Chappie 6

"Ohayou-gozaimasu!(Good morning!)" Noodle's lively cries rung, loudly, in 2D and Murdoc's ears.

Murdoc pulled his pillow over his head. 2D rolled over and slowly, woke up. Noodle giggled as she crept up to Murdoc, took in a deep breath and shouted "Ohayou!(Morning!)" down his ear. He shot up and growled angrily at Noodle.

"You lil' retard! I'll kill you!"

Noodle's expression stayed blank. She then grinned as she said "Busu!(You're ugly!)" in his face. She quickly ran out the door. Murdoc roared after her, yelling curses at her all the way down the corridor.

As Noodle's giggles and Murdoc's cursing grew fainter, 2D peered out the window. It wasn't the best view money could buy but the group were a bit short. This was the best they could afford. There was, however, a nice view of the sea… The oily, black, sludgy sea…

2D scratched his head and walked to the bathroom. He stepped on something scaly and soft. He looked down. It was the snake from last night. He pulled a face and hopped on one floor to the bathroom to wash it off.

Meanwhile, Murdoc had lost track of Noodle and headed back to his room. He was just in his underwear. Fortunately, no one was in the corridor at that time. Although, he wouldn't of cared if he walked around like that in public. He just wanted to go home. He couldn't though. Not until they somehow rebuild Kong Studios. The only way to do that was to get money. The only way to get money was to work for it. Hell will freeze over and melt before I get a job. He thought to himself.

After everyone was awake and ready, the four decided to earn money by doing gigs at local bars and clubs. At first, they came across a bar called 'The Moldy Moose'. It was a strange name for a bar in a city, but they had to take all the chances they could.

They were accepted by scarily eager people, despite the fact they had come on such short notice. The bar had some instruments they could borrow. Once on stage, they brought the house down with their song, Feel Good. People practically worshiped them. They topped it off with Rock The House. They made quite a bit of money. Perhaps enough to fix 2D and Noodle's room. However, they weren't finished.

From bar to bar, club to club, the Gorillaz started to enjoy their gigs. They interacted with the crowd more and livened up their performance. Noodle always had a great time performing DARE and Left Hand Suzuki Method. While Murdoc preferred Feel Good. Personally, Russel enjoyed Clint Eastwood and Rock The House the most. Even Del made an appearance for his rapping parts. As for 2D… He liked all the gigs they did.

The whole group were smiling together for the first time in a long while. They made their way home in a bus. 2D watched as he left his childhood yet again. The city, slowly fading away into the distance. He was happy his childhood problems had been solved. As was Murdoc.

They passed the dog shelter. Russel laughed at the face prints the dogs had left in the back door. Noodle stuck her tongue out at a Doberman in one of the windows. It barked viciously.

"Ya awright 'bout ya family 'ven, Murdoc?" 2D asked, turning from the front seat to face Murdoc at the back. The bus was short so they were quite close together.

"Yeah, but it's none of your business dul-"

"Dullard, yeah I know." 2D interrupted him. He turned back and continued playing with his pocketknife.

Noodle grabbed Murdoc's shirt and pulled him to the window "Murdoc! De!(Murdoc! Look!)" she pointed at the moose as it ran alongside the bus.

Murdoc growled at it. The moose looked up at him and sneezed in his face. Murdoc, fell backwards, smearing the snot onto his shirt.

"F. Moose! I can't se a bloody thing!" he fell over a chair and landed on the floor. Noodle and Russel started laughing. 2D helped Murdoc up.

"Ya awright, mate?" He asked.

Murdoc angrily elbowed 2D in his stomach. 2D fell back on his chair.

"I was only seein' if ya were awright…" Said 2D, now frowning at Murdoc's meanness.

"Well. I ain't used to it so shut yer gob!"

Noodle whispered something in Russel's ear and he shrugged. Murdoc wiped a gooey string of snot from his face and threw it at 2D. It hit him in the head and was all over his hair. 2D sighed and tried to stay calm and wait until they got back to Kong Studios.

After several minutes of silence passed, Noodle began to hum the 19/2000 song. She then softly sang her part in it "Get the cool… Get the cool shoeshine…" 2D started humming while Russel tapped the beat. Murdoc saw the three were enjoying themselves so he decided to join in too.

The rest of their trip was fairly enjoyable. On the occasional bump in the road, Noodle would jump at the same time to defy gravity for a few seconds.

As the bus arrived, they all groaned as they saw the state their studio was in. It was, literally, in pieces. Noodle hopped off the bus last and gazed around. She shielded her eyes from the Sun as she looked up. It was clear it was going to take a long time to fix the place up. At least they had the money.

Murdoc kicked a piece of debris. It made a clanging sound. Was it a piece of his Winnebago? He certainly hoped not.

Over the course of a month, the group hired construction workers and paid them to rebuild Kong Studios. Now and again, they would chip in too. Neither of them got much rest because they all had to sleep in the bus.

Finally, when it was finished, everyone went to his or her own room for some shut-eye. They hoped the water mains were secure and wouldn't break again. Also, they had a little bit of money left over. Murdoc, being the selfish person he is, had secretly taken the money from under the other's noses. What would the others use it for anyway?

After they had all settled back in, everything was pretty much the same as it was before the water mains incident. Murdoc was grumpy, Noodle was bouncy, Russel was… Hungry and 2D was in his solidarity phase again.

Noodle was playing in her room on one of her video games when she heard the studio bell ring. She walked briskly down the corridors to the lobby.

"Konichiwa.(Hello.)" she said as she opened the door. She looked around, no one was there. Then she looked down and let out an ear-piercing squeal.

2D and Russel came running. Murdoc slowly followed.

"Noods? What's da matter?" 2D asked clearly out of breath.

"Yeah, we heard you squeal." Added Russel not as tired as 2D.

Noodle turned to face them. She held up a small, white puppy "De! Resa-ka!(Look! So cute!)" she giggled as it licked her hands.

2D gulped "A…… Dog?"

"Oh great… A bloody flea bag." Murdoc murmured. He then stomped off, definitely not in a good mood.

"She's right, D," Russel said "It is pretty cute."

2D made a face and backed away a bit. Noodle turned the dog around and kissed its little, black nose. It barked softly.

"It looks like a Husky…" Russel took a closer look "Yep. It is. And a cute one too."

"She can't keep though!" 2D moaned "It s'not 'ad its injections or medical check. How'd we know if its gots rabies? It'll have fleas 'nd all kinds a' diseases we could die from!"

Noodle sighed and gave the puppy a hug.

"Wait a minute, D. It don't matter! Let her keep it." Said Russel.

"Nah, 'as it been spayed or neutered?" 2D protested.

Russel walked up to him and whispered "It'll make her happy. She still misses Tsuzumi." 2D dropped his shoulders and sighed in defeat.

Russel turned to Noodle "Noods, you can keep it."

Noodle put the puppy down to give Russel a hug "Arigatou-gozaimasu! Arigatou-gozaimasu!(Thank you! Thank you!)" She then skipped away, cuddling it tightly. The dog barked again and made 2D jump.

"No problem!" Russel called to her. He walked past a now grumpy 2D "Cheer up, D."

He grunted in reply.

Noodle sat in her room, playing with the little puppy. She saw it was a girl by the amount of fur on its face. She didn't have to think hard to come up with a good name for it. Momo.

Momo's little curled tail wagged rapidly. She gave a small bark. Her eyes were a beautiful hazel, her coat was pure white and soft. She was a very cute puppy.

Murdoc knocked on Noodle's door. Russel had persuaded him to go see the puppy. He was reluctant but he didn't really have anything better to do. Also, he owed it to her after killing her hamster and not even apologizing. Although he thinks why should he apologize?

"Hai?(Yes?)" Noodle called.

"It's Murdoc." He answered. He waited a few seconds while she opened the door.

"Nani-yo?(What do you want?)" she asked politely.

"Russ wanted me to see your damn dog."

Noodle hesitated in letting him in but she did nonetheless. He walked in and looked down. He saw the puppy staring back at him.

"What ya call it?" he asked, bending down to pick it up.

"Momo."

He held it out. He never liked touching soft, cuddly things "It's…uh… Nice name." He handed it to Noodle "You know the only reason I came up 'ere, was because Russ was going to dent my Winnebago if I didn't."

Noodle smiled "Wakatteru. Arigatou.(I know. Thank you.)"

"You're welcome."

An hour later, Noodle was still in her room with Momo. She was singing as well. She taught Momo a few tricks and she seemed to understand what Noodle said. She told her that 2D was afraid of dogs and to be careful around him. Also, she told her that Murdoc was always grumpy and naughty and to avoid him as much as possible. The dog looked like it nodded in reply.

"Dullard," Murdoc asked "You seen Noodle?"

"Nah, she's probably still in 'er room wiv' dat dog…" replied 2D.

The two were sitting watching TV, not taking their eyes away from the screen.

"You guys shouldn't sit so close. It's bad for you." Warned Russel.

Murdoc grunted. 2D said "Yeah, like dat dog is fer Noodle!"

"Would you drop it, D?"

2D was silent in reply.

"Konbanwa!(Good evening!)" Noodle jumped over the back of the sofa and landed in between Murdoc and 2D who still hadn't moved. A string of saliva dripped from Murdoc's open mouth. He had been like that for a long time.

"Hey Noods. Where's Momo?" asked Russel, sitting on the edge of the sofa.

A bark echoed around the studio as Momo hopped onto Noodle's lap. 2D edged away.

"Oh… Ya named it 'ven…" Said 2D.

"Hai.(Yes.)" Noodle replied, now engrossed in the TV. Even Momo was watching it.

"Hehe… Cute…" 2D murmured sarcastically. He walked away. He didn't like dogs and didn't like Momo. He kept thinking to himself Why can't I just like one dog? There is nothing wrong with Momo…

"Hey, D!" Russel called to him.

"What Russ?"

"Why don't you like Momo? Noodle is concerned. We know you don't like dogs but Momo is a cute fluffy puppy. Nothing dangerous about that."

2D sighed "Ya right Russ… Maybe it's just me?"

"Yeah, maybe." Russel rolled his eyes.