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(I'm sorry for my lack of DA presence for a while. Real life butts in to DA life, of course. If you are unfamiliar with this story, I suggest you start from the first chapter. Previous to this one, Nico and Rich declared their feelings for each other just before hearing about a terrorist attack on the news over the rec center PA system. This was originally going to be a stupidly long chapter, so I've split it into two installments.)

Giants know how strong they are. They know the amount of sheer destruction even one giant is capable of. At least in Western nations, giant parents often teach their children from an early age to be careful. They buy them toy houses and life-size human dolls. As a race, much of their history and language were lost in the Dimensional Catastrophe, but their culture of gentleness and prevailing self-denial, for the most part, remained. Any deviations from this were a result of recent wars, corruption by human or elven influence, or the pressures of starvation or enslavement known to certain regions throughout the centuries.

If not for magic, the little races wouldn’t stand a chance against giant aggression. Everyone knew this, the giants most of all.

The football team stood in solemn silence, listening to the news bulletin updating and repeating over the radio. Nico sat in Rich’s hand, enveloped in the warmth of his fingers, held close to the soft cotton fabric of the shirt that fit snugly to his friend’s brawny chest.

The supposed death toll was originally estimated at around 200 people. Now, because of the swath of destruction cutting through a bedroom community of Atlanta, it was presumed to be double that. Three giants were dead: one of them complicit in the mass murder, still unidentified, and the other two instrumental in stopping him — a mother and her young son. Half a football stadium had been crushed beyond recognition, and any human accomplices had not yet been found, if there were any.

For almost an hour, everybody at the rec center party listened, taking in information as it came in bursts. The news station had managed to interview two giants and one human who were a few blocks away at the time. Police had also made a rapid statement for the press.

An explosion of amber light had been seen at the stadium and the giant terrorist had run up and thrown himself into the building’s walls. After that: Chaos. The giant mother and son had apparently been in attendance at the football game, which was between two human Division III college teams. They had apparently tried to fight the giant off. No other details were being released.

“Humans … or something … had to have been involved,” Paul, the captain of the football team, said, his arms folded tight against his body, his brows furrowed deeply. Coach Pilgrim sat in a chair next to him, rubbing his temples in concerned contemplation. Everyone else in the room bore expressions on a continuum between grief, anger, and shame.

Cullan, the fullback, paced back and forth, neurotically taking off his baseball cap and putting it back on again. “There was an explosion of magic … it had to have been magic …” he muttered.

Toby leaned against one wall, in the shadow of a corner, and Dante sniffled next to him. “Coach,” he asked, “does this mean we won’t be able to have school with the littles anymore?” It was a strangely childlike question, Nico thought.

The coach cleared his throat. “Nobody’s said that, and I doubt anybody expects it,” he said. “Just like always, we’ll need to be careful and sensitive with all our classmates.”

Cullan paused in his pacing and looked pleadingly at Coach Pilgrim. “What if we have to move into giant territories again, like in the south?” he asked, and then bristled. He slapped his hand on the now empty buffet table, and it echoed in the huge room. “Some muslim terrorists manipulating giants …” he grumbled.

Malik’s eyes flashed. “What?” he barked. “They didn’t say anything about muslims!”

“It’s always muslims! Always humans and their damn –“

“Shut up!” Malik shouted, and stomped over and got up in Cullan’s face. “You don’t know anything. I’m a muslim. It doesn’t make me a terrorist!”

Randy rushed over to get between the boys, and the coach stood up. He put his strong hands firmly on both boys’ shoulders.

“Guys, you’ve got to accept that we don’t know anything, and fighting and jumping to conclusions is the wrong thing to do.” He sighed heavily. “Cherrywood Academy will be fine. The school stays put because people want to have a place where all types, all beliefs and races, can get along.” He looked sternly into Cullan’s eyes. “If you want to get mad, direct it at the people the police convict, but it still won’t bring back the dead.”

He looked around and addressed the room. “I choose not to think the way terrorists want me to think, you guys. I’m going to keep trying to do a good job and do what’s right. I believe that, as much as it’s up to me, I should be at peace with everyone.” He then looked at Nico, nestled in Rich’s palm. Almost as if it were on cue, several of the other giants looked the same direction. Most of their faces were still etched with worry.

Nico felt emotionally drained, isolated and confused. He didn’t fully understand the situation, and he was reeling not only from the disturbing news of the attack, but also from all the fear his giant friends were showing. He kept trying to look up at Rich’s face, but all he could see from his vantage point was the giant boy’s chin.

All the fun had been completely wrenched away from the party, and now, gradually, boys started to duck out and go home. Coach Pilgrim tried to offer them all an encouraging word as they left, but there was only so much he could say. Randy agreed to let Rich take Nico home, and as the boys were going out the door, the coach stopped them.

“Cooper, Nico, it was nice having you,” he said, forcing an air of friendliness onto his gruff face. “I wish we could’ve heard you sing, Nico. When are you going to put a new song on your YouTube channel?”

Nico’s eyes bugged out and he blushed. Did the football coach seriously watch his videos? “I’m … not really sure,” he said. “I’ve been pretty busy studying and everything.”

“Well it’s break time, now,” Coach said. “Your songs make a lot of people happy, you know? More people than you probably realize.”

The giant man reached his finger down, and Nico shook it gingerly.

“You’re a good guy, Nico,” Coach said, and bid the boys goodnight.

~~~~~~~

Back at the Cooper household, the fifth graders were having a blast at their little slumber party. After three rounds of Mac’s “Great Elven Hunter” game, he and Conor, who had won two of the three times, became unofficial best friends. Now, a little tired from chasing each other around, they were lounging upon the huge fluffy couch in the Coopers’ living room, playing a racing game on their respective smartphones. Conor, being a 71-foot-tall giant and therefore using a phone that was the size of a life raft, was battling his tiny friend in a Pokémon-style game. Mac reclined comfortably on his giant friend’s right thigh, kicking his legs along the folds in the massive boy’s basketball shorts as he got overexcited.

“That tickles, stop it!” Conor said, giggling. “It’s cheating if you make me lose by tickling me.”

“As if I need to cheat!” Mac said, even though he had been losing most of the time to Conor’s carefully structured earth/metal/dragon team.

All the boys had already changed into their pajamas for the night, and Mack was wearing red chamois sleep clothes, which he noticed created a lot of static electricity as his body came into contact with Conor’s shorts. Conor had simply taken off his shirt to go to bed that night, and Mac was secretly hoping beyond hope that he could create enough static to climb up and shock the giant really badly when he least expected it. It was almost more like a science experiment than a prank. Were giants too big to be shocked?

A ways away from them, Finnian, Cade, Charlie, and (to a much lesser extent) Alaki were wrestling and playing around the floor while they listened to their favorite radio show: “The Blazing World.”

Most giant families were unable to afford a TV screen larger than hand-held size, and even then, if they chose to spend their money on such a device, it became the screen for the family computer. As a result, much of regular day-to-day radio entertainment comprised talk radio and story serials geared toward a giant audience. “The Blazing World” was a regular night-time family program about four giant teenagers who were stranded in a lost jungle full of mystic treasures, dangerous beasts, and booby-trapped ruins. The main characters were always having to work as a team to, by the end of the episode, figure out some life-or-death puzzle with creative problem solving. On some occasions, they would even accept texted-in votes or suggestions for where the storyline would go next. (It was educational programming in disguise.)

As luck would have it, tonight’s story involved the main characters discovering a lost civilization of werewolves, along with a cursed idol that turned one of them evil. Alaki, being a werewolf, took on the role of the idol, but of course in his version the idol was alive and animate, and capable of spreading his evil with a bite, so the four boys’ play deviated from the actual radio storyline pretty rapidly.

For a while, the three giants scrambled around the living room rug, trying to push each other in the way of their little buddy’s gnashing teeth. It wasn’t long before Charlie let the minuscule wolf cub bite him on the pinky finger so he could become “possessed by the lunar spirit,” and this led to the two antagonists crippling the other two boys with their “mystic howling” until they were imprisoned by “invisible energy.”

Something like that.

At any rate, keeping in line more with the radio story as it continued, Cade and Finnian were offered freedom from the werewolf’s curse if they dueled to the death. On the radio play, the character’s fought with big stone pagodas that they plucked from the ground and used as short swords. Cade and Finn, with no pagodas at hand, resorted to leg wrestling.

Cade had an advantage on Finnian as far as height and general build. He thought he had the game in the bag, but he was surprised to find that for every application of his strength, the redheaded boy matched him. Even using all his upper body strength in addition to his legs, the kid just wouldn’t budge, and he didn’t seem to be exerting himself that much.

“Wow, Finn, you’re strong,” he gasped before disengaging himself from the wrestling tangle. Then, he sighed theatrically. “I guess that means I must die.”

“Tsk!” Alaki said imperiously, watching from the floor right by them. “That match was too short! Here, Cade, let me show you something.”

He loped over to Finn’s outstretched left foot, jutting up like an ivory monument from the carpet.

“I know his weakness!”

Dramatically, he swiped a claw along the lower half of Finn’s bare sole.

Finnian giggled, but remained unmoving, and then pulled a look of defiance on his face.

“Joke’s on you, little puppy. I’m only ticklish when I want to be.”

Cade saw an opportunity, and brushed his long hair out of his face before he propped himself up and pushed his right foot out.

“Finn, we can defeat the evil idol now!” he shouted, as his bare foot — gently, but not timidly — mushed his tiny friend into the other boy’s appendage.

“Ack!” Alaki said, with some alarm. He wasn’t hurt, but he wasn’t too sure if he felt safe sandwiched between two giant feet, Cade’s soft sole wiggling against him slightly, probably reacting to the feeling of his fur. The werewolf boy didn’t want to complain though, in case his friends thought he was being wimpy. Instead, he went along with his character.

“Evil minion!” he said, his shout muffled by giant flesh. “Rescue your master!”

Charlie’s face became stern and cold as he leapt forward and tackled Cade. He knew that Cade, unlike Finn, was susceptible to being poked in the ribs, and he did it mercilessly, sending the boy into fits of laughter and forcing him to pull his foot back.

Alaki fell over, rolled, and then sprung back up, shaking himself about as though he’d just come up out of water. “Now as for you …” he began saying to Finn in his most evil voice.

But Finn leaned forward and cupped his tiny friend with his hand before whispering, “Are you OK?” Concern touched his eyes and crinkled brow.

“Yeah, I’m fine! No problem!” Alaki assured him, not surprised by the huge boy’s behavior. Finn had always been really sensitive about the possibility of hurting him … or anyone, for that matter.

The radio play then reached a point of high melodrama, as one of the characters pleaded with the evil possessed character. Charlie broke out into uproarious laughter as Cade managed to clumsily lipsync along with one of the characters’ lines. “Please! Oh please, Marek! I’m your brother! Remember the little playground at home! Remember when we’d make breakfast for your dad! Maaaareeeekkkkk!!”

But suddenly the sound of the radio program halted.

After a couple of long seconds, the machine’s voice echoed through the room: “The following is an emergency news bulletin.”