PANEL 1
An isometric top-down view of the front yard of Barty’s Place, which is mostly dirt. On the left side of the panel, a long line of magickal, glowing dust has appeared. A small, sporty car has pulled up to it, with the driver waiting patiently to be let through. CAT runs up to the barrier, holding a hand up. From high up on a ledge of the house, BITSY watches
CAT: Wait! Hold on!
PANEL 2
CAT keeps holding up a hand. The glowing dust doesn’t obscure her, but one would still sense that it’s impenetrable. The viewer now has a better view of the car; it’s a two-door variety and of a burnt orange color.
CAT: There’s a barrier!
PANEL 3
CAT looks down at a paper in her hands, with one hand still up so she can perform the ritual. The glowing dust is made up of sparkles, stars, circles, and diamonds.
CAT: All right, okay… “Shield of safety / Round my home / Let… Darien… through / And let him roam.”
PANEL 4
CAT walks backwards as the car moves forward, driving over the now flattened barrier. From the trees in the foreground, CILLIAN, in stag form, and TAB, in crow form, watch the scene in front of them.
TAB: This is a shite idea, Cillian. She’s not going to let us into the house.
CILLIAN: I’m not looking at the house, you eejit.
PANEL 5
TAB and CILLIAN continue watching the scene unfold.
CILLIAN: We just need to get up to the van and get a feel for it.
TAB: And what are we feeling for, exactly?
CILLIAN: Old magic.
PANEL 6
CAT shrugs her shoulders as the driver has opened the door and is getting out of the car. Through the tinted side window, we can see that it’s DARIEN.
CAT: Sorry, Barty put up the barrier. It pops up when visitors come around.
DARIEN: No problem!
PANEL 7
A view of DARIEN from the chest up. He’s rather built for a thin man. He’s wearing green aviator glasses.
DARIEN: Cayvie’s told me a lot about Old Man Griffin.
PANEL 8
CAT appears a bit flustered as she looks at DARIEN off-panel.
CAT: (thinking) Oh, God, he’s actually kind of cute in daylight.
PANEL 9
An upward view of part of the house. BITSY’s wild red hair and pointy ears are visible to the viewer as she keeps watch from a third-story platform.
DARIEN: (off-panel) Let’s see this van now.
CAT: (off-panel) Right this way.
PANEL 10
CAT and DARIEN stand in front of the open garage. The van stands in the garage, unmoving and frankly, not that impressive.
DARIEN: Whoa, the legend itself!
CAT: Maybe I’ll understand the hype one day.
CILLIAN: (off-panel) Once it’s come to a stop, get on the roof.
TAB: (off-panel) The midge is already on lookout.
CILLIAN: (off-panel) I see that. Just tell me if she does anything.
PANEL 11
The van slowly rolls out of the garage. CAT sits at the wheel while DARIEN helpfully smiles and encourages her.
CAT: Whew!
DARIEN: No worries, you’re doing great! Just keep rolling forward, and then we’ll make a right turn.
CAT: (shakily) Yeah, good. Holy shit, this fit is tight as hell.
PANEL 12
CILLIAN and TAB exit the treeline. CILLIAN’s stag eyes are blue stars as he watches the van in wonder. TAB hops ahead, wings spread and beady green eyes showing disdain.
CILLIAN: Oooohhh, look at that, Tab! It’s taking off from the garage, just like in the opening credits!
TAB: Yeah, what a marvel. Stop fanboying and start scheming!
PANEL 13
A view of the driver’s side of the van. CAT hunches forward, hands gripping the wheel. DARIEN is somewhat visible from this view, speaking calmly to CAT.
DARIEN: Now let’s make that righthand turn.
CAT: (shakily) Okay.
DARIEN: But I should probably should tell you that—
PANEL 14
The van shakes violently. CAT grips the wheel harder while gritting her teeth. DARIEN holds up his hands, as if that alone will calm CAT down. In the back, unnoticed by the humans, the panicked GREMLIN leaps upward.
CAT: WHOA!
DARIEN: No, no, don’t panic!
PANEL 15
The van screeches to a hard halt. It stops so violently, it’s leaning toward its left side. Dirt sprays behind the spinning wheels.
SFX: SKREE
SFX: SHDDDDD
PANEL 16
BITSY watches from her perch as the van comes to a complete stop. She sets a pink back down to her right. TAB lands on top of the vehicle while CILLIAN is still moseying out from the treeline.
CAT: (inside the van) GAHAHA!
DARIEN (inside the van) Cat, you’re okay! It’s all okay!
PANEL 17
BITSY furrows her small brow as she digs through the bag.
CAT: (off-panel) I need to stand. I need to get out.
PANEL 18
CAT and DARIEN lean agains the driver’s side of the van. CAT stands slumped and stares at the ground, consumed with shame. DARIEN puts a reassuring hand on her left shoulder (because I guess they’re not quite close enough for him to reach around both shoulders).
CAT: I can’t believe I spazzed out like that!
DARIEN: It’s okay, not everyone’s driven a vehicle with no power steering. Tell you what, I’ll find you a suicide knob.
PANEL 19
CAT glares up at him.
CAT: Suic—I’m not feeling that hopeless!
DARIEN: (off-panel) No, no, it’s something you put on the wheel.
PANEL 20
DARIEN shows the size of the knob with his fingers spaced apart.
DARIEN: Lots of drivers used them back in the day.
PANEL 21
CAT’s eyes grow wide as she looks off panel. She seems to stumble forward a bit in her surprise. DARIEN looks over at her.
CAT: CHANCER!
PANEL 22
CILLIAN walks slowly up to CAT.
TAB: (off-panel) Sensing anything yet?
CILLIAN: Yes. There is something. Very old magick… Near the front of the van. Perhaps in the console. Or near the wheels. Or the petrol cap.
TAB: Or any-damn-where, in other words.
PANEL 23
TAB stands watch, facing the house.
TAB: Where in the front?
CILLIAN: (off-panel) Can’t tell. But the cloak has faded. I can feel its frayed edges. The artifact is barely visible…
PANEL 24
Closeup of TAB’s alarmed crow face. He’s really trying to emote.
TAB: CILL!
PANEL 25
BITSY kneels on the platform with her arm raised, ready to toss a small ball into the yard.
TAB: She’s got a music bomb!
PANEL 26
Panic. CILLIAN rears up and TAB flaps his wings in distress, hopping up and down on the van roof. DARIEN steps away from the van and turns around to see what’s happening on the roof. CAT is more annoyed than surprised, as she holds her hands up in a half-shrugging, “what the hell” motion.
CILLIAN: Feck! Run for it!
TAB: We won’t be able to outrun the cloud!
CAT: Now I’ve got a crow? What the hell is going on…
PANEL 27
CAT looks up.
CAT: … here?
PANEL 28
The pink music ball falls down towards the group, sparkling with menacing cuteness.
SFX: Fweeeeeeessshhh
PANEL 29
Above the trees, a massive, dark pink cloud blooms violently into the sky. Pink music notes shower all over the land.
SFX: PWOOF
The scene fades to darkness. In the lower right corner, the reader sees lyrics.
Nice to be here, hope you agree
Lying in the sun
Lovely weather, must climb a tree
The show has just begun
PANEL 30
Framed with a vignette shadow is an illustration straight out of a children’s book, warped by bath salts. Every line is uneven, and there’s a sense of chromatic aberration in every pixel. Rows of trees with canopies made of violin-shaped leaves stand in the background. A plump frog sitting on a rock with his eyes closed as he strums on a one-stringed guitar. He’s surrounded by adoring wildlife including a fox, a rabbit, a porcupine, three swooning mice, and three smiling bees
In the upper left corner, the reader sees more lyrics.
All the leaves start swaying
To the breeze that’s playing
On a thousand violins
And the bees are buzzing
To a frog sat strumming
On a guitar with only one string
PANEL 31
Back in reality, a fight unfolds on the roof of the van. The GREMLIN is in midair, claws outstretched towards BITSY, and surrounded by blue electricity of his own making. BITSY stares him in the eye, daring him to do his worst. The crackling energy of the GREMLIN’s electricity is further depicted in sound effect form, a colorful gradient of burnt brown to searing yellow, done in a jagged font.
SFX: KKKKSSSHHHHZZZZZ
Below them, the four victims of the music bomb lie dazed, their eyes spinning: CAT sprawled on the ground, her posterior in the air, DARIEN slumped against the front left wheel well, CILLIAN lying on his side with his tongue sticking out and TAB lying spread eagle. CAT is singing, unaware of the drama erupting above her.
CAT: (singing) I can see them they can’t see me, I feel out of sight, I can see them they can’t see me, much to my delight.
Lyrics from “Nice to Be Here” from the album Every Good Boy Deserves Good Favour copyright 1971 The Moody Blues. Used without permission but with plenty of respect.
The Eoin Fame 