"Out of my way!" bellowed the Underwater Chef, as he disembarked the ship that had carried him to Altador at a rapid pace. He clutched heavy bags of kitchen tools under each fin and already wore his chef's coat; no time to waste changing clothes. "I'm needed at the summit!"

A few curious bystanders gave him odd looks; most paid him no mind. From the docks, a Cloud Aisha came scurrying toward him, wearing an official-looking badge with the Altador seal stamped on it.

"Chef!" she said, sounding relieved. "I see you've arrived on time. I'm Wynn, an aide to King Altador, here at your service. How was your journey? I hope the sailing was pleasant?"

"Wynn!" the Underwater Chef looked at the Aisha sharply. "There's no time for chitchat! Do you know what time it is?"

"Uh, it's just mid-morning..."

"Exactly! We need to begin prepping for the leader's lunch, immediately! I need to see your kitchen facilities, inquire about dietary restrictions, draw up menus, shop for ingredients..." The Underwater Chef trailed off, shaking his head. "The greatest minds of Neopia can't accomplish anything without nutritious meals to energize them! I should have been called for much sooner, but we'll make do with the time we have."

Wynn cringed back, her ears going flat, "Well, of course I agree with you, Chef, it's just...I'm afraid that we can't do any of that. You see, we have something of a problem with the food..."

“What?!” The Underwater Chef screamed. He could feel his pulse racing. “What do you mean he’s here? Why was I not informed?”

“When we found out we didn’t have a chef for the gathering, we reached out to all available chefs. When Chef Bonju arrived at Altador, we had sent a message to Mystery Island but it seems you had already embarked on your way here.”

The Underwater Chef clutched his bag of tools. There’s no way he would lose out to Chef Bonju. That Blumaroo cooks for a ship crew! He doesn’t have the same experience The Underwater Chef had, cooking for kings and leaders like Mumbo Pango.

“Show me to your kitchen facilities! I will need to see this situation with my own eyes. We can’t have Chef Bonju serving subpar food!” He stomped towards Altador City, full of conviction, his tools clacking around in his bags. Wynn hurried quickly behind him, the Cloud pattern on her face turning even more pale.

When they arrived at the kitchen…

“Dang it! It’s RAW!” yelled the chef. “Bonju! You’re gonna poison everyone! Queen Fyora will not go down on my watch!”

The Blumaroo was on the other side of the kitchen and stormed towards the Underwater Chef.

“Excuse me! These are made from Wocky Steaks, and last I checked, you’ve never put those on your menu!” Bonju retorted. The two of them stood inches from each other and glared.

“…Ooookay you two, umm, can we set aside our differences so we can feed our esteemed guests?” Wynn interjected into the awkward silence.

Suddenly, there was a noise coming from a nearby stove where the pot started to boil over. Bonju ran over to it. “You’re distracting me, go away. Cook something in your own little corner over there. I have Seafood Pasta Salad to make.”

The Blumaroo shooed the Underwater Chef to a small corner in the kitchen with barely any space and a tiny stove and oven. The Underwater Chef growled in anger.

“Fine, I’ll show you who the better chef is. Give me some steaks too, I’ll cook circles around Bonju.”

“But… there’s barely any time to…”

“I cook fast! Now take me to the storeroom!”

The two of them made their way to the food storage room in the back, but as the door creaked open, the Underwater Chef noticed something and gasped. He found..

"What is this?!" the Underwater Chef gasped. "Where's the steak? The veggies? The garlic bread?!"

Wynn looked panicked. "This storeroom was fully stocked yesterday!"

Bonju strolled in, munching on a carrot. "Used what I needed. As for the rest... let's just say the Yooyus had a snack. Someone forgot to lock the door."

"You fed summit food to Yooyus?" the Underwater Chef growled.

"Hungry Yooyus are relentless, and I adapted," Bonju shrugged. "Unlike you, I can work with chaos."

"You cook like it's a game," the Underwater Chef snapped. "And you're about to lose."

Wynn stepped in. "Both of you, enough!! One dish each. Served side by side at lunch. Let the summit leaders decide."

Bonju smirked. "Fine by me."

The Underwater Chef narrowed his eyes. "Then get ready because I’m about to remind Altador what real cooking tastes like." He said before heading out of the storeroom, until a few seconds later..."Shhh!..." he exclaimed.

He turned back to the storeroom, and froze.

Something was moving behind the last stack of crates...

"Get this Yooyu out of here now before it starts eating the crates, too!" The Underwater Chef bellowed, hardly keeping his frustration under wraps.

"Calm down, Chef! Let me see how I can help it," Wynn assured him.

She turned around and motioned for the Yooyu to leap into her arms. After a moment of hesitation, it embraced her, a small sound of worry escaping its mouth.

Chef Bonju scoffed. "Clearly someone can't work under pressure. I'll call the local market and place a rush order."

Wynn quickly noticed The Underwater Chef turning red and knew she had to dissolve the situation quickly.

"Enough with the verbal jabbing! We all have to work together to save this luncheon. Chefs, see what you can get from the vendors at Exquisite Ambrosia. I'll take care of the Yooyu."

The Underwater Chef glared at Bonju, his eyes like darts under a heavy brow. But with a heavy sigh, he relented.

Everyone moved to leave the empty room, when suddenly...

“What is that berserk Petpet doing?!” the Underwater Chef asked with a huff. “I won’t say it a third time… Get. It. OUT!” He articulated each word with a flap of his flippers.

“Right away,” Wynn assured the Flotsam as she rushed to see what the brown and yellow Petpet was doing.

Amongst the crates, the Yooyu was hard at work, attempting to pry open the nails that sealed one of the boxes shut.

“Tsk, tsk, little one. It’s time to leave these two chefs and their wares alone!” Wynn chided, whisking the seemingly naughty Yooyu away once again. As she pulled the Petpet away, it grasped for purchase, sinking its claws into the wooden exterior of the crate. The force of Wynn returning the Yooyu to her arms loosened the panel of the crate, allowing the Yooyu to take it with him.

That was when the two chefs let out twin gasps. The Yooyu had opened one of the crates to reveal…

He tossed a Rainbow Apple at Bonju with an uncharacteristic grin. "How's the luncheon looking now?" Bonju stared in amazement at the ingredients before them. "These must be from before the Darkest Faerie," he murmured. "Some of these haven't been seen in Neopia for centuries."

Wynn stared wide-eyed as Bonju pulled out a TeaLeef. "How could this have gotten here?" She turned her eyes to the Yooyu that was looking up at her. “Did you find this for us?” The Yooyu chirped once and, with the same mischevious eyes, rolled away from the trio to continue rooting around the crates. Wynn’s expression softened. “However the crate got here," she concluded, "our Yooyu friend may well have saved the summit.” The Underwater Chef triumphantly pulled out a Fiery Doughnutfruit, his eyes gleaming. “With these ingredients, I can make something worthy of a royal banquet. Bonju, I trust you’ve got something more ambitious than Blumaroo Steak and Orange Juice up your sleeve?”

Bonju, still hard at work pulling out long-forgotten treasures, flashed a smile of his own. "You're on." As the chefs assembled their ingredients, with only a little bickering over the block of Chocolate Coated Cheese, the Yooyu had rolled over to another strange crate. As the first nail popped, the THUD within the box sent the Yooyu scurrying for safety. The second, more vigorous echo from the crate caught the attention from the chefs. Wynn took a hesitant step forward as the offending crate lurched violently, spilling toward her. Inside, something as ancient as Altador's private provisions stirred...

“The royal spice collection!” exclaimed Wynn. “We ordered them for the annual Altador Cup Celebration Feast, but with this year’s Cup being cancelled, I completely forgot about them… Surely King Altador wouldn’t mind them being used for the Summit!”

“Would you look at that,” The Underwater Chef murmured as he examined a bottle of rare Maraquan Sea Salt. “With seasonings like these, even the simplest ingredients can become extraordinary…”

Chef Bonju crossed his arms, though he couldn’t hide the way he eyed the crate of ingredients with interest. “Even a bunch of fancy spices won’t save you from being shown up by me in the kitchen!”

“Oh please!” the Underwater Chef said as he whirled to face the Blumaroo. “Spices don’t make the chef, the chef makes the spices sing! They certainly won’t make up for your lack of proper technique and talent!”

The little Yooyu squeaked nervously from atop the crate and jumped back into Wynn’s arms, sensing the rising tension between the two chefs.

Just as Chef Bonju was about to retort, a loud, urgent knocking echoed through the kitchen…

Wynn paled. “That’s the maitre d,” she hissed to the chefs. “Which means the clock is ticking.”

The Underwater Chef immediately clapped his fins at nearby kitchen staff. “You, grab the Zibblifruit. You, secure the Coconut oil.”

“Move it, move it!” Bonju roared to his assisting chefs. “We have a summit to feed!”

Knives clanged, steam hissed, and insults flew across the cacophony of a kitchen full of glorious culinary chaos.

“Your cooking is so outdated, I half expected to find the recipe engraved on an Altadorian archive scroll,” the Underwater Chef bellowed to Bonju.

“Ha!” Bonju cried. “At least my pasta doesn’t taste like it was soaked in the same water as King Altador’s sandals.”

Servers started ferrying platters to the summit dining hall.

Sometime later, the Kyrii reappeared, now even more frazzled. “The King wishes to speak to the chefs!”

Both Bonju and the Underwater Chef froze.

Wynn clapped her paws together. “Shall we…?”

How will this story end?

"You called that an Altadorian Pastitsio? I call that a - "

Wynn groaned softly, and realized that the Yooyu was no longer in her arms, or anywhere near her. She said to them, "Just go! I have to make sure the Yooyu doesn't find the leftovers!"

* * *

As they made their way from the kitchen to the dining hall, both Bonju and the Underwater Chef finally ran out of insults, and stopped at the imposing, gilded double doors. A Kacheek in a fancy toga bowed and pulled one door open to admit them inside.

The Underwater Chef couldn't help but glance at the world leaders sitting around the table. Were they eating more of his dishes? Then again, some of the leaders, like King Skarl, seemed to have a bit of both -

Bonju nudged him and whispered, "That was my foot!"

"Ah, here you are."

The two chefs stopped in front of King Altador, who was at the head of the table.

"Your Majesty," they said, unintentionally in unison. They kept some distance away from each other as they bowed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you in the middle of your work, but there's something I had to tell you."

The Underwater Chef caught Bonju's eye and they traded a look. At first, there was silence, punctuated by Altador's thoughtful, stern expression.

Then, that expression gave way into a smile.

"Everything you cooked was delicious," he said. "Perfectly seasoned, well-cooked, made with a variety of food from all across Neopia, befitting diners who have come from every corner of the world. You have my - and everyone's - thanks."

As he clapped, the dining hall gradually burst into applause, ranging from Queen Fyora's polite clapping to King Roo jumping for joy and whooping with delight.

"Y-You're welcome, your Majesty, everyone," was all the Underwater Chef had to say, breaking into a smile of his own. He noticed Bonju about to open his mouth, and added, "I know what you're going to ask. Forget it."

Bonju shrugged. "I wasn't going to ask who won, if that was what you're thinking," he whispered back. "All's well that ends well. We made a lunch fitting for the rulers of Neopia, and - "

"With that being said," said Altador, his voice carrying over the excited chatter and clapping, "we would like both of you to prepare our dinner tonight, as well!"

More cheers and shouts. The two chefs traded another look - or more precisely, a grimace.

"Just try to keep up," the Flotsam said.

Bonju snorted. "Ha! Eat my Dust Motes!"

The End.