"Hey everyone, it's JC and Pauline here at the Dino Dome where we're doing the bonus round for the Year of the Dragon: the Fire-Breathing Curry Contest."
"Now, this is a bit of a deviation from the usual Chinese theme of this event," said Pauline, "In most Asian cultures, particularly China, dragons are associated with water and are more likely to breathe mist than flames."
"Still, the image of the fire-breathing dragon is deeply ingrained in European mythology and has gone on to influence many dragons that have appeared in video games, TV, and movies ever since," said JC. At this, several clips were shown of various dragons from different movies, cartoons, video games, etc., each breathing large blasts of flames. It then cut back to JC, digitally looking blackened and smoking. He coughed and said, "See what I mean?"
"As such, this contest is not a requirement. Contestants do not lose any points for not participating. However, they can collect bonus points here which can make a small critical difference in tallying up the points to win the entire competition," said Pauline, "And currently, the contestants are looking pretty close. We have Mr. M, Rex, and Roland leading for the males and Heather, Regina, and Sophie leading for the females. The Race Up Zodiac Mountain man not necessarily decide things. This is where any extra edge could help."
==========
The Fire-Breathing Curry Contest was in the Dino Dome's cafeteria. There were several tables set up for the contestants. There was also one longer table near the wall. On that table were five large pots. In front of each pot was a sign with a number, obviously indicating the spicy levels of the pot's contents. Number 1 had a picture of a small dragon that was breathing out a small flame. This escalated with each sign until Number 5 had a large dragon that was breathing lots of fire.
"The rules for this contest are simple," said JC, "The pots here are filled with curry made by local restaurants. Each one is clearly marked with their spice level starting from 1 and going up to 5. Each contestant will have one helping from a pot and eat it with rice. After that, the contestants will be timed to see who can go the longest before drinking the provided milk to cool their tongues."
"Of course, the scoring system is a little more involved than that," said Pauline, "First off, one point is added at each 10 seconds. And those points will be multiplied with the number of the curry spiciness. So someone who had a Level 1 curry and held out for 29 seconds before drinking milk would only get 2 points. To get a significant amounts here, a contestant must have eat a higher-level curry and wait long enough before cooling their mouths."
"This is not a contest where a lot of people can score big points," said JC, "In fact, there are certain risk factors to eating very spicy foods. Those include heartburn, stomach burns, and vomiting. Which is why a bucket is also provided in the event there is a particularly bad reaction."
"So it's just as well that this is not a required contest. And there's a reason why there aren't any fire-breathing dragons in Chinese mythology," said Pauline.
"Actually, did a little digging into that," said JC, "There are dragons who breathe fire in Chinese mythology, but those dragons were sent from the heavens to the earth as punishment."
"That's interesting," said Pauline, "Wait, was it the dragons being punished or were the dragons the punishment?"
Just then, the buzzer sounded and JC said, "Oh, and here comes our diners. Let's see if they're ready to breathe fire." A few Dinotopians walked into the cafeteria at that. They were all in the top 10 contestants in their respective divisions, trying to gain a little bit more of an edge before the final competition. This would not be the deciding factor as the Race could tip the balance and even then, the accumulated points from the earlier competitions could make all the difference. But everyone here was either trying to either close the distance or maintain their lead.
There were some concerns about whether the herbivores or carnivores would be able to eat the same dishes, but rice like most grains is still digestible for all Animalians. And the curry itself consisted of more broth than any pieces of meat or vegetable. Still, they wouldn't be running up Zodiac Mountain until the curry passes through their system.
The contestants got to loading up their plates. As each one took a ladle of curry, it was marked down which pot they were eating from. At each seat was a timer that they would start once the first bite was in their mouths. If they grab the milk before they hit stop on the timer, they would be set back a point. There was a considerable level of anticipation as everyone sat down with their curry and tucked in.
It wasn't necessary to clear their plates. Just having one mouthful of curry was enough to feel the spiciness. Since Dinotopians don't have sweat glands, it wasn't quite as obvious who was suffering more at first. But the signs of discomfort soon became noticeable. Contestants were panting and fanning their mouths. Fists clenched as they fought the urge to go for the milk. Eyes watered as they watched the seconds on their timer go up, waiting as long as they could.
Quetzal was noticeably the first one to break. She slammed her timer and grabbed her milk. And it wasn't easy for her to drink it with her large beak. Pretty soon, others started caving in. Timers stopped and milk was gulped. There were more jugs of milk in case their glasses weren't enough to quench the fire. While some held out longer than others, it was Heather and Tyra who lasted the longest. Eventually, they stopped and had their milk. They had gotten a rather impressive score, particularly considering how high their spice levels were. Heather had a Level 4 and Tyra had a Level 5.
"How were you able to last that long?" asked Sophie in amazement, once her tongue no longer felt like it was burning.
"A lifetime of good southern cookin'," said Tyra, though she did sound rather raspy.
"And I grew up eating her cooking," coughed Heather.
"Well, while the points are being calculated and added, we'll let their digestive tracts recover," said Pauline. There was some retching offscreen as someone found that the milk wasn't quite enough to calm their stomach.
"Yeah, and once they're done, it'll be time for the final event: the Race Up Zodiac Mountain," said JC.
"And the crowning of Mister and Miss Year of the Dragon immediately afterwards," said Pauline, "So make sure to tune in for the big finale."