Astoria and Gladiator simply stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, as the tension in the room began to weigh heavier than anything Matt had ever experienced. Matt’s eyes darted around the room, searching desperately for something, anything he can use to save Astoria. He’s so pathetic. All of this fuss to save one single life and he won’t even be able to do that?! Maybe Phantom was right all those years ago.
“This is what you’re protecting, huh?”
Matt was frozen with fear, lost in his own self-pitying thoughts, but he heard Gladiator’s words clearly. Was that a tone of respect in his voice? “Let me guess, the old bastard they sent outside with you was about to kill her and you couldn’t let that happen. Am I right?” Gladiator asked, turning to look at Plague for an answer.
“...yeah” Plague meekly responded, almost forgetting how to breathe.
Gladiator returned his sword to its sheath at his side, and then got on to one knee and faced Astoria. “Hey there, what’s your name? I’m Gladiator, but my friends call me One!” As he says this, he removes his mask, revealing a heavily scarred and damaged face, with pale skin and a scruffy red beard that sat below his hazel eyes. “M-my name is-… my name is A-” the girl was clearly panicked and unable to speak clearly. Gladiator put a hand on her shoulder before saying “I’m not gonna hurt you sweetheart. I know I look scary but you can trust me on that ok? You can tell me your name later, first let’s figure this all out.”
Gladiator rises back to his feet and takes a step toward Plague, making him flinch. “Plague, you’ve done a good thing. Ease up, you’re a good man. And who am I to kill a good man just because some asshole ordered me to? No… I’m gonna help you get out of this whole mess. Stay here, I’ll be right back.” And with that, Gladiator walks outside. Did that actually just happen? The most feared man in all of Nexdria, the man who notoriously has killed more by his hand than anyone else in the world, is defying the government? That sounds too good to be true, so Matt wasted no time in running to the bathroom and putting himself between the wide open door and Astoria, his gun aimed forward..
Outside, Gladiator walked towards the group of five men waiting for him. “Well, is it taken care of?” One of them asks him.
“It will be in a moment” is all Gladiator says, before slamming his fist into the side of the guard’s head. He then grabs the unconscious body and throws it at the stunned group in front of him. Amidst the chaos, Gladiator charged into one man and knocked him to the ground, gasping for air. As the others began to open fire, he lowered his shoulder in order to block shots with his armor, and stole the rifle from the gasping man’s hands. He then opened fire with it, killing the two still standing. He then made sure the job was finished, putting a bullet into the heads of the three men on the ground. “Damn, Envoy really needs to train these guys better” he says to himself with a chuckle, heading back inside. “We ready to get moving?” he said to the pair inside the bathroom, Plague’s rifle unmoved.
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The faint light of an early morning was cast over Nexdria, with the birds singing their first tune. As Kordelle stepped out of his apartment and into the cold breeze outside, he wondered why Envoy had to meet with him so early. What kind of inconsiderate person calls for a meeting at six in the morning? It was difficult to look the part of a soldier when he was so damn tired (and cold), but Kordelle did his best as he slipped the devil mask over his face and walked forward with purpose. He lived in Sector A of Nexdria; the innermost town. Sector A was where people who mattered lived, but Kordelle was still getting used to being someone of importance. He and Matt had grown up together, living outside of the walls with their families before being taken in. For a long time, Kordelle held the same resentment as Matt, furious about the slaughter of their people, but that rage had long since faded into a cold and calm sense of justice. Does every human deserve to die? No. But the threat of the humans outside of Nexdria was very real, and certain measures had to be taken to protect the last city. In the back of his mind, though, Kordelle couldn’t help but ask the lingering question: would everyone have been better off without Nexus? It had been forty years since humanity discovered this deadly gas, but the small portion of humans that didn’t die, and instead became Nexusites, were now thriving as superior beings.
The entrance to Tamura Tower was heavily protected as always, with guards outside fit to protect nothing less than the most important facility in the world. The people inside this building and the secrets they kept were what kept the city running, and everyone knew it. What everyone didn’t know, however, was that the only place that truly mattered was what stood below the tower. It’s known as “The Den”, and is only accessible to top government officials, as well as 3 of the Ten Masks. Kordelle was glad to be one of them, working alongside Phantom and Vixen has proven to be advantageous, and serving Nexdria was all he cared to do.
As Kordelle walked into the building, he paused to look at the statue of the legendary Renji Tamura, the man who inherited the Empire of Nexdria from his father Genkei Tamura as well as the legendary first king, Sebastian Santos. Sebastian and Genkei’s premature deaths, followed by Renji’s, paved the way for the current president, Anthony Westbrook, to come into power. Many people believe that Westbrook had a hand in their fates, but the world will never know for sure. Genkei Tamura and Sebastian Santos left behind rather unpleasant legacies, so it made sense that the beloved first president of Nexdria, Renji, was the one with a statue.
As he walked past the statue, Kordelle noticed that the entrance to the building was swarmed with security, much more than usual. He couldn’t help but assume that this had to do with Matt, and the thought of his best friend becoming an enemy of the state made his knuckles white as his fists clenched with a mix of anger and anxiety brewing in his heart. Before he had time to think more about Matt’s actions, a security guard began checking him for weapons, a precaution that made little sense considering Kordelle is one of the Ten Masks and is required to be armed at all times while on duty. Before Kordelle had a chance to open his mouth in protest of the search, a somewhat familiar voice called out to him. “Ah! You must be the infamous Morningstar. I’ve been waiting for a chance to meet you.” said the voice. Kordelle looked past the guard and realized that he stood before the most important man in all of Nexdria: President Anthony Westbrook.
Westbrook gave the guard who was bothering Kordelle a nod, and he promptly stepped out of the way. Why did Anthony Westbrook want to meet one of the masks? Kordelle couldn’t figure out the answer to this question but realized Westbrook had been looking at him, expecting a response for about ten seconds now. “Th-thank you sir. It’s an honor to meet you, to what do I owe the occasion?” were the words that awkwardly fumbled out of Kordelle’s mouth. Westbrook gave Kordelle a knowing smile, acknowledging the awkwardness of their sudden meeting. “As it happens, I’m actually here to meet with Envoy regarding the incident involving Plague, I’m sure you’ve heard about it by now?” Westbrook asked.
“Yes, sir, I imagine that’s why I was also called here this morning. Plague is a comrade that I trusted wholeheartedly, so I want to get to the bottom of this as much as anybody.” Kordelle replied. Had he said too much? Westbrook gave Kordelle a nod, and then he thought for a brief moment before saying to Kordelle “Well it seems Envoy is ready for us. Shall we go into the Den together then?”
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The surprisingly functional clock on the wall read 9:00 PM, which meant it was time for Matt, Astoria, and One to move out. Ever since One killed the soldiers outside, the house stayed mostly quiet. One and Matt agreed to get on the road at 9:00 and start heading back towards the last city of Nexdria. It would be a long walk, so there was plenty of time for them to discuss their plan moving forward, as well as how to keep Astoria safe. As One opened the front door to leave, Matt realized something important. “Hey, One. I hope it’s ok if I call you that, but do you mind waiting here for a second? I have an idea.” he said.
“Be my guest, Plague. And of course you can call me One! We spilled blood together, that makes us friends now!” was One’s response.
“Right… well anyways I’m just going to check this helicopter for anything useful, I’m pretty familiar with these things from my time in the military. By the way, my name is Matt, please don’t call me Plague unless we’re in front of others.” was Matt’s response.
One gave Matt a nod that seemed like an apology and acknowledgement at once. How is this guy so cool? The stories that Matt heard truly made him seem like a monster, someone who would mindlessly and needlessly murder anyone in front of him. But honestly, One seems to be the nicest person Matt has met since joining the 10 Masks. It made Matt wonder about what other “facts'' he learned from Envoy that may have been lies. “Be right back!” he said to Astoria in a cheery tone, as she clutched One’s leg.
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As Matt entered the Helicopter, he spotted an ammunition supply for their rifles. It was too much to carry with them right now, but it was something worth saving for later. He took note to remember to store those inside the house before leaving. What Matt was truly after, however, was what was inside the control panel. Nexdrian helicopters all have a GPS device stored inside of them, and Matt wanted to destroy it in order to be able to come back to the helicopter at a future date. The military had no reason to be checking the location yet, they did not know the result of the mission to execute him, so as long as it was destroyed soon, nobody would know where it is.
Outside, One lightly put a hand on Astoria’s head, to calm her down. “Astoria is such a beautiful name, girl. It’s a lot better than mine, that’s for sure!” One said, with a light chuckle.
“I think it’s a great name.” Astoria replied, finally becoming comfortable around Matt and One to speak. “I’ve never met anyone named One before, and that makes you special. Your parents must be very smart people to come up with a name like that! Same as mine!”
One warmly smiled at Astoria’s words. It truly made him deeply happy to hear such kind words with such innocent intent. Most people have secrets behind their words, intentions they themselves only knew. This type of deception is something that One took pride in never using, and he could tell Astoria was the same despite her young age. “I don’t know anything about my parents. They were… taken from me when I was a little younger than you are. The bad people who took them away from me gave me this name.” As he said this, One bent down onto his knee to show Astoria the tattoo on his upper arm, reading “1111” in dark black ink. “I have no idea what name my parents gave me when I was born, I have always been ‘One’ or ‘Gladiator’. You’re lucky to have been given such a beautiful name to keep.”
Astoria’s eyes had begun to tear up, and she quietly replied “Your name is beautiful too, you made it that way.”
One had also begun to feel emotional, so he cleared his throat and stood up quickly “Thank you. It truly means a lot to hear that. Listen, I need you to hear this. You need to trust Matt. Always. I know all of us only met each other today, but that man will do anything to keep you safe. I will too, but he is a lot smarter than I am.” One flexed his bicep and pointed at it. “I can keep you safe with this.” He then pointed that same finger at his head. “Matt will keep you safe with this, and that is a lot more safe. Remember that.” Astoria nodded
Matt stepped out of the helicopter, carrying a crate filled with ammunition, as well as what seemed to be a mess of wires and broken tech. “I broke the GPS, this helicopter is gonna be useful someday.” Matt said to One and Astoria. One nudged Astoria with his elbow, and pointed his finger at his head again, with a smile, earning a small laugh from Astoria. Matt’s face changed into a smile, happy to see that One finally helped her break out of her shell.
“Anyways, I have a plan,” said Matt.
“Of course you do.” One replied
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As everybody settled into their seats at the long table in The Den, Westbrook sat at the head of the table, with Envoy next to him. This was the brightest Kordelle had ever seen The Den, usually it was almost pitch black inside. As he glanced around the table, he began to put faces, or rather masks, to voices. Westbrook of course was easily distinguishable, with no mask to cover his face. He had skin only a little lighter than Kordelle’s, and a very short, professional looking haircut to go along with his fancy suit. Envoy was next to Westbrook, wearing his dark black tactical mask, hiding any distinguishable features. The rest of the table was filled out by Vixen, wearing a white and red fox mask, as well as Phantom, who wore a mask that was half black and half white, with the black half making a frown and the white half a smile. He has always been theatrical, that’s for sure.
“Ok, I’m going to skip minor details here because you have all been briefed by now about Plague, correct?” President Westbrook asked, as the room collectively nodded. “Great.” he continued, “the reason we’re here today is to make sure everybody in this room has the necessary intel to move forward in the plan to exterminate Plague and Gladiator. Overnight, Gladiator was dispatched to eliminate Plague, but we lost communication with both him and the squad he was sent with, so we can only assume he is assisting Plague. What this shows us, is that we don’t know which of the Masks we can trust. Envoy assured me that we could trust you all, but here we are.” Westbrook shot a glare at Envoy, who was as unreadable as ever.
Westbrook sighed, and then continued by saying “Truth be told, you three are the only three that we can trust wholeheartedly. Under normal circumstances, Chairwoman Emily Seong would be among this group, but she has a noted… history with Plague, so we need to proceed with caution in that regard. I am now going to brief you 3 on all Ten Masks, so pay attention. This is very sensitive information, so it goes without saying what will happen if it leaves this room.” And with that, Westbrook handed out sheets of paper to all three Masks in the room.
Kordelle glanced over his sheet, as Westbrook read the contents out loud.
“Name: Plague. Mask: Plague Doctor Mask. Nano: Locust Swarm. He can copy one Nano at a time by sending in his nanobots to copy the data stored in them.”
“Name: Gladiator. Mask: Golden Roman Gladiator Helmet. Nano: Sword of Justice. The nanos are inside of his sword, and are effectively an EMP. Basically, if his sword makes contact with anybody, they are unable to use their own Nano for around thirty minutes.”
“Name: Morningstar. Mask: The Devil. Nano: Welder’s Glove. Inside of his hands, Morningstar has Nanos that enable him to make anything ‘stick’ to his hands at will, and can unstick them at any time.”
“Name: Phantom. Mask: Half Smile, Half Frown. Nano: Eye of Deception. If Phantom manages to get his Nanos inside of a person, they are able to make the person hallucinate whatever Phantom wills them to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell.”
“Name: Vixen. Mask: Red and White Fox. Nano: Support Ring. Inside of her hands, she has Nanos that provide her with elemental abilities, as well as the ability to heal small wounds.”
“Name: Happy. Mask: Smiling Mask. Nano: Bullets of Despair. She shoots Nanos from her fingertips, and if they enter the target’s body, the target is overwhelmed by repeated memories of their worst experiences in life. This will continue for around ten minutes per bullet, but will feel like an eternity for the target.”
“Name: Pinocchio. Mask: Puppet Mask. Nano: Touch of Confession. While making physical contact with him, it is impossible to lie to Pinocchio under any circumstances.”
Name: Oni. Mask: Japanese Oni Mask. Nano: Blindspot. Her nanos are within her head, and Oni is able to see everything around her, she has no blindspots whatsoever.”
Name: Gargoyle. Mask: Gargoyle Mask. Nano: Surface Thief. Gargoyle is able to change his body into any surface he physically touches, but it only lasts for one minute at a time.”
After going through the list, Kordelle counted again and again, but there were only nine names here. “The tenth Mask will be revealed to you all in the coming days, but his identity and ability are known only to Envoy and myself at this moment, I hope you all can understand.” Westbrook said. All of a sudden, everyone in the room heard a voice in their heads.
“As you all know, my Nano allows me to speak to all of you to speak with me telepathically, but I don’t count among the Ten.” Envoy said.
“Now, on to the task at hand.” Westbrook said. “We have reason to believe that Plague will be attempting to attack the city, and if he has Gladiator with him, that would be problematic. For that reason, all Eight Masks that remain are being summoned to Tamura Tower tomorrow, where we will discuss our plan to defend the city in this event. If any of them try anything at all, it’s up to you three to stop them. Do I make myself clear?” Westbrook asked, expecting an answer.
“Yes sir.” The three of them said, almost in unison. As the room cleared out with the end of the meeting, the only people left were Phantom and Envoy. “I was scared for a moment there, I thought Westbrook figured out your little secret” Phantom telepathically said to Envoy.
“If he had, I simply would have replaced him. He may be the president, but he is no more than my lackey in the grand scheme of things. He would do well to remember that, and not call surprise meetings like this again.” Envoy replied.
“Perhaps he needs to be reminded of where he stands?” Phantom asked. “I have an idea that will harshly remind him of reality, my lord. Are you okay with that?” he continued.
“As long as no harm comes to him, I don’t mind you putting him back in his place. That is your job after all, Phantom. Feel free to use any non deadly means to get him back on track. I also believe this may be the time to get Pinocchio involved, we can use his influence to find out about the Mask that Westbrook is hiding from us. Once we know that, we can move forward with the ‘Lynx Requiem’.” Envoy said.
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“So, Matt, what is this grand plan of yours?” One asked.
“Well… how would you feel about taking Anthony Westbrook hostage and turning Sector D into our base of operations?” Matt confidently replied.
To be continued in Chapter 3, coming July 3rd.