《怪兽大学》第21章

On the day of the event, the Oozmas anxiously gathered at the entrance of a large maze. As Mike explained, "This event is all about scaring the young kids while avoiding the older kids." It was a race with a twist: as contestants sprinted through the maze, cardboard pop-ups of children would appear. The trick was to roar at just the little children pop-ups, not the teens.

The crowd cheered as Art ran through the maze first. He sped around a corner and encountered a cardboard pop-up teenager. Art ducked behind a corner until a light on the teen turned green. That meant the Oozmas scored a point.

Squishy ran through next. A cardboard child popped up and Squishy let out a ROAR! Another green light flashed. The Oozmas scored again!

The RORs emerged from the maze in first place. But the Oozmas came out second, beating both the HSS sorority and the PNKs. The PNKs were eliminated, and the OKs were still in the Games. The Oozma fans screamed, "Go OK!"

The next Scare Games event would focus on hiding. The team hit the books hard and learned how each Oozma could make the most of his individual abilities. To help Don understand this concept, Mike put a helmet on him and had Sulley throw him at a wall. Don screamed as he flew through the air — but when he hit, he stuck tight! Thrilled, Don continued climbing stealthily up the wall, using the suction cups on his tentacle arms.

One by one, the Oozmas were finding their strengths. Sulley listened carefully as Mike read passages from scaring manuals. It was the first time Sulley had ever cared about anything in a book. But he could see that Mike's strategy was working. When the night of the next challenge arrived, even Sulley felt the Oozmas were ready.

The event was called Hide-and-Sneak and required the remaining three teams to hide inside the ROR house. Any time the referee spotted a monster, that player was out. If the referee passed by, the monster could run out of the house and be counted for his or her team. A crowd gathered outside the windows of the ROR house to watch the game unfold.

Quickly, the competitors ran into the house and found their hiding places. The referee, a monster with multiple eyes, carefully entered the house. His flashlight quickly landed on a set of tentacles beneath a curtain. The tentacles pulled back. But it was too late. The referee yanked the curtain aside and found a HSS sorority girl. "You're out!" he shouted.

Then he moved his flashlight to the fireplace. The steely-eyed ref noticed loose debris falling from the chimney. He shined the light up and a different HSS sorority sister fell into the soot. "Tough luck, Kris Kringle," he said.

Then the referee walked across the room, stepping right over Sulley, who had disguised himself as a bear rug. As the referee moved off toward the next area of the house, Sulley stood up and ran outside. Continuing, the referee walked under Don, who went unnoticed, clinging to the ceiling with his suction cups.

The crowd waiting outside saw the RORs come out the front door first, followed closely by the Oozma Kappas. The Oozma fans went crazy.

At the end of the challenge, the Greek Council president addressed the crowd. "We're down to two remaining teams: the four-time defending champions, Roar Omega Roar ... and Oozma Kappa!"

The vice president added, "Get plenty of rest, because tomorrow night you finally get to scare in front of the whole school!"

As the crowd began to break up, a group of fans approached the Oozma Kappas. "You guys are awesome!" one student said. "You've got to teach us your moves."

"Well, then you're going to want to talk to this guy," Don said, proudly pointing to Mike.

Mike was surprised and pleased by the attention.

Sulley smiled as he watched Mike enjoy his moment in the sun. Then he spotted Dean Hardscrabble and walked over. This time Sulley wasn't so arrogant. "Dean Hardscrabble?" he said humbly. "When we get back into the Scaring Program, I hope there's no hard feelings."

She turned to Sulley with a strange look. "Tomorrow, each of you must prove that you are undeniablyscary. And I know for a fact that one of you is not." She turned, her gaze falling on Mike.

"No," Sulley replied. "You're wrong. He works harder than anyone."

"But do you think he's scary?" she asked.

"He's the heart and soul of the team," Sulley answered.

"Do you think he's scary?" she repeated.

Sulley looked at Mike, grinning and enthusiastic, and his shoulders slumped. Dean Hardscrabble smiled coldly, as if to say That's what I thought. She turned and walked away.

Back in their little room at the Oozma Kappa house, Sulley stared at the ceiling while Mike sat on his bunk below. "We're gonna win this thing tomorrow, Sull, I can feel it!" Mike said happily, holding his old MU hat.

Sulley leaned over his bunk and said, "Hey, Mike? You've given me a lot of really great tips. I'd love to return the favor sometime."

"Oh yeah, sure. Anytime," Mike replied.

Sulley jumped down from his bunk and cleared the furniture from the middle of the room. "We're doing this now?" Mike asked.

Sulley picked up Mike's scaring textbook and tossed it. "Okay, you've memorized every textbook, every scare theory, and that's great. But now it's time to forget all that. Just reach deep down and let the scary out," he said seriously.

Mike stared at him for a moment. "Huh, just feel it," he said.

"Exactly," Sulley replied. "Go wild."

Mike let out a roar. "Good," Sulley said, "but bigger!"

Mike roared at Sulley with everything he had. Ms. Squibbles suddenly shouted, "Boys! It's a school night!"

Mike was breathing hard. "So how was it?" he asked.

Sulley smiled and held up his big hand. "Up top," he said, and Mike high-fived him. Mike and Sulley climbed back into their bunks.

"Ha-ha!" Mike said happily. "It did feel different. I feel like it's all coming together." He grabbed his beloved MU hat. "Yep, this time tomorrow, the whole school is finally going to see what Mike Wazowski can do."

"You're darn right," Sulley said, staring at the ceiling. He hoped he sounded like he meant it.

第三场比赛终于到来了。OK会的成员们在一个巨型迷宫的入口集合，内心激动不已。麦克向大家解释道：“比赛规则是惊吓‘小孩子’，避开‘青少年’。”比赛中选手需要穿过曲折的迷宫。在他们全力冲刺的时候，由纸板制成的“孩子”会弹出来挡住其去路，只有朝“小孩子”吼叫才能通过，但不能惊吓“青少年”。

阿拱跑在队伍最前面，观众们连连叫好。拐角处，一个纸板“青少年”突然弹了出来，阿拱赶紧躲到拐角后面，直到这个青少年身上的绿灯亮起。这表示OK会队得到一分。

史乖宝紧随其后。眼见一个纸板“小孩子”弹了出来，他大吼一声，绿灯亮起，OK会队再得一分！

精吓会队率先走出迷宫，完成了比赛。紧接着OK会队也出来了，他们战胜了黑丝丝队和美少女队，获得第二名。美少女队惨遭淘汰，而OK会队则成功晋级。OK会的粉丝们大声尖叫着：“加油，OK会！”

下一场比赛的主题是“隐藏”。OK会的小伙子们努力研读课本，学习如何发挥出每个人的最大潜能。为了让老唐更好地利用自己的长处，麦克给他戴上一顶头盔，然后毛怪将他一把抓起朝墙上扔去。老唐从半空中划过，吓得尖叫起来。但是刚一碰到墙，他的触手就紧紧吸住了墙面！老唐兴奋极了，赶紧利用触手上的吸盘继续轻手轻脚地向上爬去。

大家一个个都找到了自己的长处。麦克向大家宣读惊吓手册的时候，毛怪听得格外认真，这还是他第一次关注书里的知识。而他确实也发现，麦克的战术起作用了。比赛前一天晚上，就连毛怪都觉得OK会已经成竹在胸。

这场比赛叫作“藏起来再溜走”，要求剩下的三支队伍藏在精吓会会所里，一旦被裁判发现，选手就淘汰出局。要是裁判经过身边却没能发现自己，这名选手就可以趁机跑出会所，为队伍得到一分。会所的窗外挤满了怪兽，都等着比赛开始。

选手们迅速跑进会所，找到了自己的藏身之处。裁判是一位长着好几只眼睛的怪兽，只见他小心翼翼地走进屋子，手电的光束迅速停留在窗帘后面的一对触角上。那对触角赶紧缩了回去，但是已经来不及了。裁判猛地拉开窗帘，对躲在后面的黑丝丝队女孩大声喊道：“你出局了！”

接着裁判又用手电照了照壁炉附近，他那钢铁般锐利的目光扫视着一切，就连从烟囱里落下来的小小细屑都不放过。他举起手电向上照去，又一个黑丝丝队的女孩掉落在煤灰里。裁判说道：“运气真差，圣诞老人！”

然后他又穿过屋子，恰恰从毛怪身边走过，却没有注意到伪装成小熊地毯的毛怪。看到裁判走过去了，毛怪赶紧站起身朝门外跑去。接下来，裁判也没能发现自己头顶上的老唐——他正用触手稳稳地吸附在天花板上。

门外，着急等待的观众们看到精吓会队率先从大门走了出来，OK会队则紧随其后。OK会的粉丝们激动地炸开了锅。

这一轮比赛结束了，希腊议会会长向大家宣布道：“现在只剩下两支队伍了，分别是四届卫冕冠军精吓会队，还有……OK会队！”

副会长补充说：“大家好好休息，明天晚上你们就要在全校师生面前一较高下啦！”

观众渐渐散去，一群粉丝来到OK会成员身边说道：“你们真是好样的！”一个学生说，“你们可得教我们两手。”

老唐自豪地指指麦克说：“哦，这事儿你要请教这小子。”

看着大家的目光，麦克又惊又喜。

毛怪看到麦克欣喜地享受着阳光下的这一刻，脸上也露出了笑容。这时他看到了郝刻薄院长，便走了过去。这一次毛怪并不像以往那么自大。“郝院长，”他谦逊地说道，“如果我们可以重返惊吓学院，希望您别觉得尴尬。”

院长转过身，露出一个难以捉摸的表情，说道：“那要看明天你们是否能证明自己具备绝对的惊吓能力了。可是我知道在你们当中，至少有一个做不到。”她转过去，目光停留在麦克身上。

“不，”毛怪回答，“不会的，他比任何人都努力。”

“可你觉得他吓人吗？”院长问道。

“他是我们队伍的灵魂。”毛怪答道。

“你觉得他吓人吗？”院长又重复了一遍。

毛怪看向麦克，只见他正开心又热情地笑着，丝毫没有吓人的感觉。毛怪的肩膀耷拉下来。郝刻薄院长冷笑一声，仿佛在说“正如我所料”，然后便转身离开了。

回到OK会会所中他们的小房间里，毛怪呆呆地望着天花板。麦克坐在下铺开心地摆弄着他那顶旧旧的“怪大”帽子说：“明天我们一定能赢，毛怪，我能感受得到！”

毛怪从床铺上探出头来说：“嘿，麦克，这段时间你给了我很多宝贵的启示。我很希望有朝一日能回报你。”

“噢，好啊，随时都可以。”麦克回答。

毛怪跳下床铺，把寝室中间的家具全部搬开。“现在就来吗？”麦克问道。

毛怪拿起麦克的惊吓课本，一把扔了出去，严肃地告诉麦克：“好了，你已经把所有理论知识和课本都背得滚瓜烂熟，这非常好。但现在，把它们统统忘了吧。感受你的内心深处，让你吓人的一面释放 出来。”

麦克盯着毛怪看了一会儿，说道：“噢，有感而发是吧。”

“就是这样，”毛怪回答，“释放你的兽性。”

于是麦克吼了一声。毛怪鼓励他说：“好的，但是再大声一点！”

麦克用尽全力朝毛怪大吼一声。突然楼下传来史太太的声音：“孩子们，今天可不是周末之夜！”

麦克气喘吁吁地问道：“这次如何？”

毛怪笑着举起大手说：“来一个。”麦克和他击了个掌。两人这才回到了各自床上。

“哈哈！”麦克兴奋地说道，“确实感觉不一样了，我们已经万事俱备啦。”他拿起自己钟爱的“怪大”帽子。“明天这个时候，整个学校都将见证我麦克·华斯基的本事。”

“那当然了。”毛怪盯着天花板说道。他真希望一切能够如麦克所愿。