《怪兽大学》第11章

20次大中小

Weeks passed, and soon it was January and the start of a new semester. Back in class, Mike fidgeted in his seat as Professor Brandywine lectured about scream-can designs. This was Mike's new major. He stared out the window at the School of Scaring in the distance and wondered how it had all gone so wrong.

"Some say a career as a Scream Can Designer is boring, unchallenging, a waste of a monster's potential ..." Professor Brandywine droned on in a toneless voice. Mike couldn't have agreed more.

Across the classroom, Sulley sat and glared at Mike. In Sulley's mind, things at MU had been perfect until Mike Wazowski ruined it all.

When the class finally ended, Mike dejectedly headed back to his dorm. Sulley, still glaring furiously, followed Mike across most of the campus. He was seething, and he wanted Mike to know it.

But Mike paid no attention to Sulley. He was too sad. He went straight to his dorm room and stared at his MU hat. He was heartbroken. He picked up his scream-can design textbook and sighed. Then he hurled it against the wall. As the book hit, it knocked down his calendar ... revealing the Greek Scare Games f lyer Mike had tacked to the wall on the f irst day of school.

Mike moved closer, staring at the f lyer. Slowly, a smile grew across his face. He tore the paper of f the wall and ran to the door. Opening it, he found Sulley standing there, still glaring. "Out of my way!" Mike shouted, and rushed down the hall.

Mike tore out of the building and ran toward Fraternity Row. A crowd of fraternity and sorority monsters f illed the area, facing a large outdoor stage.

Mike watched the Greek Council president stand up and address the crowd. "Welcome to this year's Greek Scare Games kickoff!" she said. Everyone cheered, yelling support for the fraternities and sororities that were competing. Then the council president continued. "We have a special guest. The founder of the Games, Dean Hardscrabble!"

The crowd cheered once again as Dean Hardscrabble stepped to the podium. "Good afternoon," she said in a low growl. "As a student, I created these games as a friendly competition. But be prepared: to take home the trophy, you must be the most fearsome monsters on campus!" After another round of cheers, she ended with a faint smile. "Good luck, and may the best monsters win!" The president smiled and announced, "All right, everybody! Sign-ups for the Scare Games are of f icially —"

But before she could say "closed," Mike shouted from the crowd, "WAIT! I'm signing up!"

Dean Hardscrabble's eyes narrowed as Mike pushed through the crowd. "You have to be in a fraternity to compete," the council president reminded Mike.

Mike turned and desperately scanned the crowd. Finally, he pointed to the only fraternity he thought might let him join. "Behold! The next winning fraternity of the Scare Games," he said grandly, "the brothers, my brothers, of Oozma Kappa!"

The crowd turned to see the Oozma Kappa members, who looked almost as shocked as everyone else. The oddball group stood proudly, though: a balding, middle-aged monster; a scrawny two-headed, four-armed monster; a rosy-cheeked blob with a multitude of eyes; and a shy, shaggy-haired monster. "Hi," the blobby kid said awkwardly. The balloon he was holding suddenly def lated, and the crowd howled with laughter.

Dean Hardscrabble approached Mike. "Mr. Wazowski," she said sternly, "what are you doing?"

"You just said the winners are the most fearsome monsters on campus," Mike replied. "If I win, it means you kicked out the best Scarer in the whole school."

"That won't happen," Dean Hardscrabble said f latly.

"Then how about a little wager?" Mike said. A murmur of shock rose from the crowd. Was a student actually challenging her to a bet? Dean Hardscrabble shot him a predatory look. For a moment, Mike felt like she was going to splash soy sauce on him and eat him like an egg roll. But he stood his ground. "If I win, you let me back in the Scaring Program."

"And what would that prove?" she snarled.

Mike replied, "That you were wrong."

Dean Hardscrabble thought for a moment as she reappraised the little green monster standing in front of her. "Very well," she said finally. "If you win, I will let your entire team into the Scaring Program. But if you lose, you will pack up your things and leave Monsters University."

"Deal," Mike said.

"Now all you need to do is find enough members to compete," Dean Hardscrabble said.

Mike looked at his little group and didn't see that he had a problem. He turned to the Greek Council president and asked, "What? We need six guys, right?"

"We count bodies, not heads," the president said, pointing to the two-headed monster. "That dude counts as one."

Dean Hardscrabble smiled as she watched Mike's panicked reaction. "Anyone else want to join our team?" Mike asked the crowd. "Anyone at all?"

Suddenly, Mike spotted his roommate in the crowd. "Randy! Randy, thank goodness, I need you on my team!"

"Oh, sorry, Mike," Randy said. "I'm already on a team." Randy walked over to Johnny, and Mike saw that he was wearing a ROR jacket.

"Boggs!" Johnny turned to Randy with a chuckle. "Do the trick!" With a pained smile, Randy made himself disappear. The RORs burst out laughing.

Mike was desperate. He jumped on top of a nearby parked car and shouted, "Please, anybody! I need one more monster. Just one more!"

But no one answered.

几周过后，一月份很快就到了，新学期开始了。再次回到学校的麦克坐进了布兰迪维因教授的课堂。课堂上，老师正在教授尖叫收集罐的设计，这是麦克的新专业，可他却如坐针毡。麦克望向窗外，盯着远处的惊吓学院，不明白一切为什么会变得这么糟。

布兰迪维因教授拖着有气无力的声音说道：“有人说设计尖叫收集罐是个极其无聊又没有挑战性的职业，是在浪费怪兽的潜能……”听到这，麦克简直同意极了。

毛怪坐在教室的另一侧，怒视着麦克。在他看来，他在怪大的一切原本是那么完美，但麦克·华斯基把它们全毁了。

终于下课了，麦克垂头丧气地朝宿舍走去。而毛怪依然愤怒地盯着麦克，一直跟在麦克后面穿过了几乎整个校园。他怒火中烧，而且他要让麦克知道这一点。

但麦克太难过了，根本就没有注意毛怪。他径直走回宿舍，盯着自己那顶“怪大”的帽子，感觉心都要碎了。他拿起尖叫收集罐设计课的课本，叹了口气。然后，他将课本朝墙上狠狠地砸去。飞过去的课本砸掉了挂在墙上的日历，露出了那张“惊吓杯”的宣传单，那是麦克进校第一天拿回来贴上的。

麦克走上前，看着这张宣传单，脸上渐渐露出了微笑。他一把从墙上撕下宣传单冲到宿舍门前，打开门，看到毛怪还站在那儿瞪着自己。“别挡着我！”麦克大叫着沿宿舍走廊冲了出去。

冲出宿舍楼的麦克朝“兄弟会街”一路狂奔而去。那里聚集了许多兄弟会、姐妹会的成员，他们全都面对着一个露天大舞台。

麦克看到希腊议会的会长起身走上舞台，对人群喊道：“欢迎来到本年度‘希腊惊吓杯’的开幕式！”在场的怪兽都为参赛的兄弟会和姐妹会队伍欢呼着，呐喊着。会长继续说道：“我们邀请到一位特殊的嘉宾，那就是这个赛事的创始人，郝刻薄院长！”

郝刻薄院长走上讲台，人群再一次沸腾了。“下午好，”院长的声音低沉有力，“在学生时代，我发起了这项比赛，宗旨是友好竞争。但请注意：要想赢得奖杯，你们必须是这个校园中最吓人的怪兽！”欢呼声再一次响起，院长微微一笑，结束了她的讲话：“祝大家好运，愿最可怕的怪兽赢得冠军！”会长接过话筒笑着宣布道：“好了同学们！报名时间截……”

她的“止”字还没说出口，麦克就在人群中大喊道：“等等！我要报名！”

他推开人群朝前面走去，郝刻薄院长的眼睛眯成了一条缝。“你得加入一个社团才能报名。”希腊议会的会长提醒他说。

麦克转过身，拼命地扫视着人群。终于，他指向了唯一可能允许他加入的兄弟会社团。“瞧！我加入了夺冠热门社团，”麦克一本正经地宣布，“有请我的队友，OK会的成员们！”

人群转而看向OK会的成员们，他们看起来和在场的其他人一样感到惊讶万分。但这支古怪的队伍仍然骄傲地站在那里：他们中有一位中年秃顶；有一位长着两只头、四只胳膊，却骨瘦如柴；有一位长了好几只眼睛，面色红润，体形呈团状；还有一位毛发蓬乱，表情羞涩。那个胖乎乎的怪兽尴尬地向大家打了声招呼：“嗨。”刚说完，他手里拿的气球突然泄了气，人群爆发出一阵阵嘲笑声。

郝刻薄院长向麦克走来，厉声问道：“麦克·华斯基！你在干什么？”

麦克答道：“你刚才说获胜的就是全校最可怕的怪兽。如果我赢了，那就意味着你把学校里最优秀的惊吓专员开除了。”

“你不可能赢。”院长斩钉截铁地告诉他。

“那打个赌怎么样？”麦克说道。顿时，人群窃窃私语起来。一个学生，真的敢挑战郝刻薄院长的权威，来打这个赌吗？院长狠狠地瞪了他一眼，那一瞬间，麦克真觉得院长恨不得乌眼鸡似的生吞了自己。但他还是定了定神说道：“如果我赢了，你就让我回惊吓学院。”

“那又能证明什么？”院长咆哮道。

麦克答道：“证明之前你错了。”

郝刻薄院长沉思了片刻，重新审视了一下这个站在自己面前的小绿怪。终于她松口了：“好啊，如果你赢了，我就让你们整个团队全都进入惊吓学院。但如果你输了，你就卷铺盖离开怪兽大学。”

“成交。”麦克说道。

“现在你要做的就是得凑够参赛的人数了。”院长说道。

麦克看了看他的团队，觉得这并不成问题。他转向希腊议会会长问道：“六个就够了，对吧？”

“我们数身体，不数头，”会长指了指那只长着两个头的怪兽说道，“两颗头的那个伙计只能算一位。”

麦克有点慌了。郝刻薄院长看着他，露出了微笑。“有没有人想加入我们的团队？”麦克朝人群喊着，“有愿意的吗？”