A few hours later...

Briar, Grim, and the rest of the group are looking around the festival and soon meet up with Jack and his group for the food stand.

Grim calls out, "Yo ho ho, Jack!"

"Hey, guys. You come to do your record keeping thing?" Jack asks.

"You bet. And if memory serves, Class B's dishin' up waffles, right?" Grim says.

"You better believe it!" Jack says, "After the assembly, we tossed around ideas together and refined our plan."

Seeing them, Cater happily says, "Hey, Briar and Grim! You too, Sereia, Tanzanite, Jasper, and Trinket! Welcome, welcome, welcome! Now, selling plain old waffles would be supes boring, am I right? That's why we set up a waffle bar! People can pick any toppings they want!"

"It was Cater's idea," Jack says.

Soon, Cater and Jack present the waffles. It's a small box that has waffles with fruits, berries, whipped cream and such.

"You know it! We're calling the stand, 'Cater's Build-Your-Own-Waffle Shop!' Tagline: 'Where your waffliest dreams come true!'" Cater says, "After a customer buys a waffle, they get to choose from a bunch of different sauces and toppings at no extra charge! And the more colorful you make 'em, the more exciting they get, right? Ugh, it's all just SO CUTE! The whole thing's so catchy and 'cammable, I just know we're gonna go viral!"

"Cater has a flair for presentation, so we went with his idea!" Epel says.

"Yeah, 'cute' and 'cammable' aren't really in our wheelhouse," Jack says.

"Seriously. We could do 'cool' and 'strong,' though," Epel says.

"The freshmen worked their butts off coming up with a delish waffle recipe," Cater says.

And Jack says, "Sure did! We made tons of test batches every chance we got to get 'em just right."

"So much taste testing," Epel says, "We experimented with the batter to see if it should be soft and fluffy or firm and springy... We tried adding more sugar to the waffles themselves to make them feel like a dessert... Then we tried dialing back the sweetness so the waffles could go with a wider variety of toppings..."

"You name it, we tried it," Jack says, "We prepped all kinds of toppings too, so our customers can really go to town."

And Epel says, "For sauces, we've got strawberry, mango, chocolate, and mixed berry. And then topping-wise, there are cookie crumbles, fresh whipped cream, sprinkles, and a bunch of other stuff."

"You can add different kinds of fruit compote, too. It's not a waffle without some compote!" Jack says.

Idia chuckles, " Whee hee hee... And here is my machine. I invented this prototype specifically to cook the batter that Jack, Epel, and the others made. I call it the 'Port Fest Waffle Iron Portable MAX Custom'! Its greatest feature is the ultra-high-speed baking functionality! It instantly molds the batter in its tank into a waffle shape, then bakes it to perfection in a single minute. It's equipped with a high-performance AI and infrared sensor and cooks the waffles to a consistent golden brown like a master chef. Oh, and I put a small fan in there to circulate the aroma of fresh-baked waffles all around— it's great for drawing in passersby!"

"I understood about 15 percent of that, but hey, sounds awesome!" Grim says.

"Sounds impressive," Tanzanite says.

"I know I speak for all of us when I say we're thrilled you came up with something so brilliant, Idia... But I do have a slight concern..." Cater says.

"Yeah, it's ridiculously hot near that thing!" Jack says.

And Idia says, "The heat's a natural byproduct of its high performance. But the AI core is heat protected, so I'm not worried about it."

"You should worry about US!" Jack says.

Just then, Grim says, "All right, your pal Grim's gonna do a little taste test for ya!"

"Taste test?" Jack questions. And then says, "Well, I guess you're working hard, so I'll give you a break. What kind of toppings do you want?"

"Score! Load me up, Cap'n! Gimme all them toppings!" Grim says, excitedly.

Briar rolls her eyes, "Oh Grim."

Jack then says, "Greedy little guy, aren't you? No guarantees on what it'll taste like, pal."

Epel laughs, "Hahaha, okay, just a minute."

Jack then turns to Briar, "How about you, Briar? And the rest of you? I recommend putting some pear compote on yours!"

"The apple compote's super delicious as well!" Epel says.

"Hmm, I'll have the apple compote," Briar says.

"I'll have some too," Tanzanite says.

Epel smiles, "Of course you get it, Briar. You and Tanzanite. Next time I get apples sent from home, I'll be sure to share some with you!"

"Well, I like to have the pear compote," Jasper says.

"Me too," Sereia says.

Jack smiles to hear it, "Hey, you're a fan of pears too? Can't blame you, that little hint of sourness is the best!"

Grim then says, "Well, I'll have both on mine."

"Of course you would like to have everything on your waffles," Jasper says.

Trinket giggles as she tinks in response.

And Ruggie says, "No way! You gotta have it totally plain! That's my recommendation!"

"Uh, it'd definitely be better with some toppings on it, Ruggie," Jack says.

And Ruggie says, "Look, you gotta think of it like this: those toppings aren't free for us. We can make way more cash if we sell plain waffles. Listen up, team! If anybody asks for a recommendation, you tell 'em to go plain all the way!"

"But we worked so hard to come up with good topping ideas!" Jack says.

"Yeah, that's way harsh!" Epel replies.

A few minutes later...

People are saying things like, "'This waffle's so fluffy!' 'And the compote's great! The fruit is the perfect texture, and the syrup's all thick and sweet!' 'Yeah. The waffle's got a nice light flavor, so it has just the right amount of sweetness once you put the toppings on.'"

It seems that everyone loves it.

Jack smiles, "Heh heh. The compote's going over real well."

"Yeah, both the apple and the pear!" Epel says.

"It's all scrumptious," Grim says as he eats.

"Nobody's ordering any plain waffles though!" Ruggie replies.

"That's not exactly a surprise, Ruggie," Jack says.

"Oh well, it'll work out. I set the prices figuring this would happen," Ruggie says, "Plus, I haggled the cost of our supplies down like a champ! Shyeheehee!"

Jack then turns to Briar, "Oh, Briar, you and the others probably have to go so you can get down what the other groups are doing, huh?"

"That's true," Briar says.

"Yeah, plus, we're done with our waffles. Time to roll on over to the next stand," Grim says.

Then Jack says, "I'll come, too. The Steering Committee's gotta keep tabs on food quality and safety. Cater, you look after things here."

"Cay-Cay's got you! I'll make this the hottest spot in all of Port Fest," Cater says.

"We'll meet up with you right before the concert," Ruggie says.

And Epel says, "I'll DEFINITELY be there!"

Samesies! Hey, would you boys mind if I took a video of your show and uploaded it to Magicam?" Cater says.

"I guess... Kinda raises the bar even higher, though," Jack replies.

"I thought you didn't even know how to play an instrument until recently. You sure you'll be okay, Jack?" Epel asks.

"Oh yeah, ain't no thing. No matter where the bar is, we'll clear it!" Jack says.