Calibrations

California 2010

"So that's how I came out to the band," Poison said. "Any questions?"

Revenge and Pepper were both completely shocked. Their jaws dropped, unable to believe what they had just heard. "What do you mean the tour bus isn't soundproof?" Revenge said.

"Yeah, I always thought that it was!" Pepper added.

"I can't believe this," Revenge said. "Frank and I worked so hard to keep our relationship a secret, but it was all for nothing. I suppose I was right all along: secrets are pointless, love is an illusion, life is but a dream for the dead..."

"Will you shut up already?" Pepper said.

Youngblood turned to Poison and asked, "So what happens after that?"

"Nothing much," Poison said. "Bob left the band, we scrapped the album, and we started working on Danger Days instead. It's going to be a great album, I think, the best one that we've ever made. Frank and I have been together since last year, and I love him very much." All of a sudden, Poison pulled out his cell phone and checked the time. "By the way, Figment, Frank's coming over, so I need to be home in twenty minutes. When is your friend from the Watch going to show up?"

"Any minute now," Figment said.

"You said that three hours ago," Revenge grumbled.

"He'll be here as soon as he has my time machine," Figment said.

"When's that going to be?" Youngblood asked. He was starting to get impatient too. After all, he had to make it home eventually. Even if he wouldn't be able to remember the future, there was so much that he had to do when he got back to his own time. He had to keep going with MCR, he had to work on his vampire comic - even if Figment said he wouldn't finish it - and most importantly, he had to see Frank again. The last thing he wanted was to get stuck in the middle of the desert in 2010.

"I don't know," Figment said.

"Well, if he's not here in the next twenty minutes, I'm leaving," Poison said, his eyes still glued to his phone.

Pepper looked over Poison's shoulder and said, "Wow, that's a really fancy phone. Is that a touchscreen? I didn't know you could do that!"

Poison shrugged and said, "I don't know. It's nothing special, really."

"You should see Figment's phone," Youngblood interjected. "It's even better than Poison's."

"That's not possible," Revenge said dismissively. As Poison texted Frank, Revenge turned to Figment. "Hey, I have another question."

"Sure," Figment said. "What is it?"

"Did the Watch really ban everyone from traveling to 2007?" Revenge asked. "I mean, they didn't stop us from going there..."

"I was wondering about that too," Youngblood said.

"No, there's no restriction on going to 2007," Figment said.

"Then why did you tell us that there was?" Youngblood asked.

"I just didn't want you to go there!" Figment exclaimed. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, but breaking up with Frank was one of the worst. Even now, twelve years later, I wish that I hadn't broken his heart like that. I thought it would be better if you didn't know about it, and I thought that maybe you wouldn't go there if I told you it was banned."

"No, that just made me want to go there more," Revenge said.

"Same," Youngblood said.

"It's reverse psychology, Figment," Pepper said.