Plastic Beach was a rather lonely place.
Well, it was the farthest point from any other landmass in the world. One could and should suspect that it was pretty solitary.
Most people wouldn’t even consider living on the “island”. It was nothing more than a bunch of rubbish and debris packed tightly together and cemented together with god-knows-what. And painted pink, for some unthinkable reason. So not only was it as way out in nowhere as one could possibly get, but it also stank to high heaven and was unstable at best and unpredictable at worst.
But to one, it was his kingdom. To another, it was her home and duty.
But to one other, it was prison.
These three people, Murdoc, Cyborg, and 2D, were all that currently remained of the sensational band known as Gorillaz. Murdoc was here on his own free will. Cyborg had no free will; she was simply Murdoc’s slave and bodyguard.
And poor 2D had been knocked out, kidnapped, and was currently being forced to sing for Murdoc. Needless to say, he was not happy.
Especially with that…big fish….swimming past his room and staring at him every chance it got.
The lanky, blue-haired Brit was currently hiding under his covers, trying to keep the whale out of field of vision. He was, quite bluntly, absolutely terrified of whales.
Don’t laugh at him. If you ever got bit by one at SeaWorld, they’d scare you too.
2D was closing his pure-black eyes as tightly as he could, covering his ears with his hands. The whale was currently bellowing its vocal chords out. It was paid in food to scare this strange man, and by God, it’d do just that!
“Go away…” 2D whimpered in his cockney-laced, high-pitched voice. The whale took no heed and just sat there, staring at him. Monitoring his every move with the enormous, unblinking eye.
2D wasn’t coming out of his hiding place anytime soon.
*************
Cyborg was watching him on one of the surveillance cameras. She couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for him.
Many people believed that Cyborg felt little to no emotion. They were wrong. She only appeared that way to her master and any newcomer. She knew she couldn’t show weakness. And feelings such as guilt or joy were dead giveaways of weakness.
But she still felt such emotions. And she had no problem showing them when she was alone…or with him. 2D was different. She knew that for a fact. He didn’t mind weakness; in fact, he embraced it. “Makes ya human, aftah all.” he’d tell her.
She smiled when she thought about it. Not her psychotic, “I’m-going-to-kill-you-and-turn-your-intestines-into-jump-rope” smile. Just your everyday, happy, relaxed smile.
If 2D was there, he’d comment on how much she looked like her human copy, Noodle. Cyborg had never met her twin, but she knew her boys were fond of her copy. She looked exactly like her; short, Japanese, choppy purple hair, trim and well built…but she wasn’t Noodle, of course. Her black eyes gave that away pretty quickly. Along with the gun in her mouth. And the bullet hole in her head.
She prodded at that hole nervously. She kept asking her master to patch it up, but he either forgot or didn’t care.
She sighed and turned away from the monitor to gaze at the other screens. No activity at the moment.
“Cyborg! Go charge yourself, bolt-bitch! I don’t need you breaking down on me again!”
The growly voice of her master rang out of the intercom. Murdoc wasn’t a nice man, and she knew that, but he made her. So, reluctantly, she didn’t retaliate when he called her names. He was under the impression that she had no will or soul. Perhaps that was why he was so rude to her. No, that wasn’t the case…2D obviously had a soul, and Murdoc still treated the singer like crap.
I’ve got battery left. She thought. I'll go visit 2D, then charge.
She marched down the hallway, making as much noise as possible to alert Murdoc that she was leaving her previously assigned post. She quickly entered the lift, hitting the button labeled “2D’s Room”. She hummed a cheerful little tune to herself tapping her foot a bit impatiently as the lift slowly creaked down. Finally, it grinded to a halt.
She entered his room calmly. She glared at the huge eye that was staring down at the singer’s shaking form, and it took the hint and left.
She strode over to her friend’s bed and shook him. “2D, it’s gone.”
Slowly, 2D peeked his head out from under his blankets and glanced back at the window. He sighed with relief when all he could see was ocean. “Fanks, Cy.” He said gratefully. “I thought it’d nevah leave.”
He sat up quickly. “So, waddya want? Did Murdoc send ya down here?”
“No.” she responded. “I have been dismissed, and am now currently bored.”
2D flashed her a gap-toothed grin. “Wanna watch a movie?”
“Actually,” she said with a small smile, “the cartoon with ponies is broadcasting. I have been doing some research to see what you find so fascinating on it. It has not helped much, so logic dictates for me to watch it myself.”
His grin grew bigger, if that was possible. “Great!” he chirped. “You’re gonna love it.” He quickly switched on the TV and started clicking through the channels.
Cyborg sat next to him and took the remote. “Allow me.” With a few button presses, she brought up the show. “Ooh, this isa good one! Twilight goes bonkers!” 2D stated.
Cyborg couldn’t help but perk up. Twilight was already her favorite pony. One, she was an intellectual who acted mostly upon logic. Not unlike Cyborg. Two, Twilight was devoted to her studies; much like Cyborg was devoted to serving her band. And three…well….
Twilight happened to share the same name as a certain guilty pleasure of hers.
As the show progressed, Cyborg could easily see why 2D was drawn to it. It had a certain childish charm to it, it was nice to look at, it had a few humorous moments, and while being well-written, it was also easy enough for the slightly mentally challenged man to follow. That probably wasn’t a worry for other fans, but 2D was a little slow. Not a lot, but enough to be fairly noticeable.
But towards the end of the show, she was paying more attention to her friend and less attention to the screen.
2D looked happy. Really, really happy. It was obvious to her that the singer was completely caught up in the uplifting cartoon, and was having a good laugh at Twilight’s expense. He usually wasn’t cheerful like this. That made her sad. Her friend was a very nice person, and he deserved to be happy. Unfortunately, most of the time he was scared or sad or hurt.
The show came to a close, and 2D turned toward her, beaming. “So, didja like it? Tha’s not the best episode, but it’s still a good one.”
“It was enjoyable. Personally, though, I don’t think anyone could’ve overreacted to something as trivial as a late assignment. But it is a cartoon, so you can’t really hold it against them.”
“Yeah…just a cartoon…” he mumbled, suddenly downhearted.
“Is something wrong? Have I offended you?” she asked, worry etched across her robotic face.
“Yeah, ‘M fine…I….I just wish they were real, ya know? That ponies weally existed in our world. They’re so cute an’ funny….I guess I’d just like to meet one.”
They were silent as Cyborg pondered what she had just heard. Ponies? Real? No. They did not exist.
It was a shame, but that was life. There were no magical ponies. End of story.
She glanced at the clock and realized with a jolt that she didn’t have much time left to recharge. She needed to leave now. She stood up to make her exit.
“It was nice to be with you, 2D, but I need to charge. But I do want to see this again.”
“Great! See ya later, then!”
“Yes. See you later.”
She left the room, tightly locking the door behind her. 2D was not allowed out of his room unless master ordered it. That was part of her hard-drive, a part she could not ignore. She went up the lift once more, and into the closet where she charged.
Incoming Transition
It was later on in the evening. Cyborg was at the monitors again, 2D was sleeping, and Murdoc was drinking himself into oblivion. A storm was starting up. It was going to be a wild one. The whole island was swaying as the waves started to swell, and the wind nudged it back and forth. Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance, and an occasional streak of lighting set the sky on fire.
On top of the mansion that the three of them lived in, a large satellite dish was stationed. It usually weathered through storms, but hurricane season was starting to prove too much for it to take. It started to wobble, and slowly, v-e-r-y slowly, it toppled off.
Murdoc and Cyborg jumped as the dish hit the roof with a loud BANG. Murdoc quickly looked outside, wondering if some particularly suicidal pirates were attacking, but there was nothing out there but trash, storm, and sea.
Loud footsteps told him that Cyborg had also heard the noise, and was off to investigate. She returned after a few minutes, her face grim. She knew what was coming, and she didn’t like it one bit.
She saluted Murdoc, as she was programmed to do so, and informed him that the satellite dish had fallen over. “Well, fix it!” the black-haired bassist snarled. “Can’t get any signal out here without it. Take the Dullard with you.” Murdoc grinned evilly. “He could use the exercise.”
Cyborg saluted him again and walked out the room. When she was out of earshot, she sighed. Trying to repair things with 2D never went well. He meant well, but calling the singer a klutz was an understatement.
She made her way down to 2D’s room. She slowly opened the door, checking to see whether or not he was asleep. Unfortunately, the latter was the case.
She almost left without him. She didn’t really want to disturb him; he looked so peaceful and happy. But her hard-drive overruled her emotions. She marched up to him and started shaking his shoulders. He groaned and turned away from her. She shook him harder, and he reluctantly opened his blackened eyes. “Wazzit?” he mumbled, still half asleep.
“Master has ordered you to help me repair the satellite. Come.”
2D was alarmed. “In tha’ storm? You gotta be kiddin’. We’ll get electrocuted, or blown off tha roof!”
Cyborg shrugged. “I don’t want to do it, but Master has ordered us, so we must. Now get dressed. The sooner we get this done, the better.”
2D grumpily slid out from under his warm blankets and threw on some pants and a shirt. Cyborg handed him a rain coat. He thanked her, and then the unlucky duo proceeded onward to the roof.
As predicted, the storm was out of control and 2D was almost immediately thrown off his feet by the angry wind. Cyborg caught him before he fell off the side, and they stumbled to the broken dish. “Hold it down!” Cyborg yelled over the violent breeze. 2D did as he was told.
Then there was a brilliant flash of lighting.
I did mention that the dish was metal, right?
Thanks to her advanced reflexes, Cyborg avoided the shock. 2D wasn’t so lucky.
His whole frame was lit up as several thousands of watts flowed through his body. His teeth chattered crazily and his eyes rolled about in his head. He could feel nothing but pain. Horrid, searing pain. Then something hit him in his side. He fell over, and everything faded to black.
Cyborg had chucked the tool box at the singer in order to break his contact with the energized metal. He let go and fell over to his side, still shaking wildly.
She raced over to his side, hoping he wasn’t terribly injured. His hands were black and smoking and a few other burns had appeared on his arms and torso. Other than that, he seemed okay. Well, okay if he wasn’t out cold. His eyes were still open, but they were glazed over. She called out to him, but he remained unresponsive.
She closed his eyes and slung him over her shoulder. She started to carry him downstairs, but her programming stopped her. She had a mission to accomplish, and it had to be done. She opened the door leading up to the roof and laid 2D out on the top step, then returned to her work. After five minutes, she was finished. Without a moment of hesitation, she picked up 2D and carried him down to his room.
She did not notice the little red creature that followed her down.
*****
Harmony was a rather unlucky little filly. She was orphaned at a young age, shipped off to foster parents who didn’t care about her, and now was being forced to help her foster father put up a lighting rod. While the storm was still going.
Her new parents weren’t very smart.
The three-year-old red unicorn fiddled with the screwdriver nervously. She jumped every time a loud rumble of thunder shook the house. She was scared, but she couldn't say anything. Not because her parents would punish her, but because she really couldn't talk yet.
Her father told her to hold the pole, which she obediently did.
Then the lightning struck.
Harmony's lavender mane stood on end as the bolt hit the rod. She let go, but something was pulling her forward. Her vision suddenly went white.
When it cleared, she wasn't standing on her roof anymore.She squealed in alarm as her slippery hooves lost their grip on the drenched surface. She looked around, trying to find out what had happened. Her gaze locked on a strange-looking, furless creature that was walking on its hind legs. It did have a purple mane, but that was about it for fur. And its front hooves were shaped funny; with five long thin tubes sticking out of it. It was fixing some sort of metal circle, making it stand upright. It then bent down, picked up a red box, and left. Nervously, Harmony followed it. She didn’t have any clue where she was; perhaps this furless creature could help her.
The creature was a girl, she could see that now. It stopped to pick up another creature, a male this time, much taller than her, with a blue short mane. The girl creature carried it down the steps.
Harmony wasn’t sure what to do. She was scared, she was alone, and she had absolutely no idea where she was or what had happened.
But the loud thunder quickly decided for her. She scampered after the disappearing creature, desperate to get away from the scary sound.
