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"Good morning, everyone," Mr. Icky said in Cooking class the next day.

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Mr. Freaky stood beside him.

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"Mr. Freaky has come to tell us some very exciting news."

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"Is school ending early today?" a ghoul asked.

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The students laughed.

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"No more monster math!" a witch shouted.

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"Yeah!" others cheered.

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Mr. Freaky held up his hands.

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"Everyone, please settle down!"

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He took out a handkerchief and blew his noses.

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"A popular cooking show is coming to our town this Friday.

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It's called <font color="#ffff00"><i>Kids' Kitchen Showdown</i></font>."

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"Cool!" a fish monster said.

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"I love that TV show!" the witch said.

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"But I wish the cooks made more good food like tarantula stew.

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They usually make food for people, like chocolate cake and something called lasagna."

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"Yeah," the ghoul said.

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"Why can't they cook more stuff for monsters?"

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Ben had watched <font color="#ffff00"><i>Kids' Kitchen Showdown</i></font> once or twice with his mom, but he didn't really like it.

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Why would anyone watch a show about cooking?

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Mr. Freaky wrung his hands.

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"The show was going to be filmed at People Place Middle School.

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But Mayor Hubbletree suggested they film it here at Monster Academy."

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"Mayor Hubbletree wants the show to be here?" Mr. Icky said.

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Ben saw a bead of sweat roll down Mr. Freaky's face.

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"The mayor wants the world to see that monsters and humans can get along," Mr. Freaky replied.

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"We can share food and have fun together.

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People Place Middle School has already chosen three cooks to compete on the show.

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Now it's Mr. Icky's turn to select one cook from Monster Academy."

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"Awesome!" a mummy said.

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A werewolf howled.

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Mr. Freaky turned to Mr. Icky.

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"The whole world will be watching this show.

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Nothing can go wrong."

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The principal blew his noses again and then left the room.

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"Okay, students," Mr. Icky said.

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"Let's begin today's assignment.

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I want everyone to make their very best batch of tarantula stew."

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"This is so exciting," Winnie said to Ben as students started gathering ingredients from the pantry.

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"Can you imagine being on <font color="#ffff00"><i>Kids' Kitchen Showdown</i></font>?"

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"Yeah," Ben said with a groan.

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"I can imagine it as the worst thing in the world."

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Winnie laughed. "I know you don't like cooking.

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But you're better at it than you think.

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And we need people to see that monsters make good food too."

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Ben just rolled his eyes and reached for his apron.

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Usually tarantula stew contained moldy peaches.

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But by the time Ben looked in the pantry, the peaches were all gone.

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He saw some rotten nectarines with worms.

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"Nectarines are sort of like peaches," Ben thought.

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He chopped the nectarines and dumped them into his pot.

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He dropped the worms in too.

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Then he added some fresh tarantula legs and cinnamon.

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As he mixed the sauce, green vapors rose from the surface.

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"Oh, boy," Ben thought.

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"Tarantula stew isn't supposed to look like this.

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I messed up!" He looked around the classroom.

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Everyone was busy working.

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Ben looked into his pot again.

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"Ack!" he cried.

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His stew was starting to burn at the edges.

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He scraped the sides of his pot, mixing the burned edges into the stew.

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The stew took on a darker color now.

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Ben sighed. "It's ruined."

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He turned off the burner on his stove and lifted the pot.

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He floated toward the garbage can.

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Mr. Icky blocked his path, looking stern.

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"You are not going to throw that out!"

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The teacher took the pot from Ben and brought it back to Ben's workspace.

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"I've watched you do that every day for the past two weeks," Mr. Icky said.

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"No more! If you throw out your food every time you mess up, you'll never improve.

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You must taste your mistakes!"

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Mr. Icky shoved a spoon toward Ben. "Taste it!"

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Ben wrinkled his nose.

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Then he dipped the spoon into the stew and tasted it.

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"I guess it's not that bad."

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"Good," Mr. Icky said.

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The teacher lifted the spoon to his lips. Suddenly he gasped.

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"Uh-oh." Ben froze. "It's even worse than I thought."

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Mr. Icky swallowed.

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He looked at the stew.

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Then he looked at Ben.

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"You used rotten nectarines, didn't you? And do I taste worms?"

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Ben winced. "Um, I guess so."

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Mr. Icky took another taste and closed his eyes.

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"This reminds me of a tarantula stew I had in Paris many years ago.

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Monster chefs in France always use rotten nectarines.

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Ben, you are not just a cook—you are a true chef!"

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"Wh-what?" Ben stammered.

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"That's ridiculous. I don't even know how to—"

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"You have a gift, Ben," Mr. Icky said.

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"That's why I'm going to choose you to compete on <font color="#ffff00"><i>Kids' Kitchen Showdown</i></font> this Friday!"