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"Cook badly?" Ben stared at Mog in disbelief.

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"That's your big idea?"

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"Yeah," Mog said.

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"If you're a bad cook, you can't be on <font color="#ffff00"><i>Kids' Kitchen Showdown</i></font>."

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Ben shook his head. "That won't work. As far as I'm concerned, I <font color="#ffff00"><i>am</i></font> a bad cook.

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But Mr. Icky insists I have natural talent."

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Mog scratched his chin for a moment.

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"I know what to do.

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Every time you're about to make a choice while you're cooking, stop yourself.

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Then make the opposite choice."

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Ben smiled. "I'll try it!"

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The morning's recipe was creeploaf.

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Ben went into the pantry for ingredients.

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He was about to grab a jar of pickled bat ears. Then he stopped himself.

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"Pickled bat ears might be delicious in creeploaf," he told himself.

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"That's why I need to grab something different."

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Ben looked at the shelves.

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Up on the top shelf, he saw a jar of powdered snake fangs.

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He grabbed it.

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Every time he was about to pick an item off the shelf, he stopped himself.

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Then he picked a different item.

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Soon Ben's arms were full of all sorts of strange ingredients.

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He grinned and dumped everything onto his workspace with a crash.

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"This will be the worst creeploaf ever!" he thought.

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Winnie raised an eyebrow. "You're putting black mold in your creeploaf?"

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"Yep!" Ben looked over at Mog, who gave him the claws-up sign.

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One by one, Ben dumped ingredients into a bowl.

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Instead of stirring, he mashed. Instead of mixing thoroughly, he left big, ugly clumps.

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He dropped the mess into a loaf pan and slid it into the oven.

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Soon everyone's creeploaves were baking.

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Mr. Freaky walked in, his noses wiggling wildly, as usual.

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He was followed by Mayor Hubbletree, who adjusted his tie and looked around the room.

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"Mr. Freaky!" Mr. Icky said.

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"And Mayor Hubbletree! What an honor!"

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Mr. Freaky blew his noses.

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"Mayor Hubbletree and I were discussing this Friday's TV event.

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We wanted to make sure everything is under control."

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Mayor Hubbletree grinned.

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"Yes, Freaky and I figured we'd pop in to see what's cooking."

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He sniffed the air.

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"It smells . . . interesting."

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"The students are baking creeploaf," Mr. Icky said.

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"Creeploaf?" The mayor wrinkled his nose.

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Mr. Freaky's noses stopped wiggling.

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"Oh, I love creeploaf!

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I remember the creeploaf Grandma Freaky used to make.

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It had little cricket legs and . . ."

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Mayor Hubbletree pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his brow.

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"That sounds delicious," Mr. Icky said.

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"You'll have to try Ben's creeploaf when he's done.

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Ben is Monster Academy's contestant," he explained to the mayor.

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Ben smiled and waved to Mayor Hubbletree.

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"After they taste my creeploaf, I won't have to be on that stupid show!" he thought.

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Mayor Hubbletree picked up a jar and read the label.

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"Leech oil?" He looked at Mr. Icky.

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"You monsters eat this stuff?"

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"It's much better for you than butter," Mr. Icky said.

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"I don't know about that," Mayor Hubbletree muttered.

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He put down the jar and looked around the room.

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A ghoul grinned at him, revealing a set of yellow, crooked teeth.

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Ben could see beads of sweat dripping down the mayor's face.

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<font color="#ffff00"><i>Ding! Ding! Ding!</i></font> Timers all over the classroom suddenly rang.

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"The creeploaves are ready!" Mr. Icky shouted.

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The students hurried to get their creeploaves out of the oven.

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Ben's loaf was purple and lumpy.

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When he saw the other loaves, he smiled.

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They were all green and brown.

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"Perfect!" he thought. "My creeploaf looks awful."

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"Hmm," Mr. Icky said.

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The cooking teacher peered at Ben's creeploaf.

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Then he looked up at Ben.

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"This is interesting, Ben," Mr. Icky said.

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Mayor Hubbletree leaned in for a closer look.

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The color drained from his face.

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Ben flashed a sheepish grin. "I'm not sure what I did wrong."

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"Very funny," Mr. Icky said.

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"You've obviously been reading <font color="#ffff00"><i>The Monster Kitchen</i></font> by Julia Fang, the world-famous monster chef."

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"Huh?" Ben said.

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Mr. Icky cut off a piece of Ben's creeploaf and tasted it.

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A smile spread across his face.

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"Miss Fang says a proper creeploaf should be purple.

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That's how it was prepared originally."

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He ate another bite. "Delicious!"

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"Let's see how it compares to Grandma Freaky's," the principal said.

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He grabbed a fork and handed a second one to Mayor Hubbletree.

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"No, thanks." The mayor was sweating quite a bit.

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"I'm sure this creepy loaf, or whatever you call it, is good.

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But I'm not really into, er, fancy foods."

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"Mmm!" A smile spread across Mr. Freaky's face as he chewed.

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"Well done, chef!" Mr. Icky said to Ben.

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Ben pretended to be happy. But inside, he groaned.

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Mog's idea hadn't helped one bit!