The tranquility of the night was shattered by the roaring truck, its tires protesting as the reckless driver careened down the road. With his knees guiding the wheel and his hands moving like a drummer, he hummed along to loud rock music blaring through his headphones. Skidding to a stop near a house, he hastily unloaded packages from the back, tossing them as he danced. Meanwhile, a creature lurking in the bushes observed closely, its eyes fixed on the oblivious driver.
As the man approached the house, dropping a fragile box in his distraction, a delivery person yelled a warning to the truck. Unbeknownst to the driver, the creature swiftly invaded the unguarded truck, rummaging through the crates inside. Eventually, it revealed itself—a goblin, poised on all fours with long, nimble fingers gripping the taillight. Quietly, it signaled to a group of fellow scavengers before continuing its search for valuables.
"Wa-cha-ka!"
"Ola-mola!"
The group of goblins commandeered the truck, rummaging through parcels while one kept watch, glaring at the oblivious driver who strummed an imaginary guitar and rang doorbells. Inside the truck, amidst the search, one goblin stumbled upon a black marker, his breath quickening at the find. With a mischievous air, he swiftly drew a commanding mustache above his lip, signifying leadership.
Conversing in their native tongue, the goblins gestured towards a package they couldn't open, while the driver, jotting down information on a slip of paper, approached a house. Gasping, the goblins warned each other as the driver returned, prompting them to abandon their plan of prying open the package and instead push it out from under the truck, concealing themselves beneath it as the mailman retrieved the undelivered item.
As the driver wrote on another slip of paper, the goblins anxiously watched, their leader still in hiding. With a slam, the door closed, and the truck rumbled to life, startling the goblins. But luck favored them as their leader burst free with laughter, only to be abruptly ejected from the truck with a sickening crunch, leaving his companions flinching in horror.
The truck departed, leaving behind the lifeless goblin, its green entrails splattered on the pavement, a tire track marking its demise. The marker, like an omen, rolled towards the next in line for leadership. With gleeful anticipation, the new goblin picked up the marker, emulating the mustache of his fallen predecessor, reveling in his newfound authority.
"Waka chaka!"
"Waka chaka!"
"Waka chaka!"
In the Hero's forge, a contraption whirred into action, spewing flames towards the Trollhunter. Jim deftly dodged the fire, only to find himself in the trajectory of a barrage of sharp projectiles. With swift reflexes, he maneuvered his sword, expertly deflecting each oncoming threat. Even as he darted around, Blinky provided guidance from the sidelines, but Jim remained focused, successfully parrying every assault.
"Always be afraid. Fear heightens your senses. Fear keeps you alive."
Blinky stated. Feeling accomplished, Jim stood proudly with his sword, that was until a silver ball had knocked Jim off his feet.
"Arrogance gets you killed."
"Yeah, I'll have to remember that."
Blinky lifted Jim from the ground, placing him back on his feet and shoving his master gently forward.
"Draal, however, does not fear you. That will be his weakness, but not you. You'll be wetting your armor. That will be your strength."
"Oh, yeah. Looking good, Jimbo. Feel the burn! - If Jim's getting fit, I'm getting fit. Don't want to be too big. Not that there's anything wrong with being big. But if I'm gonna have Jim's back, I gotta be nimble."
Toby gives the air a few punches before he begins to run in place, Aaarrrgghh copying him while Jim trained in front of them. The tracker beeped, stopping Aaarrrgghh and Toby from their running.
"Yeah, baby! Hit a benchmark. I've run a total of a hundred feet. Five calories burned. Nice!"
Toby celebrated. Jim slashed through each stone figure, slicing them into many pieces. Another mechanical figure popped up with a surprise, sharp metal spears were blown from the holes in the machine as Jim easily stopped them in their warpath.
"You know, I think being afraid is the one rule that I- Oh!"
Jim ducks with panic, more metal spears fly over his head, stabbing another training machine, fire lighting it instantly. Jim stands with a chuckle and points at the machine with his sword.
"-I excel at."
"No, Master Jim. You must excel at all three. If trolls are ever going to embrace you as Trollhunter, you must ignore your humanly instincts."
Jim listened closely to his mentor but his attention was suddenly focused on another machine that had stood and prepared its weapons. Before it could take down its target, Jim threw his sword, the metal slicing easily through the rock.
"Do that, and I have no doubt you will defeat Draal."
Blinky hugged Jim tightly with one arm large training area defeated, smoke weaving its way into the air as a laugh echoed in the vast room, two figures entered, joining the humans. Draal eyed Jim as he passed, laughing at the young boy.
"Look it's training Cute."
"Let your fear keep you alive. Let his arrogance lead him astray. Defeat him and you'll make history."
Blinky leads Jim out from the arena. The picture switched from troll market to Arcadia, the museum steps being crowded by a group of students.
"I know contemporary media might lead you to believe European history is full of swords, sorcery, and scandal. I assure you, the truth is far more interesting, and there's no better place to start than Renaissance Era pottery."
Everyone sighs with boredom while Eli gasped in wonder. Strickler hadn't missed the faces of his students, so he decided to speak up.
"Since we have limited time, Ms. Nomura, perhaps it's best if they explore the museum on their own. Don't you think?"
Strickler said. With no hesitation, the class runs off in different directions. Everyone leaves the two grown-ups, invading the museum. The group walked through the halls, Jim and Toby following behind.
"So, check this out, man. So, If I walk fifty thousand steps, I get the t-shirt. A hundred thousand nets me the water bottle. But if I get five hundred thousand oh, man, you guys that's when things get interesting!"
Jim's eyes peeled from the detail that the museum had to large white curtains and a "do not enter" sign that had been posted on the outside, yet Jim had no use to go in. Toby was giving Jim an ear full while they explored the 2nd floor of the museum. Suddenly, Jim's focus wasn't on his best friend nor the building they filled but instead his full focus was on Claire who took interest in the dress while Steve stood beside her, more bored. Toby stopped beside his friend, connecting the dots on why they suddenly paused.
"Look at that embroidery."
"Hey, sorry if you got caught up in that little tiff between Lake and I, but I want you to know since joining the play, I feel like there's another side of me that wants to come out."
"Apology accepted. You were a jerk."
Claire said and kept her eyes on the dress. With a pleasant feeling, Steve raised his eyebrow, stepping behind Claire as he keeps eye contact with Jim. Steve faces Claire as she doesn't take notice, his arms wrapping around himself, moaning and kissing with mockery. With defeat, Jim sighs and bends over the railing.
"Aw, come on, man. Don't let Steve get to you. Claire's a smart girl. She'll realize he's a jerk."
"How? She's too busy thinking I'm a jerk for skipping play rehearsal."
"Well, then, this is the perfect moment, dude. Take her hand and use those lips of yours and talk to her."
"Toby, no, no! Wait, wait!"
Toby walked over to Steve.
"Hey Steve have you checked out the Neanderthal exhibit. I heard that the woman are real life like."
"Nice! Cave ladies."
"Come here, come here."
Toby waved Jim over, backing away from Claire to give them some room. With nervousness, Jim shyly steps over to the one he desired and starts a conversation with a nervous chuckle.
"I wish our play had these costumes."
"I know, right? With our school budget, I'll end up doing the balcony scene in my bathrobe."
"Hey, if anyone could pull it off, it'd be you. You're the only one on stage who looks like they know what they're doing."
"Tell that to my parents. The one time I get a B, what's their advice? Drop the play."
"Are they crazy? You were born for this. It's like-"
"Get closer."
"Your calling. My mom would be stoked if I ever found something to be so passionate about."
"Wow! You're pretty passionate yourself, Mr. Guru. What about you? What's calling you, Jim Lake Junior?"
Jim clears his throat and speaks, yet, the attention on them disappeared to a few people that crowded Eli as his lips poured out the many conspiracies.
"At first, I thought it was an alien. Definitely not human. - It's some sort of monster!"
"Come on, give it up, Eli."
"No, no! This time, I have photographic evidence."
Eli claimed. With an eyebrow raised, Toby steps over to Eli, taking a look at the picture. The picture displayed on the Phone was the dead goblin with Eli's shocked face in the bottom corner.
"Hey, Eli, can I see your phone real quick?"
Without letting Eli answer, Toby pulled the phone from Eli's small hands and pretend to zoom on the squashed corpse of a creature but went to delete it.
"Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, darn!"
Eli grabbed his phone back and finding that the picture was in the digital trash.
"What the heck? You deleted it?"
"Darn these stubby little fingers. If it's any consolation, I believed you."
The tracker beeps, alerting Toby as Eli walks away, the others around him were long gone.
"Believing, one calorie."
Toby looked back at his friend, knowing he would have to break up the conversation that he had just "forced" them in.
"Hey, so I've gotta ask If you weren't going to show up for rehearsals, why even try out?"
"Honestly, I kind of auditioned by accident, but I'm glad I did. I really liked the company."
"Aw! Thanks."
"Um, I was talking about Eli."
Getting the joke, Claire laughs while she places her hand on his shoulder. Toby sneaks beside them, clearing his throat which stopped her in her laughing fritz to find Toby with a worried smile.
"This better be good, Tobes."
"It's actually kind of bad. We have a problem."
Toby whispered to his friend who had been doing his best to keep his smile in front of Claire.
"What kind of problem?"
On the street where Eli had taken the picture, the goblin body still laid there, yet, a stick poked at the goo like flesh of the goblin.
"Voila!"
Toby said while Jim had been the one poking the goblin as Aaarrrgghh and Blinky crowded the two. Aaarrrgghh looked at Toby.
"Not voila. Goblin."
"Goblin?"
"Ruthless tricksters. Petty street vandals who leave a wake of destruction. This is not good."
Jim stood and chucked the stick after Blinky had described to them on what a Goblin was.
"Well, justice was served. We should get back and train for Draal."
"Oh, no, Master Jim. Where there is one, there is many. And, as for the unfortunate soul who ran over this small fellow, may Skaargen's swift blade have mercy!"
Blinky spit on 2 of his palms, rubbing them together before sticking them far apart as Toby walked off from the group.
"And why is that?"
"Naturally, goblin payback is ten-fold."
"Are you saying whoever ran this guy over is in serious trouble?"
"A delivery driver left a sticky note on Eli's house. Wait for it. The goblin might have gotten squashed by the delivery truck!"
"Hey, let me see that. If the driver's returning at eight, we need to be here, too. I'm not gonna let some poor guy become goblin chow on my watch."
"Master Jim, answering the call!"
"So cool. Stakeout! Past my curfew!"
Toby throws his arms happily in the air. The street now empty except for a car that had sped through the lonely street. Jim and Blinky hide behind a bush while Toby and Aaarrrgghh had taken cover behind a wooden fence. Jim held a pair of binoculars over his eyes, watching as Blinky grumbled beside him in annoyance, his stone arms crossed over his body.
"It's already nine o'clock. Ugh. It appears the only thing being delivered is failed expectations"
"At least, no sign of goblins."
The Trollhunter pulled out a walkie talkie as he handed Blinky the binoculars. The troll inspected the foreign object that had only fit two eyes.
"Hey, Tobes, all clear. How's it going over there?"
The back of Aaarrrgghh and Toby still hiding in their position, yet, instead of staying still, Toby ran in place as he spoke into the small intercom that fit in his hands.
"All good in the hood, Trollhunter, except I can't stop moving. My love of stakeouts is being ruined by my overwhelming need to obtain swag. - Other than that, nothing unusual."
"You are unusual."
"War Hammer out."
A pair of headlights dragging onto the pavement, lighting the way as a truck conveyed down the quiet street. Aaarrrggh's eyes were grown double in size as Toby spoke to his friend across the yard.
"War Hammer to Trollhunter, the package has arrived."
Toby's voice echoed in the Walkie Talkie. Jim and Blinky watched as the truck pulled to a stop in front of its intended house, the same delivery man opened his door, still lost in the little world of rock music as his headphones continued to play loud, deafening music. Distracted and too busy humming along to the tune, his buttery fingers dropped the fragile package after grabbing from the trailer of the truck.
"Whoa!"
"Let's get him out of here before it's too late."
"Wait! His fate may already be sealed. They're here. Look!"
The newly crowned leader of the Goblins quickly ran to the center of the street. With a straight posture, the Goblin snapped his fingers, many groups of glowing eyes appeared from the thick blanket of fog.
"No, I'm not gonna let an innocent person-"
Jim said before standing and drops the spy gear before pushing through the bushes, but with a gentle shove to the ground, Blinky had stopped Jim from walking into his own deathbed as he spoke into the two-way-device. Blinky mentioned and gently pushed Jim further down.
"Great trouble! There appears to be far more than I had anticipated. Stay down and don't make a sound. In their frenzied state, they'll attack any in their path."
The glowing eyes advanced as the mailman headed to the doorstep, his finger pushing the button of the bell down. He drops the package one more time, pieces shattering inside as he still showed no care for the package nor realized the gang of Goblins behind him. He bends to pick up the package as Eli answered the door, happy to see the crate in the man's hands, not realizing the goblins either or even that his package had been broken.
"Yes! My spy gear has arrived! Unassembled!"
"Hey, mind if I use your can? Rad. Thanks."
Eli didn't even answer as the man entered his house. Eli watched with his mouth agape and shaped into an 'O' as his eyebrow was raised. Jim looked above him as a Goblin had taken out the light before standing with worry.
"But that's Eli! He's in my class."
"He was in your class."
As the last light had been taken out, Goblins screeched from their hiding spots, appearing on the lone streak and heading for their target. The large pile hoarded the truck, nibbling away at the metal.
"Waka Chaka Waka-Chaka-wa!"
"Oh, my goblins!"
"Unexpected. Their dispute isn't with the driver at all, but rather the transportation that had flattened their kinsman. Ooh, you must not be afraid, Master Jim."
"I thought the first rule of Trollhunting was to always be afraid."
"Trolls, not goblins."
"Goblins crave the pheromone of terror, an odor you appear to be releasing quite generously."
"Wait! This is too much. You mean, they can smell fear?"
"Oh, no! I can smell it, too."
"Then stop, or they will eat you!"
Blinky warned before he heard Toby's scream in the walkie talkie. Quickly covering the speaker with his hands, Blinky and Jim watch with fear as three goblins pick their heads out from the crowd that now was flat and lower than before. Catching a scent, the Goblins turn with a growl before snarling that there were more watchers in the area.
"Perhaps I made my point too loud. Run!"
Jim and Blinky run from out of the bush as Goblins follow behind, Toby and Aaarrrggh being forced from their hiding. As the group runs, the delivery man leaves Eli's house, strumming an air guitar, very few pieces of his truck remained piled on the sidewalk. Back on the fleeing group, Jim heard the familiar click of his amulet and pulled it from his pocket to see why it had clicked, however, the three blue glowing orbs sank into his heart, the armor appearing over his clothes.
"Now is not the time for armor! It'll only slow you down!"
"You think I'm trying to do this?"
"Your armor is responding to your emotional state! Control your fear, or you'll be dinner!"
"It's so, so heavy!"
Starting to slow down, Jim became an easier target and Goblins began to hang on the Trollhunter's legs and arms, putting more weight on Jim's already heavy massed armor.
"Master Jim!"
Jim was dragged further from Blinky, sparks appearing from his metal fingertips grazing the concrete. A large hand suddenly grabbed Jim's stretched out hands, throwing him on top of Aaarrrgghh's hairy back, keeping him from the creatures reach. Aaarrrgghh punched each Goblin from his path easily and catching up to Blinky who smiled. The armor disintegrated into nothing as they continued to flee. The tracker beeped, Toby, turning his head and lifting his wrist to see.
"Oh, my gosh! I just got a free t-shirt! - This is so much cardio!"
A Goblin caught Toby's outstretched hand, hanging onto the boy. Jim held onto his best friend's foot, trying his best to keep Toby with him was so close to making contact with the pavement. With many pounding on the concrete, the Goblin finally released the flesh of Toby, taking the Chubby tracker with him as Toby was pulled up back onto the safety net of Aaarrrgghh.
"No! My points!"
"Your points? Our lives, Tobes!"
"We need to find refuge! Trollmarket's too far."
"Cut through these backyards. We'll get to my house. Come on, come on, come on!"
They follow Toby's direction and cut through each yard as the Goblins follow quickly behind and let out their raspy calls.
"Waka Chaka."
The large troll gently set his two human friends over the fence, letting them run to Toby's house as he lifts Blinky over before he jumps over himself. Toby runs to his back door, twisting the handle only to find it locked. His small hands feel around in his pockets, in desperate need of finding his keys. The Goblins managed to find the fence, jumping over as Toby fiddles with his keys.
"Come on, come on! Hurry, Tobes!"
"Don't rush me!"
Finally getting the key inside the lock, Toby twists the key while the Goblins surround them. Everyone presses against the wall with Toby preoccupied with the lock which he finally manages to unlock.
"Ah! I did it! Yes! I rule I rule!"
Toby, Jim, and Blinky run into the safe hold of the house but being too big, Aaarrrgghh is once again stuck between the door frame while the Goblins emerge. Quickly thinking, Toby flicks on the light, blinding each Goblin before they run off and over the fence, Aaarrrgghh still stuck in the door. Toby climbs on the shoulder of his friends to see that the Goblins had retreated.
"Thank gosh for Nana's anti-burglar mania."
Toby said breathlessly. The leader Goblin stops on the peak of the fence as he grins wickedly, the tracker beeping as well. The Goblin leaves. Inside the house, the gang catches their breath inside the kitchen until a human voice calls out, startling them.
"Toby-pie! Is that you?"
"Don't mind us, Nana. We'll just be in my room. Binge-watch another show and keep the cats inside."
Up in Toby's room, Toby sat on his bed, staring at nothing as his hands feed his mouth quickly. Aaarrrgghh finds a pile of VHS tapes and happily pops one into his mouth.
"An-- Anyone else want a snack? I find stress eating calms me down."
"I'm sorry to say, Master Jim, but your town is infested with goblins!"
"Okay, trolls, I can deal with because, at least, trolls stay underground. But goblins? I don't even have the bandwidth to-"
"Jim, we gotta get my Chubby Tracker back. As long as they've got it, they're just gonna get stronger and faster."
"Must find den."
"Yes, and eradicate them at once before they seek their revenge!"
"Revenge?"
"On you two. And they now know where Tobias lives."
"So, we find their den. You must have some idea."
"Haven't the foggiest. It could be anywhere."
A familiar noise caught Blinky's full attention, after hearing a small chatter from the dollhouse, Blinky bends and looks into the window, finding the gnome with a light candle, some rock, and a girl doll on the couch.
"Great Gronka Morka! What is the gnome doing in this dollhouse?"
"Toby-pie? I don't recognize that voice. Who is that?"
"It's a friend, Nana! I do have more than one!"
"No, you don't."
"You told me to take care of the gnome, so we're taking care of it."
"This is in direct violation of rule number two! Whatever happened to finishing the fight?"
"And rule number one is to always be afraid, except if you're around goblins 'cause they smell fear. Your rules make less sense than algebra, which oh, yeah I have in a few hours unless I get eaten by goblins tonight."
"I'm sorry. I'm no good at understanding your rules. I'm not ready for Draal, Bular, or finding a stupid den of goblins."
Blinky steps to Jim and places a comforting hand on his shoulder and leads Jim to the bed to sit back down.
"As your trainer, I can only advise, not make your decisions. I understand. You're human. You're learning the rules in your own way. Aaarrrgghh and I will seek out this den, wherever it may be. You just focus on your studies. It seems life has thrown enough at you for one day. But a gnome in a dollhouse?!"