46 & 2 Issue One

The Tattoo

46&2 Issue 1

Writer Zachary Smith

PAGE 1.  PANEL 1.

Chino is asleep on a bed.

Myung (off panel): “Wake up Fei.  Don’t you have stuff to do today?”

PAGE 1.  PANEL 2.

Chino sits up in bed, a shirt is being thrown at him.

Chino:  “Yeah, tattoo at Stephan’s.  You’re working right?”

Myung (off panel):  “Of course, it is a weekday.  It’s not as easy as picking up some table scraps and throwing them away.”

PAGE 1.  PANEL 3.

Chino is putting the shirt on.

Chino:  “Hey!  I’m a busser, it’s more difficult than that.”

Myung (off panel):  “Just teasing.  I know you provide the whole entertainment budget, and you’re paying for school.”

Chino:  “Thanks.  Myung?  Favor?”

Myung (off panel):  “What?”

PAGE 1.  PANEL 4.

Chino walks into the bathroom, we still don’t see Myung yet.

Chino:  “We’re having our meeting with the Rev tonight, and I don’t think I’ll be able to drive anywhere after.”

Myung:  “I wouldn’t want you driving around in that death trap sober.”

PAGE 1.  PANEL 5.

Chino looks down.  We only see the back of Myung’s head.

Chino:  “That’s my baby.”

Myung:  “Take a joke.  I’ll be there.”

PAGE 2.  SPLASH PAGE.

Chino lays on the ground in Steph’s garage, shirtless, Ben Davis pants and converse on.  He is in the shape of the Hangman, meaning sacrifice to attain knowledge.  His legs and arms are basically the same as the Hangman tarot card.  His left leg is underneath him, and have his hands on top of his stomach instead of underneath, it would just seem more natural that way, maybe have the hands folded.  There is an ashtray and cigarette in view.  A few comics lay around on the floor.  A few stereo blares out music, with a TOOL CD case laying next to it, along with Deftones, Rage Against The Machine (First album, I want that image of the monk on fire, similar to the hangman, pain equaling knowledge).  Off panel is Steph prepping his tattoo machine.

Caption: “Blackfield, California.”

Steph:  “You ready Chino?”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 1.

Steph has a cloth and rubbing alcohol. That he is looking at as he stands over Chino.

PAGE 3.  PANEL 2.

Chino is standing taking a drag off a cigarette.

Chino:  “Yea.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 3.

Steph applies the wipe to his arm.

Steph:  “You know what they say about choosing names in magic?”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 4.

Steph has pulled away, we seen a clean shaven part on Chino’s arm. 

Chino:  “Be careful what you choose.”

Steph: “I think this may apply to symbols as well.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 5.

Steph is holding a drawing of the Flash symbol.

Chino:  “I’m not getting the Weltall symbol I made tattooed.”

Steph:  “Just as long as I’m not held responsible.”

Chino:  “Are you kidding?  I’d thank you for opening up the door to some crazy shit.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 1.

Chino sits in a chair, Steph is applying the drawing to Chino’s arm.

Chino:  “Speaking of weird shit, can you give me back those Flex Mentallos?  Abe Frankie wants to borrow ‘em.”

Steph:  “No problem.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 2.

Steph has pulled the paper away from Chino’s arm, Chino is taking a drag off of his cigarette.

PAGE 4.  PANEL 3.

Steph has rubber gloves on, and has begun tattooing Chino’s arm. 

Steph:  “I can’t believe you actually waited ‘til you were eighteen to get a tattoo.”

Chino:  “At least I was smoking before the legal age.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 4.

Chino winces as Steph cleans the blood from his arm.

Chino:  “How long will this take to heal?”

Steph:  “Since its just an outline, it should only be a few days to a week.”

Steph:  “When are you going to Coachella?”

Chino: “A week.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 5.

Tight shot of the symbol on Chino’s arm.

Steph OFF PNL: “Should be just fine.  Keep it covered, no tank tops.”

Chino OFF PNL:  “I’m going to be so high Myung’ll be lucky if I stay clothed.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 6. 

Steph looks at the tattoo.

Steph:  “Shit, that stuff looks healed already.”

Chino:  “Um…I heal fast.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 1.

Chino is at home, reading a magazine in his bedroom with a tank top on.  The magazines name is TRYSTEROS.    His watch beeper goes off.

PAGE 5.  PANEL 2.

Chino is making a sandwich and has put a chip bag on a paper plate.

PAGE 5.  PANEL 3.

Chino is watching television.  His cell phone rings.  Generic flip phone.

PAGE 5.  PANEL 4.

Chino answers the phone after looking at the ID on the screen, it says Grandma.

Chino:  “Hello.”

Grandma (through the phone): “Is your mom home?”

Chino: “I don’t think so.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 5.

Chino looks at his watch on his left hand.  It reads 7:00 p.m.

Grandma (through the phone):  “Have you eaten?”

Chino:  “Doing so as we speak.  Well…not literally.”

Grandma (through the phone):  “Has you’re other family heard from your dad?”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 1.

Chino has walked outside, into his front yard. 

Chino:  “Not for a while.”

Grandma (through the phone):  “The job going okay?”

Chino:  “Yeah, lot’s of tips for a busser.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 2.

Chino lights a cigarette.

Grandma (through the phone): “What was that sound?”   

Chino:  “Don’t know.  Listen grandma, I gotta get ready to go out, I’m headin over to Abe and Frankie’s.”

Grandma (through the phone):  “Fine, fine, kick me off the line.  Love you.”

Chino: “Love you too.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 3.

Chino drops the cigarette into the gutter.

PAGE 6.  PANEL 4.

Chino gets into his car.  His car is an old beat down car.

PAGE 6.  PANEL 5.

Chino is getting out of his car at an apartment.  It is dark outside.

PAGE 7.  PANEL 1.

Abe opens the door for Chino.  Abe is skinny white kids, with long hair and jeans and a flannel, like an early 90’s grunge rocker. 

Chino: “Hey Abe.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 2.

Chino, Abe, and Frankie sit around a table in the middle of the room.  Frank is a bigger Hispanic fellow, often wears a ball cap, Dickies shorts, black shirt, white socks, and Converse or Vans.  Magazines lie on the table, the same TRYSTERO magazines.  They are smoking pot. 

PAGE 7.  PANEL 3.

Chino is exhaling smoke, and holding up the latest TRYSTERO magazine. 

Chino:  “Did you read this issue  Frankie?  This is some fucked up shit.  He reported on the Lucifer project, which is really crazy.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 4.

Abe is taking the joint from Chino, have Chino’s hand breaking in from the other panel.

Abe:  “Are they trying to raise the devil?”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 5.

Frankie is ashing the joint. 

Frank:  “Cause a big as explosion with Jupiter’s gasses, and it becomes a second sun.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 6.

Chino lets the joint sit in the ash tray, and thinks about that statement for a while. 

Abe:  “Why?”

Chino:  “Create a second sun, and then colonize the planetoids around it, as like a way station.”

Abe:  “I don’t know about that.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 1.

Frankie is driving, Abe is in the passenger seat and Chino is in the middle back seat, smoking a cigarette.

Frank:  “Did you read that one on the psychics disappearing?”

Chino:  “Yeah.  Kinda weird.  The messed up part is that they’re all around our age.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 2.

They stand outside of a church, smoking cigarettes, and playing hackey sack under a street light.

Abe:  “I skimmed that one on the burnt up dude.  That was crazy.  No way that shit’s real, that’s some Punisher level shit.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 3.

A man walks out of the shadows, with a lit cigarette.  He is dressed as a preacher, with a reverends collar.  He has blue jeans, a black leather jacket, and brown cowboy boots. 

This is Joshua Connor.  Should just be an altered version of Jesse Custer, from PREACHER. 

Joshua Connor: “What are you boys doing?”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 4.

The Burning Man walks down the street in a black trench coat, and a black hat baseball hat, black jack boots. 

Caption: Baltimore, Maryland.

Joshua Connor (Caption):  “Don’t you know it’s dangerous on the streets at night.”

PAGE 9.  PANEL 1.

A young African American male stands on a corner, timbaland boots, baggy pants, and a do-rag, extra large/long t-shirt.

Young man:  “Yo man, I got your stuff.  W.M.D.’s.  Nigga’s down the way got garbage.”

PAGE 9.  PANEL 2.

The Burning Man stops in front of the dealer.

Young man:  “What you want, I got it.”

PAGE 9.  PANEL 3.

A burst of brain splatter comes out of his head.

PAGE 9.  PANEL 4.

The burning man picks up the shell from the ground.

PAGE 9.  PANEL 5.

The Burning Man continues to walk on. 

Joshua Connor (Caption): “You could get hurt out here.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 1.

Chino, Abe, and Frank look at Josh, the hacky sack hits the ground. 

Joshua:  “Get inside, I’ve got a twelve pack left.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 2.

The four gentlemen are sitting around a table and drinking the beer. 

Chino:  “Where are Stephan and Chi?”

Frank:  “They’ll be here in a few.”

Abe:  “Speaking of Stephan, let’s see the ink.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 3.

Chino rolls up his sleeve, the tattoo is covered in saran rap.

Joshua:  “Why a lighting bolt?”

Chino:  “It’s the Flash symbol, you know, the superhero.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 4.

Joshua cracks open another beer.

Joshua:  “Bleh, I hate superheroes.”

Abe:  “Come on Reverand Connor, you can’t hate superheroes.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 5.

Joshua laughs.  The boys are all looking at him.

Joshua:  “Boys, I grew up in Ireland, we have different comics, like Judge Dredd.  ‘Sides, it’s just so horribly unrealistic, spandex wearing poofs who never get older and always save the day.”

Frank:  “Except in Watchmen, right?”

Joshua:  “Aye, now there’s a proper book.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 1.

Chino looks at his tattoo.

Chino:  “I like the Flash.  He’s a good guy, and he’s got the coolest power in the world.  Faster than hell, and he can go wherever he wants.  Literally run between dimensions.”

Abe:  “I’d want to be invisible, so…”

Frank:  “We know, but there are laws against stalking.”

Abe:  “But I’m not stalking if they don’t know I’m there.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 2.

Joshua smacks Abe on the backside of the head.

Joshua:  “Abraham, you are a right nasty one.  Can’t be doin that stuff, even if you did have that power.  ‘Gotta be one of the good guys,’ right boys?”

Chino:  “Yeah, ‘cus there’s way too many of the bad ones.’” 

PAGE 11.  PANEL 3.

Joshua musses Chino’s hair.

Joshua:  “Taught you well.  Frank, did you ask Chino?”

Frank:  “Do you want me to set your tattoo?”

Chino:  “Set it?”

Frank:  “Make it permanent?”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 4.

Chino lights another cigarette.

Chino: “What?  Well yea I—“

PAGE 11.  PANEL 5.

Frank hits Chino right on his tattoo.

Frank:  “Okay.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 6.

Chino is standing, stamping his feet, everyone else is laughing.

Chino:  “FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK.  I DIDN’T SAY YES.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 1.

There is a knock at the door, Joshua is already standing to answer it.  Chino is holding his arm.

Abe:  “You said yea.”

Chino:  “He didn’t let me finish, fuck.  I was going to say “Well yea, but it’s permanent already.”  Dick.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 2.

Steph and Chi walk into the room.  Chino is giving Frank the stink eye.  Joshua and Abe light up a cigarette. 

Chi:  “Frank, did you ask—“

Chino:  “Yeah he fucking asked me.”

Joshua:  “Take a seat boys.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 3.

Everyone is now sitting down at the table.

Joshua:  “So, who is going to share tonight?  Chino?”

Chino:  “Um, I don’t think I did anything worth sharing.”

Joshua:  “Okay.  Then who did?”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 4.

Stephan raises his hand, he holds a beer with the other hand.

Joshua:  “Stephan, what have you got?”

Stephan:  “Giving Chino his tattoo.”

Abe:  “Aw c’mon, that’s not a good deed.  I gave you a cigarette earlier, can I count that.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 5.

Joshua looks at Abe.

Joshua:  “Abraham.”

Abe:  “Sorry.”

Stephan:  “I’m being serious.  I remember watching Chino running around in a Flash t-shirt when we were little kids, and always talking about “Barry Allen,” this and “Wally West,” that.  He fucking loves the Flash.  I was so glad that I could freely give Chino a tattoo that meant something to him, as well as it being his first.  Plus he trusted me enough to give it to him.  That’s my good deed.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 1.

Abe sits with his arms folded.

Abe:  “I still don’t think that counts.”

Joshua:  “Why?”

Abe:  “It’s not like he did anything, really.”

Joshua:  “Stephan, did you charge Chino?”

Stephan:  “No.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 2.

Joshua looks at Chino.

Joshua:  “Chino, do you like your tattoo?”

Chino:  “I love it.”

Joshua:  “So Stephan freely gave away something to someone who really cherishes the gift.  How is this not a good deed?”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 3.

Stephan and Chino are high fiving each other. Abe has uncrossed his arms.  Joshua looks at him.  Chi raises his hand.

Abe:  “When you put it that way.”

Joshua:  “Do you have anything to share Abraham?”

Abe:  “Cough, cough.”

Chi:  “I do.”

Johsua:  “Mr. Chang, your good deed?”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 4.

Chi sits up straight.

Chi:  “Reverand Connor, I know I speak for all of us when I say how appreciative we all are that you have continually guided us, looked out for us, and kicked our asses when we needed it.  If it weren’t for this group I don’t know where most of us would be, well I know I’d be in jail with the way my dad is, but I’m glad I don’t have to think about that alternative.”

Frankie:  “Here here.”

Jousha:  “Thank you.  And your deed?”

Chi:  “I’m sober driver tonight”

Everyone:  “YEAH!”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 5.

Joshua hands Chi a soda can.

Joshua:  “Then drink this.  Boys, I’m glad we can meet like this.  When I first got here and met you all individually I could see that some of you just needed a helping hand.  Now, sometimes that hand has become a fist.”

Frankie:  “Right Abe.”

Abe:  “Shut up.”

Joshua:  “Mainly during boxing practice, but it becomes a fist so that I can hope to mold you into something better than you already are.  You all have infinite potential to be great people, and I don’t mean by making money or shite like that.  Just being good to your fellow man, that’s all I really hope you take from these meetings.

PAGE 14.  PANEL 1.

All the boys are out of the room, they have left.  Chi is standing by the door, looking back at Chino and Joshua.

Chi:  “Myung won’t be off for a bit.”

Chino:  “I know, thanks man.”

Chi:  “Have a good night guys.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 2.

Chino and Joshua sit at the table across from each other.  Joshua and Chino are smoking.

Joshua:  “How come you didn’t want to share?”

Chino:  “It’s been happening again, more and more.”

Joshua:  “When?”

Chino:  “Honestly?  When I’m high.”

Joshua:  “FEI!”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 3.

Chino holds his head, looking down.

Chino:  “AHH, not so loud.  As loud as your voice is, the thought is even louder.  And come on, you only use my real name when you’re mad at me.  You don’t lecture all the other guys for getting high.  Shit, you can practically roll up Abe’s shirt and smoke it.”

Joshua:  “The other boys aren’t able to read people’s minds when they smoke weed.”

Chino:  “I know, I know.

Joshua:  “Fei…Chino, listen…”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 4.

Joshua knocks on the table, Chino is looking up.”

Joshua:  “…I’m not trying to lecture.  I’m just trying to help with something super fucking crazy.  What you’re doing, what you’re able to do, it’s never been recorded before in human history.  You could be the first…”

Chino:  “SUPERHERO!”

Joshua:  “No, you daft fool.  You could be the first person on this planet to actually make things better.  And it’s not goin to be by dressing up in some fuckin tights.  It’s going to be because you’re a good person whose learned how to use this loaded gun given to him.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 1.

Chino looks confused.

Chino:  “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that metaphor.”

Joshua:  “Guns aren’t bad, people are.  It’s teaching a person when to use a gun, what it’s for, and the potential power, both destructive and constructive, that it has.”

Chino:  “How’s a gun constructive?”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 2.

Joshua makes a finger gun.

Joshua:  “I point a gun at a man who is going to hurt someone else, I’m constructively trying to save them.  He’s trying to destroy them.”

Chino:  “I guess that works.”

Joshua:  “Have you told anybody?”

Chino:  “Still just you and Chi.”

Joshua:  “Have you been able to do anything else?”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 3.

Chino takes out a pocket knife.

Joshua:  “Do I like where this is going?”

Chino:  “You will.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 4.

Chino cuts open his hand.

Chino:  “FUCK!  I thought the tattoo hurt.”

Joshua:  “Damn it boy, what are you doing?”

Chino:  “Hold on, you’ll see.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 5 & 6.

Chino concentrates really hard, and then there is a smaller inset panel of his healing.

Joshua:  “BOLLOCKS!”

Chino:  “My tattoo was actually healed, just tender skin around it, so Frankie did kinda hurt me.  The dick.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 1.

Chino and Joshua are standing outside, next to Joshua’s car.  Chino is kneeling down, like he is going to pick up the car.

Chino:  “Watch.”

Joshua:  “Now you’re just taking the piss. You’re like a hundred and thirty pounds, boy.”

Chino:  “NNNNNNNGGGGGHHHHHHHH”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 2.

Chino is standing all the way up, with the car now at his waist level.

Joshua:  “STREWTH!”

Chino:  “Maybe, nngghh, my powers also include making you say more Irish shit.”

Joshua:  “Fuck, put it down boy before ye hurt yourself.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 3.

Joshua is lighting another cigarette.

Joshua:  “This is crazy, you’re a, you’re a…”

Chino:  “SUPERHERO!”

Joshua:  “I don’t know what you are, but it ain’t normal.

PAGE 16.  PANEL 4.

Chino looks hurt, Joshua goes into apology mode.

Joshua:  “Chino, I didn’t mean it that way, but what you can do, I’m just blown the fuck away.”

Chino:  “Not normal.  That scares me.  I’ve always had these weird experiences where I’m missing time, or like I’m floating, and there are all these faces and bodies around me, and I never know what happens.  Rev, what if I’m not human?”

Joshua:  “Bollocks to that, you’re human, and then some.  You’ve got a big heart kid and that’s why I’m not trying to have you locked up or anything.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 5.

Chino looks at him.

Chino:  “Locked up?”

Joshau:  “Fei, if it were any other person that had this power I would be scared out of my wits.  But not you.  You’re a kind and gentle boy, I know that.  That’s why I’m not afraid, I’m excited for you.  FOR US. For humanity.  But I’m also scared shitless.”

Chino:  “Why?”

Joshua:  “What if there are others out there like you, who didn’t have that guidance, who aren’t so good.  What are they going to do with these abilities?”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 1.

There are young men and women strapped to hospital beds, doctors work on some, take blood from others, writing notes down clipboards.  We are seeing this from the perspective of someone trying to get up, someone who is dazed, who just woke up from a drugged up coma.  This person is walking towards the doctors.

Caption:  Unknown

The walking patient:  “Helllp….meeee….hellllp meeeeeee….”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 2. 

Two doctors turn their attention towards the patient and are walking towards it.

Doctor 1:  “This is not good, how did it break the restraints?”

Doctor 2:  “It’s that increased strength, some of them have lifted tanks, we need to come up with a stronger anesthetic.”

Walking patient:  “Not…right…should…not…be…here…”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 3.

Doctor one holds the patient, while Doctor holds up a syringe, and is checking it.

Doctor 1:  “You’re right where you need to be.  We’re going to make everything alright.”

Doctor 2:  “Hold it still.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 4.

Doctor two injects the patient with the concoction.

Doctor 1:  “We must tell Minderbinder that we need stronger anesthetics.”

Doctor 2:  “Good luck trying to get that without him selling it to you.”

Doctor 1:  “What?  We already use all of these products by him, the syringes, that break very often so we have to buy more, the restraints, that aren’t strong enough to hold these kids, and his brand of aspirin that I take to get rid of the headaches I get thinking about it.”

Doctor 2:  “What’s good for him is good for us.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 5.

The patients vision is very hazy now, the eyes are almost closed, the doctors still hover over.

Doctor 1:  “Don’t tell me you buy into that syndicate shit?”

Doctor 2:  “You don’t?  Wintergreen and Minderbinder are benign, but Blicero?  I’ll buy into anything he says.  I don’t think he’d like that sort of talk.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 6.

The panel is completely black.

Doctor 2:  “Hello, Captain Blicero.”

Sound effect:  “BANG.”

Doctor 2:  “I told you he wouldn’t like that sort of talk.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 1.

Joshua and Chino are back inside the church, sitting at the table.  Joshua hands Chino another beer.

Chino:  “Why do you do this sort of stuff for us?”

Joshua:  “What?”

Chino:  “Beer, cigarettes, you don’t care if we smoke weed.  What kind of holy man are you?”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 2.

Joshua smiles, he is smoking another cigarette, and has leaned back into a chair.  Instead of beer, he has a glass of Jameson’s whiskey.

Joshua:  “Do you believe in hell?”

Chino:  “I don’t know.”

Joshua:  “I don’t know either.  But what I do know is that if there is one, I think some old bastard with a beard has better things to send people there for than having some tobacco and a fucking pint.”

Chino:  “Or whiskey.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 3.

Joshua lifts the glass to Chino, they cheers.

Joshua:  “Water of life.  Slainte.”

Chino:  “Do you remember when I first told you about what I could do.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 4.

Flashback.  A younger Joshua is beating a person off panel, all we see of the person is the reverend’s clothing of the other man as Joshua pulls up on it, and the blood across Joshua’s face and clothing.  Joshua has a raised fist.  His clothing is different, just normal clothes, not the Reverend’s suit he wears now.

Joshua Caption:  “Aye.”

Chino  Caption:  “What did you think?”

Joshua Caption:  “That I’m glad you told me.”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 1.

Joshua is pouring himself another glass of whiskey.  Chino is taking a drink.

Joshua:  “Have you been able to focus it anymore?”

Chino:  “I try to imagine I’m reading a comic, and they’re thoughts appear in tiny bubbles, it’s one way I’ve tried to manage.  But it’s still really hard, especially because it’s stronger when I’m high.”

Joshua:  “Maybe you’re just more relaxed.  What was I thinking tonight?”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 2.

Flashback to all the boys sitting at the table.  Comic book thought bubbles appear above their heads.

Stephan’s thought:  “I hope they didn’t smoke the whole stash.”

Chi:  “Next week, next week.  Somebody else has to drive next week.”

Frankie:  “Jump kick, trip, then fireball, when he rolls back up, spin kick, then uppercut.”

Abe: “Tits.”

Joshua:  “Daisy gets off at midnight, I’ll meet up with her at her apartment.”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 3.

Chino looks at Joshua.

Chino:  “I thought priests were celibate?”

Joshua:  “That’s the Catholics, and look what happens to them when they try that shit.”

Chino: “Good point.”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 4.

Joshua rolls up Chino’s sleeve.

Joshua:  “So why that thing?”

Chino:  “Honestly?  Partly because the Flashes are really good guys, but it’s the weird shit that gets me.”

Joshua:  “Weird shit?”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 5.

Chino perks up.

Chino:  “Barry Allen was a superhero who went to different worlds, dimensions, travelled through time, and made it through all sorts of crazy transformations, and came back whole.  The fucker died and came back.  He’s just so fucking cool.”

Joshua:  “So why that?  You going to go time traveling?”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 6. 

Chino looks worried.

Joshua:  “What is it?”

PAGE 20.  PANEL 1.

Chino doesn’t look at Joshua.

Chino:  “Remember how I said I lose time and see weird shit?  Well, I’ve also seen, I think, into the future.”

Joshua:  “Fei, it’s okay, you were probably just, I don’t know, fucking tripping or something.”

PAGE 20.  PANEL 2.

Chino looks up. 

Chino:  “No, this time I was sober.  I was just laying awake, and thinking.  And all of a sudden…”

PAGE 20.  PANEL 3.

Myung is standing over Chino in a hotel room, Chino is in the fetal position on the bed.

Chino:  “No, I saw myself older, thinking crazy thoughts.  A dark presence, a man--on fire--and Myung.  One moment she’s there…”

PAGE 20.  PANEL 4.

We’re back at the church.  Chino holds his head.

Joshua:  “Then what?”

Chino:  “I don’t know.  She’s gone, or I’m gone, I don’t know.”

Joshua:  “Have you told her?”

Chino:  “NO!”

PAGE 20.  PANEL 5.

Chino looks at Joshua.

Chino:  “I don’t want her to be scared, she’s the only thing that matters to me and I don’t want her to run away from me.”

Joshua:  “That’s being selfish and you know it.  Fei you should…”

PAGE 20.  PANEL 6.

The door starts to open.  Both Chino and Joshua looks up.

PAGE 21.  SPLASH PAGE.

Myung is the focus of the page, showing her off, and Joshua and Chino looking at her.

Myung:  “Am I interrupting?”

THE END

NEXT ISSUE:  Trust Fall