"Hello, Enzo?" The mayor spoke loudly into his cell phone.
"Mayor Hubbletree here. I need you to send twenty pizzas over to Monster Academy as fast as you can.
What? Yes, of course it's safe to come over here."
The mayor listened for a moment.
"No, Enzo, none of the monsters will try to eat you.
Just bring those pizzas!"
The mayor put his cell phone away.
All the monster students started eating their pizza while the humans waited for theirs to arrive.
Ben looked around the cafeteria and was surprised to see Deb standing with her back to the wall.
"I guess the office ogre found her," he thought.
"Over here, Ben!" called Waldo from a nearby table.
Gaby, Dave, and Jen were with him.
Ben floated over to his friends.
"This pizza looks great," he said.
Then he glanced at Dave, who looked ill. "Sorry you don't like it."
"I-it's okay," said Dave. "The regular pizza will be here soon."
Jen grabbed a slice and took a bite. "Mmm! The worm guts are so slippery!
Are you sure you don't want to try it, Dave?"
Dave held up a hand. "No, thanks. I'm fine."
"I love pond scum," said Gaby. "I put it on everything!"
Mr. Freaky was apologizing again. "I'm really sorry about lunch, Mayor.
I hope you're enjoying some parts of the field trip."
"Are you kidding?" said Mayor Hubbletree.
"This field trip is a complete disaster!"
Mr. Freaky took out his handkerchief and blew his noses.
Thirty minutes later the other pizzas arrived.
The human kids cheered as the deliveryman entered the cafeteria.
The deliveryman looked nervously around the cafeteria.
"I h-have t-twenty pizzas here for—"
Boom! The pizzas exploded, sending cheese and tomato sauce all over the cafeteria.
At the same moment, Ben spied someone running out the door.
It was a squid monster. Ben didn't recognize the monster.
But he did recognize what she was wearing.
"A hoodie with a green skull on the back!" thought Ben.
Why were the mystery girl and the squid monster wearing the same thing?
Were they part of a gang?
Mayor Hubbletree stared at the pizza explosion.
"What is wrong with this school?" he said.
Mr. Freaky had his face buried in his hands. He was moaning loudly.
A cafeteria troll came out of the kitchen with a mop and a bucket, and began to clean up the mess.
Mayor Hubbletree went over to the deliveryman.
The deliveryman was shaking. "I-I'm sorry, sir," he said.
"I don't know what happened."
"It's not your fault," said the mayor. He glanced around at the monsters.
"It's this place—strange things happen here.
Go back to the restaurant and get another twenty pizzas.
And don't worry—the principal here will be paying for everything."
The deliveryman left the cafeteria.
Waldo shook his head. "Wow, what a strange day.
What made those pizzas explode?"
"I'm not sure," said Ben. "But I think it was a squid monster.
And I think she and the girl who attacked you are in a gang together."
"What?" Waldo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Ben explained all the odd things he'd seen that day.
"You should tell Mr. Freaky about the squid monster," said Waldo.
"Maybe he can stop the gang from ruining the field trip.
Otherwise Mayor Hubbletree might decide to bulldoze the school for real this time."
Ben nodded and got up from the table.
He floated over to the principal, who was standing with Mayor Hubbletree and Ms. Prim.
"Mr. Freaky," said Ben. "I think I know who made the pizzas explode."
The principal's eyes went wide. "Who?" he demanded. "Tell me at once!"
"It was a squid monster," said Ben. "I think the monster is part of a gang."
"Aha!" declared Mayor Hubbletree.
"You monsters are finally admitting that a monster is the culprit!
I knew a human student wasn't causing problems."
He stared at Mr. Freaky. "Well, Freaky? What are you going to do about this?"
The principal started wringing his hands. "Oh, where is Miss Bungle?"
"I'm right here!" called the broom flying teacher, hurrying over.
Mr. Freaky told Miss Bungle about the squid monster.
Miss Bungle hurried out of the cafeteria to search for the monster.
After several minutes she returned.
"I used every kind of seeking spell I know," she said.
"There are no squid monsters anywhere in the building."
She looked out over the students.
"Except Beth and Henry, who are sitting over there."
Ben knew those two squid monsters.
Neither was the one he'd seen run out of the cafeteria.
Mr. Freaky took out a handkerchief and blew his noses.
"This is terrible! First we had a mystery human running loose in the school.
Now we have a mystery squid monster!"