A Tale of Two Pizza's Ongoing Contest (WEEK 9)

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The story so far (in order):

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Chef Charlie jumped and turned quickly away from the clay oven as Danny Rupert entered the kitchen and greeted him.
"They'll be ready in just a few minutes Danny, if you prefer to wait in the dining room we will bring them up to you piping hot!"
"Nonsense! I'll wait and taste them fresh out of the oven!" He took a seat on one of the stools at the end of the long prep counter. He seemed at home in the kitchen- almost as comfortable with the space as Charlie himself.

"Now tell me Charlie, how do YOU think Frankches' pizza will fare?" He glanced over his shoulder at Otto and Frankches coming back into the kitchen before transfixing Charlie with a stare.

"Well... he certainly seems to have a way with his dough, Danny. It's hard to say- none of the other apprentices have come close to his skill or listened to my advice as he has." Charlie pondered for a moment, then shook himself. "I'd say it's possible his will be the better pizza..." It was obviously difficult for Charlie to admit even the possibility that he had been surpassed. Danny noticed.

"Don't worry Charlie, I am sure your pizza will be perfect as ever! There is no doubt in my mind that we will need both of your skills- no matter the outcome of todays tasting!" Danny chuckled momentarily then took a deep breath. "It smells truly delectable right now- they must be nearly ready?" His stomach rumbled audibly.
"Just a moment or two longer!" Frankches chimed in from where he stood with Otto, just inside the door.

"Ha! You certainly have your timing down if you can answer without checking first Frankches! Well done! You heard me ask Charlie- well fair is fair, how do YOU think your pizza will measure up to Charlie's?" Danny met Frankches' eyes as he put the poor boy in the hot seat, just as he had Charlie.

"I... I..." Frankches hesitated, nodded his head almost imperceptibly, then said "My Pizza will be better, Sir." Danny instantly burst into raucous laughter, practically roaring with mirth. Otto and Charlie nervously joined in while Frankches just stood there. Just as Danny was calming down Frankches asked "What's so funny?" Which only served to start Danny laughing even harder.

Once Danny managed to catch his breath he said "Did you hear that Charlie! He certainly has confidence! Of course you do, boy, that is the confidence of youth! I can almost believe that you could beat Charlie- he said so himself and he takes his Pizza seriously!" Danny wiped tears from his eye and let loose another chuckle. "Did you know Charlie sourced most of our ingredients himself? He went and found farmers willing to grow tomatoes to his liking, harvested wild basil and oregano to start cultivating them again, found a man that knew how to make mozzarella. He sifted through actual tons of wheat to find the farmer producing the best grain. I put him through the wringer day after day demanding a taste of the world we have lost... His eyebrows have only just grown back in... but he delivered. Charlie's blood, sweat, and tears will be in every bite of BOTH the Pizza's I am about to taste, young Frankches. Both of these Pizza's are Charlie's, as surely as I am the Pizza Baron. You may have a way with dough, you may have helped us tweak our recipe... And your Pizza may be the finer one today... if it is you've only accomplished it by standing on the shoulders of a giant. Are you really prepared to claim you are taller than he is?" As Danny spoke Charlie seemed to swell up with pride, relief was stark on his face as he realized his position truly was safe. Danny obviously valued his work, resourcefulness, and commitment to Pizza!

The pride and relief lasted only a moment, however, as he remembered what he had done to Frankches Pizza when he was alone in the kitchen... Danny would surely realize as soon as he bit into it. He picked up the wooden paddle and turned away from Danny to hide the consternation on his face and to pull the perfectly cooked pizzas out of the oven. He did his best to remain composed, barely a tremor passed down the long paddle as he scooped first one, then the other from the fiery depths and onto the prep table for slicing.

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The rules for this week remain the same as previous weeks!

I'd like to continue building on the story of the Pizza Baron and his post apocalyptic world. Each week I'll pick a winner that becomes the next piece of the story and wins 20 $PIZZA and a 5 SBI sponsorship from me. I may award additional prizes if I feel multiple entries expand the story well.

Each week I'll write a post announcing the winner and then I will write another chunk of the story and open it up again for the next weeks competition. I'll compile the winning entry for each week. If we reach a conclusion of the epic tale of the Pizza Baron I'll divide another TBD amount of PIZZA among all the winning entries throughout the whole story and publish the finished story here on Hive with all the contributors as beneficiaries. If this goes well we might have the first open source blockchain novella on our hands! 😂

The first weeks contest established a secondary storyline that may be tied back into the main plot if you so wish!

Bear in mind this is an experiment as well as a competition so we will see how many entries I get and how well it goes!

Rules:

Entries must be more than 200 words but less than 1000.

Entries must use the hivepizza tag

Entries must comment on this post with the link to their entry

Entries must fit in the world/scenario that has developed from the previous weeks contest(s). You are free to develop characters, introduce new ones, invite aliens to the feast, I don't care as long it makes some kind of sense in the context! The Pizza Baron should remain relevant to the plot!
(I've named it a Tale of TWO Pizza's for a reason HINT HINT)