The Mask Shatters

Chapter 21

"Hmmm… This may actually be useful…"

Author's Note

So where have I been? It's simple. Working. I started a new job around the awakening chapter and I decided I wanted to do a good job at this new place. This resulted in them depending on me and I quickly rose in popularity among my peers for my good work ethic and generally friendly attitude. This has all culminated in them placing me on the board for a promotion to management, which the interview for such a job comes tomorrow at the time of writing this. I slacked off on this story as a result, however, and I am deeply sorry. Now that things seem to be simmering down (I know as much because my coworkers tell me I work too hard and were practically begging me to leave and rest yesterday at the time of writing this), I believe I can return to this story for the foreseeable future. Chapters lengths will suffer, as this one is only just over 3k words, but it's a price I have to pay now that I'm moving up in the world and life. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Arthur watched as the clouds passed him by.

A sullen, gray overcast that hung low over the city of Tokyo.

No rain was foretold for the day, and still people's moods made way for the idea of torrential rain.

People were agitated.

Going off on one another for simply bumping shoulders. Or more dangerously, accusing each other of attempting the oldest pickpocketing tricks in the book; some even going so far as to make accusations of others getting too handsy, and many many more.

Arthur had already witnessed one such encounter today between an older gentleman and a careless younger man, neither of whom won their dispute as they soon diverted their attention upon an intervening politician - who swiftly took the brunt of the anger.

Arthur merely shook his head, watching the scene unfold. He knew it was best to stay out of it, since it did not concern him. And the politician seemed to have only been slightly fazed by the events that transpired.

"Good on him for keeping his cool, I suppose…" Arthur told himself, leaning back against a sidewall of Station Square.

The time was a little after four in the afternoon.

School was pretty much the same as it had been for days now, although there was something different in the air. Something Arthur didn't like , but couldn't rightly put his finger on . He had noticed knowing glances from the other students that moved about him. Some giggling at his passing, and other students - mainly males - attempting to congratulate him on some business Arthur had no knowledge of, and knowledge they wouldn't say. Just the same insufferable repeated remark of, "You know, you dog", followed by sly smirks.

Arthur shrugged it off, not knowing exactly what to believe. Although he was happy that people were taking an interest in him that didn't involve scorn or turning him into a pariah, he wasn't exactly thrilled by this newfound status he had seemingly garnered overnight.

He also saw the counselor, Dr. Maruki, today. Maruki had attempted to speak with Arthur about a session of counseling, but Arthur gave him the same response as before: That he was not interested. Dr. Maruki seemed a bit downcast at the rejection, but also quickly accepted it before leaving Arthur to his business.

From there, it was simply a matter of surviving Mr. Sakutaro's classes for the remainder of the day, and as usual Mr. Sakutaro was his ever unpleasant self. Although occasionally he would give a look of disapproval to Arthur, even when Arthur had done nothing - as small as the meter for that was - wrong. But Arthur knew well why he was upset.

Arthur hadn't yet taken him up on his offer of self-defense teachings.

And it wasn't that Arthur wasn't interested, it was mostly due to the idea that he wasn't sure what an old, cranky man like Mr. Sakutaro could offer when he was already well-schooled in the complex dance that was fencing.

But Arthur brushed it off. He had other big worries to deal with today, and the disapproval from a teacher he wasn't sure he even liked wasn't one of them.

Occasionally, he would glance at Makoto. A glance as knowing as the ones he was receiving from others. But she paid him no mind. She seemed more interested in her phone, which would buzz quietly every so often when she would put it away, just for her to retrieve it and continue her conversation.

Arthur held no ill-will towards her, but he still wondered deep down what changed her mind towards both him and the Phantom Thieves, and even more, what her connection to them now was instead of just a plain enemy.

From his day at school, it all led him here. To Station Square. Standing idle. Waiting. Eventually, he pulled out his phone and stared at - study, more like - the Meta-Nav.

He didn't get very far. In fact he had very little time to even memorize where the toolbar sat when he heard a familiar, foreign voice pipe up.

And it sounded as if it was right next to him.

"Ya came." They had said, with a tint of surprise blatant in their voice. "How surprising."

Arthur glanced up, realizing that the voice belonged to Wallace. Clad in his blue clothes, with his hood pulled over his head and a tuft of his blonde hair peeking out from underneath.

And he was standing nearly face to face with him.

Arthur jumped, nearly slamming his own head into the wall behind him in the process as he tried to put some distance between himself and Wallace in his fright.

"Jesus!" Arthur shouted, causing a few heads to turn. Wallace remained still, just watching. Unamused. Arthur put a hand to his heart, breathing labored and uncontrolled as he stepped to the side, away from Wallace. "Goddamn it, don't do that! Personal space mean anything to you?!"

Wallace simply shrugged.

"Just seeing how ya would act when something took ya by surprise." He explained, turning away as he finished. Arthur just blinked as Wallace looked back over his shoulder at the young man. "Ya would do well tae get over that fast…" He said matter-of-factly, before adding: "The Metaverse oft brings tae face the unknown and unforeseen…"

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Arthur murmured, lowering his phone with a sigh creasing his lips. "Alright. Let's go."

Wallace turned his gaze back on Arthur, a raised brow accompanying his wary eye. "Here?" He asked as he was unsure if he had heard Arthur correctly, and to his chagrin, Arthur nodded rather swiftly. And much too eagerly.

"We use the app, give it a name, location, and a distortion, and we go straight to this 'Metaverse', correct?" Arthur asked, a grin plastered on his face that spoke volumes of his readiness.

"Yeah." Wallace responded simply.

"Then let's go, already. I've been waiting for this all day." Arthur crossed his arms, speaking up with a tone so stark and clear that it even took Wallace slightly off guard with how ready he sounded. "I want to face this Kaneshiro. And sooner is better than later." He said as he approached Wallace, extending his phone outwards. He opened his mouth to speak the magic words, but Wallace swiftly stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.

"Hold yer horses, kid." The man said, gripping him tighter and tighter with each word spoken. "Yer just gonna vanish intae thin air in the middle of Shibuya? With all these people around?" He gestured to the crowds around them that encircled them like preying sharks in the ocean. "Y'think no one will ask questions?" His brow rose further, and Arthur responded with a simple tilt of his head, and a wavering mouth. Wallace huffed, realizing that was exactly what Arthur planned to do. "Oh boy…" He put a palm to his forehead, sighing.

Arthur's arm lowered to his side, and Wallace looked up to him with a slight shake of disappointment. "Rule Number One of the Metaverse: Don't do anything stupid." He said, to which Arthur nodded quietly. "That." Wallace rose a finger to Arthur, waggling it as he spoke. "Was pretty stupid."

"Understood." Arthur nodded again, pocketing his phone without a second thought. "Then, what do you have in mind…?"

Wallace turned away, placing his hands in his pockets as he glanced around, looking for a possible recourse for their objective. But as his eyes scanned the crowds, he saw no possible pathway that could lead to their destination. He saw only businessmen, students, paupers, vendors and more that populated this city. Each one a possible witness to their evaporation into another reality.

And each one presented a possible problem. One that could arise now, or later, and in several different ways. Ways Arthur couldn't have a possible inkling of. They needed somewhere quiet. Somewhere out of the way. Somewhere where they didn't risk witnesses or even the possibility of dragging someone in.

Wallace huffed, jolting his head forward in an attempt to motion Arthur to follow.

"Where are we going?" Arthur asked.

Wallace looked over his shoulder, and simply said:

"The mind of a Glutton."

Arthur collapsed onto his knees, feeling the weight of his own body give out from under him.

The asphalt he had felt crunching below his shoes gave way, and it almost felt as if he were standing upon thin air.

Gasping, heaving more like, the surprise of the situation took him by complete.

And when it was all over, he simply looked up at Wallace, he stood idly before him. Looking down at him with a disgusted look plastered upon his eyes. His mouth having been hidden behind a rough-looking, cerulean facewrap.

Arthur simply waved off Wallace's look. "I'm fine, I'm fine… Just got sent off-balance, issall…" He coughed up, pulling himself together as he sat upwards, placing a hand on his knee to steady himself.

"Keep yer lunch in yer belly, kid." The man told him, crossing his arms as he spoke. "And quit trembling in yer boots. Ya've been here before…"

"Yeah… I have." Arthur looked up at him, slowly steadying himself as he stumbled upwards. "But last time felt no better…"

Wallace grumbled, accepting that response - albeit seemingly grudgingly - as he turned away to face the gated fence before them. Arthur stood himself up, heaving and gasping as his rattled senses attempted to regain control of a body gone haywire into the unknown. As he hacked and dry-heaved, he eventually stopped himself with a sigh of relief. Looking up at Wallace, who was paying him no mind.

"Hmph." Wallace huffed, crossing his arms quietly as he beheld the smashed gate before them. "We entered closer than I anticipated…"

He then turned to face Arthur, who was holding his gut while shuffling towards Wallace at a snail's pace. With a roll of his eyes, Wallace jolted his head forward. "I'm gonna check out the courtyard." He pointed at Arthur, a level of command entering his voice as he spoke. "Stay here."

Arthur nodded, holding up a thumb to appease the Scot as the latter turned and broke into a brisk jog, vanishing past the courtyard gates and towards the fountain at the very center. Arthur simply breathed in a dry breath as his senses were returned to him in a slow manner. And eventually, when he felt himself again, he moved a hand up to wipe away the sweat from his forehead, only to discover something new.

"What the…" Arthur touched the sleek black metal plating over his forehead. Feeling further around, he quickly realized he was wearing a hood, and some kind of scaled chestpiece over black samurai garb. Looking down, he lifted a leg. Hefting it upwards with a loud grunt as it struggled underneath the weight of a pair of metallic sabatons.

He grunted in surprise, realizing swiftly he was no longer wearing his street clothes, but instead something new entirely. "When did I put this on?"

Strapped to his waste at the front was a sheath, and in it rested a sword. A pointed sword, with a fancy handle, and Arthur realized that this sword was a fencing sword in all of its sharp, deadly glory. He gasped, unsheathing it as he took it all in before whistling in amazement. This thing looked expensive.

"Damn, son…. Where did I get this…?" He absolutely beamed as he held it in his hands. He swung it, the tip streaking through the air like a knife through butter, and the sound of it slashing against the slight breeze was music to his ears. "Oho… I haven't held one of these babies in ages…"

"Impressive, isn't it?" A shaky voice called out, as if a sheet of static was overlaid in his words.

Arthur looked up, and quickly realized the voice belonged to Wallace, who had a facewrap covering his features and his blue hood thrown over his head.

"Woah, what happened to your voice?" Arthur asked, arching a brow behind his metallic black mask. "I only just realized it now… Goddamn, it sounds like a broken radio."

Wallace shrugged. "It's what happens when I come here. I can't explain it." He raised a finger, studying Arthur up and down as he noted the outfit the young man wore. "More importantly is what you are wearing." He said, before crossing his arms and huffing a dissatisfied huff. "Hmph."

"What?" Arthur asked, sheathing his sword. He couldn't help but grin as the blade scraped against the scabbard - a delightful sharp squeal of the leather's protest. Wallace simply shook his head, seemingly disappointed.

"It's just… Hmph. Nevermind." He bit his tongue, turning away as he unzipped his hoodie, reaching into it as he looked over his shoulder at the young American. "Get used tae that outfit. Yer'll be wearin' it for a while."

"I figured as much with what you said with your voice." Arthur walked up to him, an idle hand gripping the scabbard at his waist. "So, now what?"

"Now?" He withdrew his hand, slinging out into view a glistening, sharp hooked blade. He swung it to the side, twirling it in his hand as he turned back to face Arthur before stabbing it downwards into the concrete ground below - a loud thud cracking the sound barrier.

Arthur just looked at him. Brows risen.

"You just carry that in your jacket?" Arthur asked, scratching his head as he looked at him incredulously. Wallace didn't say a word. And only glared at him, which told Arthur all he needed to know. "Right. Got it. Sorry."

Wallace pivoted on his feet and pointed forward. Looking over at Arthur, he issued a single command.

"Follow me."

It was now that Arthur realized they stood before the bank itself, right outside the rickety, smashed gates. Bullet holes lined the ground and the walls within, and the fountain even looked like it had taken some damage in the shootout that had occurred not that long ago. Bodies of sparking ATMs and security officers that had perished in the fight lined the perimeter, with a sickly black looking substance pooling from beneath them.

Arthur simply looked at them, and memories of the shootout flooded back into the forefront of his mind. Memories of the screaming, of the panic. Of the hard concrete pressed against his face as the bullets flew and the freakish ATMs fled.

Of the screams of the security officers as the unknown assailant turned them into swiss cheese. The agonizing, fiendish screams had returned to haunt young Arthur as he beheld the bodies all around.

"Oh God…" He said as he stepped forward towards the bodies. Wallace stopped and looked back at him, glaring. "This could've been me…" He said as he bent over one of the security corpses, noting the lifeless stare the officer's gas mask returned to him. This officer was lying with his hands clasped around a rifle that seemed to have been placed delicately on his chest. In fact, most of the security corpses were lain this way, whilst the ATMs were carelessly thrown to the side with their screens damaged and sparking, and their internal wiring sizzling and smoking.

Arthur couldn't help but feel bad, even for the security guards. Some of the guards seemed genuinely concerned for the ATMS, while others felt nothing but scorn for them. This could be evidenced even further by one that was dragging Arthur away from the shootout.

Arthur huffed. Did they really deserve to die?

And even more pressing, who was the shooter?

"Oi, Yankee Doodle Samurai!" Wallace called out, pure venom sparking in his voice. "Stop fiddlin' with the dead!"

As he thought this, memories of being chased through the halls by the security team replaced those of the terror and of the fighting. Memories of the big captain of the security forces - Graham. Of the pain he felt when Graham punched him in the gut for seemingly speaking out of turn. And when he was cornered by security in the heart of the bank. With no way out, and nowhere to run or hide.

And memories of Kaneshiro in particular flooded into his mind.

First, he felt nothing but anger. Anger at Kaneshiro for his vileness. For what he's doing to Himura, and what he's doing to countless people of Shibuya. For the words and the taunts Kaneshiro spouted forth when Arthur was cornered like a rat in a cage.

And even more so, for ordering Arthur's death.

But then that anger was swept away when he swiftly realized, upon glancing up at the Bank, that Kaneshiro was present.

And he knew, just then, how much trouble he was truly in.

"Oh shit…" Arthur said, standing up and turning on his heels to face an approaching Wallace. "Oh shit! Kaneshiro's in there!" Arthur pointed out, his voice trembling as the scenario played out once more in his head.

Wallace leaned against his blade, planted firmly into the ground below. "Yeah, and?" Wallace asked, arching a brow as if the obvious was a problem.

"Don't be like that, this is serious!" Arthur began to panic, his voice betraying the fear that suddenly erupted into his heart and mind. "What about Kaneshiro in the other Tokyo?! Won't he know everything that has gone down here?" Arthur asked, before quickly adding "I'm totally fucked, man! He's a mafioso!"

Wallace just looked at him, dumbfounded that Arthur had to even ask such a question. Of course, the realization dawned on him as well, and he simply shook his head and leaned off his blade, disappointed. "Hmph. I suppose it would've been too much tae ask…" He noted as he stepped towards Arthur. Hefting the blade over his shoulder, "I'll put it simply: Kaneshiro in the real world cannae know what happens here. Only the shadow of Kaneshiro knows in truth what went down that day."

Arthur blinked, unsure if he even trusted that explanation. But moreover, he was dumbfounded at the usage of the word 'shadow'. "What does his shadow have to do with anything?" Arthur asked, confused.

Wallace facepalmed, a loud smacking sound echoing in the darkness of this world's vision of Tokyo. He would've thought Arthur would've been further in the know of everything about the Metaverse, but his fears were quickly being realized.
Arthur was as green as grass.

He simply sighed, shaking his head further in disappointment as the realization burned away any amount of hope for Arthur.

"No worries, new blood." Wallace slowly said as he dropped his arm to his side. "I'll teach ya everything I know."

Author's Note

Edited by Frozen Foe and Kabuto S. Inferno.