Chip off the wall (Akuma/Israel)

The Streets of Suzie Q were never flattering. As expected of any place in this district of the city. After all, it was the shadier part of Endymion. It was also where Akuma's home was-- a small cramped apartment space above an airsoft shop.

For now, he was taking a breather away from those streets in among one of the several alleyways that honeycombed through this part of town. It wasn't exactly the safest places, but then again Akuma was one of those who you wouldn't want to run into when he was in a foul mood.

He puffed a cigarette and cast the smoke into the air, trying to make funny shapes out of it as he rested from a long day. A lot had happened in a short period of time. So much he couldn't process right away.

And stuff he could never tell anyone he didn't know. For the moment he was lost. He just knew things changed drastically-- even now he could feel it. That burning drive in him...

... his Persona, giving him the strength he didn't know he had.

But what to do with it-- he had no clue. For now he just sat and tried to make peace with the fact he could now see the ugly side of the world he heard about.

Israel cruised down the sidewalk on his skateboard, leaving a light trail of sparks in his wake. He expertly shifted his weight in such a way that he could give himself a major boost in turning power. It was a technique he had taught himself.

Iz enjoyed the streets and sights of Suzie Q. The flashy lights, loud music and modern architecture gave him a sense of constant motion and empowering freedom. If anybody else could be this free, and express themselves in such a way... Then why couldn't Iz follow them?

This was reflected in the district's architecture. Rails and ledges weren't blocked with skateboard deterrents, allowing Iz complete freedom. He skated around, pulling off elaborate tricks in the hopes of getting noticed. An interest in skateboarding would help drive up the profits of his sister's shop.

It was then, when he saw it. A virgin alleyway, completely unblemished. This was his chance to let his artistic talent shine. To make his mark on the world. Iz drifted into the alleyway, slinging his backpack off his shoulder. This wasn't nighttime, where he could freely make quick tags without much fear of getting caught. No, this would be his magnum opus. Iz's Mona Lisa.

He set his bag down, his spray cans spilling out. Now if he could just find a recycling bin where he could dig out a piece of cardboard...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," A voice stopped him before he could begin spraying the wall. On the opposite wall, was Akuma with his cigarette alit and in his mouth as he leaned on the opposite wall. His arms were folded in a confident, cool-guy pose as he was half propped with his legs to the ground.

He puffed out a bit of smoke from his nostrils as he looked to the younger guy with his skateboard. "Far be it from me to stand in the way of creativity but... you may want to pick a different wall or ally." Akuma's tone was a bit passive, but he soon answered if the guy had anything angry he would reply-- "I mean I'd just wouldn't want to piss off my boss-- who owns the building your about to spray on... the guy who runs the airsoft gun shop. Guns or not, he would kick your ass if he catches you."

A snicker formed on Akuma, realizing how Daigo would react to this if he saw the kid spray paint the side of his store-- at the very least without his permission. Plastic ammo or not, he probably makes the kid his bitch by the time the beating was over.

That, and he would enjoy seeing this kid's reaction...

Israel had gotten past the stage of seizing up after being caught, turning around and looking at the man who sat on the wall opposite of him. "That's a shame." He said, starting to stuff his spray can back into his bag. "This wall? This is a blank canvas. I don't think your boss would mind if I prettied up his storefront a little. It'd be doing him a favor."

The man didn't look like a cadet, nor did he have an air of authority about him. "You seem like a chill guy. Let's say that I go into that store, be a profitable customer, and come out here and paint the side of this wall all pretty-like. I don't see how that'd affect the business whatsoever."

"So what do you think? Could we talk to your boss, maybe?"

Akuma wanted to roll his eyes, amused by the casual attitude of the guy who tried to vandalize the store side. He wasn't lying. Daigo would probably wring the kid's neck and make him eat the spraypaint can for messing up his store. Still at the same time, he had to admit the kid had balls. "If you think you can sweet talk him, be my guest. But don't go hiding behind me if he tries to kick your ass. " Akuma said lightly, half truthful, half to scare him a little bit. "NOthing screams trouble like pissing off an ex-Yakuza member with a trigger finger..."

The last bit of that comment wasn't true-- at least the name Yakuza anyway, but he was part of his crime family's group at one point. It was why Akuma lived with him as arranged by his father.

Should Israel find the courage, the inside of the airsoft shop was a bit cramped with all kinds of hunting tools and model guns that lined the walls. The emptiness made it clear there were no real customsers, but boxes did litter the back-- showing that exporting was where a good amount of the money was made. It clearly did have the heir of a military shop.

"Yeah... what you want?" the large man loomed up from the back of the counter-- Daigo showing off how strong he was and how his sheer imposing nature kind of drawrfed Iz's. Akuma looked from the entrance, almost wishing he brought Popcorn to see how this turned out.

Israel looked at the man, unfazed. "Anything for the sake of art." He replied. "If you think I'm afraid of authority, then I'm afraid you don't know graffiti artists. We make our art under the eyes of darkness. I've relished a chance like this, to paint my magnum opus on a clean, unbroken wall. To paint my Mona Lisa. My... Guernica."

He picked up his bag, ready to enter the shop. What he displayed wasn't courage, rather a blind faith to his craft. Unfortunately, the two were often indistinguishable.

Iz paused. "The Yakuza, huh? I've always wanted to meet a Yakuza member." That part, he just said to sound cool. The two young men entered the airsoft shop. The man behind the counter was immeasurably large. Israel was put off less by his height and more by how.. muscular he was. Israel was a skinny twig compared to this man.

"Hey." Israel said. "I'm an artist, y'see. I was wondering if I could paint a mural on the side of that wall, in the alleyway. I could make something to draw in customers, then we'd both benefit. You'd gain profits... I would gain fans. It's a win-win."

Israel's eyes darted to the racks upon racks of guns. "Also, I'd like to buy this." He said, walking over to a moderately priced scorpion-style submachine gun.

Daigo gave Israel an odd look-- a dark one at the mention of drawing a mural on the side of his shop. He had his arms crossed and towering over him as he listened. He wasn't stupid. A mural-- from one person usually meant graffiti. "You got either got balls, or lack of brains to come right up to me and ask to deface my store, brat." he said in a deep tone.

Akuma shrugged. He did warn him. Since he was an ex-member of his father's gang, he knew how hard as nails he could be. Enough to keep a college kid like himself in line, anyway.

The part about the gun didn't really phase him. "Purchase or not, why would I let you deface my store side. You say your an artist. Prove it?" He asked intimidatingly. "You got some of your work on hand?"

He would need some kind of proof. A picture or something, to show how 'good' he was.

"Balls? Sure, let's say that." Israel smirked. "And I don't much like to consider my work 'defacing'. More like... 'refacing'." He looked at the man that stood above him. "Truth is, I wasn't really planning on buying the gun in the first place." He put his skateboard under his shoulder, and slung off his pack. In the brain of his backpack was a small photo album.

Iz rifled through it, and selected one of his favorite works. A tag he had done in the dead of night, on one of the buildings near his house. It showed a bright pink and orange cityscape, with a beautiful neon-colored sunset in the background.  It had a type of 80s vibe to it, with it's bright colors and the grid-like pattern over the surface of the buildings. Iz accomplished that affect by putting small pieces of cardboard on the stencil before he painted it.

Akuma wanted to laugh but bit his lip. He hoped this kid would learn a lesson for trying to deface people's walls without permission or even just thinking anyone would be okay with it. He really didn't mind if he did it or not. His shoulders shook with amusement as he waited to see Daigo 'let him have it'.

IT was then that IZ produced the photo and Daigo gave it a good look over. He was quiet for a while as he looked over the array of color and design that the young man had prided himself with it. "THIS is your so-called art?" he growled seemingly.

"Here it comes..." AKuma commented to himself.

"I ain't seen anything like this before! I like it!" Daigo replied with enthusiasm.

"The --what?!" Akuma gasped, almost losing his balance and falling right out the door.

Daigo grew a broad smile and laughed as he saw the broad swirls, design and color sceme. "Heh, now this takes me back. Reminds me of Cat Street back in Shibuya. This is some good shit, kid," he said happily.

Things turned 180 in Akuma's mind as he rubbed the back of his neck. "The hell..." he groaned, remembering how Dagio had a rather strange sense of decoration and style. He never in a million years would have thought he had an appreciation for art-- let alone graffiti style artwork. "So much for that little bit of entertainment."

Daigo gave the card back to Iz. "Tell you what, you promise to do a REAL good job, you can paint in my ally all you want. But keep it classy, you know? I don't want some random tag names just to make your point, got it?" he said, still imposing a sense of strength in his demeanor. "Oh and not at the front of the shop though. I'll get that zoning crap that shows up there." he explained.

"Nice." Israel said, taking the picture back from Daigo. He took a deep breath. Iz knew the man wouldn't hurt him even if he refused. "This is what I'm thinking." He added, ripping out a piece of paper from one of his notebooks.

He pulled a pencil from his bag, and started to sketch out his ideas. "We're going to need some cardboard." He said aloud. "You know that painting... American Gothic? The one with the farmer and the pitchfork?" Israel showed Daigo his rudimentary sketch. "I'm thinking that... But the farmer and his wife are wearing modern clothes... and they have guns, and below it, it says; 'Get Armed'!"

Israel quickly fixed up his sketch. "And the house in the background has graffiti on it. Y'know i-it's like, graffiti inside graffiti! That's like... super meta." He was getting visibly excited. "If that doesn't work for you, I guess I could do something else."

Iz looked over at Akuma. "Could you come with me and grab some cardboard? I think this is gonna turn out great." He smiled his overly-confident, deviant's smile.

Daigo clearly was into what Israel was selling. "EH, the idea of the farmer remake i'm not thrilled on, but you can do something similar. Never was a fan of that one, I rather see you do something original. But i like the idea of graffiti inside graffiti. " he explained. But it was clear he was into it.

At that time, when Iz turned to Akuma to help him with his overly victorous grin, Akuma just frowned with crossed arms. "Oh, no. Count me out of this..." Akuma said.

That was, untill, Daigo gave him a crossed look. "Akuma... get him cardboard and help him..." That voice wasn't his usual tone but 'his boss giving him an order' tone.

The red-head cringed and sighed. "Damn it... Fine, I'll help."

Akuma took a series of cardboard boxes that Daigo wasn't using from the back of the store-- and cut across to the ally behyind the store to give the kid his materials. He felt like a perfect ass for how this whole thing turned back on him. Now he had to help and oversee this.

"Karma is a bitch..." he grumbled lightly.

"That's fine, I've been wanting to make a dragon anyways. It's your shop after all. I'm in no position to do things you wouldn't like if I've been contracted by you. I guess this will be my magnum opus." He always said that. Every work, he claimed it would be his crowning achievement. His magnum opus.

Israel beckoned Akuma to follow him outside. "Now, let's go get cardboard. I hope you're not past dumpster diving. Recycling bins aren't that nasty though, I promise." He smiled his slightly deviant boyish smile. "It's not a crime, either. Who woulda guessed?"

The two of them swung around the back of the store, to the part that contained the recycling bin. The bin was filled with cardboard cutouts of new airsoft models, as well as cardboard boxes that used to contain BB pellets. Iz rifled through the discarded bits of plastic junk that had likely come from faulty guns, and fished out huge hunks of cardboard at a time.

After fishing a particularly big chunk out, Israel took a short pause. "Look at us. Two young men in our primes, digging through a dumpster. Life's good."

This was hell. As Dirty and as back-street as Akuma was, he hated to dig through the dumpster. He took out what bits of cardboard he could find and used his own knife to cut out a few shapes that his new friend needed. He however trugged and grumbled as he did this. "THis isn't what I would call glamourous." He said as he tossed an overly ripe banana peel off his leg from diving in the dumpster.

Having his fill, he hauled himself out, feeling like he needed a shower to get it all off him. Three showers at best.

Still, he cut out the pieces and styles he was asked. "Okay, so lets see what you can do. Hope your skill is as much as you claim it to be." AKume said as he lit himself another cigarette to see his new friend work.