Liz Walker POV
A yawn broke out from Liz as she walked beside Claire, who gave her a look. "Trouble sleeping last night?"
Liz thought about last night. As expected, her nightmare repeated itself in her sleep, but luckily she was able to cast a soundproof spell in her room to prevent anyone from waking up in the middle of the night with her sudden screaming. She did not want to make Douxie more worried than he already has, based on last night's discussion after a creepy encounter with a shapeshifting troll. She merely shrugs at her friend. "You could say that."
"Hmm, really?" Claire stares at Liz for a moment before a smug crosses her lips. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised if you did, especially after yesterday."
Liz immediately snaps her head in Claire's direction as her feet come to a sudden stop. Did Claire somehow see her break into the museum last night? No way! It was a school night, and she lives in the suburbs, so she couldn't have been in town. Or maybe someone saw her last night and called Claire about it! Dang it, she should have just teleported inside the museum from her place, away from public eyes. But then, that would risk exposing where they live to anyone who might be able to trace her.
"Huh?" Liz said, pretending to act like she didn't know what Claire was bringing on about. Her feet fidget beneath her as though ready to run at any sign of trouble. Like now, for instance.
Claire crosses her arms over her chest, her history textbook clutched in-between. "Don't play dumb with me, Liz. I know what happened. I saw it with my own eyes, and you can't deny it."
"D-Deny, what?" Liz could feel a sweat drop forming at her temple, her thoughts scrambling to come up with an excuse about last night. Maybe she could say that she was on her way back from her shift at work and got lost because it was dark and late at night. Yeah, that could work since she's technically still "new" to Arcadia Oaks. Right?
Claire groaned, pinching the space between her eyebrows, then walked closer to Liz, who almost took a step back but held her ground when Claire wrapped an arm over her shoulder and whispered to her ear. "That you and Jim are a thing."
Liz paused, her mind disassociating for a few seconds until Claire's words gradually sunken in. She turns to stare at Claire, whose brown eyes twinkle with mischief and a teasing smile spread across her face. Recognizing that all-too-familiar look, Liz quickly ducks forward from Claire's hanging arm and turns around, standing face to face with her. "Jim and I are not a thing, Claire. Where did you get that idea from?"
Claire rolls her eyes, placing her hand on her hip. "Yesterday, I was on my way to the bathroom when I saw you and Jim chatting by the railing. Then, I saw him hug you. When you hugged him back, I was surprised. If only you saw his face, Liz. I had never seen him smile so happily before, but then his friend showed up and kind of ruined the moment for Jim, it seems. Because of that, I thought you and Jim were together. "
"Oh," Liz blushed, mindlessly twisting the button of her denim jacket. "We're not together or anything. Just friends. He thought for a while that I was mad at him for missing rehearsals, but then Toby explained that Jim was going through some stuff, so I assured him that it was okay, and now, we're good."
"Mhmm." Claire was not buying the "just friends" label but chose to let it slide as she continued. "Well, I still think you guys look cute together. And since you're not upset with Jim anymore, then I guess I can let him off the hook for now."
"Really?" Liz chuckled.
Claire's expression turns grim. "Yeah-no. Mark my words, Liz. If Jim causes another setback on this play, I will make sure he does not see the light of day."
Liz clapped her hands. "Kudos for making a rhyming threat."
"It's a gift," Claire said, sweeping her hair back with a flick of her wrist. Then, the two girls burst into giggles. Without a second to lose, Claire instantly grabs onto Liz and drags her to follow.
"Where are we going, Claire?" Liz asked, puzzled by her friend's actions. Claire glances over her shoulder, her face once again painted with mischief. "I'm taking to see your Romeo in action, Juliet. What else do you think I'm doing?"
Liz groans. "I thought we went over this, Claire. Stop trying to matchmake me."
"I'm your friend. It's part of the job."
Jim Lake POV
"Dodge this, Lake!"
Jim rolls, easily dodging the ball Steve threw and ducking from another one as Toby stood behind him, doing nothing but staring at the floor. "Hey, come on! You're gonna get your head in the game, Tobes, or do I have to do this all by myself?"
Stomping his foot down, Toby replies in frustration. "Why bother taking another step? My Chubby Tracker's gone. Life's so empty when you're not racking up points."
During the conversation, balls were continued being thrown, yet none had hit the two until Toby had dropped the ball, not moving as one bounced against his equally round stomach.
"Well, I thought you'd be more concerned about the goblins coming to kill us," Jim stresses his point when suddenly another ball comes towards his best friend.
"Oh, yeah, you're right." Toby perked up at his words, mostly in fear and realization that the Goblins were still out there as Jim jumped forward, catching the ball. He chucked the ball back at the other side, Steve easily avoiding it. With two balls in both palms of his hands, Steve tossed them at Jim, who jumped and slid from each ball while Steve continued to throw. Jim twisted and flipped, the coach raising an eyebrow in shock as Jim continued to flip and jump from the balls. Steve growled as his target couldn't be hit and threw more in his raging fit.
"At least your training's paying off," Toby remarked before getting pummeled by multiple balls and falling to the ground. "My Gronk-nuks!"
One more ball was thrown at him as Steve celebrated. "In your face! You're out, Domzalski!"
Steve caught a flying ball and chucked it at Jim, the boy ducking. Instead of the ball taking down Jim, it had hit the two balls that Eli was holding, sending him to the floor also, the balls leaving his grip and his glasses laying beside him. Jim rolls to the two balls, grabbing them and flipping forward as he tossed them, the two red death balls striking Steve's other teammates. Eli and Jim share a high five while the Trollhunter chuckled happily. With a slow clap, Steve heads over to the two.
"Pretty good, Romeo, but kiss your Juliet goodbye," Steve said, wrapping his arms around himself, moaning and kissing with mockery. Jim's eyebrows furrowed in anger, pointing at Steve. "Leave Liz out of this."
"Don't let him get to you-" Toby started but was struck by another ball as Coach Lawrence just watched from the sidelines. "Ow! Seriously?"
Grabbing a ball from the floor, Jim takes aim. "Pucker up, Steve, and kiss this!"
Jim throws the ball, but Steve ducks in time, letting the ball continue to fly, finding new prey. The ball heads towards the doors when one of them opens to reveal Claire and Liz.
"Nooo!" Jim yelled in panic as everyone watched with their eyes wide. "Oh, snap!"
Liz Walker POV
As soon as they open the gymnasium door, Liz senses a projectile heading straight for them. Suddenly, everything around her plays in slow motion as she pulls back her friend and leaps forward. Lifting a palm in the air, it makes contact with the ball, and with it in her grasp, Liz twirls her body around, using the momentum of the ball to her advantage and throwing it back. Towards whom, she didn't know until a loud resounding smack and a scream met her ears, bringing her surroundings back to average speed.
Liz looked up to find Steve lying on the floor, completely knocked unconscious with a red swelling forming on his forehead. Coach Lawrence blows the whistle as he, Jim, and Toby surround the body with shocked faces while Liz and Claire pop in, glancing down at the form.
"Ooh, headshot! Good aim, Walker!" Coach Lawrence yelled before blowing his whistle once again, pointing at two of his students. "You two, take Steve to the nurse's office!"
As the two students walk away with an unconscious Steve, Toby cheers, bringing the three attention toward him. "That was awesome! It happened so fast that I couldn't even blink to see it. You have avenged me, Liz!"
"Glad to be of service, Toby, though it was unintentional." Liz smiles proudly.
"Still, I would have gotten hit in the face if it was not for your impeccable reaction," Claire commented. "Thanks for the save."
"Anytime, amiga," Liz replies with a smile but gradually fades when she notices Jim looking down guiltily as he rubs the back of his head. "What's wrong, Jim?"
Jim lifts his gaze from the floor to meet Liz's. "It was me who threw the ball. You guys would have been hurt because of me. I should have--"
"Don't worry about it, Jim. It was simply bad timing." Liz assures Jim, who nodded.
"What are you girls doing here anyway?" Toby asked. Liz pointed at Claire with her thumb. "Claire wanted to watch you guys play. I got dragged along, but it looks like I got caught in the action instead."
Suddenly, the school bells started to ring then Coach Lawrence yelled again. "Class dismissed! This gym better be ball-free before I get back from the nurse's office, or you boys will be running laps next time!"
"Well, that was entertaining, but I better get going. I have to meet up with Mary to help with stage production. I'll see you around, Liz." Claire waves, walking away as she sends a sly wink to Liz, who rolls her eyes in response. Liz turns back to the boys, who look at her questioningly. "Don't ask."
She picks up a ball nearby, and the boys follow suit without question. While doing so, Liz asks about last night's investigation. "So, what did you boys find?"
Toby immediately responds, telling her everything from their stakeout to getting chased by an army of goblins. Though, he frequently mentions losing his Chubby Tracker in-between.
"Blinky said that we have to find their den to take them out all at once." Jim included as he threw the balls into the cart from a distance. "But it could be anywhere."
"He's right. It will take a while to find it." Liz pondered for a moment, glancing around the gym until her eyes settled on the scoreboard when an idea strikes, her head snapping to Toby. "Toby, how exactly did you lose your tracker, again?"
"While we were getting chased, one of the goblins tried to grab me but snatched my Chubby Tracker instead," Toby replied. Liz smiles at that. "Perfect! Could you grab your phone?"
Toby and Jim glanced at one another, then Toby replied. "Uh...sure."
He heads to the locker room as Jim turns to Liz with a perplexed look on his face. "What's a tracker got to do with the goblins?"
"Trackers have a GPS function that allows you to see your pace and distance and view a map of your workout in an app. If one of the goblins still has the tracker, then that means we know where they're going." Liz explained as Jim's eyes widened in realization. "Of course! It could lead us straight to their den."
"Precisely, Trollhunter."
***
As she was finishing her shift that evening, Liz received a text from Jim with a photo of the map of Arcadia with Toby's animated picture on it, showing where it was in the small town. But a wave of dread washes over her when she realizes the location—The Museum of Arcadia.
Liz sent a quick text, warning them not to take action yet. To only scope out and report back. She didn't wait for a reply as she scrambled to make the last coffee for her shift, handing it to the customer before darting to the backroom to get the change.
Within five minutes, she was out the door and skateboarding her way to the museum. She glances down at her phone, her text message to Jim left unread. A great sense of foreboding accumulated in her gut as she pulled up to the park, seeing two abandoned bikes behind a tree. So they went inside. Damn it!
Dropping her skateboard beside the bikes, she glances around the park for anyone. Satisfied that it was all clear, she closed her eyes and transported herself back to the same spot she landed when she first teleported in the museum.
Opening her eyes, she creeps her way through the balcony hall and walks down a long flight of stairs to the main floor. All was quiet when suddenly a burst of screams echoed from down the corridor. Quickly, she runs in the direction of the sound and finds herself back in the enclosed section of the museum. Peeking through the drapes, she sees Jim in his troll armor battling out with the troll shapeshifter, Nomura, as Toby tackles with a goblin.
Taking a step back, Liz grabs onto her necklace and incites the incantation. "By the power of the Arcane, magic is mine to protect!"
A bursting wave of cyan light encompassed her entire being until it faded with Liz in her Guardian armor. Summoning a sword in her hand, she jumps through the drapes as Jim slashes at Nomura with his sword. Nomura let out a laugh, thinking that he had missed and that he had been receiving more blows than giving until she felt her finger burn as a deep cut had formed on her finger. She gasps in shock, then growls threateningly at the Trollhunter. "Ah! You'll die for that."
With a quick move, Nomura pulls out two orange curved blades, making a few swift moves as she did until she charges towards Jim, but Liz reacts, jumping forward to meet the twin curved blades with her own, inviting herself as another opponent. "Not if I can help it, shapeshifter."
"You! So this is the legendary Guardian. I've wanted to cross blades with you!" Their blades mixed through deadly swings and clashes, colors of orange and cyan blending as sparks around them. Again, Liz blocks another strike right before ducking between Nomura's legs and grabbing onto her black hair. Using her enhanced strength, Liz pulls it over her shoulder, sending the troll flying across the room, her body tumbling until her back hits a wall.
"Whoa!" Jim exclaimed, approaching Liz from behind. "Nice one."
Liz glares at Jim, pointing a finger to his armored chest. "I texted you to scope out only, but you didn't check to read my message. Again. You should check your phone more often, Jim. It's becoming a terrible habit."
Jim was about to reply, but then Liz noticed Nomura heading towards them, her body twisting in the air with her swords, creating a tornado of metal. "Behind you!"
"What?" Jim said as Liz shoved him away in time, taking the blow instead. The hit pushes her back, her back slamming hard onto the ground. The impact made her groan in pain. "Ugh, that's gotta hurt."
"Liz!" Jim shouts as Liz waves a dismissive hand. "I'm okay! Don't mind me. Stay focused, Jim!"
Hearing her last words, Jim steps in front of Liz, facing Nomura, who comes at him fiercely, striking each blow against his blade tactlessly. But then, Nomura stops swinging, looking down to find the other human - Toby - yanking at her hair as the leader of the Goblins had tried to pull him off. While the shapeshifter is distracted, Jim grabs onto Liz, helping her up from the floor. "Can you stand?"
"Yeah, thanks." Liz nods, swiping the dust from her armor with a hand. "Though, I must say that it's going to take a lot more than cheap tricks to keep me down."
"Glad to hear." Jim chuckles. Both turn to Nomura, whose attention is now back on them after whipping their friend into a pillar. With a psychotic grin, Nomura leaps towards the Trollhunter and the Guardian, their swords meeting with her twin blades. "Two against one? Seems unfair, don't you think?"
"Says the one who strikes when their opponent's back is turned." Liz scoffed, evading one of Nomura's attacks and coming at her from behind with a swift kick to the back, knocking the troll down to the floor as Jim rolled out of the way in time, landing beside Liz. They both back away, trying to put distance between the troll and themselves, but it was no use as Nomura got up once again and charged at them. Jim jumps ahead of Liz with one more swing of his sword, but Nomura kicks him across the room, his body slamming into the wall, falling limply with the large banner.
"Jim!" Liz shouted but didn't turn away from Nomura for long, keeping her front towards her opponent, her sword held at the ready. "How are you here on the surface world if the Killahead bridge is incomplete? There should have been no way out of the Darklands."
"Like I would ever tell you our secrets, Guardian." Nomura sneered, attacking Liz as said Guardian blocks her every move. "Ah, so there is more of you then. Thanks for admitting that, at least.
Nomura growls, having enough. With quick movements, she used the curved edges of her blade to interlock with Liz's sword in-between and swing her out of the way.
Liz flew across the air, the arcane sword vanishing from her hand as the Guardian landed against the hidden structure, the white sheet pulled down by her weight when she dropped to the ground, tangled in cloth. She twisted and pulled the covering off of her and placed a hand on the stone structure, pulling herself up from the floor.
Hand still on the stone surface, she turns just in time to see Jim pull the large banner from underneath Nomura's feet, tripping her. The shapeshifter flipped through the air and screamed, landing on the leader of the Goblins unexpectedly. Her purple body was marked with colors of green as the puddle of slime was a clear fact that she had murdered the goblin leader. Right away, another goblin took its place as the new leader and chanted with a raised fist. "Waka Chaka!"
His two followers did the same, chanting the exact phrase before jumping at Nomura, taking her down.
"No, it wasn't me! No! No!" Nomura shouted helplessly while cornered against the crates; the rest of the goblins are finally present as they continue to raid her.
While watching the entire thing, Liz was unaware that she was making the bridge light up behind her with her hand on its stone surface, capturing the attention of Jim and Toby, who took a photo in shock. Catching sight of a camera flash from the corner of her eye, Liz drops her hand, the glow fading away. Blinking her eyes, she hears Jim call her. "Come on, Liz! Let's get out of here!"
Quick to react, Liz raced after the boys without glancing back at the chaos. Upon exiting from the museum, Liz's and Jim's armor vanishes. With gasping breaths and a scream from Toby, the three ran for their respective vehicles, grabbing them and making their way down the street with quick haste, leaving the area.
"Holy--What the--? Her face! Did you--?" Toby stammers but isn't able to finish a single sentence.
"And that bridge! There were troll markings on it." Jim stated, breathless. They skidded to a stop in the middle of the street as Toby fell off his bike, again face-planting on the cement as he had no breath nor energy to hold him upwards. Jim glanced at Liz, who stopped behind them. "And it was glowing when you touched it, Liz. How did you--?"
Liz shakes her head. "I don't know. I can't explain it either."
"Glowing Bridge? Who cares? There's a shapeshifting troll witch!" Toby shouted in fear.
"They're walking among us, Tobes! They can be anyone!" Jim stated a matter of fact as Toby realized what it meant. "This is a total game-changer!"
"We need to tell Blinky and AAARRRGGHH," Liz said, but before they could even head in the direction of Trollmarket, red and blue suddenly had lit their faces. The wails of sirens greeted their ears as fear bubbled up inside them. Coming out of the car, a policeman pointed a flashlight at them. "Hands up!"
The two boys drop their bikes quickly, throwing their hands up while Liz casually raises both hands to her head.
"What's happening?" Jim asked, yet they didn't answer.
"On the ground, now!" The policeman barked.
Complying with the order, they settled themselves on the ground while Toby looked at everyone, confused. "What did we do?"
"What else did you think we did?" Liz answered sarcastically.
"Dispatch, we have the teens that match the description of the museum break-in. You're coming with us." The policeman reported into his two-way radio. At the thought of Nomura turning them in, Liz chuckles to herself, making Jim and Toby turn to her in surprise.
"We've just been turned in to by a shapeshifting troll disguised as a human curator for breaking and entering a museum at night. For some reason, I find that ironic."
[End of Episode V - Waka Chaka!]
Out of all the villains, Nomura takes the cake for being the creepiest and scariest villain, in my opinion. If you watched her scenes in the show, you know what I mean.
Fandom Question: Which villain would you be scared to fight against?
Please don't forget to vote or comment, if you liked this chapter. I would love to hear what you all think. Happy reading!
- Miss_Nightingale