Chapter Text
“Hey, guys, check this out!” Noodle said, putting down her toast to scroll on her phone. Out loud, she read, “Ex-Bassist For Band Gorillaz Arrested In West London!”
“They found him?” Ace said incredulously, fork clattering out of his hand and sending bits of egg flying. “It’s been three weeks!”
Noodle nodded. “Yeah, it says they caught him harassing someone for cigarettes, and when it escalated, they took him in, and then found out about his criminal record. And look, ‘Murdoc Niccals has been transferred to the Brighter Minds Center for rehabilitation’.”
Russel nodded coolly. “Looks like they listened to your request, 2D. Instead of hauling him back to jail.”
“Yeah,” 2D said quietly, expression shocked. “Hope it’ll stick.”
Therapy aside, 2D hadn’t completely recovered yet from the scare he got the night Murdoc broke in. He’d been far more subdued and jumpy since then.
Noodle tried to lighten the mood. “Yeah, maybe they’ll teach him how to act like a human this time!”
Ace held back a snicker as he said, “He’s green, how human could he be?”
At that, Noodle burst into laughter, and Russel chuckled. Even 2D cracked a small smile at the tongue-in-cheek self-dig.
“Anyway,” Ace said, “all youse don’t need him anymore! You have me,” he purred, placing a hand on his chest. “Much more of an upside, in my opinion!”
“Look,” Noodle said, pressing her palms together in front of her, “If you’re gonna replace him, then I’ll say to you what I said to Murdoc: I am not gonna be calling you Dad!”
Ace laughed outright at that, before waving his hands in front of them. “Dooon’t worry, Noodle, had no plans for that. We’re the spring chickens of the band, ain’t we? I prefer you as a friend.”
Noodle giggled and did finger guns at Ace, which he gladly returned.
But in all of this, 2D still sat solemnly, slowly lifting one bite of cereal from his bowl after another, and eating it like someone had just told him his grandma passed away.
“Look, 2D,” Ace finally said, “You went through a lot, and now you’re finally getting some justice! Doesn’t that make you happy?”
2D shrugged, looking out the window. “It was just... a harsh reminder of how things were, y’know? How’d you feel if your worst nightmare appeared in your room at 3 AM?”
“Alright, I’ll give you that one,” Ace acquiesced. “It’s gonna take time, I know. But we’re all here for you, right?”
Noodle and Russel raised their cups of tea in solidarity.
“It’s only going to go up from here,” Russel said, and then munched on a piece of bacon.
Noodle grinned. “And when they can reintroduce him to society, he’ll be a much better person from it all... assuming he doesn’t ‘imprint’ on his handlers!”
Ace did snicker this time. “Now you’re the one talking about him like he’s not human!”
Noodle rolled her eyes. “It’s a metaphor, Ace! Look, he’s not a monster, but he’s also not the greatest parent-figure, either. He did help raise me, so yeah, I want him to get better, but I’m also gonna hella poke fun at him!”
Shrugging, Ace said, “Fair enough. But I didn’t even have parents, so I can’t really relate.”
Russel looked at him curiously. “Where do you really come from, Ace? If you don’t mind me asking? You didn’t talk about that in the meeting.”
Ace huffed a sigh. “I mean, I didn’t lie about where I came from. I was born—well, made—in Townsville, created in a lab with the rest of my gang. To the best of my knowledge, they were experimenting on making new kinds of humans, superior kinds, but they messed up and got us. We spent our childhoods in that lab before finally getting fed up and busting out.”
“Heyyy, lab bros!” Noodle said, affectionately punching him in the arm.
“What? Really?” Ace said, surprised.
Noodle nodded. “I can relate. Was supposed to be a superhuman weapon too!”
“Huh, small world,” Ace marveled.
“Wow,” 2D said, suddenly seeming more interested in the conversation. “And that’s why you look the way you do?” He asked, before lifting up his cup to take a long sip.
“Well, it was clearly some kind of mutation, I guess. But it’s not like we got superpowers, unfortunately.”
Ace paused, and then asked, “Say, why is Murdoc green?”
Noodle shrugged. “He actually used to be more tan-brown, and then over time he just started turning greener and greener.”
“Ew, he was molding?”
2D actually choked out a laugh at that, nearly spraying tea across the table, and he put a hand to his face, chuckling when he got his breath back.
Ace couldn’t help but grin either. “Also, he mentioned something about a deal with the devil? What’s up with that?”
“Oh, yeah,” Russel said, “He’s a Satanist. Said he sold his soul to make a famous band.”
Ace blinked. “So all those pentagrams and goth getup wasn’t just for show?”
Noodle shook her head, “Nah, he was really into it. You know, he even had a red eye at one point. Not like pink-eye, like the actual iris was red. It was weird, but I was young, so I didn’t think about it much.”
With a long whistle, Ace said, “Yeah, I remember that! That’s strange as all heck. I mean, I guess if there are people out there with superpowers, it isn’t too hard to believe that the devil exists? I mean, we had one in Townsville, but I always thought he was just a weirdo.”
2D shrugged. “I don’t know, mate. Could just be an excuse for the way that he acted.”
“What, like he was possessed?”
Shaking his head, he continued, “No, no. Just like, ‘I made a deal with ol’ Lucifer so now I can act like an arsehole’.”
Ace nodded, “Oooh, okay. I mean, though, the band did end up being famous. Are we gonna fade into obscurity with Murdoc gone?”
Russel shrugged. “I don’t think so. We’ve got big plans to keep people interested in us for our next album.”
Ace leaned in with an, “Ooooh, do tell!”
Noodle ate another bite of her toast before saying, “I’ve been looking around at the state of the world, and climate change is killing everything. So... I want us to build a cool machine that’ll show us the world before it’s gone, and maybe make some killer music in the process!”
2D nodded. “We still have to get the parts for it, and that’ll take a little bit, but once we’ve got ‘em it shouldn’t take too long.”
Ace was baffled. “How is it going to take you around the world?”
Noodle wiggled her fingers. “Magic!”
“Ah, okay. That explains everything.”
Russel chuckled. “Just go with the flow.”
Ace raised his eyebrows. “Oh, I’m totally chill, buddy! I’m just trying to get in your headspace for this next album.”
“Well,” 2D said, “The next album’s a ways off, ‘cuz we still have to release this one. And then there’ll be tours and concerts and merch and all that.”
Ace nodded quickly. “Yeah, I forgot about all that jazz. That’ll be an experience!”
Noodle looked at him slyly. “You get stage fright at all, Ace?”
“What? No way, Ace Copular is as cool as ice, pal.” He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head. “Ain’t nothing that can razzle me.”
Something nudged the leg of his chair, and it rocked backward, and Ace yelped and had to flail to not fall over.
“No, nothing can ‘razzle’ you,” 2D said, a small grin on his face as he pulled back his foot.
Ace scoffed. “Real mature. Aren’t we supposed to be friends now?”
2D blinked. “I... I guess, yeah. You see me as a friend?”
Shrugging, Ace said, “Well, after what happened, I’m still a little mad, but I can deal with that while we work things out. We’re turning over a new leaf! This’ll be the beginning of a long and glorious friendship, I’m sure.”
“Yeah,” 2D said, a little more certain of himself this time, “That’d be nice, I reckon.”
Ace grinned. “You bet on it, baby! This’ll be the beginning of a new chapter in our lives, I can just feel it.”
——
Ace stared out at the West London skyline. England was different from the States in a lot of ways, but the smog and the city views reminded him of home.
Aside from the pollution, though, the roof of Studio 13 was pretty pleasant. A collection of plants bloomed amongst the concrete, lending a floral fragrance that cut through the acrid city stench. And from here, he could smell rain on the way.
Then, from behind him, a voice said, “Well, what’s all this, then?”
Ace had to fight not to jump, but his nerves were getting calmer by the day. He turned and saw 2D standing in the doorway back to the top floor, looking at him with an unreadable expression. Ace shrugged and said, “It’s just nice up here. I’ve never seen a rooftop garden before.”
2D nodded. “It is nice, innit?” And he walked forward to sit on a ledge several feet away from Ace, also staring out.
Ace tried to go back to car-watching, but he couldn’t help but be distracted. “What’s up, 2D?”
There was a brief silence, and then, “I just... wanted to thank you. For coming to help, encouraging me to stick up for myself when Murdoc was here. I’m sure after everything, the last place you wanted to be was my bedroom.”
Ace winced. “Don’t put too much thought into it, y’know? I was only thinking about helping you, everything else didn’t matter in the moment.”
2D nodded slowly. “I just... I feel like I owe you one.”
“You already wrote the two songs with me.”
“No, more than that. I made your life miserable for so long, and for the most part, you haven’t done too much back.” He paused for a moment with a quiet laugh. “Y’know that thing siblings do, where one of them hits the other kid, and he starts crying, and the kid who hit ‘em is like ‘if you don’t tell mum, you can hit me back?’”
Ace rolled his eyes. “Well I’m not gonna hit you, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“No, no, I’ve had enough of that for a lifetime,” 2D quickly said, but he continued, “It’s just... you amaze me, Ace. Have you already found some sort of catharsis or something? ‘Cuz I haven’t done a whole lot to make it up to you.”
Ace stared out at the city and sighed. “Listen, I had enough of violence and anger and all that by the time I moved out of Townsville. Y’know, me and the gang did lots of stuff like your ‘sibling’ metaphor, but except we didn’t have a mom to tattle on each other to. You just got hit and hit back and so it went on and on. I did plenty of terrible things back then. Being with the band... it’s like a real new leaf. I don’t have to solve things by being angry anymore.”
“But... you’re allowed to feel mad!”
“Oh, believe me, I know that. But it doesn’t... fix anything, you know? I know there’s a time for anger, and then a time to act." He paused to chuckle. "Of course, you already know all of this from what I talked about in therapy.” Ace looked back at 2D. “That night, you just really... took me by surprise, and it was reflexive. That’s the kind of Ace I don’t like being.”
2D lowered his gaze and nodded. “I... I’ve been thinking about it a lot. If I’d actually gone and... I just don’t know if that’s something I could forgive myself for.”
Ace shrugged. “You were drunk, you weren’t thinking straight.”
2D shook his head, “No, even when I’m drunk I shouldn’t be doing stuff like that. It’s messed up. It’s just... it was different, getting drunk with Murdoc. He didn’t care if we weren’t ‘thinking straight’. And after a while, that just became ‘drunk 2D’... and it scares me a little, quite honestly.”
“Hey, look at me.”
2D met his gaze reluctantly.
Ace reached out a hand. “If you ever need help with alcohol, or anything, I can be that for you. You know I don’t drink, and I can get you on the path to sobriety. If that’s what you want.”
2D tentatively stuck out his hand, but pulled it back slightly. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t want to drink, it’s just that I need to change what ‘being drunk’ means for me. Not as a coping mechanism, or a way to forget, just to let loose a little.”
Ace shrugged. “I think that’s something to work on with Polly, then. But I can keep my eye out and poke you when I think you’re drinking too much, if you want.” He reoffered his hand.
This time, 2D did shake. “Thank you, Ace,” he said quietly. “I don’t know how you do all of this.”
“All of what?”
“No drinking or drugs, no cursing, no romance or sex. How much restraint do you have?”
Ace shrugged. “I just never felt the need. I don’t think I’m drawn that way,” he joked.
That made 2D laugh, and that made Ace laugh, and the two of them giggled quietly on the roof.
Then, a droplet of water splashed down onto Ace’s hair, followed by another and another.
“Aw bullocks, it’s raining,” 2D said, breaking the handshake and standing.
“Isn’t that normal here?” Ace said, shielding his head with his arms.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I gotta like it!” 2D said, and he headed inside. Ace could hear him saying, “You know the Beatles’ song ‘Here Comes the Sun’? It literally feels like years from storm to sunshine,” but his voice got quieter the further inside he went.
But Ace lingered on the roof for a minute. He lowered his arms and let the rain just pour down on him. After a minute, he even took his sunglasses off, and let the rain stream unimpeded down his face.
“A real new leaf,” he finally murmured to himself, blinking water out of his eyes as he took in the world, unhindered.
The rain washed away any doubts he had left. This truly would be a new start.
He wouldn’t let it be anything else. It was his story, after all.