As of late Noodle hadn't been feeling like herself. She felt… different. Like a whole other person. Over the years she'd emotionally been through a lot, so it was no surprise to her. But, she felt like a mere shell of her past self.
She looked at her reflection and sighed sadly. Ever since she'd been reunited with her family she hasn't been happy. Yes, being with her weird family again made her happy, but it also saddened her because of the predicament they were in. She decided she'd just lay down and think about the past, and hopefully drift off to sleep. She made her way to her bed, closed her eyes and sighed.
Noodle found herself standing in her room in Kong Studios. She looked around. The atmosphere seemed bright and hazy, like a dream, but at the same time, it wasn't. Game Boy games, anime DVDs, pencils and drawing paper, and a tamagotchi pet littered the floor in her otherwise neat room. In front of her was her younger self. Noodle looked at her arms and hands. She couldn't tell if she were transparent or not. Everything seemed to glow, but at same time it didn't.
She walked up behind her younger self and watched her actions. She just stood there in the middle of the room, seemingly contemplating what to do to save herself from boredom. Noodle remembered how she used be so happy and energetic. How she had an imagination out of this world. She smiled. She finally stepped to her younger self and wrapped her arms around her.
The young guitarist froze in place. She finally turned around and looked up at the older guitarist. She blinked, not phased at all but with a confused look on her face.
Noodle let go of her younger version and held onto her at arm's length. She took in the features she used to have. Slightly rounder face, short, jet black hair, and the helmet she faithfully wore every day until she turned 13.
She thought about how she hadn't had a care in the world then and sighed sadly.
The other Noodle stared at her older version with sympathetic eyes and a smile. Almost like she knew what Noodle was saddened by. The older Noodle smiled once more and kissed the top of her head.
Slowly, Noodle began to get shorter and shorter. It didn't take long for realization to hit her and tell her she was sinking through the floor. She extended her hand so her younger self could save her, but all she did was stare down at her.
Blackness…
Then the sensation of falling hit her senses.
Noodle stayed calm and braced herself for the impact.
She crashed in the floor of her bedroom at Kong. She didn't feel a thing from the fall.
Getting up, the guitarist looked around at her room again. She spotted herself when she was a teenager looking at her with a bewildered expression. She walked over to her old bed were her teenaged self was currently sitting and flopped down on the edge. She scooted closer and gently took the latter's hand in hers and smiled. By now, Noodle had dyed her hair purple and began to wear her bangs over her eyes.
Noodle wished she could go back to being this age. This was right before everything got out of control. She pushed the fringe out of the latter's eyes and smiled sadly. Her younger self smiled and took ahold of her other hand and squeezed it. The older Noodle smiled down at her. She's always been supportive to others when they felt hopeless and alone. The older guitarist exhaled and closed her eyes.
She suddenly felt like she was floating on water. The sound of gunfire sounded and she quickly opened her eyes to see that she'd escaped the M. Harriet and was floating on the yellow lifeboat.
Above her, a pirate was zeroing in on her and was about to fire.
Noodle tried moving, but her body was stuck to the lifeboat.
The pirate was aiming at her.
She was sinking into the boat. Her vision was blackening.
The shot was fired.
Noodle regained her vision. She was standing on the shore of Plastic Beach. A warm breeze blew through her hair.
"Stop it right there." A familiar voice called from behind her.
Noodle resisted the urge to freeze in place and turned around.
There stood herself, wearing her oni mask, white and red dress, thigh high socks, and gloves, machine gun in hand. She pushed her mask to the side, revealing her bruised eye.
Noodle winced a bit. She remembered all too well how that bruise appeared on her face.
The wind blew harder.
"Where's Murdoc and 2D?" The other Noodle asked icily.
Noodle was at a loss for words and instead blinked.
The other Noodle stepped closer to her. "So, Murdoc didn't program you to talk? Or do you only respond to your 'Master?'"
Everything was clear now. The other guitarist thought she was Cyborg.
"I'm not Cyborg." Noodle finally said.
The other Noodle chuckled coldly. "That asshole has even programed you to believe you're me. Why doesn't this surprise me?" She cocked her gun and aimed it at Noodle. "Now, tell me where they are."
Noodle raised both hands and began prodding and pulling her face and body to prove that she's not metal. "Really. I'm not Cyborg. I'm you."
The other guitarist lowered her gun. Her bitter glare turned into a shocked stare. She dropped her gun and walked up to Noodle and poked her a couple of times before engulfing her in a hug. "Suzuki, I'm tired." She bit her lip as her eyes over flowed with tears. "I'm tired of running. Shooting. I just want it to be like it was when we lived at Kong…."
Noodle tried her best not to cry, but she understood fully how the other Noodle was feeling. She rubbed her back to comfort her.
"I know how you feel…" Noodle said.
"What will happen to me later on?" She asked, still hugging the guitarist.
"I don't know what the future holds for me." She started. "…But everything will be okay. This spell of depression will pass. You'll be happy soon."
The latter sniffled. "Thanks." She smiled for the first time in years.
Noodle smiled as well.
The air around them shifted, then circled around them.
Noodle felt a gust of cool air run through her hair and hit her face.
"Noods, are you okay? You've been sleeping all day." Came a familiar voice.
Noodle sat up with her arms wrapped around herself. A couple of tears rolled down her face. She looked up to see Murdoc with a concerned look on his face.
She smiled. "Yes." She jump out of bed and wrapped her arms around the bassist.
This caught him off guard. He patted her back awkwardly. "Okay, you can let go now."
She let go of him and ran out of her room to give the other bandmates a hug. As soon as she left, Murdoc let the smile that was attempting to show itself appear on his face.
From that day forward, Noodle never got depressed again.