CHAPTER ONE: STYLO

The rolling, thundering waves crashed against the shore of Plastic Beach, sending spray splashing violently into the windows of Murdoc Manor. The manor was painted bright pink and rose imposingly up from the rocks, which themselves were formed out of countless items of sea garbage. Murdoc Manor is the current home and recording studio of the Gorillaz, after they abandoned Kong Studios. Also known as Point Nemo, Plastic Beach is the most isolated location in the entire world.

Murdoc Niccals was more painfully aware of this now than he was when he and his fellow band members had packed up everything and left civilisation. He turned and glared at the Cyborg Noodle, who was standing obediently by the door to Murdoc's master bedroom.

'Someone's whippin' up a storm, Cy',' Murdoc growled under his breath, 'and it's not Mother Nature.'

'Que entonces?' Murdoc groaned as sparks crackled from the dog-ends of wires that hung from Cyborg Noodle's broken hand.

'I really have to get you fixed, don't I? Piece of junk! Can't you go to an English mode or something?'

'yEs?' Cyborg Noodle asked, its voice distorted and grating.

'It's all the work of the Boogieman, iffn' you asks me,' Murdoc growled, his red eyes gazing suspiciously out at the enraged ocean.

'bOoGiEmAn?' Cyborg Noodle crackled. 'dOeS nOt CoMpUtE.'

'You know,' Murdoc waved his hand irritably. 'Dark, scary, ancient deity, lurks in little kiddies' wardrobes an' stuff. Y'see, I did a deal with him. He'd do a few little favours for me, an' in return I'd hand over a few people's souls. But I didn't hold my end of the deal an' now he's out to get me.'

'aDdED bOoGiEmAn To MeMoRy HaRdRiVe,' Cyborg Noodle marched over to Murdoc. 'wHaT dO yOu PlAn To Do AbOuT this BoOgIeMaN?'

'If that son of a bitch can track me down to the most isolated place on this earth,' Murdoc growled, as he took a drag from his stubby cigarette end, 'he can track me down anywhere. Go get ol' Stylo fired up, Cy'. We've got some big fish to fry!'

'yOu WaNt Me To InStAlL tHe OvEn In ThE sUbMaRiNe?'

'No, you idiot!' Murdoc shoved Cyborg Noodle out into the corridor. 'The sooner I locate the real Noodle, the better! Iffn' I didn't need a bassist, I'd turn you inter' scrap metal the first chance I got.'

'sHaLl I wAkE uP sTuArT PoT, mAsTeR?' Cyborg Noodle asked, pausing in the doorway to the garage.

'Nah, we don't need that stew-pot gettin' in the way.' Murdoc snatched up the sailor's cap from his desk and placed it at a jaunty angle on his head. 'I'll show that Boogieman what Niccals are made of!'

Murdoc carefully drew a rifle out from under the desk. Slinging it over one shoulder, he followed the Cyborg Noodle into the garage. At one end of the garage was a heavy steel gate, beyond which was the underwater tunnel that led out of Plastic Beach and into the ocean. At the centre of the garage, held upright by iron pincers, was the shark-shaped submarine (that can turn into a car) named Stylo.

Whistling in awe, Murdoc strode up to the battered vessel and patted it lovingly. 'I've had this baby for years now. Me ole dad gave it to me, and it in turn had been gifted to him by my grandfather. It was Hitler's very own, he and his bimbo used to cruise the oceans in this.'

Cyborg Noodle's head popped out from a hatch at the front of Stylo. It held a drill in one hand. 'tHe VeHiClE iS sEaWoRtHy.'

'We'll leave now. I'd rather tackle the Boogieman out in the open ocean than here on Plastic Beach.' Murdoc spat out his cigarette and adjusted his rifle. He then agilely clambered up the side of the submarine and jumped down through the hatch.

The cabin was cramped, the enormous array of navigational instruments leaving barely any room for two moth-eaten chairs. Sliding into the pilot's seat, Murdoc snapped at Cyborg Noodle, 'Go shut the hatch!'

Once the hatch was shut and Cyborg Noodle had taken its seat, Murdoc pulled a lever that made the iron clamps fall away from the sides of the submarine. With a sputtering creak, Stylo landed on the ground. Gritting his teeth, Murdoc pressed a large red button on a dashboard above his head. The tunnel gate swung open and the sea poured into the garage.

'It's gonna take ages for the water to get drained out,' Murdoc muttered to himself, as he pulled back a well-worn lever hard and kicked the acceleration pedals.

With a deafening shriek, the intricate mechanisms of the submarine roared into life and Stylo shot out of the garage and down the sloping tunnel like an arrow from a bow. Within seconds the walls of the tunnel slipped past them and all that remained was the mysterious blue reaches of the ocean.

Murdoc allowed himself a rare smile. The result was rather snaggletoothed and yellow, but it was the thoughts behind it that counted. He loved the ocean; it was the one place where he really felt at home and completely secure. The eerie blue-green stillness was punctured here and there by a shoal of fishes or an occasional squid. Stylo cruised through the water, leaving a foamy trail in its wake. Murdoc glanced surreptitiously across at the Cyborg Noodle. He couldn't fathom how anything, even a robot, couldn't see any beauty in the ocean.

'What do you think of the view, Cy'?'

'iT iS a ViEw,' Cyborg Noodle replied after a pause.

'I mean, how does it make you feel?' Murdoc persisted, keeping one eye on the blue ahead.

'eRERROR213411010100110+++TYPE5REBOOT+++'

'Be that way.'

After several minutes, Murdoc decided that it was time to travel up to the surface. He stopped the submarine and put into ascend mode. As Stylo rose quickly up towards the surface, Murdoc glimpsed the glittering pink form of what appeared to be a jellyfish.

'A Superfast Jellyfish!' Murdoc gasped. 'Now that is a sight to see.'

Then Stylo crashed through the foamy breakers and appeared on the surface. Cutting off the engine, Murdoc stood up and opened the hatch. Moonlight streamed into the cabin, illuminating every faded piece of vintage equipment down to the very last detail. Murdoc swung up onto the top of the vessel, steadying himself against the periscope. The ocean was barely a metre below him, and Stylo was bobbing sickeningly in the stormy ebb.

'Aw shit!' Murdoc murmured, as a wave nearly sent him over the side of the submarine. Sweeping back his now soaked hair from his eyes, he unclipped the spyglass that hung from a thong across his chest.

He put the spyglass to his eye and surveyed the grey sea around him. There was nothing in sight, except for the distant pile of junk that was Plastic Beach and the more local barnacle-clad rock known as Melancholy Hill. The wind was threatening to turn the choppy waves into a tsunami. Gripping the periscope tightly, Murdoc bellowed out, 'I know you're out there, you bastard! So show yourself!'

A sudden movement at the top of nearby Melancholy Hill caught his eye. 'Huh? What's that?'

Magnified by the spyglass, he could just make out a stooped, dark figure crouched at the summit of the hill. Its shapeless robes flapped in the wind, its eyes blazing bright red against the muted colours of the stormy atmosphere. It straightened up when it caught sight of the submarine, black smoke billowing out from it as its ragged cloak unfolded.

Murdoc pulled the rifle from its sling and aimed it at the macabre figure that stood atop Melancholy Hill. 'The Boogieman!'