Chapter 4 :
The plane has stopped half in and half out of the mangled arcade
Everyone on the plane claps and cheers the pilot - so they don’t notice you open the door at the back of the plane
And jump down.
You run into the shattered arcade
It is empty
there are no slot machines or whack a moles
no penny pushers
no flashing lights or loud music
You look up
You cannot believe your eyes
Above your head are thousands of giant bird cages, swinging from golden chains
The cages are crawling with half-raven children – mid transformation – slowly mutating into human birds
You stand and stare in horror
The Raven is so angry with the children.
Because they put him in prison
That he has taken over their minds and turned them into his raven slaves
You feel a sharp stab in your toe
You look down
At your feet a half-baby stands up on its clawed feet and its giant wings unfurl
You look at your watch
And you turn the face once to the left
And once to the right
This is the Ravens secret lair – it is time to call in the International Spy Network for the Protection of Truth
You step back out into the light
You are watching the shaken passengers getting out of the plane when the bird cloud descends
They swoop from the sky and start to attack
The passengers panic - screaming and running in circles
There is no time to lose
You take your ring and you press it
(counts) …..One Two Three
A strange pink mist starts to shoot out from the ring like a firework
You swing your hand around in all directions as the gas billows out – smelling of mince
In seconds it has spread across the pier and up into the sky
Then the ring hisses and stops
The birds start to flail around and fly into each other
They seem confused and alarmed
They drop by one from the sky into the sea - like conkers
Then lay bobbing on the surface unable to move
You know there is not much time before the gas wears off
You can’t get down the pier because the plane is blocking it There are too many passengers
You kick off your shoes
You hold your nose
you take a deep breath
and you jump - feet first - off of the pier
You
Fall
Fall
Fall
waving your arms to stay upright
and then
splash
You are under the water
Down
down
down
you go
You look up and see the sun reflecting on the waves above
Then you kick your legs and begin to swim upwards
pushing down hard with your arms
And the sun gets brighter and brighter through the water
Until you
Break through into the air
and gasp for breath
All around you birds flap and bob in the water
And you start to swim
as fast as you can
– letting the waves help push you towards the beach
The sun is beginning to set and the sea is ice cold
You look up to see the pier smoking
At one end the crumpled plane with its nose poked into the arcade - like a twisted ferret eating an egg
You are weary but you swim
and swim
The water starts to get shallower
And you reach the shore
You pull yourself up from the waves, your limbs heavy
You feel the sand under your bare feet
Then you notice something coming towards you in the distance - down the beach
It is The Worst Thing You Have Ever Seen
You put your hands over your mouth
The crowds that have gathered to watch the plane crash gasp with horror
It is the raven
without his mask.
He is no ordinary man
He has no face.
He is 10 feet tall
He stands high on a gold chariot that hurtles down the beach.
The chariot is pulled by 1,000 tiny chihuahuas
Dressed in uniforms with little bows on their heads
Their long shadows stretch down the Beach behind them
Huge knives thrust out of the wheels of the chariot that flicker in the setting sunlight
You stand bolt still as he races towards you
You can feel the vibration of 1000 tiny feet pounding on the sand.
You can feel your heart beating slow and calm
The raven gets closer and closer
He is heading straight at you.
He starts to emit a terrifying noise like a predator that can smell its prey
The dogs are getting near
you can almost feel their panting breath on your face as their tiny bodies take the strain of the chariot speeding towards you
You look at the ring on your finger and at the watch
And your life flashes before you
The favourite things you like to do
The faces of the people you love
You shout out your agent number
I am Agent ….
The Raven laughs a terrible laugh
The dogs are foaming at the mouth
Then you pick up a piece of driftwood at your feet and you hurl the stick into the sky.
It flies like a javelin - whistling through the air and straight into the wheels of the chariot.
The wheels stop dead with a mighty crack and everything else keeps going – sending the Raven spinning through the air and the chariot following him, turning over and over.
The dogs scatter, panicking, out of the way, as the raven lands in a crumpled pile in the sand
The dogs turn on him immediatey - ripping at his armour as he tries to fight them off
This just makes the dogs more angry and you stand and watch as his clothes are torn to pieces by the writhing mess of tiny dogs
You put your two fingers under your tongue – you take a deep breath and you blow as hard as you can- sending a high pitched whistle down the beach
the dogs stop stock still
they are suddenly silent
In the moment of peace the whistle buys you, you run fast as a rocket to the hot dog van and you grab all of the sausages you can hold and you hurl them at the tiny frenzied dogs
The dogs begin to fight over the sausages
You walk slowly up to the Raven and you hold out your hand
The Raven laughs
At that moment a giant flare gun lights up the sky in the distance and ,silhoutted against the golden light, are hundreds of helicopters
From the helicopters special agents are being winched down on ropes onto the beach, carrying machine guns and giant tasers
They run towards you
You laugh
The beach is beginning to fill with parents
Calling out the names of their missing children
Overhead the last helicopter lowers its cargo
It is Babbington.
She walks towards you and nods
You smile back at her
Hello 606
You’ve had a busy day
Do you want to do the honours ?
And she holds out a pair of handcuffs
You take them - they are heavier than you expected
The Raven scrambles to his feet and stands towering over both of you
The special agents all point their guns at him
I am not going back to prison he says
And in a flash he grabs your watch and your ring and before anyone can stop him he claps them together
A huge pulse echoes out across the beach and you drop to the ground – unconscious.