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Chapter 20
It was late when Mike piled all the Oozmas into Ms. Squibbles’s car — with Ms. Squibbles’s driving. After a long drive, Mike told her to pull into a dark parking lot. “Thanks, Mom!” Squishy said as the group climbed out and stretched.
Ms. Squibbles waved. “Have fun, kids! I’ll just be here listening to my tunes.” She rolled up her window, and the car began to vibrate with the thud of heavy metal music.
Art looked around. “So where are we?” he asked Mike.
All the Oozmas followed Mike as he walked toward a large gate and gazed upward. “The big leagues,” Mike said solemnly.
Everyone looked up and saw the sign: MONSTERS, INC.
“Holy roly-poly!” Don said, awestruck. Even Sulley was stunned.
Mike held up a pair of wire cutters and the Oozmas gasped. “We’re not stopping here,” Mike told them. Moments later, he had cut a big hole in the wire fence — right next to the No Trespassing sign.
“This is crazy! We’re gonna get arrested!” Squishy whispered as Mike led the group up a ladder and onto the roof of Monsters, Inc.
“Shh!” Mike said, leading them toward a big window.
As the group peered through the window, everyone’s eyes went wide. “Whoa!” someone exclaimed. They were looking down onto a real scare floor, full of Scarers going in and out of active doors to the human world.
“Take a good look, fellas,” Mike said, pointing to the Scarers below. “See what they all have in common?”
Squishy stared hard at the workers down on the scare floor. They were of different shapes, colors, and sizes. “No, not really,” Squishy said finally, feeling confused.
“Exactly!” Mike exclaimed. “There’s no one type of Scarer. The best Scarers use their differences to their advantage.”
“Wow,” Squishy said, watching a blobby Scarer expand himself to enormous size.
“Terri, look!” Terry called to his brother. They both stared as a three-headed Scarer came out from an active door.
Sulley was impressed, too. He watched the Scarers for a while, then glanced over at Mike with new respect. Maybe Mike was right.
Don gasped as he noticed an older monster on the floor. “Hey, look at that old fella racking up the big numbers!”
Mike smiled. “Don, that ‘old fella’ is Earl ‘The Terror’ Thompson!”
“What?” Sulley said, astounded. “Where?” Then he laughed. “Wow! That’s really him! I still have his rookie card!”
“Me too!” Mike said, and for the first time, they realized they had something in common. “You collect scare cards, huh?” Mike asked.
“Yep,” Sulley replied proudly. “Four hundred and fifty of ’em.”
“Impressive,” Mike said, nodding. “I have six thousand. Still in mint condition. But, you know, four-fifty’s pretty good, too.”
Squishy, inspired by what he saw on the floor, made a scary face and let out a roar. “Hey, look at me,” he said, “I’m Earl ‘The Terror’ Thompson!”
“Hey, that was pretty good!” Art said.
Mike and Sulley watched the Oozmas grow excited as they realized they might actually achieve their dreams.
Then Sulley turned to Mike with a sigh. “I’ve been a real jerk, haven’t I?”
“So have I,” Mike admitted. “But it’s not too late. We could be a great team. We just to need to start working together —”
“Hey! What are you doing up there?” a security guard yelled.
The entire group froze in surprise. Then Art panicked. “I can’t go back to jail!” he cried, and raced away across the rooftop. Mike and the other Oozmas followed.
“They’re right behind us!” Don cried as Sulley pulled him along. The gang hustled up a ladder, hoping to hide on a higher rooftop. But they were too slow.
“There they are, up there!” the security guard shouted. A whole group of guards was chasing them now. “Get ’em!”
Mike gasped as the guards climbed the ladder, hot on their tails and tentacles. Mike led the Oozmas to a ledge and jumped to a lower rooftop. Squishy was the last to jump. Terrified, he teetered on the ledge, then fell. Sulley reached out his long arm and caught him just in time. “Thanks, brother,” Squishy gasped.
Sulley put Squishy on his shoulders and ran. “Don’t mention it,” Sulley said as he caught up to Mike and the other Oozma Kappas.
It wasn’t long before Don was out of breath and falling behind. “I’m fine, really,” Don said, gasping. “It’s just a little heart attack.” Sulley picked Don up, too, and kept running.
“Stop right there!” a guard shouted. “Don’t move!” But Sulley, who was now carrying all the Oozmas, plowed through. He jumped to the ground and sprinted to the car.
“Mom! Start the car!” Squishy yelled as they ducked out through the fence.
Ms. Squibbles lowered her window and smiled. “What, dear?”
“Start the car!” Squishy howled. “THE CAR! Start the car!”
Ms. Squibbles smiled. “Oh, okay,” she said. Mike and the Oozmas piled in.
“Mom, go!” Squishy said as the guards climbed through the hole after them.
“Seat belts,” Ms. Squibbles reminded her son and his friends with a smile.
The Oozmas frantically buckled up as the guards moved closer. “Okay,” Squishy panted. “Go!”
“Does anyone want gum?” Ms. Squibbles asked.
“JUST DRIVE!” Squishy hollered. But it was too late. The guards had caught up to the car. Desperate, Mike reached his foot over to the gas pedal and floored it. The car screeched out of the Monsters, Inc., parking lot.
“AAAAHHH!” the Oozmas screamed as the car tore down the road. Then they all started laughing.
“That was awesome!” Terri said, and they looked back to see angry guards shaking their fists in the distance.
“Let’s break in somewhere else!” Art cried.
Back home at the Oozma Kappa house, the Oozmas had a completely different attitude from earlier that day. Inspired, the group started training for the Scare Games with a confidence and determination they’d never had before. Ms. Squibbles sewed them yellow-and-green sweaters, for their fraternity colors. When Sulley and Mike put on their sweaters and Oozma hats, they exchanged a thumbs-up. They were a team!
From then on, all the Oozmas were up at six a.m. They were out on the quad practicing scaring drills every day. “Scary feet! Scary feet!” Mike shouted to them as they slithered, raced, and crawled across the field.
In the distance, Johnny and Chet watched the Oozmas practicing and shook their heads. The third Scare Games event was Don’t Scare the Teen, and they were sure the Oozma Kappas didn’t have a chance.