Breaking Free Breaking Free

"Hey, whaddya know, the entire school is here," Murdoc smirked. "I have power…"

"Um… sure, let's call it that," Russel sighed, shaking his head.

Murdoc and Russel were sitting in the front row of the auditorium. Murdoc, the clever shrew that he was, had wired both Russel and himself with cordless microphones. The performers would know exactly what to do, because Murdoc would tell them… once he pressed the button.

"Muds, their stress levels are really high," Russel reminded him. "Why don't you just send them out?"

"Because this way is more fun," Murdoc responded.

Russel crossed his arms, but didn't lash out. "So… how's your nose?"

"It tingles every once in a while. And you owe me a new dress shirt. The blood hasn't come out."

"Murdoc, you're so weird…"

"Hey, that was my good shirt!" Murdoc protested. "I need a new good shirt, and I'm not exactly in the black."

"What did you buy this time?"

"A few CDs."

"How many…?"

Murdoc looked skyward. "Uh… seven… ten… fifteen? I don't remember."

"Muds, you're an idiot."

"Why thank you." Murdoc looked at his watch. "I think now would be a good time to start this off, don't you?"

"That's what I said five minutes ago…" Russel protested, but it was useless.

Murdoc pressed the button.

"All right, you four, we're gonna start up," Murdoc whispered into the mike. It would come out really loud backstage, because that was how Murdoc liked it. Yep, he's a weird one.

"Paula, you're first. Then Werzel, then Stuart and Noodle. Do I need to repeat that for you, Stuart, or did you get it?"

"Murdoc, they can't respond," Russel reminded him. Murdoc gritted his teeth. The mikes would have picked THAT particular statement up.

"Well, anyway, just get this show on the road!" Murdoc cried out.

-

"Well, ya can hear pre'y well back 'ere," Stuart shrugged.

"But we can't see anything, Stuart-kun," Noodle muttered. She was visibly shaking, clutching her Gibson Les Paul in a death grip. Stuart put a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll be fine," Stuart murmured. Suddenly the sound of applause rang through the speakers.

"It's just like him," Noodle frowned.

"Wha's 'jus' like 'im'?" Stuart inquired.

"Murdoc can't even remember to turn off the microphone," Noodle laughed. "He'll figure it out in time."

Stuart flinched. "Don' ya use hon'rifics with Murdoc?"

"Not anymore." Noodle paused. "He's like my second brother. Actually, he's closer to me than my adopted brother… these past few days, he's taught me so much. To address him with a honorific… that would be degrading to him."

The two of them sat in silence as more applause filtered through.

"I think tha' 'plause means we're up…" Stuart murmured. He squeezed Noodle's shoulder. "Are ya ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Noodle admitted. Noodle grabbed her stool and her guitar, Stuart took his keyboard and its stand, and the two of them walked into the bright light of the stage.

Noodle looked out. The only person she could see was Rachel Stevens, but that was because she was in the back, videotaping. She waved. Noodle would have waved back, but it didn't seem like the right time.

"Whenever you're ready, Stuart-kun," Noodle smiled.

Stuart smiled back as he set up his keyboard. He plunked a few notes, just to make sure the keyboard was working. Noodle strummed a little on her guitar before jumping on the stool.

"Okay…" Stuart whispered to himself.

That would be degrading to him…

She's not in love with him anymore, Stuart realized with a jolt. He began to play.

"We're soarin'… flyin'… there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach…" Stuart mused.

"…If we're trying, so we're breaking free," Noodle finished off. She began to gently strum her guitar.

"You know the world can see us in a way that's different than who we are," Stuart sang.

Noodle, feeling a strange urge, stepped off of her stool. "Creating space between us… 'til we're separate hearts."

"But your faith," they both sang, "it gives me strength, the strength to believe…"

"We're breakin' free!" Stuart shouted. Noodle laughed.

"We're soarin'!" Noodle sang, jumping around and playing her guitar happily.

"Flyin'!" Stuart added, playing his keyboard with gusto.

Murdoc leaned forward in his seat. "Russ… watch carefully. This… I…" He couldn't find words to describe how the chemistry was bubbling up between the two of them, or how they were in such perfect sync with each other.

"There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach!" they cooed.

"If we're tryin' -!" Stuart pushed.

"Yeah, we're breaking free!" they asserted.

"We're breaking free," Stuart repeated.

"Ooo yeah…" Noodle hummed.

"Can't you feel it buildin'?" Stuart asked, all the while hammering out the tune on his keyboard. "Like a wave the ocean just can't control –"

"Connected by a feelin'," Noodle continued, "ooo, in our very souls!"

"Risin' 'til it lifts us up so everyone can see –" the both of them mused.

"We're breakin' free!" Stuart cried out.

"Soarin'!" Noodle skipped around to Stuart's side.

"Flyin'!"

"There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach!" they both declared.

"If we're trying – so we're breakin' free!" Stuart called.

"Runnin'!" Noodle giggled.

"Climbin'!" Stuart added.

"To get to that place, to be all that we can be!" they vowed.

"Now's the time!" Stuart announced.

"So we're breakin' free!" they revealed.

"Ooo, breaking free!" Noodle crooned.

Now Noodle and Stuart were hovering over the keyboard, jamming and reacting to each other.

A strange smile spread across Murdoc's face.

"More than hope, more than fate –" Stuart promised.

"This is truth, this is fate!" Noodle beamed.

"And together we see it coming!" they exposed.

"More than you, more than me –"

"Not a want, but a need!"

"Both of us, breaking free!"

"Soarin'!" Noodle yelled over the hum of her guitar.

"Flyin'," Stuart admitted.

"There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach! If we're trying," the both of them sang.

"We're breaking free," Stuart told the crowd.

"Breaking free!" Noodle repeated. "We're runnin'!"

"Ooh, climbin'!" Stuart added.

"To get to that place, to be all that we can be! Now's the time," the pair announced.

"Now's the time!" Stuart exclaimed.

"So we're breaking free," Noodle shouted.

"Breakin' free!" Stuart added one last time.

Noodle and her guitar faded out. Soon, the only sound left was the faint sound of Stuart's piano. The two of them were standing next to each other, and something radiated from them – something overwhelming.

"You know the world can see us," they murmured, looking each other in the eye, realizing what Murdoc saw from the seats. "…In a way that's different that who… we… are…"

Murdoc clasped his hands together. "Come on…"

Stuart hesitated momentarily before he took Noodle's chin in his hand, played one final note on the keyboard, and kissed her gently.

A/N: Wow. It's been a while, huh?? Well, my excuse is simple: I totally forgot that I hadn't updated this fic. So pretty soon, the next and final chapter will come – I'm not lying this time – and then I might pursue writing a Kong School Musical 2, if the right inspiration hits me. I'm still trying to figure out how to turn that wonky mess into a Gorillaz adventure…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gorillaz or High School Musical. If I did, I don't think I'd have the guts to put the two together. That's the job of fangirls.