Sliding his foot across the ground, Alex dug a circle into the dirt as he turned to face Robert the Bear. Curling his hand into a fist, Alex brought his arms up as he got prepared to throw a punch.
At the same time, Robert the Bear was bringing his paw up high, blotting the sun behind it.
Alex's face stretched into a wide grin. Robert the Bear grinned as well.
At the same time, they swung.
POW
But their climate battle wasn't to be.
From the sky, two heavy fists of grey smoke came down onto their heads, planting both Alex and Robert the Bear face-first into the dirt.
"Dangnamit Boy! Wha'd I tell ya about waking me up?!" Off to the side, a grizzled voice yelled out from behind the trees.
Cling-cling,
The sounds of metal spurs clanging against leather followed the steps of an old man walking out the tree line, scowling as he flicked a few bits of ash off his cigarette.
His large gold belt buckle practically shinning compared to his weathered jeans and plain button-up. Distracting the eye away from the large revolver holstered to his waist.
Blowing out a puff of smoke, the old man scratched at a dry patch of skin on his chin. His face full of wrinkles the few bits of white hair made his face look rougher than it already was.
Taking another drag of his cigarette, the old man dug around in his shirt. Pulling out an acorn, he glared angrily at it before he chucked it aside and turned back to Alex.
Over where he was planted, Alex was already picking himself back up. Pulling his head out of the dirt, he sat down and immediately started checking his glasses for cracks.
These things weren't cheap, especially since he got them specially colored. So if he broke another pair, then it wouldn't be his Grandma after his ass, this time it'd be his mom.
Right next to him, Robert the Bear was shaking his head to clear off all the dust. Noticeably less aggressive now, Robert the Bear sat down with a heavy thump, shaking the ground beneath him and launching Alex a few feet in the air beside him.
Alex smiled apologetically at the old man. "Sorry, Granpa Rey, we were just playing."
Snorting, Granpa Rey took off his cowboy hat and ran his hand through his short grey hair. "Yeah, well, your playing woke me up, so that means it's time to go."
Pouting, Alex let his ears flop down the side of his head. "Awww, come on, Grampa Rey, I was just about to win Round 5."
Robert the Bear's paw flashed out, hitting Alex upside the head for even suggesting that he would have won a fight that hadn't even started yet.
Alex, of course, hit back with an elbow to the gut. Robert the Bear choked on his spit. Growling, he elbowed back.
Alex turned his head, narrowing his eyes this time, he used both hands to push Robert the Bear.
Now they were both glaring at each other.
Jumping to their feet, they both pulled their arms back again, ready to start fighting again.
Until a literal wave of smoke crashed into them.
"I said ENOUGH!" Grandpa Rey shouted.
Coughing, Alex tried to wave the smoke away from his face, but it was no use. It stayed there like a constant smog.
"Let's GO!" Controlling the smoke, Granpa Rey made a hand that grabbed Alex by his Rabbit ears and pulled him out of the smoke.
Using the rest of the smoke, Granpa Rey made a giant hand that then picked up the coughing, Robert the Bear, and threw him over the tree line towards the direction of where Granpa Rey knew his den to be.
"AH! Ok, Granpa, Let Go! You're gonna make my ears smell like smoke again!" Alex tried to push the smoke hands off of his ears, but his hands just kept passing right through them.
"Next time I say let's go, you get up and Go!"
(\YY/)
( -.- )
0_(")(")
Sitting in his Grandpa's beat-up old pickup truck, Alex tapped his knees, watching as the trees whizzed by outside.
"Stop that damn tapping, boy. Can't you just sit still?" Grandpa Rey growled.
Alex snorted.
"Granpa, please, when have you ever known a Canejo to sit still?"
Grandpa Rey grunted. Wasn't that the truth. Conejos could barely sit still for a minute, much less the thirty-minute drive required to get from the mountains back to the family ranch.
"Whatever, boy, just try." Grandpa Rey mutterd blowing smoke out the window.
Alex just rolled his eyes. It's not his fault he's bored. What else is he supposed to do, listen to the radio? Good idea, except the radio's been dead for over a year and Granpa's too lazy to go get it fixed.
Grandma keeps reminding him to go get it done but he just keeps putting it off. Says he likes the silence, yeah right, he just doesn't want to take the hour-long drive into the city.
Up ahead, an old rusted gate blocked the path down the mountain. Slowing down, Grandpa Rey made some more smoke hands to grab onto the gate and swing it open. Closing it behind them as they drove past.
Looking through the review mirror, Alex read the old yellow warning sign hanging on its last hook.
Danger:
Quirked Animals Ahead
Quirked. What a stupid word. They should have just stuck with Superpowers.
But then again, the word started when Powers first emerged. When Governments were still mostly quirkless, and the newly quirked people were marching for equal rights.
Calling them superpowers might have exacerbated the problems back then, so they probably went with the most stupidest, silliest name to be less threatening.
America had it easy compared to the rest of the world.
Back then, everyone was still in the superhero phase with all the comic books and movies floating around. Everyone loved the idea of having superpowers.
So when real superpowers actually started popping up, people picked up the idea and went running with it.
Very soon, they were everywhere. Vigilantes in every state. Fighting crime, punching the bad guys, and winning the heart of the nation.
Some of them great, some of them not so great, but at the very center, they captivated the American dream.
Little known fact, Alex's Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandpa Jack Conejo, was actually one of the very first Vigilantes in Texas.
Went by the name Jack Rabbit, the white ranger. Hid his ears under a magician's top hat during the day.
Course, to explain why he wore a magician's top hat all the time, he ended up becoming a magician himself. Taught himself magic and everything.
He actually got pretty good at it, did a few shows in Vegas and everything. So now it's kind of a tradition for everyone in the family to know a magic trick or two.
With the growing popularity of Vigilantes, all it took was one politician running for president to present his son as the first Hero to cement the profession. With America leading the way for Pro Heroes, the rest of the world were quick to follow.
It took some of the more stupporn countries, like Japan, India, and North Korea, a few more years, but in the end every country had Heroes.
And the word Quirk became immortalized. Even though superpowers were way cooler to say.
Alex sighed.
"Ah, stop your dang sighing boy. You got your play time with that basted bear."
"But it was just starting to get good. Robert's so lazy that it takes a while for him to get serious." Alex whined.
That bear was too lazy for his own good. Just because he's lived longer than most doesn't mean that he can spend all day sleeping in his cave.
He's got to get out, get some exercise in, lose a few pounds, lose a few teeth. It's all for his health.
"Boy your not supposed to be fighting the damn animals, you're supposed to be looking after them. And stop calling that bear Robert." Grandpa Rey bit back.
Putting the rest of his cigarette in the astray Grandpa Rey fished out another from his pocket.
"Robert the Bear, heh. What a stupid name. Wonder which one of your crazy relatives came up with that one?" He mumbled as he flicked his lighter open.
Alex stifled his laugh. He wondered what kind of face he'd make if he knew that it was Grandma that named Robert back when she used to wrestle with him as a kid.
"But I am looking after him, I'm making sure that he gets the exercise that he needs."
"Yeah, try and use that excuse when the Government comes down on you for messing with the Quirked Animals."
Alex rolled his eyes.
Alex didn't get what Granpa was so upset about, he was still doing his job. So what if he tried to make the job a little bit more interesting?
Ok, so they weren't supposed to interact with the Quirked Animals. But come on, no one follows that rule. At least not any of the Havens that he's talked to.
Beast Havens, havens for Quirked Animals, placed all over the world to protect both the people and the animals by keeping dangerous animals in, and villains out.
Governments scrambled to build them back in 2020 when the Black Witch used her quirk to build herself an army and took over nearly half of Eurasia before she was stopped.
His family oversaw the only one in Texas, a bit of a reward for Great-Grandpa Jack's contribution to Black Witch's defeat.
And thanks to his family's Jackalope Quirk, they've been able to hold on to its riens for the past 160 years without any problems.
Now, technically, Haven Heroes are the only people allowed to work on Beast Havens, and even then their not supposed to interact with them too much.
Officially, they're only supposed to be there to make sure nothing goes in or out of the place without the government's say-so. And they're not supposed to let people without a special Haven Hero license enter the Havens.
But come on, with most of Quirked Animals being as smart as humans, sooner or later, they're not going to like being placed in a cage, and will want to get out.
So, to keep the animals in, Haven Heroes started having to go into the Havens and play with the animals. Keeping them entertained and docile.
Because of that, incidents of Quirked Animal escapes have gone down since the 30's to the point the escapes from the Beast Haven are practically nonexistent.
In fact, most of the Animals want to stay in Havens, and the relationships fostered between the Animals and the Havens are almost like those of a family.
And yet, with so few Heroes actually applying for Haven licenses, there really weren't many people that the Havens could trust.
Not only take care of the animals, but also to be strong enough to do so.
The only ones they could trust were their families, which is why Alex is helping out with the animals even though he doens't have a license.
Grandpa Rey doesn't have a Haven license either, in fact, he didn't even have a Hero license, or a driver's license for that matter.
But because of his Smoker Quirk, Grandma Maria decided that he was strong enough to look after the kids as they learned how to take care of the Animals.
And the only reason why he agreed was so that he could take his naps in peace while letting the little ones out to play. He just bribes the kids with Whiskey to keep quiet.
Alex sighed again.
Whiskey. Really, the only downside to his Quirk.
The Jackalope Quirk was an amazing power, strength, durability, speed, enhanced senses and the chance to create thunderstorms if you were strong enough.
But with the downside of having a thirst for Whiskey that borderlines on addiction. Thankfully, the amount they drank wasn't enough to get them drunk, otherwise the family would be filled with alcoholics.
They just liked the taste…enough to where they could be easily bribed with a bottle if they were't carefull.
Thankfully, his family wasn't one of those uptight, keep the quirk pure type of families, or Wonderland Haven might have been overrun the first time a villain showed up with an 18-wheeler full of Whiskey.
Luckily, Great-Grandpa Jack's Wife was there to send that guy packing with one Golden Punch, and she was nice enough to lie to the Police about the bribe, keeping the truck full of Whiskey for the family.
Sure as hell kept their costs down.
They still got a few bottles left too, put aside for special occasions.
And that's not even the best part. Because of his family's need to marry outside, their children actually started getting some interesting Quirks.
Alex himself is a Hybrid, which meant that-
"Boy, didn't I tell you to stop that damn sighing all the time. Goddammit, man up already. And take off those damnlasses already, where some regular glasses. How many times do I got to tell you they make you look like a hippy?"
Alex turned to his Granpa.
"Oh yeah, well, how many times do I got to tell you that I can't stand the smell of your smoke. What the hell did your doctor tell you?"
"Shut up Boy! I'm fine, my Quirk protects me lungs! The only thing I got is CRS."
"What the hell is CRS?"
Grandpa Rey turned to Alex.
"Can't Remember Shit."
They looked at each other for a while.
"Jehahahaha!"
"Heheheheh-ack cough cough!"
"SEE! What'd I tell you?"
"SHUT UP BOY!!"