Chapter Two

Horses' whinnies floated through the air as Archie mucked out the stable, scrunching up his nostrils as he did every day to try and hold his breath. This was the only part he hated about owning horses; their manure reeked to high heaven. A soft nose ruffled his violet hair, and he looked over his shoulder to see his horse, Atalanta, staring at him through big brown eyes. Her ears were perked forward curiously. It seemed that she sensed a change in him.

"Like my new hairdo, girl?" he asked, grinning. She snorted indignantly and tossed her head as if to say no. He shrugged and ran his hand through it. "Lissa seemed to think it was pretty cool." Did his horse just roll her eyes at him? He blinked and leaned towards her, when suddenly she threw her head high, eyes white with alarm.

"Whoa," he cried as she reared, whinnying wildly, hooves lashing about dangerously. He dropped to the floor to avoid being hit and rolled out of the way. Scampering out of the stables, he slid to a stop as a huge foot crashed into his way. Not even daring to look up, he tried to manoeuvre around it, but was forced to resort to violence as a huge hand reached to grab him. He gave a roundhouse kick, something he had learned in karate.

He jumped away as another hand groped around for him, but he was startled by a girl's scream.

He glanced up at the giants to see one of them carrying a huge brown bag.

Inside, the three teenagers were being thrown around sadistically, banging heads and screaming in pain.

"Ahh!" Atlanta shrieked as Herry landed on top of her, knocking the wind out of her, and leaving her breathless. "Get off!"

"I would, if they would stop jerking around!" he growled. She kicked him off and jumped up, only to topple right back on top of Jay as the giant carrying them started moving again.

Out of the blue, the top of the bag opened, and the teens caught a glimpse of the big blue sky, and freedom, before another teenager was hurled down, yelling.

He happened to land right on top of Atlanta, Jay, and Herry, Atlanta on the bottom of the dog pile. This just wasn't her lucky day.

"GET OFF!" she bellowed, and the boys meekly crawled away, leaving her to gingerly sit up. Glaring at the intruder, she asked brusquely, "Who are you?"

He stared angrily back. "Archie," he snapped. "And what's it to you?"

"Shut…"

"Hey, guys, chill out," Herry said hurriedly, positioning himself as the peacemaker.

"You chill out when you've been kidnapped by big monsters and don't know what the heck is happening!" Atlanta shot back.

"I have been!" Herry responded coldly. "And you don't see me acting like a two year old."

She clenched and unclenched her fists, but stayed quiet. Jay seized this opportunity to introduce himself.

"I'm Jay," he said politely, extending his hand for a shake. Archie grudgingly took it, and then turned to the brawny boy beside him.

"Who are you?" he asked, eyeing his muscles nervously. No matter how good he was at the martial arts, sometimes brute strength won anyways.

"The name's Herry," he answered cheerfully, patting him on the back. Archie winced.

"You sure are strong," he pointed out. Herry shrugged.

"Do you know why we're here?" Archie asked Jay, completely ignoring Atlanta, although she intrigued him.

Jay shook his head. "Sorry." Archie sighed and sat down, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"I hope we get out soon."

Atlanta snorted in disgust. "Who doesn't?"

He turned to glare at her, only to notice how hazel her eyes were, glinting with a type of steely determination that reminded him of his horse.

"Listen; sorry for being so rude… what's your name?"

"Atlanta," she answered quietly. Archie jumped, startled. Her name was almost like Atalanta, his horse's name. That was way too freaky. But he loved the name, even if the owner of it was way too argumentative… just like him. He smiled to himself. This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Judging by the way his heart pounded every time he looked at her, he sure hoped so.

"Cool," he murmured, and she turned to smile at him.

"Thanks."

Jay and Herry suddenly felt very awkward, feeling that this was some type of moment or something. They began to chat quietly amongst themselves. But as soon as it had begun, the quiet attraction between the two was broken.

"So, what's with the hair?"

"None of your business," he said defensively.

"Touché," she muttered, and soon a new round of arguing had begun.

"What's the matter with keeping my business to me?"

"You don't have to be so rude about it!"

Jay and Herry sighed, rolled their eyes, and clamped their hands over their ears.

In a small city garage, a young African-American youth knelt down beside his scooter, fixing a tiny glitch he had discovered. The sun shone brightly overhead, and he hummed lightly under his breath.

"There!" he exclaimed, leaning back to proudly examine his work. The scooter sheered with a golden glow, and the metallic coat reflected the sunlight, casting a blinding arrow of light behind him. A squeal erupted, and terror ran through his veins. He had just enough time to dive out of the way as a piece of log cruised through the air, crushing his wonderful piece of work.

Odie fumbled for his laser, dropping it as the boar advanced, snorting furiously. The boar had him pinned up against the wall, and there was no escape. As two giants advanced, hauling a large bag over his shoulder, he trembled inside of his sneakers.

Then he was being dropped into the bag, and as he went whistling through the air, he fainted.

Atlanta caught the tiny boy in her arms, huffing as she toppled backwards.

"Oomph," she huffed, landing hard on the canvas. She stared down at the newest arrival as the others gathered around. The boy was small, even tinier than her, with green-tinted glasses and an afro. An afro? Atlanta had a sudden urge to feel it, to see if it felt as soft as it looked.

"Umm, hello?" Archie said uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

Herry came and shook him roughly, although he didn't mean to. When you're strong, everything you do seems rough. The boy's eyes fluttered open, and he gave a little squeak before clearing his throat.

"Who are you?" he asked. The others grinned dryly, and then turned to Jay to introduce them all.

"I'm Jay, that's Atlanta, Herry, and Archie. Who're you?"

"Odie, genius and protégée to Bill Gates," he said.

"Really?" Herry asked, dumbfounded.

"Umm, no. I was joking. About the Bill Gates part, anyway."

"Oh." Herry beamed sheepishly.

"So, what are you guys doing here?"

"Oh, we just got kidnapped by giants for no apparent reason at all," Atlanta said vaguely.

"And it seems that we won't know what for until they bring us where we're going," Archie continued.

"Duh," Atlanta muttered. Odie sensed hostility between the two, and immediately tried to back away, only to bump into Atlanta's chin.

"Ouch."

"Sorry."

"No problem." She seemed friendly enough, but every time her gaze fell on the guy with the violet hairdo, it hardened, and a look of pride and boastfulness glazed over them. Odie shrugged. He thought they may end up an old married couple, nagging each other to death.

"Are you two, like going out or something?" he ventured to ask. Atlanta looked horrified, and Archie looked disgusted, but a little sad too. "What planet are you from?"

"I was just asking."

"Yeah, we just met each other," Jay said hurriedly.

"Okay, so I'm in a large bag with complete strangers. This is completely weird."

"You're telling us."

The bag suddenly jerked as it was thrown down onto the ground, and the five teens smashed against each other, bones cracking and teeth gnashing.

"I guess our abductors are taking a rest," Jay commented. "This may be our time to try and escape."

"Maybe not," Herry replied as the bag swayed. The giants were now picking them up again. Suddenly an inhumane screech filled the air, and the five all covered their ears, groaning.

"What was that?" Atlanta asked fearfully.

"I don't know, but it definitely didn't sound good," Odie cried.

A flapping of wings could be heard as the large metallic bird the giants had hired soared off into the big blue yonder to find the sixth hero to add to their collection. It flew off into the clouds, disappearing just as subtly as it had appeared.