Tell Me I'm A Bad Man

Covenants and Craziness

Frank’s point of view.

“A long time ago, in about 1550, there was a group of people,” Gerard began his story. “They lived in Europe, and they were sort of outcasts. Because no one wanted to have anything to do with them, they got together and formed a group. Their group would wear black cloaks, like the ones we all wear right now, and they would march the streets. They did this to scare people, to warn them that those they cast out would stay and haunt them. The townspeople were afraid of them, and gave them the name The Black Parade.”

We were about to hear the entire history of The Black Parade, but all I could think about was the stuff from the goblet. When Bob had dropped it, the “dragon’s blood” had spilled all over the floor. Now, however, it was gone. All that was left of it was the goblet, still on the floor where no one had bothered to pick it up. I really didn’t know what the stuff was, but whatever it was, it was weird.

Everyone who drank it would go into convulsions, I remember that I did. It was like watching myself have a seizure. I could feel the violent shaking, but I couldn’t control any part of my body. The only one who didn’t do that at first contact with the nasty stuff was Gerard. It tasted bad to him too, but he could just make a face and get over it, as if it were just a sour wine.

“The Black Parade didn’t do anything that bad, even though they were blamed for everything that happened,” Gerard continued. “This is where it gets weird. In the first Black Parade, there was a man who was thought to be a wizard. His name was James Arthur Way.”

At this point the room was so silent, I felt like my head would explode from the silence. Then I realized why. The wizard dude’s name was James Arthur Way. Mikey’s full name is Michael JAMES WAY. Gerard’s name is Gerard ARTHUR WAY. Maybe they’re related!

“I don’t know if Mikey and I are related to him or not, but it’s possible,” Gerard said, and once again, he seemed to read everyone’s minds. Or at least mine.

“So this man was the leader of The Black Parade. He was The Conductor of their time, and he was a weird dude,” Gerard said, beginning to speak faster, as if he was trying to get to the good part faster. “Everyone thought he was a wizard, as I had said before. He wrote a book governing The Parade. In the book, one of the chapters is titled ‘The Prophecy.’”

With this, Gerard stood up and went behind the throne. I craned my neck to see what he was doing, and he appeared to be trying to pick something up. Ray got out of his chair and went to help Gerard. Together, they picked up a gigantic old book. It was huge, and looked very heavy. The cover was black, and the letters on it were actual pieces of metal, melted into script letters and attached to the book. It spelled out “The Black Parade: Rules of the March.” Apparently, there were a lot of rules, and we don’t even march.

Once Gerard was settled back in his throne with the monstrous book in his lap, he opened it and carefully found a page. “This book is called ‘The Black Parade: Rules of the March.’ It was the book written by James Arthur Way in the 1500’s about everything about our organization,” Gerard said as he scanned a few pages until he found what he wanted. “This chapter is called The Prophecy. It tells about the demise of the original Parade, and the rise of ours.

Yet soon it will come; the fall of the great and the rise of the uncontrolled. Without our light, only darkness shall exist. We shall be driven from our post as a beacon to the world of the unknown and sent into exile among the rest.

The gates of Hell shall open, and from them shall come a new beast. Near the new millennium, a new people shall arise. Spawned from Magic of the darkest sort, they will succeed at that which I have failed. Only with two parts shall this magic exist, however.

The Black Parade shall be controlled by a pair, born with the Magic yet no knowledge of it. With matching blood they will prevail, and then the Parade shall reach its full potential.

The elder of the two will begin the new chapter, and build up until a certain point. After this, he will be able to do no more on his own. The younger of the two will be his counterpart, and will help him in every undertaking and plague. The second of the two will be joined by all together, and shall only come as the four thousandth member of The Black Parade.

The brothers in arms shall lead the Parade to achieve a new level of everything I have already accomplished.”


When Gerard finished reading this, he looked around the room. “There’s more to the Prophecy, but that’s all that really pertains to this situation. Basically, it means that a set of two brothers, or ‘brothers in arms’ will lead The Black Parade. I wanted to read this to you because of what it means. Or at least what I think it means.”

I looked out at the crowd, and I found myself looking at Mikey. He did not look scared now, but he looked like he finally understood something. He smiled at his brother, and it seemed to give Gerard courage.

“It means that some time after the new millennium, which was a few years ago, the new Black Parade would emerge. That is all of us. It says that the older brother will start the new Parade, which would be me. My younger brother, Mikey, my ‘counterpart,’ is going to be our four thousandth member. And it says that everyone had to be here for his ceremony. Plus, if something weird is going to happen, I wanted you all to see it,” Gerard said, smirking.

I felt a different kind of energy coursing through the room now. I felt like everyone had the same thoughts: we all wanted Mikey to join so we could see what happens. Well, that’s what I was thinking. Also, I was hungry.

I made sure no one was looking at me, and I snuck my hand into my pocket and pulled out a Skittle. I snuck the Skittle into my mouth and heard someone trying not to laugh. I turned my head and saw Ray looking at me. He had one hand over his mouth and was shaking slightly with the force of laughter.

I also felt someone else watching me. I turned to see Gerard, his eyes piercing, staring at me with a strange amount of force.

“I would now like to ask my second in commands, Frank Iero and Ray Toro to come forward and help with the vows,” Gerard said, his voice holding the same amount of force as his gaze. Ray and I stood up and went forward to where Gerard joined us holding the book.

He handed it to Ray, who needed two arms to hold it. I guess he thought I was too weak to hold it because I’m short. But I can also be surprising, which he should know.

Ray was holding the book so that Gerard could read the print. He gestured for Mikey to come forward, and he did. “Frank, can you get the goblets?” Gerard whispered to me. I nodded and went back to the thrones to find them. My face itched where Adele had put the liquid bandage stuff on the cut on my face. That stuff smells funky when you put it on too, so I didn’t like it. She had to hold me still while it was drying to keep me from picking it off. But now I was okay.

I got the two goblets and sniffed the stuff in them. It smelled the same way as ever, and that happened to be really sweet. But I knew that it wouldn’t taste that way.

I brought them forward and set them down on the ground.

“Okay, Michael, kneel down,” Gerard instructed, glancing at the book. Mikey knelt in front of Gerard. “Now, Michael James Way, I request that you repeat after me.”

He was now holding the sword again with his right hand, and his left hand was on Mikey’s shoulder. “I solemnly vow.”

“I solemnly vow.”

“To accept my position.”

“To accept my position.”

“As the second leader of The Black Parade.”

“As the second leader of The Black Parade.”

“I promise to give.”

“I promise to give.”

“All that I have.”

“All that I have.”

“For The Black Parade.”

“For The Black Parade.”

“And in being the four thousandth member.”

“And in being the four thousandth member.”

“I promise to fulfill.”

“I promise to fulfill.”

“A legacy from centuries ago.”

“A legacy from centuries ago.”

“And make proud.”

“And make proud.”

“Everyone who bears the sword.”

“Everyone who bears the sword.”

“I will carry on.”

“I will carry on.”

“When my brothers in arms are gone.”

“When my brothers in arms are gone.”

“And I will faithfully be.”

“And I will faithfully be.”

“Marching with my peers, friends, brother, and my new family.”

“Marching with my peers, friends, brother, and my new family.”

“In The Black Parade.”

“In The Black Parade.”

“Forever.”

“Forever.”

Mikey was done with his vows, and I watched as dread filled his face. As he
stood up I picked up the two goblets of “dragon’s blood.” I handed one to Gerard and one to Mikey. “Cheers,” Mikey muttered as they both took a sip of it at the same time. I expected Mikey to start shaking like the others, but he didn’t. Instead, he just made a disgusted face, just like Gerard did.

Gerard picked up the candle again, and after lighting it, held it once again to his left wrist. The black sword showed up, more prominent than ever. Mikey was already unfastening his cufflink and pulling his sleeve back, because he knew what was coming.

Gerard picked up Mikey’s left hand and pressed their wrists together, muttering something in that weird language, which I think is Latin.

My mouth fell open as I watched what happened. Both Mikey and Gerard’s eyes turned a bright green color, and they were both thrown backwards by some invisible force. Ray almost dropped the book and both goblets were knocked over, leaking the “blood” all over the floor.

The entire crowd gasped. Both brothers just lay on the floor where they had fallen, Gerard’s cloak fanned out on the floor under him. Mikey had crashed headfirst into a pillar that held up the ceiling.

At the same moment as they broke apart, I felt a searing pain go through my arm. It was so strong I almost fell over. The pain shot from my heart to my wrist, the one with the sword. A scream rippled through the room, everyone else apparently felt it too. Ray’s knees buckled under him and he dropped the book.

Looking at my sword, I saw that the black had shown up again, which it rarely ever does. The sword only shows up on our skin when something important happens. Like, before this whole initiation ceremony. Gerard has a way of sending a message that causes the mark to show up, and everyone has to try to contact him. Which means my email inbox is flooded too. No “hey Frank, how are you?” messages. Just “What happened?” “Do we have to meet?” and of course, my favorite, “Why am I asking you when you never send me a reply?”

But I noticed something different about my sword this time. While it was mostly black, as usual, it had a red line around the edges. It looked like it was glowing, but in a really creepy way.

By this time, Ray had gotten back up off the floor. Nicole had rushed over to Gerard and he was now sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. When he saw Mikey, though, who was still sprawled out on the floor, he got up and staggered over to him.

Mikey’s point of view.

“Mikey? Mike, can you hear me?” my brother’s voice rasped distantly. My head hurt, a lot, I felt like someone hit me in the head with a sledge hammer. My back hurt too, and I couldn’t feel my left hand.

“Mikey, can you see?” someone asked faintly. I attempted to answer, but it didn’t work.

“We have to call an ambulance!” I heard someone scream.

“We can’t,” Gerard said through his teeth. “We can’t have anyone else here!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Way,” someone said. “Michael’s life could be at stake.”

“Mikey,” Gerard pleaded. “Wake up, please, wake up.”

“Gerard,” someone said curtly. “Move.” My brother was pulled away from me, and someone else took his place sitting on the floor, bent over me slightly.

I could only see a little bit, but I could see that it was a woman I had never seen. She checked me for a pulse, breathing, and all that good stuff.

“Mmmph,” I said as she was checking my head for injuries.

“Ah, a noise. He lives!” she said. I heard Gerard let out a breath sharply.

“Mikey, can you speak?” she asked. “Say anything.”

“Anything,” I mumbled, smiling slightly.

“Smart ass,” I heard her mutter to herself. She pulled me up into a sitting
position without even asking me. I was leaning against the pillar that I had smashed into.

“Here’s his glasses,” Ray said, and someone put them on my face.

“Well it may come with pain,” Gerard said. “But welcome to The Black Parade.”

People were applauding for me, but instead of appreciating it like I normally would, it made me want to just curl up and go to sleep.

Eventually, I stood up and Gerard put my cloak on me. He also handed me what looked like a rosary. It had a sword, though instead of a cross. It was cool, and I put it around my neck and smiled at Gerard. He returned the smile and pressed a goblet into my hand. It had the same stuff as before which someone had told me was “dragon’s blood.”

“Drink it, it’ll make you feel better,” he told me over the noise of everyone leaving. I took a sip of it, and my mouth was assaulted by its gross taste. I continued to drink it anyway, hoping that maybe it would get rid of some of the headache.

Once I finished drinking the putrid “blood,” I could see clearer. I eventually got back into the hotel. There wasn’t enough space for four thousand people in the hotel though, so some people decided to have something like a mass slumber party in the coliseum. There was also another smaller one in the lobby, but I just wanted to sleep in my new suite.

I went in after the whole big party and congratulations afterward. I had set up my stereo so that the speakers would play in both the living room and the bedroom. Bob had showed me how to do that. I’ve decided that Bob has much knowledge.

I was trying to fight with getting my bow tie off and picking music to listen to when I heard a knock on my door. I went to answer it, expecting it to be my brother or someone, but it wasn’t.

There was a woman who looked familiar. She was kind of short, with dark brown hair and red and purple under lights. She smiled shyly at me and waited for me to say something.

“Um, hi,” I said.

“Hey, Mikey,” she answered. “Um, I’m Jordyn. I was the nurse who was
examining you before, making sure you weren’t dead, you know, the usual.”

“Oh, hey,” I said, remembering. I knew her voice had sounded familiar. “”So, you were the one who was checking me out before?” I teased.

“Yeah,” she said, going along with it. “But I didn’t get to see your butt. Would you mind turning around or me?”

I was caught off guard by that. “Uh,” I said. She was just smiling innocently at me, and then laughed.

“I’m just kidding. I was checking you out medically, not in whatever way you’re thinking about!” she said.

I felt my cheeks turn red when she said that. She laughed at me.

“Well, you’re probably wondering why I’m here,” she said. And she was right. I was. “Um, well, there isn’t much space to stay downstairs, and I was wondering if you had any space for me to stay?”

“Um, well, you could sleep on my couch, if you want,” I offered.

“Well good,” she said. “Without me, you could have died. Who knows? You might’ve been bleeding internally or something. So technically you owe me.”

“Um, okay?” I responded.

“Well, are you going to let me in?” she prompted, stepping inside anyway.

Kind of assertive, this Jordyn.

She was holding a suitcase which she proceeded to put on my coffee table and open. She took off her black cloak and put it in the suitcase. Then she took her shoes off and put them on the floor next to the couch.

“So, Mikey. You like music?” she asked.

I finally felt more comfortable now. “Yeah, I love it,” I said. “I play bass, actually.”

“Really? I like musicians. But you don’t seem like the musician type,” Jordyn said, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Then what do I look like?” I asked, slightly confused. Most people didn’t act like this.

“Mmm. You look, well, you just don’t look like a musician,” she said.

“At least I don’t look like a gangsta,” I muttered.

“Well that’s because you can’t be a gangsta. And if you were gangsta in any way, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now,” Jordyn said simply.

She got up off the couch and walked into my bedroom without my
permission. “Nice CD collection,” she called. “Aha! Found a good one.”

She came back out brandishing a CD. It was AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. She put it into my stereo and put it on shuffle.

We listened to the music as we both got ready to go to bed. I was sitting on my bed in my pajamas reading when I heard a knock on the door to the suite.

“JORDYN! Can you get that?” I called to her.

“Lazy bum, it’s your room, answer it yourself,” she said, getting up to answer it anyway.

“Hey, Gerard,” I heard her say. “What’s up?”

“Why are you in my brother’s room?” he asked, not expecting to see her. “Anything dirty going on that I should know about?”

“No perv, and why would I tell you anyway?” she said. “I’m here because there wasn’t any room anywhere else to stay. Now what do you want?”

“I need to see what’s his face,” Gee stated. “Where is he?”

“In there,” she answered. “And you do know his name, you know.”

Gerard showed up in my room. “Mikey,” he said.

“Oh, so you do know my name,” I said sarcastically. “I thought you may have forgotten me. Or possibly traded me in for the ‘Michael James Way’ you had at the ceremony.”

“Dude, hate to tell you this, but that’s you,” he said impatiently. “Anyway, I need to ask you something. Wait, what are you reading?”

“”Harry Potter,” I said. Call me a nerd, but I love books like that.

“Okay. Whatever,” he said. “Can you put it down for a sec?”

I put it down. “What do you want?”

“Let me see the sword on your wrist,” he said. “Please.”

I let him see it and he put his wrist next to mine. The swords were identical, the same size, and they both had red outlining them.

“See, the sword only shows up at certain times. Like when someone is inducted, or if I have to let everyone know to contact me. But it’s never outlined. That part’s really weird,” Gee said. “Do you remember what happened when you got the sword?”

“No,” I said.

“Well, as soon as our wrists were together, we both were thrown backwards by some invisible force. I haven’t looked it up in the book yet, it’s way too late for me and ridiculously tiny print to get along,” my brother told me, still examining and comparing the two swords.

“And what about the ‘dragon’s blood’?” I asked. “Neither one of us was affected by its nastiness.”

“That was because of the Covenant of The Blood,” he stated. “I don’t know why, but we don’t react even though everyone else does.”

I felt weird about this whole thing. I felt kind of special, I guess, because I was one of the two who had weird powers, but it also made me feel like a freak. But it is a cult, and the words “magic of the darkest sort” were mentioned, so anything’s possible at this point.