Murdoc is on the beach, shovel in hand, digging a large hole. 2D is lying on the ground nearby, tied up with a gag in his mouth. Murdoc chuckles evilly to himself and feeling the hole is deep enough, he tosses out the shovel and climbs out of the hole. The keyboardist makes a muffled appeal to the bassist, as Murdoc brushes the sand from his legs.
"Eh? Can't hear you, speak up." Murdoc laughs, holding his hand up to his ear, pretending to listen. 2D furrows his brow angrily and struggles, kicking his legs and rolling onto his stomach. Murdoc calmly lights a cigarette, watching 2D attempt to escape by crawling like a caterpiller. The bassist pockets his lighter, and whistles sharply. Cyborg Noodle appears round the corner, and heads towards him.
"Mumph, urf bah nurf burf." 2D groans. Murdoc draws heavily on the cigarette, and nods towards the younger man.
"Catch that, will you." he sighs, waving vaguely in 2Ds direction. The cyborg looks over at the wriggling keyboardist, and walks over, picking him up and tossing him over her shoulder. Pointing to the hole, he orders her to throw the younger man into it. She does so, then steps back. 2D is just able to see out of the top of the hole, he looks out at the ocean, and watches the water creeping closer and closer as the tide comes in. Murdoc picks up the shovel and begins to fill in the hole, with the cyborg quietly standing by, watching.
"Murf nurf buf, nurmph!" 2D tries to scream.
"What, are you bleating about now? You said you were bored and needed something to do. Now yer doing something. Sheesh, just no pleasing you." Murdoc grins, tossing a shovel full of sand at the keyboardists back.
"Mahhh, nuf, nuf, durf!" 2D screams again, bouncing his head toward the ocean, as if trying to tell the bassist something. Murdoc stops shovelling and leans heavily on his hip.
"What?" Murdoc growls. 2D jerks his head towards the ocean again. Annoyed, Murdoc reaches down and removes the gag.
"Tha's better. I woz tryin' tah say, wots tha'?" 2D growls, once again jerking his head out in the direction of the water. Murdoc stands and looks out to where 2D is refering to.
At first he does not see anything, and squints his eyes, shading them and scanning the horizon. He suddenly sees something in the distance and licks his lips.
"I dunno...?" he mumbles. The object gets closer and slowly it becomes a little familiar.
"Can I come out now?" 2D asks quietly. Murdoc suddenly drops the shovel and races inside. 2D watches him go and in a panic, begs Cyborg Noodle to untie him. She tips her head to her shoulder, and sighs, lifting him up out of the hole with one strong arm and tearing the ropes from him as though they are made of paper. 2D thanks her and races inside after Murdoc, unsure of why, but if Murdoc felt the need to hide, it might be important. The cyborg looks out across the water, and sees the approaching figure, her defence program flicks into overdrive and she marches inside. Grabbing her gun, she strides back out to the beach, ready to defend her master.
Cyborg Noodle stands on the beach, a gun in her hand, staring open mouthed at her doppleganger. Noodle steps forwards, equally astonished and slowly reaches out her hand towards the cyborgs face. As Noodle's hand gets closer and closer to the cyborg's face it suddenly lowers its chin slightly as the internal defence program switches into overdrive, ready to defend itself if necessary. The front door suddenly slams open and Murdoc rushes down the stairs towards them. Russel sees the fake grin etched on the older man's face and furrows his heavy brow him, not that Murdoc even notices.
"Well helloooooo. So nice to see the two of you again." he beams at the two of them, opening his arms in a warm greeting. Noodle drops her hand and turns her attention from the cyborg to the bassist.
"I ah, would like to know who this is?" she asks him , jabbing her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the cyborg. Murdoc's smile drops quickly and he darts his eyes from her to Cyborg Noodle, trying to think of a way to explain it and look blameless. Nothing immediately springs to mind, and he panics. He chuckles nervously and walks rapidly toward the cybornetic being, grabbing it by the arm and dragging it toward the pier.
"Now look here you. How many times have I got to say it? We already have a perfectly good guitarist, so we don't need you." he snarls, walking her down the pier towards a dingy. Noodle tips her head to her shoulder and drops her weight heavily onto one hip, not believing the bassist for a moment.
"Do you really think that I will fall for this?" she shouts at him. Murdoc stops and lowers his head, spitting a sharp word under his breath. He turns around and smiles at the young woman, still unsure how to explain it. He suddenly turns to the cyborg, in a flash of inspiration, and shoves her as hard as possible off the end of the pier.
"Err, out of sight, out of mind?" he asks Noodle with a quick shrug. "Did I mention how much I missed you two?" he smiles. Noodle shakes her head and watches as the cyborg walks out of the ocean, fizzing and popping. Confused for a moment, as to why her 'twin' is making those noises, it occurs to her that there was something different about this girl. It as at this moment she sees the large bullet hole in the cyborg's head.
"Oh, she is not human." Noodle mumbles in shock, approaching the being and slowly walking around it.
"Well, no. I might be a genius, but I'm not exactly god... yet." Murdoc growls, folding his arms over his chest and pouting indignantly. Noodle slightly turns her head towards him, but is much more interested in the cyborg.
"Why does she look like me?" Noodle asks, gently poking her twin in the arm. Murdoc clears his throat and shoving his hands deeply in his trouser pockets, walks down the pier past them mumbling something. Russel moves to block the older man's escape, dropping a heavy hand down on the bassist's shoulder.
"Dah sista axed you a question, man." he growls, turning Murdoc sharply to face the young woman. Murdoc winces and considers arguing the point, but seeing the size of the large American, he rapidly changes his mind.
"Oh fer... I borrowed some of yer DNA from the Demon Days set." he snaps. Noodle slowly blinks at him silently, taking his words in.
"Borrowed some of my DNA? I understand." she suddenly grins. Murdoc lifts his head in surprise and scratches the back of his head, not quite sure why the guitarist was taking what he said so easily.
"Err, ahh, yeah. Whatever floats yer boat luv. No harm done." he smiles, clapping his hands together loudly. Noodle nods slowly and watches as Murdoc turns on his heel and walks back to the front door.
"I would like you to give me the cyborg's program disc." she calls out to him pleasently, as he walks up the stairs. Murdoc baulks suddenly and snaps a look back in her direction. Russel chuckles under his breath in amusement.
"I beg yer pardon? You want what?" Murdoc snarls in disbelief.
"I saaaaid..." Noodle drawls, mimicking Murdoc's drunken speech pattern. Murdoc pulls his head back on his shoulders sharply, gripping the railing tightly in his fingers.
"Now look here luv..." he begins to say, but Noodle shakes her head, waving him off.
"No, I will not. You said you borrowed my DNA. It stands to reason, that this means that anything that resulted from this exchange, strictly speaking, belongs to me. So, I want her disc." she replies pleasently, holding out her hand as if waiting for him to give it to her. Murdoc blinks at her, his mind momentarily blank.
"Ohhhhh, right, right." he sudenly chuckles, looking down at his feet and waving at her. "Did I say borrowed? Heh, heh. Simple slip of the tongue, I meant took. I took yer DNA. You weren't using it any more, so it was a simple case of finders keepers." he grins. Noodle shakes her head slowly and steps forwards.
"I need you you listen very carefully to me for just a moment." she hisses, staring hard into his cold eyes. "I have been to Hell. I have seen things there, that no human should ever see in any lifetime. I fought and I escaped, all by myself. However, this was not the end of my trials. I have been chased by many people and shot at, and I do believe that it was one of many things that were your fault. Pirates tried to blow me up, one of the other things I believe to be your fault. They failed. Now, I will ask you one last time. Give me the cyborg's program disc, or I will do things to you that even you will find disgusting and disturbing." Murdoc swallows hard, realising that the young woman was in no mood for his games. He grins awkwardly and backs up.
"Heh, heh. Sure, I ah, will just go make you a copy." he chuckles, turning quickly and rapidly walking to the door. He reaches for the door handle and pulls open the door, suddenly a hand slams against it, shutting it again before he can slide in. He turns his head and finds himself looking directly into Noodle's icy cold green eyes.
"I did not say anything about a copy." she snarls, holding the door shut. Cyborg Noodle suddenly moves to protect her master, but Murdoc seeing her waves her down. She stops and watches Noodle carefully.
"Fine, fine, I'll give you the disc." he snarls, rolling his eyes and pulling at the door. Noodle holds it shut a moment longer, just to make sure the bassist got her point, before letting him open it. They all make their way inside past a rather startled 2D.
"Hey? Why is there two of 'em now?" he asks, pointing at Noodle and her cyborg. "Exactly 'ow much of her DNA stuff didja 'ave? You makin' an army or sumfink?"
"Yer an idiot, you know that right?" Murdoc snarls, waving him off. Russel stops just behind the keyboardist, lifting his head in sudden thought at 2D's last question. He nods slowly, understanding that although 2D may not of realised it, what he had asked, was possibly the truth.
Murdoc takes Noodle behind the bookshelf, to his secret lair and hands her the disc. She smiles and holds out her hand again, waiting. Murdoc looks at it and shrugs in an exageratted manner, pretending not to know what else she could possibly want. Noodle is no fool, she has known him for many years, and knows that the bassist would of already made a copy. She leans over and punches him hard in the arm, holding out her hand again firmly.
"Okay, okay! No need to get violent, christ." he snaps, reaching under the desk and grabbing the copy. He slaps it into her hand gruffly, and turns away, rubbing his arm.
"I would also like any and all samples, that are in any way related to me." she smiles. Murdoc turns around slowly, staring at her in open mouthed shock.
"Hey, hey, hey. I took those fair and square. If you didn't want me to have them, you shouldn't of left them behind." he growls. Noodle lifts her eyes slowly and clicks her tongue.
"I am quite willing to hunt you to the end of the Earth." she purrs. Murdoc shudders at the thought and sighs.
"I don't like this new psychotic you." he growls. "Get it to you at the end of the day." he adds, waving her off. Noodle chuckles pleasently and skips up the stairs, making Murdoc shudder again at how innocent she made that look.
"By the way..." she calls back over her shoulder. "I am still considering exactly what I am going to do about the whole, 'exchanging me for a favour from Satan' deal." Murdoc slowly turns his head and looks at the closing door, leading to the stairwell, and swallows hard.