[center][img]https://s8.postimg.cc/56ad87nyt/chowpunisher5.jpg[/img]
[b][color=black][u]Time Is An Illusion
The Inner Workings of A Twisted Mind[/u][/color][hr][h3][color=black]ISSUE #16[/color]
WAR PIGS
[color=black]PART THREE[/color][/h3][/b][hr][/center]
[url=https://youtu.be/FoQteIvtOPA?t=13]I don't know where I am.[/url] Maybe I'm not supposed to know. It's familiar yet foreign. A strange comfort, and a known danger all at once. It feels wrong, yet right.

[color=f49ac2][b][i]"It's almost time."[/i][/b][/color]

I can... Feel something, controlling my every move. Using my thirst for retribution to kill callously, without remorse, without purpose. I didn't like its attitude, and the fact that it hijacked my body was another mark against it.

[color=f49ac2][b][i]"Don't worry anymore."[/i][/b][/color]

I kill with purpose. I do, honestly. At least... I think. I'm not too sure anymore. Good, bad, black, white, it all blends together into one mushy grey mess after a while. Maybe I'm not as good as I like to think I am... Maybe I'm only a step above the people who kill for pleasure, or profit.

[color=f49ac2][b][i]"Stop fighting."[/i][/b][/color]

[i]Snap [b]out[/b] of it, Frank![/i] Now's not the time to doubt yourself. The easiest way to fail is to give up before you even start trying, and [i]Ling Chu didn't raise a quitter![/i] You gotta find a way to fix this, maybe... Maybe... God, I [i]don't know[/i] what I can do...

[color=f49ac2][b][i]"Please."[/i][/b][/color]

... It sounds like Maria, calling to me. I don't want to listen, I try my hardest to block it out, cover my ears, shake my head, I even try singing Yankee fucking Doodle just to get it to stop... But still, it sounds clear as day.

[color=f49ac2][b][i]"It's over, Frank. Just relax."[/i][/b][/color]

I can see her. Blonde hair framing her delicate face. A small smile and blue eyes pleading with me. She reaches out a hand, stroking my face, then opens her mouth to speak...

[color=f49ac2][b]"Come home."[/b][/color]

But it's not her. It's a soulless reflection of what she was, trying to seduce me into giving into this beast's demands. I won't let it use me to cause chaos and destruction. I'm a [i]hero[/i], much as the rest say I'm not. And I know evil when I see it. But while I know it's not her, I can't help but hurt, knowing I'm about to push my wife away for good.

With a heavy heart, I reply, [color=black][b]"You know I can't. But I wish that I could."[/b][/color]

Her smile becomes melancholic. Tears prick at my eyes. She reaches her thumb up to brush them away. [color=f49ac2][b]"I wish you could, too."[/b][/color]

I lean into her touch, but her hand falls away. I watch silently as she walks away into the pitch black. I'm alone. Nothing to keep me company but my own thoughts. The darkness and silence washes over me like a wave of guilt washes over a remorseful killer.

But I can feel it peeling away. Revealing the light... And a cacophony of gunfire. Just my luck, I suppose.

I guess it's time to see what's waiting for me on the other side.

I step out of the darkness and into the light.