Mind's right arm starts glowing energy and pushes Soul's chest. What follows is a surreal scene where Joseph is transported to a round tunnel and sees how panels of his memories move through the walls of the tunnel (including the floor), in opposite direction to him and at high speed. A strong wind also tries to push him back, but he rushes forward with determination. Voices start sounding, each one making all the panels in the tunnel change into images that tell the same story and theme, one after the other.

(Panels show up from his perspective as a little child)

_Voice 1: Shut up! We are low on money, and now we have to raise a child just because you felt like drinking that one time!

_Voice 2: Because of me?! You were also drunk as hell! But now we have Joseph, stop complaining about the past, we have a son and there's no turning back!

(New Panels at school)

_Voice 3: Ms. and Mr. Torres, I'm afraid your son entered a fight against the kids of his class, he even stabbed one of them with a cutter. It is not lethal, but under these circumstances, you'll have to sign an agreement to give your child mental support, otherwise he will be expelled.

(New Panels with a psychiatrist)

_Voice 4: Hello, Joseph, how are you? Listen, I know you don't like your parents, but it's never good to have everyone be your enemy, you know? Look, I know you're not feeling well, but we have these pills for you, to treat you, because we care about you. So, could you please drink these pills for me? Please?

(New Panels of Nadia, his love interest)

_Girl's Voice: Joseph, I don't fear you, what you did, it thought it was really cool. You are brave, unlike me. Could I...could I at least walk next to you after school?

_Joseph's Voice: Nadia, I love you, you're the only one who understands me. This world...they don't need us, and we don't need them. Perhaps... perhaps God's paradise is the only escape we have. I was thinking how we could die together, in an effective way. No knives, or trucks, guns...acid...let's use this acid, the one we saw at the school lab.

WHAT WAS IT CALLED? OH YEAH...SULFO...SULFURIC ACID

As this last part ends, Joseph walks out of the tunnel, taken now into the abandoned building where he committed suicide. There, he sees himself sitting on the ground, kissing Nadia. Once they finish, both bring out small glasses of sulfuric acid. In the left hand they hold the glass, and the right one they hold the other's left wrist to make sure they don't back down. They drink at the same time. Quickly after, Joseph's body falls to the ground and twitches to the acid, as it goes from his mouth to his lungs, burning them.

NOTE: This scene is not explicit at all! Instead, only imagine Joseph's soul reacting to the sounds and coughs of Joseph drinking the acid and dying. Please, do not make this explicit in any way.

Minutes pass, as the couple lays on the ground, not moving, as Soul stares in terror at the horrifying scene...

_Soul: No...all of this, all of my memories...all of this...

THIS DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL

These memories...they are still... not enough! I still don't understand why I committed suicide, what the hell has been happening in my life until now? Did I have perhaps a mental illness? Seems like it but...how did I even get one? Ugh, these new memories... still feel so blurry, it's just too much information to process right now.

Soul focuses his view on Nadia, and slowly walks towards her, mourning her dead.

_Soul: Nadia...Nadia Nakamura...Oh dear God, what have I done? Not only I killed myself, I also got her involved in this stupid idea. Nadia, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I...

SUDDENLY, NADIA SLOWLY RAISES UP AND SITS ON THE FLOOR.

_Soul: HA?! HOW, HOW IS SHE ALIVE?!

_Nadia: ...Joseph? Jo-Joseph?! JOSEPH! KYAAAA!

_Soul: ...Is this...really my memory? I don't remember this at all...

Nadia cuddles Joseph's corpse and starts crying.

_Nadia: I'M SORRY, JOSEPH, PLEASE, PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I...I'M NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO KILL MYSELF, I'M SORRY, I'M NOT LIKE YOU, I'M A COWARD. My glass...I'm sorry, I tricked you, but didn't want you to get mad at me. This...this glass...it doesn't have any acid...

I REPLACED IT WITH WATER

Nadia keeps crying, mumbling "I'm sorry" nonstop.

_Soul: If I'm not mistaken, the human brain stays alive for up to 5 minutes even after the heartbeat stops. Seems like it is indeed possible, that this memory is real, and that Nadia in fact survived.

(Silence, as Soul keeps appreciating the scene)

_Soul: But Nadia, you're wrong, you are not weak, you were also at the brink of suicide, yet you refused at the most critical moment. I'm actually... very happy that you survived.

A smile full of tears drowns Soul's face.

NADIA, I LOVE YOU, I'M HAPPY THAT YOU ARE FAR STRONGER THAN ME

The flashback ends, and Soul returns to the stardust walkway. But now, he's no longer a shining white soul, he looks just like the original Joseph, without additional distortions, but his aura still surrounds him like before. He notices a right handprint on his chest, and that Mind is nowhere to be seen. The implication saddens him, as it's clear that Mind has died.

Without time to mourn, he realizes that a shining light is coming from behind. When he turns, he sees a giant triumphal arch (see photo) with religious imagery. Its entrance is a white void emitting light, and the walkway slowly moves Joseph towards it. (Make a double page for its presentation). Joseph realizes that it was the small shining light from a while ago, then stares at the arch, and understands that his time has come.

_Joseph: Still, it's not fair, this is just not fair...why was death the only way to get rid of my mental illness? This is absurd, there had to be another way, I'm sure of it. If only I didn't have a mental illness, I would not have killed myself...just lived as a depressed teenager.

Slowly, Joseph gets closer to the arch, and his anxiety rises.

I...I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS, I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I CAN REINCARNATE, RIGHT? REINCARNATION EXISTS. Or perhaps...perhaps I can make a bargain, right?

God would never let someone so young to die! God would be cruel if unborn babies went straight to heaven! If only... if only this was a bad dream, I don't care if I'm in coma at a hospital right now, I just want to live a little longer...please...please...

Joseph stares with tears at the Arch, getting closer. He kneels to the floor.

I'LL EVEN MAKE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL, JUST LET ME LIIIIVE, PLEASE!

Total silence, as nothing happens. Now the white void is 5 meters away from Joseph. Surprisingly, the white light starts warming him. Slowly, his anxiety starts to fade way, his tears get evaporated, and resolve combined with fear fills his face. His last words are...

"I guess there's only way to figure out what to do".

Joseph raises his hand towards the white void, and it starts to be absorbed into it. He feels nothing, as the rest of his body slowly gets absorbed as well. The last panels of the chapter are a zoom out of the white void, into the triumphal arch, into a big shot including the stardust walkway, outer space filled with stars and comets, and the arch. Finally, the story of Joseph can begin. The last panel is one completely in black, with the following written:

AFTERLIFE THEORY:

A STORY ABOUT ACCEPTING THE NATURE OF HUMANITY