Chapter 4-Pluck My Life
"Wh-WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!", Red screamed at the judge. "You-you're trying to kill me?! ME?!"
"What are you on about?!", Peckinpah angrily asked.
"OH COME ON! The fish?! The paint?! 'Time to die, Mister Red!' This can't just be some coincidence.
The entire audience looked at him as if he was crazy, waiting to see what would happen.
"What do you mean 'die'?", the judge questioned.
"Oh, I guess I'm going deaf now!", Red sarcastically said. "You said that it was time for me to die! Don't deny it!"
"Dine", the judge corrected.
"What?!"
"Dine. You didn't let me finish. I was going to tell you that as a reward for your bravery, our fisher-birds would allow you to dine on the rare blue-scaled flounder, an ancient tradition on the island", the judge informed.
"Wha-Well, what about the paint?! How do you explain that?!"
"The paint was to be used for Miss Willow's art presentation. She planned on painting a portrait of you live for the audience", he explained.
"Well,...that...actually sounds very lovely!", Red angrily yelled.
"Mister Red, I don't know what this is about but I'm shocked by your behavior! And after everything you went through in anger management class!"
The audience members' eyes all turned towards Matilda, who was getting nervous due to their stares.
"Umm, is it too late now to give him his certificate for passing my class?",she asked.
"Look...I-I thought that you...after everything that….back when I was a kid-!", Red stammered.
"I may not know what happened to you in your past but after all we've done to congratulate your accomplishments, you still have not forgiven us?!", Peckinpah accused.
"I..I…". Red didn't know what to say. He saw the birds in the audience stare at him as though he was insane. Some of the hatchlings even began to tear up a little. The family of bluebirds whispered to each other, covering their children's eyes. The blue triplets looked just as shocked as everybody else. They idolized Red and couldn't believe that he would do this.
And his friends...they looked so heartbroken. They knew about his troubles as a hatchling but they never thought that he wouldn't trust them enough to just throw a simple party. Chuck and Bomb looked very worried for their good friend while Matilda awkwardly looked down at her table. Even Terence was taken back by Red's actions.
"I…", Red stuttered, "Guys...I'm so….I'm sor-"
He was interrupted. The odd noises of the police bird, Bill Beakins, could be heard throughout the crowd. The officer ran onto the stage, yelling out random police-related noises to the crowd. The judge and Red were shocked by his appearance.
"Mister Beakins, what's the matter?!", Peckinpah wondered.
The cop now worked as the island's border guard who warned the birds of any trouble that was to come to the nation. He responded to Peckinpah's questions with the sounds of police sirens and car horns.
"Oh...oh my gosh", the judge shook, terrified by the police-bird's news. He turned to the crowd and relayed the officer's message.
"Attention, everyone! According to Officer Beakins, there is a powerful hurricane to the island. Everyone, return to your homes and follow your safety guidelines!"
The audience began to get out of their seats, worrying for their safety.
"WHAT?!", Chuck screamed. "OHMYGOSH!OHMYGOSH!OHMYGOSH!"
"Get Red. We're going! ", Matilda commanded.
Before any of them could leave, Beakins continued his message. Peckinpah paled, his eyes widened.
"...There has been a change of plans. It's..It's a tsunami! A TSUNAMI!"
Now, the crowd was panicking, going crazy. They haven't had a tsunami in years. The last time it happened, half of their homes were destroyed! The judge tried to calm the birds down.
"Everyone! LISTEN! THe tsunami is coming from the northern shore! We believe that it's not safe to remain on the island! Get to the boats! Bring anything of value!", Peckinpah ordered.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!", one of the audience members yelled.
Everyone rushed to their homes in order to retrieve everything they needed. Stella's friends jumped right of their seats. Hal and Bubbles were nearly crushed by all the commotion but continued to run, although it was hard with their stubby legs and Hal's enormous beak. The orchestra jumped off of the stage, along with Peckinpah and Cyrus and ran for their safety.
Chuck sped down and grabbed Red's arm, Matilda, Bomb, and Terence following him.
"Uh, come on, buddy! Tsunami? Storm? Imminent death?! LET'S GO!", Chuck yelled.
"I...Right! To the beach!", Red snapped out of his daze. The group rushed to get to their homes and retrieve their items.
Parents rushed to get their children and eggs and head towards the boats. Matilda grabbed her favorite flower and her stress ball (which was ripped to shreds). Terence grabbed some supplies and first aid kits. Bomb ran to get his poetry collection and some bottles of water. The mime bird carried an imaginary box of items with him. Red went to help the birds at the orphanage evacuate the eggs and hatchlings there.
Chuck dashed to his treehouse in the forest in order to get his beauty kit, sombrero, fake mustache, Beakin's wallet (yeah, he still has that), and whatever else he could find, packing them in a suitcase that looked like it was ready to burst. Before he could even go outside, the suitcase exploded, items thrown everywhere.
"Great! Now I'm gonna have to put all this stuff back inininin-HOLY CHICKENFEED!"
From the top of his tree, he saw as an enormous tidal wave was coming towards the island. It looked big enough to wreck most of the island. The storm also began to grow stronger, as the wind picked up and it began to pour.
"...I'm out", he squeaked before darting to the beach.
At the shore, the birds were getting their many rafts and boats ready. After the many failed invasions by the pigs, the birds were able to use the materials from their wrecked ships to build more boats.
Everyone was rushing to reach the mighty vessels. Once full, the boats closed their entrances and began to set sail to safer waters. Some of the birds simply ditched their possessions to make more room for others to join.
As each boat was closing their ramps and leaving, others were running to get on. The family of bluebirds ran to enter one of the departing boats. Their children were trying to catch up but their tiny legs prevented them from running as fast as their parents.
"THERE!", the mother pointed out as she spotted a boat that was still there. "COME ON!"
The family grabbed their hatchlings and jumped onto the boat before the entrance closed.
"Okay. We're safe now, everyone", the father calmly told his children.
"But what about Mister Red?", Jim asked.
The two parents looked at one another, wondering what to tell their children. Everyone around them looked just as confused. How do you react to your national hero going crazy? They didn't know much about his childhood but they know that it wasn't pleasant. But did that excuse his actions at the party?
Their boat began to leave the shore, chugging away at top speed. The only boats that were left were at the other side of the beach, next to the hills.
Stella and her friends darted towards the nearest raft, which was empty. They all managed to reach it...except for Gale.
Stella shouted , "GALE! HURRY UP! WE HAVE TO GO!"
Gale was far behind, carrying a large bag of jewelry, makeup, and more.
"I'm...I'm almost there", she panted.
"For the love of… Be right back!", Poppy ran to her purple friend and lifted her up, leaving her bag behind.
"NOOO! I NEED THOSE!", Gale complained.
"Yeah, well, you also need your life!", Poppy retorted as she threw her friend onto the raft.
"SET SAIL!", Stella ordered Dahlia and Willow, who lifted their sails and set a course to reach the other boats.
Meanwhile, Red helped finally pack all of the eggs onto one of the boats and watched as it sailed away. He looked back to see his friends rushing to the shore.
Chuck appeared out of nowhere and said, "Guys, we need to move out and move out quickly!"
"There's a boat over there!", Bomb noticed, "Come on! Before the wave hits!"
"I'm sorry, what wave?", Red asked.
Suddenly, the beach shook. The group looked up to see the tidal wave finally crash into the island. It destroyed half of the northern coast, engulfing mountains! It reached as far as where the party was being held. However, the group knew that there was more to come.
"Oh. That wave….Yeah, we should probably go", Red stated matter-of-factly. The group ran to reach the final boat on the island as most of the other ships already evacuated.
From the window of their boat, the Blues spotted their iconic hero, Red, running for his life. They gasped as they recklessly jumped out of the window to follow the cardinal. Their parents saw this and screamed.
"NOOO! NOT AGAIN! PLEASE, NOOO!", their father shouted.
"LET ME OFF! LET ME OFF OF THIS STUPID BOAT!", their mother demanded.
"Ma'am, you need to calm down now", one of the birds asked.
"CALM DOWN?! HOW DARE YOU?!", their mother yelled.
The parents tried to get off but everyone else told them to sit down and calm down. The parents hugged each other in fear for their children.
"Don't worry. They're gonna be alright. They're gonna be alright", the husband soothingly whispered, praying that their children would make it out.
On the beach, the group finally reached their boat and began to board. Before they could raise their sails, Chuck gasped.
"OH MY GOSH! NO!"
He zoomed away, dashing across the entire island, leaving his friends confused. Suddenly, Red spotted three bluebirds running towards him.
"Oh no", Red muttered to himself. He got off and ran to the triplets.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!", he yelled, "GET BACK TO YOUR PARENTS RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
"But Mister Red", Jim chirped, "We want to help you escape!"
"Don't worry about me! I'm fine! JUST GO BACK TO YOUR MOMMY AND DADDY!"
He then looked to see that the ship that the children's parents were on has left the island already.
"PLUCK!", he swore. Then he noticed that the Blues were still there.
"Oh, uh, I'll rescue you if you don't tell your parents I said that."
"YAY!", the triplets responded. They jumped onto their raft and prepared to leave for safety. They were about to leave when…
"WAIT! WAIT FOR US!"
Red looked back to see Hal and Bubbles running to escape from the island. They called for Red to wait for them. Red groaned as he ran to grab the duo and get to the raft. Bomb ran after him and picked up the two birds.
"Oh, thank the Mighty Eagle! We're safe!", Hal cheered.
"We're not ready to leave! What about Chuck?!", Bomb pointed out.
Out of nowhere, Chuck rushed back. In his hands was none other than freaking Billy, with his annoying laugh and everything.
"Okay! LET's GO!", Chuck smiled.
His friends looked at him in frustration. Red picked up Billy and punted him into the forest.
Chuck screamed, "MY BABY!"
"Shut up about your stupid doll and get on the boat!", Matilda yelled.
"HEY! He was your child too! You helped build him!"
Terence stared at Matilda, confused and a little weirded-out.
"It's not like that, dear!", Matilda explained to her boo.
"Come on, Chuckster! We gotta go!", Bomb yelled.
Chuck hesitantly got onto the raft. Bomb pushed it into the water and it began to sail off. They were close to escaping from the storm and reaching the other boats.
"WOO-HOO! We're gonna live!", Bubbles cheered.
Suddenly, another wave crashed, this one bigger than the last. It crashed into the bird-shaped mountain, which began to fall to the ground, causing even more destruction. The wave continued to wreak havoc and was closing in on the group.
"Me and my big beak", the oriole muttered.
They screamed as the wave, bringing along entire masses of land and buildings from the village, crashed down on them. The entire island was destroyed in mere minutes.
They were taken underwater. Right before losing consciousness, Red saw the face of Billy laughing in front of the crumpled world map of Bird Island.
"Mother plucker", he thought before blacking out.
Hope you enjoyed that bit of drama and destruction!
More to come!
The Angry Birds Movie is owned by Rovio Animation and Sony Pictures.