Chapter 467 | Day of Destruction, Rorschach’s Mask.
Rorschach's Diary–
(T/note: https://watchmen.fandom.com/wiki/Rorschach%27s_Journal)
[November 22nd, or 23rd, 1992.
Streets were littered with bodies, brains boiled over by grotesque nightmares of fictional invader clock started over. We had a chance. But they blew it. All of them!
The undeplorables scream to hear themselves, deafened in their echo chamber, blaming the other side for what they have instead of who they are.
Their tolerance is a one-way street.
While the totalitarians stand their ground, covering their eyes, preaching for a return to a rose-coloured republic. Unaware that for those not like them, the good old days weren't so good.
It depends on your perspective. God turned his back and left paradise to us. Like handing a five-year-old a straight razor.
We slit open the World's belly. Secrets came spilling out. An intestine full of truth and shit strangled us.
Soon the bugs will be all that's left. And the cockroaches will go to war with the maggots, fighting over the scraps of the moderates.
Then they'll eat themselves and finally choke.
Unless we can get god back.
Kicking and screaming. Because maybe we don't deserve it. Maybe the world should burn this time.
We shattered the American Dream. This is the American Nightmare.]
The man closed the journal and picked up a mask covered in ink.
Its original owner had died in the South Pole, leaving no corpse.
"The authorities have issued a mandatory evacuation order all over the country, and we urge everyone to gather their family members to evacuate our designated red zone. If the emergency number that appears at the bottom of the screen is busy, please contact the local police at ..."
Emergency notices about the evacuation of the city's residents were playing on the TV.
The man didn't look at it but put on the mask, with the constantly changing ink pattern.
The world was getting worse, not knowing if it was since Dr Manhattan left or since Rorschach's journal was leaked.
Anyway, it was like a patient with terminal cancer whose body was deteriorating every day.
Tap tap tap tap...
With his hands in the pockets of his brown coat, the man strode out of the room.
He went down the stairs and left the shabby apartment. The outside world was in chaos.
Various kinds of looting and burning, various kinds of riots were started.
Nuclear war was coming; the end was coming. Everyone was going crazy.
The man walked through a large number of revelers with a straight face, ignoring the violence that happened. He had other things to do.
The world was getting worse, and there were always heroes that would come forward.
Now that he had worn this mask, he had to choose what to save...
For example, the world.
The man walked quickly and eventually stopped at the door of the police station.
The police were busy evacuating, and the shrill ringing of phones was even more dramatic than that of a Wall Street brokerage firm.
They were faced with a very serious problem. That was, what to do with the prisoners held in the cells?
There wasn't enough time left for the citizens to evacuate, so how could they manage those vicious criminals?
A policeman was carrying a bunch of keys. It was impossible for the police department to transfer so many people into prison vans right now.
In order not to be charged with murder afterwards, the chief decided to release them.
Anyway, who knew if the Eastern camp would bomb this city!
"Give me the keys!"
A bald man reached out his hand through the bars and firmly grabbed the police officer's collar.
The criminals in the cell were all shouting, banging on the bars, making a sharp noise.
They knew what was going on outside, and no one wanted to be trapped here. They would either starve to death or die of thirst or be blown into a corpse by the nuclear bomb.
Boom!
The bald man slammed his fist into the officer's cheek, knocking out a few teeth.
He wanted to grab the other party's keys and open the cell door.
After knocking down the officer with a heavy punch, the keys flew out and landed far away.
"Shit!"
The bald guy cursed bitterly.
He was trying to figure out how to pick up the set of keys when someone else had already done so.
The man in the ink mask was holding the keys and looking at the bald guy in the cell.
"You want to come out?"
He asked in a husky voice.
The bald man took two steps back and waved his hand vigorously. From the costume this guy was wearing, it was obvious that he was a veteran costumed hero.
Instead of getting out and getting beaten, he wasn't going to ask for trouble.
He would rather stay here and think of other ways to escape from jail.
The man seemed satisfied with this answer, placed the set of keys in his pocket, and continued on his way.
The reason he came to the police station jail was to rescue a man and a woman.
They were called Mime and Marionette.
Of course, it was just a code name.
The costumed adventurers didn't reveal their real names, and neither did the masked villains.
Although the guy didn't know why Ozymandias needed them.
But, this was one of the tasks to be accomplished to save the world.
So, the man did it anyway.
"There are still 3 hours and 34 minutes… "
He raised his hand and looked at his watch. This time represented the time limit for the launch of the nuclear bomb.
Without Dr Manhattan's to restrain it, the world would inevitably slide into the abyss.
It didn't take long for the man to find the targets.
With the leverage given by Ozymandias, he succeeded in getting the two criminals, who lacked integrity and compassion, to follow him out of the cell.
In a car already prepared, the group of people entered the sewers and stopped in front of a flood control door that said 'Danger'.
Gently knocking twice, the iron gate opened, and the man entered first.
The rescued Marionette and Mime followed.
They saw a secret base covered with dust, a jumble of parts, equipment and instruments.
"I say, is the rumour true?"
The blond woman, named 'Marionette', asked nervously.
"Rorschach committed suicide. Is that true?"
This was one of the widely circulated rumours after the publication of Rorschach's journal.
Because the journal that shattered Ozymandias's utopia didn't end with what happened to Rorschach himself.
[Veidt is the mastermind. Why? What does he want? I can't imagine a more dangerous opponent. He once joked that he was so fast that he could catch a bullet. He could kill us both, there in the snow. Nobody would ever know... That's where we're going now, the South Pole. Whether I live or die in the future, I hope the world survives long enough for this to reach you. For my own part, regret nothing. Have lived life, free from compromise...and step into the shadow now without complaint.]
This was Rorschach's last entry.
Some speculate that he was killed by Ozymandias, while others say he had a nervous breakdown and chose to commit suicide ...
All in all, opinions vary.
"No."
The man briefly replied.
Although he was wearing Rorschach's ink mask, it wasn't himself.
"So, your partner is Nite Owl?"
Marionette asked again.
She saw the Nite Owl's ship covered by a dustproof cloth.
"No, his partner is me."
A voice came from the corner, and a tall man in a dress-like outfit came out.
He was like an ancient emperor, wearing luxurious robes and gold accessories, revealing an extraordinary aura.
Holding a strange-looking, red-furred lynx in both hands, he kept stroking it like a domesticated cat.
"Ozymandias?"
Marionette recognised this legendary figure who was always in the news or in the newspaper.
The other party used to be one of the most famous costumed adventurers and later became a financial tycoon, charity tycoon and national think tank.
Now, he was a cold-blooded executioner who had gone mad and slaughtered 3 million people, a notorious evil against humanity, who was wanted all over the world.
Ozymandias, Adrian Veidt.
"Yes, it's me."
The man nodded gracefully.
He appeared here so that Rorschach II, who wore the ink mask, could specifically rescue Marionette and Mime to save the world once again.
Dr Manhattan left the planet and then left the universe.
Adrian once thought that the blue man was the biggest threat in the world.
Now he had changed his mind. Human beings need a 'God'.
So that they wouldn't repeat the destruction and start a war.
...
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