After the humans finally had lunch, everyone headed outside to the soccer field.
"We have a friendly game of soccer planned," explained Mr. Freaky.
Ben saw Mayor Hubbletree's face brighten.
"I didn't know monsters like soccer.
I played soccer in college—I was actually rather good at the game."
Mr. Freaky beamed. "Wonderful! It's going to be very exciting!"
Ben sat near his friends in the bleachers.
He watched the Monster Academy soccer team walk onto the grass.
The human team followed them.
Mr. Gwarg was already there. A large bag sat beside him.
"Listen up, monsters," said the gym teacher.
"You're playing against humans today, so there are a few rule changes."
A tiny goblin raised his hand.
"We can still throw fireballs at each other, right?"
A human player gulped.
"Absolutely not," said Mr. Gwarg.
"The humans can't do that, so it wouldn't be fair.
You also can't use claws, fangs, or any kind of magic."
Zork huffed, "This game is going to be so boring."
"It'll be just like regular soccer," said Mr. Gwarg.
"But safer for the humans. Oh, and there's no flying."
"What!" cried a monster with wings. "How can we play without flying?"
Mr. Gwarg folded his arms.
"If the humans can play without flying, then so can you, Leo."
"That's not a problem for me," said a worm monster. "I can't fly anyway."
"You can't pop up from underground either, Francis," Mr. Gwarg said.
"Boo," said the worm.
Soon the players took their positions on the field.
The monsters' goalie was an enormous green blob.
"Hey, no fair!" shouted a human boy. "Your goalie fills the entire goal!"
"Yeah," said a girl. "We should have two goalies to make it even!"
"What!" said a fish monster. "Two of our players are zombies.
You humans should lose two players if we're going to keep things even!"
"No way!" said another girl. "You guys have a two-headed monster!
She should count as two players!"
Mr. Gwarg blew his whistle. "Let's start the game!"
The gym teacher carried the bag to the center of the field and pulled out the game ball.
Wiggling tentacles covered it, and electrical sparks danced across its surface.
The human players shrieked and ran off the field.
"What is that thing?" cried Mayor Hubbletree.
Mr. Freaky blinked in surprise. "It's a soccer ball, Mayor.
I thought you said you used to play?"
"That's not a soccer ball, Freaky!" the mayor shouted.
"That's a disgusting—Oh, never mind. This whole trip is a disaster."
A moment later a human player ran back from the bus with a new soccer ball.
Ben saw that this one had no tentacles or electrical sparks.
"We're using our ball for the game!" Mayor Hubbletree snapped.
A few monster players started to argue, but Mr. Gwarg shot them a look.
"Fine," the gym teacher told the mayor.
A tall boy quickly got control of the ball.
He passed it to a girl up the field.
"That's Rebecca," said Dave. "She's really good at soccer."
Rebecca dribbled the ball fast.
Leo ran in front of her, but Rebecca got the ball past him and continued down the field.
She rushed past the two zombie defenders and took a shot.
The goalie blob lunged toward the ball, but he was too slow.
The ball went past him, and the humans cheered.
"Score one for the humans!" shouted Mr. Gwarg.
The monsters had the ball now.
The tiny goblin ran toward three large human players.
Keeping perfect control of the ball, the goblin scooted between a player's feet.
"Hey!" the kid yelled.
The goblin reached the humans' goal and shot.
The goalie caught the ball and threw it toward a player nearby.
The boy dribbled the ball past Leo.
The monster flapped his wings and flew after the boy.
Mr. Gwarg blew his whistle. "No flying!"
"Sorry!" said Leo, dropping back to the ground.
The goblin took the ball from the boy and headed back up the field.
A moment later a big human kid charged toward the goblin, knocking him over.
"Ow!" cried the goblin. "No fair!"
"Sure, it's fair!" the kid called over his shoulder.
"You can check in— Oof!"
Francis had popped out of the ground, tripping the kid.
Mr. Gwarg blew his whistle again. "Francis!"
"Sorry!" called the worm.
Now Rebecca had the ball. She headed down the field and took another shot.
The ball knocked over a zombie.
In the bleachers Waldo shook his head.
"How did those zombies ever get on the team?"
Ben shrugged. "Don't ask me."
The ball was still sitting in the grass near the fallen zombie.
As Rebecca ran to it, light flashed—and the ball turned into a gigantic spider!