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 Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:35 pm
PART 1- Kobra's Only HopeI hope you like this. If you don't, well- I'll be sad.
Kobra Kid sat on the roof of the diner, leaning against the E, one of the three remaining letters of the word "DINER". After the bombs and the war that followed, all that was left of the word was "DI_E_". Ironic, huh?
Kobra did this a lot when they weren't discussing what to do the next day, eating or running around the California desert in their beat up Trans Am. He liked the solitude. No one asked why he went up there so much and he didn't tell them. There was one person he had no need to tell: his brother, Party Poison. Poison knew why he sought the silence of the roof.
It was personal- straight from the heart personal. It was about his wife, Alicia. I guess I should give you some back story of Kobra first, huh? It's only proper so you know where I'm coming from. The beginning is the best place to start.
Michael James Way was born on September 10, 1980 in Belleville, New Jersey to Donna Lee and Donald Way. He was the younger of the two sons blessed to the Ways. The other was his older brother by three years, Gerard Arthur Way, born April 9, 1977.
They had a decent childhood. Their parents never divorced or separated and the brothers NEVER fought. They were very close, and remain so to this day. They could not play outside because there was a lot of violence in their residential area. Crime was plentiful and so were concerned parents.
Like most kids, Michael was an outcast in school to all the athletic students. He was quiet, shy and cared greatly for others. His outcast status at school did not repel all girls though. He had a few girlfriends here and there too. But like most high school romances, they never lasted.
Michael never went by his full name though. It was always Mikey from Day One. After all, Michael was such a common name. Eventually he went to college, quitting halfway through to join his brother's band, My Chemical Romance in 2001.
The band had a good six years before he finally married the girl he hoped he would grow old with: Alicia Simmons. They married in March of 2007 and had three years under their feet before the band put out their fourth album. It was called "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys".
Another two years flew by and their fifth anniversary came and went. They couldn't be happier. Mikey had a three year old niece and his friend and rhythm guitarist for the band, Frank, had two year old twin girls of his own. He was starting to feel a bit left out until early December of 2012.
He was already in California, brainstorming for the fifth My Chemical Romance album when Alicia called him.
"Mikey, I have some great news to tell you!"
"What is it Alicia?"
"We're going to have a baby! I found out this morning that I'm already three months along!"
"That's great, honey! I can't wait!"
Then, three weeks later, tragedy occurred. The Apocalypse came as several small nuclear bombs. One of the first cities hit- was New York City. When Mikey heard it on the TV, he screamed, stricken with shock and grief, knowing his Alicia- and unborn child- were dead.
By the following summer, the band had assumed the lives of the people the Danger Days album had brought to life from the comic Gerard was working on.
Seven years passed. It is now 2019, and Mikey, now known as Kobra Kid, was still feeling it.
As the sun was setting and the clouds turned purple and pink-orange, Poison came up. He always had to make sure Kobra came back inside.
Kobra knew it was his brother because he was the only one he would even think to talk to on the rooftop. This time, Party actually stayed.
Lighting a cigarette Party asked his younger brother, "How's the contemplation going?"
"It's going like it usually does. Why are you smoking up here?"
"They banished me from smoking in the building. That and less dust in the eyes is always a good thing."
"It's been seven years Gerard. Seven years have passed and I still can't force myself to let them go."
"And you think Frank and I have? All of us lost our wives, Frank lost his girls and I lost Bandit. You just got the worst apple in the bunch. All of us were robbed of the lives we enjoyed."
"You don't seek solitude all the time like I do though."
"Mikey, I'm going to tell you what I do as the equivalent of your rooftop visits. After all of you are in bed, I pull out the last family picture we took and stare at it. I don't keep track of how long, but I haven't gotten a full eight hours of rest since 2012. I stare at the last band shot and last picture of you and me. I even carry the family photo in my inner jacket pocket- next to my heart."
"Do you know what Frank does?"
"He says prayers every night. Frank also carries a family picture.To each their own way of grieving."
"Gerard, why did we get caught up in this?"
"That's one thing I don't have an answer to Mikey. Sorry little bro."
"You know what I wanted it to be?" His brother paid attention as he answered, "I wanted it to be a boy. That way we wouldn't be stuck being the last males. Besides, you already had a girl."
"I didn't want to get stuck with it either, but we did."
Kobra began to cry suddenly. Party wrapped his arms around his baby brother. Kobra clung to him like he had clung to their mom when he was still little. The two stood there for a long time, Poison unmoving as he allowed his baby brother to let the tears fall as long as they came.
Long after the sun had set was when Kobra's tears became fewer and he was able to say, "I want to go inside now."
It was quiet, which is exactly what Kobra needed. Party asked,"Do you want to go to bed now? It's way past midnight."
Kobra nodded and wondered, "Could you stay in my bed for tonight? I don't want to be alone."
With a relieving smile Party Poison told his younger brother, "I'd be a rotten big brother if I didn't stay."
When Kobra was about to doze off he mumbled, "Don't leave me Gerard. You're all I have left. You're my only hope to survive."
The next morning, Kobra woke to find Poison snoring on the floor. He probably fell off the bed while being dead as a log, because the fall didn't seem to have affected his sleep. It kind of made him chuckle, causing memories of waking him up for school if he slept over ten minutes past his alarm. He used to call him Rip Van Winkle.
"Rip Van Winkle, wake up! We're going to be late!"
"I don't want to go to school!"
He was so deep in sleep he didn't know it had been twenty years since his last year of grade school.
"You're not going to school! It's been twenty years since you've been in grade school!"
"What is it Mikey!"
"The guys are already awake. Time to rise and shine."
"How'd I get on the floor?"
"You fell off during the night. Now let's go Poison," Kobra said, once again thinking of how he used to wake Alicia up on lazy Saturdays.
In his heart he knew he would never be over them.
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:40 pm
PART 2- Kobra Isn't Okay
The magazine I mention is actually in the Na Na Na video. Mikey's looking through it and if you look closely you can see the title of a story in it. Oh, and how many of you know Mikey moved to L.A.?Now he can be close to his niece biggrin The afternoon following his crying fit was an unusual one. They were out on a raid and in turn discovered something, or should I say someone- in addition to their material findings.
"What's your name miss?"
"Chemical Disaster is my name. I was using this as a hideout for a couple days." She revealed her injured arm, caked with dried blood. "I got it in a nasty fight with a Drac patrol about four days ago."
Poison offered, "Would you like someone to take a proper look at it? My friend Jet Star is our medical expert and fixes all wounds. I mean physical wounds; he doesn't do emotional or psychological. He can try to cheer you up, but he's no psychiatrist."
"I guess it would be better than getting sick with an infection and having to cut my arm off. I'll go with you."
"Before we do go, I'll introduce you to the other two in our group. The one in the red jacket deep in thought is my brother Kobra Kid and the one pretending he's in a Western film is Fun Ghoul."
Once they returned to the diner they laid Disaster on a spare bed and Jet started to work on her cut. She noticed Kobra wandering down the hall like he was sleepwalking and asked Jet, "What's with Kobra? He acts kind of distant."
"Everyone's lost someone in the past seven years. It could have been the Apocalypse or the Wars, but all four of us lost family. Kobra, Poison and Ghoul lost more than I did.
"Poison had a wife and a four year old daughter and Fun Ghoul had twin daughters around three years old. Kobra had a harder time though."
"Did he have more kids than them?"
"No, that isn't the reason. The fact that he was going to be a father for the first time was the reason. The Apocalypse came not three weeks after he was told. To be so happy and lose a child before it is even born is much worse than losing one sometime after their birth. Poison and Ghoul got to know their girls- Kobra never even found out what he was getting."
"Is that why he was looking right past me at the warehouse?"
"That's most likely the reason. We haven't bothered with women since the Apocalypse. There's no use in trying in a world this barren, devoid of any positive future. There's too much risk of them dying all over again. It would just bring back the deaths of our wives and families.
If Kobra doesn't speak to you at first, just know that's why. When he does, be careful what you say around him. Anything could set off memories for him. It’s best to keep away from relationship topics." After another moment and a shot of painkillers, Jet let Disaster up. "Oh, and if he disappears, he's usually on the roof, having his quiet time. He likes solitude, so if you go up there, don't try to talk. The only one he won't yell at is Poison, and Poison is the only one who can get him down. It's just for future reference. You're all set."
"Thank you Jet. I'll try not to provoke him."
Back in the diner Poison and the other two were waiting on Jet to hear how Disaster's cut was.
"The cut was not infected, but I gave her some pain medicine to dull the feeling. She'll sleep through the night."
"I'm glad she's okay." Kobra did the strangest thing just then. He walked back to the room she had been assigned and sat next to her.
"Poison, what's with your brother? You think he'd avoid her- not go to her side."
"You know him Ghoul. He cares for everyone that gets injured- even if it's a stranger."
"But the person is a girl. He never wanted to see another one again after all that's happened. Why would he go to the bedside of someone of the opposite sex when he clearly stated he never wanted to know a girl again? I swear your brother is going psycho on us."
"Kobra is just different. He's always been misunderstood. People have always thought they could walk all over him. People misjudge him by looking at how slender he is. They think that just because he's skinny and shy that he can't care for himself."
"He's probably thinking of Alicia in that room. Maybe he's imagining her as Alicia."
"Whatever he's doing, let him do it and let's work on the car. The back tires need air."
Kobra went in to see the girl they picked up. She was sleeping soundly, so nothing he said would be heard.
"You remind me of Alicia so much. I kind of wish she was you. Why did you have to go Ali? It's not fair. I wish I could have a second chance to know what our baby would have been. Even if we lost it I would still have you.
"But I can't get a second chance now. If all four of y'all could have been with us we would feel a lot better. It's impossible. I don't even remember why I'm talking to an unconscious girl probably half my age."
Kobra left Disaster's room, heading into his own for privacy. He brought out the last picture Alicia and him took together. It was on his thirty second birthday, outside his favorite restaurant in New York City. They had a lot of birthday fun too, which was probably when she got pregnant. If only things had been different...
At dinner Jet Star wondered, "Where's Kobra? He's usually the first one in here eating."
"I'm his brother; I'll see what's up," Poison said.
"Mikey, are you back here?" Poison looked into Disaster's room and found an empty chair. Peeking into Kobra's room he found the man sleeping on his bed. The elder brother knew something was up because he could recognize when things were off.
Since falling asleep before dinner wasn't his norm, he checked his forehead- which was flaming. He had to get Jet in there.
"Jet, I need you in Kobra's room." Jet came through the door, waiting for Poison to speak again. "Ray, Mikey has a really high fever. His forehead is on fire!"
"You use our names only in private, don't you?"
"No matter how important our code names are, our real ones will always mean more. Let's get a cloth on his head. He'll be out the rest of the night like Disaster. I'll keep watch on him."
"That's what I've always adored about you Gerard. No matter what the situation is, Mikey is your first priority. You'd give yourself up if it saved his life. If you aren't asleep by two, I'm knocking you out with a shot of a sleep- inducing drug."
With that, Gerard was left alone next to a sleeping Mikey.
"Sweet dreams Mikey. You're not okay, but you don't and never will wear me out. I love you Baby Brother."
*In Kobra's Head*
"Mikey, you in there sweetheart?"
Kobra glanced at his surroundings. He was in his bed at his home in New York.
"I know you're in there Mikey. There's no other place to look. Open up honey."
"Alicia, is that you?"
"Why wouldn't it be? Open the door, babe."
He unlocked the door and opened it, Alicia standing in front of him. It was his Alicia- and he was touching her beautiful face.
"I thought I'd never see you again. I miss you so much."
"I know you miss me. I miss you too."
"Why did it have to happen in December? Why couldn't it have been the following June? We could have at least been together."
"I can't fix that, but I can tell you what we would have gotten." The embodiment paused and finished, "We would have had a boy."
"How could you know? You were only three months."
"I was actually five. I told your brother, but made him swear not to tell you in case the Apocalypse did happen. I didn't want it to be as hard to take, so I lied about where I was in my term. Oh, and this is what he'd look like if we had lived."
A young boy came up and said, "Hi Daddy. I wish I could have met you."
"I wish I could have known you as well. If one of you lived I wouldn't always be so quiet around the guys."
"If I told you one of us did live, would you be a little happier?"
"I would be a little happier. DID one of you live?"
"I'm sorry Mikey. I was leaving New York, but got caught in the chaos of all the panicking residents. Hon, I have to go now."
"Why? Why do you have to go twice?"
"You got a fever and your body told you to sleep. You've been hanging out on the roof too much. It's a miracle your brother gets you down from there at all.
"Your fever is pretty high up there. Get back to sleep you coffee addict. I'll always love you, no matter where
either of us are. I'll be in your dreams if you need me."
The next morning, Kobra woke up with Gerard reading a magazine next to him. He felt the cloth on his head and asked, "What happened Gerard?"
"You didn't show up for dinner, so I came to see what was up. I'm assuming you went to see the girl and once you left your brain involuntarily sent you here and told you to sleep.
"The Drac patrols were called back so we stayed in. Even if the Dracs hadn't been called back I would have told Cherri Cola and Showpony to go in our place. Your fever didn't go down much last night."
"What was it when you noticed?"
"It was around 103.6 degrees. It's 103.3 right now, and touching your forehead is a way of saying your temperature hasn't gotten much better. I thought I heard you mumble something about Alicia at around one, but I was about to doze off."
"I did have a dream where I was able to touch her, and it felt so real. She told me the baby was a boy and that she lied to me so I wouldn't take it as hard if I didn't know how far she really was. Do you think it was to help me sleep?"
"I don't know Mikey. In this hellish world, anything could happen. I'd be happy if I saw Lin or Bandit in my dreams."
"I just wish her answer would have been yes when I asked if either of them had survived. She showed me what he'd look like if I had known him."
"I know you do Mikey. You need to eat some food since you missed dinner."
Mikey was given a can of Power Pup and an orange.
"We were lucky with the raid. There was a whole crate of oranges, so we grabbed the whole thing."
"Don't you have things to do Gerard? You don't have to stay and take care of me."
"Michael there are no patrols, we have enough supplies for a month and the others are preoccupied with Chemical Disaster's story. I think I can wait for Frank to tell me the exciting version. Anything you need to occupy yourself?"
"Yeah, could you get me the MURDER magazine? I want to read the article about whether torture is outdated. It's about six pages long. Oh, and my iPod would be nice."
"I'll be right back."
"Do you think one of them could be alive- even though Alicia said they didn't survive?"
"I believe that anything can happen in this world- including the miraculous rediscovery of our loved ones."
As his brother left his room, Kobra smiled, happy to know his big brother held a belief in the possibility of seeing family again-even if it was almost impossible.
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:56 pm
PART 3- To The End, Kobra
Haha, the only part that doesn't have a title relating to Danger Days. Last part- what will happen?
Six months after picking up Chemical Disaster, the Killjoys had reached some major milestones in defying Chief Exterminator Korse and the utopian city he controlled with those brainwashed minions and those cursed drugs of his.
There was one thing that had changed- Poison had been killed in battle three months ago. Kobra remembered what he had said to his brother the night of his breakdown on the roof.
"Don't leave me Gerard. You're all I have left. You're my only hope to survive."
They had to move their hideout to the abandoned warehouse they found Chemical Disaster because the diner had been destroyed while they were out on the fatal mission.
Time seemed to slow down as Kobra Kid saw his only brother and last remaining family member backed up to a wall with a gun pressed underneath his chin. He began running towards the Exterminator, dodging bullets from other Drac's guns. Just as he was about to reach the two representing each side, the gun went off.
"NO!!! POISON!!!" He then yelled at Korse, "YOU ********! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE FOR KILLING MY BROTHER!"
He tried with no avail to reach the murderer before being shot himself. The battle had basically ended once Poison had been eliminated. Korse and the remnants of the Dracs participating in the battle left the other three on the floor.
They did go back to grab any leftovers they could find from the rubble of the diner. There was one thing Kobra found that the others didn't: the pictures Poison always kept with him. The one he was most surprised to see was the one of Poison, Bandit and Lindsay. He always kept that in his jacket. Why did he leave it behind? Did he know he was about to die?
Despite the reason behind the most important picture his brother carried like an obsession, Kobra slid down the corner of the two remaining walls of Poison's shed and cried. They had taken one last picture together with a camera they had stolen. It was after one of their raids. They were both smiling, Poison placing his left hand behind his brother, and Kobra doing the same with his right. Poison was holding his mask while Kobra held his helmet, reading "GOOD LUCK" on the visor.
A week after the incident, they were able to break in and find his body. Once they had it, Fun Ghoul asked Kobra, "Where do you want to bury him?"
"We're going to Los Angeles. He'll be buried at his house."
Several hours later, they reached his house. Kobra announced in a monotone voice, "Let me do this alone. It's something I have to do alone. I wasn't able to do it for my parents, wife or unborn son, so I might as well do it for my only brother."
Two hours later, he had dug a hole in the back yard underneath the oak tree to rest his brother in. He ordered Fun Ghoul, "Give me his gun and mask. No one else will use it again- not even for emergencies."
Kobra put the mask on his face and holstered the yellow ray gun in its place before lowering him into the pit, family picture next to his heart inside his jacket and shoveling the dirt back into the hole, saying an eternal and final farewell. After he was finished, he laid down on the ground next to the handmade grave and fell asleep.
"You deserve to be laid to rest at home, where you'll be close to your family. Tell everyone I say hi. I want to be buried here too."
The last thing they did was get a block of cedar, writing in permanent marker:
WAY
Gerard Arthur
Apr 9, 1977
Sept 19, 2019
Beloved husband, son, brother and father
Your memory will carry on
Kobra drove everyone home and asked, "Where do you want our next hideout to be?"
Disaster piped up, "We could use the warehouse you found me in. It's closed off, nowhere near any of the patrolled areas and has a floor with rooms and balconies."
"Does everyone agree with Disaster's suggestion?" His other two comrades accepted so he stated with finality, "Our next stop will be the abandoned warehouse- and our new home."
Kobra spent every evening on his balcony or his roof. Disaster took responsibility of bringing him inside if he was on the roof. Every time the roof door opened, Kobra thought it was Poison until his memory reminded him his brother was dead.
The following year on September nineteenth, Kobra told the guys he wasn't feeling too great and to go on the raid without him. As soon as the car was out of sight he got out a piece of paper and wrote down:
Guys,
I told Gerard not to leave me, but he did. If you guys know us as well as you think you do, you know what I would do. I know, I know- suicide isn't the way. This time, suicide is the only way. I've tried to move on, but trying to get over your brother isn't the same as getting over your wife.
I loved every minute I've spent with you. Ray, you are the best shredder on the guitar I've known and I loved playing on stage with you. I can't count how many times Frank has been there when Gerard couldn't be. I'd never trade anything for you Frank. I have two things for you to do.
1. Kill that murdering son of a b***h
2. When the City is free, publish the series of comics Gerard made before he died. They're under my bed. They are the Killjoy comics he worked on.
I hope to see you guys in the future- even if you do live to be old ********. I want to be next to my big brother. I'll miss you guys.
Rock on and never say die,
-Mikey
P.S. Use my full first name for once on the marker.
Kobra Kid signed his name, left it, his gun and his helmet on his bed and walked to the roof. He looked down ten floors to the hard desert ground, tucked the pictures of him and Alicia and him and Gerard inside his jacket. Kobra inhaled and exhaled once before turning on a smile and falling backwards, his memories flashing by before he hit the ground with a thud.
FUN GHOUL'S VIEW
We knew it had been a tough year for Mikey, so we let him stay. The other two didn't suspect he would do anything, but I knew we would never see Mikey alive again. I had already figured he would kill himself. It was just a matter of when and what method he would use.
When we returned, I immediately went to his room and found his gun and helmet, grabbing the note and reading it. I heard Chemical scream from the back. She must have found him, so he most likely free fell from the roof. I walked out the back and my theory was correct.
I saw Mikey on the ground, eyes closed, blood puddling around his head but with a smile. Chemical asked, "If he killed himself, why is he smiling?"
I explained, "He and his brother were extremely close. He lost his parents, niece, sister in law, wife and unborn child when the bombs went off. Poison was the only family he had left. They always looked after each other- no matter what situation they found themselves in. Both of them were in depression and wanted to off themselves years ago, so it was kind of obvious to me that he would do this.
"Poison and Kobra have been together nearly their whole lives between their childhoods, our time as My Chemical Romance and the time we've spent in this Godforsaken world. They've only been apart a total of what, less than eight years? I've always known that if one of them goes, the other one won't be far behind. Oh, and the reason he's smiling is because he's with his family again. Now you know Kobra."
"I liked him so much though."
"He wouldn't have dated you. He swore he'd never go out with another woman after losing Alicia. Now I suggest we go back to L.A. and lay him next to his brother."
I drove us there, Ray helping me dig the hole. We put his gun in its holster as well, but not the helmet. I just couldn't do it. When it came to the marker, I knew what to write.
WAY
Michael James
Sept 10, 1980
Sept 19, 2020
Beloved son, husband and brother
You only hear the music when your heart begins to break
We are the kids from yesterday
I wrote the last two lines of the chorus from The Kids From Yesterday, our collective favorite song from "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys."
Six months later we were able to finally kill, as Mikey so finely put it, "that son of a b***h" and free the City. Once everyone was free and the drugs were out of their systems, they began to use color again.
One of the first stores open was a comic shop and when a publishing house was rehabilitated, no one could get enough of the first creative thing published: the comics that Gerard had made about the Killjoys.
And the dedication read:
These comics are dedicated most of all to the ones I've loved, lost and left behind. Secondly these are dedicated to anyone who reads them once they are free from their drug- induced prison.
To my closest friends- I will miss you and hope you will lead normal lives once again, no matter what. The hardest part of this is leaving you.
We did lead normal lives again. I keep Mikey's helmet and Ray keeps the mouse head Gerard wore. We aren't far from each other, and Los Angeles is being rebuilt as well. The Pasadena area was first, and it has been finished. The last things done to honor Gerard and Mikey's memories were to give them real stones and preserve Gerard's house as a monument of what existed before all of this.
Turned out my girls had been brainwashed, so they were able to find me once they were free. They live in Pasadena, keeping up Gerard's house. We've lived through it all and survived- to the end.
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