The Wild Masks

DuneToa · March 27, 2024, 5:26pm

Guess what? Looks like this is where Ren works.

NOTaHFfan · March 27, 2024, 7:41pm

Very nice!
That’s what I like to see

And you even managed to get Ren’s overall design pretty close to the original, on which the book character is mostly based on, even if I never publicly revealed it outside of the cropped version in my pfp

Well, considering that Ren made a deal with the Ghidicious mask to revive him, it’s not for long

And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight (I just fought the voices in my head again {they are winning})

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1187759674909536327/1222626170420334662/IMG_5459.gif?ex=6616e65a&is=6604715a&hm=3257b0e6375b0c5fdaa11319994ed827c83fea80c1375957bf13e271602456a4&

It should have been me, not him

Oke

I haven’t been able to find any connections with Kohaku, at least not at the top of my head. Maybe there’s something extremely niche and irrelevant, but I really doubt it.

As for Fred, unfortunately, you are not as lucky with him
There is huge overlap with a very famous character from an extremely popular anime:

I don’t know how you’re going to recover from this

Ghid do you really have such a low opinion of me?

Anime is not the only thing on my mind at all times you know… there’s also the series of half-dead RPs… what I’m going to have for dinner this evening… how many hours of sleep I’m going to get this night… ~~women who can deadlift me and break me in half with ease… you know, the usual stuff~~

I can’t wait for the party to get time travelled to feudal Japan, where anime isn’t real and immediately get slaughtered by a mob of angry fishermen

They are just like me fr fr

Guess who’s back, back again? Shady(NOTa)’s back, tell a friend

Yes I am the one drawing from reference. Doing it really improves the quality of your art, you know. I recommend you to try it as well

I know it’s the wrong bird, but @Atobe_Brick post in togav

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1187759674909536327/1220417592905302016/Disappearing_emoji_meme.mov?ex=660edd74&is=65fc6874&hm=7e39c7388e531856edb29e18407c6bdac7974caf91f57cde7fc2a6d8b4374550&

You win this time, fiend. But you’ll pay for this, you have my word

There is no Easter Bunny, there is no Tooth Fairy, and there is no Chapter Review Tomorrow

I like how this is as much of a megamind quote as the one I used in my previous post

Yooooo you do that as well?! That’s how I make all of my drawings! We truly live in a small world

How can you prove that Cordax and everyone else on this site are real people and not just products of my imagination caused by sever damage of my frontal cortex?

That’s what the entire world in 2024 is, yes

I think that’s a legitimately underrated movie. A flawed but solid finale for the Dark Knight trilogy

I am trying a new practice of writing these on the go, with no prep. Allows my impressions on the chapters be more fresh and raw (just like that beef I ate in a restaurant that one time)

Okay, imagine this situation. You see someone order a burger in McDonald’s, right? You watch them go to their table, unwrap the burger, pull out a spoon, and start eating the burger with a spoon. What do you do?

Rookie mistake

KreliKahn

The h is silent, so it fits perfectly and I already figured out your naming scheme for this book

Don’t try to gaslight me into thinking that I did not just figure out a huge plot twist

HA!

I am not going to say that I called it, but yeah I am totally going to say that I called it

POV: Ghid has a stroke mid-sentence

Why you staring at me like that? You know very well what my tastes are like

There is a difference between the characters hating each other from chapter one and drama in a group of friends gradually arising as the situation worsens

I can already see foreshadowing for it actually, and have an idea what’s going to cause it:

I am 100% sure that Ren’s friends have no idea about his bargain with the Ghid mask and that he has plans to revive Wild, and once the secret slips out, funny will ensue

And he just got decapitated haha

His wife is now a widow and his kids are now fatherless

How do you plan to keep the story grounded and relatable if you’re changing the setting to a fictional location?

I don’t care if it hurts (I have been typing for four hours), I wanna have control (over myself, I should really stop doing this and switch to something more productive {never gonna happen})

Haha cordax you fell straight into my trap!
I specifically gave wrong info, so that somebody would attempt to fact check me and reveal even more pictures of burgers with pickles in the process

While trying to undermine my point, you only ended up reinforcing it hahhahahahhahahhaha

Boys we’re winning the argument with this one

I’d love to try that actually. Next time I visit Germany, I know what I’m going to do

Kohaku, don’t leave me here! KOHAKUUUUU!

Predicting Wild’s death having only read chapter one, where he hasn’t even been introduced yet is probably my new record for the most epic gamer theorising moment

It’s flashback time

Race is absolutely wilding with these lines lol
She should be the one called Wild if you ask me

Honestly, respectfully, this name sucks.
I’m glad they renamed it after Wild’s death. I guess it was a good thing after all huh

So I guess these little origami masks, one of which was mentioned in ch1, are like their business card of sorts

So that’s why they all are wearing suits now. To honour Wild

Heyyyy Tone and Race mask reveals. I like how you were able to give them unique descriptions, despite the fact that originally they are both a kakama.

And lit up they did. Literally

So, let me muse about Wild’s mask power a little bit. It seems to be greatly increased physical power that goes hand in hand with rage/or a big physical toll on his body, as it was described that his veins popped out of his arms. It heats up his body, as after throwing the car he was literally steaming. And this heating up thing is what ultimately led to his death

Also, I’m changing my interpretation of how these powers work, they do not everyone more athletic, like Cordax and I assumed at first. The increased athleticism is the power exclusive to Ren, while Race only has speed, Tone only has sound and Rook only has… well, I’ll elaborate on that later

This is what solidified my impression:

He wouldn’t be complaining like this if it also made him more flexible, allowing him to scale those stairs easier

Looks like the eyes are a powerful artefact that greatly increases the power of your mask if you have them on you. This is what ultimately led to Wild overloading and blowing up.

It gives masks their full potential power, which is exactly why the Ghid mask wants them (he mentioned that the eyes would allow him to use his full power or something like that in ch 2)

And from that we can deduce what kind of power the Ghid mask has. Considering that Ren wants to use it to revive his dead friend, it’s probably some type of necromancy or reanimation power.

~~Or, in a more wacky fashion, time travel power, which ties scarily neatly in my joke comment from earlier in the post where I said that the group is going to get transported to feudal Japan~~

Now I wouldn’t be so sure about that

The characters’ names seemed to be directly tied to their mask powers (Race=speed, Tone=sound, Wild=rage), but I wasn’t sure what a Rook’s power would be, until I read this sentence. His power is moving in straight lines on X,Y and Z axes in an imaginary grid established by the mask, bypassing all laws of physics, like the chess piece rook, but in three dimensions

This is such a stupid power. Exactly the type of stupid I like

And Ren’s is just “become athletic”
although I am sure that he and others will get more wacky as the story goes on

I am still not sure how that happened, but considering that all of the damage done to the cast was exclusively caused by the explosion, it must have been caused by it as well. My theory right now is that if you die while wearing a mask, your consciousness gets infused with it, trapping you inside an inanimate object, which would also explain the existence of the Ghid mask.

So TLDR of what happened to the group just to make sure that we all are on equal ground here (apart from Ghid, he’s cheating and already knows what’s going to happen in future chapters):

Wild blew up after getting overwhelmed by his power
the explosion vaporised Rook, who was the closest to it
melted Tone’s mask to his face and gave him severe burns
prompted Race to try to outrun it in an attempt to save her friends, resulting in her pushing herself too far and going through a rapid weigh loss program
hurt Ren emotionally

Cordax, you’d better read through all of this. I’m addressing many of your questions in there, and possibly give correct answers to a few

Real? It didn’t inconvenience it in the slightest. How did you manage to make a task unnecessarily more complex than it’s supposed to be this time? (I am not projecting)

I can neither confirm nor deny allegations that you just revealed the location of my IRL workplace

Ghid · March 27, 2024, 7:43pm

Ch 4

—

Chapter Five
Nerve

—

“What day is it?”

“It’s monday, duh.” Race responded, muffled by the density of the door. “C’mon, Tone’s gonna need a ride today.”

Groaning, the disheveled Ren pulled himself horizontally off his cot until he ran into the wall. Fumbling upwards, he adjusted his attire to not look like he had been hit by a rhinoceros prior to waking. Yawning dramatically, he folded his cot up, the pillow and blanket falling down by the hinge and preventing it from collapsing completely.

“I’m up.” Ren opened the door, rubbing his eyes as he leaned his elbow on the frame. “If barely… Where is he?”

“Out for his run again, why?” Race asked, leaning out of the restroom door as she adjusted her tie in the mirror. “You know this is the only time he has to go running, since we’re so busy at nights.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Ren ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes trying to fight against the glaze atop them. “…You need help?”

“No.” Race bit back, but shortly after threw her hands down in protest. “Yes. I blame both you and Wild for making me wear a stupid tie. That’s a guy thing, I’m not supposed to be the one doing it.”

“It’s part of the getup.” Ren argued, trying to pretend to remember how to tie a tie not currently on his own neck. “And you forgot to blame your news station too, since they also make you do this.”

“I’m still convinced you hired them to do it.” Race responded, her sarcasm so perfectly delivered that it almost seemed serious. “Alright, kid, the bus will be here any minute. You there?”

“Hhhuuh?” Corey responded, having stared into the blinding blue glow of the screen he was seated in front of, almost collapsing his face into a bowl of cereal repeatedly. “Nuuh, I’m awake, I didn’t fall asleep again…”

“He fell asleep again.” Rook replied, still seated on his pillow.

“Snitch…” Corey grumbled, feeling wearily for his spoon.

“Whoever said that kids only need eight hours of sleep is a sadist. No wonder everyone my age has sleep issues.” Ren sighed, finishing Race’s tie and feeling about for his phone. “Okay, Corey, up and at 'em. We can’t stick around forever waiting for you to crawl out of hibernation.”

“Fine…” Corey practically fell out of his chair, slumping across the room and grabbing a pile of school uniform attire before attempting to slam the restroom door, which softly closed on its own.

“When did Tone leave for his run?” Ren asked as he threw a dress shirt overtop his own.

“About thirty minutes ago.” Race replied. “Why?”

“If Corey takes no more than five minutes to get dressed, I know exactly where to meet him.” Ren smirked. “I’ve timed his runs before. He’s a very consistent fellow, Race - never changes unless he has to.”

—

“So…”

Race abruptly stopped eating, turning after a moment’s pause to glare at her coworker. “Well?”

“…You know…”

Race set her chopsticks down with as visceral a motion as she could manage without it being loud. “For your information, Ayumi, the fact that I was registered at the hospital that night is public information, and you’re not the first person who’s tried to make something more out of it.”

“But you didn’t even answer my question.” Ayumi replied, turning her chair to face Race. “Why were you out there in the first place? I know you’re a film buff, but-”

“Firstly,” Race began, somehow looking even more tired than she normally did. “Don’t believe a single word of what Fumihito tells you, because you and I both know he’d be working janitorial here if he wasn’t the boss’s son in law.”

“I didn’t say that he-”

“It reeks of his low creativity.” She spat, picking up her chopsticks again and trying ineffectively to pick up a cherry tomato with them. “And secondly, I was there to report on the ceremony happening there. Everybody knew that.”

“But the hospital-”

“Happened to have lost some of the files pertaining to that night, I know.” Race growled out a sigh, growing increasingly frustrated with the questions asked of her. “All the doctors and first responders on staff that night will tell you the same thing: I showed up with minor bruising from the blast and was discharged after about four hours.”

“But how did you find out it was happening?”

Race managed to hold a dead stare directly through Ayumi’s soul for at least ten seconds before replying. “You don’t phone the office at eleven at night to ask if a hot scoop is hot, you investigate. It’s no wonder you’re still running coffee after five years with that kind of work ethic.” She stabbed the tomato with one chopstick and ripped it off with her teeth.

“Okay people, five minutes 'til we’re live.” Fumihito droned, walking through the building with a stack of paper in his hand. “Honey, you’re up first, wrap up lunch. Ayumi, I need that presser ready for three, okay?”

“Everybody has their secrets, Ayumi.” Race huffed, abandoning the rest of her salad in frustration. “But most of those are awfully boring on the inside.” She stormed off to the restroom, locking the door behind her.

“Eh, you’re too inquisitive Ayumi.” Fumihito mused. “It’s like I told you: she was involved in a secret espionage mission for the government to stop a giant irradiated lizard monster from making landfall. She used something called an oxygen destroyer to make it asphyxiate and die.”

“But that’s just-”

“It’s what they based it off of.” Fumihito grinned, walking away as he looked back at her and immediately running into a partition.

—

“I don’t think you remember I can’t drive, Ren.”

“Huh?” Ren turned with raised eyebrows to Tone. “Oh, you won’t need to drive back, I can handle that.”

Tone glared at him for almost five seconds before Ren broke into a chuckle. “All right, mister receding hairline, what’s so hilarious that you’ve got concocted now? You wouldn’t have forgotten about my inability to drive so conveniently.”

“I’m sorry, I’m the one with the receding hairline?” Ren smiled, combing his fingers through his substantially present silvery hair while looking at the top of Tone’s beanie-covered scalp. The reply of another five second glare convinced Ren to relent. “Okay, okay… I got you a job.”

“Huh. How’d you manage that one?” Tone implied a devious grin, rubbing the chin of his metallic mask. “Decapitated swordfish head on your boss’s bed, maybe? Or did you pay that firebrand Kohaku I’ve heard so much about to key his car? You know, I’ve heard a lot about Kohaku recently, Ren, and-”

“Do you want the job or not.” Ren’s face was flat, but Tone raised his palms and looked away in amusement at the sight of a vein popping out of Ren’s temple.

“Okay, alright, fine. Anything’s better than being cooped up in that awful apartment all day. And, I’m sure that you’ve had to pull a few strings to net me the job, fishing reference by the way.” He made a mock jab with his elbow, earning him another glare. “So it’d be rude of me to not at least give it the time of day.”

“So I’ll try it out. But what is it I’m supposed to do?” Tone leaned towards Ren, a dangerous look in his eyes. “I can’t be seen, y’know, not even by my new employers… What’s that face for? C’mon, would it kill you to tell me?”

—

“I’m gonna kill him.” Tone growled over and over. “I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna kill him. I am so going to kill him.”

Granted, being a sign spinner meant that physical contact with the sign in his hands was very limited, and the sigh was comparatively light as well. No, it was the massive cartoony fish mascot costume that really made his blood boil, with the added little dance necessary to market the brand serving as the infuriating icing on top of the hate cake.

“Sono kōdineeto, kakkoi!” A driver yelled, barely rolling down the vehicle window enough to yell it out before speeding suddenly into the parking lot.

“Bakugan Gundam to you too… Ugh.” Tone swung the sign around, scratching another tally into the ground. “That’s sixteen people in the last two hours who feel the need to talk about my prison uniform. Thankfully, I can’t understand any of them, or this would be much worse.”

“You look so stupid!!” Another voice jeered, her rather expensive-looking car screeching to a halt in the driveway. “No wonder you took the job, if you were that desperate!”

“Lemme guess,” Tone trudged over as Kohaku rolled down the passenger window and then crawled into the adjacent seat so she could lean both elbows against the door with a mischievous grin. “You’re the one Ren won’t shut up about.”

“Wait, I’m using that.” She reached behind her and grabbed a pad of paper, quickly scribbling down Tone’s last remark. “…shut … up about… okay! So what’s your deal then, anyhow? You look big enough to land just about any job. Definitely one much better than this for a guy as built as you are.”

“Heh.” Tone couldn’t help but look at his wide, muscular shoulders in reply, even though the costume restricted him from actually seeing them. “I like to stay active. Unfortunately good physique and even better looks hardly constitutes for job recommendations these days.”

“You’ve gotta be smothered in there; I can barely hear you.” Kohaku sighed, shaking her head. “I’ve complained about the working conditions here for a long time, but it seriously sounds like you’ve got metal strapped to your face.”

“Uhh,” Tone shifted his weight. “I think it’s just reinforced, is all. Look, you’ve got a line forming behind you, you should probably move along so they can get through.”

“Listen.” She leaned even further out, her stomach almost entirely resting on the window. “I want you to know that Ren is a good kid, okay? He really is. Even though he’s older than me. He’s well-meaning, and doesn’t have an evil bone anywhere in his body. I just want you to know that.”

Before Tone could reply, she promptly crawled back in, hitting her head on the top of the doorframe as she went and growling at it in return. “The line.” Tone chuckled, jabbing a costumed fin at the five or six cars lined up behind her.

“Let’m wait.” She waved at him, sidling back into the driver seat. “What do you think they’ll be doing in there?” With a smirk, she unparked the car, and took off at high speed into the parking lot.

Tone looked back at the line, all of which had quickly filed in behind her, with only one vehicle remaining. It was a minivan, idling quietly, in the otherwise fairly quiet driveway. “You need something, sir? ma’am? Please don’t know how to speak english,” He sighed as he trudged over to the passenger window again. “Look, I’m just the sign guy, I don’t have a map of the parking-”

A silencer was pointed through the open window.

—

Ch 6

Toan · March 27, 2024, 8:16pm

as an average gundam enjoyer I can confirm that this is the extent of my knowledge of japanese

Ghid · March 27, 2024, 8:22pm

me to my carpal tunnel

Since NOTa is mean , I’ll be putting everything in one dropdown so I can still keep it in a dropdown but not type fifteen morbillion of them

I really hate you stop getting in my waaaa-aaaaayy I've lost my patience when are you gohnnah dee-kay

So he chops fish heads and splits crabs in a… restaurant named after his coworker?

Making me not absolutely roast you and ruin the rest of your life is a difficult task

By pointing to the existence of Velma as proof that the Scooby-Doo franchise is in the toilet and that my Fred is inherently superior now

I miss togav @Winterstorm345 please come home , food I hope, none, ~~unfortunately Napoleon’s the average frenchman so good luck~~

Oh come on this isn’t the Batman 3d anime

I know it

218218 Surrender Ln., Paris Sewer System, Paris, France

I look forward to it

why is the hand pointing emoji on a white box

Yes that was the intent

I didn’t know the american indians were blue, 7’ tall, and had four arms

French

N-Nothing because that person definitely isn’t me

Because I hate McDonald’s

Very well, have your brainrot

Which gives me all the more right to stare like this

Nota nothing about this story is reasonable

Way to dunk on the dead guy dude

Bingo

Mans picking up all the bones I throw for him

They do not everyone more athletic indeed.

Nota I am not inserting time travel into a story that’s already on a hot streak do I look insane

don’t answer that

Bingo

I’m surprised it took that long man you gettin rusty fr

I don’t want to do the theorizing work for you

~~why don’t you “become athletic” but in real life~~

And Wild?

look behind you there’s a woman over 6’11"

Toan · March 27, 2024, 8:36pm

hey look, more low quality art

Cordax · March 27, 2024, 11:29pm

I have become literate, destroyer of basic passages of text

thank you so much nota

NOTaHFfan · March 27, 2024, 11:55pm

Wait whe-

Sike!

Your evil tricks don’t work on me, fiend! You may have felled me once, but this is far from over

Well at least you kept it in a dropdown and not let it take up five minutes of scroll time on this page. And less dropdowns means we won’t run out of stupid references as quickly

I want to throw you out just like my broken TV (bruh imagine throwing out a perfectly edible TV) If you come back once more, it shall be painful, you'll see

Okay okay fine. Why do we need to get so heated man

I think I am good enough at absolutely roasting myself, and, as for ruining the rest of my life, I’ve already got that covered

Yes this is a fair point

~~Unlike Napoleon, I know a losing battle when I see one~~

50 Guneagle St., New Jersey York, Floridaland, USA

I don’t know, I’m genuinely tweaking right now, Eljay please fix this

Elders these days don’t know anything about history smh smh

You should come to Europe to experience what a real McDonald’s is like

Okay, fair enough.

The fact that this is the only typo you’ve been able to find in my post says volumes (haha get it, that’s a BoT reference) about you being washed up

I’ve definitely made many more in that post

You only addressed the joke part of my statement, but kept quiet about the real deal, which means that the actual theory is correct

Alas, it is true

But also his power was only properly showcased in ch 4. I’ve had suspicions that he was going to have some chess-related power, but didn’t voice them, so it didn’t happen.

~~Excuse you, I am the one going to the gym, not you~~

Dead. His mask has burned. If the theory is true, that makes his death even more painfully tragic. He could have been saved at least in mask form had Ren put out the flame on it, but he only stood and watched his friend burn, unaware that he was still alive

Don’t. Cry. I am just a fish

Again, the first part of the chapter is a great look into their day to day life. Even if all the casual stuff is about to come to an abrupt end in the next chapter, it was still a nice addition to the story, and it didn’t overstay its welcome. It was great while it lasted and I am going to have fond memories of it as I am reading the description of Ren’s arm being violently ripped off disguised as a cookbook recipe

But I can’t be praising this all the way through now, can I

While I loved the tie bit, this particular line just doesn’t feel right at all. A couple chapters ago Race told Ren that she didn’t want to hear him even mention Wild, but now she’s using him for a joke. I am a fan of comedic bits in stories, but not when the bit comes at the expense of the actual story and character

You and your direct callouts again

Today I am getting entire six hours of sleep

I was fully expecting this to be a setup for a moment where something bad happens to him and he doesn’t show up on time, triggering panic mode in our group.

But it looks like something bad is about to happen to him in the next chapter, so… called it, I guess???

Heh

That’s a nice one

I really want to dive into overanalysing each of these names because the kanji they are comprised of have double uses as sets of sounds and entire words, meaning that each name has some underlying meaning hidden inside, but I am incredibly underqualified for the job, so there’s nothing we can do. I’ll stick to trying to comprehend why the character named Rook has the powers of a rook from the hit mobile game “chess”

Called out again

My family does not have a history of bad hairlines

I was wondering who was going to get named the wrong thing first, would it be Ren being called Renner or Corey being called Dolphus. I didn’t need to wait for long to find out the answer

I think Ren is in the wrong on this one tbh. How can Tone’s hairline be receding if all his hair burned off in the explosion?

I wonder why bro got so mad

Okay he deserves to be shoved in a fish mascot suit

Tone honest reaction to this statement

This is huge!!! She said the thing!

I am sure this is not going to come up in the future in any capacity whatsoever

Let’s goooo, my actual real favourite character, John “Baba Yaga” Wick, has just appeared

The prospect of Tone in a fish costume potentially fighting this guy is incredibly exciting, I can’t wait till next chapter

One more Cordax rendition added to the collection. Very nice

Now I really wanna draw something based on the book as well

The lack of a fave on that post is telling me otherwise

As someone who lacks basic writing skills, I can sense a fellow illiterate person from the other side of the planet

Cordax · March 28, 2024, 12:05am

are you happy now

somebody once told me the ghid was gonna troll me

why is tone able to go on runs in the morning if he can’t be seen with his mask stuck to his face hmmmm

mood

if this is true then how could tone have driven to check on corey after the fire hmmmm

good chapter; a little less interesting than the last few but I like seeing what tone and race do throughout the day

also that ending

do it do it do it

that’s it you’re getting banished to the shadow realm

@atobe_brick post in togav

ALSO I have a big new theory

the name ren may or may not have something to do with the renegade masks

no clue what yet but I have to at least say it in case it turns out to be correct

N01InParticular · March 28, 2024, 12:22am

~~mom can we have BOD soyjak pointing? No we have BOD soyjak pointing at home~~

Aight expect some edits with some theories

Toan · March 28, 2024, 3:16am

Yo I made some sprites

Ghid · March 28, 2024, 5:10am

Ch 5

—

Chapter Six
Near The Knuckle

—

“He works where?”

“There.” A gloved finger touched the map. “Employee exit directly aside. Alarms and security cameras were disabled before we drove in. One shot, arm locks on the exit as we depart.”

One of the figures turned towards the darkened window, eyeing the line of trees which flanked the edge of the loading area behind the building. “I don’t see him back there. Where did you put him?”

“Behind the dumpster.”

The van was started, silently humming as it waited to move. “Nobody’s followed from the road after ten minutes, so our designated wait time is up.”

The driver could barely move his hand to the shifter before a large rectangular sign shattered the windshield, its arrow-like point cracking the sternum of its primary occupant. The rest of the men inside immediately drew their guns and tried to exit, but a buzzing sound preceded the doors abruptly locking.

As the front passenger reached across his agonized comrade to manually unlock the doors, the silhouette of a fish mascot in the middle of a flying kick towards the vehicle was visible among the many cracks in the glass.

—

“What do you mean, he hates it?”

Ren had tried to hide the smile in his voice, but it broke out across his lips and he turned away with a quick tuck of his head as his shoulders drew together, half-expecting Kohaku to sling another handful of loose ice at his head. After several seconds of silence, he turned towards and immediately ducked away from Kohaku, standing next to him with one hand on her hip, a fish tail extended as high as her other hand could reach.

“Okay, cool it.” Fred’s voice lost its amusement and descended into a stern tone as the crab Ren had been cracking tumbled off the counter, but raised his eyebrows as Ren wrapped back around and caught it before it touched the floor. “Well. Remind me to sign you up for the baseball team.”

“No thanks.” Ren smiled, setting the crab back down on the counter as Kohaku stuck her tongue out at him while departing his station. “I’m not really into that kind of attention, with thousands of people watching me and stuff. I prefer to keep to myself.”

“Yeah, your car attests to that.” Kohaku sneered. “Is that what student loans do to a person? Ruin your automotive taste, and who knows what other tastes as well?”

“He dropped out though, I’m certain.” Fred interjected.

“C’mon, not all my tastes are that bad.” Ren laid the crab legs out in decorative fashion and closed the sliding glass wall of the display, chucking the crab’s body in a round plastic bin full of crab bodies. “Honestly, name a single other taste I have that’s in any way bad.”

“Friends, for one.” Kohaku retorted, earning a single eyebrow raise from Ren and a concerned look from Fred. “Anyone as built as he is not pressuring you into working just as hard isn’t a very good friend at all.”

“What’s wrong? I thought you liked that ugly fish mascot.”

Fred’s concerned expression melted into amusement as the rather blunt attempt from Kohaku to pinch a nerve or two lead to Ren turning away with a smug grin as she spilled into a massive tirade about the company mascot. “And Gyoryu-tomo ISN’T UGLY!! I won that contest to design the mascot, ME!! And the final design is the most adorable thing ever and I’m pretty sure I hate you now!!”

“Since she likes to run her mouth with this, she can also run the trash out at the same time.” Fred chuckled, grabbing the rolling garbage bin and reeling back to roll it to Kohaku, but pausing as the sound system in the store crackled. A message was relayed in Japanese, and it returned to the same migraine-inducing songs that consistently played all day long.

“Fred?” Ren glanced over, trying to keep as casual an attitude as possible to prevent his knowing something was up from showing through. “What’d they say?”

Fred’s eyes scanned the ceiling. “They called for Tooru to come to the security room… But Tooru’s the repair guy. There’s no reason they’d call him unless something was really wrong.” He sidled out of one of the exits of the loop. “Run the trash out, Kohaku, I’ll be right back.”

Kohaku watched him leave before sending an elbow into Ren’s arm. “If I only had another fish tail.” She scowled. “Attacking my precious fishy friend is a low blow, Ren.”

“You’re that attached, huh?” Ren smiled back, cracking the leg off another crab without looking at it. Fred seemed to be having an influence on his work. “With all the war crimes he’s committed?”

“You treat him like he’s a monster!” Kohaku hissed, sliding the cart out and towards the employee entrance. “There’s one thing you need to understand, mister I-hate-anything-remotely-cute-and-fun: Gyoryu-tomo is the most perfect angel in the whole world and would never hurt a fly.”

She swung the door open and paused, unable to resume dragging the cart around the open door. Gyoryu-tomo was staring down at her, one eye ripped clean off, his body stretched out horrifically like a wrinkled blanket, numerous tears and gashes visible across his cuddly blue form, and bits of broken glass in various places adding that extra sparkle it would otherwise be needing. A chunk had been taken out of the cheery mouth, revealing a well-shrouded eye inside, although all Kohaku could observe was the small, reflective dent just above his eyebrow, perfectly round and just as resplendent as it had been when it formed just over ten minutes ago.

“I need to drive.” The voice that escaped was Tone’s, but it was haggard and rough, much unlike the somewhat sociable voice Kohaku had heard earlier that day. But perhaps the reason for such a change was the effort he was putting into sending select tones into Ren’s ear drum, ones only he could hear.

“My keys.” Ren said after an uncomfortably long pause, handing a small ring of keys over to Kohaku with his gloved hand. “Take him wherever he needs to go. Whatever he tells you is the truth, with no reservations. I’ll talk to Fred, just- go, he’ll explain whatever he feels is necessary.”

“Trust me.” Ren cut her off before she could begin. “I know what I’m doing.”

—

“I’m going to trust Ren, that he knows what he’s doing.” Kohaku said, both hands gripping the steering wheel at full arm’s length. Not only was Ren bigger than her, he liked the extra legroom. “I kind of have to, at this point, regardless of whether or not I want to. But there’s no way in the world I’m trusting you for any longer if you don’t start talking about this.”

Tone was silent for a moment. “Take a left here.” He adjusted something underneath the sleeve of the gaudy fish costume. “I’m gonna need you to pose as some kid’s relative, maybe with custodial authority of the situation demands. I can fill you on everything you need to know before you get there, and before that I’ll need to make a couple phone calls. But you must understand, I trust you much less than you trust me.”

“So why are we doing this, then?” She challenged.

“Because Ren’s the boss.” Tone replied, his voice still deathly stern. “Because I told him everything important there at the supermarket and he chose to send you instead of going himself. Because things just became extremely dangerous, and Ren’s relying on my plan to avoid any further endangerment, which now involves telling you. Although perhaps it’s for the best that you’re here.”

“What? What’s this big, important secret you’re so scared to tell me?” Kohaku’s eyebrows compressed automatically at the first sign of frustration. “What’s going on?”

“A group of thugs met me and shot me in the face just after I spoke to you.” Tone gestured to his face with his costumed hand. “Take a right after the next light. That little street is safer; I jog there all the time. Those thugs were there to eliminate me and Ren, and somehow knew it was me under the costume despite being completely concealed.”

“Wh… What…” Kohaku could barely stammer out before Tone spoke again.

“I took care of those punks with ease, but this is very serious. Someone must have known who I was to know I got put on the payroll, in order to target me directly. Someone badly wants to hurt us and has the means of finding out how to. Which means Ren and the kid are the weakest and most obvious targets.”

“Why??” Kohaku looked exasperated. “Why does someone want to kill Ren?”

“Because of who we are.” Tone looked directly at Kohaku, his voice growing more and more adrenaline-charged. “What we represent in the eyes of Japan, and of the whole world. The restless cries of those wronged. The greatest terror the heads of wickedness in this country have ever faced.”

“The Renegade Masks.” His eye glowed in the sunlight. “The Wild Masks.”

—

“Okay, wrap it up, that’s it for now until the next bulletin.” Fumihito sighed, looking at his watch, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “Once we get sports out of the way I’m thinking of shuffling your broadcast into the next slot since we’re down an anchor, that work for you?”

“Sure.” Race replied, scrolling through her phone with only the vaguest interest in being alive at that moment. “Whatever works for you works for me, I suppose.”

Fumihito had already left, casually darting about to prepare for the rest of the day. Race had just placed her phone back in her pocket when it suddenly buzzed, alerting her to an incoming call. The ID was simply listed as T, but she knew instantly who it was.

“Work hours, big guy.”

“…Oh.”

“…Yeah, I can get a crew down there right away. No, I understand. There’s only so much one person can do. You’re right, we’ll be safer together. Okay, I’m on it.”

“Boss, I need a crew.” Race strode over to Fumihito, pocketing her phone and gesturing behind her with her thumb. “Possible big scoop just dropped, need to get over there before another station does. I’ll call with the details soon as I can.”

“Uhh,” Fumihito looked around awkwardly, his mind trying to catch up with the rest of the conversation. “Okay, uhm… Yuuto, go get the crew packed in two minutes… Hey, be careful, I don’t know what happened with the-”

“Got it, see you then.” Race abruptly answered and made a beeline for the elevator, taking it down to the parking level. “Uh huh … Well, I guess I can’t question the methods of a reporter as efficient as her … Hey Yuuto, get me a reschedule of the afternoon presentation; we’re gonna be down two anchors today.”

—

“Mister Corey.” The teacher’s rather gentle voice made it difficult to properly keep the kids in line, but it made her rather endearing, and quickly managed to catch the attention of the young and fairly distracted Corey. “Your cousin’s here to pick you up.”

“My… cousin.” Corey stared into the opposite wall, trying to figure out what was happening.

“Yes, we received a call from the same gentleman who we contacted about the fire a few days ago?” The teacher nodded as she spoke, purely out of force of habit. “He said your cousin was here, and she had come to pick you up ahead of schedule for-”

“OH!” Corey pretended to have a sudden revelation. “My cousin! Right, I almost forgot!” He rushed over to his backpack and nearly spilled the contents of it as he threw it on. “I’ll go right away! I haven’t seen her since, well-”

“And don’t forget today’s study material.” She smiled, sticking a hefty stack of papers in his backpack and zipping it up, prompting him to scowl in return. “Since you’ll be out the rest of the day I don’t want you missing out on any important info we might cover in class. Now out you go, dear.” The same plaster smile was exhibited as Corey sulked out of the building, the teacher on his right, immediately perking up when his cousin was revealed to be not Race, but a young woman he had never seen before — maybe even younger than Ren.

“Here you are, ma’am, and I apologize for the wait.” The teacher artificially smiled courteously, condensing her frame in response to the sudden and biting cold as her thin fingers tugged at her light attire.

“Ah, uh… Corey, glad to see you again.” Kohaku grinned and shook his hand with both of hers, doing an extremely bad job at hiding her expression of underlying concern — which Corey showed acknowledgement of by staring at her face with his mouth agape and lips parted, his hand limply returning to his side. “Thank you for escorting him out; I’m sure he’s a model student here.”

“He’s… One of the most unique.” The teacher smiled again, her social mask fitting not so comfortably atop her face. “Don’t forget about your art assignment again, Corey.”

“Well, I hope we get to meet again!” Kohaku grinned even wider, escorting Corey off to the car and stuffing him in the back seat before climbing into the front and driving off.

“Gnaaah. That was extremely itchy.” She complained, rubbing her ear vigorously. “Why didn’t you tell me his name before I walked up there, huh?”

“Slipped my mind.” Tone flatly replied, completely killing the good mood Kohaku was trying to foster with her typical attitude. “It’s not safe to go back to the market yet. We’ll need somewhere we can head to that’s not overly busy, but still populated enough to establish our presence.”

“…Tone?” Corey leaned over to look at the burly figure in the passenger seat. “What’s going on? And… why are you dressed as that stupid fish mascot for the place Ren works at?”

“I’m going to sue management for this.” Kohaku sighed, bearing her teeth in a dismayed frown, her brow crumpling in disappointment. “All my two and a half months in college has been for nothing if this is what becomes of it.”

—

It wasn’t the getting attacked that bothered him.

It wasn’t how Fred seemed to barely buy his story about his friend having a sudden medical emergency and needing to be rushed off, with the logical conclusion being drawn that anyone with such a potential issue would not have taken the job in the first place leading him to accept the explanation with as much of a sidelong glance as was physically possible.

It wasn’t the sight of Race interviewing multiple people at the supermarket, becoming tied by sight with a whole number of people he now had to work alongside indefinitely. Nor was it having to duck every now and then to avoid the sweeping capture of a news camera, even though Fred revealed his position every time by looking in confusion at him.

It wasn’t even the scowling shells of the heikegani crabs, which collectively glowered in disappointment at his every move, but the ringing buzz that remained a phantom in his eardrums, reminding him over and over again of what Tone, in his infinite foresight, learned from his would-be assassins before he returned the favor.

They’re after the Demon.

—

Ch 7

Ghid · March 28, 2024, 5:29am

Thus begins the war

I hope you die in a FIYAHR (bweeeow, bwa-numm, bweeeow, bwa-numm, bweeeow, bwa-numm, bweeeow, bwa-numm, bweeeow) Hope you get taken apart Hope you get shot and ECKS PIE OHR

Very well

You should come to America to experience what a real hamburger is like

Good, because I did take a shower today and I’m glad it’s being noticed

This really sounds like the copium of someone who likes mcdonald’s

I cannot confirm or deny allegations that Wild went out like MICHAAAAEEEEEELL DON’T LEAVE ME HERE

Stop projecting

At that point, Race didn’t want to hear Ren bring up Wild’s death like a festering wound yet again, which Ren practically does anyway a few seconds later. It’s not an absence of it being mentioned, but a weariness of having to hear about it yet again.

That’s good to hear

you’re clearly misreading things, um, I definitely didn’t edit it… read it again.

It’s a receding motion, just all at once

what

if this is you trying to bad to the bone it’s a little y’know

I cannot confiirm or deny allegations that Ren is bad to the bone

hoodie
go places where you know you won’t be detected. Poor dude can’t do push-ups or much of anything anymore so this is his only option nowadays

Driven?

He specifically said he can’t when telling Rook no; idk where you get this from

Really hoping to see some other theorizing/feedback from other folks in the story, can’t let NOTaHFfan have all the fun now can we

ChubChub86 · March 28, 2024, 9:36pm

As I’m trying to read this the page likes to randomly dart up or down.

So…… who out of everyone that has signed been seen so far?

Toan · March 28, 2024, 9:42pm

@Toan, @Rukah, @NOTaHFfan, @Racie02 , @Cordax , @wild_toa, and @Ghid

ChubChub86 · March 28, 2024, 9:55pm

Yay only one chapter behind

Toan · March 28, 2024, 10:06pm

This implies that Tone, at some point, wielded a katana and has the skills to do so.
Hang on I gotta make a sprite of that

there we go

N01InParticular · March 28, 2024, 10:09pm

NOTaHFfan · March 28, 2024, 11:00pm

Well, would you look at that

From left to right we have: Rook, Ren, Tone, Race and Corey’s drone.

I tried to match their appearances to the way they all showed up in chapter one. It was interesting trying to differentiate their designs, given that they all wear the same suit

I had very little time to draw this, just a couple of hours, so it turned out very rough around the edges, but nobody is going to know if I pretend that this is a deliberate stylistic choice

And there are still so many fun things to draw: the demon mask, Wild when he was still alive, Ren in his daytime work attire, Kohaku and Fred, Corey in a school uniform, Race in her news reporter clothes, Tone in the fish mascot suit…

I am the storm that is apprOOOOOAAAching ProvOOOOOAAking black clouds in isolatiOOOOOn

So, ~~Gyoryu-tomo~~ I mean Tone ended up steamrolling these guys off screen, huh

But it creates a funny reveal when Kohaku goes outside and witnesses him standing here and realising in a heavily battered fish costume, so I’m not even mad

But I wonder what this is about. Who did they put behind the dumpster?

Baseball chapter when?

This is not a question, this is a demand

~~NOTaHFfan lore reference?~~

Callout moment

This must have been an excellent silencer, if not a single soul could hear the gunshot, or the ringing of the bullet against the metal of the mask

Heh

I wonder if somebody is leaking info about the group, or if someone on the enemy side has a mask with a power that allows them to detect people in one way or another

I have a suspicion that Tone is greatly overestimating the significance of their little group. There’s definitely bigger fish out there

(No additional comments needed here, we both know what we both know)

Knowing what I know about Japanese educational system, this seems pretty accurate

Okay Ghid, I understood the symbolism of the crab shells resembling Wild’s mask and constantly reminding Ren about him, you did not need to blatantly spell that out

I know I’m terrible at this, not not to such an extent

Okay, so, either Tone found out about the Demon from the thugs, but didn’t have the chance to confront Ren about it, or he knew that Ren was in possession of the Demon mask all along, meaning that my theory about it being a secret Ren keeps from the group is incorrect

I wonder if these people who are after them are related to the various groups that the Wild Masks have been attacking, particularly the one that they tried taking the eyes from on that fateful day

So, overall there’s one thing I’d like to praise in this book so far. It’s how well-researched it seems to be. Writing in a real setting is more challenging than a fictional one, especially if you are not closely familiar with it, and, judging by what I’ve read so far, you’ve clearly done your research

and I helped you with parts of it

It’s going to be The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny all over again, isn’t it

But Cordax I already am in France

Toan · March 29, 2024, 12:08am

this has inspired me
yay more sprites

~~wild masks video game when~~