Calibrations

California 2006

"I almost forgot about the Heavy Room," Figment said as he looked around. "This was one of my favorite spots in the whole house."

Pepper suddenly dropped his pen and turned around. "Please tell me that's not another ghost," he said. When he noticed Figment, Youngblood, and Revenge, he said, "Oh, it's just you again. What do you want from me this time?"

"Same thing as always," Figment said.

"Right. Frank's going to die in the future, and we need to go save him," Pepper said. "I have something I need to do first though."

"Something that's more important than saving Frank?" Youngblood said.

"I need to say goodbye to Mikey before he leaves," Pepper said. "I don't know if you guys heard, but he...he's leaving the band for a little while."

"He already left," Figment said.

"What do you mean 'he already left?'" Pepper said angrily.

"We ran into him on the way here," Figment said.

"He said something about putting a song called 'Disenchanted' on the album," Youngblood added. He still wasn't sure what Mikey was talking about, but running into him was far from the strangest thing that had happened during this adventure.

"He really won't shut up about 'Disenchanted,' will he?" Pepper said. "I've told him we're not putting that song on the album, but he just won't let it go."

"Why aren't you putting it on the album?" Youngblood asked.

"Because we have other songs that are better." Pepper sighed and then said, "I guess I'm just going to have to call Mikey later, but I wish I'd gotten to say goodbye to him in person. You guys should have told me he was leaving."

"I'm sorry," Figment said. "We weren't sure where you were."

Pepper stared into the distance, looking quite disenchanted, for lack of a better word. He then turned back to the others and said, "Anyways, I just have to be back by tonight. I told Frank I'd take him out for dinner, and then we're going to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I don't know why he wants to see that movie again - he's already seen it, and he said that the book was better - but I digress."

"Don't worry about it," Figment said. "We'll be back long before then."

"Great," Pepper said.

All of a sudden, Youngblood asked a very important question. "Where did you get the marching band jacket?"

"Oh, this?" Pepper asked as he gestured toward the jacket. "I just found it in my closet the other day. I think a ghost put it there."

"So the house really is haunted," Revenge said. "That's fucking awesome."

"Yes, the Paramour is haunted, and no, it's not 'fucking awesome,'" Pepper said. "We thought it would be fun to record here, but now Mikey's gone, and I haven't slept in, like, a week..."

"Why not?" Youngblood asked.

Pepper took a deep breath and said, "I've been having these night terrors. It's like someone's gripping my throat and squeezing, and I have these awful dreams, and...I don't want to talk about it anymore. This place is horrible, and we never should have come here."

"You really need to get out of the house," Figment said.

"Yeah, I do," Pepper said. "I feel like the Paramour's driving me insane."

"Why don't we all take a walk?" Figment suggested. "The weather's nice enough for it."

Pepper nodded, and all four of them left the Heavy Room and headed downstairs. However, just as they were about to leave, Frank, Ray, and Bob showed up. "I'll deal with this," Pepper said to the others quietly. "You three can go outside. I'll meet you there in a minute."