Danger Days

Inspired by the album Danger Days: Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys by My Chemical Romance

~~~Na Na Na~~~

How could he have been so blind, he wondered later, after the epiphany struck in the rain slicked city. The tie strangling his throat had never before felt so tight. He had to escape. This wasn't what it was all about, not by a long shot. Staring down at the briefcase in his hand, his life's work, he was disgusted and ashamed. He threw it down into the muddy cobblestones. Dirty money that was clean, like this, was hypocrisy and a lie. If he would deal in dirty money, he would deal in dirty dirty money. Stripping the leash from his neck, the lone young man turned his back on the Company his father and his father before him had invested so much in and delved into the drugged, dirty-moneyed underworld.
He led an angry, dirty life. And it was exhilarating. Away from the Company, he found more of life. Danger, freedom, greed, lust, and dirty sin. Laws were broken, lives threatened and changed. No longer was he the automaton slave of his father. Here, in the darkness, in the mud and the blood and the sin, he was free. With a new name and look and attitude, he refused to be found by those who knew him once.
But it wasn't enough. He may have been free, but in the shadows of the Company, close to where the deserter swelled, he could see huddles of sufferers brought to their miserable state by people like the Company and the dirty clean way they handled money. The young man was horrified. He knew in the lowest part of his dirtied soul that someone had to rebel. The only problem? No one cares enough. Everyone he touched to follow him left. They'd fallen prey to the Company. No one wants to die for a cause like this. The young deserter knew he could not reach them. They invested too much in the Company and others like it. If he was going to rid the world of dirty clean, he would need young followers, ones like him, ones willing to change. To find them, he would need to leave the city and search other shadows. To find the lost and the damned who would die for this cause, he would have to sift through this dirty clean world to find dirty dirty people.

~~~Bulletproof Heart~~~

A van runs screaming into the desert skyline, spitting up dust in the scorching sunmotes. A girl, Japanese by descent and clad in black leather, leans out the huge side window and whoops joy into the wind. Nothing can stop them. They are free. Free from the Company, free from the stifling overprotective, overexpectant parents that had triggered her escape from the dirty clean world. The man in the driver's seat with the blood red dyed hair and ripped jeans had found and saved her from the lonely pain of the run. They still search for the elite student and good girl with the dirty clean soul, but they will never find her under the leatherbound free woman in the van.
A tawny head pokes up from the sun roof, calling her name. They'd all had names once, but now they had given new titles to the new souls tearing through the desert.
"Jenny!" She looks up and smiles at the tawny haired boy with dangerous black eyes. Over the roof of the car, the two share a smile and a kiss. The blood haired man's smile never wavered, but his heart struggles to beat against its Kevlar coating as it combats a pang of jealousy shot from Jenny's hollowpoint smile. As she and the boy with dangerous eyes known now only as Johnny slip back into the van, the deserter chuckles and pushes back his blood red hair.
"I love you guys so much, you now that?" Jenny and Johnny smile and agree, but they know that his Kevlar coated heart won't let the words touch his eyes. To fill the silence, Johnny cranks up the radio, filling the noonday stifle with hard, angry, energized music. Flying down the desert highway, the three feel absolute freedom. For Jenny, freedom to do as she wished, when she wished. Johnny was another kind of escape. He was embedded in the darkness like the others hadn't dared touch. A snap moment had pulled the trigger for him and shot down not only the dirty clean smoothtalker who dealt in lies, but also the quiet obedient boy whose body now housed Johnny. Both lost sufferers had been found by the blood haired man named Jett. Jett had grabbed hold of them and pulled them from the depths and shown them what they'd missed, what they were truly running from. Jett had given them new names, names that couldn't be caught. Jett had let them catch new lives and shown them what needed to be done. Three was not nearly enough to stop the flow of dirty clean dealings in a mud of blood and suffering.
A dark smudge appears on the horizon. Jenny yells out for Jett to stop. A thin, colorless, lost sufferer looks up at them from the steaming hot roadside. He's tall and sleepy looking, with haunted pale eyes. He looks like he'll drop and be lost at any moment. Rolling down the window, Jenny throws a hand out to him.
"Hey! Kid!" She beckons, waving him over, but he doesn't move, waving him over, but he doesn't move, standing in the desert dirt and gently swaying in the wind. Jenny sighs and hauls open the van door, catching him by the arm and pulling his almost weightless frame into the cool darkness inside. He collapses, tired and hot, while Jenny and Johnny try to revive him.
"Kid. Hey, Kid!" Johnny slaps the boy's face lightly, trying to rouse him, "What's your name, Kid?" They get only mumbles from the semi-conscious boy. Only after much coaxing do his pale eyes finally flutter open. Jenny smiles.
"Hey, Kid. You were pretty lost, weren't you?" The boy looks up at them, unsure.
Jett finally turns in his seat to look at the thin boy in his van.
"Hey, Kid. Welcome to the Danger Days." The boy smiles, saved.

~~~Sing~~~

But life is not just freedom. The Danger Days had work to do. Jett, Jenny, and Johnny knew how to make a stand and make it loud. The pale boy had never given a name, and so was renamed Kid in the Danger Days style. He rather seemed mute, in fact. He never spoke above a whisper, and never led anything. The Danger Days didn't know who he was, or where he'd come from, but his loyalty made up for his silence. But Kid still had to be taught.
Preaching did no good. Johnny was clear evidence of that. People had to be shown that something was wrong and that it was affecting them. Even when faced with opposition and disbelief, they had to keep at it. Even when higher-ups and cops threatened to silence them, they only moved to a new area to spread truth.
Kid wanted too easily to give up. He shivered in face of opposition, his soul too weak to fight the Silence. The Danger Days could only do so much. They knew he understood and believed, but lacked the confidence still to delve into the dirty darkness. He was too tense. Every challenge made him twang like a rubber band pulled too far. Jett took matters into his own hands to help Kid into the darkness. With one step through a doorway, the four were swept through to a dirty dirty world where Jett had lived before he found the other Danger Days.

~~~Planetary~~~

An explosion of color and sound. A labyrinth of writhing bodies jumping in time to the concussive bass. Every vice available for the right price. Men, women, and people somewhere in between surrounding you on all sides. A place where it was impossible to not let go.
Jet locks hold of their hands and pulls them into the fray. Jenny and Johnny flow into the tide, melting into the many escaping from reality. Kid is too stiff, jostled and threatened to be toppled by the unrelenting pressure of bodies.
"Stay close!" Jett yells over the thumping sound, "I want to show you something! Come on!" Kid is dragged to the heart of the sound and movement. Jett waves down the lone man at the turntables. His face lights up in recognition and he tunes down the sound. A slight cry goes up, but it is quieted as they realize the cause. Jett throws his arms up and grabs the mic to be heard.
"Danger Days! Hello!" A shout goes up in answer.
"I'm back, I came to party for a night!" Cheers from the other deserters.
"We are young! And nothing is going to bring us down! Tonight we party, tomorrow we save!" As the crowd cheers, Jett pumps the bass back up and dives into the froth of bodies. Unsure, Kid slowly clicks out of tension, only fully unwound after a few drinks are passed around to him. Then the real fun begins.
In a haze of drink and dancing, the pale eyed boy known as Kid looks up at Jett, the one who saved him. He'd saved all of them. Whenever Jett spoke, people listened, and Kid could feel the agreement and the energy. They were young and they were many, and they refused to be brought down. They were not average. They were a mesh of teens and adults that would take hold of this new revolution into the next generation. No one can stop them. With the deserter at their head, they were invincible.
Kid closes his eyes and melts into the music. An eternity later, he is brought back by Jett saying "I'm gonna go now, don't forget to keep the spirit up and the party going!" Jenny pulls at Kid's arm and leads him back toward the door, lightyears away. Jett is alongside them, patting shoulders, grabbing hands, and steering the four Danger Days to the door.

~~~The Only Hope For Me Is You~~~

And so the Danger Days headed back to their van to set back onto the road and save sufferers. Kid was much calmer and bright eyed, though still silent. Jenny and Johnny tried in vain to get the colorless boy to speak, while Jett steered them into new territory.
"So, Kid," He'd said, "you've seen the strength of the Danger Days. You're a part of that now. Are you ready for that?" Kid smiled and nodded. Jet turned in his seat and grinned at the Danger Days.
"I love you guys, you know that, right?" Kid blinked a little at the words that didn't rise from the bulletproof heart, but Jenny and Johnny just smiled back and assured him that they too loved him. Jett's brows furrowed in a frown.
"No, I mean it. You are my only hope, do you know this?" Jenny and Johnny hadn't heard this one before. "If it wasn't for you guys, I'd be lost. This battle will cross generations, probably, and only knowing you is keeping me going. I feel that I can face the burning and the suffering. Sometimes... Sometimes all I can think about is the misled violence. I don't want it to be that way. I just want to stop the lies..." Jenny put a hand on his, half in assurance, half to steady the drifting van. Jett turned his face away, and there was silence for a while. Kid thought about speaking, but remained silent.

~~~Traffic Report~~~

The news came in a couple days later. Just after they'd left, two of their own were gunned down. Not by rivals, no. The higher ups had caught on. They were determined to crush the revolution. Jett was now a target. The Danger Days were now prey. No one knew how the higher-ups had caught on, but the revolution pushed further into the darkness.
Jet refused to give in. Speed was the key, darkness their ally. The Danger Days would not be caught.

~~~Party Poison~~~

At the fall of two Danger Days, Jett pulled back and let Jenny take the wheel. Jenny was a natural attention seeker. She was a woman with something to say, and she said it loud. She pulled the crowds, and when the higher ups got close, the Danger Days disappeared into the darkness.
Jett smiled. His hopes were coming to fruition. You could see it in the peoples' eyes. The Company was losing a hold on their dirty clean souls.
Kid seemed more nervous again after the news had come in. His pale eyes shifted constantly, on the watch for the higher ups. Jett jokingly gave him the duty of watchman, but it was needed. As the follower count grew, so did the threat level.
As the influence of the Danger Days grew, the powder keg of followers threatened to blow, and it just didn't need to. Jett saw the tension in the misled Danger Days. He wished he could stay and teach them how violence and explosion was not the answer, but to change your life and stop the dirty clean flow of money to starve the Companies.
There were too many rebels, and not enough believers.

~~~Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back~~~

At a gathering, explosion. The flashing nean masked the infiltrators, thumping bass muffling gunshots. Screams are lost in the drink and the darkness. Jett is at the head of the party, unaware until the music is killed, betraying the infiltrators. Shouts go up, the confused scramble for an exit.
Jett screams for Jenny and Johnny, grabbing the pair and dodging higher ups as he too runs to the open air. Kid is nowhere to be found.
Following the deserter, the three can hear the shootout below. Jett is grimfaced, unspeaking, only running. Jenny glances at Johnny and runs after him. The tunnel opens into an alleyway. Jett turns to close the doorway, but the flashlights of pursuers can already be seen. Jett slams the door shut and turns to face Jenny and Johnny.
"Run!" Jenny fumbles the van keys out of her pocket, but Jett swats them out of her hand.
"They'll know the plates! Just run, I'll hold them back!" Jenny knows it's a lie and begins to cry. Horrified, Jett pulls her close.
"Hey. It doesn't matter. We all knew this would happen. One person may be lost, but together the Danger Days are immortal. Dirty or clean, that's for us to decide. But never both." He holds her out at arms' length, looking at both her and Johnny. "Steal a car, run on foot, don't get caught. You two are my best hope. I'll try to find you." Johnny's black eyes go dark as he grabs Jenny's arm.
"We have to run." Jenny nods and turns back to Jett a last time.
"We do love you, Jett. We won't let the Danger Days die." Jett's eyes brighten as he answers with a smile.
"Love you too, Jenny..." Then they run.

~~~Scarecrow~~~

Steal a car, run a ways, grab a bus, any way to get away from the scene. Hiding out in alleys and yards until the sun goes down. Trying to be unpredictable. Finally reaching the dark rural farms of Nowhere. Stealing food when it can't be bought, searching desperately for any news of the Danger Days. Hiding.
Jenny cried when she saw the picture in the newspaper salvaged from the trash of the farmhouse they hid near. A pale-eyed colorless boy stares up at them from the print with a slight smile. It had been a setup. Kid had betrayed the Danger Days. Johnny gently pulled her into the shadows and hugged her close.
"Hush... It's alright, Jenny. I'll keep you safe. We won't let the Danger Days die out. Even if it's only us, we'll keep Jett's dream alive." Jenny wept quietly for those lost, hugging to Johnny's chest. She couldn't see his dark eyes going darker.
Suddenly with a rustling of cornfield stalks that couldn't be the scarecrow, the pair looked up a shadowy figure stumbling out of the darkness.

~~~Summertime~~~

"Jett?!" Jenny whisper-shouts and surges forward, held back by Johnny. Jett smiles and lurches forward. Johnny catches him, dark eyes scanning the pale face. Jett is smiling tiredly.
"Found you." Jenny bursts into tears and drapes a hug over Jett, whose wince is only seen by Johnny. He hugs back. Confused, Jenny pulls away and finds dark stained hands.
"What happened?" Jett's eyes flick toward the field, and his smile wavers as he looks at Jenny's tear-streaked face.
"They got me as I came in from the other side. They'll be coming for me. You should go."
"No! No, I won't leave you again!" Jenny's voice is becoming too shrill, stopped by a touch from Johnny. Jett smiles sadly.
"It's okay. I don't have long, anyway. They got me good." The red is seeping into the mud all around. Jenny cries again, but Jett holds a hand to her cheek.
"Hush now, don't cry." He doesn't seem upset, already resigned to his fate. "Just stay..." His eyelids flicker, weak, then he takes a shuddering breath. "I know you won't let the Danger Days die. You won't let the Company win." Leaning a bloodstained hand on Johnny's arm, Jett pulls himself up and gently kisses Jenny's forehead shakily.
"I love you guys..." But he was looking with bright eyes at Jenny. As he falls back, a smile crosses his face.
"If you guys are here, I feel like I can stay all night..." he sighs, "Ah, but I can't. Hey." His eyes burn with amusement and final pain. "Can you graffiti something great on my grave? I don't think I could live with it being boring for eternity." He chuckles at this last joke and closes his eyes. Jenny reaches a trembling hand to hold his. It's cold, but still has the warmth of life. When the pulse stops, Johnny folds the sobbing Jenny into his arms and pulls her up.
In the dim night, she can't see his dangerous black eyes. Even if she could, she couldn't have known the shade just before the snap moment that had pushed Johnny into the darkness.

~~~Destroya~~~

Leaving Jenny somewhere safe, Johnny stole a car and set off on a revenge mission. Kid had to pay. He'd killed the followers. He'd betrayed the Danger Days. He'd murdered Jett.
Glancing down at the newspaper on the seat next to him, he at least knew where to start. The small stolen car ripped through the streets, leaving behind a grieving, confused Jenny.
He soon came upon the house where the enemy lived. Living in darkness and on the run gave him the skills to break in unannounced. Stealing through the silent halls, he found the betrayer lived with a family. How dare he live in comfort when those that surrounded him couldn't have half as much.
Johnny pushed open the door to find the pale boy sleeping peacefully. Johnny felt the tension in his mind. He crept to the boy and put a hand over his mouth.
"Hey, Kid. Look what you've become." Kid's eyes flew open. His scream was muffled by the hand clamping his jaws together. Johnny flicked a knife into his hand and made sure Kid saw it.
"Anything louder than a whisper and this goes into your neck. Understand?" Glints of star-bright tears gathered in Kid's eyes as he nodded. Slowly, keeping the blade at the boy's throat, he removed his hand. Kid shivered with fear.
"Why, Kid? Tell me that right now." Kid opened his mouth and choked on the words. Johnny hissed and pressed on the blade. Frightened, Kid's first words in many months shot out in a whispered rush.
"My birth parents worked for the Company. The Company made arrangements for my new family if I tipped them off. I'm so-" Johnny cut him off angrily, his black eyes deadly.
"The Company is the enemy. You were lying to us the whole time." Johnny knew this feeling, the snap moment that had led him to the Danger Days. How easy would it be to just apply pressure and end Kid's lie of a life? Johnny closed his black eyes. A whispered voice came through.
"Johnny... I'm sorry... I just wanted to be saved. I never wanted to hurt you or Jenny or Jett... I'm so sorry,  Johnny." Johnny opened his eyes and looked at the colorless boy. The starbright tears were streaming down his pale cheeks. Johnny growled, then pulled back. Kid didn't deserve the heat it would cause to avenge Jett. Backing out of the silent doorway, Johnny pointed at Kid and left one last stabbing reminder.
"Jett is dead because of you. Never forget that." Then with a click of the door handle, one of the last remaining Danger Days disappeared into the darkness.

~~~The Kids From Yesterday~~~

-Six years later-
A small black haired boy sings to himself with a voice so sweet it would make the angels weep as he picks through the unkempt grass and grey gravestones under a summer sky. Looking around at the empty hills, he doesn't fully understand, but he somehow knows that the song he's singing is a good one.
Hearing his name called, he turns and smiles, running across the rows of the fallen to his smiling young parents, one black haired like himself, the other tawny, both with streaks of blood red dye to match the crimson spray paint staining their twined fingers. His father scoops him up, still holding the can, and points to a large black stone. The original name on it has been covered over with bright bloody graffiti letters: "JETT". And then underneath in smaller but still bright: "You'll live forever in the life you made". The little boy puzzles a minute as he sounds out the big letters, then his eyes light up and he grins up at his parents.
"Mommy, that's my name!" His mother smiles at him.
"Yes, little one. It is." Hugging the young Jett, the couple leaves the deserter in his grave to rest.

But they'd never shown their young son what had been painted on the back of the gravestone of the leader of the revolution.
As the sunlight dies, these words are illuminated:
The Danger Days will never die.