Soon the first pack of monsters reached the woods.
Up ahead, Ben could see Brunhilda limping.
A minute later she ran off the course, dropping out of the race.
"Hmm," Ben thought. That seemed suspicious, but what could he do?
Besides, Mog had told his team to keep moving, no matter what.
As they entered the woods, Gaby slowed down.
She kept banging her head on the tree branches.
"Ouch!" Then Lon, who'd had a quick start, began to tire.
Zork and Mog quickly passed him.
Ben zoomed through the woods.
He was able to float right through tree branches.
But Cleo's wrapping seemed to get snagged every few feet.
"She's never going to catch up to me," Ben realized.
"Now it's just Zork and Carly against me, Mog, and Deb.
Team Black can totally win this race!"
The two doppelgangers were running right behind Ben, both looking winded.
Abruptly Mog halted, clutching his leg.
"I pulled a muscle. Catch Zork, Ben!"
"I will!" Ben shot forward, determined to take the lead.
By now Ben could see the clearing ahead—and the last part of the trail.
He wasn't too far behind Zork.
Once they were out of the woods, he could put on a last burst of speed and make it to the finish line first.
Ben surged ahead, keeping the focus on his own pace, rather than Zork's.
Near the finish line he could see Brunhilda, her ankle wrapped in bandages.
Miss Bungle was rushing toward her, with Winnie and Serena racing after her.
"Zork, look!" Ben pointed toward the witches.
When Zork saw Brunhilda, his eyes went wide.
"Ompf!" He tripped over his tail and pitched forward.
Now Ben knew he could do it.
Zooming forward, he sailed across the finish line.
Students began cheering, and the cheerleaders waved their black pom-poms.
"Yes!" Ben cried, collapsing on the ground.
Mr. Gwarg spoke into a megaphone.
"Team Black has won the cross-country event, tying the overall score.
The next monster who crosses the finish line will win the championship for his or her team!"
Ben lifted his head to look toward the woods.
"Oh no!" he murmured. Carly was racing toward the finish line.
Fans of Team Orange erupted in loud cheers as she crossed it.
Mr. Freaky's noses wiggled with excitement.
"Team Orange is our new Field Day champion.
But let's cheer for both teams.
Remember our Monster Academy motto—if you had fun, you won!"
Ben sat up, staring at Carly.
Something was wrong, he thought.
Then he realized what it was—Carly wasn't wearing an orange shirt.
Her shirt was black.
Zork zipped over the finish line, followed by another runner.
"That's Carly too!" Ben cried.
The first Carly flashed a grin at Ben and quickly shifted shapes. "Deb!" he cried.
"Carly was using kangaroo feet again," Deb explained.
"So I decided to use my abilities too. I changed my face—"
"Because you knew that Brunhilda would be confused and wouldn't risk sabotaging the real Carly!"
"Yep!" Deb grinned. "It was worth a try—and it worked great."
With help from Winnie and Serena, Team Black explained everything to the adults.
Miss Bungle was still speaking sternly with Brunhilda, who was sobbing loudly.
"Correction, everyone!" Mr. Freaky ran to the center of the field, flapping his arms.
"There's been a mistake, but don't worry.
Field Day is completely under control!
Team Black is our winner."
Wild cheers rang out as Team Black did a celebration dance on the field.
When school was over for the day, Ben found Winnie at her locker.
She smiled at him. "Congratulations again!"
"Thanks." Ben was smiling too.
"It feels pretty great to be a Field Day champion."
"I heard that Brunhilda and Zork are in big trouble," Winnie said.
"They were the only ones on Team Orange who cheated."
"It's a good thing that you and Serena noticed something weird was going on," Ben said.
"Speaking of weird." Winnie looked down.
"Sorry that I've been acting strange.
My cousin causes so much commotion.
It's not easy being around such a beautiful witch."
"Yes, it is!" Ben blurted out.
Winnie looked up with a smile.
But before she could reply, Mog came rushing up.
"Guys! We need to say thank you to Serena for helping Team Black win Field Day.
She's right over there."
Ben looked down the hallway.
As usual, Serena was surrounded by lots of monsters, all trying desperately to impress her.
"I doubt we'll be able to get her attention right now, Mog."
"We're the new Field Day champions," Mog said.
"So everybody should be paying attention to us, not her!"
Ben laughed, and to his delight, so did Winnie.
"Come on," she said. "Let's go talk to her."