"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Stop! Stop!"

The screaming wails echoed throughout the main street of Titan Ridge. Some onlookers turned their head, unable to watch the inevitable scene unfold in front of them. But others, well, their eyes were glued to the man getting trailed on the ground by a horse, yelling at the top of his lungs. Atop the horse sat the stranger known only to the townsfolk as 'The Man From The Bar', after his actions just a few days ago in The Shamrock.

Paul rolled his eyes at the pathetic screaming as his horse came to a stop outside the Sheriff's Office. He set a big black boot on the ground and tied the animal to a post. Maybe he'd take this crying idiot for another bumpy ride but honestly, he just wanted to kill him and be done with it. Luckily for the guy, he had information. Unluckily however, Paul decided to make an example out of him in front of anybody that wanted to see. He could feel the eyes of the entire town on him, burning into him with caution and maybe even admiration although he wasn't vain enough to get caught up in any of that. The Sheriff was paying him handsomely for this job. That was the only thing he cared about.

"What are you gon' do to me?" the man quivered on the dusty ground. His ankles were burning from the rope tied tightly around them. He had been dragged from his house some fifteen minutes from here. His legs and body were beaten from the rocks on the horrific journey across the tough terrain.

Paul stared down at him unsympathetically. The man's face was bloodied and beaten, his left eye swollen shut from when he had knocked him out. It must have been something special to come around and realise you were tied to the back of a horse getting trailed all over the place. Then again, Paul didn't give a damn. "Where is the Outlaw hideout?"

"I don't….I don't…know, please…" the man held up his tied hands, begging to be cut loose. The blood was starting to dry into the open wounds around his ankles and wrists causing searing pains to shoot throughout his body.

"You see," Paul began as he removed a canteen from the horse saddle and bent down on his heels so he was almost eye level with his victim. He wagged the bottle, seeing the other man's eyes grow wide with hope thinking he was going to get a drink of water. But he wasn't. "I think you're lying." He removed the cap and held the bottle over the man's ankles before slowly letting the clear liquid inside spill out. A blood curdling scream rang out but it didn't faze Paul. He poured more, lifting some sand and dirt into his free hand and throwing it on to the wound.

The man screamed with all his might as first the vinegar seeped into his cuts and next the dirt and sand making things even worse. He almost passed out from the pain but the pungent smell was enough to keep him lucid. "….no…..please…I…I'll tell you…."

"If I were you I'd hurry up because I gotta take a piss. And it might sting," Paul stated with not a hint of humour to his tone.

"….up past….James Farm…..in….in the mountains…..way up high….please man, no more….."

"James Farm?"

"Up North….across the riv…..the river then…up the mountain…."

"And that's it?" Paul got to his feet and threw the canteen to the side, his fingers already flexing around the handle of his revolver.

"I don't know nothin' else, man. I swear, I ain't never even been, I only heard from the boys, I…"

A loud gun shot rang ominously around the street. Paul stood over the man, his gun pointing right at the newly formed hole in the other man's head. All of a sudden he was surrounded by deputies asking what he was doing. A throng of people huddled around the dead man, around him, around his horse, investigating what was in the canteen, asking too many questions. Finally the Sheriff himself appeared, fully aware that they had an audience. He walked slowly, surveying the scene before him. A man lay dead on the ground, his ankles tied to the back of a horse; Paul's horse. The man in question was standing nonchalantly, completely unaffected by what had just happened.

"I asked you to bring justice to these people," Vince said sternly, his eyes locking with The Man From The Bar. He was sure that was about to change to 'The Man From The Street' after this exhibit.

Paul held his gaze and the cut the ropes from the back of his horse. "You can have your justice, Sheriff. Or you can have your town back." He climbed into the saddle and made himself comfortable before addressing the older man a final time. "When you decide what one you want, you know where to find me."

The Sheriff stood unable to do a thing as his apparent employee rode away without a care in the world. He glanced down once more at the now covered body at his feet. Paul had been here not a week and had already taken down 4 gang members. That was more than all his deputies had managed in a month combined. This was necessary he told himself. Save the town, save his families legacy, no matter what. "Clean this mess up," he growled in defeat and stalked back to his office.

Later that night as the McMahon family sat down to dinner, the atmosphere was tense. Everybody knew what had happened earlier today and it seemed everybody had an opinion. Word around town was that The Man From The Street was a vigilante and no better than the men he killed. Why couldn't anybody see that Vince was just trying to do what was best for the town?

"Are we going to talk about this or not because I don't know about you all, but I can't eat like this," Stephanie groaned, unable to take it anymore.

"There's nothing to talk about, Stephanie," her father implored.

"I think there is," she replied. Unbeknownst to any of her family members, Stephanie had witnessed the scene unfold today from the bar window and had watched in horror as their so called saviour shot a man in the head without provocation. It was terrifying and exciting all at the same time.

"Look!" Vince thumped the table in anger. "We can't defeat the Outlaws playing by the rules. We need somebody who can beat them at their own game. Paul may not be pretty in his methods but damn he's effective. He's taken down 4 gang members in less than a week and is already on the hunt for more. I don't care how many people he kills so long as he gets those bastards out of our town!"

"Not in the street like that, Vince. You want our people to feel safe then you have to stop this violence in the streets, on both sides," Linda cried.

She did have a point. "I'll talk to him," Vince grumbled. "Get him to do the dirty work somewhere people can't see. But he stays on the job. We need somebody who can act beyond the law. Paul is that man," he finished with conviction.

Sorry for taking so long. Please review :)