When the trio finally arrived in Hawaii, it was nighttime. The beach that Russel had brought them to was, fortunately, empty. Noodle and 2D gathered their things and climbed onto Russel's hand, which he lowered to the soft beach sand. Then Russel dragged himself onto the sand for the first time since jumping off that dock to find Noodle.

Noodle hypothesized that Russel would shrink back down to his normal size if he stayed out of the water and stopped eating the questionable sea life within it. She sent 2D to one of the nearby beachside hotels to get a room for himself and order as much food as he could from the room service there. He had access to one of Murdoc's rum-buying bank accounts and 2D was more than happy to spend the old codger's money while he wasn't around. Russel would have plenty of food, and hopefully his exponential growth would be reversed.

Noodle planned to stay with Russel on the beach all night, but he would not let her.

"Babygirl, I'll be fine out here on my own. Go to the hotel with 2D," Russel encouraged her. "I know what happened on the beach was very hard on you. Maybe you'll finally be able to get a good night's sleep."

"I doubt it," Noodle replied, a hint of bitterness in her voice. She looked up at the man who had been her most constant guardian since she was a mere ten-year-old child. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I can take care of myself, Noodle," he chided her, "Go."

Noodle nodded in reluctant agreement and began her trek across the sand and back to civilization. Her mask once again covered her face; when she was with Russel, she didn't feel the need to hide, but now that she was out in the open she appreciated the secrecy it granted her. She was able to bypass everyone in the hotel lobby and head straight up to the room that 2D had rented. He'd given her a key when he'd brought to food out to the beach for Russel so she simply let herself in the room without even knocking. 2D was already in bed, but he was not asleep – he was sitting up on a pillow, messing with his iPad, which luckily had escaped Plastic Beach with only a few scratches.

"Noodle!" 2D said with a big smile when the Japanese girl entered, "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Russel insisted," Noodle said as lifted her mask and surveyed the hotel room. It was blandly colored but spacious. Near the entrance there was a small table with two chairs and an alcove with a sink and a door that led to the bathroom. In the main space of the room there were two beds across from a desk with a TV and a mini-fridge. Glass doors overlooked the beach, and Noodle could see Russel's huge dark shape outlined against the stars.

"The shower's real nice," 2D informed his bandmate, "I took a long one. Murdoc never used to let me use hot water, and now look at me! Showering in a room I bought with his money." His hair was still moist from his shower, and he looked very content.

"I suppose I'll go take one now," Noodle said with a small smile. "Do you have any clothes I can borrow?"

"'Course! You only have that one dress?" 2D asked as he hopped off the bed and rummaged through his backpack, which he'd left on the ground. As he dug through, he plucked the rainbow-colored snake out, paused for a moment, and then tossed it on the bed next to his iPad.

Noodle watched him. "I have a pair of black jeans, too, but they are not the most comfortable."

"'Ere you go," 2D said, getting up and handing Noodle a pair of his shorts and a red and white striped shirt. "These fings should be pretty comfortable for you… Probably a bit loose though."

"I don't mind. Thank you," Noodle said, bowing slightly before turning around and heading to the bathroom to shower.

Noodle tried not to think while she stood in the shower, but her mind once again began to wander its well-tread paths of worry and fear. As the steaming water poured down all around her, she wondered if she really would be able to sleep that night. Images of the battle on the beach still floated behind her eyes, and she could only imagine how much worse her nightmares would be because of them. Ever since the El Manana crash, she'd been plagued by constant nightmares. She could never take a deep sleep because she'd end up dreaming of blazing fire and choking smoke. While out on the ocean, she'd survived by taking short naps on Russel's head to avoid her night terrors. Now she not only had her fear of El Manana to worry about, but also the trauma from battle on the beach - a battle against a robot made in her own image…

She quickly ejected all thoughts of Cyborg from her mind. She couldn't bear to think about her.

Once she had finished her shower and dressed in the clothes 2D had lent her, she turned out all the lights and climbed into bed. Maybe she would be able to sleep, now that she was back with 2D, and Murdoc was out lost on the ocean somewhere.

"Goodnight, 2D," Noodle said. She'd missed being able to say that.

"Goodnight, Noods," 2D replied, shutting off his iPad and curling up under the covers with the rainbow snake. Noodle was sure he would have sweet dreams, now that he was no longer being guarded by a whale. But she couldn't say that much for herself.

Resting her head on the soft pillow, she closed her eyes.

When she opened them, everything around her was covered in a haze of red. She could barely make out where she was or what she was looking at. She could hear things exploding all around her and the muffled voices of people she couldn't understand. She had no control of her body; she didn't know where she was going but she just kept walking, walking through the dark red blur of her world. As the shadowy forms of people passed her, target signs appeared in her vision and she instantly shot at them with the guns she was holding. As she walked, the pattern continued; a shadow would appear with a target on it and she'd pull the trigger, never missing a single shot. She didn't feel anything for the people she shot down; they were simply targets to her. They didn't even put up a fight. Except for one.

Another shadow appeared, but this time it was moving too quick for her to shoot on sight. The shadow darted around her, and her target followed it. She shot in all directions, missing every time. Then the shadow disappeared altogether. She looked around for it, scanning the red haze of a battlefield.

Suddenly she was knocked upside the head with something hard, and the all of the red disappeared. She could see the sun and the sand and the sky, and a thousand voices in her head screamed 'ERROR, ERROR', but she paid no attention to them; she was staring at the person who'd just hit her, her eyes widening in recognition –

And then there was a gunshot, pain, and a million more error messages.

Noodle knew what was coming next. She wobbled on her feet, still staring at the all-too familiar girl with the cat mask standing before her, and gasped, "Noodle."

Noodle awoke in a cold sweat, her heart hammering, whole body shaking with the effort it took to breathe. She sat up and wrapped her arms around herself in a tight hug, as if she really had been shot and was trying to hold herself together.

She knew what she had just seen. She didn't even have to wonder. It had all been so real to her – because it was.

Swallowing hard, Noodle made her decision. Her nightmare – her vision – had convinced her that this was what she had to do.

She had to return to Plastic Beach and bring Cyborg back.