Disclaimer: I don't own Gorillaz
Author's Note: Hey, I got a comment giving me some feedback on my story, and I just wanted to let you guys know I changed a few things in the previous chapters to make my story better. I also wanted to thank that person for their comment, because they were absolutely right. So, Enjoy Chapter 5! :)
Chapter 5: Noodle
Star and I sprinted out of Murdoc's room with chips and a pack of soda, and we were both laughing. We went into Murdoc's room to find him drunk and sleeping, so getting it was a breeze. We just had to find them, which wasn't hard either, because they were lying right on the floor. We quickly took the lift down to B2, our level, then got out and stopped dead. Cyborg Noodle stood in front of us with a gun aimed directly between my eyes. Shit.
"Where'd you get those from?" she asked, gesturing to the food. "If I'm not mistaken, Murdoc's the only one here in possession of food."
"He's asleep... Noodle, and can you just pretend you didn't see us? He'll never notice it's gone," I said.
"Hmm... no, I'm not really ordered to, and," she moved the gun to face Star, with a malicious grin, the only emotion I've seen her portray, on her face, "I'm really want to shoot something. Knowing Murdoc, he can be easily convinced after drinking that hiring you was a dream."
"Don't you dare, Cyborg Noodle," I snapped. I needed courage in order to do what I was going to do, so faking it was necessary.
"My name is Noodle, egg-face."
"No, Noodle's dead, and would never harm anyone unless absolutely necessary. And she had a much better taste in literature. Twilight? Seriously?" I was starting to shake. I wasn't good with the whole bravery thing, especially under the pressure of a gun.
"And what do you read? Nothing, because you're locked up in your room all day, with your eyes all white, rocking on your bed, and probably crying when I'm not looking." The sad part is that's all true. But I had to stay strong. She kept smirking, but she sparked a little. Perfect.
"I dunno," I did my best with a smirk, "I don't recall crying, but Noodle never had to charge."
More sparking. "2D, I suggest you shut up."
"How's Robert, by the way? Still dreamy?"
She was going nuts. She started twitching and sparking. "Shut up. I mean it."
"Why? You'd probably have to charge in 5 seconds."
By this time, Star was really scared, and I felt I couldn't keep this up for much longer. She shot me a 'what are you doing?' look, so I took her hand, squeezed it, and gave her a 'trust me' look.
Meanwhile, Cyborg Noodle's gun hand started twitching, and her other one punched the wall, and left a hole.
"How are you gonna explain that to Murdoc?" I gave her a cocky look. I was winning.
Her mouth opened, and her trigger finger moved, but I stood my ground. Any fear from me right now would give her satisfaction, and that would ruin everything.
Just as I hoped, she twitched once more, madly sparking, but stayed in that position, mid-twitch and mouth open, and fell to the ground. Her eyes and mouth slowly closed, and her hand dropped her gun. I quickly took it in case she suddenly rebooted, but after a few seconds, I was positive that she was shut down. I stepped back, and looked at Star. She looked like she was about to faint.
"What... what did you just do?"
"Overrode her," I responded, prodding her with my foot. "But we can talk about that later. For now, let's go charge her."
"Why? So she can come back and kill us?"
"No, so Murdoc doesn't suspect anything. Besides, Cyborg Noodle takes forever to charge, and when Murdoc's awake, we're safe."
"How are we safe?"
"He's not stupid enough to go and kill people that are making him money."
"Oh," she mumbled, still staring at Noodle. Cyborg Noodle looked relatively peaceful when she was off. Kinda like Noodle. The real Noodle.
"How come she shut down all of a sudden?"
"Hmm?" The question took me away from my memories, but Star deserved an answer.
"Oh, she overrode because she can't experience emotion. She was designed to kill, protect... oh, and play guitar, and Murdoc just didn't think she needed emotion for that."
"I see. Have you ever tried it before?"
"No."
"No?" She looked appalled.
"What?"
"It could've not worked?"
"I was pretty positive it would work, or else I wouldn't have tried it," I said calmly. I was still pretty shaky, but I was getting better.
"I could've died! Did you see how angry she was getting?"
"She can't get angry!"
"How do you know?"
She started to cry, but they were angry tears. I grabbed her shoulders, and she tried to struggle away, but living with Russel taught me how to hold firm, so she eventually gave up and just looked at the floor. I took a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears I had, but mine weren't angry like hers. They were sad. I might loose a friend I just made. Well, more than a friend, I guess. At least I wish.
"First of all, it just worked. Second, that's how she was designed: to kill and play guitar, no emotions necessary. Third, I could tell she wasn't bluffing about shooting you. She never passes up a chance to shoot things." I took her chin in my hand and raised it to face me. "I couldn't let you die, so I took a risk, and I'm glad I did."
Her tears were slowing down now, and they turned to sad. "2D, I'm sorry, I...I was just shocked... and scared..." She sniffled, and she smiled a little. "Thanks for saving my life. I guess I owe you one."
"Don't mention it. And if the time comes, I wouldn't mind not dying." I took my hand away from her face and smiled. Suddenly, she hugged me. It wasn't anything awkward; it was a really... nice hug. It wasn't like any hug I got from Paula. Those were all kinda awkward. So, not really knowing what to do, I hugged back. It lasted a while, and then she broke away, smiling, but still sniffling. My shirt was a little wet with her tears, but I didn't care.
"So... anyway... we stole this food, so are we gonna eat it?" she asked.
"After I go and put Noodle in her charger, I promise." I smiled.
I hauled Noodle into the lift, and I repeatedly told Star I didn't need help. I really just needed some time to think, and doing this would be a good time. I reached the level, set her in her charger, and a static shock went across her. Good, now she's charging. I went back to the lift, but not without checking if Murdoc was still asleep. He was. I got out on 2B to the sound of a bag opening in my room.
"Couldn't wait for me?" I said, jumping and flopping on the bed.
"No, I was really hungry," she smiled.
I laughed. "Oh well. Hey, bet I can chug a soda faster than you."
"Bring it."
So for the next hour, we joked around, talking and laughing. Finally, we ran out of food and just stared at the ceiling. Eventually, one of the last questions I wanted to answer came up.
"Hey, 2D?"
"Yeah?"
"You called that girl Cyborg Noodle. Then she said she was just Noodle. Who is she?"
"Cyborg Noodle."
"Where's real Noodle?"
Why this question? "She's... dead."
"Oh," she saw that the subject kinda bothered me, so she stopped. After a while she said, "I'm... sorry."
"It's OK. We lost her while shooting our 'El Mañana' video, or at least that's what we think. Murdoc claims it was all just a set up so she could explore the world, but then we lost contact, and so... we... assumed the worst."
"I'm... really sorry."
"It's fine." Noodle... she was the best friend I had in this band. I'm glad I have Star now, it makes me feel better, but no one can replace Noodle. She was like my sister, and, although I hate to say it, Murdoc was kind of like our father. Russel was the older brother, and we all played in a band together, as a most-of-the-time-happy family. But ever since she died, I've just been... here. That tour we had was the best band highlight of my time without her, and that's sad, because we did absolutely nothing on that tour.
"Well, we've still got, like, an hour left before Murdoc wakes up, right?"
"Most likely," I replied, "but he usually wakes up at the worst times, so we should be careful."
"Yeah. So… what do you wanna do?"
"Well, I... could..." Should I? I trust her, so, yes. "I could show you something."
"What?"
I took it out from behind my dresser, safely in a case I stole from Murdoc, (he never noticed) and sat on the bed. I carefully opened the case, and inside was an old guitar. It was kind of beat up, but me and Russel tried our best to fix it with the few pieces we could find.
"This... is Noodle's old acoustic. Or what Russel and I could find of it. It still works," I added, strumming it.
"It looks like it used to be a very beautiful instrument. I'm sorry it broke."
"To some, it's still beautiful," I murmured, caressing it delicately. I could still see her playing it in the recording room. It was a beautiful instrument, and it might've been one of her favorites. She loved it. You could sometimes hear it in her room, and I'd sometimes go in and play or sing with her. It helped clear our minds. When Russel and I repaired it, I nearly cried. Russel loved her as much as I did, but he told me he only needed the memory, and she'd want me to have it. I think that might've been the most heartfelt conversation we ever had. I still miss him. I miss them both. The world has lost two great people.
I don't know why, but I started playing. I sometimes practice the guitar parts for some of our songs down here, so I just started playing "On Melancholy Hill". And then I started singing. Star looked at me with something similar to awe. I don't know why. Finally, I stopped, and Star was staring at me, smiling.
"You play guitar very well. And your voice is... beautiful."
I've still gotta learn to control my eye color. I was blushing, too. "Uhh... thanks."
"I've always loved that song. It's the one I made the YouTube video with."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. I've always liked your singing voice."
I smiled. It was nice to hear that.
"Well, I haven't heard you yet. Do you sing?"
"Yeah, but not as good as you do."
"Why don't you sing something, then?"
"No, I came here to play instruments, not sing."
"We could use another voice..."
She rolled her eyes playfully. "Alright, but may I use the guitar?"
I took a look at it. It really was all I had left of Noodle...
She saw my expression, and said, "If it means that much to you, I don't have to."
"No, go ahead. I was just... remembering."
I handed it to her, and she treated it very delicately. She really picked up my feelings fast. Are me and her just getting along really well, or am I just really easy to read?
She starting strumming a couple chords then went on to singing a beautiful love song. I was mesmerized. Seriously, she calls my voice beautiful. Then, the moment I hoped would never come came: she finished. She smiled at me.
"See? I told you, I'm no good."
"No, you're even better than me. What song was that?"
"It's called 'Perfect Two' by Auburn. I love this song."
"It's really... pretty?"
She laughed. "Don't worry; you can say stuff is pretty. It's not illegal for guys to do."
"Ok, then. You're pretty."
She blushed and looked at the floor.
"It's true," I said.
"Thanks," she said, very quietly. Then, she started leaning in, and I did, too. In that exact moment before our lips met, I heard "2D! YOU GET YOUR BLOODY ASS OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"
I fell off the bed, obviously startled by Murdoc's sudden screaming. Star looked at me, scared for what was going to happen.
"Hey," I whispered to her, although I was shaking, "what's the worst he can do?"
"YOU BETTER GET OUT HERE NOW OR I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Oh no," I started shaking. Murdoc makes me nervous when he starts screaming at me like that.
I turned to go to the door, but Star caught my hand and squeezed it. "Good luck," she whispered.
"Thanks, I'm gonna need it," I said, smiling. She smiled back, and I went outside, prepared for my punishment.
TO BE CONTINUED
