You Gorillaz. Me Lihn.
A wave of nausea swept over her as her feet made contact with solid, would she ever get used to traveling this way? "Where am I now?"Before opening her eyes, Lihn reached out with her mind. Finger like tendrils of consciousness sniffing the air. "Same dimension, same planet," she concentrated harder, "same century?…same decade!" that was unusual. She had ended up in the same dimension before but usually in another century and place, now she sensed that she was only a couple of years ahead of the date she'd left. She popped open her eyes to take in the scenery and regretted it immediately. Her nose wrinkled with disgust, "where on earth?" she hadn't meant to say it out loud but her vocal cords had been just as surprised as the rest of her. The landscape was hideously damp and dreary. What she could make out in the dim moon light, looked like an old graveyard that was currently being used as a land fill and the smell wafting on the warm air confirmed it, making her stomach churn a little more. Piles of junk and refuse seemed to mark paths like the bushes in a well kept garden would have. Hemmed in the maze of trash were plots of gravestones. These large, ominous chunks of stone stuck out of the ground at various angles as if an earthquake had passed through years ago.
This was very strange. Lihn pulled a thin electronic device out of her pocket, she knew the randomizer had a chance of failure but the readout, and her own senses, confirmed that it had worked properly. So why was she so close, in time and space, to her original destination? And why this strange place? A thought struck her and she pulled a mirror out of the air and held it to her face. "Yup," she was wearing the same face as well. An attractive Japanese woman, perhaps in her mid twenties to early thirties. Her deep black hair shown almost purple in the dim moonlight and was pulled back into a pony tail. There were still small wire glasses perched on her nose, slightly magnifying her green eyes. Her body was thin, yet curvy in all the right spots. Her white lab coat fluttered in the sudden breeze that made her wish she'd been wearing slacks and her heels were sinking in the muddy grass beneath her. So what did fate have I mind for her now?
She tried to sigh but nearly gagged from the stench in the air. The mirror dissolved and a scarf materialized in her hand which she held to her face in an attempt to filter out the bad smells as she took another look at the landscape. She gasped when she turned to see what was behind her. There, on the top of a hill jutting out of the flat landscape, was a … building, no other word for it. It looked like a cross between a warehouse, an office building and an asylum. "What on earth is that doing in the middle of a grave yard?… Or a landfill?" It loomed against the night sky and the lights in some of the windows flickered giving it that 'haunted house' feel. Although the fact that there were lights on meant that there should be someone there and it HAD to smell better indoors than it did out here. Now if only she could make it there without losing a shoe.
That was when she herd it. Or maybe she felt it, she could always sense these things, there was movement behind her. She turned, slipping out of her heels with practiced ease and raised her hands defensively. She strained her ears and adjusted her vision better to suit the dim landscape. There it was! Off to the left, at the base of a trash pile, something was moving on the ground, snuffling. It was coming toward her as if it were following her scent.
Lihn's pulse quickened. She hadn't had a good fight in ages. Assassination simply wasn't as fulfilling as smashing something with your bare hands. As the thing crept closer she could see that it was a "Zombie?" this dimension had almost everything! First she'd dealt with clones, now zombies? It rose to it's feet as it caught site of her, lurching toward her quickly, if not gracefully. It launched itself at her and she caught it mid air with her barefoot to the side of it's skull and sent it sprawling. It slid to a stop some feet away but immediately rose again and came for the woman. In one movement, she swept the zombies feet and snatched up one of her heels, She was on top of the creature in an instant, trapping it in her guard she bashed it repeatedly in the head with her shoe until she was sure it wouldn't move again. Then, over her own panting, she heard cries and the unmistakable sounds of scuffles. Someone else was fighting not that far away. She snatched up her other shoe and made toward the sounds.
Rounding the corner of a tale trash pile, Lihn nearly ran into another Zombie. Quickly side stepping she slipped behind it and smacked the back of it's head with her shoe, it made a satisfying smuuuchk sound as she pulled it back out and she smiled as she ran on in the direction of the closet scuffle. The sounds became more distinct as she got closer. "Take that, creature of the night!" Lihn heard what seemed to be a child's voice and sure enough, as she rounded the next trash pile she collided with a laughing child. The little girl fell backward and rolled immediately to her feet adopting almost the exact defensive position that Lihn found herself in. Realizing that she was not facing a zombie the girl snapped to attention "I apologize." she gave a smart bow, "I did not realize that we had guests." She regarded Lihn with curious eyes and a large smile. "You must be here to see brother 2-D, he had to see a doctor before because he said the inside of his head felt like it had a "jack hammer" in it" she ran forward and grasped Lihn's shoe laden hand pumping it, "My name is Noriko, but you can call me "Noodle". That's what my brothers call me because they can't understand me" she laughed, then her eyes got big and she tugged on Lihn's arm, "We should go find them because they probably need me!" she turned to go back the way she'd been coming, dragging Lihn with her, "None of them are good fighters like me. Brother Murdoc and Brother Russel might be all right, but 2-D gets confused …"
"Wait!" Lihn dug her bare heels into the ground, "WHAT is going on here?" she asked incredulously. The little girl stopped suddenly in surprise, "You speak Japanese!"
"Uh-oh"Lihn DID speak Japanese, she'd spent the last two, almost three decades in Japan, but apparently she wasn't in Japan anymore and running into a Japanese little girl was just a coincident. She'd have to go with it now. It wasn't as if this sort of mistake hadn't happened to her before and depending on where she was, she may get away with speaking two languages. Using her 'talents', she'd be able to understand any language spoken, but she had to be careful about what she used to speak. She'd found that people didn't trust a person who could speak too many languages. "Yes," she smiled, "My name is Dr. NoriLihn," "Now why did I say that?" She did seemed to be trapped in that persona but there was a reason Lihn had been trying to ditch it, she could only hope that she was far enough that trouble wouldn't follow. "but you can call me Lihn. Perhaps you can help me, "Noodle", I am lost. I am hoping you can tell me where I am, and if attacks by the revenant are normal." Her smile only stretched a little as se said the last part.
"Oh, yes, Miss Lihn! You are on the property of "Kong Studios"." She gave a huge smile, "And nothing here is normal!" with that the little girl turned and ran off in the direction of someone's shouting without waiting to see if Lihn was following.
Not eager to lose her first contact in this place, Lihn hurried to keep up. Slipping in the slick mud, she managed to keep hold of her shoes, which was a good thing because she needed the unlikely weapons sooner than she'd wanted. She turned a corner just in time to see Noodle skip around a zombie and keep running. Missing the girl, the zombie cast about for another target, it's blank glare locked onto Lihn. "Great!" She ran toward the zombie, flinging her shoe as she went, the sharp heel landing squarely in its eye. Spying a metal tube sticking up out of the refuse closest to her, she threw her remaining shoe and snatched it up with out slowing. Brandishing the weapon like a ball bat, she swung as she passed the zombie, knocking it's head, not so cleanly, off. Noodle was a few yards away standing on top of two downed foes, "Not bad, Dr. Lihn!" the words rang to Lihn from a memory, over powering her consciousness momentarily causing her to slip and fall.
…"Not bad Dr. Lihn, but not good enough!" … "Ooof" the fall shook her from her reverie and she could hear someone shouting. "Hello!…Is anyone there?" It was being shouted in English, with a thick British accent, not a proper, snobby accent, but the one that makes you smile and think of Tiny Tim.
"That is 2-D!" again Noodle turned and ran simply expecting that Lihn would follow. They didn't run far before they burst out in to a clear patch between the trash heaps. The "Studio" was plainly visible and seemed much closer than it first had. There were large grave markers dotting the ground and what she first took to be another zombie slouching around turned out to be a man with a video camera recording what HAD to be a ghost. He was shouting directions at it as if it were an actor, and the Ghost seemed to be arguing back. "Is anyone there?" was still be shouted somewhere outside the clearing but the man and the ghost were as oblivious to it as they were to her.
"Are you telling ME how to spit rhyme? I'll climb inside your head and have your ass in a senior center 'fore you can blink!" the ghost shouted with a strong New York slur.
"Look 'ere, I'm the Director, you're SUPPOSED to do what I tell you, Twit!" The man with the camera lowered it and slapped his hand to his forehead and drug it down his face. Just then Noodle ran up clinging to his shirt, jumping and shouting. "Murdoc, Murdoc, Brother! 2-D is lost, he needs help!"
"Eh, What? Slow down! You know I can't understand a bloody word you say." he shouted.
"2-D, 2-D" she shouted, pointing in the direction the shouting was coming from. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
"Sweet Satan, 's he got himself lost again?" the man grumbled "That's a rap people." he said to no one in particular. "Russel! Rus," he shouted, turning to a large gargoyle shaped stone. Lihn hadn't noticed the large man leaning against it, apparently sleeping. He was dressed similarly to the ghost, but he was definitely alive. "wake up, Russel, put that thing back in its cage!" he jerked his thumb toward the ghost, "Rus!" he strode over to the slumbering man and kicked his foot, "wake up!"
The man snorted loudly and his eyes shot open, they were pure white, with no pupils and the ghost suddenly seemed to be trapped in a vortex that sucked him in Russel's direction as he faded away, cursing. The blank eyes in his face suddenly seemed to focus, and stared directly at Lihn. "Who she?" He nodded in her direction. Both Murdoc and Noodle spun to look at her. Murdoc unashamedly looked her up and down, "Hello?" he growled licking his lips and smiling. Noodle bounded over to her almost like a happy puppy and took her hand. "This is Dr. NoriLihn! She was lost but I found her. She can kill zombies with her shoe! And she was helping me find 2-D. Oh! 2-D!" she suddenly remembered her shouting companion. " we must find 2-D!"
The man called Murdoc was half grinning at Lihn and half scowling at Noodle, not understanding a word she was saying.
Is that D?" the big man seemed to notice the shouting for the first time. The question seemed to give Murdoc something to focus on and his head snapped in the direction of the asker. "Russel! 2-D went and got 'iself lost again. Go get the fool 'fore he 'urts 'iself. I'll see to our guest 'ere." The big man rose to his feet glaring at Murdoc but moved off I the direction of the shouter, "Coulda least said "please'." he grumbled rolling his eyes. "C'm on Noodle, you can watch my back."
Noodle bounded off after him presumably to rescue her brother, leaving Lihn standing uncomfortably with the man called Murdoc. He practically oozed over the grass as he came toward her.
"Hi," he oozed with a fake smile, "Murdoc Niccals here, demon bass player and creative genius behind the Gorillaz." He spoke as if she should know what he was talking about but due to her skip in time, she had no clue. Perhaps she should pretend she couldn't speak English. She extended her hand, "Dr. NoriLihn, it is an honor to meet you" that was what she said, but what he heard was, "Dr. NoriLihn, Ome ni kakarete kouei desu."
His face fell, as did his hand, "Shit." he said under his breath. He seemed to recover quickly though, "well, perhaps we should get inside. I'm sure you've had a long trip, get you a cup o tea or something." he put his arm around her shoulder and turned her toward the building. "You ah, don't speak any English do you?" She stared at him blankly. "No o' course not. Why make things easier for me, right?" Not far away, hidden behind yet another heap of trash was a little jeep, with the word GEEP across the front of it. "here we are. You hop in there and me mates'll be right along." He tossed his video camera on the drivers seat and turned away from the jeep. Cupping his hands round his mouth he shouted, "you got to the count o' five to get back 'ere or I'm leaving without ya!"
It was only a moment before Lihn heard the sounds of running feet, then Noodle came into view followed by Russel who had someone throw over his shoulder, he was panting and puffing with the effort but didn't dare slow down with the zombies so close behind him.
"And that's our cue to exit." Murdoc said climbing into the jeep. Lihn hopped into the passenger seat and Noodle climbed into the back. Russel heaved his passenger beside her before pulling himself in. "Is he all right?" Lihn asked Noodle concerning the unconscious blue haired young man.
Noodle laughed, "he passed out from fright! He watches scary zombie movies all the time but whenever he's sees a real one, he freaks!"
"I can't understand why." Lihn said dryly turning back to face the front. Murdoc slammed the vehicle into gear and spun the tires just as the ten or so zombies reached where they were. They shot off into the dark heading toward the building on top of the hill. Lihn hung on to the door handle with a tight grip. She knew she would survive if they wrecked but it wasn't as though she enjoyed pain. As they drew closer to the building she began to worry that the driver wasn't slowing down. But instead of driving into the side of the building, he pushed a button opening a large garage like door, which they passed through into an in-building car park. Murdoc stomped the brakes and shifted down through the gears with ease, narrowly missing a Winnebago and sliding to a stop just before they hit the wall.
Lihn let go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding, and peeled her hand off of the door handle slowly. Russel was attempting to wake 2-D and Noodle was already out of the vehicle chattering away at Murdoc who clearly wasn't listening. He was instead staring at Lihn as if she were a puzzle he was figuring out.
"Noodle," he interrupted, "Why don't you take our guest upstairs to wash up." he said brightly, though his face didn't match his tone. "Do you 'ave any bags?" he shouted at Lihn, mimicking carrying a suitcase, "Bags? Does someone need to get them?" he was articulating each word as if it would help her understand.
"He asks if you have luggage, we could send someone down to the gates to fetch it." Noodle translated.
"Oh I can understand him," Lihn replied with her eyes still on Murdoc, "I'm just amazed by his stupidity."
Noodle laughed. "Yes, he can be like that. But you get used to it. Come I'll show you to the bathroom." Lihn didn't realize until now how filthy she'd become and the idea of a bathroom wasn't bad. She came around the jeep and allowed Noodle to take her hand and lead her away through a door.
Murdoc watched them go until the door closed behind them. "Rus, get him up. We got problems."
"what kind a problems?" he asked dragging 2-D from the jeep. "get his feet man, he's out, I think he choked down a handful of pain pills out there."
"Fuck me," Murdoc growled grabbing 2-D's feet and lifting him off the ground and shuffling in the direction of 2-D's room.
"so, what's the problem? Got something to do with that woman?" Russel asked "I seen you was being uncharacteristically nice to her."
"Yeah, watch yer step there, she gonna try to take our Noodle."
Russel caught 2-d just before his head hit the ground, "WHAT?"
"Hey, watch it, stupid, don't damage my front man!" He elbowed the door to 2-D's room open and began to drag him inside. "She musta seen her on the telli, or maybe when we was on tour. Now 'mommy's' found her girl and she's come to collect." they chucked 2-D's limp form on the bed.
"You sure bout this?" Russel asked turning 2-D over onto his side.
"No, I'm not sure." Murdoc groused, "she may be here to slap us with kidnapping charges!"
"But we didn't kidnap Noodle, she showed up on our step…"
"And we didn't look for er folks, or call the police, or do anything they'll say we should 'ave." Murdoc snapped.
Russel clamped his mouth shut. Then another thought occurred to him, "You think that's Noodle's Mom?" he raised an eyebrow in thought, "I guess they DO look alike, don't they?"
"I dunno," Murdoc sniffed, "All them look alike to me."
Russel turned a disapproving glare on him, "That's fucked up man."
Murdoc slapped him on the back, "come on, Russ, it's not like I was talking bout black people." he said patronizingly.
"That ain't the point," Russ said icily.
"You're right, the point is, how are we gonna get rid of our new headache?"
"You could try to sleep with her, that always scares women away." Murdoc cuffed the back of Russel's chuckling head as they left 2-D's room.