Ed, Eddy, and Noodle immediately sensed something was wrong when Double D reentered the room looking like he had seen a ghost. Noodle slowly walked to the stereo and turned the music off. Double D collapsed into his computer chair.
"Geez, Sockhead," said Eddy. "Who was at the door, another insurance salesman?"
"Don't even say that, Eddy!" said Ed.
Double D took a deep breath. "Eddy . . . Ed. . .one of Noodle's band mates was at the door."
Eddy and Ed's eyes widened.
"Oh . . . " Eddy mumbled.
"Are we in trouble, Double D?" asked Ed.
"No. . ." said Double D. "But Noodle has to . . . leave the town tonight. He . . . he gave us an hour to say good-bye, but . . . "
Meanwhile, Noodle stood next to the stereo, wondering why on earth Two D looked so upset. She was trying hard to understand what he was saying to Eddy and Ed. She recognized a few words, though. 'Noodle', 'band mate', 'leave', 'hour', 'good-bye' . . .
"NO!" Noodle suddenly shouted, bursting into tears.
Startled, all three boys looked at her.
"NO!" Noodle yelled again, running to Double D and hugging him tightly. "No wanna go! Wanna stay! Noodle stay with Two D!"
By now, Eddy and Ed were also crying. Noodle was right. This wasn't fair! They were just starting to have fun, and now Noodle had to leave? Who would be so cruel?
"Oh, Noodle," Double D sniffled, returning the little girl's hug. "We don't want you to leave either. But there just doesn't seem to be anything we can do . . . "
"Man. . .this stinks . . . " Eddy grumbled.
"Who's gonna help me butter my toast?!" Ed sobbed.
Just then, Double D's eyes met his computer. "Wait!" he said suddenly. "I may have spoken too soon!" He looked at Noodle. "Noodle, do you have an E-mail address?" he asked slowly, pointing to his computer.
Noodle wiped her eyes with her sleeves. "H-hai . . . " she said quietly.
"Well then, maybe we do have a way to keep in touch," said Double D. He ran to his desk and got pens and paper for him and his three friends. "We can give our E-mail addresses to Noodle, and she can give us her's! It's so simple!"
"Like Ed?" asked Eddy, forcing himself to smile.
Double D turned to Noodle again. "Did you get that, Noodle?" he asked her.
Noodle tilted her head. "Hai," she said, a small smile forming on her lips again.
"Remember, write neatly," said Double D as he and the other wrote on their paper. "We need to make sure and not misplace these. They're important!"
Noodle watched as the three boys wrote on their papers. She then wrote down her E-mail address as neatly as she could. She walked over to Double D. "Two D?"
"Yes, Noodle?" asked Double D.
"H-here . . . "
Double D took Noodle's paper and looked at it. "Why, this is perfect, Noodle!" he exclaimed. "Gentlemen?"
The Eds each gave Noodle their paper with each of their E-mail addresses on them.
"Now be sure to take good care of those, okay?" asked Double D.
"Yeah," said Eddy. "Wouldn't wanna forget ya. Not like we could . . . "
Noodle smiled and nodded, showing that she understood.
"That a girl!" said Ed. Then he frowned. "Sad I will still be, though . . . "
Double D sighed. "Me too, Ed. Me too . . . "
---
For the rest of the hour, the Eds and Noodle practiced trying to keep straight faces when they were to return her to the man with the blue hair. However, all four of them couldn't help but be misty-eyed as they made that brave trek outside.
Eddy went out first, followed by Ed and Double D. Noodle was being carried by Double D, burying her face in his shoulder. Even though she knew she had to go, she still didn't want to. She could tell none of the boys wanted her to leave either. Why else would they all be crying?
2D smiled when he saw the three boys with Noodle. However, his smile turned into a frown when they got closer and he saw all four of them crying.
"There ya are, Noodle luv," he said, trying to sound happy as the three boys stopped in front of him. "Ya gave me quite a scare, ya did. I see you met some new friends . . . "
But Noodle refused to look at 2D. Instead, she clung tighter to Double D's shirt.
"Oh come now, Noodle," said Double D, choking on his own words. "We went through this. You have to go now . . . "
Noodle slowly let go of Double D's shirt so he could put her down. She slowly walked over to 2D and stood in front of him, sniffling.
"Wot's wrong, luv?" 2D asked her.
"No wanna go . . . " Noodle pouted.
"Oh . . . " 2D looked at Noodle, then at the three boys who took such good care of her. "I'm so sorry, Noodle . . . and you three, too," he said to the three boys. "If we could stay longer, we would . . . " He turned back to Noodle. "You wanna say good-bye one last time, luv?"
Noodle understood. She slowly walked back to Ed.
"Sayonara, Ed," she said, hugging him and giving him a kiss.
"Aw," said Ed, swallowing. "Ain't childhood so sweet?"
Noodle then went to Eddy. "Sayonara, Eddy," she said, also giving him a hug and a kiss.
Eddy looked a little confused at first. "Yeah . . . uh . . . " He sighed, then returned the hug. "Good-bye, Noodle," he said quietly. He then turned around and started sobbing again.
She went to Double D last. "Sayonara, Two D. . ." she said as she hugged and kissed him.
"TWO D?!" 2D suddenly shouted, making all four children jump.
"Uh . . . yeah," said Eddy. "It's actually Double D, but we couldn't get her to say "double," so. . ."
"But that's my name!" said 2D, pointing to himself. "I'm 2D!"
Double D's eyes also widened. "Well, that explains why she got so excited when she figured it out . . . " he said.
"Weird, huh?" asked Ed.
"As if anything that happens to us is normal . . . " said Eddy.
2D's face softened. "Are ya done, luv?" he asked quietly. "We 'ave to go . . . "
Noodle sighed and went to 2D.
"Don't worry, Noodle," said Double D. "You have our E-mail addresses, right? We can still talk to each other."
Noodle smiled.
"You gave 'er your E-mail addresses?" asked 2D.
"Yep," said Eddy. "Figured it was the only way to stay in touch. Why can't you guys stay, anyway?"
2D sheepishly looked at the ground. "Like I said, if we could, we would . . . " he said. "But Murdoc. . .'e's our bassist. . .'e doesn't like to take many pit stops, and . . . "
"DULLARD!"
2D froze. Noodle and the Eds looked around him. Another man was headed in their direction.
Eddy smirked when he saw the man. "And I thought Ed was ugly . . . " he whispered to Double D and Ed.
Ed, of course, laughed.
Murdoc, however, was not pleased.
2D looked at the ground in shame as the Satanist walked up to him.
"Wot did I tell ya this mornin', Two Dents?" Murdoc snarled.
"B-be back at the b-bus by sunset . . . ?" 2D asked uncertainly.
Murdoc snorted. "For once, yer brain-or what's left of it-is workin', Dullard. Well, now it's sunset. WHY AREN'T YOU AT THE F------ BUS?!" (AN: Yeah, I censored the word. If you know Murdoc well enough, you know what he's saying.) Then, very abruptly, Murdoc changed the subject. "An' who the hell are these three?" he asked, pointing a finger at the three Eds, who had been watching in stunned silence.
"Um . . . sir?" Double D asked quietly.
Murdoc snapped his head toward the boy. "What?" he growled.
Double D gulped. "Uh . . . not to be nosy . . . but . . . are you sure it's such a good idea to be using such . . . coarse language around Noodle?"
Murdoc looked at Double D like he was crazy. "Yeh ain't the boss o' me, bugger . . . " he grumbled.
"Geez, now even adults aren't listening to you, Double D?" asked Eddy. "That's cold . . . "
Murdoc stared at Eddy. "Oh yeah . . . " he muttered. "You're tha' brat I almost hit today. Real close, too. Why the hell did ya have ta run off the damn road?"
"What?!" asked Eddy.
"Eddy . . . " said Double D.
"Th-they're Noodle's new friends, Murdoc . . . " said 2D, answering Murdoc's original question. "They were takin' care of 'er today. I was jus' pickin' 'er up. . ."
Murdoc looked at 2D, then back at Noodle and the three other boys. "Sure ya were, Dullard . . . "
"It's true!" said 2D. "Go ahead an' ask Noodle!"
Murdoc looked at Noodle. "Oi, girlie," he grunted, getting her attention. "Is Dullard tellin' the truth?"
Noodle nodded. "Hai," she said. "Ed, Eddy, and Two D. . .f-friends . . . "
"Two D?" Murdoc asked, looking at Double D. Then he rolled his eyes. "Jus' wot I need. Another Dullard . . . " He turned back to 2D. "Get back to the f------ bus, Two Dents."
"Y-yes, sir . . . " 2D muttered. He turned to Ed, Double D, and Eddy. "Fanks again, boys. Noodle really needed this day off. . ." He then ran off, presumably to the tour bus.
"Um . . . yes," said Double D. "I think we've overstayed our welcome. Shall we, gentlemen?" He then turned back to his house, followed by Ed and Eddy.
"Hold it!" Murdoc barked.
All three Eds whirled around, frightened.
Murdoc sighed. "Yeah, uh . . . " The Satanist ground his pointed teeth together. "Dullard an' Noodle . . . arethey really tellin' the truth?"
"Yep!" said Ed. "Had fun today, we did!"
"Oh . . . " Murdoc cursed under his breath. "In that case . . . thanks, I guess . . . " he grumbled. "If ya tell anyone else I said this, I'll break your skulls, but I've actually been worried 'bout Noodle 'ere. Guess our ol' tour bus isn't exactly fun for a ten-year-old . . . "
Eddy said nothing. He was still on the "I'll break your skulls" part.
"Oh . . . " said Double D. "Why . . . it was our pleasure. She really is a joy to have around, you know."
Murdoc covered his smile with a smirk. "Yeah, she is . . . " he muttered. He then turned to his guitarist. "How 'bout it, luv?" he asked her. "Should we go see if Dullard forgot where we parked the bus?"
Noodle looked at the Eds one last time. Then she looked at Murdoc and nodded.
"All right, then," said Murdoc. He walked over to Noodle and picked her up. The Satanist glanced at the Eds. "Remember, you tell anyone wot I said . . . "
"You'll break our skulls," Double D finished. "We heard you."
"Yeah, I don't think we'll tell anyone," said Eddy.
"My skull's already broken!" Ed exclaimed. "Eddy always says so."
"Right then . . . " Murdoc muttered. Then, without another word, he turned around and walked away, Noodle's head resting on his shoulder.
Noodle looked up and gave the Eds one last little wave. All three Eds smiled and waved back.
As soon as Noodle and Murdoc were out of sight, all three boys collapsed onto the cold ground under them. They began to laugh.
"Aw man. . ." said Eddy. "What a way to start off the summer, huh?"
"I must say, this turned out to be a good day, gentlemen," said Double D.
"I'm stuffed!" Ed exclaimed.
The three Eds sat up and watched as the sun began to disappear behind the horizon.
"Hey, Double D," said Eddy.
"Yes, Eddy?" asked Double D.
"Do you think Gorillaz will make it big?" asked Eddy.
Double D chuckled. "With Noodle on their team?" he asked. He paused as the sun fully disappeared and the first star of the night appeared in the sky.
"Only time will tell, Eddy. Only time will tell . . . "
Author's Note: And there you have it! Before the Eds met Jack Skellington, they met the guitarist of Gorillaz! I'm happy to see that at least a few people liked this story. I have a sequel planned for this story, but whether or not I post it depends on whether or not people like this story or not (though I'll probably post it anyway). Be sure to check out my other stories, too, including my Gorillaz stories. Happy reading! ;)-AMX