GR: Favorites ch7

Chapter 7: Her Favorite Treasures

        "Get OFF!" Rex cried as his feet became his custom Punk Busters and slammed Mask off of him with more force than he had intended. Mask fell to the ground with a crash, he grunted in pain and anger but his expression was one of desperation.
        "Harder!" he half commanded, half begged, "You have to hit harder! I can't... can't... have to stop... stop me... NO!" He surged upwards again with renewed vigor writ over his twisted expression. The wounds he had obtained should have been enough to end it, but he refused to stay down and was soon in hot pursuit of Rex, who was now retreating towards the house.
        "There's no way to stop this guy." he said to himself as he ran, "and if I just keep pounding him, he'll end up dead." He rushed into the enormous house, skidding around corners and racing up stairs. "Only one thing left to do, I guess. I sure hope part of him isn't completely insane yet." A few more turns and he found himself at his destination, the towering red door that signified Breach's room. He didn't have time to hesitate, he burst into the room and began his search for the one thing that might keep him alive.
        "I told ya'," growled Mask's angry voice, "you're not s'posed to go in here!" He scanned the room for signs of movement and when nothing appeared, he pushed his way farther through the chaotic space. The room extended like a long hallway, only wider and cluttered with toys and odd decorations. There were shelves lined with dolls, piles of books, and boxes of various trinkets and things that Breach had found appealing. Rex crept carefully through the objects and finally, in a corner of the seemingly endless space, he found what he had searched for and emerged from the clutter to face his opponent.
        "To tell you the truth," he said, capturing Mask's attention, "this isn't my first time in here. I was looking for a way out of here, obviously, I didn't find it. But I did find something else pretty interesting." he pushed the object forward with his foot, a small wooden chest. It was somewhat like how a treasure chest might look, but it was noticeably different in that it was wrapped in colorful strings of ornamental lights. Mask's eyes widened in recognition and surprise at the chest and stood frozen in place as Rex unwound the lights and opened the chest.
           "I was pretty sure you had some kind of thing for her, but don't you think this is a little much?" in his arms was a doll, that in itself was not unusual, but this doll was different. It's once long hair had been chopped into short, unkempt looking black locks, it's fabric skin had been bleached pale, and, most shocking of all, a second, larger set of plush arms had been sewn onto the dolls small body.
          Seeing this doll, remembering its purpose, Mask suddenly felt the fiery rage drain out of him. He now felt... conflicted, wanting to punish Rex but not wanting to harm to treasure he now held.
          "That's... no... I can't.... I won't..." The battle between his fury and his sanity raged on until, as if to settle his mind's conflict, his body took over. His legs gave out and the once powerful warrior fell to his knees.
           As if on cue, or perhaps she had simply been watching the entire time, Breach appeared through one of her portals and knelt down in front of her defeated friend. She looked up at Rex, then back down before picking up the collapsed figure in her stronger set of arms. She stepped into another portal and gestured for Rex to follow, which he did after only minimal hesitation. They appeared in the room that had been designated to the two boys and set the now unconscious Mask down on a bed.
          "So what now?" asked Rex, "Won't he just want to kill me more once he wakes up?" Breach just shook her head in response, saying nothing but staring intently ahead of her. After a moment she turned  and spoke, "My treasure." and put out a hand expectantly.
          "Oh, this?" he put the strange looking doll in her hands, "Forgot I was holding it. I figured he must have made it for you, after all you don't see these in every toy store."
          "It is... my treasure. The shiny lights, too. He gave them to me the day he came home. He was a liar then, because he said he wanted to leave me, but I gave him the mask and then he didn't lie anymore, so he came home." she squeezed the doll to her chest, "But now it's time to leave home and he's lying again, or maybe he just thinks it's true, but the longer we stay, the worse the shaking gets and there's nothing to stop the leaves from turning red."
          Suddenly, Mask opened his eyes, "It's not supposed to change." he murmured.
          "Uh... hey, your awake. That's great. Now what are you talking about? 'Cause I am really confused right now." Rex looked down at him, either waiting for an answer or for him to get up and attack again. He got neither. Instead, Breach gave Mask a little nod and got up to leave the room, clutching her treasure. Mask watched her leave then turned back to the still confused teen with a defeated sigh.
          "At this point I guess I really owe ya' an explanation, so I'll start at the beginning. Ready Rexy?"