AN: This is the first draft of another story I already have up (Binge) that I found on my flash drive… The story seems alright, so I decided to put it up.
Disclaimer: Gorillaz belong to Damon and Jamie.
F%**)&*$%#$*(&#&+)_&*_$#%&&((_#$#%**)&*)()_%$^^#&#*
"You still don't want to talk about it then, do you?"
This question, voiced by a rather large man, thankfully not as large as he had been, had fallen upon the deaf ears of the thin man sitting stiffly in a chair across from him. Spread out between them on a table was a rather tempting display of food. Neither of the men were interested. Slowly, the only girl at the table scanned the area before her, eyes darting between her friends.
Russell was staring 2D down. The vocalist, as of late, had an attitude that was as blue as his hair. The large man sighed, pushing a random piece of food, pizza, towards his friend. "At least eat something, man."
"How long do we have to be here?" 2D asked suddenly, quietly, as he picked at the slice of pizza before finally taking a bite of it. His didn't get an answer.
It had been a little more than a month since Russell and Noodle arrived at Plastic Beach. Since then, many things had changed.
"Wait here, I will be back soon." Noodle said, climbing down from the man's giant head and silently running up and around the pink beach towards a doorway flanked by two foolish birds. The man nodded at her retreating form. Both of them knew that he was too big to even get on the floating mass of plastic. With a slight frown etched onto his face, Russell could only stare as the metal door shut behind the lead guitarist.
Noodle silently made her way to the middle of the room, which was holding random pieces of junk. A red tag left on the ground bore a familiar name: Murdoc Niccals. She quickly folded the paper over, storing it away in a pocket for safe keeping. If Murdoc were here, then that probably meant that 2D was as well. The girl knew that, somehow, Gorillaz had gotten back together, minus their drummer. What was even stranger was that they had Noodle with them.
"This is impossible!" Noodle shook her head and adjusting her mask, ridding her mind of the distractions. She looked around the room, giving her eyes time to adjust to the change of light as the door shut behind her. A small man was quick to suggest the lift to her, to which she swiftly took advantage of. She entered the graffiti-scarred lift, watching as the doors shut behind her before looking at the panel to decide where to go. Several of the floors were out of service, and the rest were left in a strange order. She clicked the top bottom, the one to the study and studio, deciding that it was the best place to start. Her stomach twisted when she saw the last button, labeled to be 2D's room, but she held back. It was, after all, the middle of the day, and the odds of 2D being down there alone at this time of day seemed to be rather slim to her.
The lift shuddered to life, taking her up. Coughing, the thing came to a halt, and the doors opened, revealing a study. There was a desk before her, with a squid sitting on top. Noodle ignored this, scanning the room for any people. It was empty, but there was still the studio. She crept to the door, peeking through the small gap left by the open doors.
There was a harsh cough, followed by a man's angry voice. She could see the familiar figure of Murdoc, his back to the door as he stood over something. With a growl, he kicked out, earning a cry of pain from the figure on the floor.
"Stupid!" he seethed. "You're wasting all of my time. Get out of my sight!" Murdoc kicked the figure again for good measure, and then retreated to the other end of the room, around the table that sat in the middle of the room like an island. He glared out a window before barking out again. "Get out!"
With a groan, the figure sat up, slightly stunned, revealing his blue hair to the girl outside the room.
"Murdoc, when can I go home?" the singer asked wearily.
He scrambled to his feet when Murdoc threw a robot action figure at his head.When the bass slayer threatened to lock him in his room for a week if he didn't leave in the next three seconds, 2D fled the room. Noodle just managed to get out of the way when the singer burst from the room, followed closely by Noodle, or rather, a clone. With a robotic chirp, the new Noodle, took him tightly by the arm and led him to the lift. She dragged him in, pressing a button quickly. The real Noodle stared in disbelief at the scene.
Thinking rationally, she kept herself rooted in place behind the desk. She couldn't go after the strange copy and her friend just yet. There was only one way down, and it was being occupied. She busied herself by searching through the drawers of the desk. She was hoping to find a cell phone or something, but she only came up with a can of spam. Noodle shut the drawer, returning to her crouched position just as the lift's doors opened. The copy marched out and went straight back into the studio, shutting the doors behind her.
Noodle sped forward, stabbing the call button beside the lift. She knew which button to press when she got inside. 2D's room.
2D looked up sharply at the sound of the door opening, eyes wide. He had been sitting at the base of a pillar, legs folded up against his chest. Bewildered yet relieved, he managed a small smile for his guest, but it quickly fell away when an eerie cross between a moan and a wail met his ears. The whale outside his window had chosen that exact moment to "greet" him. Shaking, he extended an arm out, waving it to the window.
"I'm right here, so please, don't do that!" the singer said, burying his face in his knees.
"You know this creature?" Noodle asked. 2D shrugged, not recognizing her voice.
"Not really. Murdoc paid it to keep an eye on me. He knows I can't stand whales. Why are you here?"
"…"
Noodle was hesitant to answer, not exactly knowing what to say. 2D nodded, taking her silence the wrong way. He looked up at her with sympathy.
"So, did he gas you too? Are you going to be on the album?"
Noodle was furious.
"No," she said. "He did not gas me. Why, would he do that to you?"
"He wanted to make a third album, and he said he needed my voice because the band was too far in to replace the singer. I didn't want any part of it, so he kindly had me gassed and kidnapped me. I think I've been here for four months now at least..."
"Does he always threaten you?"
"Yeah, the sod." 2D muttered. He shifted a little to pull his tin of painkillers out of his pocket, retrieving more than he really needed from the small tin before swallowing them.
Noodle frowned. Being this close to the singer allowed her to finally see the lines of bruises on his arms from all of the times he had been pulled around by the other Noodle. He was ever paler than she remembered, with deep purple shadows under his eyes. The girl was certain that he had other bruises as well, hidden under his clothes, to add to his current state. He was also, obviously, overdosed on his painkillers again.
"Come with me, we are leaving." Noodle said quickly, extending a hand out to pull the man to his feet. She held tight, not wanting to let go. "Let us hurry." She said, opening the door and leading the way.
2D nearly jumped out of his skin when the whale let loose with a wail. High above them, Murdoc yelled angrily. Noodle ran forward, calling the lift and shoving 2D inside and hitting the ground floor button.
"Murdoc will know that I'm not in my room." 2D moaned; covering his ears as the whale started up again. Noodle ignored him. The ride back to the surface seemed to take forever, but finally the doors opened. The girl pushed the vocalist out past the short man and out the door. She wasn't prepared for 2D's sudden stop, and she ran into his back. Peeking over his shoulder, she instantly found the cause for the holdup. Murdoc was there, leaning against the railing behind him. The man's green face split into a sneer.
"Hello, faceache. Where are you off to?" he asked, voice laced with sarcasm. 2D didn't answer. "Well, are you going somewhere?" Murdoc chuckled.
"I-I'm leaving." The singer said quietly. Murdoc clucked his tongue. He had yet to notice Noodle. Sighing, he pulled a towel out of his pocket, advancing on the other man. Quick as a flash, he seized 2D by his shoulder, catching the man just as he gasped in surprise, pressing the cloth tightly over the singer's nose and mouth.
"You want to know what I think, Stu Pot?" Murdoc hissed, moving the hand on 2D's shoulder to the back of his blue head as the man began to struggle. "I think that you'll be leaving here when I let you."
"Get off of him!" Noodle yelled, kicking Murdoc roughly in the side. She grabbed 2D, pulling him away when the other man fell. 2D leaned heavily on her, his eyes closed as he struggled to stay awake. Noodle glared down at Murdoc. "You make me sick!" she spat. 2D moaned for a brief moment. "You have ruined the band's name, Murdoc!"
"Just who the hell do you think you are? How do you know who I am?" Murdoc demanded; his eyes slightly wide. With a grunt, he got to his feet. He cried out when the girl cursed him in her native language. It suddenly made sense. "Noodle!"
He was so stunned that he didn't even try to stop her as she brushed past him, 2D staggering along beside her as he fought to stay awake. He didn't even call for the android. When 2D weakly flipped the bird to him over his shoulder, Murdoc didn't give any reaction.
Noodle tottered down the steps, keeping one of 2D's arms draped over her shoulder as she had one of her arms wrapped tightly around his waist in an effort to keep him from falling. The man's steps were becoming weaker and weaker. When they had left the doorway and Murdoc behind and were past a refrigerator, Noodle stopped, helping 2D lean against a mound of garbage.
"How are you feeling, 2D?" she asked. The man shook his head limply, opening his eyes. Noodle was surprised to see that he was crying, tears falling freely down his face.
"Noodle… I'm so glad that you're alright, love." he whispered, weakly bringing a hand up to pat her hair. Noodle smiled for the first time in what had felt like ages, hugging him tightly.
"I am very glad to see you too, 2D. Are you able to walk?" Noodle pulled away, studying 2D's pale face through her mask. He had closed his eyes again.
"That sod…" he chuckled darkly, before his knees gave out and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
Noodle gave a start, kneeling down. She called the man's name, and yet received no response. Sighing, she pulled him back up, walking away until she found Russell again. The giant swore, leaning down to see 2D.
"What happened to him?" Russell almost demanded, scooping 2D up into one hand to see him more closely. Noodle climbed up his shirt sleeve, sitting on his shoulder.
"Murdoc used a drug on him to knock him out."
"Sonofabitch."
Your singer is leaving! A large portion of Murdoc's mind screamed. He's getting away!
But, Noodle is alive. Another, smaller part, stated calmly.
He shook his head, walking back into his plastic palace. Minutes later found him sitting in his studio, playing back the album. It was complete.
"Is he still out?" Russell asked. An hour had passed since the singer had fainted.
"Yes, although I believe he is only very tired now." Noodle replied, looking down at 2D. His head was resting in her lap. With his bruised eyes closed in another drugged sleep, one could truly see how very tired the man was. "He has been through quite a lot."
In the month that had followed, Murdoc had made his own way back to the real world. Plastic Beach, the new album, came out on the market not a week after everyone had returned. As expected from Murdoc, it was another major success.
"Look, man, if you didn't want to stay there, you could have just walked away."
"It was a bloody island." 2D said flatly, glaring at the edge of the table. Russell waved a hand.
"That's not what I meant-" Russell defended quietly. He was referring to the press conference they had had the day before.
"I wish it was."
2D looked away. He really didn't want to stay in that room any longer.
"Murdoc isn't allowed within two hundred feet of me, according to the restraining order. The album was an immediate success, but everyone knows the story behind it. What else is there to talk about?" the singer said bitterly. He continued to stare at the food for another moment or two, and then sighed. Setting the pizza down, the man left the table, retreating to his room. He never thought to shut the door, nor did he want to. Out of habit, he crossed the room, shutting the curtains to block out the whale that wasn't there before collapsing onto his bed, kicking his boots off before sinking into the mattress to simply lie there and stare up at the ceiling, as if it could tell him how to repair all that had happened.
A few of the top songs from Plastic Beach had already been played on the air enough to make the singer sick. The special feeling from hearing his voice on the radio used to thrill him. Now he couldn't stand it. What was even worse was watching the boring routine news in the morning and hearing the story of your own kidnapping coming from the lips of a complete stranger. Russell had even come across one of the music videos while scanning through a website. That had been a terrifying sight to behold. When the singer saw the fire in his eyes from all the way across the room, knowing the tell-tale signs of anger all too well, he quickly took Noodle by the hand and quickly left to seek refugee in the hall.
2D's hand slipped into the pocket of his jeans, pulling out a familiar tin of painkillers. Without missing a beat, he shook three green and white pills into his hand before slipping them between his lips, swallowing them instantly. The tin was returned to his pocket, and 2D sighed in a tired way, closing his bruised eyes as he fell into a drugged sleep.
While he slept, he could dream only of Plastic Beach. It was a nightmare.
F%**)&*$%#$*(&#&+)_&*_$#%&&((_#$#%**)&*)()_%$^^#&#*
AN: Thanks for reading! I won't be adding any other chapters to this; if you would like more, then check out Binge. ;D