The Mask Shatters
Chapter 20
"How dare he… After all I've done to dislodge him…?"
He sat there, lone and idle. Hands curled together in the blue of the Velvet Room.
His unceasing wicked smile dominating his lips, his eyes bulging and bloodshot. Like that of a man gone stir crazy in their own home.
Yet he could not be more sane.
A small breath passed, followed by a sharp grunt of stark annoyance from a reality unforeseen.
In the distance, he watched. Observed.
He was alert.
And he was silently furious.
A variable he could not have counted on… One he did not prepare for…
All was going according to his designs…
A man of science betraying common sense for something beyond the real, opening his eyes up, glancing upon a glimmer of the true reality all of mankind lived within in their wicked hearts…
A reality of desire.
A reality of lust.
A reality of warped consciousness..
He has gained faithful allies.
He has gained scornful enemies.
All according to Arthur's Salvation.
But now he has appeared.
With his wit, his agility, his strength…
And even more so… his intimate knowledge.
To make matters worse, he had even contacted Arthur.
For what, he did not know.
Every move thus far has been calculated…
Every word carefully chosen…
Every outcome thought out…
He could not have possibly foreseen this encounter…
After all, he was considered already dead…
And now Igor only watched, and waited…
Tapping a lone finger upon the table he called his own…
The echoes of nail upon oak pounding away in the silence of the room.
And, with a deep exhale, he said:
"This could be a problem…"
Arthur stood there, looking up as he read the name of the restaurant aloud. Barely making himself heard over the pitter-pattering rain besieging the ground below.
Shielding his eyes, he squinted. The words were barely legible within his far-sighted view. "Poland's Roadhouse Shazam."
Wallace looked over at him, a brow arched. "Ya say that as if ya've been here before…"
Arthur huffed, looking over at him. The insult from before still fresh in his memory. "I have, many weeks ago." He told him, eliciting a slight "Ahh…" from the man. Arthur then turned away, adding "Let's get out of this infernal rain."
Wallace agreed, and they both stepped forward towards the door, with Wallace entering before Arthur.
Arthur had never before seen the interior of the eatery, with the last and only time he had eaten here being on the patio, served by a Czech server and accompanied by Ann and Ichisake.
Of course, the patio wasn't a good idea at the current time. An idea shared by many of Tokyo's inhabitants apparently as the establishment seemed to have been packed today. Either by people simply looking to get out of the rain or by the hungry members of society, Arthur couldn't honestly say. It looked to be half and half.
Glancing around, the establishment looked a lot cleaner than he imagined. A nice, shiny brown tiled floor with oaken tables all around and booths littering the sides like indentations in the walling.
On the opposite side of the room sat a bar, with men and women of differing economic statuses enjoying their drinks in solitude. Suits, dresses, overalls, t-shirts, jeans, slacks. All of differing societal capabilities, made equal by a countertop and some liquor.
To cap it all off, a common sight in foreign eateries, the flag of the Polish nation sat high above the bar, next to a rather large T.V. Flying proud and true over the bartender's head - a symbol of their love for their homeland.
Arthur watched as employees, foreigners all, ran to and fro. Dressed in white dress shirts and black dress pants, save for the females who instead wore pitch black skirts. On their faces were large, wide eyes and worried looks as they passed one another. Clearly overworked and stressed beyond measure.
"Na drugim stole nie ma jedzenia!" One employee was heard saying, a sense of urgency in his words.
Another one, an older woman, piped up in response. Her voice seemed agitated. "Pracuję nad tym, Fryderyku!"
Many more murmurs of urgency and ceaseless worry deafened the room, followed by the chattering and babbling of the customers. Some annoyed at various things such as the Polish dialect or how long their order was taking, and others pleasant gossip or chats about their daily lives and work.
All the while, there stood Arthur and Wallace. Both of them, taking in their surroundings and awaiting someone to show them to their table.
Wallace nudged Arthur, jolting Arthur from his cautious study of the room. "Looks busy…"
"Yeah…" Arthur agreed, hands on his hips as he looked at Wallace. "Very busy… You sure this is a good place to talk…?"
Wallace nodded, his neutral expression unchanged. "Busy is the best time tae talk." He looked forward, watching as a young woman began to approach the two. "No one will notice two more fish in the sea…"
"Hmm?" Arthur hummed, raising a brow at Wallace. "Is there a problem?"
"Not at all… I'd just rather no one hear what we're about tae discuss…"
The young woman stepped up the two, menus in hand and a bright smile plastered across her red lips. Foreign, just as the rest.
"Witam! Witam! Welcome to Poland's Roadhouse Shazam!" She beamed in a combination of Polish and poor Japanese, almost sounding as if she had rehearsed this a hundred times over, but it seemed to have never been enough. "Table for two?"
"A booth, preferably." Wallace answered her. She nodded, gesturing for the two to follow.
From there, she led them to a booth far from the doors, right next to a huge party that seemed too loud and obnoxious for anyone to enjoy their meal next to.
But Wallace seemed keen. After all, he appeared to have been pleased with how packed the establishment was today. Sitting down, the lady placed down two straws and two menus whilst asking what they would like to drink. Arthur shook his head, denying the offer while Wallace had one simple request.
"Scotch. Cold." He said, flashing the woman his I.D. The woman nodded, glancing at it a moment before swiftly vanishing within the crowded building.
Arthur blinked, looking at Wallace with a pair of wide, green eyes. "You're… of drinking age?"
"Yes." Wallace replied simply, leaning back in his seat. "Why didn't ya order a drink?" He asked in turn, to which Arthur huffed and leaned forward onto his elbows. A glare slowly inching its way forward.
"Because I'm not here for a bite, 'Wallace'. " Arthur showed his annoyance at the question. Wallace knew why Arthur was here, knew what he wanted. To Arthur, to have asked that was pointless. "You're gonna tell me what you know about that bank, and how to get back."
Wallace just looked at him, almost as if he was deadpanning. If it wasn't for the fact his expression hasn't changed since they met, Arthur would've believed he had offended him. But in reality, he had just chosen to be silent. Sighing, he eventually opened his menu, yellow eyes scanning for anything of interest.
"They have good scotch here…" He idly noted, earning further agitation from Arthur.
"Dude." Arthur called to him, but Wallace didn't react. He simply hummed as he scanned the menu. A tune that was very unfamiliar to Arthur.
After a moment, he sat his menu back down, looking up at Arthur, who at this point had nothing but irritation veiling his eyes. "Tell me: How did ya get there in the first place?" He interrupted himself quite suddenly, the tune vanishing with the question hanging in the air.
"What?" Arthur asked. "I… walked up to it. How else do you get anywhere?"
"That's not what I meant." Wallace shook his head, sighing yet again. "How did you get in there?" He had asked, tilting his head. "That… place… Well… It isn't a place one can normally access… Not a dull member of the public like you…"
Arthur crossed his arms, opening his mouth to speak. But Wallace cut him off.
"But ya aren't just yer average dullard… Yer special…" He leaned forward, eyeing Arthur up and down as he paused. Then, he added "Still dull… But special… Yer persona proves it."
"Huh…?" Arthur rose a brow. "'Persona'?" He asked, leaning back as he spoke. A queer feeling rising within him as he even uttered the word. "What the hell does that even mean?"
"Tell me: Of all the things ya experienced within the bank… What seemed most odd tae yee?" Wallace simply asked, ignoring the barbaric way Arthur posed his question.
Arthur blinked, unsure of how to answer. Leaning back in his seat, his arms faltered to his side as he searched the memories of that bank. He remembered it all so vividly, despite the terror and the angst he felt as he ran through the halls. Dogged and shot at by the security guards.
There were the walking ATMs…
The inhuman voices of the lanky, monstrous security officers…
Kaneshiro himself, rotund with purple skin and looking like a certain evil man from history…
The bank itself was floating…
Security officers transforming into feline humanoids, lunging and clawing at him…
And Arthur ripped off a mask, revealing the owner of a voice he long thought was just in his head…
Shiro…
Arthur gulped, unsure of how to answer the question posed to him.
"Well… All of it was…" He answered truthfully, causing Wallace to shake his head. Whether in disappointment, or in annoyance, Arthur couldn't say. "Hey, why are you giving me that look? Are you trying to tell me there's a floating bank in Tokyo somewhere?"
"No." Wallace stated, slowly reaching into his jacket pocket. "But we can talk of 'personas', later… None of that was a norm ya were used tae… But ya were seeing the world for what it truly is…" He continued as he retrieved his phone - a dark green thing with a case that had seen better days. Cracked at its corners, across the back, and all over the front. As if the thing has seen much rough handling and contact with the ground over its lifespan. He turned it towards Arthur, leveling it with Arthur's eyes so that he may see.
Arthur blinked. He was staring, although squinting, morelike, through a cracked visage onto a familiar navigation app.
The very same one that he had found himself with.
"Ya were seeing The Metaverse…" Wallace said, matter-of-factly. Causing Arthur to tilt his head in further confusion at the word. Wallace noticed the confusion, and decided it best to explain, in his own way. "The dark reality humanity chooses to ignore… Where desires and lust converge, forming deep, dark pathways beneath the surface of Tokyo and, indeed, the world… A veritable underworld, if ya would. Where what we see and believe becomes fact."
Arthur blinked and just looked at him, befuddled.
"And fact can be stranger than fiction…"
"W-what?" Arthur furrowed his brows. "Are… Are you high, or something…?"
Wallace grumbled, setting his phone down as a dripping glass hit the table before him, the two then turned to look to the source that guided it.
"Pozdravy! Pozdravy! Your scotch, sir!" A familiar voice sang, bright, white teeth barring themselves to the world behind a warm, eager smile that found its attention focused solely on Arthur. "And a special pozdrav to you, Artur…"
Looking up at the young girl, whose scalp lacked even a single strand of hair, bright red lips accompanied by a pair of hazel eyes, and an eager grin that seemed all too familiar to Arthur. With a notepad in one hand, and a pen resting above her ear, she looked down at Arthur with a gleeful, pleasant smile. And he returned it, as he remembered who this was.
Her name was not one he could forget so easily.
After all, who could forget a fellow foreigner in a land that seemed alien to any from the outside?
It was Viktorie Fišerová. The young Czech girl that Arthur had met the day of Madarame's change of heart.
Working yet again, diligently, at Poland's Roadhouse Shazam…
Arthur looked at her, maintaining his smile as the memories of his last encounter with her found their way to the front of his mind. It was only one encounter, but he could never forget the one person in this country who had allowed him to brush up on his Czech. It was rare he ever got to use it anyways.
"Pozdravy, Fišerová…" He said, returning her smile and eliciting, in turn, a surprised look from Wallace, who merely listened as the two spoke to one another.
"Ach ano! Ty mluvíš česky! Zapomněl jsem!" She gasped, having forgotten that Arthur could speak her tongue, if just barely. Meanwhile, some of the words found no meaning within Arthur's mind and he couldn't help but chuckle dryly in response.
"Mluvím málo česky." He reminded her, to which she went "Ahhh" and giggled to herself, being reminded that Arthur spoke little of the language. Only enough to get by.
"Well, still. It's nice to know you remember some of it." She said, her smile seeming genuine now. "Everyone expects me to speak nothing but Japanese or Polish… It's so rare to speak the mother tongue in this land."
"I bet, I bet…" Arthur nodded, before quickly adding "You've been doing well?"
"I've been doing fine, Artur." She positively beamed, swooning on her feet with glee that Arthur was taking any interest in her. But quickly her eyes landed on Wallace, who looked none too pleased at the interruption. "Oh, but I interrupted something, didn't I…? I apologize..." She silenced herself as she looked unsteadily into his eyes. A worrisome frown replacing her smile as she spoke.
These eyes she had seen before.
And these eyes evoked nothing but an uneasy feeling within her.
"Ano." Wallace stated, lifting his menu up for her to take. Arthur turned and looked at him, surprised by the sudden shift in his tone. "Naše rozkazy." Wallace looked up at her, to which she nodded with a stunned eye, flipping out her notepad and retrieving her pen.
She briefly paused, and looked to Arthur with a whisper leaving her lips. "He's fluent too…?"
Arthur blinked, shrugging as he answered her. "Uhm… What do you mean?"
Viktorie looked at him a moment before swiftly shaking her head. The venom in the man's voice was enough to set her to more than unease and, in an attempt to put distance between herself and him, she quickly wrote down his order and sped away to the back. But not before apologizing in her native tongue for having interrupted their conversation.
Wallace simply waved her off, shaking his head as he sighed at the audacity she had.
"Woah…" Arthur whistled, watching her shuffle off. He turned his gaze back on Wallace, who was simply staring at Arthur. "Kinda rude, dontcha think?" Arthur asked, a brow arched.
"No." Wallace answered him, leaning forward as he retrieved his phone. "She interrupted us."
"Hey, you ordered the damn drink, don't get mad at her for bringing it to you." Arthur crossed his arms.
Wallace remained silent, casting a stray glance to his drink whilst holding the phone close at hand. Arching a brow, he rolled his eyes back to Arthur, who simply sat there, waiting for a response. When none came, Arthur bade him to continue.
"Continue, please." Arthur said, to which Wallace nodded, and handed Arthur his phone. Arthur took it, and even glancing at it, he could tell this was the very same app that he had. Same U.I., same color scheme, same options, same settings. Nothing differed from what Arthur had found on his phone, aside from the search history being cluttered with various locations and names that were nothing but unfamiliar to young Arthur.
Except, at the very top of the list, sat one that rang plenty of bells.
A listing with two locations and one name:
Kanshiro. All of Shibuya. Bank.
Arthur went wide-eyed as scrolled through the list, places such as "Observatory" and "Mine", "Headquarters" and even "Airline" made up the list of locations this man has visited, and upon further thought, Arthur realized that all of this existed within this so-called "Metaverse".
"Woah…" Arthur said, looking up at Wallace, who just sat idle as Arthur scrolled, tapping his fingers away on the table. "You've been places."
"Indeed." Wallace extended a hand towards the young American, to which Arthur responded by handing it back to him. "Do ya understand, now?"
"Uh… I guess…?" Arthur admitted, scratching his head as he tried to piece together the information he's been given. "What I've gathered from this is that… there is another world. Right? Another world where what we believe becomes real, and there are monsters and other weird shit… Correct?" Arthur asked, to which Wallace nodded. "Alright. Another world. A place where normal people can't access… But you and I can, is that correct?"
Wallace nodded again, brows rising slightly in absolute surprise at Arthur's sharpness . "Yes."
"OK. So we use this app, this… Navigation app. And it takes us straight there. Yes?" Arthur asked once more.
"It's not as simple as that, however." Wallace leaned forward "Tae navigate tae the Metaverse, one needs a name, a location, and a distortion."
Arthur scratched his head once more, confused by the idea of a distortion. "Distortion..?" Arthur echoed slowly, sounding as if he himself was unaware even of the definition of the word.
Wallace sighed. "What the person in question sees and believes." Wallace explained, lifting the phone back up and shaking it gently as he spoke. "Ya have tae think smart about this. Take Kaneshiro for example. His location is 'Shibuya'. His distortion is 'Bank'... Now why do ya think that is?"
Arthur put a finger to his chin in thought, lowering his gaze to the floor as he thought. Kaneshiro was a mob boss, and, as Arthur realized back in the bank, the same mobster who is behind the rumors floating around Shujin about the dangers of Shibuya. Arthur, at the time, paid no attention to these rumors. But since he was attacked, he had no choice but to believe.
Kaneshiro, obviously, is also behind the increase in police activity in the city, with Arthur having noticed more police vehicles on the move today than on any other day in his total time being in Tokyo.
And, finally, he is also the man behind the extortionist that attacked Arthur for Himura's debt. The same man who was shot dead by a man that remains unknown to Arthur even now.
With all of this in mind, Arthur came to one, relatively simple conclusion.
"Because…. He's bleeding Shibuya dry…?" Arthur slowly looked up at Wallace, brow arched as he sounded it out. "Like… a bank calling on someone's loan..?"
"Bingo." Wallace said, jolting his phone towards Arthur as he set it down next to him. Arthur smiled, and watched as Wallace reached for his scotch, taking a small sip of the ice cold beverage before Arthur had a chance to say anything further. "Ahhh." He gasped, swishing the drink around as he looked at a slightly befuddled Arthur. "Goes down like a smooth coffee… But much more bitter…"
"Yeah, whatever." Arthur waved him off. "Tell me more about this 'Metaverse'business… I'm not sure I fully understand…"
"No… Yer catching on better than I thought ya would." Wallace said, looking over to the counter across the room - from beyond sat the kitchen, where his meal was being prepared. "I suppose I was wrong about yer wit…"
"You wouldn't be the first to underestimate me…" Arthur responded with a sly grin, to which Wallace huffed and leaned forward, taking his eye off of an approaching waitress.
"Don't get a big head, ya eejit." Wallace pointed at Arthur, which faded Arthur's grin ever so slightly. "We've barely scratched the surface… But for now?" Wallace paused, looking up at the server, Viktorie, as she gently - and with a huge smile plastered on her face - sat a plate of stew down before the young gentleman. "My meal is here."
"Huh?" Arthur huffed, crossing his arms "What? Really? We're gonna stop now because you're hungry?"
Viktorie looked between the two, her smile shifting as she beheld the displeasure growing on Arthur's face. She bowed to the duo, showing her respect to the two before backing away slowly to attend to other matters. Neither of the two noticed, however, as Wallace picked up his spoon and took in the sweet, meaty smell of Polish stew. He glanced up at Arthur.
"A fella has tae eat…" He said, matter-of-factly. But quickly followed it up with "But, how do ya perceive all that ya've learned?"
Arthur sighed, shaking his head as the question bounced around in his mind. Sure, it all sounded made up. Fictional. Story-telling at its best. Monsters? Walking ATMs? A world where reality bends to the mind of the beholder? And this talk of "persona"? It wouldn't be hard to brush it all off as fabrication. But Arthur knew better.
After all, he lived it. He found himself, for better or for worse, at that bank. Found himself surrounded by the unreal and the mystical. Said walking ATMs roamed the streets of Shibuya, and one had even approached Arthur. Lanky security guards, firing live weapons at Arthur during his flight, and more sights that bothered Arthur even now despite his best efforts to shove everything to the back of his mind.
Had none of this occurred, Arthur might have well called this man crazy and walked away from him.
And Arthur wanted nothing more than to go back and face Kaneshiro, now that he had a means to do so.
He looked up at Wallace, who waited patiently for Arthur's response. But for a moment Arthur had none. Just a simple look that said more than words ever could. Wallace already knew Arthur's answer, but stayed silent all the same, giving Arthur time to collect his thoughts.
"Honestly…" Arthur hummed, frowning as he spoke. "It all sounds too crazy to be true… But I was there…" He put a hand to his chest. "I was there… I'd be lying if I said I didn't believe it all to be true… But the question I have now is: Where do we go from here?"
"Ya go home." Wallace piped up, eliciting from Arthur a risen brow and a stark "Huh?"
"What?" Arthur asked, scratching his head as look at the man. Wallace simply sighed, taking in a mouthful of stew and remaining quiet as he slurped and chewed. Juices dripping from his lips, he looked up at Arthur and only opened his mouth to speak when it was clear.
"Yer not deaf." Wallace affirmed. Stirring his stew as he watched the young American closely with annoyance present in his voice. "I said ya go home. It's late."
"I ask again: What?!" Arthur sat up, nearly jumping to his feet as a pang of anger set in at Wallace's dismissal. He looked Wallace dead in the eye, voice growing loud and louder with each word passing between his lips. "You drag me out here and explain all of this to me and we're not even gonna go into the-" He stopped himself with a palm to the forehead. A loud slap sounded off, dragging in the attention of nearby patrons who simply looked at the two young men with looks of disapproval before returning to their individual meals.
Arthur's hand slid down to his chin, and with a low tone, he said "You gotta be kidding me." He growled, annoyed at the prospect that he just wasted his afternoon.
"Oh, we're going." Wallace said, scooping up in his spoon a chunk of meat. "But not tonight. Darkness sets upon Tokyo very soon, and ya've somewhere tae be after dark, correct?" Wallace asked, to which Arthur nodded. Wallace scoffed. "I guessed correctly. Yer guardian would never let you out after dark. Not after the trouble ya've found yerself in."
"Hey, I didn't ask for all this." Arthur scowled. "The mob, this 'Metaverse' nonsense… None of it. It was forced upon me. But if I-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Wallace stopped him, dropping his spoon into his food as he waved off Arthur's words. "Standard heroic monologue bullshit. Cut the movies out of your diet, Hollywood." He added, causing Arthur to scrunch his nose up in offense.
This man has been curt and rude to almost everyone and everybody around him every chance he got, including Arthur. It was wearing his patience thin, but he tolerated it nonetheless, for this was his only lead.
"I don't like you." Arthur simply stated.
Wallace nodded. "The feeling's mutual." He said. Retrieving his spoon, he looked down at his stew and, without missing a beat, he leaned forward and said "Meet me in Station Square tomorrow after school. We'll take ya tae that bank. I'll show ya how tae get back. Get ya started on yer proper path. Now leave me to enjoy my food."
Arthur maintained his steady glare for a moment, watching as Wallace began to slurp and gulp his meal away - occasionally taking sips of his scotch, and each time grunting as the supposed burn worked its way down his throat and into his stomach. He apparently enjoyed it, as he took bigger and bigger sips each time. As the seconds dragged on, he never once looked up at Arthur. Almost as if Arthur was no longer in his purview.
Eventually, Arthur stood up slowly. Shaking his head as he stepped away from the table and his seat all together.
"See you tomorrow then." Arthur scoffed, turning away and departing. Leaving Wallace to enjoy his meal in peace and quiet.
"And not a minute too soon, either." Arthur told himself.
Indeed, the man had worn his patience to the brink with his behavior. Towards him, towards passersby, and even towards Viktorie. Granted, Arthur didn't know her all that well. But it still didn't sit right with him. In fact, Arthur would go so far as to say that it was stressing him out.
As he made his way to the exit, his thoughts turned towards the possibilities of tomorrow.
And of the task Igor has set before him.
"I found the Phantom Thieves… Now I'm supposed to change a heart?" He asked himself, almost incredulously. "How the hell am I supposed to accomplish that? Moreover, why find them if I'm not going to join them?"
He looked back over his shoulder at the young man, sitting idly in the booth he had left him in. He seemed lost in his own manner, entranced by the food set before him. Arthur rolled his eyes.
"He's not a Phantom Thief… But I bet he knows how to do it…" Arthur thought as he approached the exit. "I guess only time will tell… But Igor? You're a mystery, to be sure…"
A voice called out to him, interrupting him both in his flight and his train of thought. He turned, seeing an unfamiliar young Polish man approaching him, something held within his hand.
"Greetings, greetings." The young man said in perfect English, his accent betrayed. "Sorry to disturb you, sir. But I was told to give you this." He said, extending his arm outwards towards Arthur. Arthur looked at what he held - a piece of plain paper, neatly folded into a small square. Arthur reached forward and, after hesitating a moment, took the paper.
"Uh… Thank you…?" Arthur said, unsure of what this meant. The young man simply gave him a knowing smile, and bowed before turning away to manage his other duties. Arthur, meanwhile, just unfolded it and read quietly the words contained within.
Written in Kanji were a string of numbers reminiscent of a phone number, and below - with a squiggly heart at the end, Arthur read:
"Call me - Viktorie"
"But it's true! I saw them together with my own two eyes!"
"Yeah yeah yeah, more Edamura bullshit. He's trying to pull the wool over your eyes again."
"Well, now that you mention it, they have been spending a lot of time together in the courtyard lately…"
"I even saw her give him a ride in her car… What does that mean?"
"Right? Edamura's right this time! Wakaizumi and Williams are together! I'm telling you!"
Post-Chapter Author's Note
Edited by Frozen Foe and Kabuto S. Inferno