46 & 2 Issue Fifteen

Who I am and how I came to be

46 & 2 Issue 15:

By

Zachary Smith

PAGE 1.  PANEL 1.

Chino and The burning man are sitting across from each other at a table.  The burning man holds a revolver to his head.  Four bullets sit on the table. 

PAGE 1.  PANEL 2.

The burning man has the revolver in his hand, pointed at his own head.  The hammer is lifting from the end of the gun, about to strike a round.  The burning man is calm, no signs of fear or hesitation on his face.

PAGE 1.  PANEL 3.

He has pulled the trigger, and there is just a click, because the round did not fire.  His face is still unchanged.

PAGE 1.  PANEL 4.

The burning man is handing Chino the gun.

The Burning Man:  “I thought for sure I would get it for that.  Your turn.”

PAGE 1.  PANEL 5.

Chino is pointing the gun at his own head.

PAGE 2.  PANEL 1.

Chino is sitting at a table with a manager at a Chinese restaurant.

Chino:  “I just want to bus tables, no desire to wait.  I have experience working at my family’s Chinese restaurant.”

Manager:  “Sounds good.  Chris, our old bus boy, he was, well…It sounds like you’re the perfect replacement.  When can you start?”

Chino:  “Tomorrow?”

Manager:  “Good, see you at 12, that’s when the lunch rush starts.”

PAGE 2.  PANEL 2.

Chino has stood up and is shaking hands with the owner.

Chino:  “What happened to the other guy?”

Manager:  “A car accident they say.  But…well, what do I know.”

Chino:  “Something?”

Manager:  “What do you care?”

Chino:  “I don’t, just, sorry for your loss.”

PAGE 2.  PANEL 3.

Chino is walking out of the restaurant, and he sees a picture of Chris, mementos surround his picture, along with some incense.  A newspaper clipping is near the picture and mementos.

PAGE 2.  PANEL 4.

Chino has leaned closer to clipping to read it.  A picture of the burned out cars is the picture chosen for the newspaper article.

Newspaper clipping article:  “The Chinatown part of California Street was the site of a car explosion outside The Mandarin building.  This explosion set of a chain events which caused a multiple car pile up.  Many casualties have been confirmed from the explosions and the accidents, yet the families wish for their losses to be private.  Chris and Ah Jong were caught in the initial explosion, and in the panic, confusion, and loss of blood from shrapnel, it can be assumed they went home instead of seeking immediate medical attention.  Chris was Ah’s son, and neither member of the Jong family is survived by anyone.  It has been reported that (Continued on B4).

PAGE 3.  PANEL 1.

Chino has walked onto the sidewalk.  Scorpio is waiting for him, smoking a cigarette.

Chino:  “They don’t seem to know anymore than the newspaper, or at least the manager doesn’t seem willing to talk about it.”

Scorpio:  “Shouldn’t be shocked really, Triad related death, Chinese aren’t going to say shit about it.”

Chino:  “I can’t believe they’re able to cover this up.”

Scorpio:  “I’m a believer, modern journalism is shit.  Pay a reporter enough they’ll agree with whatever you say.  Especially when you got the cops leaning on them.  Triad connections in the police force will guarantee this doesn’t get leaked.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 2.

Chino and Scorpio are walking.

Scorpio:  “I’m still unsure of what Connor wants me to do with you aside from keeping you safe, but while you’re with me one thing will be sought out above all others:  Truth.  I won’t stand to be lied to, and neither will you.  You’ll find out what you can from the workers, and I’ll get what I can from my sources.  And while we are at it I’ll show you some other things that had been covered up for a while.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 3.

Chino is riding on the BART rail system with Scorpio.

Chino:  “When we’re done with this, can I go by Sho’s place?”

Scorpio:  “Yeah.  Ewww, I need to wash your blood out of this shirt.”

Chino:  “Bet that’s the last time you’ll hit me.”

Scorpio:  “Especially after what I saw you do to that door.”

Caption:  “It’s insane.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 4.

Sho is working on the door that Chino broke open with his telekinesis.  Chino is watching him.

Sho:  “I know, but it is at least one of theories that sounds almost rational.”

Chino:  “Grids that are above and below the earth synchronizing so that we move into being higher evolutionary beings?  Yeah right.  I mean, look at us now, we’re not any more evolved than we were 10,000 years ago.”

Sho:  “Hmmm, no, we are not.  But we are only the first stage.  As more of us are born with these abilities we will become more harmonized, and we will be to do what no other group of human beings has done.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 5.

Sho is fixing the dent with his power.

Chino:  “Which is?”

Sho:  “Care.  Show everyone else that we’re all here, we’re all in pain, we all matter.  That not a single one of us is more important than the other.”

Chino:  “I thought we were the Communists, not you.”

Sho:  “Haha.  One thing all Asian cultures tend to have in common is group first.  In Japan we have a saying:  “The nail that sticks out…”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 6.

Sho forces the dent out of the door.

Sho:  “…gets hammered down.”

Chino:  “Your mind is like a hammer.”

Sho:  “No.  All of ours are, we just need to learn to wield it.  Hammer of the Gods.”

Chino:  “Mjolnir in my head, I like the sound of that.”

Sho:  “Only if you are worthy.” 

PAGE 4.  PANEL 1.

Scorpio and Chino are getting off of the BART tram.

Scorpio:  “I’ve been tracking his movements for a while.  Drug dealers dying, no particular pattern or area after Baltimore.  That’s where it must have started for him.  One day there was one guy dead, then more followed.  No one really cares about three dead black kids in Baltimore, especially when they are involved with drugs, so it was hard to notice a pattern at first.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 2.

Scorpio and Chino are walking down some streets, near the sex shop areas of the city. Scorpio is dropping a letter into what seems to be a trash receptacle, yet it only has a small slit.  Chino doesn’t notice.

Scorpio:  “It was the way the first deaths were perpetrated.  This wasn’t just your normal gang land violence.  There was purpose behind it.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 3.

A black male, age 23 is being driven in a car, by another black male.  He is talking to some corner boys.

PAGE 4.  PANEL 4.

Blood sprays across the boys face as he was talking.

PAGE 4.  PANEL 5.

The drive gets out of the car, hiding behind it.  The other boys are clearing out, running.

PAGE 4.  PANEL 6.

Behind closed curtains the burning man has pulled back into the room from the window, sniper rifle barrel pointing up, head against the wall, facing the window, almost as if he’s waiting.

PAGE 5.  PANEL 1.

They are both smoking, looking at this abandoned building.

Scorpio:  “The bullet that was recovered wasn’t some tech nine round, or hollow point, not a .45, .44, .38.  A high powered sniper rifle bullet.  Some drug dealer in Baltimore gets his brains blown out with a round like this…”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 2.

Scorpio is showing Chino his smartphone screen, a picture of the bullet intact.

Scorpio:  “…and no one is curious?  No one cares?  Fuck no they don’t, fucking drug dealer is dead.  Life is good.”

Chino:  “How’d you find out about it?”

Scorpio:  “W.A.S.T.E.”

Chino:  “What…”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 3.

Scorpio puts his cigarette out, and puts his phone away, he is opening the door for Chino to enter.

Scorpio:  “Nothing.”

Chino:  “What are we doing here?”

Scoprio:  “This place…You’ll like the story behind this one.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 4.

Its an old building, it was once a hotel.  There are lobby chairs in the front. 

Scorpio:  “You and Sho are so fascinated with magic.  Here’s something that appears to be one thing, yet was something else.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 5.

Men are walking around, half and completely naked woman are walking around the men in the chairs.  Scorpio is still in the panel, but is not noticed by the other people.  The clothing and patterns should be patterned after styles popular in the 1950’s, which is when this took place.

Scorpio:  “This was a brothel.  The government opened it up in hopes of catching some poor saps who didn’t want to be busted for busting a nut.”

Chino:  “For what purpose?”

Scorpio:  “MK Ultra: Mind control.  Well, at least a form of it.  Our boys were worried about the Chinese using it on the troops in Korea.  Plus, get a mind controlled assassin, freebie for a Fidel wet work job.”

Chino:  “How did this start?”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 1.

Chino and Scorpio are walking up the stairs off the building.  As they walk, the background is still in the past.

Scorpio:  “Project paperclip.  Nazi scientists condemned for the torture and brainwashing they had performed on the Jews, brought over here by the CIA.  This was the precursor, then Korea came along, and then it kicked into high gear.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 2.

Scorpio and Chino are in one of the rooms.  Officers are talking to a man in his boxers, who looks ashamed for being caught.  A mirror is clearly visible behind the men, it is embedded into the wall.

Scorpio:  “They’d offer the John the choice:  we report this to your wife, or go along with our little experiment.  Two way mirrors were in place to watch the little experiment.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 3.

Doctors are sitting behind the mirrors, smoking. 

Scorpio:  “This was only one aspect of the experiment.  They were seeing what effect LSD would have on people, what extent of control do you have over them.  It was an effective truth serum.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 4.

The man on the bed is talking, as one man listens.

Man:  “…hit him, I didn’t see him.  The car was going so fast, too much to drink, was feeling good, and then…”

Scorpio:  “Of course they were encouraged to tell this truth, or this trip would be extended.  I know you know what a bad trip is.  Imagine if you’ve never even smoked weed before, and you were given acid.  Poor bastards.”

Chino:  “Haven’t done any of that in a while.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 5.

They are exiting the building.  The man exits in front of them, disheveled. 

Chino:  “What was the whole point of this?”

Scorpio:  “You’ve read my material before.  You know what my agenda is, but if you’ve forgotten, here it is:  I want the truth.  I don’t care what I have to go through to get it, I want it. 

PAGE 7.  PANEL 1.

Scorpio and Chino are walking around the streets.

Scorpio: “  What does this specifically have to do with you?  A bunch of psychics go missing, hmmm, sounds like they’ve started up old habits.  Our government used these sad sacks to try to learn a form of mind control.  I love my country, but I won’t tolerate being lied to or used by it.  And I don’t want you to be some slub who eats up everything they hear.  ”

Chino:  “I’m not that uneducated.”

Scorpio:  “Your whole generation is.  If it’s on the fucking internet, it’s truth, and the bastards coming after you are going to be even worse.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 2.

Scorpio and Chino stand outside a Masonic hall.

Chino:  “What’s this place?”

Scorpio:  “Masonic hall.  Glorified boys club, but you have people thinking they’re involved in some new world order.  Stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.  Many politicians love this because it diverts real attention away from what is actually going on in the real world.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 3.

Scorpio is narrating as Scarlettt is running out of Area 51.  A chopper flies over head, search light on.

Scorpio narration:  “Truth is, as soon as the third caveman was born, the other two were plotting against him.  Every group has some bad shit in their past that could come back and haunt them.  Pretty Sure the Mason’s murdered some guy named William Morgan, but I can’t prove it, so I’m not espousing it as truth.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 4.

Soldiers are driving around in jeeps.  Scarlettt is still running, some of them are driving right next to her.

Scorpio narration:  “And unless you know for sure, don’t go flinging shit at fuckers.  Part of the reason I created my magazine was so that I could let loose those big lies that everyone knows about, in hopes that my kernels of truth would slip by to those who were really paying attention.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 5.

Scarlettt has extended her arm and one of the jeeps goes flying.  Other soldiers are drawing their guns as she does this.

Scorpio narration:  “What I’m trying to say is look for the truth, don’t be spoon fed shit then be mad when you get sick.  Spit it out at them.  I’ll eat some shit on purpose, just so I know the taste when I’m not.  Our government is doing something bad, I guarantee it, but hiding aliens in Area 51 is not their biggest crime.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 1.

Chino and Scorpio are on the BART.

Chino:  “I appreciate the homespun wisdom, but can we get back to what this has to do with our extinguished human torch.”

Scorpio:  “Getting there, but you haven’t been listening.  Here’s a murderer, who is not all that inconspicuous, walking free.  Somebody is allowing this, or he is the best murder to ever walk the planet, because no one seems to care.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 2.

We are back in Baltimore, corner boys are working again.  You have one boy lead out on the corner.  There are two on the stoop, and one a little further back.  The lead boy and the boy in back are a little older than the kids on the stoop.

Lead boy:  “Don’t know what happened to that fool…Just exploded.  No clue who it was, maybe some east side niggas beefing.”

Stoop boy 1:  “Maybe made Omar mad.”

Stoop boy 2:  “Omar dead, fool.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 3.

As they are standing around talking, a grenade rolls in, close to the boy that is further back.

Lead boy:  “Yea full, ain’t you know shit?  Took the national guard coming in, and they finally put Omar down.”

Boy in the back:  “What the hell was that noise?”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 4.

The boy in the background gets caught in the explosion.  The other boys are reacting to the burst as it happens.

PAGE 8.  PANEL 5.

The lead boy is getting up, and beginning to run.

The burning man is coming from around the corner, slowly walking after the man.

PAGE 9.  PANEL 1.

The boy has is running, The burning man is starting to run behind him.

PAGE 9.  PANEL 2.

The boy runs down an alley, looking behind him.

PAGE 9.  PANEL 3.

As he looks behind, his foot catches, and he begins to fall.

PAGE 9.  PANEL 4.

The burning man is running in, as the boy turns around. 

PAGE 9.  PANEL 5.

The boy tries to get up, but is kicked from behind by the burning man.

PAGE 9.  PANEL 6.

The bullet tears through the boy’s head.  The gun has a silencer attached.

PAGE 9.  PANEL 7.

The burning man walks away.

PAGE 10.  PANEL 1.

Scorpio and Chino are waiting outside a door, it has a thumb print scanner on it.  Scorpio is putting his thumb over it.

Scorpio:  “You know part of the reason that no one is looking to hard for this guy is because they agree with what he’s doing.  Who cares if a couple people die if we feel safer, right?  Shitty thing is, I have a hard time disagreeing.”

Chino:  “Really?”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 2.

Chino and Scorpio walk into an elevator.  Scorpio presses a button, with his other thumb. 

Scorpio:  “Well yeah, I don’t give a shit about drugs, but usually its some kid walking by that gets shot over territory, not the drug dealers themselves.  But I know, it’s a slippery slope.”

Chino:  “Agree too much and the how far does it go?”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 3.

Chino letting Scorpio exit the elevator first.

Scorpio:  “What do you think?”

Chino: “It’s a little scary to think that there is an actual living and breathing Punisher walking around.”

Scorpio:  “Good, but…”

Chino:  “But it’s a little reassuring as well.  Some one finally got sick of all their shit and just decided to get rid of them.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 4.

The two of them are now walking down a hallway.

Scorpio:  “But how long before he comes after you?  That kid that worked at the restaurant didn’t have any priors.  Everyone I’ve talked to said he was a nice kid, a good student, and helped his alcoholic father.  You want to know the worst thing he did?  He had a small bit of alcohol present when they ran his blood test.  Sip of beer?  That worth dying for?”

Chino:  “But that’s not why he died, right?  He had something to do with those Triads.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 5.

Chino and Scorpio are walking in on Sho as is working on a robotic fist.

Scorpio:  “Dad’s business was failing, crappy one room apartment.  That kid had no connections.  He was probably out for the first night with some recruiter.  That’s who they always get to fight, the poor.”

Chino:  “But a lot of them were higher up guys, lieutenants and captains in the organization.  Why be out there dying.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 6.

Sho is taking off his helmet.

Scorpio:  “Their top guys were getting chopped down, and a lot of them.  Might as well go full tilt if you’re going out.  Now that you’re safely here, I’m going to leave you nerds to your business, I’ve got leads to go follow up on.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 7.

Chino and Sho shake hands.

Scorpio is walking in the other direction. 

Chino:  “Show me what you’re working on.”

Scorpio:  “Prepare your penis first, cause every time he shows me something new I get a massive erection.  I’ll get in contact with you guys later.”

Sho:  “He should have been Japanese.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 1.

There is a glass bottle on the ground.

PAGE 11.  PANEL 2.

A robotic hand is coming down and has picked up the bottle.

PAGE 11.  PANEL 3. 

The bottle is crushed, and is breaking apart.

Sho (off panel):  “I need to work on the subtlety of the grip; it’s like a vice right now.”

Chino (off panel):  “It’s amazing that you even came up with this in the first place.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 4.

Sho is removing his arm from a slot in the robotic arm.

Chino:  “Is this all you do all day?”

Sho:  “Ever since I graduated from high school.”

Chino:  “Which was when, Doogie Howser?”

Sho:  “You flatter me, Doogie graduated at 12.  I was 14.”

Chino:  “I hate you.  My family would love you, but I hate you.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 5.

Sho puts a jacket on and he and Chino are walking down the hall.

Sho:  “Let’s go outside.  You need a cigarette, and I need some fresh air.”

Chino:  “I hate when you do that, I feel…”

Sho:  “…violated.”

Chino:  “Stop it.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 1.

Chino and Sho are having a coffee at a small diner, on the patio.  There are other people on the patio. 

Chino:  “I don’t know if I like the idea of people seeing into my head.  Maybe there are things in there that I don’t want people to see, or know about.”

Sho:  “Which is your right Chino.  I think if we work this right, if we are able to work with the rest of the people like us, we can be cells in a larger body, but we would still maintain our individuality.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 2.

Chino takes out a cigarette.  The waiter is walking away from dropping off the check.

Chino:  “What others?  You’re the only other person I’ve met that can do the things that I can do.”

Sho:  “But you’ve felt others.  When you were in Coachella, you said you sensed somebody in your head when you were coming towards the end of your trip.”

Chino:  “I did.  I sensed death.”

Sho:  “That’s not all.  There was somebody like us, somebody that’s been taken away from everything they know, and is being used by these people.  This person needs help.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 3.

Chino is ashing his cigarette, still talking, towards the bottom of the panel, another customer, middle aged man, asks him to put it out.

Chino:  “Yea.  It was a girl, calling out for help.  Then this other voice silenced her.  He knew she was there.  Is he like us?”

Sho:  “I don’t know.  Maybe some precursor, like Narcissca.”

Customer:  “Could you put that out, I have breathing problems.”

Chino:  “Oh yeah, no problem.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 4.

Chino has pulled out his wallet, and looks embarrassed.  The customer behind Chino is looking at a joint that his friend is rolling.

Sho:  “Don’t worry, I’ve got it.”

Chino:  “Really sorry.  I haven’t been working, Scorpio gave me that phone, and just keeps giving me food and cigarettes so I haven’t been in too much of a hurry to get a job.  But with that case we’re following up on, I should be able to pay you back.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 5.

Sho is exiting the place, almost talking to himself.  Chino has leaned over to the customer that asked him to put his cigarette out.  The man is now holding a joint.  Chino has his hand on the chair.

Sho:  “Don’t worry about it.”

Talking to the customer

Chino:  “You told me to put my cigarette out because of your breathing problems, but that looks like marijuana you are about to enjoy.  Personally, it’s jerks like you that make me hate this city.  Fucking hypocrite.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 6.

The man looks scared, and the chair back has been crushed, from Chino exerting strength.

Chino is lighting another cigarette as they leave.

PAGE 13.  PANEL 1.

Scropio is in a bar, a man is walking up behind him.  The man is wearing a business suit.

EDDY POSE, wearing a black suit and tie, with a white shirt.

Eddy:  “I’ll never get used to coming into this city.  I hate driving over that bridge, and it’s so goddamn hilly.”

Scorpio:  “Quit your bitching.  I hope you got everything I asked about.”

Eddy:  “Considering I just flew, then hauled ass in my rent-a-car here to meet with you instead of spending time with my son, count yourself lucky that I’m not finishing off the job that the Irishman started.” 

PAGE 13.  PANEL 2.

Eddy places a manila envelope on the bar counter.

Scorpio:  “Everything?”

Eddy:  “All of it that we’ve gathered.  He’s been cutting a swath across the country since he left Baltimore, and now he’s here.”

Scorpio:  “What are you guys doing about it?”

Eddy:  “Nothing.  Yet.  Until he pisses off someone in power he’s free to do whatever he wants, unless he gets arrested.”

Scorpio:  “Same old shit, kill some poor motherfuckers trying to make ends meet and everyone is okay with it, as long as their the right color.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 3.

Eddy is laughing.

Scorpio:  “What?”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 4.

Eddy:  “You’re sounding like you belong in this town.  Look at this guys track record: Black, White, Hispanic, and now Asian.  He doesn’t give a fuck.  It’s whoever he deems is doing wrong.  And you know what?  He hasn’t been wrong yet.  Every single person in here deserved it, or was going to meet a similar fate.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 5.

Scorpio slams his fist down on the bar.

Scorpio:  “That doesn’t make it right.  It’s murder.”

Eddy:  “You forget who I am.  Murder is my job, but until I’m told that he deserves it, I’m leaving this one alone.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 6.

Eddy is leaving, Scorpio looks frustrated.

Scorpio:  “You’re such a W.A.S.T.E.”

Eddy:  “Don’t forget, you’re one of us.”

Scorpio:  “Don’t remind me, Eddy.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 1.

Scorpio is flipping through the file that Eddy gave him at the bar.

PAGE 14.  PANEL 2.

He takes a shot and has another one ready in the other hand.

PAGE 14.  PANEL 3.

The man is on the top of the roof.  Police are all over the corner from the explosion.

A young black boy is passing the scene, not noticing what is going on.  He was one of the boys that was on the stoop when the grenade went off.

Scorpio (caption):  “The last, and the beginning.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 4.

The man is watching the boy through some binoculars.  He is entering a tenement building.

PAGE 14.  PANEL 5.

The man descends from the top of the building, going down the fire escape. 

PAGE 15. 

I would like for the man to enter at the bottom of the page and show him walking and up and down the stairs, and the hallways.  He is looking for the boy who has entered.

Somewhere on the page the man stops.  He hears

Woman (off panel):  “Get me some cigarettes while you’re out.”

Boy (off panel):  “Alright ma.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 1.

The man is ducking into a closet as the boy leaves his apartment.  The closet is near an elevator that the boy will need to go to get down stairs.

Boy:  “Let me put you on game.  Don't you know that I run this place, And I've begun this race, Must I rerun this pace?  I'm the reason its become this way.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 2.

The boy is walking right in front of the storage closet.

Boy:  “And their love for it is the reason I have become this praised, They love my darkness, I make them heartless, And in return, they have become my martyrs, I've been in the poem of many a poet, And I reside in the art of many a artist”.

PAGE 16.  PANEL 3.

The man has opened the closet door and is pulling the young man into the closet. 

One hand over his mouth so he can’t scream.

Boy (muffled by the burning man’s hands):  “mmmfff.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 4.

The boy sits on the floor looking up in terror.  His hands trying to remove the Burning man’s hand from over his face. 

PAGE 16.  PANEL 5.

He slices the boy’s throat.

PAGE 16.  PANEL 6.

He keeps his hands over the boys mouth while the his throat tries to intake air, but spurts out blood.  His hands still struggle.

PAGE 17.  PANEL 1.

Scorpio stumbles away from the bar.

Scorpio:  “This shit isn’t working, I need something else.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 2.

Scorpio is walking down the street.

Scorpio:  “Need to take my mind off this for a bit.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 3.

Scorpio is in apartment complex hallway.  He is knocking on a door. 

Scorpio:  “RAMONE?!  Let me in, I’ve gotta buy some shit.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 4.

Scorpio is stepping into the apartment.  We don’t see anything of the apartment yet.

Scorpio:  “It’s unlocked, what the hell are you…”

PAGE 18.  SPLASH PAGE.

Ramone, or what is left of him, is dangling from the roof, he has been secured there by chains, the bottom half of him is leaking out blood, entrails and organs.  The burning man stands next to him, reading.

PAGE 19.  PANEL 1.

Scorpio is running away.

The burning man begins to walk towards the door way.

PAGE 19.  PANEL 2.

The burning man pulls out his gun as Scorpio runs as fast as he can down the stairs.

PAGE 19.  PANEL 3.

The burning man takes aim. 

PAGE 19.  PANEL 4.

The burning man fires, hits Scorpio through the leg.

PAGE 19.  PANEL 5.

Scorpio is falling down the stairs due to the gun fire through his legs and losing balance because of it.

PAGE 20.  SPLASH PAGE.

The burning man descends the stairs; he is cocking his gun as he does so.

THE END