Chapter Text
Chapter 3: The Fate of Laugh Power
Months have passed since Eugene Roberts introduced hydroelectricity to the world of monsters and a lot has happened. After Henry J. Waternoose was recaptured, Monsters, Inc. thought he wouldn't cause any more trouble but he not only escaped again but also allied himself with Randall Boggs (again) and a human named Sid. They were defeated but temporarily made it harder to make children laugh.
"It's a good thing the rivers are limited or Roberts would have put us out of business by now." Mike commented.
"Yeah, but we still have to keep our quota or we lose our Monstropolis contract to Fear Co." Sulley declared. "Again."
"What?" Mike asked angrily. "Are they going to trust Fear Co. after everything Johnny did?"
"They trust us after what Waternoose did." Sulley nonchalantly replied. "Anyway, we need to do what we did that day. Luckily Randall Boggs isn't here to steal our power like last time."
Meanwhile, in Chet Alexander's office, he is planning how to take advantage of recent events. "The trouble caused by Waternoose and his friends may have given us a great opportunity." He told the board of directors. "If Monsters, Inc. is unable to continue generating enough power to meet the needs of Monstropolis, we're back. And this time we'll have our own laugh power."
The directors applauded the decision. "But what about Scream Industries?" One of them asked.
"All the hydroelectric power they are generating at the moment is focused on the customers they already have and the laughing power they provisionally use is not enough for the job." Chet explained.
"There is an advantage in having a CEO with connections to the Government." Another director whispered and Chet pretended not to hear.
Meanwhile, Eugene Roberts was out of town with Professor William Brandywine overseeing the construction of a new hydroelectric power plant. "It's a shame we're not yet ready to be Monstropolis' new power providers." Eugene commented.
"Patience is a virtue, Mr. Roberts." Professor Brandywine said. "As soon as the new plant is ready, we will be able to take advantage of the next opportunity."
"You could sound a little more enthusiastic about that." Eugene said.
"But I don't need to." Professor Brandywine replied, sounding as boring as usual.
Hours later, at Monsters Inc., the jokesters had enough laugh power to meet their quota. "And we still have a little extra power for tomorrow." Sulley commented. "Congratulations!"
"Thank you very much, Mr. Sullivan." Jokester Tylor Tuskmon said.
"Thank you." Sulley replied. "All of you. Now please hand in your reports and we'll see you tomorrow."
After the others left, Mike and Sulley headed to their office. "Hopefully this will be enough to appease the company's directors." Sulley said.
"What can they do?" Mike asked, not caring. "Scare is over and Roberts has a patent on the method that threatens to make laugh power obsolete."
"They're already talking about negotiating with Scream Industries or, if necessary, closing Monsters, Inc. to avoid further losses." Sulley replied.
"What?" Mike asked angrily. "How could Roberts do this to us?"
"Mike, don't take it personally." Sulley said. "He was simply looking for his own alternative. If our use of the laugh power drove our competitors out of business, would it have been on purpose?"
"I understand what you mean, but what will happen when hydroelectric power overwhelms the power of laughter?" Mike asked.
"If hydroelectric power overwhelms and then I'm afraid we'll have to look for other jobs, Mike." Sulley replied.
The next day, the day started normally at Monsters, Inc., although magazine covers with the message "Water vs. Laughter" left employees worried. "We'll just keep working and hope that Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Wazowski continue to keep the company going." Val said to Tylor.
As usual, Val and Tylor entered a child's room together. Little did they know that it wouldn't last long. Later that day, they were called to James P. Sullivan's office. "You must be wondering why we called you here." Sulley commented to his friend Mike next to him.
Both Tylor and Val nodded. "Did we do something wrong, Mr. Sullivan?" Tylor asked.
"Nothing that bothers me, but the board considers it unnecessary to pay two jokesters to enter the same rooms." Sulley replied. "Especially when, as far as they know, Val does all the work and all you have is a donut joke that's gone out of date."
"What will happen to me, Mr. Sullivan?" Tylor asked.
"You can try to go back to being a solo jokester, assuming you can make kids laugh, or, if you fail or decide not to try at all, you can go back to being a MIFTer." Sulley explained. "What's your choice?"
"I'm going to try being a solo jokester again, Mr. Sullivan." Tylor said.
"Good luck." Sulley replied.
"We regret having to do this but the board is cutting expenses so we can withstand the competition." Mike added.
"It's all good." Tylor said.
During the lunch break, Val and Tylor continued to talk about the recent development. "I hope you can remain a jokester." Val said.
"Me too." Duncan said, intruding into the conversation. "I'd hate to see the college boy taking a promotion that's rightfully mine."
"No need to worry, Duncan." Tylor replied, tired of Duncan thinking he wants to succeed Fritz as head MIFTer.
"We'll see about that, college boy." Duncan replied.
Meanwhile, at Fear Co, Chet Alexander had just returned from another child's room. "I can't believe my dance was such a hit with the kids." He commented. "I just want to know why so many kids think my name is Sebastian."
"Must be because of some stupid movie." Joy theorized.
"What are you doing in my office?" Chet asked.
"Cleaning it up, Mr. Alexander." Joy replied. "I'm done. Is there anything else I can do?"
"Thank you but you may leave." Chet said.
"I hate this job but I think it's better than playing the clown to a bunch of human children." Joy muttered as she left Chet's office. "I'm a scarer, not a jokester."
"This transition is harder than I thought but it's better than ending up like Worthington or Waternoose." Chet commented once he was alone in his office.
A secretary entered his office shortly after Joy left it. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Alexander, but this message from Monstropolis City Hall has just arrived." She said.
"Thank you, I was waiting for this." He responded with a smile. A smile that disappeared as soon as he read the message. "Something wrong?" The secretary asked.
"Monsters, Inc. still continues to supply Monstropolis's power needs." Chet responded. "It was already very difficult for us to recover the contracts we lost due to Worthington's actions."
"Should I worry about my pay, Sir?" The secretary asked.
"Things aren't that bad." Chet replied, resisting the urge to add, "For now."
"I'm going back to my table, Sir." She said.
Back at Monsters Inc., Tylor entered a child's room and tried to recreate his donut act. During the attempt, he tripped and the child began to laugh at his misfortune. "It brings back memories." Mike commented, remembering how Boo used to laugh at his misfortune and nothing else.
"Poor quality humor but a deal is a deal." One of the board members said and the others nodded. "Mr. Tuskmon, you're still one of our jokesters."
"Just remember not to break anything." Miss. Flint warned him.
"Yes, Miss Flint." Tylor responded.
"So all he needed was to refine the donut joke?" Smitty asked.
"Go figure." Needleman commented.
After Tylor Tuskmon's employment situation was resolved, Mike and Sulley went to their office and turned on the television they keep there. Once again, Eugene Roberts was giving an interview for the program "I Scream, You Scream". "Mr. Roberts, despite your expectations, laugh power is still in use." Jill stated. "Do you have any comments?"
"Jill, the transition from screaming to laughing was relatively easier because both means of gaining power used human children." Roberts responded. "We at Scream Industries are exploring a new and untapped source of power and it takes time."
"Well, the results like the construction of the new dam speak for themselves." Jack said.
"Thank you, Jack." Roberts responded.
"Mr. Roberts, what do you have to say about claims that our world's hydroelectric potential is not sufficient to meet power needs?" Jill asked.
"Even if it isn't, and it's still too early to know for sure, I'll be satisfied with reducing dependence on human power as much as possible." Roberts declared.
"That's the spirit!" Jack exclaimed.
As time went on, it became clear that hydroelectric power really wouldn't be enough to meet the needs of the Monster World. "Maybe it's time to add other alternative sources of power." Eugene Roberts commented.
"Maybe we can use solar power." His assistant suggested. "I know even the monsters who suggest this in C.R.E.E.P. admit it's crazy but even hydropower and laugh power were considered this in the beginning but it's worth a try."
"Actally, I've already consulted with Professor Brandywine about this and he told me that solar panels generate so little power that consumers would need to install them in their homes, businesses, or anywhere else they want or need to use energy." Roberts replied.
"I thought the idea was to make the world no longer need humans to generate power." The assistant said. "Don't get me wrong, I just want to understand, Mr. Roberts."
"The board does not consider solar panels to be economically viable." Roberts explained. "They believe we make more money selling energy than selling ways for monsters to make their own. I tried to explain that the owners of the panels would eventually pay for maintenance, repairs and/or replacements but that didn't convince them."
"Stupid corporate greed." The assistant said. "No offense."
"It's okay." Roberts commented. "I understand that corporate interests are the thorn in the side of everyone trying to make the world a better place."
"And what about wind power?" The assistant asked. "I remember seeing something like that at C.R.E.E.P."
"We don't have enough wind to get even more than we used to get with scares after the crisis, unfortunately." Roberts said, lamenting that an idea that looked so good on paper was so bad in practice.
That night, Tylor Tuskmon told his family the good news. "Now I'm a solo jokester again." He said proudly.
"I thought all the jokesters were going to be unemployed." His dad commented.
"No, Dad." Tylor replied, still happy. "Hydroelectric power was not enough to make laugh power obsolete."
Meanwhile, at Scare Masters, the company's CEO presented his new idea to the board of directors. "We've already discussed this." One of the directors said. "We won't make much profit selling solar panels."
"Then let's rent them." The CEO responded and showed some papers. "I took the liberty of asking the accounting department to estimate the minimum amount we can charge and still make a profit."
This got the directors interested.
THE END