Breakdown, Dreams, and Resurrection

I'm not Billie!

Shut up, Nancy.

I didn't even say anything!
Jesus of Suburbia! Billie was an idiot for putting you in charge. You're just going to be a little bitch the whole time.

None of us want to be Billie.
But, hey, what are ya gonna do?

REV!
Oh, thank God! Did you bring margaritas with you?

Well, what would he have achieved if you were put in charge?

I'm much more assertive than you, Gloria.
I'd fuck these bastards up. You'd just use your 'forceful' words.

Well, Billie apparently doesn't agree with you.

Apparently.
And that means he's a douche.

I'm not Billie!

Arrrrghhh.

Damnit. I thought leaving Strangeland meant I would get away from Fink.
Has he been saying that the whole time?

Of course he has. It's all he can say.
Have any idea how to shut him up?

He could serenade him with his horrific Lushotology sermons.
That would bore him to death.

Whatsername is still a bitter buzz-kill, eh?
Oh, well. I'll find her bitchy-ness amusing after I gulp these drinks back.
Have a look at this keg, Jim.

Where's Christian?

I could care less now that Rev and a keg are here.

You don't feel guilty about how you've treated him lately?
I know you said you apologized to him, but you've still been a total dick towards him.

More booze, less guilt, sweetie.
You should try it. Have a Cosmo, Glory. That passes for a lady, right?

I'm not drinking with you two chumps.

Why are you playing hard to get?

I'm not playing anything! I'm declining your intoxication invitation because I'm not interested.

Ha! That was a total tongue twister!
Intoxication invit-..intoxication invitation 'cause I'm not interes-..haha, shit, I can't say it.

Alliterations are fun to attempt when you're as wasted as you.
How'd you get so shitfaced before me, dude? I'm gonna have to chug this sweet nectar down!

You sound displeased.

I'm not going to be able to savor it, that's all.
But the more, the merrier. Let me shove this shit down my throat. Hopefully Finky won't be in my head then.

What the hell is going on?

Don't listen to us, Billie!
Pay attention to your son!

He's not even on stage yet. I have nothing to distract myself from you all.
Why is Rev here and where the fuck did Christian go?

I don't know and.. I don't know!

You're so on top of things.

Do you know the answers to those questions, Nancy?
Huh? Huh? Huh? NO. No, you don't, so shut the fuck up.

Jeez, you are a little bitch, Glory.
And I like it.

Who are you and what did you do with Gloria?

Where is Christian!?

Why the hell do you care?
I thought you wanted him the fuck outta here.

I did want him to leave, but don't you find it weird that when he leaves, Rev comes?
Is there a fucking limit as to how many surreal voices are allowed in my head at once? Did he go back in Strangeland, and, if he did, why? I didn't do anything different. And why is Rev here? I didn't think about him like I did with Gloria and Christian.
None of this makes sense.

None of this ever makes sense.
You can thank your stupid little head for that.

We'll worry about all of this later, Billie.
Right now, concentrate on not blowing your son's night.

You are so productive, Glory.
You are gonna saaaaave Blow Job from us alllll.

Ugh, you're such a pathetic slob.
Go pass the fuck out already. I'm sick of your voice.

Well, I am sick of yooooou Ms. Rusty Pants!
And Fink, of course. That slimy little bastard.

I'm not Billie!

Nice going, Jimmy.
He had been quiet for quite some time.

Shut up and come have a Cosmo.
Seriously. You should.

I'll make you a deal.
I'll have a drink with you if you can help me find out where Christian is.

Can do!
Rev, let's go hunt Chris down so this little lady and drink our Cosmos.
Ha. Perverted pun there, if you didn't know.

You're disgusting.

You're just jealous, Rusty.

Not even in your wildest dreams, buddy.

Stop already!
Rev? Help Jimmy for me, please?

I don't really think I'll be able to do that now that I'm dominant.

Damn! That means we're stuck with BJ.

What!? No! No, this isn't supposed to happen!

Calm the fuck down, hun. I ain't gonna fuck anything up.
I'm a little depressed that I'm not drunk anymore, though. Is there any good bars around here, or does this shitty club sell alcohol?

Gilman doesn't sell beer.
And you aren't making me leave, especially for alcohol.

Then what the hell am I supposed to do?

You're supposed to stay where you are and watch my son perform.

Fuck him, Rev. Blow Job can't do shit if he ain't dominant.
Get the fuck outta here and get yourself a beer. You deserve it, man.

Why? What the hell has he done, aside from pissing me off?

That's the thing! I praise any fucker that can piss you off.
It's not hard, though.

I swear to God, I'm going to drain you of your cerebrospinal fluid someday.

That's not disturbing or anything.

Can everyone just shut up?
Not for me, but for Billie?

How can someone be so sexy, but so stupid?

I'm being selfless! Can't you respect that!?

Nope. No can do.

Ughh. Why can't you have NICER sides to yourself, Billie!?

***

Where the fuck did Billie go?

How am I supposed to know!?

You're supposed to be taking care of him, and look what the fuck you did!
Way to go. You fucked it up.

It's not my fault that Rev became dominant! How am I supposed to fix that!? I'm powerless in this situation! All I could help do was to get everyone to shut up so he could see Joey!

You didn't achieve at that either, Gloria!
You can't use words with Jimmy and Rev. Not Christian, either, but you have to know that better than anyone. You have to strangle the fuck out of them. Get in their face and scream. Don't beg and hope that your looks will change their minds.
You could've had a few drinks with them; they would've shut up then. That would've distracted them. They would've passed out before Rev had time to turn dominant.

I wasn't thinking, OK?

Tell me something I don't know, sugar.

I want you to go to hell.
How's that?

***

How do you know your way around Berkeley so well?

I'm just a figment of BJ's imagination, 'member?
His brain is my brain, and he apparently has a map of Cali melted in his head.

Well, hurry up and score some alcohol.

Why do I have to hurry?

So we can get back into Gilman when Blow Job's son takes the stage.
I have a plan. And because I'm not Chris, it's a good one.

And what does this plan consist of, o' diabolical one?

I'm big on surprises, so I'll just say 'you'll see'.

***

You've got to be kidding me.
Why the hell do YOU have to show up?

Would you rather have Gloria here?

As a matter of fact, yeah, I would.
Anyone's better than you, Armstrong.

Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, but I don't feel like crying you a river.
Now, where am I?

Strangeland.

How the hell am I in Strangeland?
If I understood Whatsername right, my subconscious is Strangeland.

For once, you understood something right then.

How can I be trapped in my own subconscious?

If you don't know, then I don't know.
I thought you were all devoted to this, 'we aren't real, we're all just parts of you' thing.

Maybe I'm dreaming.
Yes..dreaming, I'm only dreaming.

And what if you're not?

What else could be happening?

Once again, if you don't know, I-

Just be quiet. I need to think.

About what? How you fucked things up yet again?

About how if I'm dreaming, when did I fall asleep?

I don't know. When Rev randomly decided to jump outta here, I got taken out for some reason. Which isn't very cool. It's been very isolating here. Strangeland is a pretty boring place. You may have a bunch of shit in your head, but when you're all alone and the bar is shut down, things start to look pretty bleak.

Christian, I honestly couldn't care less.

Well, I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you bitch and moan all night.
I want to have a drink - that's what I want.

Why does everyone want to have a beer all of a sudden?

Because alcohol dulls the senses, and we want our senses dulled so we don't have to listen to you complain about every goddamn thing in the world.

Wait.

Ugh, now what?

What if someone became dominant? That would explain why I don't remember much of anything.
So, if I'm asleep, he or she must've been dominant for a long time. Long enough that the show ended, Joey and I got home, and I went to sleep.

If everything went according to plan.
If Jim or Rev was dominant, you can kiss that soulful plan goodbye.
But if it was Gloria or Rusty, you can fuck the shit outta that plan, 'cause it didn't go anywhere.

I wish I could remember.

And I wish I wasn't here right now, listening to you forget.

Why can't I forget you and not the time?

***

This hangover isn't treating me well.

Nobody cares.

Shut the fuck up. You're making my head hurt worse.

Now I'm tempted to go find a megaphone.

"Dad?"

Billie! You're awake!?

I opened my tired eyes and saw my oldest son semi-kneeling beside me. I realized many things in a matter of moments: I had been sleeping on the couch in my living room, I had a killer headache, I smelled like shit, all I could taste was vomit, and I couldn't recall the structures behind why all of these things were occurring.

You can't remember because Rev was dominant!

Well, what happened!

Insanely fun and humerus stuff.

Terrible stuff, Billie!

What's it matter?
Talk to your son before you worry and piss him off more.

"Dad?" Joey asked me again.

I just blinked. "Yeah?"

He probably thought you died from alcohol poisoning.

Sorry about that, Bill.

Billie, he's worried about what happened.

What happened!?

Way too much to explain right now.
But you're going to have to do something.

And what is that?

I think it's time to come clean.
...Again.