"You'll shoot your eye out" [Alec, or Invite][NR]

Guns.

She had asked her mother about guns. But, her mother had informed her that she just wasn't the person to ask. Instead, her mother had told her she should go ask Alec Kane about them; that he would be able to give her the best information.

She had been expecting all sorts of questions from her mother: why she was interested in guns, what about her bow, she even expected her mother to warn her that guns were dangerous, that she might shoot her eye out. But her mother had only smiled and told her where to go to have her questions answered.

So, as she rode the elevator up to the 1,000th floor she found herself pondering exactly what her mother might have been up to in letting her do what she was about to do. Sure, bows and arrows could be dangerous, but it was far harder to shoot your eye out, or accidentally shoot yourself in the foot with a longbow than with a gun. Right? Not that she planned on trying to see.

Nope, she had other ideas in mind.

And hopefully, Alec Kane would be able to help her.

She got off the elevator and walked down the hallway that lead to his office; remembering making this trip before, the last time she had been in Darkman Tower with her family. She stopped outside of his door and raised her hand, clenching it into a loose fist as she then proceeded to knock. She didn't open the door, and instead just stood there staring at the door, waiting to be told to come in, or to go away if he was busy.

This craziness that was going on so far, Alec just didn't understand. He smoked "Cigar" after "Cigar," trying to sort it all out. Soon he was highly intoxicated, slowing his healing factor down to enjoy the buzz and let his mind wander.

He sent 2 of Amaranth's people, Flynn and Ryuukishi, to capture a kid wearing a high tech suit. He wanted the kid brought back unharmed. They try to do the kid serious damage, if not kill him, and the kid turns the tables on them both at the same time before escaping. Flynn went back to Sugure after carrying Ryuukishi back to deliver a report, and was now missing in action, and Alec had Ryuukishi's still unconscious body driven to the closest homeless shelter by the Loyal Butler, since he didn't know that guy and he wasn't obliged to put him up until he decided to wake and be about his business. Amaranth was so mad that she'd created a furious hurricane that could have easily destroyed the entire island, but the video feed showed the little girl in her underwater lab surrounded in boiling water, with Jr nearby. Alec knew his son like the back of his hand; he'd say something stupid to calm her down.

The killing part of it all had to be that Cala, the most insane member of The Company, whom Alec was SURE would be more trouble than Demi and he'd have to put over his knee, brings the guy back here, and opens the door to let him walk in of his own accord. Not only was he now a Company member, but Cala seemed to like the guy, and together they foiled a bank robbery earlier. The burglars had the shit beat out of them, some were left with several fractures and broken bones, but none of them were killed. Why the hell was everything ass backwards? The good guys were fucking up, but the trouble makers were on the straight and narrow? The fuck???

He was still trying to figure it all out when there was a knock at the door. Alec pushed a button to cause the door to open on its own and reveal Nanalie. He motioned for her to come on in.

Her mouth fell open slightly in awe as she watched the doors open by themselves, glad she hadn't been told to go away, or whatever it was that busy adults tended to do. Her golden gaze went to Alec and she saw his motion for her to enter, which she did with a soft giggle and a smile. She glanced back at the doors, still trying to figure out how they had opened on their own, and then walked the rest of the way over to Alec's desk, practically bouncing in place on the balls of her toes, hands folded behind her back.

"Hello, Mister Kane.", she said softly. "Are you busy? I was asking my mom about guns.. but she didn't know much at all since she says she never bothers using them... but she said you would know everything." She hoped he wasn't busy, since it was a topic she'd been thinking about for a good while, ever since all of these incidents had started to happen. Her mind, and her view, was beginning to change slightly, and with it her interests. Bows and arrows were nice, but if she was guessing correctly a gun would be faster, and more of what she was looking for to use.

But, that all depended on if Alec would tell her anything about them at all. She knew most adults tended to think that children couldn't handle weapons: and she might have been 10, she might have been using a bow since she had learned how to walk, but that didn't mean much when it came to asking someone else about a weapon. So, as she waited for his response she braced herself for a "you'll shot your eye out" sort of answer.

He listened to her with half closed eyes. Honestly he felt sorry for the kid. Her mother had been killed in front of her, and her father had walked out on her. Ghost once said "that's the kind of thing that creates super villains." He'd thought about that for a long time, wondering if that was the case with himself. He'd been killing and running around since he was about her age. He'd taken out entire clans and whole organizations by himself. He'd recently destroyed an entire city. Did that make him a super villain?

His halo was dimming and blinking like an old light bulb with how intoxicated he was. Without even thinking twice Alec unholstered his golden .50 Caliber Desert Eagle. He took the clip out and un-chambered the round inside, catching it as it flipped through the air. Putting the slide back in the correct position he motioned for her to come behind the desk, then handed the hand cannon toward the child, allowing her to feel the weight.

Gun:

She had waited for his response, thinking that he'd tell her he wasn't going to tell her, that she should come back and ask when she was older. So, when she watched him unholster his gun, take the clip out, and the chambered round she was surprised. Her mother had been right, it seemed, with telling her to go speak to Alec about her questions.

So, she didn't waste any time as she walked herself around his desk. She took the gun into her hands, looking at it closely, feeling the weight. It was much different than her bow, almost foreign feeling really: but this was the first time she had ever held a gun before. It was the same thing she had gone through with her sling shot when she first held that, and her bow when she had 'graduated' to it. Both weapons had felt oddly unfamiliar until she got used to their heaviness, to their feel: and when that happened, when she got used to them, it was like her two weapons were an extension of her arm because they became such a part of her.

"It's heavier than I thought a gun would be.", she said after a moment, her golden gaze remaining on the weapon, taking in the details of it as she continued to look it over curiously.

Alec explained to Nanalie in his intoxicated state how to load the weapon, how to pull back the slide to chamber in the first round, how to pull the hammer back into the firing position, and especially about the safety. The safety was the most important part of the gun. You never took it off until you were pointing the weapon at the enemy, otherwise always have the safety on, because accidents happen. He told her to get her fingers familiar with where the safety was on every gun she ever got her hands on, emphasizing this point several times.

Alec put the 8th bullet back into the magazine and handed it to Nanalie, to see if she could properly load it, then cock the first bullet into the chamber. He really wanted to see how she'd react to the safety. If she made a mistake and fired it, there were normal rounds in the clip, so he wasn't worried about being shot. He could avoid it easily. If he got hit, the healing factor would heal it so quickly that it would only feel like a bee sting. But nah... Alec figured she'd heard his warnings about the safety.

Nanalie listened very, very carefully as Alec explained everything to her: how to load the weapon, how to pull back the slide to chamber in the first round, how to pull the hammer back to firing position, but most of all she listened as he repeatedly spoke about the safety. She nodded several times over again, saving everything that he told her to memory: especially about the safety. Even when using her sling shot, and her bow, safety had always been the top priority because accidents could easily happen, that's why they were accidents. So, she figured it was no different with a gun: safety first!

She watched him put the eight bullet back into the magazine and then took it as he handed it to her. She took a moment to think over all of the information he had given her, what he had shown her, keeping always safety in her mind; last thing she wanted was to accidentally fire the gun, and risk shooting someone. After going over the information in her mind she safely loaded the magazine into the weapon. "Did I do it right?", she asked curiously, turning her golden gaze back to Alec.

"Yeeeup. Not bad kid, not bad. Here, come with me.

Alec pressed several buttons on the desk which caused a door on a nearby wall to open. At first glance, it didn't look like a door was even there, but there was. It was a secret door, ssshh.

Alec got up and motioned for Nanalie to follow him. Through the secret door (ssshh!) was a stairway. Alec went down these stairs and assumed Nanalie was right behind him. The stairs went around in a circle twice before exiting into a large room. Alec walked over to a set of booths. On the shelf in all of the booths were an assortment of pistols, rifles, automatic weapons and ammunition. Behind the booth was a range. The wall in the back had many bullet holes all over it. A connect-the-dots lover's dream.

Alec began to mess with some of the weapons after he pushed a button that caused a statue to rise up out of the floor near the middle of the range. The statue was of a fat, ugly annoying man he'd once met named Jason Sims.

"That fat guy there said something bad about your mom. Said something about taking her behind the building in the alley for some 'play time.' You're... not gonna let em get away with that are you?"

She had live ammunition in that gun in her hands. Why not let her get a feel of the gun for real? Let her get a few clips off. Before she could fire though, Alec quickly reached down to move both of her ankles to position her legs so that she wouldn't be knocked off of her feet from the recoil of the weapon, and at the same time showing her the stance to be in while firing any heavy duty weapon.

Nanalie's mouth opened in awe for the second time since she had come up to Alec's office. He had a secret room? That was awesome! And she'd be sure to keep it a secret. She followed him through the secret door, and down the winding stairs, to the large room below. She glanced around, quickly figuring it was a firing range of some sort.

She watched what he was doing for a moment and then turned her attention to the statue that he made appear. She took in the things appearance and her nose automatically wrinkled. With the way that statue guy looked... well, she sort of imagined that he smelled really bad. Like, moldy hundred year old cheese bad. Or like... gym sock lost behind a locker after being used a week bad. And then Alec was saying what he said, the 'fake' reason to attack the statue.

She waited, taking notes as he shifted her stance, preparing her to be able to handle the weapon properly: and compared it all to her archery abilities, it was much the same way, really, and she found herself falling into it quickly, as if she'd been using a gun all of the time.

Again, she thought back to the information Alec had given her as she took aim, the safety off. And then she pulled back the trigger and fired... The bullet struck the target dead center in the neck - what little neck the statue had, and her mouth formed a little "o" shape.

"Gets kinda loud too, so mind your ears, yeah?"

Alec picked up the M16 from the table to insert a magazine and cock the first round in, then aim to take fire at another statue that rose from the floor, the statue of another annoying man Alec once killed named Josh. The weapon spit rapid fire that illuminated the area in a furious series of bright flashes. A loud chopping sound filled the air while expended shells made plinking sounds at they hit the concrete floor.

The statue of the annoying bitch named Josh was systematically torn to shreds and nothing was left behind but bullet torn material. Alec ejected the clip and let it fall to the floor, impacting with a "KLAK" sound. He picked up another one from the booth, loading it in and cocking the weapon. He reached over next and opened a metal drawer, pulling from it a 40mm grenade, and loaded it into the attached M203 Grenade Launcher.

Gun:

Nanalie watched him curiously, still saving everything that she saw for memory. She watched as he used the weapon he had picked up to well... destroy the new statue he had made appear, and rather loudly - definitely was something she was going to have to get used to, since using a sling or bow was basically silent. She blinked several times, head tilting, and a soft giggle escaped her. "That's a lot faster than I could fire that many arrows... even if I practiced for a billion years." Yes, guns were definitely going to be something she wanted to use.

She looked back to the statue he had made appear for her again, and stared for a moment at the hole in the statue's neck. She took aim again, ensuring she kept the same stance that Alec had put her into in the first place. She adjusted her aim, remembering how she had done it before when she had hit slightly lower than where she'd been aiming. With the adjustment made she fired again: and hit the target right between the eyes.

It really all was like second nature to her: like something she was born to do. And maybe she was... her father was excellent with a bow, perhaps all projectiles were something she could use so easily. Her sling shot had taken no time at all to learn, even trick shots were done for fun. Her bow was used in much the same fashion: she even practiced for a long while on making her shots harder just to give herself a challenge, and now this...

SC - Bull's Eye:

Alec heard that Flynn and Nanalie were experts with bows. Using that knowledge and combining it with fire arms shouldn't have been a difficult task, and he knew she'd catch on to guns quickly. The first couple of shots were enough to behead Mr. Sims, a fate deserving of the ability stealing lying faggot.

A statue of a bitch named Lexi came up next, replacing Jason. On Alec's side, the statue of another annoying copycat pedophile who was known as "The Cho$en One" rose out of the floor.

"Fire in the hole..."

Alec took aim and fired the Grenade Launcher. He used his Zone Eye to watch the projectile travel the distance between the gun and The Cho$en One in slow motion, impact, and explode into a large raging orange fireball. Ba DOOM. The floor beneath them vibrated. This secret room was located under many layers of concrete and various metals, so it could not be destroyed by any means. It was totally soundproof as well, which meant no one else in the building could hear if even a nuke went off in this room. Fans turned on in the ceiling above the range, immediately sucking out the smoke.

Zone Eye:

"Ahh. I should do this more often, like I used to. An awesome stress relief."

HeRaTiK, a weak idiot Alec once had fired from two different organizations, rose to replace the still on fire Cho$en one. A hail of bullets erupted from the machine gun, tearing the body apart slowly with all 30 bullets.

A soft giggle escaped Nanalie when the fat man's head blew off of his shoulders, and the statue went away. She looked to the new one that rose up, and then glanced over as she watched Alec blow up his newest statue. Another giggle escaped her. She was enjoying this, a lot. She nodded in response to Alec's words as she took aim at her own target, again. "This is more fun than practicing with my bow, and a lot more fun than my slingshot." Yup, guns were definitely going to be her new thing.

Nanalie looked over her newest statue target, thinking to aim somewhere other than the head. She knew guns were deadly, that was no secret after all, especially after Alec had emphasized on safety, but sometimes you weren't always looking to kill your opponent, but instead incapacitate them. So, she fired again, this time the bullet was aimed, and hit, into the statue's left kneecap. Again, she fired, repeating the same process as before only this time for the right kneecap.

"I definitely like guns more than my bow..", she said with a giggle, a smile spreading across her face.

Alec put the smoking rifle back on the booth top and turned around, walking over to one of the many stockpiles of weapons and ammunition located throughout the room. Picking up an unused Desert Eagle, a holster for her shoulder, and a satchel of various ammo types, he walked back to the booths, confident that Nanalie would be able to take care of the weapon, and not accidentally shoot someone. He put the weapon, holster and the ammunition on the booth in front of her.

"Well here, let's make a switcheroo. You give me this one back, and that one there is all yours, take it with you. I'll trust that you take care of it and be careful. Whenever you want to come down here and practice just ask, you can come in here anytime."

When she'd give back Alec's gold gun, Alec pulled 2 maintenance kits from the metal drawer nearby that also housed grenades. Sliding one of them over to Nanalie, he'd also make it a point to regularly perform maintenance on the gun, showing her how to clean all of the working joints and the barrel with a metal brush to prevent misfires, and also how to keep the gun oiled.

Gun given to Nanalie:

Ammunition:

Her mouth fell open in awe as they switched. A gun... all for herself? And the ammo and kit to take care of it? That... that just made her day. Her smile spread to her golden colored eyes with shined with happiness. "No fooling? All for me? Thanks Mister Kane! That's awesome! I'll be really careful and take good care of it!"

She looked over the gun he had given her just as she had when he had let her hold and use his, familiarizing herself with it. She figured since he said she could come down here when ever she wanted, that she was going to be spending a lot of time down here practicing and getting herself very familiar with her gun - just as she had with her bow and her sling shot. Hell, she figured that even after she started thinking of it like an extension of her arm, she was still going to practice, always going to try and improve herself.

She put the gun down for a moment and went over to Alec, and then hugged him. "Thank you, thank you, Mister Kane! I really appreciate it."

Alec re-loaded his gold Desert Eagle and holstered it again underneath his coat. He'd de-activated the device that would make it explode if someone else but him tried to use it, as to avoid hurting Nanalie, and now he re-activated that device. The world could do with a few more gunslingers, he thought, and Alec nodded his head as he tried to imagine Nanalie when she was older. She'd probably be spending a lot of her time in this room if she was as fascinated with firearms as Alec thought she'd become in just this short amount of time, but he didn't mind, and it wasn't like she was going to shoot up an endless supply of bullets.

Alec kneeled when Nanalie came to hug him, giving the child a hug of his own. He wanted her to know, even thought he was pretty high at the moment, that someone was in her corner even when no one else was.

"No problem at all, kiddo. There's a lot of weirdos and perverts going after little kids lately. I want you to take care of yourself. If some maniac comes after you and for some reason no one else is around, then I expect you to do them the same way you just did those statues there. I'm gonna head back to the office, you can stay down here as long as you want."

Alec stood up again after letting go of Nanalie and headed back to the winding stairs...

[Thread Exit]

Nanalie nodded at his words about protecting herself. She would definitely do so if needed; especially if someone came around again trying to start harm her family, like that Cross guy. She hadn't been able to do anything then, she had been left with no other option but to turn and run, run away while her mother's head was removed from her shoulders and her life taken from her. She wasn't going to run ever again: and now Mister Kane had helped her with that.

She watched him leave and turned back towards her target, figuring she'd get herself familiar with her new weapon for a while since he had said she was welcome to use the room when ever she wanted....

-Exit.-