The Mask Maker

Where Did You Go?

"Hello?...Two Face?...Morai?...Insert whatever your actual name is here?" 

The trainer groggily opened her eyes to see Proton's hand slowly waving in front of her face. She was lying on the floor. She could feel the air from his hand movements on her face. 

Wait, what?

Morai instinctively shot up and felt her face. She felt the bare skin with her ungloved hands. Without even trying to assess the situation she started to feel around for her mask. 

"Woah there, hold your Rapidashes," Proton said. "Your mask is right here, but we're the only ones here." 

He handed her the mask and after some internal deliberation, she didn't put it back on. 

"What's going on?" she asked, 

"That's what I was trying to figure out. I found you out cold in front of the elevator doors. Was your headache that bad?"

"...It was pretty bad, I guess."

The room was speckled with streaks of red lighting. There were no cameras, which was surprising, considering that every inch of the place had eyes on it somehow. The room looked like it was in the middle of being renovated for something. The wanted poster Morai had been holding on to was laying at her side. 

"I tried to wake you up, but you were completely out of it," Proton explained. I thought something might be wrong, but with your mask it's really hard to tell, so I brought you here and took it off. I hope you'll forgive me considering the circumstances. I'm glad you woke up, because otherwise I couldn't have done anything for you with my limited medical expertise." 

"Hm. Well, I don't know what happened to me, because I feel fine. Thanks for bringing me here, anyway," Morai replied.

"You got it! Hey, that news segment about you is about to air. Want to watch it?" Proton asked.

"Sure. I've been wondering what Valerie was going to say. I still can't believe that she 'just happened' to be the person I helped, not to mention that I didn't recognize her. Speaking of which, what's the news on my fingerprints?"

"Oh! I got so mixed up in making sure you weren't dead that I forgot to tell you. They were extracted and are on their way here, so everything's fine now. We can make a bonfire with them later or something. Maybe roast some marshmallows. The identity of The Mask Maker remains unknown! Except to yours truly, of course," Proton said.

"Well, that's a relief," Morai chuckled. "Let's go watch that segment."

"Of course, we all know that the trainer is no vigilante," the woman on TV said. She's a curse on this world who needs to be brought to justice. Every new appearance of hers creates mass panic and unease. Worst of all, no one knows her true identity. Is she your neighbor, co-worker, or even close friend? She walks among us without a mask and we don't even know it. She hides behind a mask out of shame for what she does, and that makes her a coward...coming up, are we running out of Castelia Cones? Here's what—"

The screen went black. Morai sat amongst the three Executives. 

"Well, there you have it. The news dramatizing things, as always," Petrel said, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.

"Yes, but I've just thought of something," Morai said with a slight smile. "She's clearly missing the fear she speaks of. I think it's about time I make my first TV appearance. You guys can work something out, right?" 

Two days later

"Grab your coats, folks, because it's shaping up to be a cold weekend! Back to you, Valerie," Eren the weather reporter said. He was standing in Nimbasa City, in front of the Big Stadium.