Gorillaz – An Alternative Beginning
Finally, the moment you have all been waiting for! I still can't believe that this super hero idea came from listening to one song but there you go. If you remember, Murdoc is currently watching Stuart Pot having his life sucked out of him and Stuart hears a heroic voice. Whose voice? Let's find out …..
Knight in Shining Armour
Murdoc stared helplessly at the sight in front of him. There was an old man in a cloak and half-mask tightly grabbing a younger man with blue hair and they were surrounded by bright white light. The blue haired victim was clearly in a lot of pain and the older man was just laughing. That wasn't the horrifying part however. The younger man was slowly aging. His hair was going a lighter blue, almost white, and his skin was covered in wrinkles. He seemed weaker, and death was standing near him. He had nearly given up altogether. The older man's reaction was different. He was getting younger. His wrinkles were disappearing and his long white hair was turning a dark brown.
He was stealing the younger man's youth!
If someone didn't help, this poor being would die. But who would want to stop that? No human would ever dare …. no human! Was Murdoc human? Maybe not. He normally wouldn't care much about others but on this occasion he somehow felt differently; strange considering that he would never see the kid again.
He took a deep breath to summon up as much confidence as possible and suddenly charged around the end of the hedge so he was in plain sight.
"Oi! What the f*** are you doing!"
The old man looked up in horror. Murdoc charged and lunged at him.
"Leave him alone you evil b******!"
He broke the man's grip. There was an electrical 'snapping' sound and in a second the victim's youth had returned and the aggressor was old again.
"NO!" the old man yelled as he was shoved to the floor by Murdoc.
Murdoc turned back to the blue haired boy who was still on his knees, still in a lot of pain and with his eyes tightly closed and hands tightened into fists. He was panting hard. Was he having a fit? Then IT happened ….. the boy opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. He opened his eyes widely and, from his sockets, two fireballs came out making a loud fiery sound. They burnt brightly in the sky for a few moments before disappearing. The boy then fell over on his side and lay motionless on the grass.
Murdoc looked back to the old man. Holding onto his collar he yanked him forward so their faces were almost touching.
"What did you do to him?" he snarled.
The old man smiled weakly but evilly "The excess energy had to escape somewhere. It chose its way out. I didn't do anything."
"But you nearly sucked the life out of him! Why the hell did you do that?"
"You seem so loyal to the boy. It is no wonder you were bound together in the first place. This is not over. We will meet again."
"What! Bound together? I don't even know him! What do you…?"
Before he could finish the old man seemed to transform into a dust cloud which quickly started moving upwards. Murdoc stood back and watched the dust spiral up to the sky. Pretty as it looked, it was still weird. Then his thoughts changed.
The boy!
Was he OK? He ran to him and knelt down beside the limp body. He put his ear close to his face and was relieved to hear breathing. What could he do now? Leave him? What, for a mugger to find? No, he would have to bring him round. He needed water.
Carefully he scooped the boy up and flew to find some water. He had seen a lake as he flew over the first time. He'd go there. He glanced at the boy for a second. If he woke up now he would have a heart attack. Murdoc caught himself feeling concerned again and wondered why he had become so protective about a complete stranger? Was it connected with what the old man had said? Or was it just his angel instincts kicking-in at last? Either way, he didn't want to think about it for long. Eventually he found the lake and landed. He laid the blue haired boy on a bench and walked across to the lake where he scooped up some cold water in his hands. He went back to the boy and wiped his cold, wet hands over his forehead.
He stirred. Murdoc wiped his hands on his jeans and whispered:
"Kid? You OK? Wake up."
The boy slowly opened his eyes ….. and the eyes we now know were unveiled for the first time. Yes, that's right, there weren't any. It wasn't a disastrous look, thought Murdoc, but it did make him jump a bit.
"Ew" was all Murdoc could say.
The boy blinked.
"Wha… Wha 'appened? Where am ah?" he asked. He seemed to have a cockney accent.
"You OK?"
"Yeh. Yeh ah… ah fink so." He then looked at Murdoc for the first time.
He gasped. "You… are you me guardian angel?" he breathed.
Was that it? Was that what the old man was talking about? Was he the boy's guardian angel? Even HE thought those things were a myth. No, no don't think. It drives you nuts.
"Probably not."
"Ya lookin' a' meh weird."
Murdoc sighed. He might as well show him now and get it over with.
"What's your name kid?"
"Stuart. Stuart Pot."
"Stuart, I don't want you to panic badly but I need you to have a look at yourself. Look in the lake."
He led Stuart to a patch of lake that was brightly illuminated by a nearby street light. He leaned forward and saw his new reflection for the first time.
"AAAARRRGHHH!" he screamed "WHA 'APPENED TA MEH?"
Trembling now, he stuck his finger in his eye socket and felt the inside of his eye to make sure it wasn't an illusion.
"M… Ma eyes. Ah 'av no eyes bu'… ah can still see clearly."
He looked back at Murdoc. "HOW?"
Murdoc shrugged. "Dunno. Do you need to sit down?"
Stuart nodded. They sat back on the bench. Stuart put his head in his hands.
"Ah don' no wha' ma mum's gonna say 'bout this."
"She'll get used to it."
Stuart looked back at the angel "Wha bout you? What's ya name?"
"Murdoc." he said quickly and coldly. Why would someone like him care?
"You're an angel, why don' ya 'av an 'alo?"
"Halo? Pfft, they're only given to God's best angels. That's why, one, I don't have one and, two, why I'm here now."
"So… wha' appened ta ya?"
It was then that Murdoc told Stuart his story. All about falling from Heaven, being captured by demons and being held prisoner in Hell. All about Rozcel and how she is in love with him and how she wants his child and all about him escaping. Stuart listened with absolute fascination. He didn't know half the stuff he said was even possible! He asked so many questions in between as well. This annoyed Murdoc a bit in the end. Then Stuart told him about his life, how he was always different and that he never knew what he wanted to do with his life. Murdoc really only half listened.
"Think you'll be ok if I leave you now?" asked Murdoc at last.
"I fink so."
Murdoc stood up and left. Stuart then piped up again.
"If ya got nowhere ta go then ya can live wiff me. I don' live wiff anyone an' 's better than livin' on tha streets."
Stuart had just made a new friend; he didn't really want to leave him to suffer. He was too kind-hearted for that.
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll be fine."
He needs a new name thought Murdoc for some reason. Stuart Pot? What kind of a name was that? Maybe a nickname. He looked into Stuart's new eye holes and thought an idea might spring if he looked hard enough.
"Those holes of yours don't look that bad you know. However they look, you know, too deep. Too dense, too dark, too… too d… eerrr…."
"What? 2D?" asked Stuart.
"2 what? No that's not what…"
"2D." Stuart repeated. He smiled "Yeh! Ya know wha? I like tha'! Tha' can be like ma new name, like a stage name! Sounds cool!"
"Urm, ok then." Murdoc nodded at him, still feeling confused that he had somehow came up with that name.
"Well, bye 2D."
"Bye Murdoc. If ya need someone ta elp ya, you can find meh."
"Thanks but, I don't need friends and, truthfully, you wouldn't want to be my friend. Best you forget about me."
Murdoc gave him a small smile and left, flying dramatically into the distance. Stuart, now 2D, watched him go. That man was amazing, he thought. It must be really cool to fly.
"Ah would be ya friend." He said quietly to himself.
He then made up his plan. He would find that angel again and he would take him in. He didn't care what Murdoc said, it was the right thing to do. It was late though, so he'd start looking for him tomorrow. He didn't care how long it would take. And with that, 2D walked back down the path and returned home.
Finally, I got to call him 2D. Do you know how good that feels again? I do like the name Stuart Pot but I got to know him as 2D like the rest of you so I prefer to call him that. A bit long I know but it makes you understand what's in store for Murdoc know he's rescued 2D (yes, he RESCUED 2D, not smacked him in the back of the head with his car. See? Same but different). While I ponder the next bit for them normal transmission will resume with Russel and Noodle they will have the next three chapters dedicated to them as I did with Murdoc and 2D. So I'll meet you there.
