Bang
Bang
Bang
Flipping open the cylinder, Alex absent-mindedly emptied the spent rounds on the tray in front of him before smoothly shoving another clip in.
Flipping the cylinder back in, Alex aimed.
Bang
Shoot, eject, reload, shoot.
That's been his routine for the past 15 or so minutes. It was almost therapeutic in a way, the repetition. Shoot, eject, reload, and shoot again.
You know, if you ignored the obvious massacre that was happening in front of him.
But other than that, it was nice. Very zen.
Now if only he didn't have to wear these awkward Hetermorph earplugs. He swears, if he didn't like being able to hear so much, he'd have thrown them into the fire years ago.
"You think they're dead yet?" A deep voice chuckled behind him.
Setting his revolver down, Alex removed his earplugs and his ear muffs before looking behind him.
There, arms crossed, leaning against the free-standing door frame, was Atamai Huali, a truly beast of a man by every known earthly definition.
Over 8ft tall, weighing at least 300lbs, with long black dreads that looked like they could be used as rope lines on a pirate ship, and a smile that could blind a commercial flight.
The 10th head of Wonderland Haven, a man who looked like he could bench press a cruise ship and smash a tankard on his head like it was a beer can.
A man whose hands cracked more skulls than there were people in the state, but could still delicately deliver a baby deer like they were made of silk.
"Hey, Dad." Oh, and he was that, too.
Pushing himself off the door frame, Atami went and stood over to the old gun rack. Uncrossing his arms, Atamai reached his hand out.
"You know, I'll never get why you guys like your guns so much."
Picking up one of the larger rifles off the rack, he walked it over to the firing table. Rolling it over in his hands, Atamai brought the gun up as if he was about to fire.
He looked ridiculous, the old hunting rifle was practically a kid's toy in his hands. He could't even squeeze his fingers between the trigger, that's how small it was compared to him.
Shaking his head, he placed the gun on the table.
"They're so weak…Muscles, on the other hand-"
Rolling up one of the sleeves on his blue coveralls, Atamai picked up one of the large rocks lying around.
With his large, meaty paws wrapped around it, Atamai pulled the rock back ready to throw it. As he did so, the tribal tattoos along his arm began to seemingly contract and constrict.
Then, he threw it.
Boom
Like a cannonball, the chunk of earth flew, covering the distance in seconds as it took the head off of one of the metal cutouts down the range.
Smirking at Alex, his dad flexed his muscles.
"-Muscles never fail you."
Alex, good naturally, rolled his eyes.
Canvas, Dad's Quirk, like Alex's Inked Up, allowed Atamai to move and control any ink that he drew with.
Only difference being was that he couldn't do half the things Alex could do.
He couldn't raise the ink off of pages, or make magical effects using special ink from crushed up rocks. He couldn't pass on control over his creations or have them move more than 500 feet away from him.
And he definitely couldn't make them move by themselves.
Really, compared to his, Atamai's Quirk was kind of a let down.
That's why it was so cool how he made it work. Turning it into one of the strongest augmentation Quirks in the world.
See, while his Quirk could't manipulate ink off of his canvases, what he could do was use his ink to manipulate the canvases.
Now, he can't do much. He can't make things fly or build a giant mech out of nothing but trash and ink. No, just pinching and stretching.
Not all that useful on steel or wood.
So instead, he put it on his body and started working out.
By using his Quirk on his body while he worked out, he could pinch and stretch his muscles. Building them up faster and stronger than he would have normally.
Not only that, but by pinching and stretching certain muscles at the right time, he could punch harder or run faster. Basically, buffing himself with precise muscle control.
By the time he had retired as the number 2 Hero in America to work at Wodnerland Haven, people had already started calling him the Hawain All Might. (A little offensive, but his Dad hadn't minded)
But none of that meant that he could let the Old man show him up, now could he.
Picking his revolver back up, Alex lined up one last shot before firing.
Bang
"Yeah, but guns are cooler."
The bullet, punching through an already dented part of the metal, finished the last dot of the smiley face Alex had shot out of the cutout.
It wasn't perfect. Some of the holes were off-center, while others needed a few more shots to get it right.
But at least you could tell that it was a smiley face. Unlike his first few attempts.
Who knew it'd be so hard to drill bullet holes through solid metal?
"You're getting pretty good at that." His Dad complemented.
Alex clicked his tongue
"Yeah, but I still can't seem to aim my ricochets." It's something that he's been trying to work on, but the only thing that he's been able to figure out is how not to get them flying back at him.
"You'll get it. You've already been going over Old Jack's notebooks. Now all you need is practice."
Placing the rifle back on the stand, Atamai leaned back against the table. Crossing his arms, Atamis turned towards Alex.
"So…you nervous? You still feel like you made the right decision."
Alex silently loaded his gun.
It's been six months since school started. Eight months since Alex decided that he was gonna transfer out to UA.
The very next day after he had gotten that text, Alex had gone down to breakfast ready to explain to his parents what his new plans were. He is leaving America and going to Japan.
Yeah, to say that his mother had not been happy would have been an understatement.
Alex rubbed his cheek. He could still feel that punch.
But eventually, after a wasted hour of trying to get a word in through a hurricane of "What do you think you're doing?" and "You're not old enough to make those kinds of decisions" and also the usual "It was hard bringing you into this world, it won't be hard taking you out of it."
He finally got to explain his reasoning.
Thankfully, he didn't have to share his insane theory of the kind of storm heading that was heading UA's way, nor his (in his mind) not so insane plan of being in the middle of said storm.
No, because just knowing that the famous Symbol of Peace would be teaching there was enough to convince his parents that this was a good idea.
It hadn't been an immediate yes from them. Not even All Might is that famous. But it had swayed their vote to his side just enough for it to happen.
And now here he was.
Tomorrow he was leaving for his flight to Hiroshima were he'd be staying for the next couple of weeks.
The entrance exam was only on Friday, but he still had to stay and wait for the results.
Cause passing meant that he'd be staying there for the foreseeable future, but failing…
Failing meant that he had wasted six months.
That he'd miss going to school with All Might. That he'd be forced to come back here and wait, at the very least, another six months before he'd get to go to a Hero school here in America.
He'd be going to school as a Freshman with kids a year to two years younger than him, all the while, people that he used to know would be going through their sophomore year.
Getting ready for their Provisional Hero license test, going out interning under Pro Heroes. Leaving him behind in the dust.
Alex finished loading his special bullets into the gun.
"Nah, I'm not worried…"
Keeping one hand on the gun, Alex hovered his other hand over the hammer.
BangBangBangBangBangBang
Six shots rang out as one.
A wide smile spread across Alex's face as smoke from the barrel drifted in front of his face. His glasses reflecting the sun, Alex watched as the metal cutout collapsed to the ground.
The arms, legs, and head were all blown clean off. And in the middle, where the heart would have been. Was a massive gaping hole.
"...I'm excited."
Atamai silently looked out at that crumbled bit of metal.
He chuckled. "Well, good for you."
Turning around to leave, Atamai suddenly remembered why he came over here in the first place.
"By the way, your mother's still mad at you, so tonight you're eating a salad while everyone else has Lasagna. And remember to replace that cutout when you're done, mine two."
Alex closed his eyes and sighed.
God dammit.