A Mission of Friendship, part 4

Melina Suriel was just opening a small white box in her hands as her son and his tiny passenger came down the stairs. Seeing what was inside, her eyes lit up with delight.

“Colby!” she said excitedly, forgetting to keep her voice down around the human, Danny. She turned just in time to see him clap his hands over his ears. Her eyes widened with embarrassment and she covered her mouth, saying in a forced whisper, “Oh! I’m so sorry! It’s just that Colby got something in the … um … the …”

A frustrated look crossed her face. She brushed her long, black, curly hair back with one hand and said something to her son in their native language. He answered in kind, speaking enthusiastically. Danny, of course, could understand nothing and shifted uncomfortably in his friend’s palm. On some level, he had forgotten that the giants had a whole other language of their own — they spoke English with no accent.

“I got something in the mail,” Colby said, holding his friend up, slightly, to make eye contact with him.

“Mail!” Melina said. “That’s the word I was looking for. English vocabulary fail. I must be getting old.”

She walked over to the living room’s blue couch and Colby followed, sitting next to his mother as she pulled an object wrapped in black paper out of the white box. She handed it to her son, who gently set Danny down on the coffee table as he proceeded to unwrap it. Danny stretched and shrugged his shoulders as he waited, watching the two enormous beings unveil the mysterious object. He was a little relieved to not be trapped in the giants grasp for so long a period this time — it wasn’t that he really minded, but … it was strange. He wasn’t used to such prolonged physical contact with anyone.

Also, on another hand, Danny felt a little bummed that he’d manipulated his friend into watching “The Thing.” Danny had a perceptiveness he’d inherited from his late mother — he could tell that his friend was frightened by the movie, and not in a fun way. More than that, even before coming to the TDP, Danny had figured out a lot of things about the giant kid. He knew that he was really emotionally fragile, that he had probably done more than mislead him about his size and planetary origin, and that he would probably do anything to impress him. Frankly, Danny was used to this sort of reaction from children younger than him, or even a lot of his peers. He was one of the cool kids at school, and he knew it. In the past he had been guilty of taking advantage of his personal magnetism or picking on others who lacked it. His mother’s death had really lessened that, however. His grief had given him a sort of new perspective.

And this was especially true with his view of Colby. While the boy was still a face on a screen, Danny had wanted to reach out to him — the kid’s isolation had always been apparent in some way. Now that Danny knew more about him, and especially now that he knew the 47-foot-tall, super-strong kid’s kindness and gentleness were simply phenomenal, he wanted to reach out even more. He wanted to make up for showing him the scary movie, but what could he do?

An image of bright, shining silver, almost as bright as the smile of the giant boy whose face shone next to it, broke Danny out of his thoughts. It was a statue … no … a trophy! And from this point of view he could tell it was probably about 10 feet tall. Colby set it down next to his friend as lightly as possible.

“My wrestling trophy finally came, Danny,” Colby said. “I won it for my last circuit match about a month ago. Look at it — the guy looks a lot like you!”

Danny laughed, his eyes moving over the metal sculpture. “Yeah, right, dude. I only wish I had pecs like that,” he said. The trophy depicted a well-muscled man, almost exactly Danny’s height, squatting at ready position over a tall oblong base covered with gold writing in the strange, angular Esdreel script. The man had what looked like a thick towel wrapped around both hands.

“What does it say?” Danny asked. “And what’s with the cloth that he’s holding? Is that supposed to be a cloth?”

“That’s, um … yeah, I guess it’s like a cloth. It’s part of the rules of the game. You use the band to help you subdue your opponent,” Colby said, scratching his chin, and he sighed. “If you rip the band, you’re disqualified. I’ve lost a couple matches that way.”

His mother chimed in. “But Colby’s done really well in his division. Some very prominent athletes have praised his technique,” she said.

“Yeah, but I’ll never be allowed to be champion or anything,” Colby said, and a look of resigned anguish washed over his face. “There are other koryua wrestlers, but we’re not allowed to associate.”

Danny frowned and inferred that this new word, “koryua,” must be the Esdreel word for people like Colby, people of his strength, and he was about to say something else, but he saw Mrs. Suriel not-too-gently squeeze her son’s arm.

“Colby,” she said, and looked sternly into his eyes before saying something lengthy in the Esdreel language. Danny could only guess, but he imagined she was scolding his negativity and encouraging him at the same time. His parents had often done something similar to him. He saw Colby nod.

Melina Suriel stood up and stretched her neck from side to side. “Well, boys,” she said. “I’m getting old, and I want to take a short nap. Danny, are you doing OK? Are you comfortable?”

Danny answered with a “Yes, ma’am,” and she chuckled at his politeness.

“I’ll be back down to start dinner after a little while. Have fun, guys,” she said, and proceeded to walk upstairs, her footsteps creating small tremors.

Colby watched his mother walk away and then turned and looked soulfully at his little friend, who was still examining the trophy. “Wrestling is pretty fun,” he said shyly. “I only get to wrestle adults, of course, but it’s pretty fun to throw them around. They see it as pitting technique against power, but I’m pretty smart in how I wrestle, too.” On this note, he looked down and sort of twiddled his thumbs, not really knowing what else to say.

Danny was still trying to make out the alien engraving. He had tried to learn at least some of the Esdreel alphabet. “What does the trophy say, exactly?” he asked.

Colby perked up. “Hmm? It just says that I got ‘Best Spirit’ for the Summer Circuit Blue Anakaris Division, and it says my wrestling nickname.”

Danny grinned. “You have a wrestling nickname? What, like ‘The Undertaker,’ or something? What’s your nickname?”

Colby’s cheeks went crimson. He knew Danny wouldn’t allow him to avoid the question. “My nickname … everybody has one … and it’s kind of hard to translate,” he said, and he thought for a little bit. “I guess it would kind of translate as, ‘He goes into the fight with many opponents, but comes back out alone.’ I guess, maybe, ‘Last Fighter Standing’? It’s kind of an old expression …”

Danny couldn’t help being impressed. “That is so badass, dude!” he said, but noticed no pride on his friend’s face. His smile melted away. “What’s wrong, though? Do you not like it?”

Colby shrugged his shoulders. “It’s OK, I guess,” he said.

Danny gave him a knowing look and folded his arms across his chest. “It’s the ‘alone’ part of the name, isn’t it? That’s the part you don’t like.”

Colby’s eyes met Danny’s, and he stared at him deeply. For the human, it was a bit unnerving to have those vast pools of green delving into him. But the corners of the giant’s mouth turned up, and he said, “What, are you psychic or something? How come you always seem to know what I’m thinking?” He chuckled, and it reverberated slightly through Danny’s body.

Danny cocked his head to the side and said, “Dude, you’re not alone. You’ve got me, right? I mean, please don’t try to wrestle me or anything …”

He felt that what he said was probably one of the cheesiest things ever said by anyone, but the effect hit home. Colby laughed, and his eyes sparkled. Very suddenly, but with expert gentleness, he picked Danny up off the coffee table. Reclining on the couch, he set Danny down upon his chest and sighed. The human was more than a little surprised at this sudden roller coaster move, and the sudden physical contact that felt like it exceeded even the huge amount he’d been exposed to already. A little shaken, he tried to play it off calmly, sitting down and getting his bearings on the great plateau of a Transformers T-shirt while the steady breaths of his huge friend wafted over him.

“I’ll bet you’d be a good wrestler. You’re already a good athlete and everything,” Colby said, using his left arm to prop up the back of his head. His right hand rubbed softly on his belly just a few feet behind Danny. He looked up at the ceiling, gathering his thoughts. “I had a dream, you know, the night after you agreed to come visit. I dreamt you came, but you were the same size as me. And it kind of sucked, because I suddenly couldn’t speak English at all. I could understand you, but you couldn’t understand me. Isn’t that weird?”

Danny grunted an “Uh-huh.” He tried hard to pay attention as his friend’s breathing slowly lifted him up and down, and as his huge, restrained voice resonated through the body beneath him. Being on that warm surface and trying to maintain eye contact with the gigantic, bright eyes — the whole experience was almost hypnotizing.

Little did he know Colby was unconsciously going through something similar. As he talked, his right hand was absent-mindedly, stealthily, creeping up behind his little friend. In his training to get his human interaction license, he had been warned about too much touching with humans. “It’s a great show of trust for them to agree to be held and carried,” his teacher had said, “but don’t expect them to react well to anything further. Remember that they are people just like us. Not pets. Not toys. Do not pet them or play with them as such.”

At the time, it had seemed like kind of a silly warning to give to a mature 12-year-old like him. But now … Danny was his friend! His best friend, even.

“I’m really glad you could visit, and I’m sorry I had to keep stuff secret for so long. I kind of wish we could have just met like this,” Colby said.

“Yeah, that might have been cool, but I don’t guess it could have happened any other way,” Danny replied. Really, that question made him wonder. Meeting a giant would have been cool enough of an experience, but would he have made the effort to really get to know Colby if they had not met on equal terms online?

It was almost like Danny’s spider sense was tingling. A huge index finger was just a split second away from petting him along his back. He shivered a bit, then jumped up onto his feet, startling his giant friend just enough for him to retract his hand back to its original position.

“You know, this day is going by too fast,” Danny said, dizzily trying to stay upright on the living landmass. “What else can we do before dinner?”

Colby pursed his lips and thought. “Well … you still have your video games that we can play, right? And … we could finish ‘The Thing,’ I guess …” he said with a little reticence. “We might need to turn it down so my mom doesn’t hear.”

Danny waved his hand dismissively. “Let’s not watch anymore of the movie, man. I’m in your house. Let’s do what you want to do.”

Colby smiled and sat up a bit higher without thinking. Danny almost fell over backwards, but Colby supported him with his hand.

“Sorry, dude,” he quickly said, but his smile didn’t waver. He obviously had something in mind. “Um … there is something I’d like to do. But if you don’t want to, just tell me, OK?”

“OK,” Danny said. “But really, dude, I’m OK with whatever you want to do.”

Danny went through another little joyride as Colby proceeded to hop up from the couch, his little friend safely in his hand. Colby then released the human onto the soft surface of the couch’s cushion.

“Be careful and stay right here,” Colby said. “I’ll be right back.” He then bounded up the stairs to his room, leaving behind a wake of displaced air that made Danny’s hair whip around. Danny nodded his head, disoriented, and realized after a couple of seconds that this was the first time he had been left alone since entering the TDP.

He sat down on the huge flat surface of the couch and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. What a day it had been so far! Now that he was inside this vast, echoing living room by himself, he felt a little relieved to have a break from the constant attention, but he also felt oddly cold. It had been weird for Colby to put him down on his monstrous chest — even weirder than (though not as uncomfortable as) being in his friend’s pocket, which also forced him to really confront the harsh reality of his friend’s massiveness. He kept trying to tell himself that it was no big deal, but that was a lie. The experience made him feel insignificant, like he was Colby’s hamster or something. Still, though, in his heart of hearts, he found himself now missing his friend, even for this short moment. He hadn’t felt this sort of closeness with any friend before.

Boom! Colby skipped a couple steps as he leapt down the stairs. He had a concerned look on his face as he moved over to the couch.

“Danny, I just went to the bathroom,” he said.

Danny’s face contorted into a confused smirk as he said, “Um … congratulations?”

Colby’s face turned red. “I mean … I realized I haven’t given you a chance to go at all. I’ve been sort of keeping you captive. I’m sorry.”

Danny hadn’t even thought about it. He kind of needed to go, but he’d been trained by a couple of experiences in lines at Universal Studios to control himself well. “That’s OK, man,” he said. “Yeah … I guess I’ll go so I don’t have to later.”

This was truly awkward.

In the upstairs bathroom, Danny relieved himself in what looked like a fancy little port-a-potty sized for him in the corner of the Suriels’ bathroom. “He even has to take me to the bathroom. I am his hamster,” he thought morosely.

As he walked around the corner from the bathroom door, the first time he’d really been allowed to move on his own on the giant house’s floor, he approached the leaning tower of Colby, who still had an excited look on his face. The giant reached down for him, and Danny, despite feeling a little embarrassed at his smallness, still jumped into his friend’s hand enthusiastically. What could he say? His host was still really happy to have him around, and that attitude was infectious.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to try since I knew you were coming over,” Colby said as he walked into his bedroom. “You’re probably going to think I’m some dumb little kid, but …”

He sat down next to his bed, and Danny could see that he’d taken several toys down from his shelves and laid them out. Some of them were ones he hadn’t seen before — for example, an awesome replica of a G.I. Joe armored transport and what looked to be a store-bought figure of Lion-O from the Thundercats. (It seemed like the Esdreel toy companies only liked Earth stories that involved animal characters.)
Otherwise, Colby had included his Vegeta, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Thor figures, as well as his “Noyakuna” spaceship.

“Do you want to fight some bad guys with me?” Colby asked hopefully, quieting the voice in his head that was saying, “This is exactly the opposite of what your human interaction teacher said!”

Danny was, of course, going into the 9th grade soon. Among some of his soccer buddies, he was too cool to be playing around with action figures. But, really — and this goes for kids of any significant creativity — he still loved stuff like this. Days often went by that he wished he still had a friend to play Legos with, or read comics with. He was glad Colby was suitably nerdy for this.

The giant’s hand was close enough to the floor that Danny leapt out of it and jump-kicked Vegeta square in the chest, knocking him over. That was his answer.

“Awesome!” Colby said, and proceeded to get comfortable on the floor, leaning on his left elbow and snatching up Black Panther. “I know it’s kind of geeky, but I even have a story going with these guys. Vegeta’s still working for Freeza, and he and the symbiote Spider-Man are attacking Black Panther’s country. They’re trying to get Lion-O because he’s a refugee, and they’ve found a way to take over Thor’s mind.”

Danny stretched and rested his hands on his hips as he stood over Vegeta’s prone body. “So what should my powers be? It looks like the good guys need a lot of help. I’m pretty sure Thor and Vegeta could take pretty much anyone,” he said.

Colby grinned down at him. If it had been anyone else, it would have seemed menacing. “How about this: You can summon a special tank, aaaaand … “ He stood up, enveloping Danny in his shadow for a moment. The human boy’s heart rate went up a bit. Colby grabbed something off his shelf and then sat down again. “… You’ve inherited Captain America’s shield, since he’s been kidnapped by bad guys somewhere else.” He handed Danny the American flag shield he had sculpted. Danny was pleased to find it was only a little bit heavy.

“Excellent,” Danny said, and smashed it down onto the Vegeta figure.

“Wait a sec,” Colby said. “Can I pick you up?”

Danny said yes with only the slightest hint of reluctance, and he found himself being taken, along with the G.I. Joe tank, over to the other side of the room.

“Get in the tank, and I’ll send you over to crash into the battle!” Colby said, setting his friend down. Danny obeyed, and whooped with both joy and fright as he and the tank were pushed across the floor at ridiculous speed. The tank ran into Thor with a loud SMACK!, knocking him about 20 feet across the floor.

Danny got his bearings and played along. He stepped out of the tank and, trying to look tough, brandished the shield.

“Did someone call for the sentinel of liberty?!” he said, and shouted, “For freedom!” as he threw the shield. To his surprise, he was strong enough to send it sailing into the Spider-Man figure, knocking it over. Colby picked up Lion-O, and with the requisite vocal sound effects, had him come down on Spider-Man with his claw.

It went like this for quite a while, Danny and Colby going back and forth, figuring out ways to draw the fight out. For the human, it was a pretty serious workout, but lots of fun. Colby had also found a plastic sword for him to use, and he got into a pitched battle with Vegeta, gently controlled by the giant. Danny could tell his friend still cared for his safety, but he was getting a little loud, and his enthusiasm was getting kind of scary. This was something Danny was, however, by no means willing to admit.

Finally, Colby had an almost defeated Thor, still mind-controlled, stand up and make a last ditch effort to throw his hammer. He slowly guided the little replica toward Danny, who fell over theatrically, holding his stomach.

“Ugh! That’s it!” Danny said, an idea popping into his head. “It’s time to pull out all the stops! I summon Suriel! The giant warrior from the Dark Dimension!” He bellowed this last part, and waved his fingers around as if casting a spell.

Colby caught on quick. He dropped the hammer and stood up slowly to his full 47-foot height, a dark scowl on his face. Danny, lying on his back on the floor, felt his heart start to pound as he realized he was at a very dangerous position right by his monstrous friend.

“I am free! And the wicked must be punished!” Colby said, deepening his voice.

Life seemed to shift into slow motion as Danny watched his friend lift up his pickup-truck-sized foot, and with a thunderous CRASH! he brought it down on the Thor figure. The floor vibrated with the impact, and the toy’s arms snapped off. Danny’s mind went blank with utter terror as he watched the massive toes curl over the toy, which itself was a few feet taller than him. He listened to it crunch as it was crushed under the giant’s weight.

“I guess I’ll have to rebuild that one,” Colby chuckled, not noticing right away that his little human guest was lying perfectly still, unnaturally so.

Danny was locked up. Paralyzed. He tried to move, and tried to breath, but couldn’t. His heart was beating so loud he could hear it throbbing in his ears. He couldn’t take his eyes off Colby’s enormous foot. Even his pinky toe was bigger than Danny’s head. He felt so helpless, and finally he was able to let out one big sobbing gasp.

Colby heard this, and he quickly sat back down on the floor. Looking closer, he saw that Danny’s face was extremely pale, and his eyes were like dinner plates.

“Danny?” Colby said, worry all over his expression, and when he saw that his friend wasn’t moving at all, he started to panic. “Danny?!” he said again, and then heard the human gasp again and squint his little eyes shut. He could barely see it, but tears were rolling down his tiny face.

Colby’s breathing grew more rapid, and he found himself not knowing what to do. In his human interaction training, he was told that in the event of a human being overcome by fear, he should keep his distance, but that was contrary to his instincts. Colby couldn’t hold it in — he started to cry as well.

“I’m so sorry, Danny!” he said. “I … I guess I got carried away! Please don’t hate me!” He reached out his hand, but then drew it back again when he heard the human gasp one more time. Danny finally regained feeling in his arms and moved them to cover his face. He was struggling to breathe and keep his breathing steady, but his emotions were a whirlwind inside. He had been doing so well so far — why did he have to lose control now? He could hear Colby’s voice go shaky with emotion above him, and his brain pulsated with the guilt and humiliation he felt. Why did he have to get so scared? He started to sob in earnest.

Colby’s tears started to flow freely as his eyes darted around. One of his worst nightmares was coming true, and he felt like a total fool. He wiped his cheeks with his hands and stood up.

“I … I’ll go get my mom, Danny. Please just breathe!” he said, and started stepping toward his bedroom door.

But before he could get there, he heard a small, choked cry of “NO!”

Colby stopped, turned around, and knelt down by his friend. Danny had taken his hands off his face, and his body didn’t seem to be convulsing with sobs anymore, but he was still breathing desperately.

“Don’t get your mom!” Danny said in between sharp breaths. “You’ll get in trouble if you get your mom!”

Colby stared, dumbstruck. “But I need to get her if you’re hurt!” he said.

“I’m not hurt!” Danny shouted, and his breathing gradually started to become more regular. He held his right hand over his heart, feeling his tympani of a heartbeat. If it took every ounce of his will, he would make this go away. “I’m not hurt. I’m OK.”

Colby leaned down closer. “Are you sure?” he asked, and whispered once more, “I’m so sorry, Danny. I should have been more careful.” His tears had stopped momentarily, but they were threatening to start again.

“I’m OK, really,” Danny said, and finally pulled himself up into a sitting position. “You didn’t do anything wrong, I just freaked out a little is all.” He said this, trying to tough it out, but he couldn’t resist the extreme vulnerability he felt, and it overwhelmed him. Ashamed of himself, he started to cry again. This resulted in giant tears starting to fall as well. One of them sloshed down onto Danny’s shirt. His weeping was interrupted by surprise — he hiccupped, and then started to laugh.

“Dude, did you just (hiccup!) cry on me?” Danny said, holding out his wet jersey. “Please, (hiccup!) tell me that was a tear and not snot!”

This made Colby start to laugh/cry as well. He watched his little friend start to calm down, cutely hiccupping, and relief washed over him. Timidly, he held out his hand.

“C-can I hold you?” Colby asked.

Danny, now breathing slowly but forcefully, stood up. He wobbled a little, feeling drained of almost all his energy. “Sure,” he answered.

Colby gently wrapped his right hand around his friend and lifted him up. Firmly, but without too much force, he pressed him into his chest in a sort of hug and held him there. Danny was not physically uncomfortable with this, but his feelings still disturbed him — once again, he reminded himself that he wasn’t in the habit of being this close with his friends, but with Colby it felt … right.

Colby lifted his friend out of the hug and held him in front of his tear-reddened face. “Never,” he said. “I’ll never ever hurt you. I promise.”

Danny sighed and found himself unable to make eye contact. “Dude,” he said. “Please don’t get all mushy now. I already feel like such a little weakling.”

Colby frowned. A confused look crossed his face. “But I thought you said you didn’t care how strong I was,” he said, his voice quavering.

That reaction was not quite the one Danny was expecting, and he looked deeply into Colby’s eyes. They glistened with the possibility of springing new tears. He was expecting his friend to say something along the lines of “Nawww! You’re not weak! You’re a brave little human coming into this humongous place!” And that reaction would have done precisely zilch in making him feel better.

But no: Realization dawned as Danny looked into Colby’s eyes and saw a horrible potential for hurt. Here he was, supposedly Colby’s only friend — his only friend because other giant kids were afraid of him. Here he was, a role model and source of escape for the younger boy, and what he just said represented the kind of ACTUAL weakness, not physical weakness, that his peers had shown in not giving him a chance. Danny realized he was being selfish. Why should he care if he’s so much smaller than this kid? Colby was a kind, trustworthy person, and it was his mission to be a source of strength for him.

Danny let out a deep breath and broke out a friendly smile on his face. “Colby, I really don’t care how strong you are,” he said sincerely. “I’m just not used to freaking out like that and crying in front of another guy.”

“It’s OK that you cried. I cried, too,” Colby said, his face downcast. “I’m sorry that I scared you. I guess it’s easy for me to forget how I must look to you — how this whole place must look …”

Danny couldn’t let that slide. “Colby!” he said, and turned on his most grave expression. “Look into my eyes, dude. I am not scared of you.” The corners of his mouth turned up in a crocodile smile, and it made Colby smile as well. “I’ve had a day of getting used to a lot of things, but I promise I’m not scared of you at all. I just has a little freakout, but now I’m OK.” These statements, for Danny, were not entirely sincere, but he honestly hoped they would be someday.

And Colby felt like he knew better in his heart. He knew that, realistically, he or any Esdreel would be terrifying to most humans, but he appreciated Danny’s attitude. Once again, he found himself impressed by the human’s bravery.

Suddenly, both boys were startled by a light knock on Colby’s door post. It was Alan, Colby’s dad. Danny hadn’t seen him since earlier that day, and his eyes widened as he looked upon the truly mountainous individual.

“Dinner’s about to be ready, boys, so you better wash up and come downstairs,” he said, and then looked directly at the human in his son’s hand. “Danny, have you been having a good day?”

“It’s been great, Mr. Suriel, thank you,” Danny said, and watched in awe as the huge man nodded his head and walked away with uncanny quietness. He turned to Colby and whispered, “Dude, just how tall is your dad?”

Colby laughed a little as he stood up and started walking toward the bathroom. “He’s exactly 60 feet tall,” he said.

“Wait!” Danny said, and the huge boy stopped. “Can you grab my backpack off the desk real quick? I have a spare shirt in there. The one I have on now got kind of soaked with a giant drop of snot.”

“It wasn’t snot!” Colby exclaimed, and both boys laughed. Colby quickly snatched up the tiny backpack. In the bathroom, they washed their faces and hands (Danny having to do it with Colby’s help) and tried to erase the evidence of their emotional outbursts. Danny peeled off his shirt and Colby poked him lightly with his finger. “Nice abs, little guy,” Colby said jokingly, and Danny sneered at him. He changed into a blue T-shirt with Captain America’s shield emblazoned on the front.

“Awesome shirt!” Colby said, and allowed Danny to, once again, climb into his hand. In good spirits, they headed downstairs.