MU With a ZING!

Chapter 08 -Finals are Here and OH RABIES!

It was nearing the end of their very first semester at Monster U, and Marian was both dreading and anticipating the upcoming scaring exam. She admitted she wasn't the only one to have the pre-exam jitters after witnessing the reaction of their fellow classmates and seeing how they were dealing with the building pressure, some faring far better than others. The schoolground, which was once thriving with students all over the place, now seemed sparse with very few loitering the area as many chose to head for the library or other remote spots instead to do their studying in private without any unwanted distractions. The days leading up to the finals were tense as everyone spent countless hours pouring over their previous notes and cracking open their scarebooks once more to look up information that was likely to pop up on the test and wanted to brush up on them. Everybody was a bundle of nerves as they were scrambling to get everything together and make sure they were prepared, though some needed it more than others who generally didn't seem to take heed of Professor Knight's explanation on the importance of knowing this beforehand.

There was so much heavy tension hovering around the area, Marian sensing the high level of stress that seemed to be pouring out of every monsters, and seeing a few were on the verge of mentally collapsing and most likely to be the first to be burnt during the test. Some won't be able to handle the heat given how serious the occupation of being a Scarer was and shouldn't be taken so lightly in the aspect when they had decided that as their field. It was a tough but challenging life experience that had monsters going from their own dimension into the human's and trying to get children to scream to provide a resourceful energy source to their realm. Unlike normal exams, there was a one in a hundred percent chance of passing unless by some miracle, they could really pull off and prove they had the guts and moxie to be scary. This would be the first of many and was a 'do or fail' kind that if you didn't make the quota in the beginning, there were no do-overs: you're gone, sorry kiddo, better luck never...in short, you were out of the program. Hence why everyone was a nervous wreck, but hopefully when it was said and done, many could breathe easier and try to wait until the results came through and they'd see whether they got to scare another day.

It wasn't that long until the day finally arrived, and Marian was trying to keep the unsettled spiders from spinning cobwebs in her stomach. Sure, it was normal to feel just a small bit of anxiety because of how important this was to her and her friends, though she was thinking that she really shouldn't fret, given they studied their tails off for weeks on end and knew the entire material like the back of their claw.

You can do this, Mina; this will be a piece of blood velvet cake, she reminded herself as she and Leda left their dorm and went to go join the boys who were waiting for them to show. The four of them were walking down the quad towards the Scare Hall where their other classmates were also heading for that fateful morning. She could sense the heavy apprehension pouring from them, the vampire having the instinct impression on who would pass and who wouldn't by the end of today.

She could tell Leda and Randall had also been feeling on edge yet trying to keep themselves focused by remaining optimistic, but Mike didn't seem all too bothered; in fact, he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet while having his roommate give him a quick revisual and answering every question without second guessing them. The cyclops didn't need it, but the others could see that he was using this to help Randall stay focused and not lose his cool by distracting him otherwise. So far it worked much to everyone's relief. "...A Townson grimace with extra slobber."

"You got it! Boy, Mike, you're definitely going to ace this thing for sure."

They saw the cyclops nod before turning to the others and giving them a wide grin in their direction. "True, but they better make room up there because with the four of us, they'll be looking at the best in scaring biz! That's what I'm saying!"