All the Way in Battery City

Chapter Twenty One - He's a Singer

"I said come on, come on, kiss my battery

Come on, come on, and fuck this whole wide world."

I wake up slowly to the sound of an angel singing. Wait, no. A angel with red hair. Gerard. Gerard's singing. He's writing on a piece of paper. Lyrics, probably. He notices that I'm awake and smiles. "Good morning, sunshine."

"Where is everyone?" I ask groggily.

"At the pharmacy. I'm the uh, babysitter I guess."

I nod and look around the room. I'm in Gerard's room. Some of his drawings are falling off his wall. I also notice some new ones. Even one of a sunset. And another of a baby. I know where they came from in his mind.

"I didn't know you sing." I say, turning my head towards him.

"Yep. Used to. I guess I'm picking it up again." Gerard shrugs and shakes his leg as he thinks.

"Well you're really good. What's the song you're working on called?"

"It's stupid."

"Come on. Tell me!"

He smirks. "FTWWW. Fuck The Whole Wide World."

"I like that."

Gerard looks at me and smiles. I sit up slowly and lean over to look at his piece of paper with lyrics. I see that he's already done with the song, I think. I take the paper from his hands and read it over.

"They wanna grip the cross,

Make cavities,

Adjust because it purely is a crime

We full-on freak the cops, that causality

And break the walls of cryogenic slime

She said come on, come on, kiss my battery,

Come on, come on, I’ll be your android girl,

She said come on, come on, kiss my battery,

Come on, come on and fuck this whole wide world

Turn up the fakes and lies, just answer me,

You stare me down and take my only guise

They need the ones you got,

And laugh for me,

Destroy the council while your mother cries

She said come on, come on, kiss my battery,

Come on, come on, I’ll be your android girl,

She said come on, come on, lick that battery,

Come on, come on and fuck this whole wide world

We all gotta die,

but tonight we’d sell our skins to meet you right,

We all gotta try,

I’ll be red with another arms,

with another slide

I don’t wanna know, I don’t wanna go,

I don’t gotta know where I’m gonna die

I don’t wanna know, I don’t wanna go,

I don’t gotta know where I’m gonna die

Scratch them all,

Spit casually

A heart,

You got it in the one you need

I’m at a loss, because of tragedy,

For what you got I got the ones you need

She said come on, come on and fuck this whole wide world,

She said come on, come on and fuck this whole wide world

She said come on, come on and fuck this whole wide world

She said come on, come on and fuck this whole wide world

She said come, come on just spit causally,

Come on, come on and fuck this whole wide world

She said come, come on just spit causally,

Come on, come on and fuck this whole wide world"

I set down the paper and look at Gerard. He's biting his lip, awaiting the review. I smile and hug him tightly. I hear him exhale, and then feel his arms snake around me to return the hug. "I love the song!" I whisper.

"I'm glad. Took me long enough."

"You should write more, Gee. I'd love to hear them."

Gerard pulls away and smiles. "You would?"

"Of course!"

This makes Gerard even happier. I stand up and mess up his hair. He chuckles and stands up with me. I walk over to Ray's room and pick up a guitar I had noticed when I first got here. I check the strings to see if they're in tune. They are.

"Whatcha doin?" Gerard asks.

"You'll see."

I put the strap around my shoulder and plug in the guitar to a amp. I start making up the parts to FTWWW, and write the chords and notes onto a sheet of paper. When I get it all right, I play it over. Gerard looks at me, astonished.

"I never knew you played a instrument," he mutters.

I shake my head. "No one did. Not even Mikey knows."

He moves his eyebrows and looks at the sheet music. I can tell it's a foreign language to him. Lyrics are his words, not notes.

It's a few hours of aloneness and writing before everyone gets home. Once Gerard and I hear the door click shut, we shoot up from our positions and run to the guys. They look scared, especially Mikey. He puts either of his hands on my shoulders and looks into my eyes.

"You okay, sugar?" He asks, searching my eyes.

I nod and smile. "Come check this out."

I bring the amp from Ray's room into the living room and hook it up. I sling the Guitar around me and start playing. Then Gerard sings.

Everyone looks amazed. I look over at Gerard, and he looks at me. We high five and look back at our audience. Frank is the first to speak up. "Got a rythym guitar part for me?"

"And a bass part?" Mikey pitches in.

"Can I have a go?" Ray asks.

We nod and go grab the sheet music. Soon, we're all singing and playing. FTWWW is our first song as a band. Our band name is Mad Gear & Missile Kid. Pretty epic name, I know. Liz made it up. I just write and sing back up. Ray is the lead guitar. Frank is rythym. Mikey's the bassist. And Gerard is, of course, the singer.

"Mad Gear & Missile Kid... I like it." I say, sitting at a bar in town called Revenge.

"You better. We're not changing it last minute." Gerard is covering his face with his yellow mask, getting ready to go on stage.

"Who said I wanted to change it?" I put on my identical purple mask and lean against the doorway to the backstage.

He shrugs and starts singing quietly. I walk over to Mikey, who's wearing his bandana. Ray has his helmet on, and Frank is wearing his green Ghoul mask. I dance as I get more and more excited to perform.

"...And next is Mad Gear & Missile Kid!"

We're announced, and we walk up on stage. As I look into the crowd, one person catches my eye.

Kaylina.