Calibrations: Extras

Alternate Ending #3: The Slow Path

Figment knew what was coming.

In fact, he'd known for a long time that it would come to this. Half of his life had been building to this moment, but as he stepped out of the Trans Am and wandered toward the curly-haired man in the distance, he saw his future disappearing right before his eyes, as if tomorrow never existed.

The year was 2010, and Figment had already done everything he needed to do. He'd recruited Youngblood, Revenge, Pepper, and Poison. He'd taken them under his wing. He'd told his younger selves what they needed to know. He'd done what he could to save Frank, but now, his chapter of the story was over, or at the very least, it would be as soon as he approached Ray Toro.

He took a deep breath, and he took another step closer.

Now, he was face to face with his bandmate – or a past version of him, anyways – and Figment froze. There was a moment of silence as Figment dreaded what was coming next, but all of a sudden, Ray began to speak.

"Sorry, I'm late. Precision travel's not my forte."

"It-it's okay, Ray. I'm just glad you made it."

Ray gave him a regretful look, his brown eyes full of sorrow as he said, "I didn't get your time machine back. Believe me, I tried, but Mike Pedicone destroyed it as soon as he got it. I...I'm so sorry, Gerard."

Figment nodded, solemnly accepting his fate, but only a moment later, he had an idea. "But you're a time traveler! Couldn't you go back in time and stop him?"

"Don't you think I already tried that?" Ray responded. "There was a whole army of versions of me fighting Mike, and we still couldn't get your machine back. It's simply not possible."

"Couldn't you get me a new one then?" Figment said, a bit distracted by the mental image of a thousand Rays fighting Mike Pedicone with their guitar skills and their glorious fros.

"You're already in trouble with the Watch. There's no way that they would approve something like that."

"But what about Frank? How am I going to save him from the car crash?!"

"I'll do it."

Figment smiled slightly. "You will?"

"Of course. You may be Frank's boyfriend, but you're not the only one who cares about him. He's my bandmate too."

Figment felt like a weight had been lifted off of his chest, but all of it returned as soon as he remembered what was coming next.

"I'll bring your younger selves to 2016 with me to save Frank, but I...I can't take you. You're the one who Director Armstrong is after, and I'll be fired from the Watch if I take you. You'll have to stay here."

That was when it really hit him. He was never coming home. He had to relive some of the worst years of his life, and he wouldn't see Frank again, not for a long, long time. He was stuck.

"You can't do this to me, Ray! You have to take me with you."

"I'm sorry," Ray whispered, and before Figment could say anything, Ray typed something into his watch, and the entire Trans Am vanished into thin air.

"How did you do that?" Figment asked, but all of a sudden, Ray disappeared too, following the car into the not-so-distant future of 2016.

Figment waited for a few seconds, staring into the harsh desert sun, but soon, he spotted a redheaded man standing in the distance, clad in a blue Dead Pegasus jacket and holding a ray gun. Figment came closer, instantly recognizing his former self. "Poison?" he said as he approached the younger Gerard. "Did it work?"