Hell's Kitchen: The Truth Behind the Papa Louie Universe

Chapter Thirteen

 They were going to go to Powder Point, the theme park slash town just west of Maple Mountain. It used to be a hotspot for tourists, like Calypso, because come on, a whole town dedicated to a theme park? And when the resident Papa Louie restaurant, Papa's Donuteria, opened up, it got even more traffic. Not even to mention the opening of the island's most impressive rollercoaster, the SkyNinja. While the Donuteria was open, it was safe to say Powder Point was set. Akari didn't quite get the hype– donuts seemed... heavy? Messy? Too... pastry-y for an amusement park. But those places thrived off of fried food didn't they, and donuts were no exception.

After the shop closed up, though, and the thrill of the new rollercoaster died down, Powder Point mellowed out significantly. Say what you will about Papa Louie himself, from a marketing standpoint, he was a pretty good businessman. The Donuteria practically resuscitated the whole park after a PR disaster with the initial, failed opening of the SkyNinja. The system of customers paying to get in the park, buying an overpriced donut, and then spending more money trying to get their money's worth at the park worked great for Powder Point.

Since the Donuteria's closing three years before, however, the quality and the attendance rate had very obviously decreased, though maybe she ought to give it the benefit of the doubt and blame it on winter. Nobody exactly wanted to be riding a roller coaster at sixty miles per hour in the cold air. Frankly, it was amazing they were running it at all. The Christmas decorations were lackluster, from what she could tell from the newest pictures on their website, and she should know, she'd made a point to visit during the year the Donuteria was around. The lavishly advertised Powder Point Christmas Festival Extrodinare was well worth the admission cost. It had been cool– lights, decorations, the main attraction of performers and food. Sure beat cold, rickety rides, and old game booths run by surly teenagers. Maybe it was better than it sounded, but Allan's friend, Orion, lived fairly close to the park, and he didn't seem too eager to sing its praises. At least, not according to what Allan had said.

Orion and his cousin Drakson were in a band called Doom Brûlée, and they performed several times on the stages within the park– to a very... sparse turnout. Couple of bored-looking kids who just happened to be there. Akari'd listened to a recording of one of their songs the other day– and it wasn't half bad. Doom Brûlée had a following too– there just weren't people at Powder Point anymore. It was a shame, surely, the park that had been so marvelous in its prime reduced to essentially a weekend hangout spot for local teens.

Or local adults, she supposed, considering the four of them– she, Allan, and Olivia were meeting Orion at the park. Certainly, not a place for tourists, though, and as the whole island practically lived off of tourism to each respective region, that wasn't quite ideal. There was talk of renovations, revamping the park, adding new marketable features to draw in crowds, but nothing could really change the less-than-fantastic location of the cold, dry, and windy valley that preceded Maple Mountain. Even if the flat ground of it was 'easily walkable'. Besides, if fun new features were the only thing keeping the place in business, that was a pretty weak leg to stand on. Eventually, the debt would get too high for them to announce a new arcade game every couple of months to try and pull in some guests.

Akari kept all this in mind as they drove the several hours to the town. Allan drove, and she was grateful for it, because the sky was a sleepy, gloomy gray, and the warm car lulled her. She was grateful that Olivia could join them, finally done with her finals, and relieved to have them over with. Cavattapi broke for four weeks in the winter, starting this one, and Olivia had declared she would be buckling down and getting as much 'information' as possible. Visiting the site of an old restaurant was always a good start, and while Olivia had trouble explaining (and Akari had trouble understanding) the significance they provided, there definitely was one. At least there had been one at the Freezeria in Calypso.