Branch rode through town on his bike, taking the long way home. He needed to clear his head after the day he had at school.

     First... the popular kids stole his lunch... then they used his chocolate pudding as a projectile at his face... and then... if that wasn't bad enough... he made a total fool out of himself in front of the girl he had a crush on!

     He rode his bike, not paying attention to where he was going, too busy thinking about how terribly his day had gone. She was the only bright side to moving to this awful place, and now she hated him... things couldn't possibly get any worse...

     "Halt!" a purple troll with blue hair that faded into a green at the tip, shouted out, suddenly jumping out in front of Branch.

     Branch's eyes widened at the sight of the troll standing right in front of his fast moving bike, quickly slamming on his breaks to avoid colliding with this idiot.

     The bike jerked to a stop, the sudden breaking sending Branch soaring over the handle bars, as he crashed to the ground roughly.

     "Ow..." the young blue troll groaned softly, his eyes closed, as he lay on his back, all of the air having been knocked out of him.

     "Who are you!?" the purple troll demanded, standing over Branch intimidatingly.

     Slowly, the young boy blinked his eyes open, looking up at the purple troll who was now joined by a much larger orange troll.

     "Wha... what?" Branch said slightly confused, not having completely heard the question. His head was aching, as he slowly sat up, the purple troll suddenly yanking him up to his feet by the front of his tie-dyed shirt. Something he hated wearing but was forced to wear rather than his much preferred leaf vest.

     He gulped, staring wide eyed at the troll who held him just inches away from his own face.

     "I said... who are you!?" the purple troll repeated. "And what are you doing in our territory!?" He gestured to himself, and then his friend, implying that only the two of them were allowed in this particular area of town.

     "Um... uh..." Branch stuttered nervously, trying to think, as his heart raced in terror, not knowing what these two trolls were going to do to him. "B... Branch..." he finally answered, stuttering softly. "I... I didn't mean to trespass. I... I didn't know it was yours... I just moved here."

     "From where?" the large orange troll questioned firmly, raising an eyebrow as he glared at the little blue troll. "Los Angeles..." Branch answered softly. The two gave him blank expression, as if never having heard of it. "Um... you know... L.A.?" he clarified, seeing their confusion.

     "Ohh!" the two suddenly laughed, realization kicking in.
"We got us a celebrity up in here," the purple troll mocked, shoving Branch away slightly, as he laughed. "Tubular," the orange troll said, seeming impressed.

     "I'm Creek," the purple troll introduced. "This is Ernie."

     Suddenly, the large orange troll grabbed Creek's shoulder, yanking him closer to whisper something in his ear, Branch backing away slowly to try and get back to his bike unnoticed.

     "How many times I gotta tell you, my name ain't Ernie no more..." the orange troll whispered sternly. "It's Master Control."

     "Oh... right..." Creek said, nodding slowly, before turning back to Branch, who froze at his gaze. "Master Control. This is Master Control."

     Slowly, Master Control began to approach Branch, who shrunk away slightly, his ears drooping in fear.

(I don't really know what this next sentence is, but it's in the movie so...)

     "So, let's have a butt," the orange troll said suddenly.

     Branch raised an eyebrow in confusion, looking at the large troll in front of him.

     "You know... smoke," Master Control stated.
"Uh...no... no thanks. I don't smoke," Branch said, slowly lifting his bike off of the ground.

     "They're very health conscious in Los Angeles," Master Control joked, nudging Creek with his elbow.

     "You got any cash..." Creek asked, slowly approaching Branch. "Hollywood?"

     Branch gulped, his eyes wide.

     "N... no," he answered, climbing onto his bike stealthily.

     "Gee..." Creek said, grabbing onto the handle bars of the bike, to stop the young troll from escaping. "We don't get any smokes from you... we don't get any cash... what am I supposed to do with my afternoon?"

     Branch cocked his head slightly, looking at Creek angrily. These guys were idiotic. Why was he scared of them?

     "Maybe you could learn to breathe through your nose," Branch mocked, trying to ride away, but Creek held onto his handlebars making the option to leave nonexistent.

     "What did you say to me!?" the purple troll yelled out angrily, raising his fist.

     "Whoa!" Master Control suddenly shouted, looking down at Branch's feet. "Check out the new cross-trainers!"
"Cool..." Creek stated, seeing the nice sneakers Branch was wearing. "Let me try 'em on."

     Branch gulped, as both trolls smirked at him threateningly.

     'Oh-no...'

—————

     "Later, dude!" Master control yelled out, as Branch rode away quickly on his bike bare-foot. "See ya, Hollywood!" Creek shouted out with a laugh. "Thanks for the shoes!"

     Branch glanced back for a moment, seeing Creek wearing his sneakers. He hated those shoes. He preferred to be bare-foot anyways, but it was the principle of the fact that Creek forced them off of his feet, giving him several punches in the gut to do so, that made him angry.

     "Worst... day... ever..."