Chapter 23
Sulley approached the Oozma simulator, cracked his huge knuckles, and entered the room. In the ROR simulator, Randy also entered, climbing the side of the room and disappearing against the wall.
Sulley carefully crept up to the bed, slowly looming up and over the sim-kid. Then he let out the most ferocious ROARRRRR of the day!
In the other simulator, Randy was about to start his own scare when the sound of Sulley’s roar knocked him off the wall. Randy fell to the f loor, blended into a heart pattern on the bedroom rug, and let out a meager yelp. The sim-kid responded with a very short scream.
“It’s all tied up!” the Greek Council vice president announced, indicating the scoreboard as Sulley and Randy emerged from their simulators. Against Randy’s poor performance, Sulley had pulled the OKs up to the same score as the RORs.
Johnny and the RORs were furious with Randy. “You stink, Boggs!” Chet told him.
Randy seethed as he watched the Oozmas celebrate. “That’s the last time I lose to you, Sullivan,” he muttered.
“Worthington and Wazowski to the starting line!” the Greek Council vice president announced.
All eyes were on Mike as he marched to the starting line next to Johnny. The light turned green and both ran to their simulators. As they entered their doors, Johnny ran right to the bed while Mike took his time, distracting his sim-kid with a scratch on the bedpost.
Johnny went straight to the bed with a huge ROARRR! The sim-kid screamed, giving Johnny almost a full scream can. Johnny stepped out of the simulator and strutted like a champion as the crowd chanted, “ROR! ROR! ROR!”
Inside the Oozma simulator, Mike crouched by the bed, contemplating his next move. He knew it was all up to him. He thought about everything he’d been told over the years ... leading up to Sulley’s advice: Let the scary out! Mike focused his energy and leaped onto the bed, letting out his best, most intense ROARRRRR!
The sim-kid screamed — and Mike’s scream can filled to the top! The crowd went wild! The Oozmas were the winners of the Scare Games!
The OKs jumped up and down happily as the crowd cheered, “Oozma! Oozma!” and Sulley shouted, “We’re in the Scaring Program!” Ms. Squibbles was hugging everyone. She hugged Don, but his tentacles stuck to her. They both pulled away, slightly embarrassed.
“Oh, pardon me, there, Ms. Squibbles,” Don said.
Ms. Squibbles batted her five blue eyes and blushed. “It’s Sheri,” she said sweetly as the Oozmas hoisted Mike onto their shoulders.
At last, the celebration began to wind down, but the Oozma Kappas felt that all their dreams had come true. They had accepted their trophy and were basking in the glory of being winners. As they finished shaking hands with the crowd, one fan shouted, “You rule!”
Don grinned. “I have never ruled before,” he said. Sulley laughed as he looked for Mike in the crowd.
“Hey, Wazowski!” Sulley shouted, finally spotting Mike near the Oozmas’ simulator. “Come on, let’s go, you maniac! We’re celebrating!”
But Mike didn’t respond. He seemed dazed. “Mike?” Sulley asked.
“I did it,” Mike said in an awed tone. He walked into the simulator and stared at the sim-kid. “I can’t believe it. I’m going to be a Scarer.”
Sulley smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, you are.”
Mike turned toward the sim-kid and said, “You hear that? Get plenty of rest, kiddo, ’cause you haven’t seen the last of Mike Wazowski.” Mike playfully threw his hands in the air and said, “BOO!”
The sim-kid shot straight up in bed and screamed. Mike turned to see the scream can f ill to the top. “I knew I was scary,” Mike said, confused, “but I didn’t know I was that scary.”
“Yeah,” Sulley replied. “We’re so scary, I guess we broke it.”
A dark thought suddenly passed through Mike’s round head. He walked over to the sleeping sim-kid and snapped his f ingers. “AHHHHH!” the sim-kid screamed, and shot out of bed again.
Mike lifted the bed skirt and took a look at the settings on the control panel. Sulley shifted nervously. “Come on,” he said to Mike, “I don’t think you should be messing with that.”
But Mike looked closer at the gauges. He noticed that the settings for each round in the simulator were set on high — except for the last one. His own settings were on the lowest, not the highest, level. All at once, it dawned on him: the simulator had been rigged.
Mike turned to Sulley. “Did you do this?” he asked.
Sulley struggled for an answer. Finally, he said, “I ... Yes, I did.” He watched Mike’s face drop. “But you don’t understand.”
Mike was heartbroken. “Why?”
Sulley hung his head and sighed. “You know, just in case.”
Mike knew all too well. “You don’t think I’m scary,” he said, stunned. “You’re just like Hardscrabble and everyone else.”
“Well, what was I supposed to do?” Sulley replied, defending himself against Mike’s anger. “Let the whole team fail because you don’t have it?”
The words shot Mike through the heart. He stared at Sulley for a moment. Then he stormed of f.
Sulley looked to one side and saw the rest of the Oozmas staring at him in shock. They had been standing near the simulator and had heard everything.
Squishy sadly set the trophy down on the ground. Then he and the other Oozmas walked away, hurt and confused.
Sulley stood alone on the stage, trying to process it all. He picked up the trophy and numbly walked across campus.
Johnny and the RORs spotted him and crowded around. Johnny slappedSulley on the back. “Looks like I was wrong about you,” Johnny said, throwing a ROR jacket over Sulley’s big shoulders. “You’re one of us after all.”
Sulley saw Dean Hardscrabble up ahead. He stared for a moment, and then a look of resolve came into his eyes. He handed both trophy and jacket to Johnny. As the RORs watched in surprise, he left them behind and strode purposefully toward Hardscrabble.
At the same time, Mike was walking through the halls of MU’s door tech building, heading to the door lab. As he passed a group of students exiting the lab, he casually lifted a key card from a backpack. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he quickly swiped the card and waited for the security light above the lab door to turn green.
第 23 章
毛怪來(lái)到OK會(huì)隊(duì)的模擬艙,掰了掰他那巨大的指關(guān)節(jié),進(jìn)入了屋子。精嚇會(huì)隊(duì)的模擬艙中,藍(lán)道也進(jìn)入了房間,他縱身一躍跳到了墻壁上,接著使出了隱身的絕招。
毛怪輕手輕腳地一步步靠近床邊,慢慢出現(xiàn)在智能小孩的上方。接著他發(fā)出了到今天目前為止最兇猛的怒吼!
在另一個(gè)模擬艙中,藍(lán)道正要開(kāi)始驚嚇,不料毛怪的怒吼聲直接將他從墻上震落下來(lái)。藍(lán)道摔落在臥室地板的一張地毯上,隱入了地毯上的一塊心形圖案。他只能發(fā)出一聲無(wú)力的吼叫,智能小孩的驚叫聲也轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝。
毛怪和藍(lán)道從他們各自的模擬艙里出來(lái)時(shí),希臘議會(huì)副會(huì)長(zhǎng)指著計(jì)分板宣布道:“分?jǐn)?shù)拉平了!”毛怪在這一回合完勝藍(lán)道,幫助OK會(huì)追平了對(duì)手精嚇會(huì)。
強(qiáng)哥和精嚇會(huì)的其他成員對(duì)藍(lán)道大為光火。喳喳對(duì)藍(lán)道說(shuō):“寶基,你爛透啦!”
藍(lán)道望著不遠(yuǎn)處歡慶的OK會(huì)成員,憤憤低語(yǔ)道:“這是我最后一次輸給你,蘇利文。”
“沃新頓和華斯基請(qǐng)到起跑線準(zhǔn)備!”希臘議會(huì)副會(huì)長(zhǎng)宣布說(shuō)。
麥克來(lái)到起跑線,在強(qiáng)哥身邊站定,全場(chǎng)的目光一下子聚到他身上。綠燈亮起,兩人朝模擬艙飛奔而去。強(qiáng)哥進(jìn)入房間后,徑直來(lái)到床邊。而麥克并不急于現(xiàn)身,他抓了抓床柱,借此分散智能小孩的注意力。
強(qiáng)哥直接朝著床發(fā)出一聲巨大的怒吼。智能小孩尖叫起來(lái),強(qiáng)哥的尖叫收集罐幾乎要裝滿了。他離開(kāi)模擬艙,昂首闊步,好像已經(jīng)獲得冠軍似的。全場(chǎng)觀眾發(fā)出了震耳欲聾的歡呼:“精嚇會(huì)!精嚇會(huì)!精嚇會(huì)!”
OK會(huì)隊(duì)這邊,麥克蜷縮在床邊,思考著下一步該怎么做。他明白自己擔(dān)負(fù)著全隊(duì)的命運(yùn)。他回想著這些年自己所學(xué)到的東西,接著他想到了毛怪的建議:讓你嚇人的一面釋放出來(lái)!麥克使出全身力氣縱身跳到床上,發(fā)出了他自己有史以來(lái)最棒、最猛烈的吼聲!
智能小孩被嚇破了膽——麥克的尖叫收集罐瞬間就被填滿了!觀眾們一下炸開(kāi)了鍋!OK會(huì)隊(duì)獲得了本屆“驚嚇杯”的冠軍!
全場(chǎng)觀眾歡呼著:“OK會(huì)!OK會(huì)!”OK會(huì)的成員們高興得上躥下跳,毛怪則喊道:“我們可以回驚嚇學(xué)院嘍!”史太太恨不得給每個(gè)人一個(gè)大大的擁抱。她抱了抱老唐,卻被老唐的觸手緊緊吸住了。兩人趕緊推開(kāi)對(duì)方,都覺(jué)得挺難為情的。
“噢,真對(duì)不起,史太太。”老唐趕緊道歉。
史太太眨了眨她那五只藍(lán)色的眼睛,臉紅了。她甜甜地說(shuō):“叫我雪莉吧。”而此時(shí),OK會(huì)成員們已經(jīng)將麥克抬到了他們的肩膀上。
最后,雖然慶祝活動(dòng)漸漸平息下來(lái),但OK會(huì)成員們覺(jué)得他們的夢(mèng)想全都實(shí)現(xiàn)了。他們拿到了獎(jiǎng)杯,沉浸在冠軍的喜悅和榮耀中。觀眾們紛紛上前和OK會(huì)的成員們握手,快要結(jié)束時(shí),一個(gè)粉絲還大聲喊道:“你們太牛了!”
老唐笑著說(shuō):“我還沒(méi)這么牛過(guò)!”毛怪一邊開(kāi)心地笑著,一邊在人群中尋找麥克。
“嘿,華斯基!”毛怪最終在模擬艙旁發(fā)現(xiàn)了麥克,他大聲喊道:“來(lái)吧,咱們走吧,你這個(gè)狂熱的瘋子!我們?cè)趹c祝呢!”
麥克并沒(méi)有回答,反而露出怔怔的表情。“麥克,你怎么啦?”毛怪問(wèn)道。
“我成功了。”麥克的聲音聽(tīng)起來(lái)無(wú)比莊重。他走進(jìn)模擬艙,望著床上的智能小孩說(shuō):“我自己都不敢相信。我可以成為一名驚嚇專員了。”
毛怪會(huì)心一笑:“對(duì),沒(méi)錯(cuò)。”
麥克轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身對(duì)著智能小孩說(shuō)道:“聽(tīng)見(jiàn)了嗎?好好睡吧,小鬼,你還沒(méi)見(jiàn)到麥克·華斯基的真本事。”麥克調(diào)皮地舉起雙手,嘴里發(fā)出“乒”的一聲。
智能小孩一下子坐直身子尖叫起來(lái)。麥克轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭,看到尖叫收集罐又滿了。“我知道我很嚇人,”麥克疑惑地說(shuō)道,“可是也不至于這么嚇人吧。”
“沒(méi)錯(cuò),”毛怪回答,“我們太嚇人了,把機(jī)器都弄壞了。”
麥克圓圓的腦袋里瞬間閃過(guò)一個(gè)可怕的念頭。他走近熟睡的智能小孩,輕輕打了一個(gè)響指。“啊——”智能小孩又被嚇得從床上彈了起來(lái),大聲尖叫。
麥克掀起床單,看了看床底的控制盤。毛怪緊張地扭動(dòng)著身體,對(duì)麥克說(shuō):“趕緊回去吧,你最好別亂動(dòng)那個(gè)。”
但麥克反而更加仔細(xì)地檢查著表盤的計(jì)量數(shù)值。他發(fā)現(xiàn)前幾輪的表盤都設(shè)置成了最高難度,除了最后一輪——也就是說(shuō)那一輪為他設(shè)置的難度系數(shù)不是最高,而是最低的。麥克一下子明白過(guò)來(lái):模擬艙被人動(dòng)了手腳。
麥克轉(zhuǎn)身問(wèn)毛怪:“是你干的嗎?”
毛怪努力地尋找著一個(gè)合適的回答。但最后他只好承認(rèn):“我……嗯,是我干的。”看到麥克拉下臉,他又說(shuō):“但你別誤會(huì)。”
麥克簡(jiǎn)直要崩潰了:“為什么?”
毛怪低下頭,嘆了口氣說(shuō):“你知道,這只是為了以防萬(wàn)一。”
麥克明白了所有的一切。“你不相信我的能力,”他震驚無(wú)比,“你這樣跟郝刻薄院長(zhǎng)和其他人有什么區(qū)別?”
“要不然我該怎么辦?”見(jiàn)麥克如此憤怒,毛怪為自己辯解道,“難道讓整個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)因?yàn)槟愣數(shù)魡幔?rdquo;
這些話就像有把鋒利的尖刀刺進(jìn)麥克心里。他愣愣地注視著毛怪,好一會(huì)兒才緩過(guò)神來(lái),接著便怒氣沖沖地離開(kāi)了賽場(chǎng)。
毛怪看向另一邊,只見(jiàn)其他隊(duì)員們也投來(lái)了驚異的目光。大家在模擬艙旁聽(tīng)見(jiàn)了他們所說(shuō)的一切。
史乖寶難過(guò)極了,把原本舉得老高的獎(jiǎng)杯放到地上。他和其他OK會(huì)成員對(duì)于毛怪的行為感到既傷心又不解,都默默地離開(kāi)了賽場(chǎng)。
毛怪孤零零地站在賽場(chǎng)中央,不明白為什么會(huì)這樣。他捧起獎(jiǎng)杯,木訥地穿過(guò)校園。
強(qiáng)哥和精嚇會(huì)的隊(duì)員們看到毛怪,都圍了上來(lái)。強(qiáng)哥拍了拍毛怪的后背:“看來(lái)我之前小看你了,”說(shuō)著他將一件精嚇會(huì)會(huì)服放在毛怪寬闊的肩頭,“你終于成為我們的一員了。”
這時(shí),毛怪看見(jiàn)郝刻薄院長(zhǎng)在前面。他默默地看著院長(zhǎng)的背影,然后眼里透出了一絲堅(jiān)定的目光。他把獎(jiǎng)杯和會(huì)服都遞給強(qiáng)哥,在精嚇會(huì)驚訝的目光中,大步向郝刻薄院長(zhǎng)走去。
此時(shí)麥克正穿過(guò)怪獸大學(xué)傳送門科技樓的走廊,朝傳送門實(shí)驗(yàn)室走去。一群學(xué)生走出了實(shí)驗(yàn)室,從他身旁經(jīng)過(guò),麥克則神不知鬼不覺(jué)地從一個(gè)學(xué)生的背包上摘下了鑰匙牌。他朝周圍望了望,確定沒(méi)有人在看,就趕緊刷了刷卡,等待實(shí)驗(yàn)室大門上方的安全警示燈變成綠色。