Alit skipped up to Dumon. "Did you figure out how to get in or how to turn her back?" he asked.
"Yes to the former, no to the later," Dumon replied.
"YES!" he cheered, "Can I go now? Can I, can I, can I?"
Dumon 'smiled' and nodded, "Here," he handed Alit a modified sphere cube, which Alit promptly absorbed, and opened an overlay network. "Go on ahead."
"See you in a bit!"
"Be careful," Dumon warned.
"I will!" Alit replied.
"And look for that creature who helped you before. You need all the allies you can get," Dumon reminded him.
"Yeah, I'll look for her."
"Do you want to tell Princess where you are going?"
Alit froze, "Right. I'll do that," he opened an overlay network to the doll's room and arrived there in an instant. Alit shook the sleeping girl lightly, "Hey, Princess?"
"Mmph, Red-nii? Wha's goin' on?" she muttered, blinking her eyes.
"I'm going to go and save your dad and brother, okay? I'll be back in a few hours," Alit replied quietly.
"What?!" she was fully awake now, "R- Red-nii! Be careful!"
"Hey, I will be. Promise!" Alit assured her.
"Red-nii, please," she hugged him and buried her head in his cloak, "I lost so much... I can't lose you too..."
"Don't worry, Princess. I'll come back safe and sound with your dad and brother! Promise, okay?"
She sniffled, "Okay. Just stay safe. Bye," she whispered.
"Bye, Princess," Alit 'kissed' her forehead, "Just play a video game to keep your mind from worrying. I'll be back before you know it!" Alit opened and overlay network and jumped it. He arrived in the same place he had before. However this time instead of searching through the house, he went directly to the closet where he had found the creature who helped him before. As he slipped inside, a pair of dark brown eyes met his own and he saw a familiar frog-like mouth turn up into a smile.
"You... came." she said softly.
"Yep!" Alit 'grinned', "Did he find out you helped me?"
"No," she smiled, "He... didn't find... out."
"Good, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me," Alit said.
"I'd... rather get in... trouble than... do nothing." the creature shot back.
"Say, just wondering, this isn't your room, is it?" Alit asked.
She simply nodded, causing Alit to grit his teeth. "That bastard! This place is a dump! No offense."
"None... at all taken," she smiled, "I... am used to... it by now. Do not...worry yourself."
"Still..." Alit pouted.
She laughed softly then winced. "He... in his... study. I oiled... the hinges on door. He... won't hear you... come in. Hopefully."
Alit beamed. "Thanks!"
"And... he thought I did it... out of loyalty," she smirked.
Alit laughed. "That is awesome!"
"I also... got son to... a place I can... get him easily. I'll... get him now. You... kick bastard's ass," she ordered.
"I will. She, the little girl you rescued-" Alit began.
"No. You... rescued her. I... only helped." she corrected.
"Hey, I wouldn't have got her out of here without you!" Alit protested, "Anyway, she told me a lot of things he did to her. I just..." Alit clenched his fists and felt his eyes sting with tears.
"She... tell you... about the toy soldier incident and the tea party?" she asked.
Alit blinked. "The first one, no. The second one, you know about that?"
"I... saw it. I wish... I did more... to help," she said sadly.
"It wasn't your fault! It was his!" Alit protested.
"I... couldn't save... them from him," she sighed.
"Hey, you're saving them now," Alit comforted.
"I... guess," her own eyes watered up, "I... don't want... them to get... hurt by him. I don't... want anyone... to be... hurt by... him." she winced and her tears spilled over.
"It'll be alright, I promise. And are you in much pain right now?" Alit asked, worried.
"A... bit," she winced again and grimaced.
"Hey, is there anything I can do?" Alit asked.
"Just... get them... out," she replied.
"Okay," Alit said sadly, "I wish I could help you too."
She smiled again, although she still looked in pain. "Help them... and you... help me." she made a shooing gesture, "Now... kick his... ass."
"Okay, I will," Alit replied, giving in. He turned and, with a sad look over his shoulder at the creature, he left the dinky closet with the creature following behind.
"I... see you... soon... with boy," she whispered and ran away as fast as she could. Alit tiptoed into the study and opened the door slowly. It didn't make a sound and Alit had to 'grin'. He was going to pay that creature back for all of her help. He saw Gattas sitting at his desk and writing furiously in a familiar book. Alit clenched his fist and moved slowly and carefully across the room until he was right behind Gattas and could see what he was writing.
You stupid little-
What? What are you going to do about it? You screwed up my damned life! You screwed with my family even more and for that I will kill you one day! I won't keep silent after all you've done!
Really? Such loud words from someone who can't speak.
And who's fault is that, bastard?!
Yours, because you stood in my way.
...and THIS is when I really wish I could move because I want to rip your throat out. Say, do me a favor and turn me back for a moment so I can kill you, it'd be really helpful. I might even thank your cold dead corpse.
I'll pass, you absolute moron.
You can call me that, but at least I don't have any mental disorders!
Are you calling me crazy?!
You are deluding yourself by calling my wife and children, or child at this point sucker, yours. How can you not call that crazy? Seriously, you are not fooling anyone, you sick cunt.
Alit's eyes went wide at the word and Gattas started sputtering. He raised his staff and as he did so, Alit grabbed it and twisted it out of the bastard's grasp before breaking it in half over his knee. "Whoops," Alit 'smirked', "My hands slipped."
"YOU?! What are you doing back here?!" Gattas snarled.
Alit dodged around him and snatched the book off the table. He tucked it quickly inside of his cloak before bringing out his hands in fists and lunging at Gattas. "Just so you know, if you call any of your body guards, I WILL call my comrades. And just do you know, most of them are a whole lot stronger than me."
Gattas snarled and blasted him back before grabbing one half off his broken staff. He was panting, so it seemed to be much harder for him to manipulate energy without it. "I will hurt you. I don't want to kill you at this point, just hurt you beyond belief. I will, however, kill everyone you care about if it will cause you pain."
"Let me tell you something about the people I care about," Alit began, "They can destroy entire civilizations if they want to and the only reason you beat up my friend was because he had broken his arm recently and didn't want to use a baria crystal."
Gattas looked a little disturbed. "Out of ALL the people who discovered him, it just HAD to be a super-powerful alien!" he suddenly grinned, "Say, how about we make a deal. We're both reasonable people-"
"Um, no. I am. You're not." Alit interrupted.
"-so why don't we make a deal? I'll share all my knowledge and the information I have gained over these many years if you give back my daughter and leave me in peace. What do you say?"
Alit could only stare in utter disbelief. "...are you serious?"
"Completely. Think about it: over seven CENTURIES worth of research and data. That's a lot of power," Gattas tempted him.
Alit was still and silent for almost a full minute, then he punched Gattas in the face, breaking the bastard's nose once again. "You sick- ARE YOU F*CKING SERIOUS?! I would NEVER make a deal with something like YOU," Alit seethed with rage, "You destroyed a family! They did NOTHING to you! They lived in peace! They didn't do anything wrong!"
"He had everything I ever wanted!" Gattas snapped, "I had a wife and son once, but the bint left me and took the child with her! I never saw her again! He had it all, and I didn't! I deserved it more than he ever did!"
"...I can't believe you," Alit shook his head, "Have you ever considered that your wife left because, I don't know, YOU'RE AN INSANE BASTARD?! You turned two children into dolls and tormented them and raped a woman then did I don't know what to her! If you treated her or your kid ANYTHING like you treated them, she should've left you without any regrets!"
"Why you-" Gattas shot a beam of light at Alit who dodged then teleported behind him and kicked out his left knee.
"Why me what?" Alit taunted, "Why am I telling you the truth? Because someone has to, you bastard!" He was beyond pissed. This guy had messed with children, CHILDREN! Innocent children who were just as guilty as Alit's own siblings, that was to say, not at all!
Gattas snarled at him, "I will make you pay!"
"Really? Well who here has a broken arm and is a huge b*tch?" Alit asked in fury.
"You didn't break my arm, idiot!"
"My mistake," Alit said coldly as he stomped on Gattas' arm, prompting a high-pitched scream.
Gattas grabbed his broken staff with his good arm and blasted Alit back and through the wall. Alit heard something snap and Alit glanced over at his arm, which hung at a weird angle. It was all he could do to keep from screaming. Alit instead winced and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the creature waving him over from around the corner. Alit darted away and met up with her quickly. He bent down and whispered, "Hey, I know it looked like I was losing, but that was the second hit he landed on me. I have one broken arm, but I broke his nose and arm. I think I can take him out."
She shook her head frantically. "He has begun to fix the wards! You won't be able to get out if you wait any longer!" she didn't take her normal breaks in her speech but winced and clutched her throat at the end of the sentences. She quickly handed him another life-sized doll, this one a boy with dirty blond hair with the same dull eyes.
Alit's eyes went wide. "Thank you," he whispered as he held the doll with one arm.
With tears from pain in her eyes, she whispered almost inaudibly, "...go."
Alit nodded and opened an overlay network as she ran out of sight. He dissolved into it, just barely hearing Gattas' scream of rage.
He arrived back in Barian World clutching the small boy close to his chest. He looked down at him sadly. "Hey there, little guy. Just hang tight, okay? You won't be hurt by that jerk again, alright?" he whispered softly. Despite being immobile, Alit could almost feel the little boy's terror. Alit's heart almost broke in half at the child's suffering, just like when he had first met Princess. He looked around, but didn't see Dumon, so he took a deep breath and yelled, "Hey Dumon! DUMON! A LITTLE HELP OVER HERE?!"
The grey barian materialized in front of him. "Ah, you're back soon and- oh dear Lord, what happened to your arm?!"
"Um, kinda broke it," Alit explained.
Dumon pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed before summoning a crystal over and making it seal into a cast around his arm. "Wear that for a few days," Dumon ordered then held out his arms for the doll as he summoned over a crystal table. "Hand him over to me," Dumon ordered.
Alit had to, reluctantly, comply. "He'll be alright, right?"
"Physically, as a doll, yes. Mentally... it will probably be the same situation with Princess," Dumon sighed.
"I kinda guessed that," Alit groaned. He stared down at the doll with sadness almost palpable in his eyes. "Poor kid... It's alright now, kiddo," Alit brushed back his hair, "You're going to be okay."
Alit closed his eyes as tears almost budded once more, "I promise."