Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon, it's characters, or the concept of "Iron Chef", although I guess that second part isn't completely obvious. Whatever. Just have fun trying to figure everything out.

Prologue

"Yo Mayor! There's something I've always wanted to ask you!"

"Go ahead, son. Shoot".

Within Flower Bud Village, two men were in deep discussion within the Mayor's house.

One wore blue suspenders over a white shirt with a backwards blue cap on top, having two tufts of brown hair sticking out at the side. He was the famous farmer Jack, whose old city-slicker ways managed to win over the hearts of the numerous colorful villagers, especially that of his lovely wife, Lyla.

The other is a short, middle-aged political figure in a snazzy red outfit with a big black top hat. Below his round nose was a big brown mustache that went along with his neatly-fixed brown hair. He was Mayor Theodore, head of Flower Bud Village.

"I've heard that some of the other rural villages get together during the Fall to do some sort of Cooking Contest Festival. The closest thing we seem to have around is the Harvest Festival, but we just gather around try everyone's dishes. What gives? Why don't we have a competition for this kind of thing, anyway? It would be the perfect excuse to give another power berry or something!" Jack complained.

Undaunted, Mayor Theodore gave a simple chuckle. "My dear Jack, in Flower Bud Village, we would preffer not to encourage this kind of competition amongst our fair citizen. We believe that the joy of cooking in itself is a reward beyond what any contest could offer!"

Jack gave him a funny look. "You're just saying that so you don't encourage the participation of a few... "unfavorable" competitors in this village, aren't you?"

Caught by surprise, Mayor Theodore went into a coughing fit. "Wha- I... I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Jack my friend!"

Jack simply replied with a disgusted glare.

"Okay, okay... you're right. But not only are we afraid of "unsavory" competition, we are at an all-time shortage of power berries, and it would seem silly to offer fodder or bird feed as a prize" Mayor Theodore explained, "BUT... we HAVE considered the absence of a true cooking contest, and our citizens have established a most wonderful style of cooking contest both unique and exciting compared to any typical cooking contest!"

Jack still looked most skeptical. "In what way?" he demanded.

"Instead of having a bunch of amateur cooks going at it for the title, Flower Bud Village feels a more "outreaching" approach is more appropriate. We'll put our village's best chef against any eager outsider! It'll be the best way to let the world know of our culinary excellence!"

"That's... a bit braggish," Jack sighed "I know Flower Bud Village has plenty of good cooks, but I happen to know by my experiences that there are plenty other talented chefs out in the world. Actually, I remember this girl, I believe she was Popuri of Mineral Town, and her Chocolate Cake was---"

"Silence, Son! Don't interrupt me when I'm on a roll!" Mayor Theodore cried. "Anyway, due to the recent booming business our humble burg has experienced, I've managed to gather enough resources to advertise some interesting prizes able to entice any curious outsider! It won't be a simple cooking contest, it'll be a cooking duel between two accomplished individuals, a mysterious underdog testing his or her abilities against our super chef! Witnesses of our annual event will swoon in awe as they compete for the title of... Harvest Chef!"

Jack started twitching upon hearing this. "... You know, you could STILL give these wonderful prizes in any old cooking contest, and the "title" seems a bit... much. You realize you're overdoing this a bit, don't you?"

"Nonsense!" Mayor Theodore scoffed. "While we've been lucky enough to receive some permanent residence thanks to the new Land Deal I proposed, we still lack sufficient communing! No village can grow properly without more business! At our rate, we won't be able to expand our economy, or even build a snazzy new movie theatre!"

"Movie Theatre.. right... y'know, if I truly wished to have one of those nearby, I never would've moved from the city" Jack groaned. "Anyway, I'm really curious now. Who IS our "Harvest Chef", anyway?"

Mayor Theodore laughed with utter confidence. "To ensure Flower Bud Village has its best representative, I set up a poll by the bulletin board in the Village Square, and by an overwhelming majority vote, the people have chosen Carl as our Harvest Chef!" he boasted.

"Carl, huh? Well, I suppose he'll do. Gwen must be disappointed, though. She really has her heart set on a cooking career, other than her horse riding hobby, y'know" said Jack.

"Indeed it is, but the people have spoken. Just between you and me, Gwen did received quite a few votes herself to come in second, and Ellen came at an honorable third. But then... for some inexplicable reason, Katie received one vote" the Mayor explained.

"Really.. I wonder who voted for her?" Jack said in sarcasm.

"Yes... that's one mystery I'll never understand" Mayor Theodore said, actually meaning it..

In disbelief, Jack gave Mayor Theodore a blank stare.

"Anyway, since you know Flower Bud Village's official Harvest Chef, I suppose you deserve the chance to know the competition. The Harvest Chef Competition will be needing three trustworthy judges, and I would be honored if you would accept this position"

Surprised by the sudden news, Jack cheerfully grinned. "Really, well, that's nice, Mayor! Sure, I'll accept! And you can count on me to give my best critique, too!" Curiously, Jack looked at a manila envelope in Mayor Theodore's hands. "Okay! Go ahead and let me at the file on our challenger! I've gotta see this!" he exclaimed.

"Here you go, Jack my boy!" Mayor Theodore grinned. "Our first challenger's quite the looker, to be honest. We'll be getting a huge audience with this one!"

"Really? Well, it's a good thing this isn't a beauty contest! Lyla could get jealous in an instant if she knew I was judging something like that. And... I don't know how I'd react to seeing Carl in a bathing suit" Jack chuckled as he opened the envelope.

Mayor Theodore gave a hearty laugh. "That's true! Things would get ugly "

After removing the challenger's application from the envelope, Jack quickly scanned through the profile and picture. Upon recognizing the person in the picture, Jack was immediately filled with sheer terror . "It's... HER! You mean... SHE'S... coming... HERE? ... SHE'S... COMPETING?"

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody

Harvest Chef

A week passed. The villagers eagerly gathered around Flower Bud Square, awaiting the start of the 1st annual "Harvest Chef" competition. A huge stage was set up in the northern section, with a podium, a big screen, and the Judge's table already fixed up. The table was decorated with a fancy red cloth and long enough to hold three chairs. An electric generator stood where the blue bin usually stood. A few tables, set up neatly with some kitchen utensils and prime ingredients were set up a fair amount of space in front of the podium. To the right of these tables In the southernmost area, tall bleachers faced the cooking arena.

While everyone was chatting around the bleachers, a worried Jack rested his on his folded arms at the Judge's Table. Soon, a beautiful young lady with wavy pink hair in a blue dress immediately approached him.

"Darling! I heard some interesting news! An old friend of yours is coming for the Harvest Chef competition, am I right?"

Jack raised his ever so slightly to get a good sight of his wife. "Lyla! Yeah, I suppose that's cause for celebration" he said half-heartedly.

Lyla expressed some sudden concern. "Darling, are you okay? You… don't sound too thrilled"

Jack gave a deep sigh. "It's... going to be tough being the judge. It'll be good seeing an old friend after so long, but I'm extremely worried with what'll happen during the event"

"What do you mean? Are you worried you'll hurt your friend if her food isn't better?" Lyla asked.

"It's much worse than that..." Jack emphasized. He then got close to his loving wife's ear and whispered something very discreetly to her.

"She's WHAT?" Lyla exclaimed.

"Yeah, I don't understand why she bothered coming here for the competition. It was Charcoaled Chicken for one meal, and Raw Egg Soup for another. I'm not even sure if I can safely share some of her "desserts". She could probably outdo Katie in a Toxic Cooking Competition if they made one! And I'M a JUDGE, Lyla! What am I supposed to do? I can't just back out on my duty just to save myself! They'll know something's up! I can't do that to her!"

Lyla thought for a moment, then sighed. "I'll... ask Doctor Alex to come back with some medicines to treat you Judges. I can't allow my husband, or anybody to die from careless food poisoning!"

"Why can't we just call it off? Find a convenient excuse or distraction to cancel the entire event?" Jack asked.

Both of them looked at Mayor Theodore in unison. They had a bad feeling about what he might do if the event were cancelled. From what they remembered, Mayor Theodore went ballistic the last time the Egg Festival almost got cancelled, ranting on about "commerce" and political junk, and threatening to close down Lyla's gift shop from his madness.

"Oh, right. The Mayor has issues" Jack uttered with an agitated stare.

"Just please hold on in the mean time, Darling. At the very least, it'll be heartfelt reunion with your old friend, right? Good luck!" Lyla said. With that, she left her husband with a soft peck on the lips and made her way to the bleachers. Jack's face turned bright red in response.

"Thank the Harvest Goddess... I really love that woman", Jack thought to himself in his brief moment of bliss.

"May I have your attention, please? Will every person NOT participating or not acting as judges please take a seat at the bleachers? The Harvest Chef Competition is about to begin!" Mayor Theodore announced from a microphone.

The spectators scrambled to get a decent seat for the show, while Jack gave a deep sigh, and looked anxiously at his wife.

"Lyla, please pray for my good health. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it past this day" he thought anxiously.

Ten minutes passed. The three designated judges already made it to their positions, and the Mayor is happily standing by a big lever. Not too far away, a shadowy figure awaited to make an appearance for the big event.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls! It is now time for Flower Bud Village's First Annual Harvest Chef Competition!" Mayor Theodore cried.

The crowd gave a big cheer, while the three judges simply applauded.

"Before we meet our competitors, let us first turn our attention to the three Judges who will be trying their special dishes!"

The entire crowd turned their attention to the Judges' Table.

"In our first seat, you've known him for his professionals cooking advice on his TV show, you've certainly seen him trying the foods at our annual Harvest Festival, but if you were REALLY lucky, you might've seen him sometime hunting for truffles with his former pet pig. May I present to you... GOURMET!"

The audience applauded for a big fat man in a nice purple suit with a matching top hat. Not only was his stomach and face huge, but his lips as well. This may have further contributed to his quantity of eating consumption, and people were very afraid to bother asking if he was born with that big mouth. Despite his lack of outer charisma, people have come to respect him as an honorable taster of foods. Or maybe because cause he might be rich. There must be some reason he wears a suit, after all. In response, Gourmet simply waved cheerfully to the crowd.

"Next, you know him as Flower Bud Village's new farmer! His efforts have attracted some interesting businesses to our fair village, and he's even managed to hold his own against Resident Rancher Jamie in numerous competitions! No matter what, though, he'll always be #1 in the hearts of our villagers thanks to his selfless work for the village ! Please give it up to... JACK!"

The audience cried, cheered, screamed, and clapped with all their heart. In his days at Flower Bud Village, Jack had made friends with a whole lot of the villagers thanks to his uncanny social skills, and his willingness to help out others, even if he did have the occasional evil streak. Their response was of little surprise to anyone, especially Jack. The lovable farmer answered with a peace sign from his right hand, along with some sheepish laughter.

"We're all going to die, aren't we?" Jack thought to himself.

"Now then! On to our final Judge! We have no clue exactly where she hails from, but she's a well-known wanderer who makes it her priority to take a vacation here every summer! She loves tomatoes, appreciates ancient relics, and digs moonstones, too! You all know her well enough from her daily news report as the know-it-all Weather Girl! Here she is, right now... NAMI!"

The crowd roared and whistled as they turned their attention to a poker-faced young woman with short red hair, sporting a short-sleeved, blue checker shirt over a yellow top with some jean shorts completing her outfit. Some were astounded as how they managed to get this rare visitor to Judge this special cooking contest at a moment's notice, but few actually cared. She was highly respected by the intellectuals, amazingly friendly towards the shy individuals, and pretty popular amongst the guys. She wasn't exactly the sexiest woman in existence, but she was a cool, composed, mystery woman, and that type seems to catch the attention of some people. Nami gave a simple wave and assumed her position. The audience responded back with even harder cheering than before. Nami shrugged as a reaction.

"Okay! Now that you have all been acquainted with the Judges, it's time for the main event! Alright everybody... LET'S GET READY TO SIZZZZLLLEEEEEEEE!"

The anxious crowd cheered once more. They were wound up for the big event, expecting a really impressive live cooking show.

"Our Challenger for Tonight comes all the way from Mineral Town. Her interests consist of flirting, helping out with her parents, and most of all, wine! Everybody please give a round of a pause to our special guest... KAREN!"

The shadowy figure finally made her way to center stage. Nearly all the men stared as she came into clear view. She was drop dead gorgeous. Her long, brunette hair with two bleached bangs flowed beautifully in the wind. Her shining green eyes seemed to sparkle with the sun. Her great figure was clothed in a white sleeveless shirt underneath a purple collared vest. On the lower half, she wore a pair of jean shorts of her own, held up by a black belt. She also wore long with socks underneath some brown, laced shoes. Her seductive smile and casual wave really captivated the male audience, while a portion of the female audience looked forward in half awe, half jealousy.

Karen then turned to face the Judges' table and prepared to make a personal appeal to them, only to spot Jack in the middle. She then waved her arm nervously at her old friend and wore a more carefree smile. " HEY JACK! HOW ARE YOU! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU'D BE JUDGING THE COMPETITION!" she cried out in excitement.

Upon hearing this, Jack smacked his forehead directly onto the table. "I'm doomed, aren't I? No matter what kind of delicious cooking Carl can make, it will never compensate for the horror that is Karen... I'm doomed... that's it... I hope you can be strong for me, Lyla..." he thought.

Karen glared in confusion, but then she shrugged it off and made her way to a cooking station.

The audience remained loud and active until the Mayor quelled them down. Upon the silence, Ellen leapt out of her seat in the audience and made a mad dash towards the stage.

"Now.. for the moment you've all been waiting for! The villagers have chosen this special contender as our champion chef! I have the utmost confidence that our representative will give us an excellent show, but will Karen be able to make a worthy rival and stand up Flower Bud's personal cooking juggernaut? Ladies and Gentlemen, by popular decision, you've voted for him, tried his food, and now for the very first time he will loan his cooking expertise for a very special live performance! He is the undisputed King of Cookery, and Flower Bud Village's very own Harvest Chef... CAAA---'

But before Mayor Theodore could finish calling out the name, Ellen grabbed him to the side and whispered something in a dire tone. Mayor Theodore gave panicked cough, which was amplified through the sound system, then out of nowhere, he regained his composure.

"Well, folks. It seems like Our chosen Harvest Chef champion came down with a last minute cold, so he sent in a replacement so that the title can still be defended for the sake of our village"

The audience murmured amongst themselves, while Jack gagged. Nami turned to her fellow judge and gave him a curious look.

"Ummm... Jack? Do you understand what's going on?" she asked with little feeling in her voice.

"Oh, great... this can only mean one thing..." Jack groaned in thought.

Mayor Theodore pulled the lever right beside him, and a trap door slowly rose. "Please welcome Flower Bud Village's First Acting Harvest Chef... KATIE!"

The trapdoor finally rose, revealing the full view of their Replacement Champion. The childish apprentice chef had pretty red locks bundled in curls and decorated with black ribbon bows. She also wore a frilly black dress, completing a really girly appearance.

In her enthusiasm, Katie blew kisses to a completely silent crowd. "Thank you! Thank you for giving me this chance to prove my worth! I'll show you ALL that I'M the one who TRULY deserves the honors of HARVEST CHEF! YAY!" Katie cheered, but everyone was too dumbfounded to answer back.

The only sound that accompanied Katie's cheers was the constant banging of Jack's head upon the Judges' table. Katie ignored this, and continued her convoluted acceptance speech.

It was going to be a long day in Flower Bud Village...