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The sun was warm, there was a light summer breeze, and more importantly, no Murdoc around to accidentally on purpose trip him up and send him flying face-first into the concrete path. He couldn't remember the last time he went rollerblading, or the last time he felt a glimmer of hope that the future will be wonderful, for that matter. The band was headed in a new direction. After Murdoc got arrested, they'd hired a replacement bass player from Townsville, named Ace Copular, and he was way nicer that Murdoc had ever been. Not perfect, but way nicer. The whole band was at the beach with him. Russel was just as elated as he was (though he tried not to show it to avoid looking like he didn't care about Murdoc, which he did, but not enough to pay his bail), actually going around in public instead of just falling asleep like he always did when they went to clubs or bars. Noodle was looking a lot brighter lately, also obviously not giving enough of a damn about Murdoc to even visit him in prison. 2D had overheard her confessing that she now found him "quite tiring and a bit rude", something that 2D agreed with wholeheartedly. Murdoc had been alright back in their earlier days, but the whole Plastic Beach fiasco had taken a toll on him, and he grew colder and less sympathetic. It was quite sad, really. But the important thing was, he was no longer around to boss them about. Which meant that 2D could partake in activities such as rollerblading without getting mocked mercilessly. His head was a lot clearer nowadays, too. With Murdoc gone, he felt like he hadn't needed to take his pills as often as he did before, though they were always on hand in case of sudden migraines. The smog was gone, and the sun was in its place. The day was beautiful and so was life. He wished this hopeful, relieved moment would last forever.