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PAGE TWENTY-FIVE

PANEL ONE: BAXTER drives on. CARTER is looking very WTF.

CARTER:
What does he mean, ‘ready for retirement?’ The Sheriff only just got here-

BAXTER:
Not to him. As far as the townsfolk are concerned, the Sheriff’s always been here.

CARTER:
WHAT?

PANEL TWO: BAXTER tries to explain to CARTER.

BAXTER:
I tried to tell you: Gloaming makes up its mind what happens when according to its own perspective.

PANEL THREE: BAXTER continues, but CARTER looks resistant. To him this is ALL bullshit.

BAXTER:
We beat Bliss. We saved the souls of his victims. We banished him. The hold he had over the town’s been broken, which means things are back to normal.

CARTER:
That makes NO sense. And that is coming at the tail end of three whole days of no sense.

PANEL FOUR: BAXTER tries to explain again.

BAXTER:
Picture it this way: You came in at the middle of a story. Gloaming was set to reflect that story. But then you- we- took over the narrative. We brought the story to its conclusion. So now the town goes back to the way it was before. Get it?

PANEL FIVE: CARTER throws his hands up in defeat. BAXTER, however, is staring straight ahead at something in the road only he can see.

CARTER:
So what, this town is a work of fiction?”

BAXTER:
No, it’s more a work of perception. You need to know this because-

BAXTER2:
-- holy shit.