to the five judges. He explained what the dish was and what was in it to them:

"This dish I made is Ratatouille. I added in a hint of spice for flavor. The dessert I made is a French dish, but a little more improved for better taste. The dessert is called a Crème brûlée."

The tough judge who Remy met the other evening tasted the chef rat's food. Remy was surprised he was eating down the Ratatouille and the Crème brûlée. Each judge complimented Remy on his cooking. The tough judge, of course, had a comment to make:

"Yes. You must come from France, if you are able to make these dishes from the heart."

Remy said, cheerful, "Well, I live in Paris, France. You said I should cook from the heart, so that's what I did."

"And I must say you've earned it," said the tough judge.

Remy was cheerful when the scores were pretty high for him, mainly ranging around the eights through tens. So Remy was around the same score as Consette. Consette huffed, but kept her ground when she saw the scores.

One of the judges told Remy, "Chef Remy, next time have a crew to back you up."

"Okay," said Remy. He murmured as he returned to his station. "Where am I going to find a crew?"

Django said as Remy came into the station. "Hello son."

"Dad, what are you and Emile doing here?" asked Remy.

"Well, you can't do this alone," said Emile.

Django said, "Emile's right." He told Remy. "We'll be right here for you, son, like a family should." He said afterwards, "Now, what do we have to do?"

Remy looked determined to get a higher score the next round. Consette looked pretty happy in his eyes, which only set his determination further. He was ready as could be.

The five rounds presented to the cooks and chefs tested their cooking abilities, as well as skill. All five rounds were dishes from other worlds, which the chefs had to make sure to perfect, as well as pass out dishes to those representing the different worlds. The Middle-earth dish was a little tough on Remy, but he managed to pull through all right. Even Gandalf the Grey enjoyed his cooking. The other worlds were Wonderland, Narnia, the Hundred-Acre Wood, and finally the dish in the limbo world they were on: Peradus. Remy was surprised the limbo world had picked up its own dishes. Remy nearly lost the contest to Consette, but one of the judges thought over and returned to Remy, who was down on his luck.

"Oh well. It was a stupid title anyway," said Remy. He turned to Django and Emile, "Let's go home."

The judges approached Remy. The female judge told him, "Wait, Mr. Remy. We did some thinking over. Yes, Consette may be a good chef, but all she does is follow the recipe exact, which we find good mannered on her part. As for you: you follow the recipe, but you enhance it, making it your own. We've agreed to also give you the title of Professional Chef and, after some consideration, want you to work in the kitchen pavilion until you can perfect your skills. Then we'll see where your fate leads."

"What? I thought that position was mine," said Consette, annoyed.

"You may go home anytime, Consette," said one of the male judges.

The female judge that spoke to Remy also asked, "So, what do you say?"

Remy thought for a moment, and then agreed. "All right, as long as my family gets to work alongside me."

Janus said, aloud, "Of course, Remy."

The judges then left Remy alone. Remy turned to his dad Django and Emile. He was ecstatic. In spite of not wanting the title before, Remy was in a happy mood. Yes, the camp would prove a bit crazy, but he was prepared for anything… or so he hoped. He guessed he would not be returning home for a while after all. Remy caught Reepicheep staring at him with a knowing look on his face. Oh well, at least Remy had some friends from the Evenshire Camp, and that was reward enough for him.