"Murdoc-san! Russel-san!" Noodle sprinted down the dark, perpetually endless hallways of Kong in search of her friends. She gripped a cream folder in her hands tightly, her fingers caked in mud; she slipped on the smooth linoleum floors, her shoes soaked from the rain. They squeaked comically as she ran.
As she passed a dark, decrepit hallway, a hand shot out from the shadows grabbing her by the back of her shirt. She called out in surprise, but relaxed when she saw it was Russel.
"What you goin' on about, Noodle? You'll wake the dead with that racket," he said to her, dangling her in front of his massive head.
"T-This," she gestured to the package. "It was out on front step! " She held it out to the large man as if he'd know what it was from looking. His eyebrows raised in surprise, as all of their mail came to a small box half a kilometer down the hill. He grabbed the small parcel with one hand as he put Noodle down with the other.
"Hmm…feels like something's inside this thing," Russel deciphered, shaking the envelope and hearing a slightly soggy fwap fwap fwap. "C'mon, let's go find Muds."
They strolled down the winding hallways together, Russel using his massive hands to swat away any undead that dare cross his path. Murdoc was found in the kitchen, leaned back on a wooden bar stool as he tuned and strummed his bass guitar. He was humming along with it, trying to find a pitch; he was more out of tune than the guitar.
"Yo Muds, there was a package in front o' the door," Russel reported, holding it up for all to see. Murdoc eyed him with annoyance, looking away as he reached down and took a swig of a bottle by the stool.
"Ah, prob'ly jus' a magazine I ordered a while back," Murdoc murmured, licking the rim of the bottle. "Pretty dir'y one, if yew know wot I mean." He guffawed loudly, turning back to his guitar. Russel reached a foot around the stool, kicking it out from under the slathering drunk. He fell to the ground with a loud thump, knocking over the bottle and cracking his head against the wall. He scrambled to salvage whatever alcohol he could, but alas, it was already all over the floor.
"God dammit Russ, wot in the bloody fuck is your problem?!" Murdoc screeched in anger, picking up the bottle sadly and thrusting it towards Russel in remorse as if he would a dead child.
"Get your drunk ass of the floor, you deadbeat, there could be something important in here," Russel responded darkly, his eyebrows furrowing. Murdoc slunk against the walls to the fridge for another beer, the spilt one forgotten.
"Yea, yea, jus' open the bloody fing alreaty," Murdoc growled in contempt, sitting against the fridge as he opened another bottle. He drank from it thirstily, as if the 30 seconds he had spent without alcohol had suckled him dry.
Russel shook his head in frustration before ripping the top of the envelope open. He tried worming his enormous fingers inside the package, but eventually held it open in front of Noodle so she could retrieve what was inside. She pulled out a thin, square case with a disc inside. The case was rather beat up; Noodle ran her fingers along scratches that covered the case. A part of it even had a huge crack in it. She turned it over, where the words "TO MURDOC" were scrawled in messy, red letters.
"Prob'ly some fan sendin' in a royal declaration of love fer me," Murdoc chimed in, chuckling as he knocked the bottle back once more. He braced his arm against the fridge as he got up, putting the bottle on the kitchen table. He swiped the disk from Noodle rather rudely, examining the case. His eyes flashed with curiosity, but remained dark. He didn't have to guess where the disc was from.
"Well go on, go put the dang thing in the DVD player," Russel urged the stumbling man, gesturing to a small TV in the kitchen. There was almost a TV in every room of Kong, yet the kitchen TV was the smallest and lowest in quality.
"Awright, awright, keep yer knickers on," Murdoc spat, lumbering over to the TV. He missed the power button a few times in his drunken stupor, but managed to turn the old thing on after a few tries. He flinched as the screen crackled to life, white noise spilling from the speakers as snow danced on the monitor. He leaned down so that he was eye level with the DVD player, squinting his eyes so that he could see the buttons. After a few curses and another swig of alcohol, he had squished the disc into the small slot and had managed to get it playing. Russel picked up Noodle by the back of the shirt again, placing her in his arms for support. Murdoc leaned apprehensively against the kitchen counter. They all had a good guess of what was on the CD.
The screen was black for several seconds, leading them all to wonder if there was anything on the disc at all. They were about to turn it off, when a sudden image on the monitor startled them all. A freakishly garish man stood before the camera, a feathered mask perched in front of his face.
"Oh, yew 'ave got t' be kiddin' me," Murdoc breathed, leaning forward to get a better view. "Not this asshole again." The others hadn't a single second to look at the drunk quizzically before the man started to speak.
"Hellooooo, helloooo, and welcome to tonight's feature presentation!" Dr. Wurzel laughed heartily, shaking his head. "But before that, please stay tuned for these announcements." He suddenly stopped smiling, and brought the camera closer to his face so that it filled the screen. "Murdoc Niccals…I do hope you are surprised to see me again. It's been oh so long. Unfortunately, we won't be able to have a teary heartfelt reunion like you've imagined in all your wildest dreams, for we have business to discuss!" He smiled lightly. "You have something that I want; and you know what it is, so don't play coy with me. And now, I have something you want! Well, by have, I mean stole really, but never mind that. I overestimated you, my dear. I thought you'd spring into action the moment your precious little azure beauty left your side, but I guess you'll need a bit of a push to get you going. So here you are, dear sweet Murdoc. Time for you to get rolling." Wurzel flashed a wide, toothy grin just as the screen went black once more. Murdoc's stomach dropped into his shoes. He knew Dr. Wurzel, and he knew just how far the senile villain would go. Noodle looked up at Russel quizzically who kept his gaze locked on the screen.
It lit up once again, this time to an open metal room. The sound of shouts and cheers burst from the speakers, and in the middle of the room, sat a shivering, disheveled Stuart.
"2D!" Noodle called out, almost leaping from Russel's arms. He held her back with his massive hands, and didn't have a single moment to turn away or cover her eyes as the man behind the camera yelled "Showtime!". The last thing they could see was the painfully frightened look n 2D's distant, black eyes as the swarm of people converged on him. Noodle stared, aghast as she watched them pummel the poor vocalist. She could hear the dreadful crack as they slammed baseball bats into his knees, the cheering and celebrating of the crowd rang in their ears along with Stuart's strangled cries. Eventually they could no longer see him, just a mass of bodies around the huddled object. They could see puddles of blood forming through the attackers' legs, and the legs of 2D's chair rocking from impact after impact. The only sound remaining was Noodle crying softly into Russel's chest as the screen went black.