It was dark.

Too dark.

Noodle immediately knew something was wrong. The last thing she remembered was lying in her bed, trying to fall asleep. Now she was standing somewhere in unfamiliar territory. Where was her room?

She looked down and began to panic even more. Where was the floor? Where was anything? As far as she could see around her, everything was pitch black.

Noodle began to get nervous. Pitch black rooms were never good news. Also, it was incredibly . . . cold. She began to shiver. She wrapped her arms around her chest in an attempt to keep warm.

Suddenly, she heard something. It was very distant at first, but something about it seemed . . . familiar. Like she had heard the noise before. She strained to listen as the noise came closer and closer. Finally, she recognized the noise: it was the whirring of a helicopter blade.

This caused Noodle to shiver even harder. For some reason, helicopters always seemed to make her uneasy. Perhaps it was from back when she was younger; when she was being trained as a super weapon. Thanks to her newfound memories, she now remembered that time from years ago.

Nobody else knew about Noodle's fear of helicopters; not even the male members of Gorillaz. Sure, they had used helicopters in the Feel Good Inc. video, but Noodle was a good enough actress to make it seem like they didn't bother her.

But that was different. Now, she was alone. In the dark. With no idea where and when this helicopter would pop up. Maybe if she stayed put and lay low, it wouldn't find her . . .

All of a sudden, almost out of thin air, the menacing chopper appeared right before Noodle's eyes. Something was emerging from the bottom of it. The Japanese girl's eyes widened in horror.

It was a gun.

BANG!

The shot rang out in the seemingly endless room. The bullet hit the ground at top speed, only about a foot away from Noodle. The force of the impact knocked the terrified girl backward onto the ground.

Desperately wanting to get away, Noodle scrambled to her feet and began running in the opposite direction. But no matter how far she ran, she still heard the whirring of the helicopter blades and the shots firing from the gun.

Tears began to stream down Noodle's face. She closed her eyes. "2D, Murdoc, Russel . . . " she thought desperately. "Wherever you are, please . . . HELP ME!"

Suddenly, Noodle's feet ran into something. The girl tripped over whatever was blocking her path. As she hit the ground at full force, she heard a splashing noise. Had she landed in a puddle of water?

Noodle's eyes opened wide. She looked all over for the helicopter, but it had seemed to disappear. She then looked down at her hands, and almost gagged in horror.

She had landed in a pool of blood.

Noodle gave a small shriek of terror and desperately tried to wipe her hands on her shirt, to no avail. Then she realized her foot was still caught on something. She slowly turned around . . . and grabbed her face in order to keep from going into hysterics.

Her feet were sprawled over 2D's body. The holes where his eyes should have been were wide and seemed to be filled with pain. He was in the center of the blood pool. Noodle was covered in 2D's blood.

Noodle looked back a bit further . . . and became even more distraught. A few feet back were the bodies of Murdoc and Russel, also covered in blood. Thankfully, Russel was lying face-down and Murdoc's body was turned away from her, so she couldn't see their faces. But she could see 2D's face. It was ghastly.

Feeling completely hopeless and alone, Noodle looked at the ground, not bearing to see the sight before her. Big, sad tears were flowing from her eyes.

"If they want me . . . " she thought, "why did they hurt my friends?"

It took her a few seconds to notice the huge shadow looming over her.

She jerked her head up. The helicopter was right above her! The gun was aimed directly at her body. The only body left.

There was no time to run. As she heard the BANG of the gun, Noodle did the only thing she could do: she buried her face in her hands, squeezed her eyes shut, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"No. . ." she thought. "No. . .!"

---

"NO!"

The fourteen-year-old Japanese girl shot straight up. She frantically looked around.

She was in her room. In her bed.

No helicopters. No bodies. Nothing.

So why was she so frightened?

Noodle tried to stop her body from trembling, but she was just too wound up. She felt her pajamas and her hair; they were soaked with sweat (not blood).

Noodle buried her face in her hands. There was no way she could go back to sleep. Not after that. The last time she had been so scared from a nightmare was when she was ten; when the Gorillaz were on their first American tour.

She needed something to drink.

Carefully sliding to the side of her bed, wincing as she stepped onto her floor, Noodle quietly tiptoed out of her room in the dark.

---

Noodle decided to take the stairs instead of the lift; she didn't want to wake up any of her band mates and have to explain to them why she was walking around Kong at two o'clock in the morning.

For some reason, all the lights tended to be off during the night. This made poor Noodle even more uneasy. Paranoia had sunk in; she found herself jumping at even the slightest noise.

Noodle knew she could get to the kitchen faster if she cut through the TV room. Thankfully, she was right outside the door. She quickly scrambled in and scurried to the other side of the room, not caring that the television had been seemingly left on.

What she didn't notice, however, was a pair of mismatched eyes watching her from the couch in front of the TV . . .

---

Noodle gave a sigh of relief when she finally made it to the kitchen. She hurried over to the sink, grabbed a cup from the cupboard, and filled it with water. She was still horribly shaken; her hand was trembling so badly, she could barely hold onto the cup. She had to clutch it with both hands to make it stop shaking so horribly. She quickly brought the cup to her lips and drank the water in little sips. After a few sips, she began to calm down. But just as she was thinking she could go back to bed . . .

"Noodle?"

At the same time, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Noodle jumped, causing her arms to jerk . . . and the entire contents of the cup to pour onto her face.

Noodle sputtered for air and dropped the cup, grabbing the counter for support. She began to comb her soaked bangs out of her eyes.

"Damn," said the voice behind her. "This is a good shirt . . . "

Noodle whirled around, surprised by who was behind her.

"M-Murdoc!" she whispered.

Apparently, when Noodle poured the water onto herself, some of it had splashed onto the Satanist as well, because he was looking at a big wet spot on his gray shirt.

"That's my name, luv," he muttered. He looked at his shirt again. "This is probably the first time I've ever taken a bath at two A.M. . ." Murdoc then looked at Noodle, who was still trying to brush her hair out of her face. Through her purple bangs, he was just able to make out red rims around Noodle's green eyes. "Noodle, what's wrong?"

Noodle stopped and swallowed the lump in her throat. "N-nothing . . . " she muttered, trying to steady her voice.

"Right," Murdoc sarcastically replied. "Don't think I'll fall for that. Last person I saw bein' as twitchy as you're bein' 'ad Tourettes. An' I know you well enough to know you don't have anythin' like that. Now what's the matter?"

Noodle stared at Murdoc for a few seconds. Then, without warning, she burst into tears. She ran to Murdoc and buried her face in his already damp shirt, wrapping her arms around his body.

Murdoc sighed. "Thought so. . ." he said quietly. He pulled Noodle's body away from his far enough for her to see his face. "Come on. You'd better sit down."

He slowly led his distraught guitarist to the kitchen table. He sat down in one of the chairs, gently pulling Noodle into his lap. She sobbed lightly, leaning her body tightly against his.

Murdoc sighed. "Let me guess," he said. "Nightmare?"

Noodle looked at him, surprised. "How . . . ?"

Murdoc interrupted her with a smirk. "You forgettin' who stayed up with ya all those nights when we were touring in America for the first time?"

"Oh . . . " Noodle looked at the floor, embarrassed. "But . . . that wasn't just you . . . "

"Yeah, but it was more times than I could count," said Murdoc. "Got to know ya well over those nights. Just wish you could've calmed down a little easier, though."

"I. . .could not help it . . . " Noodle muttered. "I was . . . scared . . . "

"Like you are now?" asked Murdoc.

Noodle shuddered. "No. . ." she lied.

Just then, something smacked against the kitchen window. Noodle jumped with fright again, pulling closer to Murdoc.

Murdoc couldn't help but chuckle. "Not scared, eh?"

Noodle pouted. "Okay, so I am a little . . . frightened . . . "

"What was your dream about?"

Noodle looked at Murdoc again. "Huh?"

"What was it about?"

Noodle thought about the things that had scared her so badly and shivered. "I. . .don't want to talk about it . . . "

"C'mon, luv. Talkin' about it helped the last time."

"What last time?"

"You don't remember?" Murdoc asked. "I do. You an' I ended up out on our hotel room's porch in one of the lawn chairs. Probably would've been there even longer if Russ an' Dullard hadn't woken us up."

The memory then came back to Noodle. While the Gorillaz were in America, and while she had been having the constant nightmares, she had been left in the care of Murdoc one night. After she had abruptly woken up from a screaming fit, Murdoc let her talk to 2D and Russel (who were out at the time) over the phone, just to make sure they were okay. Not wanting to leave Murdoc, Noodle had suggested sleeping with him. Somehow, the two of them had ended up on the little outside porch overlooking the city, where they both fell asleep for the rest of the night.

"Oh . . . " she said quietly. "Now I remember . . . "

Murdoc smirked again. "I knew you wouldn't forget that. Remember what I said to you about nightmares?"

Noodle thought hard. "They . . . can never happen?" she asked hopefully.

"You got it," said Murdoc. "That's the only place the impossible can happen. In dreams. That's my smart girl." He paused. "Now . . . what happened in this dream that made you so rattled?"

Noodle's body tensed. As she thought about the dream again, she began to realize something: she had had the dream before.

"Murdoc . . . " she whispered. "I think it was the same dream I had in America."

"The one with the helicopters?" Murdoc asked. "And the . . . bodies?"

"Y-yes . . . " Noodle stammered, hugging Murdoc even tighter. "Oh . . . it was just so horrifying. They were shooting at me, and . . . and the blood . . . there was so much blood . . . "

"Okay, luv," Murdoc said, patting her on the back. "I get the idea. No need to freak yourself out." He inhaled. "Besides, I'm kinda . . . losing the feeling in my lower body . . . "

Noodle loosened her grip. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Eh, I don't blame ya," Murdoc muttered. "Dreams like that are enough to rattle the nerves of anyone. Even me, if you can believe that. We all gotta be scared of something."

Noodle concentrated on the last statement. We all gotta be scared of something. She took a deep breath. It was now or never. "Murdoc?"

"Yeah?"

"I've . . . I've never told this to anyone before, but . . . I'm afraid of helicopters . . . "

Murdoc's eyes widened. "You're afraid of helicopters?"

Noodle nodded.

"But we used them in the Feel Good Inc. video. It was your idea to use them! You seemed okay then . . . "

"Well, it was a good opportunity to practice my acting skills," said Noodle. "To tell you the truth . . . just knowing those . . . things would be following me and the floating island . . . " She sighed. "Oh, who am I kidding? Murdoc . . . I was scared to death."

Murdoc looked at his guitarist, who was guiltily staring at the floor again. "If you knew it was gonna bother you, why did you want to use them?" he asked.

"I. . .I thought it was best for the video," said Noodle. "And for our band . . . "

Murdoc sighed. "Noods, you shouldn't make yourself do something you're not comfortable with just to please us. We would have understood if you had told us."

"I know . . . " said Noodle. "It's just . . . everyone thought it was a good idea, and . . . and I've worked so hard on this . . . "

"Noodle, darlin'," Murdoc interrupted, "you gotta give yourself a break. I mean, it's great that you've practically written this new album all by yourself and you have so many good ideas . . . " He paused. "But . . . there's no point if you end up making yourself do things you don't wanna do. You're fourteen, luv. You've still got a lot of your life ahead of ya. You shouldn't overwork yourself when you're still so young. It ain't healthy. Just look at me."

Murdoc thought he saw a faint smile on Noodle's lips.

"So you understand where I'm comin' from?" he asked.

"Yes . . . " Noodle quietly responded. "I'll try not to work so hard . . . "

Murdoc grinned. "You remember what our next music video's going to be?"

Noodle smiled even bigger now. "Yes," said Noodle. "DARE. That's my song. I wrote it all by myself."

"That's right," Murdoc murmured. "It's your song. Which means you can make the video how you want it to be. An' we're not gonna make ourselves do anything we don't want to do, right?"

"Right," said Noodle. She paused. "Murdoc?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," she said. She looked up at him and gave a big smile.

"No problem, luv . . . " Murdoc murmured, looking down at her. Then his mismatched eyes widened.

He was no longer seeing a fourteen-year-old Japanese girl with brilliant purple tinted hair and a developing woman's slender body. Instead, he saw a little ten-year-old Japanese girl with a radio helmet and a short, skinny body hidden under baggy clothes. There was only one thing that remained the same: that smile. That innocent smile. The smile that proclaimed: I love you. I trust you. I'm glad you're here for me.

Without thinking, Murdoc wrapped his arms around Noodle's body, just wanting to hold her close to him.

"Murdoc . . . ?" Noodle asked, confused.

"Sorry, luv . . . " Murdoc muttered. "This just brings back memories. That's all . . . "

Noodle glanced at the Satanist, who was busy staring into space. She was wondering something else. "Murdoc?" she asked quietly.

Murdoc snapped to attention. "What, luv?"

"Why are you being so nice? This isn't like you at all . . . "

Murdoc smiled. "'Cause even I can't be mad at such a cute face."

Noodle giggled. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," said Murdoc. "It's either that, or because I'm tired. Not thinkin' straight." His gaze went back to Noodle. "What do ya say we both get back to bed?"

Noodle nodded.

"All right then . . . " Murdoc placed his arms under Noodle's body as he stood up, carrying her bridal style out of the kitchen and back to her bedroom. Even though her body had gotten bigger, she was still light and easy to carry.

---

They finally made it back to Noodle's dark room. Murdoc quietly walked over to her bed and gently laid her in it.

"You sure you're okay?" he whispered.

"I am now," Noodle whispered back. "Thanks again, Murdoc."

Murdoc just stood there for a second, then inhaled. "Listen," he said, "you won't tell Russel or 2D 'bout this, right? Wouldn't exactly be the best thing for me. I got a reputation to keep up, y'know?"

Noodle chuckled. "All right," she said. "I won't tell."

"Good girl," said Murdoc. He bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Good night, Noodle."

"Good night, Murdoc."

With that, he snuck out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Noodle was alone again.

She felt better now than she had before. As she began to drift off, she remembered something Murdoc had told her four years ago . . .

"Dreams can never 'appen for real. No bloody way possible. All right? No way any of us can die like that. We ain't leavin' ya at any time, girlie . . . "