Ten years earlier~
The 23-year old 2D rushed to the front door, alarmed by a panicked knocking right before he'd heard the squeal of a car's tyres as the vehicle made its hasty escape. As he opened the door, stepping outside and having a look around to see who'd created such a racket, he passed right by a rather obvious, large wooden crate. He had scratched his head in confusion just as Murdoc interrupted his 'thinking'.
"Oy, faceache. Git yer arse ova 'ere and 'elp me wit'is thing before I 'ave ta knock yer 'ead in agin," he bellowed. 2D flinched, but was quick to turn around and nod, grabbing the other end of the box. They barely made it to the lounge when Murdoc decided they'd gone far enough. 2D immediately left to get a crowbar, and Murdoc had become distracted with the flyer taped to the top of the box. It was his want ad –for a guitarist –and the return address was from… Japan? "Hmph, some Japanese arse pro'ly misread it… the dullard," he spoke to himself with a bored yawn. After a round of Murdoc scratching his bum, he headed back to the recording studio to try and discover any beats that could possibly make up for their lacking of a proper guitarist.
"Ey' Murdoc, I wos wond'rin if yew," the 6-foot-2 man looked around the now empty room. "…Knew where te hammer wos," he finished his sentence. He was planning on opening the crate to see what it held, then closing it back up if it wasn't of any use to them. He didn't remember anyone ordering anything from Japan… then again, he didn't remember a lot of things. Maybe ih's a new toy… or a video game, 2D smiled in anticipation as he took the crowbar up into his hand again. He bent down onto his knees and concentrated all his focus of the box while aligning the end of the crowbar with each nail, during which time he stuck out his tongue and scrunched his eyebrows together. He shoved forward to release the first nail from its wooden trap, opening it slightly, but he was too focused to notice as repeated this process about seven more times before he finally felt the side give way, allowing him to pull it off.
He poked his head into the darkness, smiling as he squinted his eyes to try and catch a glimpse of anything that may be hidden inside, but the next thing poor 2D knew, he'd heard a "Hiya" and was shoved onto the floor. He looked to see a young Asian girl standing on his chest with a rather defensive stance, as though he was going to eat her. As soon as she had gotten a good look at him, seeing the dark voids where his eyes should lye, she gasped, wide eyed, and ran behind the couch to hide. Disgruntled and slightly confused, 2D sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oi, me 'ead," he breathed, now looking around for the child he'd just seen. As he turned, he could see packaging peanuts scattered across his shirt, and brushed those away, then spotted a trail of a few of them scattered about the floor, leading behind the couch. He smirked as he stood to his feet, but after a moment of thinking, or lack thereof, he crouched as he moved forward, not wanting to further frighten the child he had sworn he just saw. Once he peeked around the sofa, he grinned as he saw the child, clearly a little girl, and she clung to a pillow tightly, hiding her face.
"Ih's okay," 2D tried to sooth her. He reached out to her with his hand, but she only squeezed the pillow tighter, mumbling into it. He scratched his head, trying to think of a way to make her understand he wasn't a threat. As he stared at her, he could see her green eyes poking out from behind her pillow, and he wondered what she was looking at, but as she continued to gaze at, not him, but a little higher, he believed he knew what it was. "Yew wanna touch it?" He asked. The look she gave him was painted with pure confusion. With a sigh, 2D realised either she didn't understand, or she was too utterly frightened to comprehend his words... or both.
"Watashi wa sore o tachi deki masu ka," she pointed to his head. He arched his eyebrow in confusion, amazed with this delightful language he'd never heard before as it fluttered off of her tiny tongue. "Anata no kami?" She asked again. He reached up to his head –where her finger was pointed –and brushed his hand through his hair. She watched him intently, and his gaze shifted to her again, wondering if she wanted what he thought she wanted.
2D pulled himself forward slightly, and crossed his legs in front of his body as he sat on the ground and allowed his head to fall slightly forward. The young girl stood to her feet and took his gesture as a yes to her question. With nervous hands, she reached forward and brushed through his hair, looking for any sign of roots. Surely his hair was not natural, but it felt as though it were. It was soft and fluffy, it even smelled rather delicious. He smiled as she pet his head with such reverie. " 's awl nat'ral yew know," he said proudly.
"Utsukushii," she whispered in awe. Within a moment of reverie, she realised exactly what she'd been doing, and pulled her hand back with an embarrassed blush. 2D looked up at the girl and smiled his toothless grin. His odd appearance made her want to giggle, but instead, she reached toward his eyes. Not touching the seemingly empty sockets, but the bruises underneath. How could he see her, when he had no eyes to be seen?
After a couple of minutes, the girl stopped going over 2D's appearance and began looking around the room. She hadn't bothered to try and figure out where she was before. She hopped over the back of the couch gracefully with ease, and plopped onto her bottom on a cushion, coming face-to-face with a keyboard. Eyes gleaming in wonder, she positioned her fingers, hoping to hear some sort of reaction from the device, but no sound came.
"Yew wan'ta hear some music?" 2D took the liberty of sitting down next to the girl and pulling the keyboard in front of himself. He turned it on and selected the button on the keyboard that gave it the funky sound he wanted and began playing the piano bit of a song the band had been working on. He had no idea why Murdoc wanted to call it 19-2000, but he went along with it; he just liked it for some odd reason. He watched from the corner of his eye as the girl watched his fingers, and her little mouth popped open when he let the smooth chords play.
He smiled and began to sing, "The world is spinning too fast. I'm buyin lead Nike shoes, to keep myself tethered to the days I've tried to lose. My momma said to slow down, 'you must make your own shoes. Stop dancin to the music of Gorillaz in a happy mood.' Keepin my groove on." He stopped, being as that was as far as they'd gotten, not too sure on what to add to the song next. It was still a work in progress after all. The little girl looked up at him with a large grin planted on her face, mumbling another sentence in her gibberish. He tilted his head to the side, not understanding anything that left her lips. "Wot's yo name?" he asked her. He couldn't just refer to her as 'little girl' after all. She cocked her head in confusion. She lifted her finger to her lips, trying to figure out what he was saying in his odd language. He sighed, knowing he was getting nowhere fast. Maybe she's hungry or summfink… "Would yew like some food?" She looked up at him, still confused. "I could make yew some soup or noodles or summfink," he offered.
"N-Nuuuderu…" she said under her breath -that word had sounded... familiar. "Nuuu… dahllll…" She looked up at him and chirped, "Noodle." Testing the foreign word out. That was the only word somewhat familiar to her –though she had no idea of its meaning.
"Yew want noodles then?" He asked, grinning with the belief that maybe she did understand something.
"Noodle," she repeated, her face blank as she chirped that word as though she were a bird or something.
He sighed, frustrated. "Will yew please tell me yo name, love?"
"Noodle," she chirped again, hoping to get some sort of response she would understand.
"Noodle?"
She tilted her head to the side as he had, and began mumbling the word in repetition. "Noodle... Noodle, Noodle, Noodle, Noo -" 2D covered her mouth with his hand, and she looked up at him.
"Awight, I get ih… Yo name is Noodle. S'n odd name, but t'en again, so's mine," he smiled. He pointed to her as he spoke what he believed was he name, "Noodle." She nodded, not quite sure of what he meant by the gesture. He pointed to himself now. "Two-Dee."
"Tooo Deee," she repeated.
"S'right," he smiled. He pointed to her, "Noodle," then to himself, "2D." He repeated the gesture numerous times until it seemed as though she understood, and she did.
Clearly she'd been dubbed as 'Noodle', and he was called 2D, at least, that was what he'd made it out to be. She grabbed his hand to stop him from repeating again, then pointed to him, "2D?" He smiled, and she nodded, confirming her own theory.
"So Noodle," she looked at him, "do y'know any songs?" Again, she had that same confused look planted plainly on her face. "Y'know, like I jus' did 'ere," he pointed to the keyboard, but she still didn't understand. "Right," he spoke to himself. He watched as Noodle looked around the room cautiously and saw a rather large instrument on the floor in front of the telly. She hopped off the couch and scooped it up –heavier than it looked. She sat back down on the sofa with it in her lap and strummed it. It sounded perfectly in tune, seeing as its former owner had just tuned it before leaving. She didn't know how or why, but the instrument this man had lying around seemed oddly familiar, as if she'd been around them all of her life. She knew them inside and out. Remembering a very spontaneous and loud beat, she began running her fingers along the chords and playing the music as loudly as her raw fingers would allow. 2D's eyes –or the hollow-looking sockets rather –grew quite large in size and his jaw dropped as he saw this tiny girl blast out this famous beat from 'Sweet Child of Mine' and played it in complete perfection, without fault.
Noodle stopped playing and jumped when she heard and crash from not too far away. The guitar fell onto the floor and she grabbed onto 2D's side in fear, hiding behind him. "Dammit, 2-Dents," a rather raunchy voice bellowed loudly. "Wot I tell yew about playin that bloody music loud enough fer the zombies ta hear." 2D got up from the couch as Murdoc rounded the corner to get to the room, "Wot the bloody 'ell are you doing?"
"I-It wosn' me Muds," 2D tried to explain, lifting his hands in an act of surrender.
"I bloody know tha'," he interrupted. "It wos that bloody music on the telly…" He stopped talking when he realized the t.v. was off, but figured the dullard had just turned it off himself before he'd gotten there.
"No, Murdoc. I-i-i-it wosn't the telly. It wos-"
"Wull then where else did tha' bloody noise come from, cuz I know Satan himself couldn' play tha' well," he yelled. Out of nowhere, Murdoc had been knocked down by something, hard -kicking him from the side. He got up and looked around, then down and saw a girl in a fighting stance. With a scowl, Murdoc turned back to 2D. "Wot the bloody 'ell is there a gurl in my 'ouse fer," he roared, pointing at her accusingly. His roar had scared her, and she ran back to the couch pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms over her legs as she bowed he head to hide her face.
"I dun kno'," 2D tried to explain as quickly as he could manage, "I opened tha' crate an' she 'opped out of ih, an' showed me she cou' play tha' song."
"Feh," he scoffed, doubting that explanation severely. "Wotever. I wan' 'er ou' of 'ere! NOW!"
Not knowing what to do, 2D did the only thing he could think of as Murdoc made a grab for the girl and he saw Noodle's eyes grow widely in terror. 2D rushed between Murdoc and spread his arms widely with a fierce scowl on his face. "No!" He shouted, standing proudly as he defended the child.
"WOT!" Murdoc roared furiously.
"No! Yo' not gowna ta touch 'er, an yo not gowna throw 'er out to tha' zombies," he yelled defiantly.
Taken aback, Murdoc wasn't sure whether to hit 2D, or hit him hard… "What the hell is goin on in here," a now very angered drummer bellowed after he'd just gotten back home to hopefully relax. There went that idea.
"T'is li'l gurl got 'ere an' Muds s'tryin to feed 'er to te zombies," 2D tried to explain, setting himself down next to Noodle, who clung to his side tightly.
"What the hell?" Russel spoke, now thoroughly flabbergasted. He was gone for maybe an hour, and all hell, or more of it than usual, had blown its top off, and retched it everywhere in his absence.
"She don' belong here, an' I don' need anotha mouth ter feed," Murdoc yelled back, leering at the child who grasped onto 2D.
"Hold it, back up," Russel looked to 2D. "Explain…." So 2D told them both the story, every last detail including her attacking him and petting his hair, right up to before Russel had walked in the door.
"Hold up," Russel lifted his hand in a stop sign gesture, "Yo telling me, that girl, probably no older than eleven, who can't even speak English, played that solo, on that guitar," he pointed to the two. Noodle had been watching them three men as they talked to each other, probably trying to figure out how to get rid of her, like the man before did when he left her in that box. She sighed and 2D rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. She leaned her head into his side, still leaving one of her eyes out to see what was going on.
"That girl," 2D held her tighter as he spoke, "s'name iz Noodle, an' yea, she did play tha' song. And rather well, too. Maybe even betta t'an the one 'oo wrote ih."
"Noodle?" Russel repeated, looking at the two on the couch questioningly. "Man, what the hell are you callin' 'er Noodle fo?"
"Cuz t'as 'er name," 2D said simply.
"How you even know that that's her name, when she don' even undastan' whatchyo sayin?" Russel asked.
"Because she told me so," 2D answered. "Watch," he said before any of them could object. "Noodle?" She looked up at him as he called her. He pointed to the dark coloured one with milky-white eyes. "Russel," he spoke the man's name
"R-rrRussel?" She tested the word out, figuring she was to associate the man with this new word.
2D nodded then pointed to the greasy-haired one, "Murdoc."
"Mmmuurr…" she tried again, "Murdock. Murdoc?" She looked up at 2D, and he nodded again with a smirk. Next he pointed to himself, and it was then she understood that 2D was teaching her their names, and spoke what she believed he wanted her to. "2D-san," she smiled.
Ignoring the 'san' she'd added after his own name, he now pointed to her, and she'd remembered earlier when he'd been saying the two words earlier. "Noodle," she stated. "Watashi no namae wa Noodle desu," she looked up and received a smile and a pat on the head from 2D.
"Yew see," he said proudly, "I told yeh ta's wot she said, didn' I?"
"Yeah, D," Russel said, clearly dumbfounded. "But, that still don't mean she can play that guitar down there."
With a serious look on his face, 2D reached down, and scooted a bit away from Noodle, who looked slightly hurt, until he placed the instrument on her lap and pointed to it, "Will yew play anotha song fo' us, love?" She nodded, guessing what he wanted without bothering to understand, and began to play a bit of another song she'd heard, and after she'd finished, she'd left the two men she'd just met stunned, while her knew friend, 2D, grinned in approval. "Y'see," he hugged Noodle. "Wot I tell ya? She's got talent, she has."
"Y'know D's right, Muds," Russel began to come up with a solution to their problem. "Y'know, we do need a guitarist, an' she's, probably, the best one we'll find, around here, without havin ta pay a fortune, or," he gave Murdoc a meaningful glare, "betray any of us… Why don't we let her be a part of Gorilla... nah, I think we should be called Gorillaz, now," Russel mused.
"T'as a great ideah Russ," 2D smiled widely for both suggestions. He wouldn't allow a defenseless, orphaned child to fend for herself. If Muds wanted to get rid of her, 2D'd be going to.
"Bwah, rrrgrph, rosseltofffblwech, aghh," Murdoc mumbled angrily, slapping his own face, and dragging his hand along down his face. Looking at the firm expressions of the two men before him, as well as the pleading look of the young Japanese girl, he finally felt defeated. "Alrigh' fiiine!" He yelled, "But if she steps outta line, or comes inta my winnie, or don' play my songs then she's outta here," he made his demands.
2D hugged Noodle with delight, "Fanks Muds."
"Woteva. I'm outta here. An' don't come botherin me," he scoffed; and with that he left to his winnebago to do what he always did –get drunk and drown out the world around him.
Minutes later, Russel got up and said he'd set up a room for her –if he could find one good enough for a living inhabitant, and 2D stood, offering his hand to his new bandmate. "Wots say you and I get yew summfink ta eat while Russel sets up yo new room, yeah?" She took his hand while he led her to the kitchen.
In the time they spent together, 2D had sat Noodle on the opposite side of a table from him, and just barely managed to teach her a couple more words, consisting of 'mine', 'yours', 'yes', 'no', and a bit of slang such as 'yeah' and 'duh', hoping that maybe it would better set up some sort of foundation so they could try to understand one another. A couple of hours had gone by when Russel found 2D setting on the couch, watching as Noodle played a video game on the television in the lounge. She'd sat on the ground with her back rested against 2D's legs.
Russel cleared his throat, catching 2D's attention, "Uh, D?"
"Yeah, Russ? Why'd yew take so long?" 2D asked, his eyes never leaving the screen as he leaned closer to the screen, trying to catch every piece of the action that went on.
"Well, y'know… I went an' bought 'er some clothes… An' her room's all finished an' everythin… yew should take her up there…" Russel suggested, watching as they two seemed to get along as though they'd know each other for months, rather than just a few hours.
"Oh, yeah?" 2D smiled, now shifting his gaze to meet Russel's milky-white eyes. "Fank you, Russ," he told him.
"No problem, D... Jus… Just make sure you... you look out for her okay? She seems to really trust you more than anyone y'know?" Russel spoke, now looking at the innocent child at 2D's feet. She was adorable really. He could only hope that they would be able to provide her with what she needed, and if she was truly going to stay, then be able to provide her with a stable environment to grow in.
2D nodded in agreement. "Awright. I will," he promised.
Minutes later, Noodle turned the system and the telly off, and 2D got her to climb onto his back so he could just carry her to her new room, so she could look around without slowing him up. When he got there, he opened the door and walked in, bending down so she could hop off. She smiled broadly and jumped off, running around the room, looking at the neat posters and music systems, as well as a Japanese style wallpaper, closet door, and even a guitar –just her size –laying on a large, comfortable bed. She jumped the bed, holding her new toy, then ran up to 2D, "Mine?" She asked, with the biggest eyes she could manage.
She's absolutely adorable, 2D smiled. "Yours," he answered. She smiled a toothy grin, dropping the guitar lightly to the ground and ran to jump up and hug him tightly around the waist, which he returned with a laugh. Even when he'd been feeling suicidal the passed couple of weeks, and his migraines were worse than ever –as well as the fact his life had, not even a couple of hours ago, seemed so very dark –somehow, this little girl, Noodle, had brought him more happiness and warmth than 2D had felt in what seemed like his entire life.
All dressed in her new nightwear, Noodle climbed into the center of her bed and curled up comfortably in her blankets, with her new stuffed monkey as her company. She had just finished rearranging the furniture just the way she like it, and was now ready to get some sleep. As she drifted towards unconsciousness and the whole of Kong Studios became quiet, Noodle had only begun to realise just how disturbing this place sounded. The walls creaked, the wind howled, and she could hear the distinct moans and groans of… the undead. She jumped and squeaked every time she thought she heard them banging on the walls. How was she expected to live in such a scary new home –if it was even a home at all? At one point, there was a blinding flash of light, and the lights went out, and without a moments delay, thunder exploded throughout the landfill, causing the young girl to scream in fright.
When the lights flickered back on, Noodle quickly jumped off the bed and ran out of her room to the lift, pressing the button she knew led to the place 2D had been before, but when she ran to the couch, it, as well as the entire room was empty. She whimpered when she heard something being thrown against the wall and ran back to the lift, pressing the button that led back to the place her room was. She found all the doors in her hallway to be locked, except for one. She peeked inside and was relieved when she saw the man called Russel, but he was snoring very loudly, and a blue orb stopped in midair, as though it had seen her, and began to fly toward her immensely fast. With a yelp, she slammed the door shut and ran back to the lift, pressing the button at the very bottom an innumerable amount of times until the doors finally closed.
When the doors opened again, one would think the lift was empty, until they saw they head of a young girl peek out from the side to browse for any sign of danger. She found herself in a car lot of some sort, and walked up to the large house-on-wheels that she could hear someone talking inside of. Hopeful, the girl knocked on the door of the winnebago.
2D woke up to the sound of a rather loud pounding on his door. He immediately looked to the clock, wondering if maybe he had been late for something. 12:57 A.M.
"Wot te hell," he said to himself, pulling on a pair of pajama bottoms to cover his boxers. He heard the loud knocking again, and his head pounded with each beat against the door. "'old on, t'en. I'll be righ' t'ere" he called, not bothering with a shirt. He unlocked and opened the door hastily to stand face-to-face with Murdoc, holding a struggling Noodle by the back of her shirt while she muttered curses and insults at him that he couldn't understand.
"Oroka na otoko. Watashi no ririisu!" She demanded.
"Yew wanted 'er, then she's yo problem. Deal wit'it," Murdoc dropped her down and she landed in a crouch, still muttering random phrases in Japanese which 2D assumed where insults.
"Baka," she muttered to him, sitting on the floor roughly, not wanting to get up as she crossed her arms with a humph, and turned her head to stick her tongue out at Murdoc, who glared at her. She sneered back at him equally.
2D looked up from the girl on the ground, to Murdoc with a grimace, "Fine t'en." He crossed his arms and watched as the older man scowled, grunted, then turned around and strutted away back to his winnie. With a sigh, 2D looked down at the girl, who'd just stood to her feet. "Don' botha wit 'im, " 2D sighed as the girl's eyes moved to him. "'E's a rottuh." Her face was heartbreaking. Her eyes were red, and cheeks tear-stained. She sniffed and hugged him as high up as she could reach. 2D bent down and scooped her up, wiping her cheeks with a soft hand as he closed his bedroom door, locking it. He turned and walked to the side of his bed, placing her gently atop the soft covers, her head resting on his pillows. "I guess it wouldn' 'urt if ye slept in 'ere for one night' eh," he mused. He walked to the other side crawling in, and she curled up close to him. Wide eyed, he gave her a confused look. How was it she was already so trusting of him? He shook his head, and with a smile he wrapped an arm around her over the top of blanket to help her feel secure.
"Arigato, 2D-san," she yawned. "Oyasumi."
He sang her sweet music as she became tired, and even though she didn't understand, she felt secure. She felt safe… she felt home.
For the next few weeks, Noodle would find herself more relaxed, more at home, and bringing the three men together, not just as a band, but as a family. Noodle met Del, Damon, Jamie, and everyone else; she'd learned 2D's real name, as well as the story of Paula –the guitarist before her. With Noodle being the glue that held them tightly together, they –the Gorillaz –became the greatest band of their time and age. But at this moment, here she was, a 10-year-old girl. Her first night in Kong, with a man who was a complete stranger, and yet her closest friend at the same time. She smiled as she snuggled close to him and he held her tighter in his sleep.
2D smiled in his sleep as he felt Noodle cuddle closer to him for warmth. He adored his little Noodle. He loved the feeling of her warmth in his arms…
2D felt her hand on his cheek, and he opened his eyes. This is how she'd always woken him up every time she would have stayed in his room for the night. But this time, Stuart felt as though he'd been stabbed in the chest when he'd opened his eyes and his little Noodle wasn't there. He was back in his nightmare, back on Plastic Beach.
Distant stars
Come in black or red
I've seen their worlds
Inside my head
They connect
with the fall of man
They breathe you in
then dive as deep as they can
There's nothing you can do for them
They are the force between
When the sunlight is arisin
There's nothing you can say to him
He is in outta heart
and the space has been broken
It's Broken
Our love
Broken
It's Broken
Our love
Broken
Is it far away in the
Glitter Freeze?
Or in our eyes
every time they meet
It's by the light
of the plasma screens
We keep switched on
all through the night while we sleep
There's nothing you can do for them
They are the force between
When the sunlight is arisin
There's nothing you can say to her
I am without her heart
And the space has been broken
It's broken, Our Love, Broken(X4)
Thank you for those who could bear the first chapter. I appreciate your wonderful reviews.
Watashi wa sore o tachi deki masu ka – may I touch it?
Anata no kami –your hair?
Utsukushii -beautiful
Watashi no namae wa Noodle desu -My name is Noodle
Oroka na otoko –stupid man
Watashi no ririisu –release me
Baka – stupid (stupid is just about the worst insult you could give to someone in Japan -congrats, you learned something new ;D)
Arigato –thank you
Oyasumi –good night