The Warrior of the Friend Zone and the Oblivious Huntress Chapter 7: Atlanta, the Huntress Turned Mind Maiden, a class of the titans fanfic

well, welcome to the seventh chapter of my 'Class of the Titans' fanfiction based upon the actual series told from Archie's point of view which I've recently titled 'The Warrior of the Friend Zone and the Oblivious Huntress'. sorry if it doesn't really cover the whole series, but I thought that since I am telling it from Archie's point of view, I might as well base this whole fanfiction only on episodes of the show with even the smallest bit of Archlanta to them. granted, I am also finding the time to hint at some of the Jayresa moments in the series as well. the Jayresa hints are just gonna be a bit more subtle throughout this whole entire fanfiction.

disclamation: I do not own the 'Class of the Titans' series in any way, shape, or form. believe me, if I had owned the show at all, I would never have ended the series on a cliffhanger plotline. the folks of Nelvana, Teletoon, and Studio B Productions of my country's neighbors to the north, Canada, are the ones for whom the show's ownership rights are reserved.

oh well. I'm sure that they'll remake a jewel of a cartoon like 'Class of the Titans' was eventually. they just have to.

It was just another day at the Brownstone. We were all getting ready to watch a movie in the living room when I noticed that one of us was missing. It was Atlanta, to be exact, who was missing from our movie time.

Herry: Ah, man! We can't have our movie without popcorn! Could someone get some from the kitchen?

Everyone else but me called out…

Jay, Theresa, Odie and Neil: NOT IT!

I may have failed to get out of catering to Herry's hunger for popcorn during the movie, but I had been too busy thinking about Atlanta missing out on it.

Herry: Looks like you're the man to get the popcorn, Archie.

Yours Truly: Huh?! What?!

Neil: I believe Herry said that you're the man, Archie. Pay attention, will ya?

Yours Truly: I-I'm the man? Yeah, I am the man. If only someone could tell me how exactly I fit into even being the man.

Odie: Neil means that you're the man who's going to get Herry some popcorn to snack on while watching the movie.

I suddenly realized that the others, specifically Herry, had drafted me to get popcorn to enjoy with the movie.

Yours Truly: Oh yeah, I'm the man alright. The man who's being forced to get the popcorn for the movie.

Even with my sarcasm, the others still made me get the popcorn for the movie by myself. Even after all of the popcorn kernels were already fully popped, I was still not quite that ready to rejoin the others in the living room.

Herry: Is the popcorn ready yet, Archie?

I could hear Herry's voice very clearly from the living room, where everyone else was except for the huntress of our team. The only issue I had against going directly back into the living room to give Herry his popcorn was a simple one, and a dern good one if I had said so, myself.

Yours Truly: I'll be back down in a second. I'm just gonna go see what Atlanta's doing right now.

I hiked up the stairs of the brownstone all the way to Atlanta's bedroom. I could hear her voice on the other side of the door.

Atlanta: Um, yeah, no, um, it's…

Whatever my Atlanta was doing on the other side of her door, I just hoped that it could wait until after the team's movie. I knocked on her bedroom door and opened it.

Yours Truly: Uh, hi, Atlanta. What's up?

I was ready to casually take the first bit of popcorn for myself when I heard my Atlanta ask me a random question.

Atlanta: Where are the oracle oaks located?

I was suddenly confused not only by what our team's huntress was asking, but also by what my Atlanta was even talking about.

Yours Truly: Huh? The what?

Atlanta: The oracle oaks; trees that could foresee the future.

I just plopped myself down into a particularly cushiony chair in her room, along with mine and the rest of our team's movie popcorn in hand.

Atlanta (continued): Haven't you studied for the exams at all?

The exams? That was what this whole freak out of hers was all about? I did not know why she was freaking out about these upcoming exams from the gods, so I just shrugged about it. Meanwhile on her bed, Atlanta just continued flipping through her textbook like a maniac until she made it to an exact page in her book.

Atlanta (continued): Oh, Dodona! Of course! Dodona is the answer!

It was just around then that she went right back to acting like she was just as confused and unprepared as she had been before.

Atlanta (continued): Oh, wait. What was the question?

That did it. I had to do or say something to get her to stop her fit of stress in any possible way I could. Heck, the rest of us were all downstairs to de-stress ourselves in regards to the upcoming exams the gods had planned for us with the movie that Herry wanted so much to watch.

Yours Truly: Atlanta, relax. I don't think they're gonna be those kind of exams.

My Atlanta, however, just continued to stress herself out while studying like a maniac.

Atlanta: It doesn't hurt to be prepared for any possibility, does it?

I guess that meant that she was just going to spend the rest of the day studying her brains out.

Yours Truly: So, I take it you don't wanna come watch the movie?

With my comment, however, Atlanta only groaned at me in dread, frustration and irritability. I just simply took it as my cue to leave my Atlanta alone to her immense stress.

Yours Truly (continued): I'll be going now.

With that, I got up from her chair and walked out of her room. So much for inviting her to watch the movie with the rest of the team so she could de-stress herself, too.

When I had finally walked back into the living room, I was snacking on the first popped kernel of popcorn just as I had planned to; partly because I actually wanted to make sure I did it right and partly because I also wanted revenge on the others for making me be the one to have to get the stupid snack food in the first place. Everyone else was just watching the news and waiting for me to come back into the living room with the…

Herry: Popcorn. Finally.

Yours Truly: Huh?

Herry then began munching on it straight from the bag.

Theresa: Where's Atlanta?

At least, someone else cared about her at the time besides me… even if it was just the other female member of our ragtag team of heroes' descendants.

Yours Truly: Studying.

Of course, our fearless leader, himself, had an argument or two about what I told the rest of the team.

Jay: I don't think it's that kind of test.

I had my own response to Jay's argument against my Atlanta's idea of studying her brains out like a maniac, which was easy for him to argue against since he was not the one who went up to her room and dealt with her stress-induced groaning and growling.

Yours Truly: Try telling her that. She was freaking out because she didn't know where oracle oaks were.

Theresa suddenly sounded just as confused as even I was about what I had told the rest of the team.

Theresa: The what?

Yours Truly: Trees that could tell the future. They're in, uh, Domino, or someplace.

Odie just sent me a frown-like expression on his face that said to me 'what an idiot you are.'

Odie: You mean Dodona.

Oh right, that was the answer to the question she had asked me while I visited her in her room. Upon realizing that Odie seemed to be the only other one of our team who knew the answer to Atlanta's question, Theresa suddenly decided that there might not have been time for a movie.

Theresa: I think I'm gonna skip the movie and go skim over my notes.

With that, Theresa just ran off to go study back in her room. I had to admit that the drama queen really acted like she had the right idea. I also had to admit that I could not let even Atlanta, Theresa or anyone else besides maybe Odie get ahead of me on the exams, no matter what kind of tests they even were.

Yours Truly: Good idea.

Upon saying it was a good idea, I bolted after Theresa just before Jay could follow me back up the stairs to our room.

Jay: Wait for me!

With that, Jay followed me in addition to me following Theresa back up the stairs to study from the books. The way he acted, however, it was like he had expected me to try to make a play for the drama queen.

Jay: Ep, ep, ep, ep! Not so fast, Archibald! No one can study with Theresa while she's going over her notes for the exams.

Was our leader seriously even thinking about just what he was telling me about his 'girlfriend'? I guess I had a little time to set the guy straight on such thoughts.

Yours Truly: Oh, and do you mean just in general or is studying with her just for no one except you, Jay? Puh-lease! If you wanna study with Theresa so badly, you can have her. In case you've already forgotten, there is only one chick on this team that I'm interested in, and it's not even Theresa, because she's like my sister.

There it was! I guess that should have set the record straight for our fearless leader on just what I thought of his 'girlfriend', the drama queen.

Jay: Hmm, you got me there, Arch. I guess I don't have to worry about you studying with Theresa, after all. I'll let you off the hook about studying with her, but there's no guarantee that Atlanta will wanna let you study with her.

Yours Truly: Geez, rub it in, why don't ya?

With that, Jay and I went our separate ways to study for the upcoming exams. Jay went to study with Theresa, and even after our leader said it, I still went to see if my Atlanta would let me study with her.

Yours Truly: Hey, Atlanta.

Atlanta: What is it this time, Archie? Unless you have something worth talking about with me, you are such an unwelcome distraction from my studies for these upcoming exams assigned to us all by the gods, themselves.

Yours Truly: Oh um, studying for the exams is actually why I'm here, in your room, yet again.

My Atlanta just sighed at me, in exasperation I might add. It was like she had half-expected me to want to annoy the life out of her.

Atlanta: Just sit down so we can get to studying then, will ya? I can't afford to fail these exams.

I did not even know what she was talking about, but whatever it was, I did not think it could be any worse than being as stressed as she was about the tests.

Yours Truly: Atlanta, calm down and relax for a bit, will ya? I know you can pass these tests, but it's not like you need to get a perfect score on 'em.

Atlanta just chuckled nervously at me. Just what was she even hiding from me and everyone else on the team?

Yours Truly (continued): You don't need to get a perfect score on these tests, right?

Atlanta: Alright, you caught me, Archie. I've recently begun failing my school exams and if I don't get at least a 'B' on the make-ups from the gods, I'll have an 'F' for the entire school year and I'll be held back.

With her confession to her grade point average, I suddenly understood why these make up exams had her so riled up in the first place.

Yours Truly: That's what this was all about? You know that you could have come to me, or any of the others, if you needed help in any one of your subjects. Well, maybe not Herry or Neil, but definitely me, Odie, Jay, or Theresa. Jay and Theresa are our seniors, and Odie's great at academic subjects, but don't ever tell him I said that about him.

Atlanta just pulled her thumb and forefinger across her lips and pretended to throw something aside. I knew it was her giving me the classic 'my-lips-are-sealed' gesture.

Yours Truly (continued): You also know that I can tutor you in these school subjects any time you want me to, don't you? I mean, not as well as Odie, but I can always tutor you, you know.

Atlanta: Maybe, we can just focus on studying right now, Archie, so we don't fall behind, ourselves. Now, where the maze of the minotaur located?

That afternoon back at the school, we were all preparing for the exam just by hitting the books. I suppose only I could tell, but my Atlanta looked even more anxious and nervous about the exams than before. I guess that my words of de-stress from earlier in the dorm had worn off, and she had gone right back to worrying her life away about the tests.

Yours Truly: Uh, Atlanta?

It was just as a whisper, but judging by what my precious little huntress had said next, I guess that my Atlanta had obviously heard me.

Atlanta: Hi.

'Hi'? That was it? That was all my Atlanta had to say to me? Yep, she was definitely back to being stressed all over about these tests.

Yours Truly: Are ya ready for the exam?

After I asked her that, I tried to de-stress my Atlanta about the tests just by giving her a nice, winning smile. She only responded with an even more stressed-out than before answer.

Atlanta: Yes. No. Why? You think I'm gonna fail? Oh, I'm gonna fail.

That was when she grabbed onto my book, too.

Yours Truly: What? No! I was just_

I tried to do something about her stressed out condition, but my Atlanta just interrupted me mid-sentence.

Atlanta: Archie, please, I've gotta study.

That was when Miss Hera, Mr. Ares, and Miss Artemis walked into the room and Miss Hera greeted us upon their joint entry.

Hera, queen of the Greek gods: Good morning. I trust you're all ready for your exam?

Meanwhile, my Atlanta just panicked about being underprepared for the tests or something.

Atlanta: Hang on, hang on, hang on.

Miss Artemis came and picked up Atlanta's and my textbooks from her protégé's hands if only to reassure my Atlanta that she had nothing at all to worry about.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and virginity: Don't worry. You'll do fine.

To that, however, Atlanta just chuckled at her mentor uncomfortably.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: Athena!

The goddess of wisdom in battle who was currently charged with looking after all of us at the Brownstone brought in our first exam, which looked like it was quite a struggle for her. It turned out that Athena was bringing a harpy into the room. We all yelled in fear at the sight of it.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Your first challenge is to catch the harpy.

The harpy did not look very happy to be restrained by a dogcatcher's pole-and-collar. It even screeched up a storm while it was bound. Then, Athena released it.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Jay, you will go first.

On his try, Jay used the same device Athena had used on the harpy to bring it into the gym to begin with. It just tried to claw at him as a result.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Theresa!

When the drama queen's turn came, however, the harpy just pulled on her hair while Theresa returned the favor in retaliation.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Herry!

Herry looked pretty confident at first with just a heavy medicine ball to back him up against the harpy, but was quickly knocked down a peg or two when the creature shot the ball right back at him.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Odie!

Odie did the same thing as Jay had done when trying to catch the harpy, himself, but with questionable results when the brains of our ragtag team of heroes' descendants did not seem to have the knowledge to simply let go of the pole connected to the collar when the flying monster was proving too much for him.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Archie!

Great! It was my turn at the time, and I was just as unprepared to take on the harpy as everyone else had been. When this happened, I just tried to duck and cover as best I possibly could. I know Ares would have more than likely been disappointed in me for it, but I would have rather been a disappointment to my own mentor than lose even one of my limbs in a mere exam.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Neil!

It was finally the lucky, but vain, blonde pretty boy's turn to try to catch the harpy. For that very same reason, instead of attacking Neil like it did with the rest of us, the harpy seemed to be trying to make a move on Neil and kiss him. Neil protested, however, and broke the poor harpy's heart.

Neil: HELP! GET AWAY! SHOO-SHOO!

Neil was a pretty boy, alright. It finally seemed to turn against him, however, when the harpy tried to kiss him, at which it had surprisingly succeeded… several times over.

Once the harpy was done with Neil, he was mumbling about the several disgusting harpy kisses delivered onto him. The harpy still had yet to be caught, though, and the only one of us left for Hera to test on this matter was none other than my own crush.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: And last, but not least, Atlanta.

Atlanta: Harpy. Harpy. How do you catch a harpy?

The harpy just continued to fly in circles above us all as my Atlanta pondered her strategy about catching the creature flying consistently in circles above us. I could still hear her pondering even though she just whispered it… or muttered it.

Atlanta (continued): Harpy steals food.

That was when Atlanta looked at her backpack and pulled an apple out of it and took a bite out of it. Judging by what happened above, I would say that the harpy got a good, long whiff of my Atlanta's apple and screeched about it before diving down after it. Atlanta, however, tossed her apple into the wall and as the harpy flew right after it, the creature smacked right into a banner on the wall and fell to the floor. We all waited for the results of our work.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: Excellent work! You've all passed.

That was it? We've all passed? Atlanta, I understood, but the rest of us passing the exam? Was I dreaming or something? Still, though, as long as we all passed, I might as well have refused to look that gift horse in the mouth.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): And extra points to Atlanta for such a creative solution.

Oh, so we all passed the test, but Atlanta got all of the extra credit. I supposed that it was only fair, though, since she was the one who had actually caught the harpy. All I could say about it was that Atlanta certainly seemed very elated about having passed our team's harpy-catching exam.

Atlanta: All right!

My Atlanta seemed the happiest I had seen her all week since she first began studying her heart out as stressfully as she had been. I had to say that I could not have been happier for her. I could admit that I was not as happy for myself as I was for her, but I knew that I could and would easily make up for admittingly scattering away from the harpy like I had during my turn at facing off against said harpy in even just one of the next up and coming exams which would soon follow the harpy test.

That was when everything about Atlanta enjoying herself suddenly went straight down to the deepest, the darkest, and the vilest depths possible of Tartarus. That was not even the worst part of it. The worst part of it was just which of the gods had done it to her, at least for me.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Oh, you never said they could use bait.

That's right. My own mentor, Ares, had actually had the nerve to complain about my Atlanta being the only one to get extra points from the exam. Luckily for Atlanta, her own mentor, Miss Artemis, came to her defense on the matter while pointing her left thumb in Ares' direction.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and virginity: Ignore him. He's just jealous.

Ares responded to Miss Artemis defending her protégé, my Atlanta, by dragging me into his unnecessary rivalry with the goddess of the hunt and of virginity.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Archie would've used bait if he knew he was allowed.

I just grew an embarrassingly regretful grin on my face. I hated it whenever Ares tried to compare me to one of the others, but this really took the cake for my feelings about it. Then, I tried to tell Ares that I was actually OK with anything other than first place this time while placing my hands over my head.

Yours Truly: Ares, come on. Atlanta won fair and square.

Ares just would not hear it, though, not even from his own protégé, yours truly.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Ah, she was lucky.

A/N: ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh! Atlanta's gonna be so mad at Ares for that comment. but really, who knew that the god of the savagery in warfare would have been such a male chauvinistic pig? Ares should've just been happy that Archie passed at all.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: Class dismissed.

Judging by what she had said next to my own mentor, Miss Hera sounded like she would not have had any of it from Ares, either.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Ares, I'd like to talk to you.

Between our team's brains, the vain blonde go-lucky and yours truly, Neil was the first of the three of us on the floor to get up. Atlanta looked as though she were frustrated with Ares just for having a sexist's point of view about her.

Atlanta: Lucky? I'm as good as anyone on this team.

Neil tried to console my Atlanta by placing a comforting hand on her shoulder…

Neil: Don't let it get to you…

… but, Atlanta just swatted the vain blonde's hand away as if to say to Neil, 'I don't need your sympathy'.

Neil (continued): Whoa!

After swatting the vain blonde's comforting hand away, Atlanta had then begun walking away from the rest of the team in all of her frustration and newfound resentment towards Ares.

Neil (continued): Well, that reaction of Atlanta's was uncalled for. Last time I console her about anything. I know she wasn't all that happy about getting ridiculed by Ares, the god of the war, but Atlanta still didn't need to swat my hand away.

That was when Theresa talked to Neil about how Atlanta was feeling about the whole thing.

Theresa: Come on, Neil. It wasn't like she didn't appreciate the gesture, though.

Jay: Theresa's right, guys. You'll see. Atlanta just needs some time to herself is all.

My brain: I just hope that she makes it back here in time for the next exam.

Just a little later in the day, it was already time for our test in archery. There was still no sign of Atlanta, though. Just where was she? I actually had begun to wonder if something just might have happened to her, something bad, that is.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: And now for your archery exam.

That was around when Theresa, who was just two people away from me, started to wonder the same question I had been wondering even since the girl in question had first left the room.

Theresa: Where's Atlanta?

Jay suddenly noticed this too.

Jay: Huh. It's not like her.

That was when Jay turned his head in my direction.

Jay (continued): Archie, do you know where she is?

This was so not good. If I was being questioned about Atlanta, then Theresa would so have my head on a platter over it. I had to say something.

Yours Truly: H-How should I know? You know, i-it's not like I keep tabs on her all the time. 'Cause th-that would be weird. Weird and obsessive.

I was so embarrassed, one could not even imagine how red my face would have been if not for everyone left of me, along with the gods, themselves, wanting to start the archery exam already. Hera announced our marks.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: Ready… aim… fire!

I think Odie might have had a bit of trouble aiming his arrow. He had even missed the target for it, and yet he still cheered anyway.

Odie: Yes!

From the sound of what had happened next to him, Herry seemed just as confused about Odie's surprise jubilation as the rest of us seemed to be.

Herry: Uh, Odie? You missed the target.

I think that Herry was trying to point out to Odie what everyone else on our team had noticed. Not one of the rest of us got what the brains of our team was so elated about.

Odie: Yeah, but I got it across the room!

Oh, so that was what Odie was so happy to have accomplished. I guess that he could never even get his arrow across the room in the past.

Ares went to inspect the targets following the final shot that was Odie merely getting his across the room.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Dead center. I dare say Archie's shot is best.

Suddenly, an arrow came from what had seemed like out of nowhere and shot through my own shot, breaking my arrow in half right down the middle.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Where did that come from?

Then, said surprise arrow was followed by a whole barrage of arrows shooting through everyone else's shots, even Odie's as though it really were a bull's eye target. Neil was the only one to comment on the barrage of arrows, though.

Neil: Now that's what I call lucky.

A/N: nice reference to all of the 'Now That's What I Call Music' soundtracks, Neil. I had always loved those CD's. on a further note, I don't exactly believe in iPods.

That was when all of us had suddenly heard a voice from behind.

Voice: Luck had nothing to do with it.

Neil: Huh?

We all turned around to face the owner of the voice and found it belonged to none other than the one from our team who had been missing in action since storming off a while ago; my Atlanta.

Of course, she was not really mine, technically, but she could be some day. Hey, a guy can dream, can he not?

My Atlanta was dangling from a rope attached to the ceiling of the gym.

Atlanta: Am I late?

Then, she just flung herself from the rope before landing gracefully on her feet like a cat would have. Miss Artemis was the only one who would complement her protégé on Atlanta's shooting.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and of virginity: That's some of the best shooting I've…

That was before Atlanta took yet another shot at the bull's eye target which my arrow had been shot to. She shot right through my own shot and scored the coveted bull's eye on that one, too. Miss Artemis gasped in surprise from it.

Atlanta: I'd say it's worth a bonus point.

Ares, however, was still stuck on trying to prove me to be the best on the team.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Uhp! Her shots don't count! She was late for the test!

I just lightly smacked my hand against my face, having had it up that moment with Ares dragging me into his rivalry with Miss Artemis. Sure, I was Ares' own protégé, but he still could have been a lot more grateful that I had actually been passing these tests.

A/N: what is this? a carousel at an amusement park? that's exactly what I said, myself, on pages twenty-six and twenty-seven about the god of the savagery in warfare's earlier comment on Atlanta scoring the best on the harpy-catching exam.

Yours Truly: Ares!

It was then that Atlanta suddenly said things that were a little less than modest.

Atlanta: What's a matter, Ares? Can't handle the fact that a girl's a better shot?

At first, Miss Artemis had agreed with her protégé about what Atlanta was getting at.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and of virginity: Yeah, Ares!

Then, Atlanta said something about Ares that not even Miss Artemis seemed like she had really wanted to agree with, no matter who was saying it.

Atlanta: In fact, I bet I'm better than you.

A/N: oh no, she didn't. please tell me that she did not say it. this is sure to take a turn for the ugly.

That was when Ares then Mrs. Hera wore expressions on their faces which had said 'what was that you just said, Atlanta?'. It took Miss Artemis a while to realize it, but then when she started to join in on what Atlanta had said to Ares…

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and of virginity: Ha ha. Yeah, Ar_

… only to immediately afterwards realize just what she was agreeing with from Atlanta about being the best at archery.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and of virginity (continued): What did you say?

Ever the leader, Jay became the first one of our team to comment on Atlanta's sudden surprise arrogance.

Jay: What's gotten into her?

Of course, Atlanta responded to both Miss Artemis and Jay's own questions right away, and with only one answer, no less.

Atlanta: I said, I bet I'm better than Ares!

Herry: Whoa!

While Herry actually reacted to what Atlanta had said about her shots with words, even if it was only one word, Neil reacted to what she had said with a facial expression alone. I actually could not tell whether even the lucky, but vain Neil, himself, was scared to death of Ares' own anger thereafter or for Atlanta's sake in what she had said about being a better shot than the god of the savagery in warfare.

A/N: knowing the pretty boy of their team, Neil was probably terrified of the former of those two.

Ares had only one word to say about my Atlanta's behavior in response, but boy, was it an insulting one.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Insolence!

A/N: called it! that's kinda something that the rest of the team would normally expect from someone like Neil.

It was then that Miss Artemis placed her hand on my Atlanta's shoulder, and tried talking to her protégé about just what Atlanta had said about Ares.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and of virginity: Atlanta, you must apologize.

Atlanta, however, only had one word to say about the way she had treated Ares when Miss Artemis tried to get her protégé to apologize to the god of the savagery in warfare and my own mentor.

Atlanta: Whatever!

I would not have believed it if I did not see it with my own two eyes, and even then I still did not believe. I did not know whether it was my insurmountable belief in her or if I just did not want to see my Atlanta as conceited in any way, shape, or form, but I just did not believe that she had talked that way about even one of the gods who were mentoring all seven of us on this team the way she had.

Later on back at the brownstone in which the whole team lived as a sort of boarding home, the rest of us had all gathered in the living room where we talked about what my Atlanta had said about Ares to his face and pretty much insulted all the gods in general, even her own mentor, Miss Artemis. Theresa was the first to speak up about my Atlanta's slightly out-of-nowhere arrogance.

Theresa: Oh, I've never seen her act like that before.

Of course, it fell onto me to defend my Atlanta's innocence, even if I did have my own doubts in it.

Yours Truly: She's just nervous about these tests. They've got us all wired.

Theresa, as my Atlanta's number one girl friend, suddenly became the only one to side with me about her friend.

Theresa: Well, he's got a point.

I know she was a drama queen most of the time since I had known her, but I could at least always count on Theresa to take my side when defending my Atlanta. Surely, Jay had to agree with Theresa about even something of this kind of magnitude.

Jay: It's one thing to be tense, it's another thing to insult the god of war.

Just when I had stupidly hoped that no one else would take Ares' side of Atlanta's argument with my mentor, Neil, of all members of our team, was the very first one to agree with Jay.

Neil: Yeah, she was in his face. And he's all…

That was around when Neil suddenly began talking as the god of the savagery in warfare, himself.

Neil (as Ares, the god of war and savagery): Oh, nobody talks to me like that.

Then, Neil went back to speaking in his own voice and as his own person.

Neil: And she's like…

That was all right before he had reasoned with the rest of us as none other than my own crush, herself.

Neil (as Atlanta): What're you gonna do about it?

A/N: hahahahahahahaha. I swear, the one thing I like about Neil that doesn't involve his looks is the very fact that he is the king of references on the show. and now I can't believe that he's actually referencing even his own fellow characters. all hail the king of references, Neil.

Then the go-lucky from our team descended from Narcissus crossed his arms over his torso to finally bring an end to his agreement with our team's leader. Speaking of our team's leader, Jay finally began speaking up about his point of view in the matter as soon as Neil was done making his own point.

Jay: Archie, believe me, I hope it is just nerves.

Then if Jay had really hoped that my Atlanta was just nervous about the tests, why did he not believe me or even Theresa about my Atlanta's innocence?

Jay (continued): But, we're gonna have to make sure Atlanta's OK.

As a last ditch effort to pray to the gods that this was not going to spiral out of control, I had turned my head towards Theresa's direction, silently hoping that she would trust that Atlanta was really alright.

Theresa: Agreed.

So much for hoping that Theresa, of all members on our team, would understand where my Atlanta might possibly be coming from, even with this surprise, sudden, out-of-nowhere arrogance. Anyway, I could easily see that I was obviously outnumbered in the case of my Atlanta's innocence. So I just gave my hand to the rest of the team in trying to find out just what was going on with my Atlanta which could have been making her make even Neil look full of humility.

A/N: yikes! that is some hardcore kind of conceit. how could a friend to all living things like her become such an egomaniac?

Yours Truly: So, what do you recommend we do?

I admit that I was not that much for the plan to find out what was happening with her. In fact, I was pretty much against it the whole way through, but we did need to find out what could have possessed my Atlanta to act the way she had been.

It all began with Jay and I waiting for Atlanta at the park. The two of us both had newspapers covering our faces if only to conceal our identities from any passersby who would have gotten too nosy. I had to say that I did not quite approve much of this plan with which Jay had come up. I also could not even believe what I was doing with the guy.

Yours Truly: I can't believe we're following her.

A/N: really now, Archibald? what's your excuse for whenever you do that sort of thing on your own without any one of your other team members/friends joining you in those kinds of actions, I bet?

That was around when Jay spoke with Theresa using his PMR right before listening in for her response.

Jay: Where is she?

I also heard Theresa's response, from my own PMR, that is. I swear that I am not as much of a snoop or a meddler as this plan of Jay's had no doubt made me look like.

Theresa (over the PMR): She's leaving the brownstone now. Jay, Archie, she's heading straight for you.

As our team's leader and I waited for Atlanta to show up, Jay started directing everyone else through our PMR's.

Jay: Neil, be ready. Odie, Herry, go!

That was when I had heard the brains of our team question just how invasive this plan of Jay's was.

Odie (over the PMR): A-Are you sure about this?

Yeah, thanks a lot for your help in trying to protect my Atlanta's personal life, Odie… too late, though, I felt I should have added.

Jay: There's no other choice.

Of course, Jay would have felt that there was no other choice but to invade my Atlanta's bedroom while she was out. All I could ever say about it was that those two had better not touch any of my number one girl's lingerie if they knew what was good for them.

Odie (over the PMR): Are we breakin' any rules, or all of 'em, by doin' this?

Well, at least Odie seemed to have some respect about 'apparently invading my Atlanta's room and her personal space'. I had only hoped Herry could have the same amount of respect for my crush's belongings in her room.

Herry (over the PMR): Don't be ridiculous.

Well, there went every last bit of my own respect toward Herry if that was the kind of respect the beef-brained muscle of our team had for my Atlanta's privacy, maybe even for any girl on Earth's privacy, in general. I guess he showed the same kind of respect towards Atlanta's privacy that a kid brother would have shown towards his elder sister, which was ironic considering that Herry was actually the eldest of our whole team while Atlanta was the very youngest member of our team. I bet he was probably hoping to read a diary of hers or something.

That was around when I had suddenly heard something actually break from Herry and Odie's end of our little investigation about my Atlanta.

My brain: What was that?

Even though I did not actually say it, I guess that Herry could sense I had thought it.

Herry (continued, over the PMR): Oh. Now we've broken something.

My brain: Way to go on keeping everything in her room intact, muscle-bound dipstick… NOT!

Of course, Jay saw no problem with it so long as they could find out what was wrong with Atlanta during these exams.

Jay: You'll just have to fix it before Atlanta finds out about it, you two. Right now, you both need to go in to find out anything you can about whatever it is that's going on with her.

Yours Truly: I swear that if either one of you so much as touches even her underwear, I'll kill the both of you.

Jay: Forget that right now, Archie. Herry could've just broken whatever he broke by accident. You know the big guy doesn't know his own strength. Neil, you got a bead on her?

Neil (over the PMR): Oh, yeah!

'Yeah right!' was more like it with Neil. Knowing him, the member of our team who seemed to be loved by luck more than anything else was probably too busy looking at swimsuit models or something to focus on what Atlanta was doing at the time, my Atlanta.

Then, what I bet for one reason or another was nothing short of being out of nowhere, it had suddenly sounded like Neil had finally focused on Atlanta as it sounded like she had run by his end of our spy mission.

Neil (over the PMR): Uh, uh, she's heading down the trail.

Jay had only heard the second part of what Neil had said since it actually regarded my Atlanta.

Jay: Any second now.

Of course, she never showed up in our direction, though.

Yours Truly: Where'd she go?

Neil was the first of our friends to reply back to my question about Atlanta.

Neil (over the PMR): You're asking me? I just watched her head over in yours and Jay's direction a few seconds ago.

Yours Truly: Now's not the time for any of your stupid jokes, Neil. Atlanta could be in real trouble, right now.

Ever the leader of our team, Jay had once again made his move in trying his absolute hardest to keep the peace between our team of Greek heroes' descendants.

Jay: Relax, Archie. Atlanta probably just went down a different path than we thought she would. We could always get up and just look for her.

Theresa responded to Jay's input first.

Theresa (over the PMR): Jay's right. I'll join you guys to search for Atlanta.

Yours Truly: No. We don't need it.

Even when I was quick to decline Theresa's help in searching for my Atlanta, the drama queen still told me why she wanted to search for her girl friend, too.

Theresa (over the PMR): Archie, I know you wanna be her hero because you like her as more than just a friend, but the truth is that Atlanta's just as important to me as she is to you and the guys.

I just sighed in exasperation at the drama queen.

Yours Truly: I suppose I've got no choice but to give in to your request to join us, do I, Theresa?

Theresa: Oh come on, Archie. You do so have a choice.

I thought about it for a bit; I could have either searched for Atlanta on my own and been her hero like I had wanted to or let the other members of our team offer me some back-up on searching for the number one girl in my life. That was around when Jay had spoken to me about it.

Jay: Tell you what, Archie. Why don't all of us split up while searching for her so we can cover more ground?

I slapped the palm of Jay's hand with my own in agreement with his strategy.

Yours Truly: Amen to that, Jay!

That was when Neil suddenly began taunting me about being a lot quicker to agree with Jay's new plan at the time.

Neil (over the PMR): Archie and Atlanta sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

Then, I could hear Neil making smooching sounds with his lips to taunt me even further about my crush on Atlanta. Theresa and Jay just laughed at Neil's inside joke between the four of us, while I hung my head in miserable embarrassment at my crush on Atlanta basically being ratted out to Theresa, even when the drama queen had known since just after that last incident with the Seeper a mere few days before these events. I had even pulled the hood from my hoodie over my head just to avoid the red on my face showing itself to any passersby in the park.

Theresa: Oh, Archie, you're not embarrassed about who you love, are you?

I had actually tried to deny my crush on Atlanta even to Theresa before finally admitting to it.

Yours Truly: I_ that is to say_ OK fine, Theresa, you caught me. I like Atlanta as more than a friend. And by that, of course, I mean that I like her, like her. Just rub it in like last time when you first found out, why don't you? Especially considering that I already get more than enough of it from the guys, anyway.

I suppose that saying that she could have made fun of me for it as much as she pleased was a bit of an overreaction towards Theresa commenting about my crush on her number one girl friend, Atlanta, particularly considering what the long-haired red head had said to me about it next.

Theresa: Come on, Neil. I think you've made your point and that Archie's had enough teasing about Atlanta. As for you, Archie, it wasn't like it was hard to figure this out when you mentioned having kissed Atlanta during our visit from Hope and the Seeper.

Underneath my hood, I could only blush an even deeper shade of red at what Theresa had said about me choosing Atlanta over Ares when she had her little dispute with my mentor and the rest of the gods over being better than any of them at their own games. That was around the same time that Theresa spoke to me about it.

Theresa (continued): It's OK, Archie. I promise you that your secret about crushing on Atlanta is safe with me.

I just sighed in relief at what Theresa, the drama queen, of all members of our team, had told me.

Theresa (continued): I will say this, though, Archie.

Oh, so the drama queen had more to say to me about my own crush on Atlanta.

Theresa (continued): I would tell Atlanta that I liked her the way you do if I were you before graduation, because if you can't do it, I would be more than ready, willing and able to confess to Atlanta for you.

Oh, so that was where the drama queen was going with her end of that continuation of her words to me about my secret crush on Atlanta.

A few seconds later as soon as we began looking around for our friend, I became the first one to find Atlanta. Technically speaking, however, Atlanta had actually found me. I had gone looking for her on the northern path within the park, when I had suddenly felt something or someone tap at me on the shoulder right before flinching and yelping at being touched. That was when I had heard a voice from behind me following that tapping on my shoulder.

Voice from behind me at the time: What are you doing?

I had noticed that the voice belonged to a girl my age. I turned my whole body around to face the owner of said voice, only to find out that Atlanta had tapped me on my shoulder. I could barely believe that it was really her, my Atlanta, in the flesh after having been acting really, super weird for as long as she did. She placed her hands behind her back and applied her legs in a type of flirty position. This had to have been the most romantically inclined intentions she had ever shown towards me. I suddenly felt like I was dreaming this whole situation up between the two of us. I rubbed my hand against the back of my hair in a nervously embarrassed manner just before I would have answered her question.

Yours Truly: Uh, just, uh_ goin' for a run.

I tried to play my bodily motion off like it was the truth, but Atlanta only walked right by me.

Atlanta: Dressed like that?

Wait a minute. My Atlanta had still been acting the way she had been ever since coming back to the rest of the team during the archery exam when she was arrogant for the first time and insulted Ares and the other gods. What on earth was going on with her? She was not acting like the Atlanta I had grown to like, the Atlanta I would always like to remember, even when I would grow gray and old.

A/N: and that, my readers, is my own brilliant homage to James Arthur's own hit song 'Say You Won't Let Go'.

I decided to follow my Atlanta, or at least the one who had called herself Atlanta, further along the northern path. I did not even know who it was I was talking to anymore.

Yours Truly: Huh? Well, you know, when the mood hits, HOO! I'm a running fool.

Then, she had suddenly seemed to have a comeback to my comment about the way I was dressed.

Atlanta: I'd agree with part of that statement.

Needless to say, I was embarrassed by her comeback.

Then right when I thought that things could not get any weirder than they had been about this stranger who only seemed to look like my beloved Atlanta, they actually did when something of unknown origin lifted me from way up in the trees. I had dropped my PMR on my way up from being dragged into the treetops, along with my earbuds.

Upon finally reaching the top of the tree into which I had been pulled off the ground, I started to feel slightly woozy from the trip upwards until I had realized that Jay and Theresa seemed like the two of them had joined me up in the tree.

Jay: Thank the gods you're finally awake, Archie.

Yours Truly: Huh? Jay? Theresa? Where are we?

Theresa: Well, let's just say that knowing you, you'd probably not like what's going on, much less believe it.

I was thoroughly confused by what Theresa was saying to me about our situation at the time.

Yours Truly: What are ya talking about? Why the hey are the three of us all tied up by spider webs?

Jay spoke to me on his girlfriend's behalf about the situation in which all three of us were at the time.

Jay: That's just the part you'd most likely find unbelievable.

Yours Truly: What about the part I probably wouldn't like? What's that about, you two?

Theresa and Jay looked like the two of them were ready to tell me when a very large and very talkative spider came down from the canopy of the trees and into the understory where I was tied up in what was most likely said spider's own webbing with Jay and Theresa. I know what you are probably thinking; how big could the spider be, and why would I have called it talkative, too? The answer to both questions is because the spider was just about five-hundred times the size of your average, everyday common house spider and the spider began speaking to me as soon as it came into my line of vision.

Gigantic, yet talkative spider: I believe I can answer that part for you, young purple-haired boy.

If it was not bad enough that this gigantic spider looked so dern terrifying, there was also the fact that it referred to me the way it would have referred to a small child. I was fourteen and well on my way to turning fifteen by that very series of events, thank you very much. I was far too scared of this gigantic spider to be mad at her for referring to me as a child, though, never mind telling her off for it. How did I know that Jay, Theresa's and my own arachnological captor was a female spider, you ask? The answer to that question is also a very simple one. I knew that this spider was a female because the voice in which it was so talkative sounded pretty feminine for something so terrifying.

Gigantic, yet talkative female spider (continued): I could not have done this without your girlfriend, Atlanta, my dear boy.

I refused to believe her about it. I had to be asleep on my pillow and in the middle of the worst nightmare of my life… so far, that is.

Yours Truly: That can't be the truth. I don't believe it, I won't believe a word of it.

That was when all of my nightmares suddenly turned into reality when the one who had helped this gigantic spider get us up in those trees and bind all three of us up within her web finally showed himself, or should I have rather said herself, to be none other than my own ideal girl from our team of Greek heroes' descendants, Atlanta.

Atlanta: Are you sure about that?

With those five words, I had finally realized that it was nothing short of the truth. I was so shellshocked that I could not even speak to anyone for the next hour or so because I had blacked out from pure shock.

I did not even wake up until after Neil, then Herry and Odie had joined the rest of us in this spider's web and we had all been transported to a cave of some kind. Then, the gigantic, yet talkative spider had put Jay on the left end of her web. I had only hoped that Atlanta was alright and not in this she-arachnid's clutches.

That was when the rest of us had all heard Odie talking from beyond one of the tunnels in this exceedingly black and darkened cave which I had suddenly realized was this gigantic spider's layer.

Odie: Come on, Atlanta. Let me go.

The gigantic spider suddenly smashed a skull on her floor with one of her eight legs.

Gigantic, yet talkative spider: What a glorious day! Soon I will be human once more.

That was when I heard the slimy creature whisper something or other to Atlanta. I could make it out from her, but just barely.

Gigantic, yet talkative spider (continued): You truly are a good friend.

Then, she actually hugged that awful nightmare of a giant spider-like creature. Herry and Neil just exclaimed in disgust about it. I, for one, thought that they had good reason to be, too.

Gigantic, yet talkative spider (continued): I must get Cronus.

Cronus! So, he was what this whole thing was about. I still did not understand what could have driven Atlanta to be as disrespectful to the gods as she was starting from our archery exams, though, especially since Cronus, himself, was still a god. That was around when I had heard Jay try talking some sense into our arachnid abductor.

Jay: Arachne, listen to me. Cronus is a liar. Whatever deal he's made with you, he'll find a way to twist it into a punishment…

The gigantic spider, this Arachne, would not hear it, however, and splattered some of her spider webbing over Jay's mouth.

Arachne: Oh, be quiet.

Yep! This Arachne was definitely not the ancient world's best listener. Why did she even seem to think that Cronus would keep his end of this deal between them she kept talking about and make her human again? From what Odie had told Jay and the rest of us while we were all in the tree, I guess that Arachne had a human form once before getting turned into a spider by Athena for boasting about weaving fabrics for the gods.

Then Arachne, the spider in sheep's clothing, or the human in spider's clothing, or whatever she really was, strode up to Atlanta and gave her message.

Arachne (continued): Atlanta, dear?

'Atlanta, dear'?! Just who did this Arachne think she was, calling Atlanta, my Atlanta, her 'dear'? Of course, Atlanta only responded to the beginning of Arachne's request with that sweeter than honey voice of hers, the same kind of voice that she had back when she was still into Pan disguised as 'Phil'. It was the very same kind of voice which my Atlanta had used to express affection towards another.

Atlanta: Yes?

It was so disgusting to watch Atlanta, my Atlanta, act like she pined for such a creature. Surely she saw what all of her other friends/teammates were seeing.

Arachne: Make sure none of your former friends try to escape.

That was when I had heard Atlanta say the most disturbing thing I had ever heard from her lips directed towards that spider in sheep's clothing that was only pretending to be her friend, Arachne.

Atlanta: With pleasure.

Then, she launched a rib bone into her hands from on the floor simply by stepping on it, alone. Man, she was the best. I just could not get her out of my head. It was a shame that she was loyal only to Arachne at the time.

Arachne: Such a sweet girl. Perhaps Cronus will let me keep you. As a pet.

Arachne then used her one of her eight legs to massage Atlanta's right temple. Arachne was massaging my Atlanta's right temple with one of her eight ugly, skinny legs. How dare she massage my Atlanta with those creepy legs of hers. That did it for me. I simply had to find a way to break free from Arachne's spider web and rescue Atlanta from this creature's web of lies.

As for the part about Cronus, of all gods, sparing Atlanta and letting Arachne keep her as a pet, I did not think that the gigantic lady spider should have been holding her breath out for that sort of thing to happen if it really was Cronus with whom she had made her deal to become human again. Cronus wanted nothing more than to rid himself of every last one of us which, whether Arachne were counting on it or not, included my Atlanta.

That was around when Arachne started to crawl away, most likely to go get Cronus as she had hoped to. Theresa spoke up to Atlanta following Arachne leaving us with her.

Theresa: Atlanta, help us!

That was when Atlanta finally looked towards Theresa's direction with a slightly confused expression decorating her face. I think I got what Theresa was getting at with just how Atlanta had looked at her best girl friend on the team. I decided to help Theresa find a way to get through to my Atlanta.

Yours Truly: I know you're in there, Atlanta!

Odie, Herry, then Neil also followed Theresa's lead just after I had.

Odie: You've got to fight it!

Herry: Get us down from here!

Neil: I'll give you my stereo!

Needless to say, I thought Odie's cry out to Atlanta was the best one there was besides Theresa's and my own. Herry's sounded more like a demand than anything else. Neil's cry out to Atlanta made the pretty boy of our team sound more like he was trying to brownnose my crush into helping the rest of her friends down from Arachne's web.

Meanwhile, Jay could only mumble what he had wanted to say to Atlanta since he was both bound and gagged by Arachne's spider webbing, unlike the rest of us on the team who were only bound by her spider threads.

That was just around when Atlanta started to act a little funny about something or other, except that it was anything but the hilarious kind of funny. Her actions at the time looked more like the freaky-deaky kind of funny. Then, she actually began speaking to someone who was either just invisible or not even there.

Atlanta: Shut up! You're not my friend! They are!

OK? What was even going on in her head? Of course, Neil and Odie were the only ones who had anything to say about it.

Neil: OK, this is getting creepy.

Unfortunately for the rest of our team, not even Odie, who was supposed to be the brains of our group, knew the answer to whatever it was that was happening to Atlanta at the time.

Odie: Who's she talkin' to?

Fortunately for the two of them along with the rest of us guys, Theresa seemed like her supposed psychic ability that Jay and Atlanta had told me about before was seeming to pay off.

Theresa: She's hypnotized for sure.

Or perhaps it was not paying off, since I seriously doubted that Theresa had even needed to be a psychic to see that my Atlanta was being controlled by something or other.

So then, my Atlanta had been made into a mind maiden by Arachne, had she? No wonder she had been such an egomaniac upon coming back just in time for the archery exam that Miss Hera had set up for us, even more so than Neil normally was.

A/N: that part, right there, still throws even me for a loop, and I'm the one writing this fanfiction about this whole series. I know that most of this storyline is stolen from the show, itself, but I still can't believe that Neil, of all members of their team, thought Atlanta was being arrogant about the exams given to them by the gods in the episode on which this chapter in my fanfiction is based.

I was just about ready to give up our fight against even my own crush, Atlanta, when I realized that what the drama queen had said might have just been the case. She had to be under someone's control if she had been acting the way she had been. I mean, it was only too obvious that she had been hypnotized by something or someone, that of whom I bet was none other than the woman in spider's clothing, herself. You all know about whom I was talking; Arachne.

Yours Truly: Atlanta. Atlanta!

She had turned around, but only to growl at me having gone fully back to being under Arachne's control. I decided to try a different tactic than that of what I had been trying the whole time we had been in Arachne's clutches.

Yours Truly (continued): Atlanta, I know you can hear me. It's me, Archie. Your friend.

That was when I saw my Atlanta start to focus only on me for a second or two before I began speaking to her again.

Yours Truly (continued): Atlanta, listen to me. We're in danger. Your friends are in danger.

That was when my Atlanta had finally spoken with her own voice and, from the sound of her word, her own mind.

Atlanta: Friend?

I guessed that I was finally starting to get through to her, and I could not have felt prouder of myself for it.

Yours Truly: That's right, Atlanta.

I had to thank Theresa for giving me the idea of trying to get Atlanta to hear my voice to snap out of this trance or whatever it was that she-spider, Arachne, had her under.

Yours Truly (continued): I'm your friend. I love_

I did not know why I paused myself there. Oh wait, yeah I did. I was still way scared to tell Atlanta that I loved her because of the probability of getting as good as rejected. I decided to go a different route to snap her out of this hypnotic trance under which Arachne had on my crush's own psyche.

Yours Truly (continued): I really, really care about you.

A/N: really, Archibald? really?! you can't even confess your love towards your Atlanta when she's under some kind of trance and a love confession might just be the only thing that can snap her out of it?!

I guess that my Atlanta simply took what she could get in place of a love confession as enough of a spell breaker to snap her out of Arachne's hypnosis, especially since it had seemed to work on her.

Atlanta: Guys? Where are we? What are you doing up there?

A/N: well, it would have made for one fantastic love confession, but at least it was still just enough to bring the real Atlanta back into her own psyche because of course it was, obviously. congratulations on your 'almost-love-confession', Archie.

It was just then that Atlanta came around to helping the rest of her team down. Knowing her, however, she was probably going to start with someone like Jay, Odie, or even her favorite friend on our team, Theresa. I held my head down as I waited for her to finally get around to me, but as it turned out, I did not have to wait for her to come around to me too long, or even at all. That is correct. The girl of my dreams got me down first out of the six other members of our ragtag team of Greek heroes' descendants. I was elated and filled with such joy over that, I almost bore a goofy, stupid-looking grin on my face because of it.

I chose to hold such an expression in, however, and save it for after we had gotten everyone else down from Arachne's web and stopped Cronus from carrying out his word to the spider in question. That was when I told my Atlanta what had happened to her and the rest of us as soon as she got me down.

Yours Truly: You were hypnotized by Arachne.

I could easily tell everyone else on my team that no one would ever brainwash my Atlanta again and get away with it.

That was when we had all heard Jay's muffled screaming call out to the rest of us. Odie answered her next.

Odie: She's tricked you into helping her capture us.

Meanwhile, Jay just continued to scream while still gagged by Arachne's spider threads. Theresa was the only one to acknowledge his muffled screams, though.

Theresa: What? What did we forget?

It was then that Atlanta tore off the spider threads that had been Jay's mouth gags ever since Arachne had last shot her webbing at our fearless leader, and he could finally get out what he had wanted to.

Jay: Run!

That was when Atlanta and I had noticed someone coming towards us all. It was actually two someones, to be exact. I could make out their physical shapes very clearly. It was Arachne and Cronus. That gigantic lady spider had returned with the evil god of time and space, himself. Atlanta then made a run for me and the two of us went to search for an exit to Arachne's cave, but not before Atlanta had spoken to the others about us running out on them when they needed our help.

Atlanta: I'll get you out of this. I promise.

It was then that the two of us made a dash for a random tunnel, hoping to find a way out of that horrible place in which Arachne seemed to live for who even knew why.

A little later in the same tunnel, we heard a voice. It came off as a really poor attempt to be seductive to me.

Voice: Atlanta? Atlanta! Where are you? It's me, Arachne.

Well, that answered my question as to who was following us in a tunnel like that. If I were a gambler, I would have bet that she probably thought that Atlanta was still under her control. Yeah right, Arachne. Fat chance of that being the truth.

Atlanta: Some friend!

My point, exactly. Enough of your snarky sarcasm and focusing on Arachne, Atlanta. I just wanted her you focus on me even for a bit.

That was when I had spotted a couple of skeletons from Arachne's collection of them that resembled that one famous painting, 'American Gothic', right down to the pitchfork onto which the gentleman in the painting was always holding. I suppose that at least Arachne was a woman_ er, a spider of taste in she had skeletons like those two in her collection. I, for one, found it to be the one and perhaps the only touch of comedy in that horror-themed cave. What did I do then? I got in between the two skeletons which were in the hole and had resembled the 'American Gothic' painting, right before signaling to my Atlanta.

Yours Truly: Hey, look!

Atlanta looked in my direction. I rose up from my hiding spot in the same hole with the two skeletons only for the pitchfork-holding gentleman's skull to fall completely off of his skeletal body.

Yours Truly: Oops!

I still kept my smile towards her as I admit that I was just trying to joke around with her. That was around when Atlanta had picked up the pitchfork from the gentleman skeleton's hands, almost as though she were ready to strike Arachne down.

Speaking of Arachne, that gigantic she-arachnid seemed to have finally come into our path within the next few seconds, and did she have a lot to say to both Atlanta and yours truly in only one sentence alone.

Arachne: You can't hide forever!

Arachne seemed to just crawl right past the two of us not long after she had said this, though. Atlanta seemed to be a top priority to that gigantic she-spider and her prime target.

Atlanta: She's right.

I was thoroughly confused by such words coming from past my Atlanta's lips.

Yours Truly: What?

I even tilted one eyebrow upwards while keeping my other eyebrow in its usual place to further express my confusion towards what my Atlanta had said about Arachne's words to the two of us, though it was probably meant mostly for my Atlanta, herself.

That was around when Atlanta clarified what she had meant when saying that Arachne was right by repeating the she-spider's words to her.

Atlanta: We can't hide forever.

Then, my Atlanta got up from kneeling down with me only to have most likely come up with a plan to get back at Arachne for brainwashing her and poisoning her will against the rest of the team.

Atlanta (continued): Follow my lead.

I obeyed her without question and followed suit.

Yours Truly: OK.

But then, she pointed the pitchfork she had grabbed off the skeletons towards my face.

Yours Truly (continued): What are ya doin'?

She had brought me all the way back to her spidery hypnotist who was also my arachnological captor along with the rest of the team's. Yep, I was brought right back into Arachne's clutches by my own crush.

Atlanta: Move!

I guess I was wrong when I thought that I had freed my Atlanta from that she-spider's hypnosis when I had only said that 'I really, really cared about her'. I guess that I really did have to confess to my own lustful crush on her in order to truly free my Atlanta from that awful she-spider's control. I wanted to do it, of course. I really did, if only to be her hero. It was just that I just could not spit those three stupid words out.

By the time I had finally gathered up just enough of my own courage to even try to confess my love towards my Atlanta, Arachne had already noticed me being held hostage by her little mind puppet.

Arachne: What happened?

Atlanta then held onto my shoulder blade.

Atlanta: This one tried to escape!

'This one'? 'This one'?! Oh, I saw it. I guess that she really was still under the awfully, truly ugly she-spider, Arachne's, control, after all.

That was when Atlanta and Arachne had brought me back to our other five friends only to encounter Cronus once again.

Cronus, the god of time and space: Wonderful. Put him with the others.

Of course, I was worried about myself and the rest of our team. Somehow, I think that I was still a lot more worried about Atlanta than anything or anyone else at the time, though. I tried reasoning with her about it.

Yours Truly: Atlanta!

Atlanta only pushed me down in response, however, and even yelled at me over it.

Atlanta: Shut up!

Odie seemed to be the only one to have anything to say about it, at all, though.

Odie: We're hooped.

Then, Cronus started laughing that evil, heinous laugh at the rest of our team over Atlanta finally seeming to have turned on us, her own teammates, of all people she had ever known in her life.

Cronus, the god of time and space: Now then, time to get to work.

That was when my faith in my beloved Atlanta started being almost instantly restored when she began talking a lot less and less like someone who was being controlled.

Atlanta: I wouldn't trust him, Arachne. Get your payment first.

Luckily for Atlanta and I, Arachne seemed to buy into what my number one girl was selling her. I suspect that that gigantic she-spider might not have known just how mind control worked and that Atlanta just might have been the she-spider's first ever time having hypnotized someone.

Arachne: She's right. I want my payment.

Cronus, on the other hand, was a different story altogether. Whether he knew the rules of mind control or just wanted to get over with killing our whole team off, however, was a lot more uncertain to any one of us.

Cronus, the god of time and space: And you shall have it. As soon as I have disposed of them.

Arachne was probably only too desperate to get what Cronus had promised her, but even she chose to believe my Atlanta over her own dealer.

Arachne: I've honored my end of the bargain, Cronus.

Cronus only rubbed his hand to his forehead. I suppose that he only chose to give Arachne what he had promised her in exchange for me and the rest of our team of Greek heroes' descendants just so that he could stop her suspicions brought on by an Atlanta whom I was suddenly feeling a lot more sure had already been freed from that gigantic she-spider's control the first time around all along.

Cronus, the god of time and space: Oh, very well.

It seemed like it had only taken a snap of Cronus' fingers, but Arachne was suddenly transformed from her gigantic she-spider form. It looked and sounded like she was in blinding pain, though.

Atlanta: Now!

Yours Truly: I knew it!

Admittingly, I might not have known she was still on the side of her friends, but I did catch onto her still being under Arachne's control as nothing more than a ruse eventually.

When Arachne was finally transformed into whichever it was Cronus was changing her, a human female had emerged from her now fully transformed spider body. Not to mention that she was even a very beautiful, but anciently attired human female, at that. Who knew that she, of all kinds of appearances, was what a creature as blindingly ugly as Arachne had looked like before having ever been turned into a gigantic spider by Athena, herself?

Of course, Atlanta and I had freed the rest of our friends while Arachne was busy basking in her former human beauty of which Athena had robbed her the day she was turned into that gigantic, ugly she-spider.

Arachne's human form: Human. I'm human.

Atlanta: Congratulations.

Atlanta then jump kicked Arachne's human form to the ground upon having been turned human. Atlanta looked like she was pretty dern satisfied by what she had done to her former psyche snatcher. Of course, that did not mean that we were no longer in danger. The rest of our team still had Cronus to deal with. Speaking of Cronus, the evil god of time and space had actually commented on Atlanta's trickery of his own bargainer, Arachne, by pretending to still be under the former she-spider's control.

Cronus, the god of time and space: Hmm. Clever.

I suppose he was just as impressed with Atlanta as Arachne had been for one reason or another after she had walked out on the make-up exams in retaliation for Ares' sexist comments about her having thought of using bait instead of me. I tried, I failed. That guy really needed to get over it. If he had yet to get over even his sexist views about girls by the time we were finished with the fight at hand, he was so going to have to deal with an earful… even if I had to be the one to give it to my own mentor.

At the time of our situation during the fight, however, our entire team had more pressing matters to deal with, such as stopping Cronus before he could get the upper hand or even run out on us in the midst of battle.

Jay: After him, before he escapes.

But Cronus decided upon the latter of the two; running away from his seven opponents in the midst of battle.

Cronus, the god of time and space: Hmm. I'll be going now.

Just as all of our team but Atlanta ran after Cronus anyway, the creep summoned his two sickles and sliced at the way he had most likely come in Arachne's cave when she had gone to get him just to show him her work. Not long afterwards, that tunnel had collapsed along with what was probably going to more than likely count as our only way out of that she-spider's cave. Way to jinx the fight against our number one enemy, Jay!

That was around when Cronus had suddenly began speaking again, this time to Arachne, from beyond the collapsed tunnel if only to tell her what he had planned for her now that it was clear that she had failed to keep her end of their agreement, after all.

Cronus, the god of time and space (continued): Oh, and, Arachne? Our deal is off!

I did not know what Cronus would have had in mind for Arachne now that it had turned out that she had dishonored her end of whatever deal she had made with him, after all. Whatever Cronus seemed to have in mind as a punishment for having reneged on her word to him, however, it seemed to deform her face as a start just by crackling at it. Needless to say about that poor girl's punishment from Cronus, Arachne seemed as though she had blamed my Atlanta for it just because she broke free from the human-female-turned-gigantic-she-spider-turned-back-into-human-female's control.

Arachne's human form: No! This all your fault!

I know that it might have sounded a bit boastful, but I was pretty sure that it was more my fault than it was Atlanta's fault that Arachne was finally getting a dose of the real Cronus just because she was only too trusting towards the wrong gods.

That was when Cronus' punishment towards Arachne took its full affect. Arachne had later emerged from her transformation, and she was a she-spider once again.

This was not good. She was going after Atlanta now. I guess that she was ready to strike my favorite person_ on the team_ down, this time. Atlanta had to run. She only stood her ground, though.

Just as Arachne had finally made it to my best friend, Atlanta, however, the gigantic she-spider was not so gigantic anymore. In fact, Arachne had actually been turned into a normal-sized spider by Cronus and was in no way threatening to Atlanta, the rest of us, or even anyone else on earth, for that matter. I suppose that that was the full affect of the punishment that Cronus had in mind for Arachne after Atlanta had played both of them for idiots.

A/N: I always hate being the villain in any possible situation just like this one right here, but I can easily say that that sort of punishment did kind of serve Arachne right for getting her own hopes up about returning to her human form in exchange for making a deal with Cronus, of all the Greek gods. I know that Atlanta and Archie had tricked her, but I'm pretty sure that it was Arachne's fault most of all for trusting Atlanta, who had only sided with her because that she-spider had brainwashed the girl into helping her and poisoned her against her own friends and teammates, over Cronus, who she had actually struck her deal with about being turned back into a human in exchange for the deaths of our heroes.

Arachne was not even big enough to crush so much as my Atlanta's pinky toe, the she-spider was so puny now.

Arachne: What? No. No!

Atlanta could not sense danger from her any longer. In fact, my number one girl had even grabbed an urn from off the floor of Arachne's own dark cave of a home and placed it atop the she-spider who then began shouting for mercy from my ideal girl.

Arachne: Mercy! Mercy!

Of course, Atlanta only had one word to say about it.

Atlanta: Whatever.

Then, my Atlanta had finally closed the lid to the urn on the newly, and quite drastically, size reduced Arachne.

That was around when all of us were suddenly rescued from Arachne's dark cave of a lair by Ares, Artemis, and Athena. Jay was first to speak about them coming to our rescue.

Jay: Man, are we glad to see you three.

Atlanta was not as happy as Jay or the others were to see Ares among the gods who had come to our aid in Arachne's cave.

Atlanta: Yeah, speak for yourself, Jay. I still think that Ares is a male chauvinist pig for getting on my case about how we all did on the first exam.

The god of the savagery in warfare, however, was not willing to back down in matters of personal pride, himself.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Why you little_ watch your tongue, you!

Artemis and Athena tried to stop Ares from talking his anger out on Atlanta unnecessarily by holding him back, while I actually held my arm out over her for her protection from my own mentor, of all Olympian gods. She just walked past my arm anyway, though, before she started talking to Ares further about it.

Atlanta: But I can easily admit to when I'm not being all that respectful of others, myself. I know now that I should never have said anything of the things I said just to get even with him for it.

Ares had suddenly looked as though he was surprised by these words coming from Atlanta. In fact, he had even looked almost as surprised as Miss Artemis and Athena were. One thing was for sure; and that was that I, myself, was surprised by what Atlanta had been saying to the god of the savagery in warfare AKA my own mentor, himself. To my surprise thereafter, Ares had only let out a slightly defeated sigh in response to what Atlanta had said to him. Then, even more to my surprise, Ares actually went from being ready to unleash his fury upon my crush to extending his arms out to Atlanta in a welcoming manner, especially for him, of all gods.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Come on, kids. You can talk about it when we get back to the school, Atlanta.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy: And don't forget to bring that with you, Atlanta.

Athena pointed to the urn which had held Arachne as she said her own words to my Atlanta. It was not very long before we had used the portal of the gods to get back home to New Olympia High School. Upon making it back to the school, Jay, Herry, Odie, and Neil were all only too happy to head back to the dorm, while Theresa and I felt a bit hesitant about it. My sister-figure and I were both worried about my Atlanta and whatever the gods would have had in mind for her as a punishment like what Cronus had done to Arachne when he did more than just turn her back into a she-spider and shrunk her in addition.

Yours Truly: I think that the only fair way to decide who stays behind with Atlanta is rock-paper-scissors. What do ya say, Theresa? Are ya game for it?

I admit that I was just trying to act like my usual tough guy self, but in truth, I was scared to death for my Atlanta's sake and whatever punishment she was going to get from the gods for the way she insulted Ares, even if she did do it while she was under Arachne's control.

Theresa: Fine then, let's do it, Archie.

Theresa may have said she was game for it, but the way she said it sounded like she was not even interested. In fact, her response to my challenge actually sounded a bit bored to me for some reason. I threw down paper as my weapon. Even after Theresa launched her weapon very long after mine, she still threw down with rock as her weapon. I think that she had lost to me on purpose, and here I thought she was supposed to be a psychic. So much for that theory. While the drama queen went back to the dorm with the rest of the guys, I went into check on Atlanta.

Back inside that room, Atlanta was talking to Ares, Hera, Artemis, and Athena about what she had said about the god of the savagery in warfare. She had also handed them the urn which had contained Arachne's newly shrunken spider body.

Atlanta: I let my anger cloud my judgment, and I'm sorry.

Ares just shook his head and sighed at her apology, and here I had actually thought that he had changed his mind about a girl being the best at anything, at all. Hera, however, quickly turned her own head towards the god who had been in question at the time.

Hera, queen of the Greek gods: Ares!

Ares turned around and crossed his arms over his chest before speaking to back to Atlanta. Seriously, just what was it with this guy? Did he have some kind of thing against strong women or something? Granted that I sort of admittingly had a thing against strong women, myself, but hey, none of you saw me picking on a girl for handling herself better than any guy could. I had no problem with chicks who could handle their own problems. It was kind of exactly what I liked about my Atlanta.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Apology accepted.

Atlanta: Huh?

Atlanta sounded shocked by Ares suddenly accepting her apology. Honestly speaking from my own point of view, I was just as shocked as she was and could not really tell whether Ares had accepted my Atlanta's apology genuinely or if he had only accepted her apology because Hera had made the god of the savagery in warfare accept my crush's apology to him.

Atlanta (continued): What's gonna happen to Arachne?

What? 'What was going to happen to Arachne?'? That newly shrunken she-spider was who she was worried about? That recently shrunken she-spider, who had tried to brainwash her and poison her against her own friends and teammates, that was about whom my Atlanta was the most concerned at the time? Not any of her own teammates, or even herself for that matter? Personally speaking, I felt as though the latter of those two choices about whom to worry was really the only true person with whom she should have concerned herself and not that walking, talking anthropomorphic arachnid wannabe. Of course, Athena happened to have a thing or two to say which she had felt would reassure Atlanta about just what was going to happen to Arachne.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy: Don't worry. She'll be punished.

Athena then began patting the urn as she had said it about Arachne. With those two sentences, however, Atlanta had still managed to make an argument against the gods punishing Arachne any further.

Atlanta: You can't! Your ancient punishment turned her to Cronus' side. How many others might try to get their revenge on you through us?

That was when I finally saw just what Atlanta was saying with that kind of remark. Ares, Hera and Artemis even began pondering just how many others there really were that might have tried to get their revenge on them through any one of our friends and teammates. Athena, however, just continued to hold onto the urn which held Arachne's newly shrunken spider form inside of it.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy: But she made fun of my weaving!

Hera then gave Athena a dirty look for whining over her personal pride the same way Ares had when Atlanta had done the best of us all against the harpy in the first exam. I guess that Atlanta and Arachne were both right, after all, about even gods being capable of being jerks. Speaking of Ares, himself, even he and Artemis gave Athena the same look Hera did about swallowing her godly pride.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy (continued): Oh, very well.

It was around that point in their conversation with one another, roughly the same time at which I had finally made my way up to Mrs. Hera's table with my Atlanta and the gods, that Athena had let Arachne's tiny, normal-sized spider form out of the urn and zapped the she-spider back into her human form. I had finally felt safe enough to even look at her, and believe me when I say that she was so very pretty. Of course, I imagine that Arachne was very grateful to Atlanta for it. The former she-spider, however, only seemed unsure of what reason my crush would have had for helping her, even after everything that the woman had put her through as a gigantic she-spider.

Arachne: But_ buy, why?

Believe me, Arachne, I was just as confused as you were about my Atlanta helping you gain your human form back. That is to say that I was as confused about it as Arachne, herself, was at the time, until I remembered just why the love of my life had chosen to free me first when my admittingly aborted love confession still wound up being just enough to snap my crush out of the trance under which the gigantic she-spider had her.

I admit that I was not all that happy about what I knew her reason was for helping only me down at the time. I knew that without a shadow of a doubt, Atlanta had only helped me down first because I was her friend. It was only after we had all escaped Arachne's clutches as a she-spider that I had begun to think that I really should have just spat out to Atlanta that I loved her while she was still under Arachne's control.

I would have been glad to help answer the former normal-sized-she-spider-turned-back-into-a-human-female's question, but my Atlanta had chosen to answer Arachne's question on her own, though.

Atlanta: Because friends help each other.

That was around when Atlanta had turned her head in my direction and began smiling at me like the pure and innocent princess she was, even after receiving what I had already known to be her first kiss from 'Phil' AKA Pan that one time.

No wait, that was only the way I always saw her. She was a lot more capable than being just some random princess waiting for her prince, though. I guess that I just could not help but think that about her, though, since I loved her, and that I always got nervous whenever she was around and had even lost a brain cell or two whenever I thought about her.

A/N: oh, believe me. I know about love clouding your senses. I've never felt it, myself, but I've seen it. granted, I've only seen it on television and in movies, but I've still seen it, nonetheless.