Practice aiming with the pepperbox

This seems like a pretty fundamental thing to learn, since hitting monster with bullets is fully half of your entire gameplan. When it's your turn with Professor Phoebe, you tell her as much, and she seems pleased at your choice.

"Professor!" She calls out towards the Gymnasium door, cupping her hand to her mouth. Huh?

All of a sudden, you hear very faint, muffled music playing just outside the Gymnasium that you can't quite make out the words of..... You turn, just in time to see the door get kicked in so hard that it bounces back against the wall on impact with a loud BANG.

Professor Rhys Meddle storms onto the blue mats, carrying his loudly blaring boombox on his shoulder again (still with the speakers facing inwards). This time, it sounds like the song playing is a fan mashup of Mr. Brightside and the Gravity Falls theme song. It's pretty intense. There are vibrations rumbling through the mats underfoot from how loud he's got it playing.{if ExplosiveShots == True} You're really glad to see him again! If a bit concerned for his inner ear.{endif}

"Cha!" He shouts over the music. "I heard somebody was needin' the help of my surfin' self!"

You can barely hear him.

He sway-walks through the Gymnasium, right up to where you and a confused Professor Phoebe stand. He's doing little jigs as he walks, and taking occasional pauses for bigger jigs. On his route he looks out at all of your staring classmates, shooting them finger guns and winning smiles before puckering his lips and continuing his pilgrimage. His fake tan looks like it's just been freshly applied, and he's got a pair of dark shades on over his eyes. He's also wearing blue beach shorts and a white tank top, some of his un-spray-tanned skin exposed near to its straps.

He stops in place, doing a nice little dance that involves a lot of swinging of bent elbows and bent knees, mouthing 'he takes off her dress, now' in time with the song with an intense passion in his face before straightening up slowly, running a hand through his gelled hair, and sway-walking the rest of the way to you and Phoebe. He wags his pointer fingers in the air to the music, and shakes his head side to side.

"{if ExplosiveShots == True}Am I here for you again, my gun-toting protege? You've GOT to tell me how righteously the boom powder served you!"

"VERY RIGHTEOUSLY!" You shout back to be heard as the music increases in volume, smiling widely. "I'M GLAD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, RHYS!"{else}I suppose I'm here for this little dudette, then! Pleasedtseeyagn!" The music picks up in volume, and makes the last part a bit more difficult to hear. You probably got the bits you needed, though.{endif}

Rhys pauses the conversation to do a supreme jig, getting his knees and hips into it and everything, which lasts a good few seconds before Professor Phoebe reaches over and turns off the music on his boom box with a chhkk.

"Aw, man. Harshing my buzz." He lifts the sunglasses up and sets them in his spiked up, beach blond hair. "So.... you called?"

"Yes." Professor Phoebe says, giving him a stare that is neither criticism nor endorsement, and seems itself to be completely unsure of what it is. "As our resident firearm user, you're best suited to advise Debbie. Debbie, you've met Professor Meddle -- he was an active Warrior for fifteen years before coming here, and used a bolt-action rifle for every one of those years."

{if ExplosiveShots == True}Proudly, you knew that! It's the one with blue ribbons and stuff taped all over it, that he customised. He's definitely the man for the job, right here.

{else}Oh! Sounds like he's the right man for the job, then. {endif}Rhys sets the boombox down, giving it a sad pat, then steps closer towards the two of you, waving his arms about as he talks.

"Like, Phoebe -- you've got targets we can use here, right?"

"Of course. I'll fetch the dummies, you talk Debbie through whatever you need to beforehand."

Professor Phoebe walks off at a brisk and professional pace towards a big storage cabinet in the side of the Gymnasium. She's got very good posture. Rhys Meddle turns to you, flashes you a winning smile, and holds out his hand.

"Chuckus your hand cannon, if you would."

You hand it over to him, and he immediately unloads all of the shots from the barrels, letting them fall all over the floor with a tinkling before putting his own five shots in. As he does, he puckers his lips and half-squints his eyes, quietly singing the lyrics of Mr. Brightside to himself and wobbling his head side-to-side to the rhythm. When he's done, he gives the barrels a spin, and hands it back to you.

Professor Phoebe returns to the two of you, dusting off her hands, having set up a number of target dummies a bit downrange of the Gymnasium.

"This should help you gauge your weapon's effective range as well, so that it becomes second nature.{if CombatShotDelilah == True} If Rhys is as good of an instructor as I know he is, then there shouldn't be any repeats of that bridge friendly fire incident.{if ExplosiveShots == True}"

Rhys slowly turns to you with his whole body, eyes going wide. "That, uhh.... that wasn't with an explosive bullet, right friendo? No boom powder used on a classmate?"

You shake your head, and his whole body fills with a relieved sigh.

"Just an impact round to the back of a knee. No harm done.{endif}{endif}" Professor Phoebe explains, crossing her arms and standing just behind you and Rhys.

At Rhys' gesture, you raise your arm up straight, pointing the pepperbox towards one of the dummies. He gets his eye level down in line with your arm, and checks its straightness and wobbliness by putting both hands on top of it and giving it a little bounce, before circling all around you to analyse your posture. He makes a few minor corrections here and there, to do with stance width and shoulder position, which you take to quickly.

"Now, brah, the biggest thing is that you've got to not be afraid of your bullets or the cannon's recoil. I see your body tensing up, and you're holding your breath. Just relaxxxx, chill out. Breathe like normal."

You steady your breathing, then slowly squeeze your finger down on the trigger.

BANG

The impact shot goes wide, flying past the test dummies and harmlessly against the Gymnasium wall.

"Ah ah, I caught that, brah -- no closing your eyes. How are you going to hit anything if you can't see? Go again, but keep those peepers open. If you even feel a blink coming on, either hold it back or wait to shoot until you've already blinked."

BANG

You try again, this time doing as he says. This time the shot's a bit closer, whizzing past the head of the target dummy. Rhys puts his hands on your shoulders and gives you a quick massage, like a boxing coach, to ease out some of that remaining tension.

"Aim for centre mass, little dude. Don't go for flashy headshots, especially at this distance -- one in the torso is all it'll take. You'll go against monsters with specific weakspots, but for now, you just need to get a grasp on the principles."

BANG

This shot actually lands, hitting against the target dummy's right shoulder. You jump up in celebration, and Rhys gives you a few claps before bringing you back down to earth with his hands on your shoulders again.

"Eyes on the prize, little guy. Still got two shots left in there, doncha?"

You do. So, aiming down the pistol's top chamber-barrel again, you're sure to keep your eyes open and adopt the stance he told you to, levelling your breathing and trying not to tense up as you squeeze down the the trigger.....

chk

"Aha!" Rhys says, clapping his hands against your shoulders and making you jump. "Gotcha! Loaded a dud into your pistol -- did you see how your hand flicked back instinctively, without even any **** being put on it? That's what we've gotta flush out of your system. No more being scared of your weapon, alright? Now! Last shot, make it count."

Phew.... your heart is beating pretty fast right now, that was a mean trick. But he's right -- you're moving your hand back with each shot like you're pretending to fire a gun, not just because of the actual recoil, and that's probably throwing your shots off. So, aiming once again, using everything he's been telling you, you focus all of your brainpower onto not throwing your hand back as you squeeze down on the trigger again....

BANG

The fifth and final shot loaded into your Pepperbox rings out across the Gymnasium, flying from its chamber barrel and landing squarely in the centre of the chest of one of the target dummies, with enough **** to wobble it backwards and nearly even tip it over before it wobbles back into place upright. A perfect shot.

"Hey, look at you go, you're winning it my protege!" Rhys slaps you on the back with a meaty hand, then throws his hands in the air. "That's a fast learner if I ever saw one."

"Rhys, as always, it's been a pleasure." Professor Phoebe says, extending her hand for a handshake.

"Ditto, Pheebs!" He shoots her fingerguns, then crouches down to hoist up his boombox in a single bouncing motion, pulling it right back up to his shoulder.

He plays the fan mashup of Mr. Brightside and the Gravity Falls theme song from where it left off with a chhkk of one of the boombox's buttons, blaring out the floor-vibrating music again, and sway-walks out of the Gymnasium the exact same way he came in. You watch his back the whole way out, and you can barely hear him singing together with the music. What a guy.

{if@ Learning Time! > 0}Professor Phoebe lowers her extended hand, and watches him until he swings the door shut behind him. Then, turning to you with a weak, but polite smile, she congratulates you on your improvements and goes off to work with Delilah -- giving you time to practice against these target dummies some more, until the next time she comes up to you and you get to pick a new thing to test.{else}Just then, the bell rings, signalling the end of class and the end of the working day -- Professor Phoebe calls you all in for a final discussion before she lets you go, so you walk with her to the centre of the Gymnasium as all of your classmates converge from their various corners of the space.{endif}

Gun Aim increased!