Chapter Text
Previously on Hell’s Kitchen:
Chef MC tasted the contestants’ signature dishes and, needless to say, they were not pleased.
“How can you serve me this garbage!?!” MC shouted, “I wouldn’t feed a stray dog with this crap!”
Both teams had problems in the kitchen
“You moron, what are you doing?” Nadia asked, frowning like a madman, “Where is the chicken?”
And one team had a little throwback because of one of the cooks
“Volta, what in the world are you doing?” MC shouted, not believing their eyes, “That food is for the customers!”
But now all of that is set aside as the new day and new opportunities arise. Will the chefs be able to rise to the top and win the luxurious restaurant in Vesuvia, or will they crumble at the pressure?
“I want to go back home,” Portia sobbed as she hugged her knees, “I miss my grandma.”
“Wake up sleepyhea-” one of the MC’s sous-chefs, Scout, stopped midsentence as she stared at Valerius’ bed.
He woke up as he rubbed his eyes, feeling like his head is a lot lighter. As soon as he put his head on the sheets he felt something strange. He lowered his head, only to be greeted by the sight of his braid cut off, right next to him.
“My deep apologies for the inconvenience,” Valdemar said as they put a pair of scissors down, walking out of the room to change, “I just can’t have some of your hair in the food we prepare, so I had to make some sacrifice,” they grinned from ear to ear as they stared at Valerius’ pale face, “Oh, don’t you worry, It’ll grow back before you know it.”
****
“Good morning everyone!” MC said as they watched all of the chefs come into the room, “Oh, Valerius, nice hairstyle!” they chuckled as they stared at him who still hasn’t recovered from the trauma, “Who did your hairstyle? I must say I’m quite impressed.”
“Valdemar, they, I, I was sleeping and, and, that plebian-” he was interrupted midsentence by Valdemar.
“No need to thank me, for my dearest colleague it’s free of charge,” they smiled, enjoying Valerius’ reaction.
“Anyway,” MC said, as they walked up to one table, “Today I will be seeing how good your pallets are and,” their gaze flew over Valerius, Vulgora, Nadia, Lucio and Portia, “Judging by how many smokers are here, my expectations are low,” they turned their head to Julian, “Sit this round out.”
Julian nodded as he walked to the back.
“Valerius, Nadia, come here,” they took blindfolders and headphones, putting them on the two of them, “Can you hear me?” MC shouted at the two of them, “Good, now,” they took a plate of foods from Scout, “Let’s begin, shall we?” they raised one spoon, putting it into Nadia’s mouth, “Boiled potato.”
“Is this pepper?” Nadia asked after she swallowed the potato.
MC raised one of Nadia’s headphones, saying: “Boiled potato.”
They walked over to Valerius, who wasn’t lucky enough to guess either. Surprisingly enough, Nadia, as well as Valerius, both guessed all of the exotic foods right, with Nadia bringing 2 and Valerius bringing one point to their team.
Next, it was Vlastomil’s and Asra’s turn. Vlastomil guessed all of the vegetables and fruits, while Asra only recognized a date as well as ham, however, Vlastomil got a heart attack as soon as he realized he ate meat.
“But I’m vegan!” he shouted.
“Still, you’re not cooking for vegans!” MC explained, “You just have to know what you’re cooking, I don’t give a fuck what you eat.”
Overall Asra got 2 and Vlastomil got 3 points.
Now it was Valdemar’s and Lucio’s turn. MC hesitantly put the food in Valdemar’s mouth, trying their best to avoid those sharp teeth.
“Brocolli. Pear. Tangerine. Lamb’s brain,” Valdemar simply stated after they’ve tasted all of the food.
“Wow,” MC said, “Impressive.”
Lucio, on the other hand, wasn’t as good.
“Um, broccoli, this, this is an… apple. Oh, I know what this is, it’s orange! This, this tastes like bacon!”
“Not even close,” MC said as they took off his headphones, “Go back in your line. Portia, Vulgora, come here.”
Portia, just like Valdemar, guessed all of the food right, Vulgora half as much.
“Now it all comes down to this,” MC said as they put on headphones.
Volta guessed 2 right, but Muriel guessed all of them!
“The six of you have just barely won!” MC said, “Change your clothes, I’m taking all six of you somewhere special. As for the five of you,” MC gestured at the brooms, “I want this place crystal clear!”
“Yes, chef!”
While the winners prepared themselves to finally go outside, the losing team went straight on to cleaning the hell’s kitchen.
“Wonder where we’ll go?” Portia said as she walked with Nadia outside.
“Honestly, any place is better than here,” she commented as she lit her cigarette, offering Portia one.
She happily took it and, once Nadia lit it for her, continued, “He told us to put on swimsuits, maybe a beach?”
“I sure hope it is!” Lucio said as he walked up to the two of them, to which Nadia only rolled her eyes.
“I can’t believe I was put in the same team as my ex-husband!” Nadia frowned at the camera, clearly pissed.
****
“Is everyone ready?” MC asked as they watched the other three walk out of the hell’s kitchen.
“Yes, chef!” the six of them said in unison.
“Very well then, let’s get going,” MC said as they gestured to a luxurious limousine.
****
“Finally!” Lucio puffed his chest as he stared at the camera, “A car worthy of me!”
****
“Can you guess where we’re going?” MC asked the six of them.
“To the beach?” Portia and Nadia guessed.
“No, but you’re close,” MC said as they stared at others.
“A pool?” Muriel asked.
“Nadia and Portia were closer.”
“To the yacht?” Julian asked.
MC smiled and, with a small nod said: “You’ve guessed it!
****
“Oh my gosh, this will be just like my childhood!” Portia happily exclaimed, “The wind blowing through my hair, the smell of saltwater in the air…” she rambled on and on, “Ohh, I can’t wait!”
****
“Can you imagine what the five of them are doing right now?” Mc asked as they sipped on champagne.
“Oh, I definitely wouldn’t want to be in their shoes,” Julian added as he finished his glass.
“Alright, now that that’s out of the way,” Valdemar said as they put the brooms in their place, “We need to make a strategy on how to win.”
“We would have won, had someone not guessed only 2 foods right,” Valerius said, eyeing Volta not so discreetly.
“Who are you to talk?” Vulgora said, getting annoyed, “You only guessed one right! You did the worst out of all of us!” it seemed that it was enough to shut Valerius up, but Vulgora continued, “And you! How did you not recognize ham of all things?”
“Because I’m vegan!” Vlastomil shouted, clearly offended.
“This can’t do,” Valdemar said with a frown, “Let’s get one thing straight,” they started talking right after the four of them shut up, “We don’t like each other,” to that all of them nodded, “But the only way we can stay in this competition is to make sure that those six are the ones who always lose.”
“Makes sense,” Vulgora said.
“So you propose that we get rid of 6 of them first?” Valerius asked.
“Exactly, then we can deal with each other later,” Valdemar nodded and, after a short pause, added, “Oh, also, I have no wish to win this competition.”
“WHAT?” the other four asked, not believing what they heard.
“You see, I have absolutely no knowledge about cooking, at all, as a matter of fact, I’m a surgeon.”
“Why did you get here then?” Vlastomil asked, confused.
“Because I made a bet with my colleague, that ginger guy in the opposite team. If I were to get further in this competition than him, he’d have to buy me three rare specimens for my research, but if he were to win I’d have to get him 30 jars filled with leeches,” they finished their sentence, rolling their eyes.
“So, what you’re saying is that you wouldn’t mind if we were to vote you off as soon as that idiot is out?”
“I’d be more than grateful,” Valdemar said with a grin.
“Seems good enough!” Volta said as she nibbled on one of the cookies. “Wait,” she asked as she ate the whole cookie in one bite, “Why were you accepted in the Hell’s kitchen?”
“Same reason why ex-husband and wife were put in the same team,” they simply shrugged, “For the drama.”
“Oh, how much I wish they were to lose,” Valerius said in front of the camera, still thinking about his braid.
“We’re opening hell’s kitchen!” MC said as everybody got to their places in the kitchen, “Don’t disappoint me again! Also, we’re one waiter short and since you are the losing team,” MC took a glance at five of them, “Valerius, you’ll be a replacement.”
Valerius only nodded as he left the kitchen.
“Vlastomil, you’ll be at the meat section,” Valdemar simply stated as they sharpened some of the knives.
“But I-” he wanted to protest, but Vulgora interrupted them.
“Stop complaining and go!”
“Alright, let’s begin,” Asra said as they read the first order, “Let’s just put the same effort as yesterday.”
***
“This will be a breeze,” Asra grinned at the camera, “The opposite team is two cooks short! There is just no way we can lose,” as soon as Asra said that a smile disappeared on their face, “Unless…”
***
“OH FUCK!” Lucio shouted, not taking their eyes off the burning pan, “Um… I may have made an oopsie…”
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?” Nadia shouted, mortified, “Someone, stop the fire!” she demanded.
Everyone gasped in shock, with Asra walking as far away from the fire as they could while Portia pulled Julian towards her before his clothes could have caught on fire as well. Muriel irked his head, trembling at the sight of fire slowly spreading to the other cookware. The fear didn’t stop him though, as he quickly found the fire extinguisher, stopping the fire.
“Oh, thank you,” Nadia said, hugging Muriel tightly, “You’ve saved us!”
“Why do I smell fire?” MC asked as they walked over to the kitchen, “Nadia, explain!”
“Lucio started a fire.”
“Oh my God,” MC said as they buried their head in both of their hands, “Did anyone get hurt?” they asked calmly, not bothering to move.
Nadia quickly took a glance at Lucio and Muriel. She knew very well that Lucio would complain like a little child had he gotten a single bruise. Muriel didn’t seem hurt either, in fact, he turned away, going back to his station as if nothing happened.
“No, sir, everyone is fine,” Nadia stated.
“Nadia, go back to the station, as for you Lucio,” MC raised their head, staring at Lucio as if they were about to murder him on the spot, “I want the oven spotless and you as far away from it as POSSIBLE!!!”
“Yes, yes, sir,” Lucio visibly shook as he got to work.
“Come on, this is our chance!” Vulgora shouted as they cut some meat, handing it over to Vlastomil, “DON’T,” they said before Vlastomil could even start complaining.
“Is the shrimp pasta done?” Scout asked.
“We’re on it!” Volta said as Valdemar gave her a prepared sauce. She carefully poured it over the pasta, fighting the urge not to stuff her face with the food like yesterday. As soon as they were done, she carefully carried it over to Scout, who nodded in approval.
Soon enough Valerius walked over, picking up the plate, taking a glance at both kitchens. Sure, his team was very slow, with only a couple of dishes out, but the other team was somehow far worse. He smirked as he walked over to the table.
“Your order,” he said as he put the plate down, “I hope you enjoy it,” he said with a smile plastered on his face as he walked over to the other table.
“Good evening,” he said as he eyed the customers, “How can I help you?”
“Oh, hi there~” a woman greeted him happily as she played with the blue fabric of the dress, “So, I’d like…” she stared at the menu for a moment, then pointed out at one dish, “This. As for the drink…” she thought for a moment, “I’d like some champagne!”
“Champagne along with that food?” Valerius asked, disappointed, as well as one of the men sitting with the girl.
“Seriously Star,” an older man shrugged, “Everyone knows that red wine would go much better with it.”
“Oh, then I’ll take the red wine,” she said, a bit embarrassed that she had to be corrected by her colleague.
“Agreed,” Valerius said as he wrote down her order, “What would you like, sir?”
“I’d like some pasta, no meat,” he added, “I’m a vegetarian.”
Valerius wrote the order down and, just before he could hand the order over to the opposite team, one of the customers called for him. He turned around, hiding his annoyance, “Is something the matter, sir?” he asked.
“Look at this crap!” the woman gestured at her plate, “It looks disgusting!”
Although he’d gladly agree with the woman, just because that would put the opposite team in a terrible position, Valerius knew there was nothing wrong with the dish. “My apologies, but I don’t seem to understand. What are you complaining about?”
“It’s too hot for me to eat it! And look at the colours!”
Valerius took another glance at the plate and after a moment continued talking with less patience, “What do you want me to do? To blow your food? Just wait for it to cool down like all of the civilized people for God’s sake. Stop wasting my time,” he said as he went back into the kitchen, handing Scout all of the orders.
“Hey, I’m not done!” she shouted as she walked over to chef MC, “Sir, you need to put your waiters in their place!” she shouted at MC, “I have never been disrespected like this in my entire life!”
“What a coincidence, I can say the same,” Valerius commented, unbothered, as he took the plates, walking away from her, adding, “Apologies for not cooling your food down.”
“See?” she pointed at Valerius, “I demand-”
“Miss, I’m working here,” MC said with a deep frown on their face, “Nobody has the time to listen to your stupid complaints,” they added as they wrote something down on the paper, “Please return when you have a reasonable complaint, if not, go to the psychiatrist and solve your issues. Don’t lash out your anger on my staff.”
“How bold of you to complain about my anger!” she wanted to continue, but as soon as she saw MC’s cold face, stopped, going back to her seat.
“Look at that idiot,” Vulgora laughed as they chopped some meat, taking a glance at Volta who was devouring the returned food, “Hey, what are you doing?!? Get back to your station!!!”
“Oh come on,” MC frowned as they watched Volta go back, “Speed it up, speed it up! Stop wasting time on the leftovers!”
Volta nodded, her mouth still full of food.
“My grandma would cook faster than all of you!” they shouted, taking a glance at how the other kitchen was doing, and oh boy, they had what to see.
The other kitchen was a mess. Portia accidentally spilt the boiling water on poor Lucio’s arm and it seemed that Asra and Muriel enjoyed the sight while Nadia and Julian pretended to not hear Lucio’s screams.
“Are you alright?” Portia asked, worried, “I’m so sorry!” she said as she grabbed his hand, only to find out that Lucio was pretending.
“Got ya!” he shouted like a little kid as he showed her his metal arm, “As for you,” he turned to the other three, but before he could make any remark, he noticed MC looking at them, their face turning redder and redder every moment.
“What in the world is going on?!?” they shouted, losing all of their patience. Within a moment the restaurant was closed and all of the chefs shivered in front of MC.
“You were terrible, disgusting!” they shouted and paused, trying to calm themselves down, “You,” they turned to Volta, “I believe we’ve talked about not eating food during the job.”
“Yes, but Volta couldn’t help herself,” she quickly explained, “Volta is sorry-” she would have continued, but MC raised their hand, signalling for her to stop.
“Your team was so terribly slow-”
“But we were two cooks short! Of course, we’d be slow!” Vulgora protested.
“I know that,” MC stated calmly, “You were also most complimented, especially the meat dishes. Who was in the meat section anyway?” they asked as all of them pointed at Vlastomil. At the sight of him, MC couldn’t help but forget all of the rage they felt. After a good minute of laughter, they continued, “Seriously, you made the dishes?” they wiped off the tears in their eyes, “Good job. Keep it up,” they said as they left Vlastomil to dwell in his existential crisis.
“I…” Vlastomil said, not bothering to stare at the camera, “I’ve been a vegetarian my whole life! I’ve never had any meat in my house…” he paused for a moment, still trying to process MC’s compliment, “So why did people enjoy my food?”
“As for you,” they turned to the other team, “Yesterday you were, you were amazing, how did it all change in one night? I believe it’s obvious who is the losing team. Muriel, you were the best of the worst, choose two candidates for the elimination,” with that, MC left the two teams on their own.
“Bye bye Lucio!” Vulgora grinned.
“What do you mean?! I’m not getting eliminated.”
After that sentence, everyone stared at him, thinking the same thing – could Lucio really be this dumb?
“What if, what if I get eliminated,” Portia started to get worried, “I mean, I could’ve seriously harmed someone,” she continued with her blabbering, “Oh, what will I do?” she started crying.
“Oh come on, don’t be like that,” Julian reassured her, “Everything will be fine.”
“No, it won’t!” Portia said, “I could have seriously hurt someone, do you think MC will let that slide?” she stared at Julian, her eyes becoming glossier.
“Look, you made no damage whatsoever,” Julian explained calmly as he tried to soothe his sister down, “That idiot could’ve burned the whole restaurant down.”
“Hey, don’t bring me into this!” Lucio shouted, “You did nothing the whole time! You were slow, unorganized and most of your dishes were returned!”
Julian ignored his comments, turning to Muriel, “Please don’t choose Portia,” he begged, “Choose me!”
Lucio turned to Muriel as well, “Don’t even think about choosing me!”
Muriel didn’t say a thing, instead, he just sighed, leaving the room.
“He… he won’t vote for me, right?” Lucio asked, feeling nervous.
~~~
“So, Muriel,” MC said as all of the chefs aligned, “Who do you choose and why?”
“I choose Lucio and Portia,” he felt shame as Portia’s name came out of his mouth, but there is no turning back now, “Lucio could’ve nearly burned the kitchen down had I not stepped in,” he simply explained, “As for Portia, she could’ve harmed someone with that boiling water,” he quickly added, trying to make Portia sound as good as possible, “Also, Lucio’s fake screams were completely immature. Such serious injuries shouldn’t be joked about.”
“Wait, please,” Julian walked out of the line, “I should be eliminated!” as soon as he said that, a smirk appeared on one certain doctor’s face, “I didn’t do anything when the fire started, I ignored Lucio’s cries and many people complained about my food! I, I’m not even a chef! I’m a doctor. There is no reason to keep me in the competition!”
MC stared at him, thinking about everything he said, “Very well then, if you’re so eager, join these two,” they gestured at Lucio and Portia.
“The person that will be eliminated from this competition is…” MC finally continued talking after a long pause, “Julian. Take your things and leave Hell’s kitchen.”
Despite the loss, Julian smiled brightly at MC. “Thank you for not choosing Pasha!”
“It, it’s happening!” Valdemar said happily as he stared at the camera, “Oh, what is this… feeling?” they stared at their hands, “Is it joy? Yes, it, it must be it, I have never felt so good. Oh, this is a dream come true, trust me, there is no better feeling than finally proving an idiot wrong. I just cannot wait to come back to my ordination, I should better start writing down the list of specimen I want!” they squealed like a high school girl, making the cameraman quite uncomfortable.
“Well, it sucks that I’ve lost the bet with Valdemar,” Julian admitted, “But at least my sister can keep going. I genuinely hope she can win and achieve her dream!” he said as he walked out of the Hell’s kitchen.