Calibrations

Australia 2016

Figment was hiding out inside a comic book shop when he spotted a giant bus hurtling down Park Street. He rushed over to the window, and he glanced at the license plate. HG42FR. This was it. This was the bus that was going to cause the accident.

"Shit," Figment said. "It's heading straight for the van."

As he sprinted out the door, Crash and Alien finally looked up from their comic books. "What's going on?" Alien asked.

"Oh God," Crash said as he looked out the window. "It's going to hit Frank."

All of a sudden, Crash and Alien ran after Figment. "Isn't there something we can do?" Crash said. "Can't we go back in time again or something?"

"I don't have much battery left," Figment said quickly. "If I take you all back, then I won't be able to bring us back to our own times. We'll all be stuck in 2016."

Crash was fine with that, but Alien was terrified. "I have to go back to 2014," he said nervously. "I can't just skip over two years of my life."

Figment, however, didn't listen to his past selves and kept running. He'd really thought that the others could keep the crash from happening, but he was wrong, so now, he was only hoping that he could stop the bus before it was too late. He'd failed, lost the fight, let down the man he loved most, but he could still fix this.

Crash and Alien tried to follow him, but Figment turned around and said, "You're not coming with me."

"Yes we are!" Crash exclaimed.

"He's our boyfriend too," Alien argued.

"I'm serious," Figment said. "You'll be safer in there."

"I don't care!" Crash shouted. "I'm going to save Frank!"

Figment glanced out the window one last time. The bus was skidding across the road, completely out of control. Within seconds, it would collide with Frank's van. He had to act now. "We're running out of time," he said. "Stay in the shop."

As Figment approached the van, he looked toward the bus, and then he looked into Frank's eyes. As the bus barreled toward the van, he silently said his goodbyes to the man who stole his heart all those years ago. Then, he looked away from Frank and stepped closer to the bus. He was afraid, but as the seconds ticked by, he realized what he had to do.

All of a sudden, the clock stopped ticking.

At first, Figment thought he was in a dream. The bus had stopped completely, only inches away from the van. Frank and his bandmates were frozen in place, their unblinking eyes staring into the distance. The whole world had gone completely still. He walked across the street, cutting between stationary cars and motionless pedestrians. "Figment, what's happening right now?" Alien shouted from the comic book shop, but he didn't respond.

One car cut through traffic, and Figment recognized it immediately. He doubted there was any other vehicle in the world with a giant Killjoy spider painted on the hood.

"I thought I got rid of the Trans Am years ago," Crash said, confused.

"Let me handle this," Figment said to Crash and Alien. "Stay in the shop."

The Trans Am skidded to a stop, and Figment nervously stepped toward it. As he approached the car, the driver rolled down the windows, and Figment looked inside. "Ray? Mikey?" Figment said. He smiled slightly and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"You're Gerard from the future, right?" Mikey said. Figment nodded. "We're helping you save Frank, obviously."

Ray held up his time machine. "I stopped time for you," he said. "We're only supposed to do that in emergencies, so Billie Joe's probably going to kill me if he finds out about this, but it will be worth it if we can keep Frank alive."