Thanks for the reviews(keep 'em coming please) and all. Making a note to say that college life has been even busier than usual so if you're one of those who keep track of my stories I have to apologize but you may all have to wait for updates. I barely got time for myself anymore and it doesn't help that I got myself a part time job now. I'll do what I can to update my stories soon. Anyway, let me add that there is no coupling going on in this story for those who wondered during my last chapter. I just think that a friendship theme can be more powerful than love in certain stories.

"You get it?" Noodle asked almost impatiently.

"…"

"Yes? No?"

"M'ready."

"You sure now?"

"Jest get it over with!"

"All right then." She stood up and brought out her equipment closing in on Murdoc.

He gulped and slowly started to back away.

"No, no, on second thought I ain't ready!"

"It's too late for that now." The axe princess answered seriously.

"Wait! I don' wanna go through this! Not thi-"

(Five minutes later…)

"MAKE IT STOP! MAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOP! I CAN' TAKE ANY MORE OF THIS!" Murdoc shifted around trying to untangle the ropes he's been tied to the chair he sat in.

"You're doing great so far." Noodle tried to sound encouraging. "Just try to show some self-control."

"EASY FER YOU TO SAY! THIS IS SO F-"

"Don't!" Noodle warned as she held up her hand. "Remember what I said?"

"Yeahyeahyeahyeah…" Murdoc panted as he tried to regain some of his energy. "Face the t'ings yer hate most and keep yer thoughts about it to yerself… and tis' barely working here…"

"It's only been the first five minutes. You'll do better by each minute."

"No, I don' think so!" Murdoc gnawed his teeth trying hard to suppress his language. "It's far too unbearable an' I had enough! Get these headphones off m'!"

"You only went through one song. The deal was at least to go through three of them without losing your temper. You already seem to be losing it for the first one."

"Who could go through listening to Enya without cussing it out?" He hung his head as if his energy had been drained out. "So this is what dying feels like…."

"No snapping back at me now," Noodle warned as she held up her CD walkman with her finger pointed on the pervious button. "Otherwise this training is going to be a little longer."

"I'll behave!" He said quickly. "It's too soothin'… can' stand it much longer…!"

"Oh you'll be fine."

(Thirteen minutes later…)

"You've been real quiet." Noodle complimented as she began untying Murdoc at last. "You're not dead, are you?"

She flinched back when his body slumped off the chair and landed flat-faced on the floor. She blinked and cautiously stepped forward with a slight concern.

"You okay?"

She backed away slightly when his body flinched for a second followed by a lot of senseless mumbling.

"Sellin' drugs out 'n a desert… 'cause baby likes back… must kill Lincoln… I know some dudes who like drinking… it's peanut butter jelly time…"

Yikes, he's having an episode! Perhaps this was too much for him after all!

She froze and then frowned when she heard a distant chuckling. Apparently they weren't alone. Seeing her door halfway open she pretty much guessed it. Using her skills she did a midair karate kick towards the door which caused Russel to quickly get out of the way before the door swung right into his face.

"What gives?"

"Is that a video camera?"

Russel looked down at it and back at Noodle shrugging.

"Yeah, guess it is."

"So how long have you been standing there taping us?" She demanded.

"I was more focused in capturing our fellow man but I was hanging around for some time when you tied him up."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Oh come on now, girl! You have to admit that this is pretty funny. How many chances like this will we have?" He took out the tape from the camera and held it up. "Just think of the cherishing memories we'll share at watching this."

Noodle tried hard to suppress a smirk but failed.

"I don't think he'd like that."

"We'll just keep it from him. What he doesn't know couldn't harm him." He chuckled as he fingered the tape. "I crack myself up sometimes."

"Nani?" Noodle shook her head.

"By the way what have you two been doing the past two hours?"

"If you must know I've been giving him some training, western style. I showed him a couple of books on manners at first but that bored him so I switched to technology." She glanced at the near-unconscious body still in a mindless state. "Perhaps he would have preferred to be bored."

"It's a good way to entertain yourself but don't waste your time." Russel smirked. "This is Murdoc who we're talking about here and he'd never learn how to behave. He can perhaps learn how to fake it but even that wouldn't last very long."

"Oh I don't know." Noodle mused. "He's been such a sweetheart lately. I even taught him how to say please."

"For real?" Russel raised his eyebrows with disbelief. "Damn, I've been missing the best parts here! I bet that was mentally painful for him."

Noodle frowned slightly when she saw how Russel seemed pleased with himself.

"How about cutting him a little slack? He's not going through a picnic at the moment."

"And that's what makes it all the fun. Besides, girl, this dude needs all the training he can get being the jerk he always is."

"I guess…" She shrugged as she had to agree to herself she was having fun with this as well.

"Anyhow I'd do something about this ill mental damaged leader of ours. It's funny to watch at first but now it's starting to get old."

"What about you?"

"Love to stick around for even more fun but I've ordered a pizza." He hummed to himself as he started to exit the room. "But I'll be back for more soon."

Noodle sighed and stared back at Murdoc's twitching body. How's she going to get him to snap out of it when he apparently didn't seem aware of Russel's presences? Being the smart girl she is she instantly knew what to do. She walked over him and bent down searching his pockets. She hit the jackpot immediately when she found and grabbed the lighter and sixpack. Taking a cigarette out she lit it up with the lighter and held the newly lit fag in front of Murdoc's nose. His broken nose started twitching and in a matter of seconds he finally snapped out of it and took the cigarette from Noodle's hand and into his mouth.

"Yeah, baby. That feels so goooood…"

He inhaled the smoke and leaned back against the wall finally relaxed.

"Heh, you feeling better?" Noodle grinned nervously as she sat next to him.

"Oh yeeeah…" He sighed blissfully. "Thanks fer that, luv."

"Then no hard feelings?" Her face brightened.

"Naw, it actually made me feel kinda tougher fer some reason… urgh…"

He leaned forward clutching his stomach. There it was again! The same sudden stomach ache from before at the food joint. Only this time the pain was stronger followed by a nauseous feeling but that lasted briefly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Murdoc dismissed it as it subsided. "Probably side affects. Wouldn' worry about it."

"If you say so."

"I know so." He breathed the smoke out from his lungs and stood up. "I've had about enough. M'gonna grab a beer an' forget everythin'."

"Bad idea," Noodle warned. "Now that I managed to make you go through the worst without cursing I bet you're ready to take on the worst. If you get yourself drunk now and forget everything you'll just get back from where you started."

"We STILL not done?" He made all the effort not to make a rude noise. "I think I've had about enough trainin'! M'bout emotionally drained here!"

"Do you or do you not want to win this bet?"

"Well…"

"Besides if you can go through this one smoothly I believe you'll have a pretty good chance at winning."

"Fine but this had better be the last one." He grumbled as he remembered he wanted tips and not tortured training.

"No worries but it's the ultimate challenge for you."

"Yer secretly tryin' ter kill me, aren't yer?"

"Maybe." She giggled teasingly.

Shit… this is so fucked up. Aw, whatever helps…

"Last time but afterwards I wanna take a break and grab a beer."

"Be sure not to get drunk or you might… you know."

"Hey, I can control my drinking…" Groaning he shook his head. "Not. Whatever, jest tell me wha' I gotta do."

"Go to 2-D and have a friendly full three-minute conversation with him."

Murdoc stood silently for a whole minute without blinking before picking up the CD headphones.

"H'bout we give this another go instead?"

"No, I'm not letting you take the easy way out." She cleared her throat trying to sound sophisticated to him. "According to my calculations, every day you either insult and/or hit him so it would make impossible for you to hold a long normal conversation with him without losing your temper. If you can manage this your chance of winning could be high."

"We're talking real high…" He muttered before smirking.

Yeah, I wanna get high righ' now.

"Just do it and I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day, okay?"

"Fine, how hard can it b'?"

The truth was Noodle tricked Murdoc into thinking it was another test. What she had in mind was much different and figured that this would be the only chance she could manage to work out her plan with the bassist being in the situation he was right now. She gave it much thought back at the food joint and decided it could work since he slowly began acting a slight differently now. She bit her lower lip and crossed her fingers when he left the room.

I sure hope this'll work.

…………

He stood in front of the door, sighing loudly. Why was he following instructions? Why didn't he just refuse and left it at that? Why the bloody hell was he asking himself all these questions? But when he felt miserable he reminded himself who'll be miserable the next day and the many weeks to come if he succeeds. He grinned wickedly as he rubbed his hands. It's not like it was the first time he suffered so he'll be doing all this garbage now but the next day he could do anything he wanted. He was going to remind himself how much he'll be using the dullard as a punching bag tomorrow as revenge for teasing him with temptations and knowing he couldn't hurt him this time. This pathetic act of playing nice will soon be over.

Enjoy it while yer can, muppet. It won' last fer long.

He knocked on the door and entered without waiting for an answer.

"Wha- wait!"

2-D panicked when someone was coming in his room and quickly scrambled at the end of his room, hiding something behind his back. Murdoc raised an eyebrow suspiciously at him.

"Yer hidin' somethin'?"

"Nope." 2-D shifted nervously. "Wot are you doing here, anyway?"

"Jest wanted ta talk." Murdoc approached him trying to see what he was holding behind his back.

"Can it wait? Tis a bad time right now…"

"H'bout showing m' first what yer hiding?" He brought forward his hand to grab the singer's arm but thought better of it.

"It doesn't concern you."

"If it don' then why are ya hidin' it?"

"Um…"

"Jest show me." He said, holding back his venom language.

"You promise not to get mad?"

"I promise."

"Fine."

His eyes went wide when he saw what 2-D's been hiding. It was his CD he lend to him earlier but the difference now was that it was snapped in half. Anger flared up and his body shook slightly with rage.

I so wanna kill yer right now!

"Why are you glaring at me like that?" 2-D asked as he backed off from the large glare he was getting.

It's 2:30 in the afternoon. Have ya punched yer idiot today?

"I knew it! You going ta be mad now!" 2-D accused as if Murdoc was the one who just done wrong.

"What… happened… ta it…?" He asked trying to control his temper as best he could manage. It hasn't even been a minute yet.

"I didn' mean to break it… I-I jus' placed it somewhere an' didn't pay much attention and somewhere along the way of forgettin' it I sorta…" He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Do you really need details?"

Murdoc was ready to beat the crap out of 2-D but stopped himself before he even had the chance to start. He gripped onto his elbows tightly trying to get himself to lower his anger.

Relax… relax… You can always kill that idiot tomorrow. Right now jest relax…

"S'fine. Don' worry about it. I can always buy a new one. Not like I'm poor…"

"You say that now but you'll kill me later." 2-D grunted.

Not so stupid after all, are yer?

"Who me? Naw, wouldn' dream of it."

"Uh-huh." He muttered with disbelief. "If it makes ya feel any better I'll pay fer it…"

"No you won'." He answered back without snapping. "I've got money here, 'kay? Yer don' need… wha' happen ta yer hand?"

"Oh this?" He held up his right hand that was bleeding. "I sorta cut meself when the CD snapped."

"I see…" He took a long good look at the blood tripping off 2-D's hand which caused him to lick his lips.

Mmmh… blood. Whatta tasty treat.

He shook his head to let go of the image and sighed. Friendly conversation she said so what else could he ask?

"Does it hurt?"

"A little but it's nothing big compared ta the damage you like to give me."

"Right, sorry." He said and took 2-D's injured hand while searching his pockets with his free hand. "Where is it…?"

"Wot?" The simpleminded singer was curious to know what the older man was up to.

"I always keep one in me pockets fer me but you can 'ave it." He brought out a band-aid while not really noticing that something else fell from his pocket and onto the floor. He placed the band-aid over the wound and let go of the hand.

"Cool, thanks Muds."

"Don' mention it." He muttered hating to be nice to him. "Really, don' mention it… ever."

"Um, sure." He glanced down to the floor and picked up what Murdoc had dropped by accident. "Hmm, what's this?"

"That's…" His eyes went wide like dinner plates. "You don' know what that is?"

"It's not candy… but it feels like gummy." He mused as he played with the stretchy rubber. "It's a toy, right? You use it ta sling it like rubber bands, right?"

Murdoc irritatingly smacked a hand over his own forehead.

An' he's confused why he's got eight kids in this god forsaking world!

"Perhaps you an' I need ter have a talk abou' this," He said as he took back what 2-D was playing with. "But not today. And I need ta take this back 'cause I plan on using it sometime soon."

"You like playin' wif rubber bands too?"

"Sure…" He groaned while putting it back in his pocket. "Who doesn'?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothin'." He glanced at his wrist watch and chewed his tongue, drawing blood. Another minute to go but swallowing his own blood relaxed him.

"Wanna do somethin' that'll last under a minute?"

"No…" 2-D answered with a suspicious frown.

"Didn' think so…" He scratched the back of his neck trying to think.

"You okay? You're actin' real weird."

"Yeah, I ain' havin' enough pleasant thoughts."

He grinned as he imagined torturing 2-D but that image didn't seem to please him like it always did and it disappeared from his mind.

Huh? What happen' to ta urge from before?

Again he tried to imagine it but didn't get the pleasure and fun out of thinking it and once again the image left his mind. That thought had always entertained him in the past. Why didn't it amuse him this time? Even the thoughts from before of making him a punching bag for tomorrow that greatly amused him didn't work either. Instead it gave him a slight bored and disgusted feeling. What the hell was happening to him?

"I must b' sick." He told himself.

"You look a little pale." 2-D agreed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Naw, I rather not."

What happened to his rage? There's no way his anger from before could suddenly disappear either. But it did and that was just… odd.

"Yeah, I'm definitely sick." He concluded and sat on the edge of 2-D's bed who joined him shortly.

"You shouldn't have let Russel talk you into doing this if you're going ta act all ill about it."

"Listen mate, when it comes ter bets you can never back down on those."

"Really?"

"Fer instances I bet I can make yer laugh. Think you'd back down on somethin' like that?"

"No," 2-D admitted with a smirk. "And I'll take that challenge. You never succeed on that 'cause I have self-control."

"Wanna bet?" He said almost dangerously as he moved closer, bringing up his hands.

"Huh? No, that's-"

His worried expression changed from laughter when Murdoc started tickling his upper body and kept moving up.

"Wait!" 2-D choked with laughter. "Don', I'm sensitive there!

"Yer mean there?" He smirked as he began tickling under his arms.

"No fair!" He exclaimed and fell backwards against his bed.

"I never said anythin' about havin' rules on how ter make yer laugh, did I?" He stopped and lifted 2-D up so he'd sit up to face him.

"See what I mean now? Yer need ter think before agreeing… which I didn' do."

"Sucks to be you." His grin faded away soon. "I mean…"

"Aw you're a riot." He smirked as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "At least yer finally learnin' ter back talk."

"Yeah?"

"You betcha. Doing so would…" He paused at mid-sentence and swallowed hard.

No…

He was enjoying the time with someone he figured he hated. He wasn't even feeling hate towards him at this very moment. None whatsoever.

Hell no.

And this unfamiliar feeling was starting to become a little too familiar now. Then there was the fact he felt like hanging out with him some more and chat…

Aw FUCK NO!

"I've gotta leave now." He announced quickly as he stood to leave. "Have ta see a man abou' a monkey."

"Uh, okay." 2-D was starting to become more than confused than ever with the odd behavior but he figured he'd be used to that. "I guess we'll chat later."

"Later." He said and left in a hurry.

………….

Noodle glanced at her watch and tapped her right foot still waiting. It's been over ten minutes and she wanted to know the results. What was keeping him? She brightened when she finally heard him approaching her room and entering.

"Well?" She flinched when she saw how pale he looked. "What's wrong? You look like something horrible happened to you."

"Ya can say that again!" He said trying to keep his voice below average.

"Wait… What were the results to your um, test."

"It backfired!"

"You mean you couldn't do it!"

"No, much worse!" He nearly shuddered before the teen. "S'a real crisis!"

"What's wrong?"

"I jest found out tha' I ain't just acting nice… I'm TURNING nice!"

"Oh…" Noodle stared wondering if this sounded like a crisis.

"You need to help me forget everythin' I've learned so I can be meself again! Or at least make me feel like meself… I've an image ta protect yer know."

"Now?" She asked still trying to find the right emotion for this confession.

"Please?" He added sheepishly.