They found themselves standing in front of a huge, fancy mansion. It wasn't like anything that Youngblood had ever seen back home in New Jersey, with a pool and a garden and enough space for everyone he knew. He stared at the mansion in awe, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't imagine why Figment had brought them here, of all places.

"Where and when are we, exactly?" Revenge asked.

"January 2006, I believe," Figment said with a slight smile. "Welcome to the Paramour Mansion."

"Do I actually live here in the future?" Revenge asked in disbelief.

"No, the band just rented the place while we were working on our third album," Figment said.

"So this era's version of me is probably inside," Youngblood said. "How are we going to get in?"

"Honestly, I bet we could just walk in there," Figment said. "The others were awful about closing the goddamn door. We're just going to have to be very careful to make sure that they don't see us."

Figment walked up to the door, and Revenge and Youngblood followed him. As he walked, Youngblood kept looking around, still unable to believe his eyes. My Chemical Romance must have gotten really popular if they could afford to rent this place.

Sure enough, the door was unlocked, so Revenge, Figment, and Youngblood all went inside. "Do you guys mind if I make a quick stop in the kitchen?" Figment said as soon as everyone was in the house. "I literally haven't had any coffee since 2002."

"Yeah, that's fine," Youngblood said.

Figment headed into the kitchen, and Revenge and Youngblood followed him. As soon as they got there, the two younger Gerards started digging around in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, Figment took off his watch and pushed a button on it, and it suddenly transformed into a coffee mug. He then poured himself a cup of coffee.

"I totally forgot you could do that," Revenge said. "It's kind of a neat trick."

"Isn't it?" Figment said as he took a sip of coffee. "Do you two want anything?"

"I'm okay for now," Youngblood said. He worried that the 2006 version of him might kill him if they drank too much of his coffee, and there wasn't much in the refrigerator. All he and Revenge could find were cans of Diet Coke, some leftover sushi, and a couple of veggie burgers that likely belonged to Frank.

"I'm fine too," Revenge said.

"Okay," Figment said. "Let's go find Pepper."

"Pepper," Revenge said. "Is that an album too?"

"No, it's short for Sgt. Pepper," Figment said.

"Fuck," Revenge said. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to think of an album title."

"Why's that his nickname?" Youngblood asked.

"You'll see," Figment said, much to Revenge and Youngblood's annoyance.

"So where is he right now?" Youngblood asked.

"I don't remember," Figment said.

Youngblood and Revenge both groaned. "Don't you have any idea?" Revenge said.

"I mean, you lived here, didn't you?" Youngblood said. "You know your way around. We don't."

Figment thought about it for a while and then said, "I guess we could look upstairs. That's where his bedroom is. Then again, I know Mikey slept on the floor in that room for a few days because of that creepy blue lightbulb, and there's always the risk of running into Frank..."

"We can at least try looking there," Youngblood said as he headed for the staircase. Figment, Revenge, and Youngblood all climbed upstairs, but they suddenly stopped when Frank, Ray, and Bob walked into the kitchen.

As far as Youngblood could tell, not much had changed in the two years that had passed since he'd last seen them. He stayed quiet, hoping that they wouldn't notice him or either of his future selves.

"Hey, who drank all the coffee?" Bob complained as he glanced at the empty coffee pot.

"I'll bet you anything it was Gerard," Ray said.

"Shit, how did he know?" Figment whispered.

"Shut up," Youngblood said.

"Did you guys hear that?" Frank said.

"Hear what?" Ray said.

"Those voices," Frank said. "And we heard those footsteps when we came in here. I'm telling you, this place is haunted."

"Yeah, right," Ray said.

"It would explain why the bathtub started filling up with water the other day when none of us were here," Bob said.

"Oh, come on, Bob," Ray said. "Don't tell me you believe in ghosts too."

"Then how do you explain the voices we just heard?" Frank asked.

"It was probably just some weird echo," Ray said.

"Now that I think about it, that did sound a lot like Gerard's voice..."

"I told you so."

As Frank took a veggie burger out of the refrigerator and stuck it in the microwave, Ray looked up toward the staircase. Figment, Youngblood, and Revenge all ducked, hoping that Ray wouldn't spot them. Thankfully, he turned back toward Frank and Bob, and the three Gerards breathed a sigh of relief.

"Has Mikey left yet?" Bob asked. "I haven't seen him since this morning."

"Last time I checked, he was still packing," Frank said as he took his burger out of the microwave.

"I hope he's doing okay," Ray said. "I know this whole recording session has been pretty hard on him."

"Maybe if we hadn't put him in the most haunted room in the whole house..." Frank said.

"For the last time, Frank, the Paramour isn't haunted!"

"Have you seen that creepy blue light in Mikey's room?"

"It's just a lightbulb!"

"It's a really creepy lightbulb!" Frank exclaimed. "Besides, it's not just that room. Apparently Gerard's room is haunted too."

"Yeah, right," Ray said.

"I'm serious. You should ask him about it."

"Maybe later, Frank. We have bigger problems to worry about than whether this place is haunted or not."

"Like what?" Frank asked.

"Well, first of all, I've got this cool idea for a guitar riff, and I should write it down before I forget it," Ray said. "After that, we all should go check on Mikey and help him pack up. We need to get better at supporting our bandmates around here. Then, we can ask Gerard what he thinks about this house potentially being haunted."

"Okay, fine," Frank said as he finished off his veggie burger. "What song is the new riff for, Ray?"

"The Five of Us Are Dying," Ray answered. "Although I've been thinking that we should probably change the name of that song."

"I agree, but I also don't have any better ideas..."

Frank, Ray, and Bob walked away, still chatting about their ideas for the album, and Figment, Youngblood, and Revenge finally got a chance to relax. "I think we're safe now," Figment said.

Revenge still looked a bit nervous. "They kept talking about Mikey," he said. "What...what happens to him? Is he okay?"

Figment sighed and then said, "To make a long story short, he left My Chem."

"Wait, what?!" Revenge exclaimed. "Mikey leaves the band?"

"You told me that he was in it for the long haul!" Youngblood shouted. He wasn't sure who he was angrier with: Mikey, for leaving My Chemical Romance, or Figment, for lying to him.

"Calm down, you two," Figment said. "It's only temporary. He comes back after a week or so."

"Why is he leaving?" Youngblood asked.

"It started when we first got here," Figment said. "He wasn't doing well mentally, and I don't think putting him in the scariest room in a haunted mansion helped. He tried to self-medicate, but nothing worked, and eventually, he decided that he had to leave."

"Oh God," Youngblood said. "I don't know what we would do without Mikey."

They wouldn't have anyone to play the bass if he left, but it wasn't about that. For Youngblood, it was bad enough knowing that he would become Revenge one day, a tortured artist who had turned to drugs and alcohol when nothing else would stop his suffering. It was even worse knowing that his little brother would have to confront those same demons.

"Again, he gets better," Figment said. He climbed up the stairs, and Youngblood and Revenge followed him. They soon came to a door, and Figment said, "I'm pretty sure this was my room." He opened the door, but it was slammed in his face.

"Someone else must be in there," Youngblood said.

"Or maybe Pepper really doesn't want to talk to us," Revenge suggested.

"I don't think so," Figment said as he slowly opened the door one more time. All three of them looked inside, and to their surprise, the room was completely empty. There were a handful of decorations that Pepper had put up, like a huge Iron Maiden poster on the back wall and a stack of comic books on the floor, but there was nobody in the bedroom, no matter where they looked.

"What the fuck?" Revenge said. "Who slammed the door then?"

"Probably a ghost," Youngblood said.

Figment closed the door and opened the next one. This time, they were in Frank's room, but there was nobody there either. After checking a few rooms on the second floor, Figment said, "We need a new plan."

"I've got one," Revenge said. "We could forget about Pepper, go straight to 2016, and perform a necromantic ritual to resurrect Frank."

"No," Figment said.

"Or we could stay here, start a vampire apocalypse, and hope that Pepper joins us when he finds out that there's a vampire-fighting team composed entirely of people named Gerard Way," Revenge said.

"I kind of like that idea," Youngblood said.

"No, we're not doing that either," Figment said.

"How about delivering the souls of a thousand evil men to the devil in exchange for Frank?" Revenge said.

"No way, Revenge," Figment said. "How about this? We'll check the rest of the rooms on this floor, and then if we still can't find Pepper, we'll go back downstairs."

"Why do you have to be such a killjoy?" Revenge complained. "First you took my vodka away, and now you're keeping us from doing anything that's actually fun..."

"Your idea of 'fun' is going to get us all killed," Figment said. "Let's just find Pepper and get out of here before we cause any more trouble than we already have."

Youngblood and Revenge reluctantly went along with Figment's plan, and the three of them walked down the hallway toward the next room. However, they ran straight into Mikey. Figment, Youngblood, and Revenge all glanced at each other, desperately trying to figure out what to do. Youngblood tried to find an escape route, but there was nowhere to run this time. They'd been found out.

Mikey was strangely unfazed as he looked at the three Gerards. "Hey Gerard," he said. "Don't forget to put 'Disenchanted' on the album."

He then walked past Youngblood, Revenge, and Figment, carrying his suitcase behind him. "That was weird," Youngblood said once Mikey was gone.

"I don't know what he's on, but I kind of want some," Revenge said.

"Absolutely not," Figment said as he sipped his coffee. "Let's check this last room, and then we'll go downstairs."

Figment slowly opened the door, and the first thing Youngblood noticed when he entered the room was the sheer amount of sticky notes posted on the walls. They were everywhere, and when he saw the cryptic words scribbled on them, there was no question about who had written them.

At the back of the room, there was a man with short, white hair wearing a black marching band jacket. He had just posted another sticky note on the wall, and he was writing on it. All of a sudden, he stepped away from the wall and admired his handiwork. He'd written, "We are all just a black parade."

At last, they'd found Pepper.