I took my leave from the Pyramid headquarters and moved onward into the cold, unforgiving arctic. As I pressed onward, I saw that blue, omniscient glow that I had come to know over the years.

"Where are you going?"

Like Manhattan didn't know. Now he finally discovers what life is like. What it is like to be human. If he'd known all along, none of this would have happened in the first place.

"Back to Owlship. Back to America. Evil must be punished. People must be told."

"Rorschach…"

I stopped in front of my glider to turn back at him.

"You know I can't let you do that."

And yet, he stills knows he won't stop me. His thinks that his so-called pity can change reality. He knows how this will end. I know how this will end. I fought back the tears from behind my eyes. I would not die a coward. I will die as I lived; without compromise. The self-absorbed liberals like Adrian can live in this false paradise. I can't live knowing that everything is a lie.

"Of course. Must protect Veidt's new utopia. One more body amongst foundations makes little difference. "

I began to remove my mask. Somehow, in that moment, I realized there was no Rorschach. And yet, there was. Rorschach was the man who wanted to end injustice. To end the cruelty and crime in the world, whatever the cost. The ends would justify the means. Rorschach knew that. But Rorschach was no man in himself. Rorschach was the side to a man. Rorschach lived inside a man and revealed himself whenever necessary. He lived in Walter Kovaks. And he would die as Walter Kovaks.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Do it."

Rorschach did not want to give up. To end his life while crime still live meant Rorschach had failed. But Walter Kovaks knew that there was no choice here. To not die would mean having to live with Adrian's lie. It would mean having to compromise. And that would take away all purpose from Kovaks. From me.

"Rorschach…"

I could not stop the tears now. They streamed down my face because I knew… I knew this was the end. The end of Rorschach… the end of me. But I could still die with reason. I had done my duty in this life. The world may have rejected me, but I did what I had to for the greater good. I did what I had to because I had one rule. One rule that I had to live my life by. One rule that could never be broken…

"DO IT!"

…Never compromise.