Snap.

The sound of a twig breaking in half caused Polly to look towards the direction the sound came from. It was a cold night in the woods of Rothly, and up until that point, she had lost the person she was chasing in the darkness. She now knew she was close and she wasn't going to lose her again.

The blonde woman remained quiet under her gas mask as she was quick but quiet with her steps. She wore a black zipped-up jacket, blue pants, and black shoes. Scanning around the area, she knew that her target had probably caught wind that she was coming after her mistake and hid somewhere.

She had to find her fast. She knew she was close.

She was right about that as the person she was looking for watched from a bush as Polly looked around. Laura could hear the sound of police sirens not too far from where she and the other woman were.

They were still looking for her. She had managed to lose them a while back, but this woman hadn't given up the chase. She had managed to keep up with her up until they entered the woods after Laura ditched her ride. She couldn't stay here forever. She had to take care of Polly now. She reached down to grab her gun, looking down to get it. Once she had it, she went to point it at where Polly was.

But she was gone. Laura's eyes looked around but could find no trace of the blonde.

She must've walked off to go look somewhere else. Laura had to move fast. She went to put the gun back when she found herself out of the bush and onto the ground. She had been pulled out as thrown.

Laura looked up and the first thing she saw was that gas mask. She had never seen it up close before as this was the first time she had actually seen Polly in person. She had seen pictures and video captured of her on TV a couple of times but never in person up until this point. 

"You know," Laura chuckled as she got up. "That mask of yours is even creepier in person."

Polly didn't say anything for a moment. But then she stepped closer to Laura. "Turn yourself in. This doesn't have to turn into a fight."

"You're right," Laura agreed. "This doesn't have to," she then pulled her gun back out on the other woman. "But just in case."

The gun didn't stop Polly from stepping closer.

"I shouldn't have to tell you this, but it's not exactly good to walk up to a person who's holding a gun to you," Laura told her. "I don't want to shoot you but I do want you to hear me out."

That last part got Polly to stop. "Hear you out?"

"Yeah, you may not know this, but I'm a fan," Laura said. "We have the same goal you and me. To make this sad old town better. Take it back to its glory days. It doesn't make sense that we're against each other when we could be working together."

Polly couldn't believe what the Latina in front of her was saying. "I would never do the kind of work you have in mind, the work you've been doing up until this point. You're a mob boss. A murderer. You've hurt people, killed them. How could you think I would join something like this?"

"Because the people I've killed weren't good people," Laura said. "They were people who didn't care about the town. They couldn't have given less of a shit about anymore but themselves. They aren't worth your sympathy, Polly."

"They may not have been good people but that doesn't give you the right to kill anyone," Polly said. "And don't pretend like they were all like that. I know of the ones who weren't bad that you killed. The ones who died for trying to expose you. You killed someone very important to my friend."

"Right...that friend of yours," Laura chuckled a bit. "He's one of the officers chasing me. The one who's been looking into me. Henry is his name, right? Now I see it."

"What are you talking about?" Polly asked.

"You don't really want to bring me down," Laura continued. "You just don't want to lose one of the only people who can stand to be in the same room as you."

Polly felt a slight sting from that comment. She didn't move but her gaze didn't leave Laura. 

"He's one of the only people, besides me, and I'm sure there are others, that see you as the hero that you are," Laura said, lowering her gun as the look she gave Polly was now one of sorrow. "You've done so much for Rothly. Saved its people, stopped its criminals, solved its problems yet people here can't stand to look at you, be near you, are disgusted at the sight of you. For a town like this, one with its reputation, one with its dark, eerie feeling, someone like you, who's so willing to put others before herself, save lives, and make it better should be celebrated."

Polly just stared at her for a few moments before looking down. "Me? Celebrated? I am not someone deserving of such a thing." She looked back up at Laura. "I help people because its what I love to do, but it's also the least I could do."

"The least you could do, huh?" Laura held the gun back up. She saw Polly looked like she was about to start walking back and she held her other hand out. "Only doing this as a precaution. Now then, why do you say that?"

"Because it's my fault," Polly wasted no time saying that. "I do my best to keep myself hidden but when there's danger I can't help but come out, despite knowing that people are scared of me. That my face..." She held a hand up, reaching toward the mask as if she wished to touch her face.

"Frightens them?" Laura responded. "That's why you need to join me. I know what you do, Polly. I actually pay attention and appreciate it. My brain and your skills can work wonders for this town together. So what do you say? Do you wanna be the freak...or do you wanna be the hero?"

"So you're finished?" Polly asked.

"Yeah, I'm finished," Laura said.

Polly nodded before she started running towards Laura. The Latina, knowing exactly what her answer was from this, started shooting.

Polly avoided all the bullets that were coming at her and sent Laura down with a punch, making her drop her gun. "Like I said, I would never do what you do. Now please stay down."

Laura held her hands up. "You're right. What was I thinking? I guess I just wanted to-" She tripped Polly and got on top of her. She struck blow after blow until Polly caught one of her fists and punched Laura off her.

The two of them got up. Laura turned. Polly's eyes went in the same direction and saw that Laura was looking at her gun. Laura didn't have time for this. The more time she spent fighting, the less time she had to get away. She wasn't going to get caught. Not after all she's worked for.

She ran for the gun with Polly making a run for it as well. The two of them exchanged punches as they moved to get closer to it. Laura ducked one of Polly's punches and kicked her down. This gave her another time to quickly grab the gun and point it at Polly.

To her surprise, however, Polly pulled out a gun of her own.

"Oh, so you use guns too?" Laura chuckled. "Great minds think alike, huh?"

"We are nothing alike," Polly said.

"Sad you can't see it," Laura said. "Oh well. I don't have time to talk about this anymore. Dying a freak it is."

Just as she shot her gun, Polly did as well. The latter was able to dodge the bullet that was coming at her. The former however was shot in the shoulder.

"Ah!" Laura dropped her gun and held her shoulder in pain. Her knees hit the ground as she let out a growl.

Polly put her own gun away and walked up to her. Laura looked up and all she could see coming at her was Polly's fist.

----

Henry had gotten a call from Polly that she had found and took care of Laura. That made Henry smile. He knew that if he and the others couldn't find Laura then Polly sure would have. He was right. They finally did it. They finally took down Laura Cortez. 

He was now just outside the woods as he waited with his partner for his friend to come out with the mob boss.

He saw something coming. Polly walked out of the woods with Laura over her shoulders. 

"Thanks for helping, Polly," Henry said. "Couldn't have done it without you."

"You're welcome, Henry," Polly said as she handed Laura over to him.

"I'll be sure to get her to a doctor," Henry said.

"Don't bother," Henry's partner, Malcolm, spoke up as he grabbed Laura. "I'm sure you wanna stay and talk with the freak a little bit."

Henry glared at him. "She's not a freak. And don't you remember we're in the same car, Mal? So it looks like we're both taking her." He turned back to his friend. "I'll talk to you later, Polly."

The two policemen got Laura in the back of the car and quickly drove off. Polly watched them go, satisfied she was able to help out. A few moments later, her phone rang and she took it out of her pocket.

Filbert.

Polly should've known her cousin would be worried about her and would end up trying to call her. She answered it. "Hello?"

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"Polly?" Filbert's voice was heard on the other end. "Are you alright? Did you get her?"

"Yeah, I got her," Polly told him. "She won't be hurting anyone else."

Filbert gave a sigh of relief. He was glad that Polly was okay, but he was also glad Laura was finally taken care of. "That's good." Polly couldn't see it, but a smile came to his face. "I'm very proud of you, Polly. All the hard work you and Henry did paid off. I'm sure he'll let the town know your part in taking her down."

"I know he will," Polly said. "Even though I told him he doesn't need to do that."

"Of course he does!" Filbert argued. "That way the town knows that you saved it and idiots can stop treating you like garbage!"

"Filbert..." 

"No, Polly! It's about time this town learns to appreciate you for everything you do and start treating you like a human being," Filbert said. "I'm sick and tired of their bullshit."

"We can talk more about this when I get home," Polly said. She heard Filbert take a few deep breaths on the other end. "Right now, I've got one more little trip to make, remember?"

"Right," Filbert said. "You'll be heading to the store now. Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"

It had been a while since Polly had been to any store. Filbert was the one who would do the shopping for them since Polly was worried about making people uncomfortable. But he had convinced her to go. It would be a good way to show people that she was a normal person just like them. She would go in, get a couple of those candy bars she liked, and get out.

"It's just....grabbing candy bars, Filbert. I'll be fine." Polly assured him. "I'll see you when I get back."

But first, she had to get back to her motorcycle. It wasn't too far from where she was standing. Laura hadn't gotten as far as she was hoping to. 

As Polly made the walk back to her motorcycle she didn't notice the figure in the woods that was watching her. They had seen the whole thing with her and Laura. They've been watching Polly for a long time. They've seen what she's done for the town but more importantly, they've seen how people treat her. After what just happened with Laura and what they heard when Polly was on the phone, they decided the time had come for them to meet Polly personally.

It was time that they met face to face.

----

It didn't take long for Polly to get back into town after finding her motorcycle. It did take her a bit to get to the particular store that had the candy bars she liked, however. Not that she minded. She enjoyed the nice rides at night. They were calm and peaceful.

Once she made it, she got off the motorcycle and stood there just looking at the store for a few moments. She could do this. Filbert was right. It was just getting a couple of candy bars.

She walked inside and she immediately noticed people stopping what they were doing to stare at her. The looks of fear and hate were particularly drowning her.

She started walking to where she hoped the candy bars still were. Everyone still hadn't taken their eyes off her. She ignored them and continued on and, lucky enough, the candy bars were still exactly where she remembered them being the last time she was here. She picked a couple of them up.

Peanut butter. Her favorite.

With the looks still not leaving her, Polly made her way to the counter. The cashier had a look of uncertainty as he scanned the candy bars. The feeling of guilt was overwhelming Polly. She couldn't stand making people scared like this. But then she remembered her talk with Filbert about this. He suggested to try talking with the cashier specifically. That would be a nice start.

"There's no need to be afraid," Polly said. "I won't hurt you."

Just as the cashier was about to say something, another voice spoke from behind Polly.

"Hey, freak! Don't talk to him!" The voice said. "Can't you see he's trying to get you out of here as soon as possible!"

Polly mentally sighed as she knew exactly who this was. She turned to the man behind her. "Hello, Matteo."

"Oh, you're talking to me now?!" Matteo glared at her, "You really think I wanna talk to you?!"

"Well you are talking to me," Polly pointed out.

"Because I'm telling you to leave the man alone!" Matteo said.

"Why did you come here anyway?!" The woman next to him demanded. It was Matteo's girlfriend, Daphne. Like him, she didn't like Polly very much.

"Well I wanted a couple of candy bars," Polly said. "I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable but I figured it couldn't hurt to come here and get them."

"Uncomfortable?!" Matteo laughed cruelly. "You've done more than make us uncomfortable!"

"We were all having a nice night just getting our stuff and then you just walked in," Daphne glared at Polly. "You really have a lot of nerve."

"Hey!" The cashier spoke up, getting the attention of all three. "If I can say something, I'm not at all bothered by her being here. In fact, I welcome here being here. What got me worried was all the underserved negative attention she's getting from you folks."

"What?!" Daphne exclaimed with a shocked look on her face. "How could you-"

"Because she's not hurting anyone," The clerk gave her a glare. "Plus she's done a lot for this town." He looked at Polly with a smile. "It's nice to meet you, young lady. Name's Ernest."

A warm feeling of relief and happiness came to Polly. "It's nice to meet you too. I'm Polly."

"Word of advice? Don't mind any of these folks," Ernest told her. "They don't got any idea what they're talking about."

"I wouldn't say that," Polly said. "Maybe I shouldn't have come in."

"Nonsense," Ernest replied. "You've done nothing wrong. You just walked into the store and grabbed a couple of candy bars. Seems pretty normal to me." He glared at Daphne and Matteo again.

Polly paid for her candy bars and Ernest handed her the bag. He smiled again at her.

"I want you to know that you're welcome to this store anytime," Ernest said. "I say that as the owner."

"Are you kidding me?!" Matteo yelled, a look of anger on his face. "You're just gonna let this freak keep coming here?! What kind of business are you running?! Do you even know what's under that mask of here?! You know what?!" He grabbed ahold of the back of Polly's mask. "Let's find out!"

Before Polly could do anything, her mask had been taken off, now having been thrown on the floor. 

The store was soon filled with gasps, horrified looks, and a pissed-off cashier.

"Mommy! Mommy!" A little girl cried out in fear as she hid behind her mother. "What's wrong with her face?!"

Matteo, who had yet to see it, laughed. "It must be even worse than I thought!"

"Get the hell out of here!" Ernest snapped at him.

"Yeah right! I went to all this trouble! I'm not leaving until I see-" Matteo stopped as he saw that Polly had turned to him.

The upper half of the right side of her face was burned, a nasty green scar stared right back at Matteo. The blonde standing in front of him particularly had the look of a zombie. One looked like it could melt to reveal bone at any moment. It was something that would be seen in nightmares.

Daphne shook as she backed away. She had always imagined what Polly was hiding was horrible but this...this was even worse. She couldn't hold it in. The woman started to vomit all over the floor and onto Matteo's shoes.

The man hadn't even noticed. All that had his attention was not just Polly's scar, but the hard glare she was giving him.

She snatched the mask away from him. "Don't ever touch my mask again!"

After quickly putting it back on, she took her bag and ran out of the store.

----

The home that Polly shared with Filbert was in the middle of the woods, away from the rest of the town. It was abandoned before they first moved in, nobody having lived in it for years before they came along. Polly had planned on moving in herself. It was the perfect place for her after all. Away from all the people so she couldn't frighten them. But Filbert insisted on moving in with her, refusing to let her be alone.

The house looked torn down when they first came, but thanks to Filbert, it looked just about as nice as one you would see in town. It was black and Filbert wanted to paint it but Polly insisted they kept it the way it was.

She was now standing in front of it as she thought about what transpired at the store. They way they all looked at her when her mask came off. How terrified the little girl was. She felt awful. She should've been more alert. If she had been, Matteo never would have been able to remove her mask.

She walked to the door and opened it. "Filbert!" Polly called out. "I'm home!" She closed the door behind her.

Filbert walked into the room from the kitchen. His hair was brown. The t-shirt he wore was gray and he also had biege pants with white shoes. "Oh, Polly! You're finally here. Um..."

"Something wrong?" Polly asked.

"I don't know how you're gonna react to this but..you have a visitor," Filbert said.

"A...visitor?" Polly asked. Had it been one of their friends, Filbert would have just said their name. But the fact that Filbert said that, and the way he said it, made Polly feel that this was someone she never met.

Filbert nodded and gestured for Polly to follow him. Polly followed after him, keeping her mask on. She already scared a store full of people, she didn't want to scare off another person.

At the table in the kitchen, sat a woman with brown hair. Polly immediately noticed something interesting about her. She was wearing a pumpkin mask. She was also wearing a black hooded jacket with a pink shirt underneath, yellow pants, and black shoes. The woman hadn't noticed her as her attention was on the sketchpad she was drawing on.

Polly turned to Filbert. "Who is she?"

"Her name is Dolly," Filbert said. "She just showed up. I wasn't going to let her in but she said she was a fan of yours. I thought it might be nice for you to meet her."

"A fan?" Polly's eyes went back to Dolly, who finally looked up from her drawing and saw her.

Dolly got up and walked over to Polly. "Wow...I can't believe I'm finally talking to you."

Polly didn't know how to react to this. She had a fan? Laura said she was one, but an actual fan? One who actually wanted to see her? To top it off, she walked up to her like she was a normal person. "...Hi...I'm Polly."

"Dolly," Dolly replied before holding out her hand. After Polly shook it, she spoke again, "I'm so happy to finally meet you. I made something for you for the occasion."

She showed Polly what she had been drawing. The blonde was surprised to see that it was a drawing of her. 

"Wow, Dolly..." Polly was in awe as her eyes stayed on the drawing. "It's beautiful."

"Beautiful is right," Filbert couldn't believe just how good the drawing was. "Might be one of the best drawings I've ever seen."

"I'm very glad you like it," Dolly took the page out of the notepad and handed it to Polly. "Because it's yours."

Polly looked at the picture for a few more moments before taking it. "Thank you, Dolly. I appreciate it."

"It's no problem at all," Dolly replied. "You deserve something after everything you've been doing for this town."

Hearing that made Polly feel good. After what happened at the store, something like this happening was the last thing she expected. Someone who wasn't Filbert, her mom, or one of their friends was telling her she had been doing good for the town. But now the store incident was on her mind again. She was about to say something but Dolly beat her to it.

"I know you're probably wondering what I'm doing here now," Dolly said. "Why I've waited so long to visit you? You're probably wondering how I even know where you live."

"Actually, I was wondering that," Filbert said.

"I've been watching you for a long time, Polly," Dolly said, her eyes still on the blonde. "I know that all you want is to make the world a better place." After a pause, she sighed. "But with those people...you're wasting your time."

Despite how he felt toward the townspeople for their treatment of Polly, he knew how much protecting them meant to his cousin. He looked over at her, wondering how she'd react to such a statement.

"I don't think it's a waste of time," Polly said. She looked down. "I know they don't like me." She looked back up. "But the fact that their safe is all that matters. They're not bad people. They're just scared."

"Scared of what?" Dolly asked. "Another human being? One who's done nothing but help them time after time? These are the people you're defending?"

"Exactly!" Filbert agreed. "See, Polly? I told you we'd eventually find someone with some sense, even if she is a little creepy for the whole watching us thing." 

Dolly ignored that last part and continued talking, "You've taken care of this town's biggest problem tonight. And what happened? One of those cops called you a freak. I watched the whole thing."

"It was Malcolm, wasn't it?" Filbert groaned in annoyance, "Fucking can't stand that guy."

"I hate the way they treat you," Dolly said. "They treat you like a disease, an outcast, a monster." It was her turn to look down. "Just like me..."

Polly was surprised to hear this. "What do you mean?"

Dolly looked back up at Polly. She removed her pumpkin mask.

Filbert's expression turned to one of shock. Polly froze at what she saw.

Dolly's face was exactly like hers, except her scar was on the left side of her face. Other than that, it was like looking at the same nightmarish face that haunted her when she looked into the mirror for years.

"Oh, Dolly..." Polly struggled to get more words out. Like Filbert, she was shocked. Not only that, she was horrified to see what looked to be someone else going through the same thing as her. She knew exactly what Dolly was talking about. How could she not? She lived through it everyday. 

Dolly walked even closer to Polly and touched the side of her mask. "You don't have to wear this in front of me, as you can see. Take off your mask. Let yourself be seen by the world."

"No..." Polly said softly. She backed away after that. "No, I can't." She turned away. "My face doesn't deserve to be seen. All it does is cause fear and hatred."

"Polly..." Filbert began but Dolly held a hand out to stop him. She gave him a look that let him know she had this.

Dolly placed a hand a Polly's shoulder. "You don't have to show me your face if you really don't want to. You don't owe me anything. It's your choice to keep the mask on. But I think you're making a big mistake if you do. If you let your fear of scaring people consume you. Your face deserves to be seen by someone who can truly understand you. Who truly gets what you're going through. I'm here now, Polly."

She took her arm off Polly's shoulder when she noticed something. The blonde was now shaking. She went down and her knees hit the floor.

Filbert looked concerned. "Polly?!' 

"P-Please," Polly begged. She didn't want to admit it, but this may have been a bit too much for her to bear. She hand went up and touched the part of her face mask that hid the scar. She had her free arm wrapped around her body, her shaking increasing as if she were in the middle of a freezing land. All those horrified looks, all those poor people she scared over the years, her guilt and fear were bitting away at her at that very moment. "I can't take off my mask..."

Filbert went and wrapped his arms around his cousin in comfort. He had never seen her like this. "I think we should try this another time."

Dolly kneeled down to face Polly once again. "Polly, look at me. You are not the monster you think you are. You're a hero. A kind, beautiful soul that has done so much for others. You've helped so many. So for once let someone help you. Let me help you. I'm not exactly at peace with myself either, but I think I can be if I help you see yourself for the wonderful person you actually are. In a way, you would be helping me."

When she got no response from Polly, Dolly stood up and turned away, looking down as her back was now facing Polly. "Unless...you don't think you can help me..."

That got Polly. All her life, even before she got her scar, that's all she ever wanted to do was help people. The idea that she let one person go unhelped because of her own fears made her feel horrible. That's when she realized she wasn't shaking anymore. She still felt guilt but for a completely different reason.

She looked at Filbert and gave him a nod to let him know she was okay now. Filbert unwraps his arms from around her and Polly gets up. "Dolly..."

Dolly turns and she sees Polly taking off her mask. The two of them stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, both of them unable to believe what they were seeing. They got closer once again and each touched the scarred side of the other's face.

Dolly gave a soft smile. "As I said, you're very beautiful, Polly. I don't care what the townspeople say. Your face may be scarred, but it's as beautiful as your soul."

Polly felt a warm feeling inside her when Dolly said that. "You're beautiful too, Dolly," She responded, a soft smile on her face as well.

Filbert smiled at the scene in front of him. All these years he wanted his cousin to see that she was just as human as everyone else and now she had someone who would remind her of that. He felt like he could tear up at any moment, happy that Polly found someone like her to bond with.

Dolly placed her forehead on Polly, the smile still on her face. "This probably feels like a dream, doesn't it? Finally finding someone who's just like you and can really understand. It feels like that for me too. But this is real, Polly." She grabbed one of Polly's hands. "We have each other now."

Tears began to come out of Polly's eyes. They once again went down as they just closed shut.

Filbert looked concerned again. "Polly?"

"Yes...this is very real," Polly said. She looked back up, her eyes back open. "I'm...I'm not sure what to do now."

"Come with me," Dolly said.

"Come with you?" Polly asked.

"Yes," Dolly nodded. "Filbert is free to come too. I've seen your home. I think it's only fair if you've seen mine. Not only are you not the only masked "freak" in this town, but you're also not the only one whose home is in the woods."

Polly wasn't sure. She had only just meant this woman and up until she took her mask off wasn't sure what her intentions were. But the connection she felt just now. The bond. She couldn't deny that. She wasn't sure what awaited her but given what was happening she would take the chance.

"Okay."