As it turned out, fighting for Amy was a hell of a lot scarier than just fighting her. Ben stood in the hallway of the Town Hall meeting room, watching everyone file in one by one. The entire town was here, mostly adults with a few teenagers here and there. As more and more people packed their way inside to take a seat Ben could feel the bottom of his stomach drop. He'd never been inside of town hall before and had no idea how many people it could seat.

Turning away from the dreadful sight he sagged against the wall and tried not to throw up. Public speaking was not something Ben enjoyed at all. He'd managed to pull it off at school, but only because Amy made him so made he forgot all fear of telling her off in front of the whole senior class. Now he was completely on his own, Mark and Johnny couldn't help him since only one person could speak at a time. Ben was well and truly alone this time.

He was so busy panicking that he didn't even see his own father limp his way to him.

"You alright Ben?" he asked.

Ben could only manage to shake his head.

"Having second thoughts about this?" Daniel asked.

This time Ben nodded. "This was a mistake. A huge, huge mistake. I shouldn't even be here."

Daniel just sighed and led his son over to some seats that were kept in the hallway for those who had to wait to see the Mayor, or something similar. They were both silent for the longest moment, until Daniel spoke up.

"You remember what I told you about choices, right?"

Ben nodded.

Daniel sighed again. "But did I ever tell you about how I got this limp?"

This time Ben just looked at his father, shocked. He had never told him how he received the limp in his left leg, only a very vague summary. He swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. "I uh...I know you got it overseas."

Daniel nodded. "It was about fifteen years ago when I was stationed overseas in Iraq, you were only three. A small patrol of troops were sent in to quell some violence going on in a nearby town. The civilians themselves didn't really hate us, more like tolerated and listened to us. However we've had plenty of trouble with renegade groups of extremists giving everyone trouble."

Ben's jaw was hanging wide open. His dad rarely ever said a word about his time in the army.

"When we got there all the rioting had settled down a little and we took care of whoever was left causing trouble," Daniel continued. "In less than two hours we were on our way back to base. It was then we were ambushed."

Daniel stopped and stared at the floor as if he were seeing it now. Ben dared not say anything. Instead he waited patiently for his dad to snap back to the present.

"There must have been only five of them," he said at last. "There were twelve of us. But we were caught off guard so everyone sprang for cover. I dove behind some rocks with my buddy Howard and we started shooting back. As I was reloading I saw a sixth guy stand up from some bushes holding a grenade. Without even thinking of what I was doing I put a bullet in his head."

His father said it so casually Ben could hardly believe it. His dad had killed somebody. But Daniel himself didn't take notice to his son's shock, instead he continued.

"Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough. By the time I had shot him the grenade was already in the air. Once again I didn't think, I tackled Howard away from it about two seconds before it blew. The first thing I noticed was that my left leg felt like it was on fire. I was lucky enough to avoid most of the shrapnel, but couple of chunks shredded my leg up. A few more pieces were still lodged in my thigh."

Ben winced a little at the description. The image of his dad's leg being torn up by shrapnel almost made him puke this time. His dad just kept on with his story as if it were nothing to him.

"Once the fight was over I had to be carried back to base on a stretcher. They removed all the shrapnel with only some mild muscle scarring. They told me I'd limp for the rest of my life. So I was discharged honorably with a purple heart, came home, and finally put my cooking skills to work as a cook at Olive Garden."

Ben just looked at his dad, not quite sure what to say. "Why uh...why are you telling me this?"

"Because it was my choice to tell you," he replied. "Just like it was my choice to push my friend out of the way of a grenade. Because sometimes son," he hesitated before continuing. "Sometimes you never know which choice is going to be the one that saves a life."

Ben slumped back into his chair as the weight of what his dad just told him sunk in. Daniel said nothing, and instead give him a pat on the shoulder before walking inside with the crowd.

Every word still flew through Ben's head like a bird. His dad killed a man before saving another. And all because of two choices he made in split seconds. Could this really be the same thing? Was he really about to take a bullet for Amy? Can he even make such a sacrifice?

All at once his fear came back, threatening to overwhelm him this time.

No! Ben thought. This is nothing! I've faced my worse fear a long time ago. With that he drew upon the memory of his worst nightmare. A time he could never forget, not even for a single day, and the images still burned as clearly as the day they happened. He had discovered what it was he was truly afraid of on that day, and public speaking was nothing compared to it.

Filled with his new resolve Ben walked calmly into the large meeting room, packed with over 300 people, and took his seat. The meeting dragged on as he expected, the Mayor took a neutral stance on the issue while others stood up in their seats to voice their opinions. Everyone who stood up to speak was against Amy being allowed to stay. Many voiced concerns as to the dangers of having a giantess living amongst them. Others were parents who spoke about what their kids claim she does to everyone in school. Aside from Johnny and Mark, who sat next to him in complete silence, he was the only one who wanted Amy to stay.

After about an hour the Mayor held his hands up to silence the crowd. The Mayor was a small, stout man somewhere in his late 50's. Despite this he knew how to dominate a room so that other hushed when he wished to speak.

"Before we take to voting it's only fair to hear from both sides of an argument." he said. "Is there anyone here who wishes to speak in favor of Amy Jackson?"

Everyone began to look around, scoping out any whom they suspected might speak up. Ben took a deep breath. Time to toss the dice, a quote from one of his favorite series. He stood up.

"I'd like to say something," he announced.

No sooner had the words left his mouth that a woman in her late twenties stood up. "Who let this kid in? He shouldn't be allowed to speak. Get him out of here so we can hurry up and send the giant bitch away."

Murmurs of agreement began to spread around the crowd, until a commanding voice was heard from somewhere in the crowd. "If someone as brainless as you was given a chance to speak then let the man have his turn!"

The woman, who had remained standing with a smug look on her face, turned bright red with anger. She searched the crowd for the source of the voice but found it impossible as the crowed changed opinions to allow Ben to speak. The Mayor held his hands up and the room quickly feel silent.

"The young man is permitted a chance to speak his mind and we will not infringe upon it," he said. "Come on up here and make your case son."

So Ben walked past the, now glaring, woman and made his way up to the podium. Looking out at the sea of faces he recognized from all over town Ben cleared his throat.

"My name is Ben Lyons and I go to school with Amy." He gave that a minute to sink in. Now anything he has to say will be coming from a classmate who has spent four years with Amy.

"I'll be honest with you, a lot of what everyone here has said about Amy is true. She's a bully, spoiled, always gets her way, intimidating, inconsiderate, and even a bitch." He let that sink in as well. "But she's also a terrific actress. We've all seen her performance and have mistaken it for the real Amy Jackson. My friends and I thought just the same as you all, until she took us home with her for a behind the scenes look. The rumors about that are true as well, she did take us right put of our school bus back to her house, but now I'm glad she did. Once we got there she chased us around for her amusement and made us into her personal servants."

An angry buzz began to spread through the crowd. The Mayor brought the room to order once more with a gabble and a look. Ben continued.

"It wasn't until I stood up to her that she began to cry and I understood everything."

Everyone began to exchange uneasy looks. In all the years Amy had lived there no one had ever seen her cry, or even look remotely upset.

"She sees herself as an outcast, a freak, a monster." He paused for a moment. "Is she? Hell no. True she's 150ft tall and that's incredibly frightening. But she's no freak, and she sure as hell is no monster." At this point Ben's mind had shut off. His mouth was working on autopilot as the words flew naturally out of him.

"She sees herself as nothing more than Godzilla, a monster to run away and hide from, but that's not true at all. All she's doing is playing a role in a play. Everyone has been treating her like a monster for so long it's the only thing she knows how to be. Amy thinks that that's all she can be so she acts they way she thinks we want to her act. But she's no monster. Do you want to know who the real monster is?"

Muttering spread throughout the audience for a moment. When it died down Ben answered for them. "We are. We're the ones who treated Amy this way. We made her out to be a monster and convinced everyone of it, including Amy herself. If she's Frankenstein then we're the doctor who made her, and that's ten times worse than anything she's every done. Don't we owe it to her to let her stay?"

At this point the muttering had stopped entirely as the crowd went back to exchanging glances.

"People we are the reason she's the way she is. We all owe Amy as much as she owes us. All I'm asking is for you to let her stay."

Realizing there was nothing more to say Ben allowed silence to fall over the crowd like a blanket. That is until the same woman from earlier stood up. "Great, you're done! Now get the hell off the stage!" she shouted.

Ben was chest fallen. He'd said everything he could think of, and apparently it had no effect. What did this mean for Amy? She's taken away to live in a military base for probably the rest of her life. Would they be nice to her? Would they accept her better than these people? Ben entertained the image of Amy, living in a giant airplane hanger, surrounded by soldiers who treat her as if she were like a little sister. Maybe they'll train her to be a soldier or a weapon. Maybe they'll just take care of her like a community. Maybe she'll feel lees like a monster around people like that.

Ben continued to fill his head with optimism like this, until someone else stood up. The man was middle aged, had a receding hairline, and was more beefy than fat. He couldn't decide whether he wanted to stare at Ben, the crowd, or the floor. "Actually I uh...I have something to say too. If that's alright with you, kid."

Ben nodded eagerly, surprised by this. The man cleared his throat. "Sometime last year," he said. "I was driving home from my brother's house one afternoon when my truck broke down. My brother lives in the next township so I was a little out of the way of any service station. Now, my phone was at home and I don't know anything about engines. I was about to start walking to the nearest gas station, cursing loudly the whole time, when I felt the ground shake."

He swallowed nervously. "I'd seen Amy before, but I didn't expect her to be taking a walk this far from town before. So when she sees me, broken down on the side of the road and cursing she just smiles and tells me to get back in my truck. I do, mostly out of fear, and then she picks my truck up and carries it to a gas station four miles away in about a minute. After that she just puts me down, and walks away before I could even say thank you." The man rung his hands nervously. "I would have said something but I knew how everyone felt about her. So I just kept my mouth shut."

Ben could hardly believe what he had just heard. Amy had never mentioned doing anything like that before. Then a middle aged Hispanic woman stood up. "I ashamed for not bringing this up but Amy once saved my son. He was trying to find a ball underneath a car parked on the side of the street. The driver didn't see him crouched so low to the ground and would have run him over. Amy was walking by, saw my son, and plucked him off the ground before the car could hit him. Then she just put him down on the grass and kept on walking."

Once she was done a Korean looking man stood up. "One time, as a joke, or prank, or something Amy uprooted a tree right out of my backyard. At first I was furious because of the property damage she caused." The man looked down at the floor in embarrassment. "But then when we had that huge storm a few months ago I realized that the tree would have probably fallen over and landed right on my house."

Ben was at a loss for words. This was the first time he had heard of Amy doing things like this for anyone. He'd always known her as a bully. Amy herself never even saw herself as such a good person. Now the entire room was arguing with itself, people changing sides left and right. The whole time the Mayor stood off to the side of the stage, lost in deep thought. Then at once he snapped out of it, strode to the podium, and banged the gabble until everyone calmed down.

"In light of this new information I call for a change of vote." Everyone remained silent as he paused a moment. "All of those who don't want Amy Jackson to be allowed to stay say 'Nay'."

A few dozen hands were raised, accompanied by a 'Nay'. The Mayor continued. "And all of those who feel Amy Jackson should be allowed to stay...provided she serve four years of community service as repayment for all of the trouble she has caused, say 'Aye'."

The man whose truck had broken down was the first to stand up. "Aye!"

He was followed by the Hispanic mother. "Aye!"

Then the Korean man. "Aye!"

One by one, then ten by ten, everyone stood up and voted to allow Amy to stay. Ben could barely believe what was happening. The Mayor raised his hand with a smile. "Then it's settled. Provided she performs four years of community service, Amy Jackson can stay."

The room erupted into applause as the Mayor turned and shook hands with a still stunned Ben. From where he stood he could see Mark and Johnny giving him a thumbs up. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw his father standing against the wall to the left of the stage. Ben hopped off of the stage, walked right up to his dad, and embraced him in a hug.

"I'm proud of you Ben," Daniel whispered in his ear as he slapped his son's back.

"Couldn't have done it without you," he replied, fighting to hold back the tears.

Suddenly a voice called out from nowhere. "Does this mean we're even?"

Ben looked around and saw a man in a coat and baseball cap approach him and his dad. He was tall but the baseball cap pulled down over his face obscured any details. One thing was certain though. his voice was the same voice that spoke out against the woman who wanted Ben removed from the building. Daniel smiled at the stranger. "Yeah, I guess we're even."

Ben looked between the two men, not sure of what was going on. It wasn't until the man removed his hat that Ben recognized him. "Captain Thompson!" he exclaimed.

The Captain grinned as Daniel put an arm around him and smiled. "You've already met my son Ben," he said to the Captain. "Ben, this is my friend Howard."