Gangsta's [Simon/Zackary]

It's been a while since he visited the island. Nothing much about it seemed to have changed a lot, always at the risk of flooding. This place was due for some improvement, but as Simon had said, maybe this island may be fortunate enough to get some changes later on.

Each step meandering through this place did bring back a lot of memories. Most of them have been in the Stadium, but it still brought them back anyway. The fights with the Egg and Nesoi were something that did cause a shiver down his spine even now. Joshua had wondered how he was able to get out of that sticky situation.

But, he shook himself away from his reverie. This was no time to reminisce. As Simon had told him earlier, this was a definite danger zone. This was where Zackary ruled. It was definitely risky to come into their turf like this. But, if Simon was right, no one knew the 'underground' than those who lived there. Any recourse to find necessary information is pretty much cut off at this point.

It's at this point that risks are expected now. And a painful death may be waiting for them both. It was strange. Joshua didn't feel as scared in all honesty. Yes, people are still capable of harming him and neither Simon or he could use their Personas. But after having to fight Primordials? Nothing could scare him that easily. Maybe cause him to feel nervous, but nothing at all could be as scary as facing those monsters.

He nodded at Simon as he took what he said into consideration. Turning his head around, there were what seemed to be similarly attired people. Clearly, they were part of the gang. Joshua quietly thought about who to go after and what questions to ask. This information-gathering part will be crucial. He needed to get a good result here.

"We'll cover more ground if we split," Joshua finally decided and then pointedly looked towards the single man in the alleyway, "Take that guy. I'll cover the ones in the restaurant. Just be careful to not have him lead you further inside. You'll be vulnerable. Try to stay out of the alley when you can and holler if you need me. Good luck."

With a brief nod, he left Simon to take care of this guy. Joshua knew Simon wasn't exactly a great guy when it came to handling direct confrontation, if his relationship with Rinna back in the cafe two years ago was worth noting. But then again, Rinna did have quite the hardass attitude. Which is why he didn't send Simon to the one trying to flirt with the girl, bothering that one would just immediately earn his ire. With just one man, he knew Simon should be able to handle himself.

Joshua made his way towards the restaurant and went inside. Upon entering, he immediately located the group of four and started to approach them with a friendly smile. With his footsteps and how much closer he was coming towards them, they should be able to notice him coming.


He did his best to look friendly and harmless as he could. There were four of them and only one of him. Joshua wasn't exactly too confident he'd do well against these odds. But, hey, at least he had a plan.

"You guys cool if I talk with you? I'll even buy you all lunch, if that's alright. Whaddya say?" he offered with his face still giving the same smile.

He was hoping this would work. Joshua had some savings, most of them of what he inherited from his parent's savings and the life insurance as his parents passed away. Together, they made a nice sum that would let him live comfortably for a some time if he was being frugal. With these numbers, he was sure he could pay for what they want to eat. But, it was going to make a noticeable dent. Oh the sacrifices...

Action:

Despite the smile that Joshua wore and the offer for lunch, looks like none of them took him that seriously. Instead, it just made him too much of a target. A little munchkin. The big guy here, definitely the usually stereotyped thug who just wants to make a name for himself as some big tough guy. His self-esteem is probably so heavily linked to brawn that, it's really pitiful. In the end, Joshua was still too much of a timid and "nice" guy at heart. That much is true. Though, he decided to change gears a little bit. Hell, this guy wasn't scary at all. There were far more scarier things...


"I'm not interested in your bravado, man. I already know you're a "tough as hell" dude, but I didn't come here for that. I came here offering an olive branch for a request to find someone and now you want to fuck my shit up," Joshua sighed with a nonchalant shrug as he shook his head at him and then adjusted his glasses with a finger, "C'mon man. Not cool. Not cool at all. Trying this hard is really uncalled for, y'know? Is this how you treat people who are trying to be nice? Especially if it's someone who helped get rid of the Primordials two years ago?"

Of course, the four of them would likely hear what he just said. He had helped fend off Ananke from killing the rest of the gang. And even taken down the rest of the Primordials, Nesoi and likely Thesis, off the Standansen Stadium. He wondered if some of the people from the Ananke Incident were in this group. If they were, then maybe they could try to recognize him. To help them jog their memory, he started to take off his glasses and put them aside in a pocket where it won't be broken.


"By the way, if you want to look tough, try again when you can even do a tenth of the damage and fear-mongering Ananke is capable of. Can't say you're worth your salt if all you do is try to scare people that are smaller than you."

Joshua had that rather calm, yet murderous look on his face. He was serious and honest in what he said. He was doing all he can to keep himself in check. Though, he may tip over soon. Someone may get hurt. And all his previously checked emotions that was bottling up inside him, was ready to overflow at a moment's notice. Not that he really minded as they could tell from his expression. He just wasn't afraid of this guy since he didn't even look like he measured up to anything what the Primordials gave him before.

In fact, he's already ready to go if things went south and was pretty alert of his surroundings.

Action:

Weakness:

Well, it certainly looked like things were going to get a bit hairy. Joshua had already expected this. He had expected the big man to actually show some real brawn and not rely on a weapon. This was actually very disappointing.

"Look man. You're the one trying to mess with me and now look at you. Waving around that butter knife at me. You're giving me mixed messages, bro. Thought you were such a tough guy that you'd go mano a mano with me like a real man. Son, I'm disappoint."

He quickly raised his hand at the direction of the big man's neck. And before the big man moved, Joshua's spear materialized in place. It was a curved winged spear with of a jumonji style. The knife-wielding thug's neck would nestle on the left wing where the curvature was touching where his Adam's Apple was while the center straight shaft was on his neck's left side which also threatened to cut his carotid artery. The edges were deadly sharp.


"Drop the fucking knife, fuckhead. I didn't come here to cause any trouble. And don't think I won't rip your fat neck open. I've done it before to deer and mountain animals during hunting season. I don't mind starting my first foray into human with you. Let's see which is faster. Your knife or my spear. And believe me, you'll bleed out more and I know how to use this thing. So, drop it and we'll pretend this never happened."

At this point, he was looking for a reason to actually gore him alive with that same murderous look on his face. With Joshua's reflexes, if this guy moved at all, that carotid artery of this guy was going to be ripped open and it was going to be bloody. He glanced back at the group to stand down before looking back at the big man. And of course, Joshua was at full range of his spear. So it was going to be pretty difficult for the bigger guy to actually move quickly enough out of this position and to close the distance to stab Joshua. Especially when Joshua was holding the spear with both hands for easier handling. Or if this guy was stupid enough to grab the spear, it wasn't going to change the fact that Joshua would immediately cut the artery in prompt response.

"And to the rest of you," he spoke to the guy's fellow members while his focus was on this guy, "Know where I can find Zachary Dunbar? I need his help. If you could please tell me where he is, it would be greatly appreciated."

Action:

Strength:

Joshua bit the inside of his lip upon seeing how the knife was able to make contact with the spear. It took him off guard, but seeing how it was able to do this... he must be "one" of them as well, those who had potential to use a Persona or something like Sharaku. He slowly moved the spear away from his neck, but it was ready for use at a moment's notice. The Persona User wasn't going to be this trustworthy of him now. Or the rest of his posse. Especially if they could also use Soulbound weaponry like Joshua. This sounded bad, but he wasn't going to show any weakness.

"I need to find someone who's been missing. And I'm hoping Zachary Dunbar can help me with that in case if she passed by here. He's your boss, right? I'm willing to do any favors for him in return."

Action:

"Cash?" he asked him with some confusion.

He raised an eyebrow at what he meant by "other". Though he knew it was a bribe of some sorts. It took him a little bit to understand what he meant, but his eyes blinking showed he understood.

"Ah Christ. Shit. Hold on a bit," he muttered and then tried to dig into his pockets for something.

It was Velvet Coins. It had to be that. But as he came up with what he had... all he had was two thousand worth. A far cry from three thousand.

"All I got is two thousand on me right now. You accept items together?"

Joshua held out the Coins and also the Medical Powder and Chewing Soul at him. Together, the cost should be well over the amount he wanted if he sold the items.

Action:

OOC:

"Yeah. Should be about it, I think."

Joshua didn't like to use up his resources like this, but what can he do? With that gone, at least this guy kept up his part of the bargain. As the guy dismissed his knife, Joshua did the same with the spear that disappeared as well. It's all he wanted. There were other questions one would want to ask, but he didn't come here for that. Rinna was all that mattered for now. Yes, there was concern for anything what this gang would do. But he would deal with it he got time. Though the idea of recruitment did bring his interest a little bit.

"I'm flattered. I'll consider it. Might be my kind of thing," Joshua replied rather nonchalantly with a shrug and then stopped to think a bit, "What do you guys do these days anyway?"

Spoiler:

Action:

So it was basically the usual kind of aggressiveness seen in a gang. Lawlessness where only the strong ruled and the weak served. Joshua thought about it. The law and order that he actually helped to survive back two years ago betrayed him. He only wanted fairness and no special favors, but that was apparently too much to ask. This did seem quite attractive...

"Gee. I wonder why?" Joshua snorted at the mice part, but he nodded, "Alright, guess that's it. Nice doing business with you. Hope we don't see each other again."

With that, he simply left the guy and his group with a small wave. But of course, if one of them wanted to try something funny, Joshua was ready. And if nothing happened, he would try to look for Simon. He'd head on over to where the former angel would be, the place near the alleyway where he sent him.