2D hummed quietly to himself as he waited by Stylo. It was Friday morning, early morning he should say. It was about 6:30, the sun was slowly starting to rise. Jag wanted them to get an early start since it was going to be a long drive, the concert hall and hotel were all in London. Plus with all the fans going there, traffic would be bad.
The singer let out a sigh as he checked his watch. Russel was up and trying to get Noodle going, she was an early riser, just not THIS early. As for Murdoc, well... 2D jumped as he saw the Winnebago shaking and Murdoc's yelling and the cawing of Cortez. Well, let's just say Jag isn't in the best mood so early in the morning, and add Murdoc's grouchiness to the mix, it wasn't pretty.
The Winnebago's door flew open and Jag hovered out. "You better be ready in ten minutes, otherwise I'll do WORSE than just a bucket of ice water!" yelled Jag. He slammed the door shut and tossed a large bucket across the car park. He came over and sat with the singer. "He'll be ready in a little bit." said Jag happily.
2D couldn't help but laugh at that. The two waited and soon, the lift opened and Russel came out with a suitcase, followed by Noodle. She was yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Why so early, Jag?" asked Noodle. "So we don't hit traffic." explained Jag.
The guitarist nodded when the door to the Winnie opened. Murdoc came out with a rolling suitcase with Cortez in a bird cage strapped to it, and El Diablo's case on his back. The Satanist was in dry clothes but his hair and skin was soaked. "What happened to you?" asked Russel. "Don't fucking ask." growled Murdoc.
The band ignored it and put all their stuff in the trunk and piled in. Murdoc got in the driver's seat while 2D sat in the passenger's seat. Noodle sat behind 2D with Jag in the middle and Russel taking his seat behind Murdoc. Murdoc leaned out the door and picked up Cortez's cage and put it on the singer's lap. "Any harm comes to him, you're a dead man, Face-ache." snapped Murdoc.
2D gulped as Jag leaned up front. "And any harm comes to 2D, we'll be looking for a new bassist." said Jag coldly. Murdoc snorted and started up the car. He backed out of the car park and they drove off.
They drove for half an hour and Noodle was asleep again. "Noodle didn't last long." said 2D. "Well, baby girl did wake up earlier than normal." said Russel. The singer nodded and looked at Jag, who was playing on a Nintendo DS. He sighed and looked out the window, if only he brought a game to play for the ride.
Cortez cawed and 2D looked at him. Then again, how could he play with Cortez on his lap? The small raven was biting at the bars of the cage, also trying to bite the singer's fingers. "Hey Muds, what's up with Cortez?" asked 2D. "Meh, bloody bird hates being in a cage." said Murdoc.
Cortez cawed loudly now, waking Noodle up. "What is with him, he woke me up?" grumbled Noodle. "He seems louder than usua-wait, Murdoc, did you FEED Cortez when you woke up?" asked 2D. Murdoc's eyes snapped at him with a harden glare. "No I didn't, I didn't have time since SOMEONE came into my Winnie and dumped ICE WATER ON ME!" yelled Murdoc.
Jag looked up, shrugged and went back to his game. "Actually, none of us have had breakfast." said Russel. "Jag, think we have time to stop?" asked 2D. The cybernetic Darkrai was silent but nodded. "If you guys can hold it for an hour, there's a diner where we can eat, then because there will be traffic, we can take the back roads." said Jag. "Alright, alright, just tell me where it is exactly." said Murdoc.
For the next hour, the band drove down the highway with Noodle getting everyone to play I spy. "Okay Toochi, it's you're turn." said Noodle happily. "Alright, I spy something...black." said 2D. "Is it Russel?" asked Murdoc. "Dude!" growled Russel.
"I'm kidding, it's that stupid slow ass car in front of us." said Murdoc. "Nope." said 2D. "Is it Jag?" asked Noodle. 2D shook his head as Russel scratched his head. "Is it our car?" asked Russel.
"No." said 2D. "Is it a shadow?" asked Murdoc, rolling his eyes. 2D only stuck his tongue out, it was wrong. "Is it inside, or outside the car?" asked Noodle. "Inside." said 2D.
Jag was silent through out the round as everyone thought hard on what 2D was seeing. "Dammit, what the FUCK is it, are you blind or something?!" demanded Murdoc. "Of course not, how else could I play this?" asked 2D. Murdoc grinded his teeth, he wanted to strangle the singer SO badly. "I got it." said Jag.
Everyone looked as Jag started laughing. "It's Cortez, isn't it?" asked Jag. "Yep." said 2D happily. Everyone groaned as the little raven gave a small purr like sound, happy to be noticed for the game. "Sweet Satan how could I not guess my own bird?" groaned Murdoc.
"Anyway, looks like it's Jag's turn." said Russel. "Nope, we're here so game over." said Jag. The band looked to see a small diner and a nice smell coming from it. "Great, I'm starving." said Russel. "When aren't you, Lards?" asked Murdoc.
Russel glared at the bassist as they all climbed out of the car. Murdoc even took Cortez out of his cage. "You sure we should take Cortez in with us?" asked 2D. "Ya, they have no damn sign saying it's not allowed." said Murdoc. With that, they all went into the diner.
*~* GORILLAZ *~*
"THAT was bad." said Noodle. It was forty minutes later and the band were leaving, being yelled at by the diner cook. "Hey, it's not my fault, they gave Cortez bread crumbs when he wanted the damn ham steak." said Murdoc. Cortez let out a muffled caw, beak still full of ham. "Well, we can't come here ever again." said Russel.
"It's fine, the food smells good, but wasn't that good." said 2D. The others agreed when they reached Stylo. "Wait, Murdoc, can I ask you something?" asked Noodle. "Sure luv, what?" asked Murdoc. "Can I drive?" asked Noodle.
Murdoc stared at her like she was some two headed monster. "NO, you are NOT driving my car." yelled Murdoc. "Oh please, I need to learn, this is practice, I promise not to scratch it." said Noodle. Murdoc glared but it melted upon seeing Noodle's puppy dog face. "Dammit, FINE." said Murdoc.
He tossed her the keys and Noodle jumped up in excitement. "Dullard, you're now in the back, I got shotgun." said Murdoc. "Alright, you want Cortez then?" asked 2D. "No, I have to make sure Noodle doesn't ruin my car." said Murdoc. 2D nodded and sat next to Jag with Cortez back in his cage and on his lap.
Jag was pleased and rested his head on the singer. "Aww, are you happy Toochi is sitting with you?" asked Noodle. Jag gave her a look that said 'hell yes' before closing his eyes and snuggling into 2D. Murdoc saw this and had to admit, it was a sweet sight. 'Gah, I'm going crazy in my old age.' thought Murdoc.
The thirteen year old girl started the car and put her foot on the gas, revving it up. "Baby girl, you better not be doing what I think you're doing." said Russel. Noodle only gave a smile as she floored the gas pedal. The car jerked and sped away. "Dammit Noodle, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!" yelled Murdoc.
Noodle ignored him and laughed as she drove the car far over the speed limit. 2D held onto the cage tight as Jag put his seat belt on. "Are we going to die?" asked Jag. "I think so if Noodle doesn't slow down." said 2D. Jag helped buckle 2D and Cortez and held out his hand.
"It was nice knowing you." said Jag. "Ditto." said 2D, shaking his hand. "Will you both please stop acting like we're about to die, y'all making me nervous." said Russel. "Well, time to write our wills, if only we had paper." said Jag. "We could always write them with our blood before we die." said 2D.
"Good idea." said Jag. Both Murdoc and Russel shared worried looks and tried to stop Noodle.
"SLOW DOWN, NOODS!"
"ARE YOU HEARING WHAT FACE-ACHE AND JAG ARE SAYING, I AM NOT GOING TO DIE, SO SLOW DOWN!"
*~* GORILLAZ *~*
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." complained Noodle. "You ran five stop signs, two red lights, almost crashed into four cars, my car has scratches, AND NOW, I got a damn ticket because of you!" yelled Murdoc. Noodle pouted as they drove through London. After the cops pulled them over and gave Murdoc a ticket, Noodle was pushed into the back and 2D took his rightful place in the passenger's seat. Cortez was napping in his cage, he somehow slept through Noodle's insane driving.
"Why did you even do that baby girl?" asked Russel. "I wanted to try driving Grand Theft Auto style." confessed Noodle. "So you lied and broke your promise to NOT scratch my car?" asked Murdoc. "It was an accident, I thought I had it." said Noodle. "This wasn't a damn video game." growled Murdoc.
The rest of the ride was in silence as the band finally arrived at the hotel. They got out and went in to be greeted by a man in a bright blue suit. "Ah, the Gorillaz, I am honored to have you in my hotel." said the man. "Who are you?" asked Murdoc. "Oh, I am Mr. Dickson, the Starlight hotel manager." said the man.
"Alright, let's check-in then." said Jag. "Of course, and I've already gotten things set up for your performance here on Sunday." said Dickson. "Good, alright, so how many rooms did Jag rent?" asked Murdoc. "Well, we were pretty booked, so we only had two rooms available." said Dickson. The Satanist nodded and grabbed the two room keys.
The band went to the elevator and waited. "So, who's rooming with who?" asked Russel. "You'll room with Noodle, Murdoc can room with Stuart and I." said Jag. "What?" asked Murdoc. "I call the shots since I planned this." said Jag.
"You just want to keep an eye on me, don't you?" asked Murdoc. "Of course, I still haven't forgotten your threat to Stuart." said Jag. The bassist sweat-dropped slightly as the elevator arrived. They road it up to the fifth floor and got out. "Okay, our rooms are across from each other, so let's put our stuff down and go have fun till we have to head off for the concert hall, from what I was told, we have to arrive at 5:00." said Jag.
"Why five?" asked Noodle. "Don't know, the show is at 9:00." said Jag. "Stupid bloody stage managers." said Murdoc. "Anyway, let's just go have some fun, I'm going to the indoor pool." said Russel. "Ooh, can I join you Russel?" asked Noodle.
"Sure thing." said Russel. They went into their room as Murdoc, 2D, and Jag went into theirs. The room was large with two queen sized beds, a great view of London, a connecting bathroom with high-powered shower, and a mini bar with many assorted alcohol. "This is perfect." said Murdoc, eying the bar. "Why do we have a bar in the room when there's one downstairs?" asked 2D.
"Hey, it's five stars, don't question it." said Jag. 2D nodded and watched as Murdoc let Cortez out so the raven would land on his shoulder. "So, what are you going to do first Muds?" asked 2D. "Head on down to the bar and see if I can find any hot birds to shag." said Murdoc, long tongue waving. He took his bass case and put it on the bed, keeping El Diablo safe from the ground.
He then left with Cortez, now it was just 2D and Jag. "So...wanna go to the arcade?" asked 2D. "Fuck ya, I'll beat your ass at air hockey." said Jag. "Do they still have it?" asked 2D. "They better." said Jag.
The singer laughed as he shut and locked the room before heading to the elevator with Jag.
A/N: Here is the second chapter, I hope you are enjoying it so far. More will come as things take shape. So stay tuned and please review.