Despite his crude awakening, despite all the shit he’s had to endure at the hands of the police and Tujiro and Argent and Grendel, Brian Li Sung still believes there’s a peaceful way through it all. He tries to convince Christine, too, but Christine’s rage can’t be quenched. She feels as if the police have hounded her since before she was born–a testament to her obsession with Hunter Rose–and the only way to put a stop to it is to kill Argent.
Brian Li Sung believes Christine is someone else. He’s seen the peaceful, loving side of her and his optimism is infectious. Christine lets him believe in his delusion, deceiving him one last time before sneaking out in the middle of the night. She knows what’s happening to her. She can feel it.
First, she kills the two cops watching her apartment. Then she plants a bomb underneath the car of Captain Wiggins. She regrets not being able to see him die. She wants him to feel the burn that she has felt inside … her words are mirroring the unchecked aggression of every single person who’s ever used violence to incite terror. She doesn’t see it, though. All she wants is to kill Argent.
The last few pages have no text. Christine knows that Argent is waiting for her. The tension builds as she breaks into his home, only to find that he has been preparing for her arrival. Argent will use whatever magic he can to end this fight with Grendel once and for all, curse be damned.
For Christine, this fight means achieving some sort of justice. In her eyes, all of her violence has been in the name of good. She thinks Argent is what stands in the way of her old life even though Grendel is just as much a part of it.
For Argent, it’s always been about killing the legacy of Grendel. Looking back, it’s easy to empathize with him. But his obsession can’t be overstated: he literally lives in the home that once belonged to Hunter Rose. And so, in a way, it’s only fitting that Argent should meet his old nemesis there.
Christine’s own words …
On the two officers staking out her apartment: “The first obstacles were hardly even effectual.”
On Captain Higgins: “I hope he burns on the outside the way they made me burn on the inside.”
On Argent: “Sick bastard.”
On herself: “I was on fire myself. And I remember sinking. I remember thinking all that as very appropriate. Sinking as far as I could go.”
Next: Grendel #12: Devil’s Ends!
Ken Brosky, Author 