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While things were literally spinning out of control at Happytown theme park, Calvin and I made one last attempt to fix the situation before things got worse. Mr. West was glued to the controls, all though he had given up all hope of fixing things from his end. As a matter of fact, judging from how tightly wedged his belly was in the tiny booth, I wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to get out. In the meantime, I was beating a path towards the power control room.
The patrons at the park today were in full stampede mode. There were screams of fear and anger, and everyone seemed to have only their own safety in mind. I was nearly run down and trampled on multiple occasions! Thankfully, my good friend Calvin acted as a blocker for me and kept the worst of the ground from running me down.
The power control room was only a short distance from the plaza where the carousel was located, and off the main path too, fortunately. Once we had gotten clear of the crowd we sprinted quickly to the small building and I yanked the door open.
“I've never heard of the power being cut like this,” Calvin said through gasping breaths. “What will it do to the park?”
“It will kill everything. It's an emergency procedure, and only to be done as a last resort. Every ride will lose functionality when I do this.”
“Well, that sounds pretty bad, but I guess this situation warrants it!” said Calvin.
“As do I, so here goes!”
I grabbed the large red gear marked, emergency kill switch, and threw it to the off position. There was a groaning sound from underground, where the main electrical substation was buried, and then everything ground to a halt. Everything. All the lights shut off, the rides immediately stopped, and the music being played over the PA system died away.
“I think that did it,” I said softly, only daring to hope I was right.
We walked back outside. Nearly everyone in the park had made their way to an exit by now, and the paths were deserted. From where we stood I had a clear view of the carousel. It was still spinning, but it was obvious that it was slowing down. I could see too that the people who had been on the ride had been held secure by the safety belts I had installed. I breathed a sigh of relief.
But the carousel had one more trick up its sleeve.
The plastic top finally came unscrewed from its moorings and went sailing into the air. For a few seconds, it almost looked beautiful as it soared freely in the sky until it went crashing into the large building several yards away. That was disastrous enough, but it just so happened that the building it hit was the one where Happytown housed and sold fireworks to the guests. There were several seconds of silence after the impact and then:
BOOOOMMMM!!!!!
The building exploded in a glorious eruption of flames and fireworks. Colorful bolts of fire were suddenly launched in every direction across the park, creating fires and wreaking havoc all across Happytown. It was the most beautiful catastrophe I had ever seen. Calvin and I stood frozen in place, dumbfounded by what we had just seen. Then I saw a figure coming through the smoke and flames. It was Mr. West.
Somehow he had managed to free himself from the carousel's control booth. He was covered in soot from head to toe, but rage was evident on his face. And he was headed directly towards me.