"Stand and deliver! Your souffle or your life!" Uotani shouted, advancing on the ghost with her frying pan at the ready. The ghost only smirked, though, and sunk into the stove, taking Uotani's carefully-prepared souffle with it. She sighed irritatedly and ran a hand through her hair. Another dish lost. There was no way to win!
"Damnit!" she said, kicking the stove. A low chuckle emanated from a burner. She narrowed her eyes. That was it. She drew back the frying pan to destroy the stove with it, but before she could, she heard a voice from behind her.
"Don't do that," the voice said. "You'll only dent the pan."
Uotani turned around and smiled with relief. "Hana-chan!" she said. "I thought you were dead!"
"After a time, all things are curable, even death," Hanajima said, stepping forward. "Let me have a turn, Uo-chan, but be ready with that pan."
"Right," Uotani said. She readied her frying pan, but thought better of it and brought out a double-boiler instead. Hanajima nodded in approval, then focused on the stove.
"Powers of electricity!" she said. A small ball of light appeared in her hands. "I call upon thee to bring this battle to a shocking conclusion!"
"That line is so lame," Uotani said as Hanajima flung the ball into the stove.
"I know," Hanajima answered. "But that's what I have to do to get the spell to work."
There was a blaze of light from the stove. The ghost came howling out, souffle clutched in his spasming hands. Uotani acted quickly. She swung the double-boiler through the ghost, which disappeared with a hideous wail. Uotani reveled in her triumph for a moment before she remembered: the souffle! She looked around frantically, but it wasn't on the floor.
"Don't worry," Hanajima said. "It didn't even deflate." She held the souffle she had miraculously rescued out to Uotani, who took it with a relieved sigh. She deposited it in the bin and was about to start her next dish when a buzzer rang and the world went black.
"Time's up!" came the obnoxious voice of the arcade attendant. Uotani sighed and took off her headset. They'd been this close to beating the level. She waited while Hanajima took off her own headset, then exited the "stage area" with her friend. They stood there for a time, watching the other people play the new "Haunted Kitchen" game.
"Hey Hana-chan," Uotani said. "Is it just me, or are these virtual-reality games getting weirder and weirder?"
"Yes," Hanajima answered. "However, they are still not as weird as we are."
Uotani smiled, thinking of Tohru and the crazy family they'd come to meet through her. "Yeah," she said. "Not even close."
