The Mask Shatters
Chapter 1-14 Summary
"It's time we catch ourselves up to where time has found it's standstill."
Author's Note
The Mask Shatters returns very soon.
Read the Post-Chapter Author's Note for info on what happened and where I went.
The story began with a young man, one Arthur Frederick Williams; an American boy with demons plaguing his ever fragile mind.
This young American, a complicated character personalized by his love for history, quick wit, and isolationist nature, had found himself on a plane bound for Tokyo, Japan, where he was to take part in a foreign exchange program. This young 17 year old man, a senior in his high school, had achieved this wondrous honor almost by sheer chance. His tattered history would, in any other normal circumstance, prevent him from such extracurricular activities.
However, such was not the case with him.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, Japan, he met up with his designated guardian and longtime family friend, Himura Arinori. A middle-aged Japanese businessman who worked at a local corporation with a decent position and even more-than-decent pay. However, it was quickly apparent that the job was working him to death as Himura was swift to offer Arthur a tour of the city, only to be quickly called back into work by none other than the Chief Clerk. Himura's direct manager.
Arthur also became clued in to a sensation that was conquering the word on the streets of Tokyo…
The Phantom Thieves.
. Arthur's first night in Tokyo wasn't to be a restful one.
He had fallen asleep, fully expecting to awaken to his chronic nightmares that would, oftentimes, send him into a panic. But tonight was different than normal…
Arthur awoke to a gloom.
A feeling of cold enveloped him as his eyes opened.
And he was greeted by the blue hue of a far off reality, one that only he could perceive.
Donning funeral clothes, and a confused mind, he sat up.
And was greeted by none other than Igor himself.
Arthur laughed it all off, believing it to be a trick of the mind, and lain himself back down to drift off to a slumber, only to reawaken back in Himura's apartment, ready for his first day at Shujin Academy.
His first day went off without a hitch. He met his teacher, a cranky and rude elderly man by the name of Mr. Sakutaro. Nakada Sakutaro. A well-disliked man among the student body, and Arthur's homeroom and history teacher. He became a quick sensation in his class, and everyone seemed to enjoy his presence.
Everyone aside from a red-eyed girl and the teacher.
It was here he met Ichisake Miyara, a third-year and classmate of Arthur's.
Ichisake Miyara proved to be a complicated character in his right - clearly a kid with attachment problems and slight anger issues bubbling under the surface. Arthur nonetheless took a liking to the young man. From here, a friendship blossomed.
Over the course of the next few weeks, Arthur found himself plagued with a new - or, rather, an old - set of issues that seemingly followed him from home.
Rumors broke out within the school of Arthur and his past.
Rumors with no clear source.
All the while, Principal Kobayakawa and the Vice Principal began talks on how to remove Arthur from the school system once everything was aired in the open..
These talks ranged from having him speak with Dr. Maruki, the latter of whom refused when Arthur himself refused to speak with him, to more clandestine decisions.
Arthur, meanwhile, began to steadily deteriorate mentally when he realized that - no matter where he would go - his mistakes would follow him forever.
Some time before the story, Arthur attempted to commit suicide. Death by hanging. His family life was in tatters, with abusive parents - both mentally and, on occasion, physically - his social life nonexistent, and his mental state beyond the brink of near-no return, but it was halted in its tracks by a dear family friend.
Furthermore, Arthur was an avid fencer. He enjoyed the quick wit required to play the sport as well as the fast-pacing of it all, however, after his attempted suicide he was quickly removed from his school's team as he was deemed a risk to himself and others.
All of this, coupled with the more sensationalized rumors, broke out within the school. It caused mass paranoia and fear of Arthur, the rumors of which distracted many from the already prevalent rumors surrounding a certain frizzy haired transfer student…
But, with Ichisake by his side, Arthur pressed ahead, his mental state deteriorating gradually each day until - finally - he broke down in front of Igor.
Igor was unimpressed, but held onto a firm patient grip as he beheld the pathetic scene. Once Arthur was calm, he was given a task by the otherworldly being:
Locate and identify the Phantom Thieves.
A task that, initially, seemed impossible to Arthur.
A task that, according to Igor, was critical in saving Arthur from a horrible fate that was in store for him.
Arthur brushed everything off at first, believing them to be nonsensical, illogical breaks in reality.
But as time pressed on, Arthur became more and more wary of the unknown and supernatural - both of which he feared and hid from whenever possible.
During his time attending school and ignoring Igor's task, he met a wide range of characters that he will come to know over the year:
Kiwa Eguchi - Himura's coworker. A friendly and sympathetic woman who seems to go way back with Himura.
Kae Waikazumi - A young, two-faced woman and a third-year at Shujin, coming from a rich family. While at school, she played the facade of a quiet, friendly young girl. But when out and about, it was clear she had even a strong disregard for herself and others. Cigarettes, speeding, and even talking down to Arthur once she realized he wasn't at all how the rumors portrayed him.
Viktorie Fišerová - A young Czech immigrant and server at Poland's Roadhouse Shazam - a restaurant frequented by Ichisake. Knowledgeable in Czech, Polish, and Japanese, she became infatuated with Arthur once he displayed his basic knowledge in her mother language. However, Arthur completely disregarded the signs; much to Ann's and Ichisake's disdain.
Ren Amamiya - A quick-witted transfer student and the subject of many-a-rumor before Arthur's arrival. Ren invited him out, and the two exchanged philosophies on the situation that they both had found themselves in. The two became steadfast - if distant - friends from there on.
Ann Takamaki - A beautiful, young second year at Shujin. She quickly befriended Arthur out of pity for him and became a loyal friend due to their shared knowledge of the English language and the similarities surrounding the rumors that once plagued her and the ones that devestate him now.
Haru Okumura - A young third-year. Arthur had only spoken with her twice, but it was clear from the getgo that Haru was a caring and compassionate young woman, if rather reticent and meek. However, as it turns out, she had a friendly history with Himura.
Makoto Niijima - A shrewd and aggressive young third-year. A classmate of Arthur's, she seemed to have it out for both Ren and Ann, so much to the point that she was stalking them and soon had her sights on Arthur. Igor, having apparently been in the know of her existence, had declared her an enemy, but eventually her demeanor suddenly and quizzically softened towards both Arthur and Ren. Arthur couldn't explain it.
Takuto Maruki - The odd, friendly, and playful counselor on tenure at Shujin. Maruki and Arthur had only met once, but due to Maruki's unconventional behavior and choice of attire, he lost Arthur's confidence in his abilities rather quickly. But this won't stop Maruki in attempting to help him, especially after Himura had requested such help himself.
Eventually, Arthur began to realize there was credence to the Phantom Thief rumors, and once he witnessed Ichiryusai Madarame's confession with his own two eyes, he became a believer. Through his own methods, which included watching the Phan-site, taking silent pointers from the wannabe detective, Makoto Niijima, and simple logic and reasoning after looking into the previous change-of-heart cases, both minor and major, he quickly deducted that Ren and Ann were, if not members, associates of the clandestine organization.
All the while, somewhere else in Tokyo, a yellow-eyed Scotsman found his own interest piqued by the eerie events…
For good or for bad, he decided to finally heed Igor's words.
But behind the scenes, shadows of evil lurked, dogging his guardian.
It began with a simple visit from a rather rough-looking fellow, to which Arthur frightened him off by putting an idle hand in his pocket - a gesture the thug mistook for Arthur reaching for a weapon when, in fact, he was going for his phone.
One morning, Arthur awoke to a commotion. After having dealt with several draining nightmares, his glasses having been burgled by a lone turtle, and a decreasing mental stability, he opened his door to bear witness to his guardian arguing on the phone with an unknown individual. In a fit of rage, he smashed his phone to pieces, frightening Arthur and giving way to bad memories of home.
Soon, Arthur found himself in deep trouble when - one day after leaving school - he was accosted by the very same thug that he had scared off weeks prior. The thug, threatening him with a firearm, took the young man hostage and led him to a dark alley. Arthur, knowing that he had no conceivable way to escape, followed his directions while doing his best to alert passersby to the danger he was in.
The thug, having brought Arthur to a rain-soaked alley, name dropped the mobster "Junya Kaneshiro", and began to beat the young American for Himura's transgressions as well as for his offense in their previous encounter. Arthur, frightened and begging for his life, was quickly knocked out of the game when a man that picked up on Arthur's signals intervened. Before Arthur lost his consciousness, he heard several shots rang out and when he awoke, he found out that the man - a nameless private detective - had shot the thug, now a known yakuza thug, dead in his tracks.
Everything piled on from here, and forced Arthur into another mental breakdown, one that had drained Arthur of all his energy and, combined with his beatdown, had fallen into a serious state of disrepair as a concussion affected both his physical and mental faculties. After a few days of bedrest, he returned to Shujin to find that everyone had seemingly calmed themselves around him.
He no longer heard the venomous rumors surrounding him, and instead only heard one name, the apparent perpetrator behind Arthur's defamation: Edamura.
On Arthur's return, he was also surprised to find so many people coming to him expressing their relief to see him. Kae and Makoto being the most surprising of them all.
Even Mr. Sakutaro himself had declared that he wished to teach Arthur how to defend himself, a gesture that confused Arthur to no end.
Throughout the following weeks, and even prior, Arthur had become privy that something more was going on.
He had become accustomed to The Velvet Room as well as it's proprietor, Igor. He had come to believe in its existence as factual, not a dreamscape as it first appeared. He had begun to take more seriously Igor's warnings of an impending fate that Arthur would, apparently, wish to avoid.
But, even more strangely, a voice had begun to make itself known.
Initially, it was a simple echo he would hear. Directing him hither and thither, but eventually this voice would become more talkative, more prevalent, so much so that it would send him into an anxiety induced panic when all was said and done.
In fact, one rainy afternoon, he even found himself face to face with it's supposed owner.
Clad in an azure flame, reaching out to him, beckoning him to embrace it.
Arthur had run from it, but over time he began to accept the voice as part of his daily life as well.
Even more so, there was something more to the voice than he realized. He recognized it, but could not place a finger on it.
The voice helped him make his decisions. It beckoned him to head Igor's warnings and directions, helped him analyze and make sense of the clues he had on the Phantom Thieves identity, and pushed him forward to accepting a fact his mind had trouble comprehending.
Taking a page from Makoto Niijima's book, he began his own investigation into Ren and Ann's activities, going so far as to stalk them outside of school in order to see what all they were up to. He learned, through all of this, their association with Yusuke Kitagawa - the pupil of the now-incarcerated Madarame, and Ryuji Sakamoto - the outspoken enemy of Suguru Kamoshida.
Both high profile targets of The Phantom Thieves.
Whatever doubts remained in his mind, at this point, were gone.
He knew their identity.
But what he didn't know was how they went about their work.
After following the Phantom Thieves on an outing to Central Street, he bore witness to the group in a panic, chasing after a strange vehicle in a fluster. Kae happened to be nearby, and after a brief negotiation, Arthur managed to bribe her into giving chase in her car.
Upon arriving at a seedy part of town, Arthur watched as the group entered a conspicuous building with gruff characters lurking about, and they were soon to leave with a flustered and battered Makoto in tow.
He watched and he followed, intrigued and confused, but no less spurred to figure everything out for himself.
But what happened next was beyond even his own comprehension…
A floating bank…
Walking ATMs…
Wads of money drifting through the air like leaves from dying trees…
The words "Junya Kaneshiro" stained the mucked air around him…
From city to dark wasteland, from a feeling of sickness and lightheadedness to anxiety and the unknown…
He soon arrived at the Bank Of Gluttony…
And what awaits him within?
Only time will tell.
Post-Chapter Author's Note
Edited by Frozen Foe and Kabuto S. Inferno
Also, I just wanted to take a moment and apologize for my absence. Y'all are probably getting tired of me taking my time and apologizing for it. I honestly wish had a place where I could blog posts to tell you all what's going on - but this chapter serves that role as well as reminding everyone where we are at.
Anyways I took that warehouse job, as I stated previously, and all was well. Chapter 15 was in production and I had an income. But not long after Chapter 14 went live was I told that my warehouse would be shutting down in January 2022 and myself and everyone there was going to be laid off.
I fell into a deep depression after that and lost my will to write for a good while. Coupled with people suddenly vanishing from the warehouse for obvious reasons, I had to work more hours to make up for them and eventually just didn't have any time to write even if I had wanted to. Which I did, I just couldn't force myself. But, recently I've been getting back into the groove of things. Still unemployed, but I cut out modding for the FNV community. That alone cut out so much stress from my mind. With that being said, Chapter 15 is done with being written. It just needs to be edited, which will take a good bit but hopefully we'll get it out by mid-March. It is 25 pages, and I know a few of you will like it. :)
We didn't want to make it that long, but we all felt like it was warranted after having been absent for so long.
I'd like to end this by saying thank you all for your patience, and look forward to Chapter 15.
Also, worgeral. Your review is noted. Chapter 15 will have a very special scene dedicated for you. I think you'll have a nice laugh.