Strolling Through The Amusement Park

Grey sighed. "Look, before I explain how I ended up walking around with all of their stuff, there's something that you should know. Please try not to get the wrong idea, though." He announced to the woman.

"... And what would that be? You're not getting out of this, and I'm not going to be tricked out of the topic." She declared tersely.

In a rare display of emotion, Grey sighed openly.

"I'm not trying to get out of the topic. I haven't finished answering your last question." He claimed.

The woman raised her eyebrows. "Hoh? I'm listening."

"It's about everyone's survival. Please understand that if anyone got maimed in Dark Paradise, they were basically a goner.

The guy that was blinded was probably sold into slavery or killed. If he wasn't, then he wasn't going to last long anyway." He explained.

"I saved one of the Brawlers with a tourniquet, reset the bones in his leg, and helped him replace his blood.

So, assuming vultures didn't eat him, he was going to survive, and he wouldn't be disabled after some healing." He concluded.

The woman's eyes went wide with shock.

"That's… basically—"

Grey sent a bitter grin inwardly. "Correct."

"Why? Wasn't he about to sell you into slavery." She asked suspiciously.

"Yes, he was. He was honorable, though. He fended away the Brawlers and Quirks that showed up to kill me and loot everyone." He explained.

"He did this by putting the weight of his faction behind my protection. At least for that moment, anyway." He finished.

The woman's eyes were filled with confusion.

"I thought you said that the Gruffbilly was the kindest person you met there. Or am I wrong?" She pried.

"He was. Both indeed tried to kill me. That said, the Brawler tried to sell me into slavery, and the Gruffbilly warned me that someone would try to sell me into slavery. That was just how it was." He recounted with an unbreakable poker face.

"... Good point." She replied pensively.

"Anyway, that's what happened. If his faction showed up, both people might have lived. It was hard to tell." He concluded.

"Why do you always do this?" She asked in a state of perplexion.

"Do what?"

"You always make yourself out to be a villain, and then it comes out later that you let everyone live.

In fact, you keep saving people. Are you trying to make a fool out of me?" She asked indignantly.

She had spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out if he was a bad person. Yet now, she felt conflicted about whether he was a good person.

It didn't seem fair for him to hide his positive actions.

"No. I don't want to make a fool out of you. I'm telling you this so you don't get the wrong idea." He reiterated, bringing them full circle again.

"About what?" She asked.

"About me being a good person. I'm not a good person.

I wouldn't say I'm a bad person. I'm nothing like the people who were walking around in Dark Paradise. I did what I could to shut down the server and end their human trafficking ring.

You can support what I've done. Personally, I believe that's the moral thing to do. It's not like I just walk around looking for people to hurt.

That said, I think my actions go beyond the acceptable range of justifiable behavior. " Grey argued.

"For example, to answer your other question, the way that I intimidated people to survive in Dark Paradise was—"

[ 10 minutes later, Michael had finished prepping and looting everyone of their items. People were still watching him because he had turned the whole process into a street performance.

"Oui! You a fuckin' circus performer or somethin'?" Dikines yelled out as Michael was walking away.

"Nah, I'm more like the Grim Reaper that's bombing a comedy set." He replied casually.

As he walked away, he started whistling a melody.

In his hand, there were three strings. Those strings were tied to Saison's short sword, Dikines' claymore, and Tweak's arm. He wasn't dragging these objects around—

"Do you really gotta show off your victory by caring around your trophies like fuckin' balloons?" He sneered.

While Dikines' voice was aggressive, his eyes were smiling, however.]

"You were walking around with an arm and some weapons as balloons!?" She exclaimed in complete astonishment.

"Correct." He replied with a deadpan expression.

"I get that you had to intimidate people to survive but…" She wanted to build an argument in his defense, but she couldn't think of one.

"It's not justifiable behavior. I'm not a good person. You can agree with me, think I'm justice itself, or even root me on. That wouldn't make you a bad person. But you can't say I'm a good person." He argued.

The woman was bitter hearing this. She wanted to believe that he was.

While she knew that he wasn't a moral person, she felt that there was no way that Alyx Grey was as bad as he made himself out to be.

"I'm curious. What type of reaction do you get from people?" She asked.

"It's hard to explain. I'd say it was a mixture between, 'Hey honey, look at that!' and 'Are you stupid? get the hell out of his way.'"

[ Countless people watched Michael as he leisurely strolled down the alleyway. If people could take halographs in Dark Paradise, they'd be pulling their halolenses.

That said, not a single person dared come up to him in hopes of capturing a holograph or tried engaging him in a conversation.

He was covered in blood from head to toe and had a fresh human arm still dripping blood above him to prove it was real.]

"That's understandable." She remarked.

Secretly she wished that she could have seen the sight herself. Needless to say, she didn't voice this opinion out loud.

"So I assume that no one messed with you for the remainder of the trip?" She asked.

"Unfortunately, that was not the case." He explained, awkwardly scratching his cheek inwardly.

"What do you mean? Who would want to mess with you after that?" She asked.

"People that want to prove themselves stronger than you."

"Wait, you mean that people that saw you walking around with a human limb for a balloon and wanted to fight you [because] of that?" The woman's eyes filled with conflicted confusion.

"Yes, that's why walking around with a demonstration like that isn't nearly as extreme as you might think." Grey replied casually.

"I-I see." She stuttered.

"These people were stronger than most, right?" She asked, hoping for clarification.

"Yes, they're top tier. Stronger than Marion or the Brawlers." He explained as if this evaluation held no significance whatsoever.

"So how do you deal with these… example, right?" She asked, completely defeated.

"Correct." He stated.

"But how? None of your fights have been easy up till this point. I'm having a hard time thinking anything could get much easier." She added.

"Correct. Fights never get easier, so you need to prevent altercations before they can turn into 'fights.'" He asserted.

"How do you do that?" She asked.

"Acting." This was his only explanation.

If she didn't pursue it further, this was the final explanation she'd receive.

"... Okay, you have my interest. How do you act your way out of situations more dangerous than what you've already experienced?" She asked inquisitively.