Gone, but Not Forgotten (Working title)

Authoress' Note: Okay, I KNOW that this scenario has been done to death, but really I don't care. Truth is; I'm still incredibly shocked and angry about everything that happened in the music video 'El Manana".

How could they? How could they!

Ahem. As a long time Gorillaz fan, this is my way of coping somewhat.

Disclaimer I do not own the Gorillaz. If I did, then this wouldn't have happened. But I don't, so here we are.

WARNING: Kinda dark and depressing, so you might need a tissue. Also, expect to see some self-insertion at the end. Just a heads up.

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I saw that day…lost my mind…Lord I'll find…maybe in time…you'll want to be mine…
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Through the cloudy skies, over England, a large mass of land flew thorough the air like a great bird, moving around rather slowly without any apparent direction. Sitting on the edge of the mass was a girl in her early teens, smiling as she watched the land moving beneath her.

Her name was Noodle, and no matter how unusual it was, that was her name, and that was all there was to it.

She loved sitting on the edge of her flying island, feeling the wind on her face. Behind here, the windmill's blades rotated slowly. The whole place, save for the rushing winds, the creaking of the windmill, and the occasional humming of the girl, there was total silence.

The girl didn't know why or how the island was floating, she just knew it did, and she couldn't care less. As far as Noodle was concerned, everything was perfect.

And then her world was brutally shattered in a single instant.

Suddenly, the stillness of the air was broken by the thunderous noise of copter blades. Looking up, she saw a swarm of helicopters flying towards her like a bunch of giant black hornets.

"There it is! FIRE!" the commander shouted over the radio to his men, as they prepared their guns.

A hail of bullets flew towards the girl, and she raced for the safety of the windmill, as grass and dirt flew behind her. Crouching behind a wall, she listened as the bullets slammed into the cement building. Noodle pulled her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes tightly, waiting for it all to stop…

She opened her eyes when there was silence. Slowly, she crept outside, and saw that flames were burning practically everywhere, turning the once peaceful place into a wasteland. Noodle was so shocked by the sight of the disaster area; she didn't hear the copters returning.

"Get her! Don't let her escape!" exclaimed the commander.

All the gunnersprepared to fire,save for one young man, who frowned and said, "But sir, she's just a little girl. Why do we need to shoot her?"

"That's classified!" the commander snapped back. "Now fire or I'll have you court marshaled for questioning orders!"

Reluctantly, the young man readied his machine gun, whispering, "God help me…"

Startled by the ominous noise, Noodle glanced up, and seeing the helicopters coming, fled for the relative safety of the windmill once more. The sound of gunfire filled the air, and bullet shells littered the ground or remained in their targets.

In the windmill, powdery cement fell like snow from the walls, landing in the girl's hair and on her upturned face. She quickly uttered a prayer, although she had no idea if it would help or not.

Outside, bullets zinged through the air like hornets, ravaging everything they touched, and breaking off pieces of the ground that made up the island.

"Alright! That should be enough!" The commander exclaimed.

The extremely damaged piece of land suddenly lurched sideways like a drunken turtle and then began to descend, slowly heading downwards towards a rocky ravine. The people in the area looked up and pointed at the sight above them, not truly understanding what was going on.

Finally, the island crashed, sending dirt and fragments of cement into the air. There was stillness and silence following the crash. Then, an injured Noodle climbed out of the wrecked windmill, and looked up, watching in terror as the helicopters flew overhead.

"Okay! Drop the bombs!"

Without any remorse at all, the men inside the helicopters released several bombs that fell towards the earth, with a loud whistling noise. Noodle could only watch in silence as the objects fell faster and faster, the seconds of her all-too short life ticking away quickly.

"Sayonara…2D-san, Russel-san, Murdoc-san…" she whispered softly, just before the bombs hit their target, effectively ending her life.

BOOM!

The resulting explosion was seen for miles around, and a few people, without really knowing why, wept silently.

In the copters, the soldiers congratulated themselves on a job well done, without even thinking about the sinful deed they had willingly committed: the merciless slaughter of an innocent child.

"Mission accomplished boys! Let's go home!"

As the choppers flew off, one single soldier wiped his eyes, the guilt weighing heavily on his soul. Turning away so that the pilot could not see his tear-streaked face, he cried; grimy tear trails running down his cheeks. He, out of all of the people there, felt a twinge of remorse.

Somehow, he knew that nothing in the world could ever change that.

Miles away, the remaining members of the band Gorillaz all looked upwards towards the sky, all of them feeling a sense of foreboding, fear, and sadness at the exact same time.

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(Meanwhile, somewhere in the United States- and possibly in another dimension)

"No."

That was the only word coming from the lips of a teenage girl, watching in horror as the events of the "El Manana" music video unfolded on her computer screen. As the video ended, the girl sat therein silence, digging her fingernails into the palms of her hands.

"No way. This can't be, I mean, they wouldn't kill off one of the band members… right?"

Hurriedly, she clicked repeatedly in various places on the website until she got where she wanted to go--Noodle's room.

But the small room itself, at one time decorated with Japanese-related objects, was nearly bare, save for a few items lying scattered on the ground. The walls were bare and cracking and the whole scene itself made for a very depressing picture.

The girl's eyes widened. "Oh my God…!"

She looked down, tugging nervously at her Gorillaz T-shirt. "I can't believe it… WHY! Why would they do this! Noodle-kun…"

Sniffling, she rubbed her face, muttering various words underneath her breath.

"Dammit… what the Hell were they thinking!"

The girl sighed, sitting back in her chair, and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. These are the five stages of mourning, and I'm going through them right mow... Well, okay, maybe not the bargaining stage, but that's not the point.

Maybe I should write something. That might make me feel better. Anyway, if Noodle really is gone, then I oughta make a memorial, just for the hell of it.

She opened her eyes again, and with another sigh, leaned over the keyboard.

"Well, time to get to work."

OWARI

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Well, what do you think?

By the way, that one soldier is not meant to be a Mary-Sue/Marty-Stu a character, he was meant to represent people who question authority when they are involved in actions that seem rather questionable and feel guilt from what they have done.

At least, that was my intention.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some mourning to do.

Gijinka Renamon