Welcome to the Black Parade

The Sharpest Lives

Silver Settlement, huh. I must admit, for being a community of tattered gray circus tents, they make a very nice complex.

"To us! To me! To you! To She! To the sharpest lives!" The man who played the bass on the parade float cried, instructing everyone to cheer along and drink with him- oh he's coming over here. Good lord. "Aye! My brother! What's going on?" He burped and wobbled as he tried to speak. Too much alcohol.

"Nothing really, Bass. Just showing She around." The white haired man replied, patting my back and pushing me forwards.

"You're name's bass?" I questioned this 'Bass' guy.

He laughed, "Oh no no no no no. This is just my nickname- you see, I cant remember my real name so we made one up for me. Y'see, I'm the basist up on the parade float.

"What about you? You got a nickname?" I interrogated the white haired man, spinning around suddenly to show my lack of interest in Bass.

"I, well, er," He began to get really nervous, rubbing his left forarm with the palm of his right hand. "I don't exactly have one, but I feel like my name starts with a G, so I just prefer to go by something along the lines of Gee. No one believes me though, they always tell me it starts with a B or a P. But I trust my own gut. No one else's."

"I shall call you Gee, then." I promptly stated.

Things got silent between the three of us for a bit, our chance of conversation drowned out by the redundant cheers of "To the sharpest lives! To the sharpest lives! To the shar-" then cut short.

A gust of wind blew through the flaps of the circus tent, pushing black, crusty leaves into the premisis. Fire shot up through rusted tubes, which surprisingly panicked everyone far less than I would have expected. Frantic whispers surged back and forth in the crowd of people.

Gee's faint gray eyes sparked, as a glowing white took over space.

He groaned for a moment, then becoming parralised where he stood.

Suddenly, he regained his strength, and his eyes grew normal once again. "Kuro. Poet Kuro." Gee shot a look towards a man in the same suit as he, with curly brown hair. "Start the engine of the parade car."

"What type of name is Poet," I laughed under my breath.

"Your name is She." Retorted Bass.

"Point taken."

Black smoke sputtered and spit on and off out of the float engine. "We have to drag another lost soul back to camp in a few minutes! We don't have time for such foolish delays!" Cried the man with the curly brown hair.

And with a violent kick, the engine started up again. "Good job, Ray!" Cheered four men, two being Bass and Gee, all in the sane costume.

"Ray..." I muttered, speed-walking up to him. "Ray... your name's Ray. How do you remember your name?"

With much shyer, humbler voice than he had been speaking in before, Ray murmered "I, I don't know actually. It just comes naturally to some people. Like you, I suppose..."

I shrugged, spinning around to watch people board the float, and the area around it.

I was about to step on to the float, when Gee's leather glove stopped me in my path. "You had your fun, already. Walk with the crowd." He pointed to the black and white throng of half-dead misfits standing in place. "Go on, now- oh! You'll be needing this." Gee waved his hand in a circle, thick, dark smoke emerging from his fingertips. The smoke flew around my tattered hospital gown, transforming it into a large dress. Hoops made of bones starting at the waste and growing wider, down to my feet, were holding up a black, torn, coarse fabric that represented the lower half of my gown. My torso was blanketed with a black top, spikes outlining the neck, with a series of silver rusty buttons lined up from my upper chest to my waist.

"Welcome to the Black Parade." Gee whispered, signaling me to head to the crowd one last time.