Chapter 3 The Man Who Shot Himself by Drinking A Lot

"They never even brought us food! What a ripoff." The Deputy then thought to himself. 'People are already coming after him? Does he already have a bounty? If so, how much is it?' He looked at Gabe with fear for his life. "Where are we going anyway and who am I meeting?" The Deputy knew the man a little bit, mostly from what the Second Sheriff had told him. "The Second Sheriff already explained a lot about him, shouldn't you already know the guy?" Gabe didn't get much, he only knew that he was a part of a bounty hunting team known as Purple Reaper. "Well, I don't know his name or how tough he is." The Deputy then decided to tell him. "Well, let me give you an idea of how tough he is." Gabe listened as best he could. "You know how strong the First Sheriff was?" Gabe didn't know much about the First Sheriff, except for the stories of him defending the village and defeating many tough bounty hunters. "Sorta, I know he defended the village and never lost a fight." "Well, he was also one of the greatest bounty hunters of all time. Not to mention he made Watersville all by himself." Gabe was surprised by this, a single man creating a village, not to mention he is one of the greatest bounty hunters?! "Not to get off track, but this guy is supposed to be equal in strength to The First Sheriff." Gabe dropped his jaw. "WHAT!?" The Deputy smiled. "This guy was also one of the greatest bounty hunters of all time, so to keep it short, you're in good hands." Gabe felt a bit reassured, but he still felt nervous meeting somebody who kills/captures people for a living, but he knew that one day he would be put in a situation like that, especially now with him becoming a bounty hunter. "Let's wait for him in that tavern." They had come across a tavern nearby, a building that just looked like a simple bar. Just as the two walked in, a man in front of the door said that kids weren't allowed in. "COME ON! I JUST WANT SOME FOOD! I'M HUNGRY!" The Deputy thought it wouldn't matter since many Bounty Hunters don't come to this town anyways. "Alright you stay out here, and I'll be back soon." Gabe hated waiting, but he put up with it. "Fine.." The Deputy then walked in, leaving Gabe alone on the porch of the Tavern.

Gabe had been sitting there for what felt like 20 hours, when in reality it had been 2 minutes. He then thought that he should take this time and relax, which he did, putting his hands behind his back and looking up at the sun. Everything had been fun and relaxing, up unil. "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!" Gabe heard very loud snoring that put him off, he then looked toward the direction where the snoring was coming from. The snoring was coming from a man sitting in a rocking chair on the porch. Gabe looked closely at the man. He had long gray hair, a brown trenchcoat, black boots, what looked to be no shirt, a black glove on his right hand, a black cowboy hat, a belt with 2 revolvers strapped to each side, and also he had a small but large gray beard. Gabe looked at the man and thought he was just a tired innocent man at first, only to notice he had a jug of beer in his hand with 3 X's on the label. 'Oh, so he's a drunk. No wonder why he's out cold.' Gabe then decided his snoring was too loud to excuse, he then walked over to him and was about to poke him to wake up, just then, the man opened his eyes like a flash and pulled out his revolver, aiming it at Gabe. "Who the hell are you? And why did you try and touch me?" Gabe was in shock. "I'm, I'm, I'm sorry sir! I was just!" The man was waiting. "YOU WERE SO LOUD WITH SNORING AND I WAS GONNA WAKE YOU UP!" The man then looked angry. "Are you insulting me kid?" Gabe was afraid, he had just realized that he had insulted him for his snoring without realizing it. "Um, no sir! Not that you do have loud snores, I was just trying to relax is all." Gabe was terrified by the gun when all of a sudden he had seen something on his hand that caught his eye. On the man's left hand was a scar, but it was no ordinary scar, it had been a scar that was in the shape of a reaper scythe, which he remembered that the man he was looking for was a part of the group known as Purple Reaper. "Sir? Where did you get that scar?" The man was confused. "Why do you ask kids? Are you after me for a bounty?" "Um! No sir! I was just wondering since the person I am looking for is supposed to protect me from bounty hunters, and that person was a part of a group called Purple Reaper." This made the man shocked, he then got up from the rocking chair. "Well, then you're the kid I was told about." He put back his revolver into his holster, and just stood above Gabe. "Wait, so you're the guy?" The man then looked angry. "The guy? You know I have a name right?" Gabe felt embarrassed as he didn't ask for a name in the first place. "Oh, I'm sorry sir. Well, what is your name if you don't mind me asking?" The man smiled. "I have been given many names, kid, some have been because of my work being so good, others because they respect me so much, but I only have one true name." Gabe was excited to hear it since of course, he made his name sound so cool. "My name, is-" Gabe couldn't wait any longer. "MARK JOHNSON POTATO!!" The hype was gone for Gabe, as he looked disappointed. "What?" Mark asked. "Well, I was hoping for something cooler than that." Mark looked angry. "OK, THEN WHAT WOULD YOU CALL ME!?" Gabe thought about this, he had known the guy for at least 3 minutes and didn't know much about him, then it hit him. "Oh, I know! Drunken Master!" Mark's jaw dropped. "Are you calling me a drunk!?" Gabe had then realized his mistake. "I'LL KILL YA KID!" Mark chased Gabe around as Gabe screamed from fear, but little did he know that the Deputy had been watching everything from a far distance, and he was happy they had met instead of introducing him to Gabe.

The Deputy, Mark, and Gabe all sat at a table in a nearby restaurant. "So, tell me more about the situation so I can get a better understanding," Mark asked as he was not informed why he had to do it. "Well, first things first you owe the First Sheriff." Mark got angry after hearing that. "Dumb bastard left his good life to go be a hero, what an idiot, and now I owe him all of a sudden?" The Deputy also looked at Mark with anger in his eyes. "He told us what happened that night when he and you stopped being partners." Mark was shocked, he had remembered that night every day, the night where he and his best friend stopped being friends. "So what if he let me live, I don't care about this stupid kid." Gabe was angry and upset. "First off! I am not a stupid kid! Second off, there are people on the hunt for me and will do whatever it takes to get that money and you are throwing away an opportunity to protect an innocent child?" Mark was silent for a second, he then spoke. "Yes," Gabe said nothing, he just got up from his seat and walked out of the building. Mark felt a bit guilty after saying that, but he did feel pity for the kid. "He's so much like him, at least that's what Second Sir says." Mark was silent for a second and then spoke. "I actually knew him when he was alive, and let me tell ya, he is a lot like him. He's goofy, scared, brave, stubborn, tough, and has heart." The Deputy agreed to this. "I never actually met him. He died before I became Deputy." Mark then made a choice he would never regret. "Alright, let's start this night off with 4 beers!" Actually, he does regret it. "YOU DRUNK FOOL! THE KID WAS RIGHT!" Mark then began laughing and drinking with the Deputy, having an all-out great time.

Gabe on the other hand was not having a good time. He had been outside, sitting on the dirt and looking at the sky. "Boy those stars sure are pretty." All he saw were lights coming from the sky, some big, some small, and some that just blink, it was absolutely beautiful. "They sure...are…" Gabe looked up, startled by the creepy voice. "Who said that?" "Who said that? Only one of the greatest bounty hunters of our time."

Gabe looked around and saw nobody, he assumed everyone in the town had gone to sleep at this time of night. "I asked who you were, so give me your name!" It was silent for a second until a response was heard. "A Name? Well, I had one once, but I got rid of that many years ago." Gabe tried to pinpoint the voice to its source, he then realized where it was coming from, behind him.

"I have no name anymore, as I am a mere stranger, a Lone Stranger." Gabe immediately recognized that name, the Lone Stranger. He stood tall with tanned tacky pants, a black belt with a revolver attached to the side, a blue shirt, a black trenchcoat, a black cowboy hat, and a black bandana covering his face along with a black mask over his eyes. "You're that kid with the bounty worth 1 Million aren't you?" Gabe was shocked, 10 Million? "If you were to come with me kid it would solve all my problems." Gabe tried to walk away, but couldn't due to being in fear for his life. It's true, the Lone Stranger is one of the most dangerous bounty hunters currently, he wasn't so big originally, but over time he grew a reputation. "Alright, you won't be nice about it. Fine, then I won't be nice about it." He then proceeded to pull his revolver out of his holster and aimed it right at Gabe to which he immediately put his hands up. "I don't wanna kill you kid, in fact, the bounty says that you must be alive, but I don't say how alive." Gabe was frozen in fear. 'I can't move my legs, someone helps me please!' The Lone Stranger pulled back the safety. "I won't kill you, but this will hurt." Just then, a gunshot had been fired.