Author's Note:
Well guys here is part 2, the final part for the Laramie story! This one the ending turned out different than I had planned, but I am very happy with it! I hope you guys enjoy it as well! Please leave a comment of what you thought of it! I really wanna know! On Wattpad the first part was in the number 2 ranking for the Laramie hashtag and peaked at number 11 ranking for the Western hashtag - which is really awesome because there are over 1.51k stories for that hashtag! So that means there is a lot of competition and my story was in the top at ranking 11! That's crazy and I couldn't be happier! I hope the Laramie community here on fan fiction like part two, and thanks to Marie for the review/comment!
Some trigger warnings: Body horror, violence, mentions of alcohol/drinking, blood, trauma, and cursing.
Please enjoy! ~ Dana
Autumn has arrived in Laramie. Claire Rose was still under watch and guard. By now, she had developed a baby bump. It was small, but it was there nonetheless. She was not permitted to leave home unless for work in her shop. She was a prisoner in her own home.
Wanted posters were across the West and even the East of the States for Vincent Doppler. The word of the tragic event had traveled across the entire country by now. Even the Native Americans had heard of the event. The event had brought even less trust between the whites and Native Americans. Because Vincent had taken the form of a white man, the Native Americans were more precautionary than ever before around white men. Towns were already on edge because of the Native American renegades, but this new threat to the country, to humanity - brought only distrust to strangers, and even to fellow men.
People were afraid that the Alterers would take the form of their loved ones, pretend to be them - then strike. Even among families it was hard to trust one another. People began making passcodes, or phrases to help identify if someone was the real deal or an imposter.
The Alterers themselves had heard of the event. Many of the Alterers on Earth were half-breeds. Half Human, half Alterer. Some chose to live a normal life among the humans. Others chose to take pride in their Alterer abilities and use it to their advantage. Rob banks, steal women, take all the gold and silver they wanted. Many were aware of Vincent Doppler and his high status in the world of the Alterers.
Being the second longest living Alterer in the universe, Vincent and his twin brother Victor were known across the cosmos as "The Immaculate Twins". But even then, the Alterer race itself was little known across the multiverse. They were like a bad tale, a bad legend or myth. For the Alterers to inhabit Earth and create half-breeds, it was them as a race marking their territory and finally revealing themselves to the universe.
Enough hiding! They would say. It is time to let the universe know that we do exist, and we will take all the splendors of the Earth and of any planet we want. That we are the ultimate life forms in the universe! Nothing can stop us!
Jess Harper and Slim Sherman were enjoying breakfast with Andy and Jonesy. It was Saturday, and after all the hard work the men and Andy have been doing these past few months, working extra hard, Slim decides today would be a good day to take off.
"Andy, Jonesy, Jess?" Slim says.
"Yeah, Slim?" Says Andy. Jess looks up from his plate and nods while chewing.
Jonesy looks up from his plate too. "What's on your mind, Slim?"
Slim begins, "Well, I've noticed you all have been working real hard these past few months. There isn't much to be done today. How about I treat you all to some sweets in Laramie? A day off - almost a full day off?"
Andy's face brightened upon hearing his older brother. "That would be great, Slim! I haven't been to Laramie since before…" Andy's spirit starts to fade a little, "Well, since before, you know…"
"Well, Andy, we've had to work hard. After what happened, we've had to be prepared for anything. I'm just thankful that you and I were out of town when it happened." Says Jonesy a little seriously.
"Well, today is the day you all can relax. It's my treat. I would take the offer while it stands, I could change my mind." Slim smiles.
Andy says excitedly, "Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Hold it! We gotta wrap up some things around the ranch here, remember?" Reminds Slim.
"Oh yeah, you're right. Well come on!"
After breakfast they all get the duties done for the day in just a couple short hours. Then they all ride to Laramie to enjoy their time off.
They arrive at noon, lunch time. When they arrive they head straight for the bakery.
They walk in and are greeted by the baker's young daughters. "Hi there!" Greets Belle. "Good afternoon, gentleman!" Greets Lillian.
"Hi, girls. We're just gonna decide what we want first."
"Of course! Take your time!" Says Belle as she adds a row of fresh cookies behind the glass plane.
Andy looks at all the bakery goods. "They all look so delicious! I don't know which one to choose!"
Jonesy looks at the variety of goods and says, "I'll have a blueberry muffin."
Belle gets one ready and says, "You got it!"
Jess leans against the wall with his arms crossed. Slim walks over to Jess and asks, "Is everything alright, Jess?"
"Vincent and Claire bought cookies at this same bakery here. It still bothers me knowing that we haven't found that mark of his. That Laramie is considered his territory. It feels like a bad dream, but it's real."
"Enough about that. Nothing has happened to Laramie since that day. Even regular crime has decreased significantly around here. There is no crime, actually."
"Yeah, that's because everyone is too scared to come here. Haven't you noticed that hardly anyone passes through Laramie anymore? It's becoming a ghost town. Or more like a haunted one that is still inhabited."
Slim puts a hand on Jess' shoulder, stating, "Look, Jess. Laramie is doing everything it can to get back up on its feet. You know we've all been working hard. Today is our day to relax. Now come on, let's get some cookies."
Jess' eyes dart to the cookies for a moment, before he sighs and looks at Slim, saying. "Alright. Just one day to ourselves isn't such a bad idea."
"Exactly. If we overwork ourselves, we won't be able to take care of the ranch and stagecoach line."
They all ended up ordering their own large chocolate chip cookie, except for Jonesy who had already ordered a blueberry muffin. They walk out of the bakery and say goodbye to the Baker sisters.
Andy holds his large wrapped cookie and they all sit at the benches just outside the bakery. "Boy, Slim! This is the biggest cookie I've ever seen in my life!"
Just before Slim can say anything, suddenly they hear the sound of several horses riding into Laramie.
A group of 15 men wearing cowboy style clothing and black leather jackets come riding into Laramie yelling and shooting their guns into the air, some even at the windows of the buildings. They also shot the cavalry men that were scattered across the town. The shots were headshots, shot perfectly on one bullet. They were far shots, farther than 40 steps - farther and faster than anyone in Laramie has ever seen. The people of Laramie immediately run into their businesses, homes, any buildings nearby.
"Jonesy, Andy! Get inside the bakery, now!" Shouts Slim as him and Jess get up and get their guns out. Andy and Jonesy go inside the bakery as instructed and Jess and Slim hide behind the alley of the bakery.
The group of men continue to cackle and yell like a pack of hyenas, shooting their guns into the air and riding around the town in three circles. After a few short moments they finally stop and get into rows of three, widely spaced out - the youngest looking of them all at the front in the middle.
The young man with hair darker than black exclaims loud with outstretched arms, "People of Laramie! My boys and I will introduce ourselves to you lovely people! My name is Edward Sullivan! We are known as the Black Desert!"
Slim and Jess look at each other. "Black Desert? Never heard of em'." Says Jess to Slim.
"Neither have I." Agrees Slim.
"You probably haven't heard of us. That's because we are only known by a certain type of people, a special kind of race. My boys and I come into Laramie looking for Alterer Vincent - otherwise known as Vincent Doppler in this town. My boys and I have been tracking him down for the past year. This is the first town he has marked as his territory. We will be luring him here by overriding his mark with my own. Us Alterers are very touchy-touchy with what we mark as ours. He'll come here the minute I release my wave. Now I am aware that Vincent has impregnated a human woman in this town. If he doesn't come when I release the wave, he may just come when I take the one thing he cares about in this town. Bring me the girl he had sex with this instant - or else someone is going to pay!"
Jess and Slim look at each other after hearing what Edward just stated. Jess grunts, "I'm going to approach them."
Slim whispers, "No Jess! Are you crazy!? If just one Alterer is bad enough, can you imagine 15 of them? You'll get slaughtered!"
"We've got to show them that we've got some backbone! Now I'm going whether you like it or not, Slim!"
Before Slim could say anything Jess quickly runs out from behind the bakery and approaches Edward and his men. Edward raises an eyebrow slightly when he sees Jess approach him. Then Edward says with surprise in his voice, "Ooohh! You're Jess Harper, aren't ya?"
Jess stops in front of Edward's horse 12 feet away. "How do you know my name?"
"Ya got Vincent's waves on ya, that's how! Looks like you were in Laramie when Vincent released his wave on the town. You are his property now! Y'know what that means, don'tcha?"
"What!? What do you mean I'm his property!?" Jess blurts in shock.
"If y'all don't bring the girl, I get to kill you! Then Vincent will come running when he feels his property has died! Or even better yet, I'll mark you as mine and then kill you! Then he'll be really mad! Make your choice! Bring the girl or die!"
Jess feels a mixture of anger and desperation - leaving him no option but to pull out his gun and shoot Edward right in the bullseye.
The bullet went clean through Edward's head, leaving a rounded hole on his forehead.
Being completely unfazed by the shot, Edward praises with a satisfied smile, "Well done. You've got some fast reflexes for a human."
The bullet hole disappears when Edward's skin swirls and mends itself back together. Not a single trace was left of it.
The bullet shell travels through Edward's inner flesh and into his mouth, then he spits it out and it clatters to the dirt ground.
"What!? Did y-y-you j-just-" Jess blurts in shock. He couldn't even finish his question.
"Alrighty, this is what we're gonna do." Begins Edward, as he points to Jess and then himself. "You and I will have a duel. You can use whatever you have on you as a weapon. Which, by what I see, is just your gun. But! It'll only be you and I, Jess Harper. If anyone tries to save you or interfere, my men and I will stop them. To be fair, we will fight like humans. Sound good?"
Jess grits his teeth and glares, asking, "You promise you'll fight like humans?"
Edward nods, "Of course!"
"What happens if I lose? And what happens if you lose? Are you going to slaughter all of Laramie?"
"Well, if you lose - you die. Then I'll have your friend over there," he points to where Slim is hiding, "bring me the girl. If he refuses, I'll kill him. This process will repeat until someone brings the girl. If I lose, well, that won't happen."
Edward grins widely and Jess carefully thinks of what to do or say next.
"I am not a patient man, Jess Harper! You better make your decision - and quickly!" Edward pressures.
Slim yells, "Jess, don't do it! We can bring Claire - we have no choice but to!"
Edward snaps his fingers at Slim. "Hey, hey! No interfering with my duel! I can easily morph my hand into a blade and kill you where you stand! So shut up!"
Jess asks, "Why are you after Vincent? Are there Alterer bounty hunters and are you one of them?"
Edward answers, "I'm no bounty hunter. I have my own reasons for seeking out Vincent. In case yall humans didn't know, Vincent is a very powerful Alterer. In fact, he is the second longest living Alterer, tied with his twin brother! Luckily for you humans, most Alterers are nowhere near his level of power and skill. But! Not a single one of you could stand a chance against me or my boys! All of the things Vincent did in Laramie that day, is the bare minimum us Alterers - including half-breeds like me - can do!"
Jess questions, "Half-breeds? You mean you are part human?"
"That is correct, Jess Harper! Now enough talk, I wanna have my duel with you and I'll be sure to fight like humans do! Now draw your gun and fight like your life - and everyone else's here - depends on it! Oh! One more thing! You can't attack my boys over here - this duel is just between you and I!" Edward cackles loudly and Jess grits his teeth.
Edward jumps off his horse and lands perfectly on his two feet. "Well come on! Draw your gun and fight me! I'll let you have the first draw - just to be real nice!" Edward taunts with a smirk.
Slim watches from the side of the bakery and hopes that Jess, or any of the people of Laramie - will make it out of this alive. He felt powerless, like there was nothing he could do. But then a thought flashed through his mind, if only temporarily. If things go from bad to worse, he'll have no choice but to bring Claire to Edward. He didn't want to - but with Jess and everyone else on the line, to sacrifice the one to save the many. He'd never thought he'd had to make such a decision.
But instead of making a decision, a question also comes to his mind.
He approaches Edward and Jess, but still keeps his distance. "Wait!"
Edward and Jess both turn their attention to Slim.
Slim turns to Edward and asks, "How did you and your men get this far? Get into Laramie? Ever since Vincent's attack, we have had security at every relay station and every road leading to here and around the area, including other towns nearby."
Edward responds nonchalantly with a slight shrug, "What do you think? We took em out while riding on our horses."
"By 'took em out you mean murdered?" Jess barks to Edward.
"Us Alterers have powers that you humans couldn't even imagine exist. We used our morph blades to take the guards out before they had a chance to use their guns. Then we erased the evidence and repeated this process until we got here. We made sure to cover our tracks. Pretty simple eh?"
"What do you mean you erased the evidence?" Slim presses.
"What you humans may call magic and witchcraft - we can do stuff like that. With a wave of our hands the dead bodies disappeared and - poof! Gone. Of course we replaced the guards with Alterers - taking their form and pretending to be them. That way, any humans that pass by don't know anything happened! They'll never know the difference!"
Edward turns to Jess. "That should remind you of something when Vincent first arrived, eh Harper?"
Jess exclaims quickly, "So that's how those men disappeared that night in Vincent's hotel room! I knew I heard gunshots and men! I just knew it!"
"I knew you would figure it out. You're one of the smarter ones in this town. Well enough talk! Let's start our battle already - I'm just itching to fight ya!"
Jess grits his teeth and Edward grins as the half-breed says, "I said I would give you the first shot, so come on! Shoot me!"
Jess draws for his gun in less than a second and shoots at Edward but the half-breed does a dodge roll and shoots back at Jess, grazing Jess' right shoulder enough to make the cowboy wince for a moment. Edward took that moment as an opportunity to get up from his roll and run on the wall of the bank as he shoots at Jess while wall running. Jess doesn't expect this to happen and shoots at Edward but misses. Edward shoots Jess in the left shoulder, causing Jess to grunt loudly in pain. It was a deeper, lower hit than the first, but Jess now knew that Alterers use their surroundings to their advantage while fighting. Jess sees Edward do a turn on the wall and comes soaring straight for him, so he barely manages to dodge out of the way with a roll like Edward similarly did earlier.
Edward does a skill roll himself to soften the impact of his landing, but when he turns around he is greeted by a bullet in the heart.
Edward is filled with shock and staggers back for a moment upon being shot, but it wasn't enough to make him go down. "You...you actually managed to shoot me?" Edward hisses as blood begins to drip from his gaping wound.
Jonesy and Andy see this and Jonesy cheers on from inside the bakery, "Yeah! Jess got him!"
Andy keeps looking from the window and says slowly, "But Jonesy, he's not going down. A shot like that should've killed him."
Jess points his gun and says, "I figured that if shooting you in the head doesn't work, maybe shooting in the heart will. But any real human man would go down the instant being shot this close in the heart! I took a guess that you bein' a half-breed might mean that you have a heart like a human. I guess I was right."
Edward's face is one of shock, but turns to chuckling and then a sinister laughter.
Jess is caught off guard by this and asks, "What's so funny?"
Edward stops and says while waving a finger, "I knew fighting you would be hella fun, Jess Harper. But I think you are forgetting my other half, and you don't realize what we are capable of."
Edward does a slow low pitched whistle that builds up in pitch so much that it causes Jess and all the locals of Laramie to cover their ears from the pain the screeching sound caused. Even everyone indoors could hear it and covered their ears, like Jonesey, Andy, and the baker sisters.
The sound reverberates across the town as an Alterer wave is released out from Edward. The wave wraps around Jess, causing him to feel very warm all of a sudden but he still covers his ears from the screeching. The windows in the town shatter the moment the wave hits them. Jonesey uses his body and mostly his back as a shield to protect Andy from the shattering glass, causing the two to get pushed back to bakery counters. They both slide across the tile floor and Jonesey is knocked out cold. The baker sisters had ducked and hidden just in time behind the counters - luckily the glass planes from the counters didn't break, so they were unharmed. Edward then abruptly stops the whistling.
Andy luckily wasn't knocked out but upon seeing that Jonesey was he shakes the older man by the shoulders calling out, "Jonesy! Jonesy! Wake up Jonesy! Wake up!" The baker sisters rush to help Jonsey by using what they had in the bakery to help, like a wet cloth to help with the cuts and blood from the glass. Everyone begins to uncover their ears and recover.
Jess uncovers his ears as well and yells at Edward, "What the hell did you just do!?"
"I just sent my Alterer wave out to let Vincent know to get his ass over here before I kill you! Oh, and I also marked you as my property like I said about earlier. He should be here soon."
"What!?" Jess blurts in shock.
"And it's time we get back to our fight - and I ain't holding back or going easy anymore!"
"What about the shot I did? How are you still standing?"
"Oh, that? It did hurt at first - but I was just shocked a little. One measly bullet in the heart isn't enough to kill me. It's time I keep to my word, Jess Harper!"
A twisted, evil wide grin flashes on Edward's face as he begins to laugh sinisterly. Then, a tear forms across his hair at a forty-five degree angle - and Slim Sherman realizes what is about to happen.
"Jess! RUN!" Slim shouts as he sprints towards Jess and Jess flips around to see Slim sprinting towards him. Before Jess has a moment to react another tear forms on Edward's hair and forehead as they unravel into two long pieces of morphed flesh tentacles. Slim Sherman abruptly stops running when he lifts his head and sees the two morphed flesh tentacles rise up slowly. Jess also turns to look and the two cowboys are filled with a look of complete horror.
One tentacle roughly grabs Jess and violently throws him across the town. Jess goes soaring through the air while yelling and crash lands hard on the dirt ground. Slim sees this and is filled with rage as he pulls his gun and shoots several rounds at Edward. As expected it was in vain as one morph tentacle forms a blade while it goes towards the speeding bullets and deflects them back at Slim, intentionally hitting him in the limbs to disable him.
"Ag-ag-AAGGGH!" Slim gets hit several times, with only one bullet missing him but none had hit his internal organs.
Edward's men begin cackling and yelling like a pack of wolves as they shoot their guns into the air vivaciously.
Slim falls to his knees and when Andy sees this the boy comes sprinting out yelling, "Slim! Slim!"
Slim yells hoarsely to Andy as he tries to turn back, "No! Andy get away from here!"
Edward turns when he sees Andy and suddenly is by Andy's side in a flash, grabbing the boy by the arm and in a flash yet again is back standing where he was before.
"Bring me the girl Vincent had sex with or else the boy gets it!" Edward shouts as the other morph tentacle forms a blade at the tip and both blades are now at Andy's neck and chest.
"Aaaahh! Slim - help!" Andy yells in total fear, seeing his own expression of fear in the reflection of the gleaming morph blades.
By now Jess got up from the ground, now limping and holding onto his arm for support as he yells from across the town, "I thought you said you would fight like humans do - you dirty, filthy liar and monster!"
Meanwhile there is a lone local of Laramie cautiously and silently emerging from her shop, not making a sound with any of her steps as she approaches the scene.
"I am fighting like humans do - by lying and cheating and being nasty and filthy to get what I want! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
In an instant a thundering beam of golden light comes down from the heavens and in the center of the town.
Everyone looks at this beam of light, including Edward as his tentacles morph back into his normal head shape. In the next moment the light subsides with a fluttering fade, revealing the Alterer that Edward has been waiting for.
The locals of Laramie gasp when they see that it is indeed Vincent Doppler, the "monstrous man with a delight for sweets and sex", as the locals of Laramie had dubbed him.
But he was known by another title across the entire country.
The town grew dead silent. Even Edward's gang men grew silent, as they knew more than any of the locals how important and powerful Vincent is. Many of Edward's men respected Edward as their head leader, but many of them feared Alterer Vincent more.
A thick, eerie wind picked up that filled the silence of the town. The wind grows as Vincent looks around to assess the situation that was going on before he arrived. He sees familiar faces - Jess Harper, Slim Sherman, the Baker sisters - but also new faces, like Andy and Jonesy.
And then a face all too familiar picks up on his visual radar, causing his serious and hardened look to soften.
"Claire…" Vincent calls out when he sees his lover.
Claire Rose stepped forward from her shop with her hands on her small baby bump. "Vincent." She says with longing - and a hint of emotional pain.
Edward turns and sees Claire for the first time, as he realizes who she is and he grins widely while pushing Andy away. "Well look who we have here! You must be the girl Vincent had sex with, huh?"
Andy scrambles to his feet and rushes to Slim's side, helping him up as the two look at the conversation unraveling before them. Jess makes his way to Slim and Andy while still keeping his hand at his holster in case something happens again.
Claire stops walking and turns to Edward. "I am here, and so is Vincent. Now, will you stop terrorizing our town and go away!?"
"Oooh, you want me to leave, do ya? Just like that? Well, as simple as that sounds, I have some business with your lover to discuss first." Edward turns to Vincent and approaches him with a cocky confidence as he looks up at the taller and older Alterer.
"And who might you be?" Asks Vincent as he looks down at the smaller, shorter half-breed.
"You don't know me? Don't tell me you've never heard of the Black Desert! We're known across the whole country by our people!"
Vincent watches Jess practically inch his way towards Slim and Andy as he begins, "I can't say I haven't heard of your little gang," he then looks back at Edward, "but I don't know the faces you and your gang use and are known by. You could be anyone."
"The name is Edward Sullivan, does that ring any bells?" Edward has a look of disappointment as he crosses his arms.
"Do you realize how many Edward Sullivans there are out there? All I know is that you are the one that released that wave onto the town and Jess Harper over there," he points to Jess, who by now had made it back to Slim and Andy. "and that you wrapped your wave over my own. As soon as I had sensed it I knew it meant nothing but trouble. And, I also knew you were going against my set intentions for this town to be left alone and unharmed."
The wind suddenly picks up and a poster flies off the bulletin board at the sheriff's office, coming towards Vincent as he grabs it without even looking at it. He then begins to read it, "Wanted for murder in Laramie, Wyoming. Vincent Doppler, The Shapeshifting Man. Fifty-thousand dollar..." he mumbles the rest and raises a peculiar eyebrow, "Oh? I'm only worth fifty-thousand dollars? I'm worth much more than that." He carelessly tosses the poster as it goes flying, never to be seen again as it rides the waves of the dusty winds.
"But I digress," Vincent states as he turns his attention back to Edward, "what do you want from me so badly that you would cause so much trouble in this town?"
Edward backs away a little as he exhales something between a sigh and a grunt. "It's a lot to explain, so I'll get straight to the point."
"I would appreciate that." Vincent states bluntly, then Edward continues.
"You probably can sense that I am a half-breed of human and Alterer."
Vincent nods without saying a word, then Edward continues again.
"I'll cut to the chase; my father was a full blooded Alterer and my mother was human. My father had secretly trained me in my Alterer abilities. We kept it a secret from Mom. I knew that my father and I were not normal human beings, and one day when I was a teenager, my father told me the truth. He told me everything - about the Alterers, about me being a half-breed." Edward walks to the right a little and looks down, saying with a heaviness, "And then one night….Mom found out the truth. I was asleep at the time, I was having a nightmare about the morph blades...my whole head becoming them and eating me alive. Then I woke up from my nightmare and followed the trail, the smell of death leading to my parent's bedroom - only to reveal the true nightmare. My father had killed my mother, and he seemed so careless, unaffected by it. He told me that she had seen him shapeshift - so he had to "eliminate her"."
Edward's face begins to grow with anger and hate as he growls, "I was so livid, I was filled with rage as my hand turned into a morph blade without thinking. I seemed to have been led by instinct. I had killed my father in cold blood, just like that. When I seemed to have snapped out of it, I realized that I had become an orphan. I had no other siblings. I had other family members, like cousins, but I could not go to them and reveal to them the truth. I had cried the whole night...and then I was led to the big city...where I was withering away...drinking away my sadness and depression."
Vincent's eyes widen for a split second upon hearing this but remains silent. Edward picks up on this and says, "Yeah, I found out later on that because I am a half-breed, alcohol doesn't affect my nervous system."
"Oh really? Is that so?" Ponders Vincent somewhat quietly.
"Yeah. But it sounds like you know something different about this." Edward says.
"No no, carry on." Vincent answers.
Edward ignores his gut instinct to press about the subject and continues, "Well anyways, one day while in my apartment, I had felt an Alterer wave. It was my first time feeling a wave other than my father's. I followed it, and met a gang of half-breeds. Half-breeds like me, and that's how I found my family - my new family." he motions to his gang members on the horses, who say nothing but all look at their leader.
Edward turns to Vincent again and asks, "And so, I've been searching for help, for a solution. I want you to make me fully Alterer, and my boys here too. That way, there will be good Alterers in the world. That we will be the first good Alterers, and change things. So please, will you do it?"
Jess and Slim look at each other when they hear this. By now, Belle was tending to their wounds, more especially Slim's, while her sister Lillian is still tending to Jonesey.
There was a long moment of silence as Vincent seemed to be thinking over his response.
Finally, he answers, "I'm afraid my answer is no, Edward Sullivan."
Edward looks shocked. "What!? Why!?"
"I can sense that your reason for wanting to become a full Alterer is false. I do believe your story about your father and mother, and your fall into depression, as well as how you met your new family. But I think you have another idea in mind. I think you wanted peace in the beginning while in your depressed days, you wished that you were human. But after meeting your gang, you realized the potential of being a half-breed, and wanted justice and, more importantly, revenge on the world and the Alterian race. Your feelings of sadness became feelings of anger and rage, as you said so yourself that you were livid. I cannot allow you to become fully Alterer and I will not do it for you or any of your gang members."
Edward's face becomes one of frustration and anger as he turns and sees Claire, then uses super speed to be by her side in an instant and locks her in a choke hold. His free hand turns into a morph blade and he threatens, "You will make me fully Alterer, or else the girl gets it!"
Claire shrieks and yells, "Help me, Vincent!"
Belle yells, "Claire!"
Before Jess could even grab his gun Vincent's head unravels into a long sharp blade that pierces Edward in head.
Edward grins and mocks, "Hah! You fool! You should know that piercing your blade into my head will do noth-" suddenly Edward's eyes widen and begin to bulge slightly as the tip of the blade that is inside his head breaks off from the rest and the remaining blade. Edward's morph blade then reverts back to his hand and he lets go of Claire - backing away as he begins to choke and gag.
This continues as Claire backs away immediately and covers her mouth with her hand in horror.
The long blade returns to Vincent's head to become his head again as he watches without saying a word.
"W-what the - what the fuck are you doing to me!?" Edward grips his hands into shaking fists, his body shape beginning to ripple in waves as he shouts, "What are you men just doing standing there!? Kill him! That is an ORDER! KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!"
"I think they can sense who is at the top of the chain right now - and it certainly isn't you, Edward. This is your punishment for causing harm to all of Laramie and for laying your filthy hands on my Claire."
"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck you Vincent Doppler!" Edward yells but suddenly falls and stumbles backwards as a portal opens in the ground as he slips away.
Vincent is surprised upon seeing this but then turns to Edward's gang members and states with a menacing stare, "You either ride off to your leader, or I'll kill you where you stand."
They all jerk and ride off out of Laramie on their horses as fast as they can, then Vincent finally turns to Claire.
"Claire, are you alright?" Vincent says softly as he approaches her. But to his surprise Claire backs away and holds onto her baby belly again.
She tries to look at him but can't, as she turns her face away from him and begins to cry.
"Claire..." begins Vincent as he begins to reach his hand out to her.
When suddenly the sound of a gun being cocked is heard.
Vincent stops and slowly turns his head to see Jess Harper pointing his gun at him, as Jess begins, "I don't fully understand everything I just witnessed, but all I know is that this - all of this - is your fault. You are a monster, a monster that lives only for his own pleasure and self-gratification. You walked around Laramie, acting like you could do anything you liked - only to be hiding a rotten truth underneath the surface. Underneath that goddamn face of yours that you wear. You killed those men and I knew I heard your voice and theirs at your hotel room. I don't even know where to begin explaining how much you have affected the whole town and Claire here especially - let alone the whole country! The Indian renegades are at an all time high all across the country because of what happened! Nobody can trust anyone anymore! Well now we know monsters like you exist - and I don't care if you just saved Laramie - you killed all those men that day, and we don't want you here! You have brought nothing but trouble to this town and I as the sheriff am telling you get the hell on outta here and drift! Drift and never ever come back here ever again! If I ever see your face around here ever again, I'll kill you - do you understand me!?"
Slim looks at Jess and externally agrees with him, but internally disagrees a little. Slim has always been one to talk things through, but he wasn't sure if this is a situation he can resolve with his words. He knew Jess had a lot to say, but what about Vincent?
Well, the Alterer did know what to say, and what to do now.
There was a moment of silence before Jess yells, "Well!?"
Vincent's head is lowered and he turns around slightly towards Jess and begins softly and quietly, "I had figured things would come to this kind of end." He then fully turns to Jess and exclaims, "I will drift yet again, Jess Harper. And you certainly won't be seeing my face around here ever again, that I can assure you."
Jess was a little off guard, feeling that something wasn't right with that response or that something was about to happen. It just didn't sit right in his stomach, he knew there was some other meaning to those words but he couldn't figure it out. He still kept his finger on his trigger.
Vincent then turns to Claire and says with a soft smile, "I will always love you, Claire Rose. And I look forward to seeing you again, as well as our son."
Claire gasps as she realizes that Vincent had already known the gender of her baby, but before she could have a chance to say anything, Vincent raises his right hand into the air.
With a snap of a finger, there was a burst of pitch white light so bright it blinded everyone and in mere seconds - time had begun to reverse.
The passing of many months, of many cries in the night from Claire, of many cries of mourning from the townspeople, the sufferings and pain had been reversed back in time to the point of laughter from the night of the dance.
But Vincent did not stop there. No, he went father back. Past the night of the dance, past the night of sex, back and back and back and back.
Until the day that he had first walked into Laramie. Time had gone to a halt momentarily as Vincent stood seeing himself walking into town.
"I will keep to my word, Jess Harper. You won't be seeing my face in Laramie ever again…" and then Vincent Doppler had shapeshifted into another form he has used before, his body glowing in a golden light.
His transformation finishes and merges with his Vincent self that was halted in time as he exclaims, "but you will be seeing this face. And this time, I will be more careful. I will not allow such a turn of events to happen again."
Time begins to flow at the point that he had begun to walk into Laramie. His hair was a dark inky black, short and with side bangs and many layers. His light blue eyes shining underneath dark blue circular lenses that faded up to a sheer transparency. He walked wearing just as black colored men's dress shoes, his stride led by long legs wearing dark brown ironed work pants. His carefree arms swaying side to side clothed in a white dress shirt. His confident chest and waist clothed by a dark navy blue button-down vest. And finally, wearing a self-assured smile, knowing that he will get things right this time around.
The town of Laramie was going about business as usual, no memory of what had happened as if it did not happen at all - to them and the Earth. No, only he would keep memory of what happened, and live in a fake reality in reality - to have a second chance that he knew he would not be given otherwise.
He strides into the bar at noon, just as had happened before. That same spot was open, just as before. He takes a seat at that same spot and knows that Jess Harper and Slim Sherman would be murmuring about him. Things were going as just expected.
Slim whispers to Jess, "You see that new guy over there?"
"Yeah, I was eyeing him too. I'm gonna go talk to him." Says Jess in his raspy, low voice. He gets up from his seat and walks over to the stranger, going around all the other men at the bar.
Knowing that all he would need is a slight shift to rewrite history, he asks the bartender in a smooth voice, "I'll have a strawberry soda, please."
The bartender looks at the newcomer and raises a quizzical eyebrow, then proceeds to shine a glass and asks, "A soda? It's been awhile since someone has ordered a soda in my saloon. Though I will say that the strawberry flavor is the only one that really sells around here."
The bartender gets the stranger his soda and the stranger leaves the coin on the bar counter.
"Thank you." Says the stranger softly as he took the soda which the bartender already opened for him. The stranger takes a drink of the soda. A smile forms on his face, then Jess approaches him on his right side and says, "Hi there, you must be new in town."
The smile on the stranger's face remains as he turns to look at Jess and replies, "Yes, I am."
Upon closer inspection of the stranger, Jess notices the stranger has a lack of a gun, wasn't wearing a bag of some sort or carrying anything with him. He also notices the unusual order of drink - a strawberry soda.
"Well you're definitely not from around here, I haven't seen anyone order a strawberry soda, maybe except for the kids and the flower shopkeeper. What's your name?"
The stranger holds onto his bottle of strawberry soda with one hand and states before taking a drink, "Alon. Adonis Alon." He drinks his strawberry soda slowly and smoothly, savoring the flavor and feeling as he could not have done before.
And as always, he hums in delight.
FIN.