Fan Fiction ❯ The Complete History of Iron Chef (Abridged) ❯ Act 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Act 2: 1996-1997

1996

Houou: Michiba announced his retirement.

Everyone: WHAAAAAT?

Houou: And to give him a going away with style, the 1995 Mr. Iron Chef Tournament was held.

William: Unlike the last one, Chen and Sakai battled over who would face Michiba.

Sakai and Chen: [trying to strangle each other]

William: You don't battle like that.

Houou: Chen beat Sakai.

Sakai: Awwww…

Houou: Don't worry; you'll get your dues in later.

William: And Michiba beat Chen.

Michiba: I'm the best! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a golf game with the next Iron Chef Japanese.

William: You're not supposed to tell us that!

Michiba: Oops, sowwy.

Kandagawa: Hahahaha! Now that Michiba's out of the way, I can become the Iron Chef!

Houou: Why do so many people want to be an Iron Chef?

Nakamura: Free pjs, duh.

William: AND YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE YET! [shoves Nakamura off]

Sakai: Besides, I beat his apprentice, so no free pjs for him.

Kandagawa: I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!!!!

Nakamura: Now?

William: Now.

Nakamura: My name's Nakamura Koumei, and I'm the new Iron Chef Japanese.

Everyone: Hi, Koumei.

William: Then in April, everyone went to France.

Houou: Nakamura went against one of France's greatest chefs, Bernard LePrince.

William: Remember Pierre Gagnaire? Well, bad economy forced him to close his restaurant, so Kaga gave him one last hurrah against Sakai in the 25 hour battle.

Houou: During the battle, Sakai and Gagnaire traveled across France to get ingredients for the battle, including the theme, homard lobster, before coming back after 24 hours to battle at Kaga's friend's castle.

William: Both Iron Chefs lost, but the France Battles gave rise to the `Kishi Factor' where Kishi Asako, a regular judge, gave a bigger margin of difference between scores.

Houou: It made the difference in quite a few battles.

Kishi: Admit it, I'm good.

William: And then they went to Beijing for the four Chinese cuisines, Hong Kong, Peking, Cantonese, and Szechuan, to do battle. Iron Chef Chen, the Szechuan representative, is victor.

Chen: This one's for you, Dad!

William: Wayne Nish becomes the second American to challenge Kitchen Stadium.

Houou: He got his butt whupped two ways. Sakai beat him in Battle Apple, and well…

Sakai: Allow me. [calmly peels and apple while everyone stares]

William: Wow.

Houou: That's not normal.

Kaga: [dragging Michiba in] Okay, I got him!

Michiba: Noooo, I'm supposed to be retired!

Kaga: One battle won't kill you.

Houou: On December 31, Michiba and Nakamura battled each other in battle Osechi. It's one of the few episodes aired live, and 100 people served as judges.

William: With a score of 55 to 45, Nakamura wins.

1997

Houou: I love revenge matches.

William: All March, Chairman Kaga brought 4 challengers that lost back to Kitchen Stadium for revenge matches.

Houou: Two of said challengers were Wakiya Yuji and Jou Etsuo.

William: When the show began, there was supposed to be 4 Iron Chefs, but one still had training to finish.

Houou: But on June 3…

Kobe: [runs in panting] Sorry I'm late!!!

Houou: Kobe Masahiko became the first Iron Chef Italian.

William: After Kobe's first victory, a tag match between the Iron Chefs was initiated.

Houou: On one side was Sakai and Kobe.

Sakai: Okay, we're doing this, this, and this.

Kobe: Yes sempai.

William: While the other side had Nakamura and Chen.

Nakamura: I had an idea that Kishi liked!

Chen: Go Koumei! [high fives him]

Kishi: I didn't like what Chen did to this other dish, though.

Nakamura: Baka! [whacks Chen]

William: The European team won.

Kaga: I don't care what your reasons are. Your dishes are horrible, and I'm demanding a rematch!

Houou: Due to difficulties involving both Nakamura and Kojima Yoshinori, Kaga declared that the dishes cannot be judged and issues a rematch.

William: This year's World Cup was held at Arashiyama, Kyoto. The third American challenger, Peter Clark, appeared on here.

Houou: As for the result.

Kaga: The scores are tied. A draw!

Nakamura and Passard: WHAAAAATTTT????

Houou: Nakamura and Alain Passard tied in the final, so the tournament was declared a draw.

William: So who gets this? [holds up freaky trophy thing]

Passard: Give me!

Nakamura: It's mine!

[They begin tug of warring with it.]

William: Kandagawa challenged Nakamura to a battle.

Kandagawa: Hahahaha, I will take you down!

Nakamura: [eases up on trophy thing, so Passard pulls it away] If he beats me, I'll resign.

Kaga: The winner…Kandagawa Toshiro!!!

Nakamura: NOOOO!!!!

William: What became of this? Well….