After Cooking class Ben met Waldo and his other friends in the hallway to discuss Winnie's surprise party.
"Mog and I will handle the decorations," Deb said.
Mog grinned. "Wait until you see what Deb can do with spider webs. She's a true artist!"
"I'm going to make a batch of newt punch," a witch said. "It's Winnie's favorite."
Ben didn't say much during the meeting.
His mind was on his two problems—the cooking competition and Winnie's birthday gift.
When everyone headed back to class, he grabbed Waldo. "I need your help."
"What's wrong?" Waldo asked.
Ben leaned in closer. "I don't want to be on Kids' Kitchen Showdown."
"Are you kidding?" Waldo's glasses slid down his nose.
"Most monsters would love to be on that show!"
"Not me."
Waldo scratched the side of his head.
"I'll come up with some ideas. Meet me in the cooking classroom after school."
Ben hardly heard anything in history class that morning.
As Mrs. Flump droned on about the Monster Stamp Act of 1839, Ben thought about Kids' Kitchen Showdown.
He couldn't wait to hear Waldo's ideas.
The wizard's spells usually went wrong, but Ben was getting desperate.
Besides, maybe Waldo wouldn't even have to use magic.
"Soon I'll be free!" Ben thought gleefully.
Winnie sat nearby. "What are you smiling about?" she whispered.
"Huh?" Ben hadn't realized he'd been smiling. "Oh, nothing."
Winnie gave him a suspicious look.
"You must be thinking about the perfect birthday present you got for me."
"What present?" Ben said. "I didn't get you—I mean . . ."
"Relax," Winnie teased him. "I'm just kidding."
After school Ben rushed into the cooking classroom and found Waldo waiting for him.
"Did you think of anything?" Ben asked.
"I sure did!" Waldo beamed. "Hot sauce!"
"Huh? Hot sauce?"
"Not just any hot sauce," Waldo said.
"Monster hot sauce. Your food will be so spicy, Mr. Icky will get nervous.
He'll decide that it's much too hot for the humans and pull you from the competition."
"Hmm," Ben said slowly. "I guess that might work."
"Mr. Icky is gone for the day—let's make some hot sauce right now!"
While Waldo searched the pantry for spicy ingredients, Ben set a pot on the stove.
He was chopping slugs when Waldo came back from the pantry.
The wizard placed a bunch of jars and bottles on the counter.
Most of the labels showed flames. A couple had skulls and crossbones.
Waldo unscrewed a cap.
A wisp of smoke drifted from the bottle.
"This is concentrated volcano smoke," he said, pouring it into the pot.
Poof! A cloud of smoke billowed from the pot.
The sauce bubbled violently.
Ben and Waldo looked at each other and smiled.
Waldo picked up another bottle and examined the label.
"I'm not sure what this is. It's in another language.
But it does show flames."
He poured it in.
Bubbles formed on the surface of the hot sauce.
They popped, sending orange vapors into the air.
Ben dipped a spoon into the sauce and tasted it.
His hair stood straight up. "Whoa!" he cried.
Waldo tasted it. His hair stood up too.
"Do you think it's done?" Ben asked.
"Nah." Waldo pushed his glasses up.
"We're just getting started!"
He popped open a small jar and sprinkled in some small red crystals.
Fwoomf! A giant flame leaped from the pot.
Ben and Waldo jumped backward.
When the flame went down, Ben dipped his spoon into the pot.
"Yikes! My spoon melted!"
"The recipe is working."
Waldo emptied a few more bottles into the pot.
Then he opened a large jar.
"What's that?" Ben asked.
"It's pure lava." Waldo measured out two cups of the lava.
Red steam filled the air, fogging up Waldo's glasses.
He took them off and placed them on the counter.
Waldo and Ben let the hot sauce simmer for a few minutes.
Then Waldo leaned over and sniffed.
Instantly his nose turned bright red and his eyes began to water.
"Let me taste it." Ben skimmed the surface with his spoon.
He brought it to his lips and took a sip.
He felt a rush of heat flow through his body.
Looking down, he saw that he'd turned completely red!
"Wow!" he said. "Waldo, I think the sauce is done!"
"I have one more thing to add."
Waldo ran to the pantry and came back with another small jar.
"I'm going to put in a teaspoon of this stuff.
It's called enhancer. It'll enhance all the flavors."
He unscrewed the lid, scooped out some enhancer, and dropped it into the hot sauce.
The pot began to shake as the sauce bubbled fiercely.
Ben gasped as hot sauce erupted from the pot!