Calibrations

Kentucky 2004

"Oh, it's you again," the Gerard from 2004 said as he looked up at Figment. "What are you even doing here?"

"Same thing as before," Figment responded. "We're going to save Frank."

"Frank's fine," he insisted. "I talked to him this morning." He glanced out the window of the tour bus, and when he was sure that nobody else was around, he added, "Of course, we did a lot more than just talking, if you know what I mean..."

"I'm you, remember?" Figment said. "You don't have to tell me anything about what you two did this morning. I know everything you know."

The Gerard from 2004 didn't seem to be listening, but Youngblood couldn't stop thinking about what he'd just said. Not only would My Chemical Romance become successful, but he and Frank would end up together too. His future self really did have it all, but something didn't quite add up. The man in front of him didn't look like someone whose dreams had all come true.

"Anyways, we're saving Frank in the future - 2016, to be specific." Figment continued to explain. "Current Frank is okay."

"That's good," 2004 Gerard said as he reached for the bottle of vodka and started to open it.

"What are you doing?!" Figment shouted.

"I'll be damned if I'm going to talk to my past self and my future self while sober." He was about to take a sip when Figment snatched the bottle out of his hands and placed it in another room. "What the fuck, Figment?"

"You can't do this, Revenge," Figment said.

"What did you just call me?" he said. "Revenge? Like Three Cheers For..."

"Don't say it!" Figment shouted. "Youngblood hasn't made that album yet!"

Youngblood perked up at the mention of the mysterious second album. "Three cheers..." he mumbled. "Three cheers for what? Probably Three Cheers For Revenge or something like that..."

"You're close," Revenge said.

"Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge?" Youngblood guessed. Figment and Revenge exchanged a glance. "Did I get it?"

"Yeah, you got it," Figment said.

"Well, that's going to make naming the next album a whole lot easier," Youngblood said with a smile.

"Definitely," Revenge said. "I remember it was so hard to get everyone to agree on I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. We had, like, five different ideas for the album name going around..."

"I know, right?" Youngblood said. "It was so chaotic."

Revenge turned back to Figment. "So can I have my drink back?" he asked.

"Yeah, that was kind of mean of you to take it away from him like that," Youngblood chimed in.

"No, you're not getting your drink back, Revenge," Figment said. "I need you sober for this."

"How do you expect me to help you when I'm sober?" Revenge asked, practically on the verge of tears. "I can't do anything, Figment. I can't even get out of bed most days. I definitely can't sing. Not like I was going to do that anyways. I'm fucking done with this shit."

"So you were going to sabotage the show," Figment said.

"Not really," Revenge said. "They could play without me. Nobody's really here for MCR anyways. Nobody cares if I sing. Actually, maybe the band would be better off without me. Maybe the whole world would."

"That's not true at all, but do you want to know what Frank told me after he heard about all of this?"

"What?"