Calibrations: Extras

Alternate Ending #1: In Another Lifetime

Gerard Way never went back in time. He never had a reason to.

When he was fifteen, he spent long hours in his parents' basement, drawing comics. He wrote furiously, ideas racing through his head, and sometimes, he felt like his characters could come to life. One day, to drown out the sound of Mikey and Geoff playing video games upstairs, he turned up his music loud, hoping that Billy Corgan could save him somehow.

It didn't work. He'd only written a few words before his father barged into the basement, telling him that it was time for dinner. Gerard reluctantly put down his pencil and went upstairs, wishing that he could write for just a little longer.

In another lifetime, his future self might have come into the basement. In another lifetime, Gerard might have found out about a man named Frank. He might have thought about him, obsessed over him, until they finally met ten years later, but that was another lifetime.

When he was twenty-five, he watched the Twin Towers fall. Over the next few weeks, as he processed the tragedy, he picked up his guitar again, started writing songs, started up a band. At his band's first show, he spotted a cute boy in the crowd, a boy with dyed black hair and countless tattoos. After the show, Gerard asked Geoff who he was. "Oh, that's just the guy from Pencey Prep," Geoff told him.

"Pencey Prep?" Gerard repeated.

"Yeah, his name is Frank Oreo or something like that?" Geoff said. "No wait, that doesn't sound right. Frank Lero? I don't know. It's definitely Frank Something."

Gerard didn't think anything of it. Frank Something was nothing to him, just another cute face in the crowd.

Frank showed up to every other show after that, but Gerard never worked up the nerve to talk to him. Eventually, Frank stopped coming, realizing that his favorite singer was never going to notice him.

Of course, Frank and Gerard still saw each other from time to time. When their bands were signed to the same label, practiced in the same spaces, and played the same venues, they were bound to run into each other sometimes. Occasionally, they chatted, mostly about music, but they were barely acquaintances, much less friends.

Over the course of the next year, Gerard's brother Mikey joined the band, Pencey Prep imploded, and My Chemical Romance recorded their debut album. Soon, MCR realized that they needed a second guitarist.

"How about Audrey Burke?" Ray suggested. "I've heard she's good."

"Yeah, or maybe Frank Iero?" Gerard said, remembering the guitarist with the gorgeous tattoos. It had been a long time since they'd last seen each other, but he could make a nice addition to the band.

"Frank Iero?" Matt said. "From Pencey Prep?"

Ray nodded. "Pencey Prep broke up, so Frank's probably looking for a new band," he said.

"I don't know," Mikey said. "We don't know Frank very well, and he doesn't know us. I doubt he'd even want to be in My Chemical Romance."

"Yeah, you're right," Gerard said. "Let's go with Audrey."

Audrey Burke was more than happy to join the band, and My Chemical Romance finished recording I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love with her on rhythm guitar. Meanwhile, Frank floated between bands, eventually deciding to go solo.

In another lifetime, Frank might have joined My Chemical Romance. In another lifetime, letting him join might have been the best decision they ever made. In another lifetime, Frank and Gerard might have fallen for each other, but that was another lifetime.

Gerard rarely saw Frank after that. He heard about his solo projects, listened to his records, but with My Chemical Romance constantly on tour, he didn't have much free time to spend with an old acquaintance.

Gerard's grandmother died the next year, and he fell into depression, addiction, self-destruction. While he struggled to fight off his demons, My Chemical Romance wrote and recorded their second album, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. Gerard was proud of it, and he was sure it was better than their debut, but no one else seemed to agree. Hardly anyone listened to it outside of New Jersey, and My Chemical Romance found themselves playing to tiny, half-empty venues. Despite all of the hype around MCR a few years earlier, they weren't even big enough for Warped Tour, but the band soldiered on. They were signed to Reprise Records, but the executives threatened that if their third album didn't sell better, they'd be dropped from the label.

Gerard knew that they had to get this one right. Ray, Mikey, Matt, Audrey, and Gerard worked harder than even, well aware of what was at stake. They crafted a grandiose rock opera, and every member of the band was sure that it would be a huge hit with their fanbase. They called it The Rise and Fall of My Chemical Romance.

It flopped even harder than Three Cheers. The band went on tour, but Gerard's heart just wasn't in it anymore, not when they were playing to empty rooms, not when he could be doing something greater. When Reprise finally dropped them from their label, Gerard knew that he had to call it quits. He was done with scene politics, done with playing shows, done with music. After only five years, My Chemical Romance was over.

In another lifetime, their third album might have had another name. It might have been huge. It might have saved lives. My Chemical Romance might have carried on, but that was another lifetime.

After the band broke up, Gerard became a full-time comics writer. He published The Umbrella Academy, and he got a taste of the success he'd tried so hard to achieve with MCR. He wrote many more comics, won many more awards, and soon, his music career was nothing more than a distant memory, a footnote in the story of his life. He saw his old bandmates sometimes, but not often. Eventually, he settled down, got married, and had a daughter. He thought his life was going right. He thought he was happy, but sometimes, he got the feeling that somehow, something had gone very wrong along the way.

One evening, Gerard and his family sat in front of the TV to watch the news. Gerard was hardly paying attention - he was too busy working on his latest comic to care about what was happening in the world around him. All of a sudden, he heard a familiar name.

"Breaking news," the reporter on screen said. "Rock star Frank Iero has unexpectedly died in a traffic accident in Sydney, Australia. A bus collided with Frank Iero and the Patience's van, and Iero..."

Gerard looked away from the TV, heartbroken. He remembered Frank's tattoos, his smile, the way his eyes lit up whenever he listened to him sing. They hadn't known each other well, but he felt the weight of all of those possibilities. He thought about what could have been...

"Gerard, are you okay?" his wife asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Gerard said. "I just...I used to know Frank Iero. We weren't friends exactly, but..."

"I understand," his wife said. "It's sad that he passed away."

"Yeah, it is."

"Do you want me to make you some coffee?" his wife asked. "I'm sure that would make you feel better."

"Yeah, it would. Thank you."

Gerard's wife left the room to make his coffee, and Gerard kept on drawing, trying to get his mind off of Frank Iero and his bus accident. By the time his wife returned, he'd forgotten all about it.

In another lifetime, Gerard would have gone back in time. In another lifetime, he would have saved Frank from the crash. In another lifetime, he and Frank would have known each other, loved each other. They would have died for each other if they had to, but that was another lifetime.

The next year, Netflix adapted The Umbrella Academy into a TV show, and they gave Gerard a research-class time machine. He never went back in time though.

He never had a reason to.