"Alright," Jim said. "Do your worst."
Toby threw a watermelon at him, which he sliced in half with his glowing blue sword. The entire watermelon disappeared.
"It slices!" Toby said.
"It dices!" Jim said.
"That was amazing!"
"What else do you got?"
Toby picked up a stack of newspapers. "You know, we probably should recycle these. On the other hand, shredding them is more fun! It's less environmentally conscious but more fun!"
He threw the newspapers at him and he sliced them and, just like the watermelon, the newspapers disappeared. "Home run!" Jim said.
"It's like a ticker-tape parade of awesome!"
Draal stepped out of the house. "What is this mockery?"
"Hey, Draal," Jim said. "Just working on some sword fighting skills."
"The sword of Daylight is not a toy to be played with. It is a hallowed obligation I have spent my entire life training to be worthy of."
"You want to take it for a spin?" he asked, holding up the sword. He handed it to him, and he took it. He held it up in the air and saw Kanjigar's reflection in the sword. He looked at it in surprise and the sword disappeared from his hands. It reappeared in Jim's hands. "Sorry," he said. "I forgot."
"If my destiny is not to hold the sword, Perhaps it is to teach you how to properly wield it."
He looked around and saw a lamp. He grabbed it and took the lampshade off it. He started swinging it like a sword. He was about to hit Jim but stopped just inches away from his head. "Your blade is but an extension of your body," Draal said. "And your body is an extension of your eyes. Mimic my movements, Trollhunter."
They held out their weapons to each other. Draal did a few fighting stances, with Jim mimicking his movements. They fought until night fell. Draal pushed him against the house. "That kinda hurt," Jim said.
"A real fighter is never predictable, Trollhunter. You have to expect the unexpected and learn to embody the armor. Force it to do what you want."
Jim looked at his armored hand and the amulet on his chest started glowing. His sword that was held by the hand that was pinned to the wall moved to his free hand. Draal smiled and let go of him.
Toby's phone started dinging. "Shoot," he said. "We're supposed to meet Blinky at the museum now."
Jim put his sword away. "We'll work on this more later, okay, Draal?"
He changed out of his armor and the two boys went to their bikes. "Let's go, Tobes!"
Draal was left standing in the backyard, holding the shadeless lamp. He looked at the lightbulb and bit it. He realized what he did and set the lamp down, putting the lampshade back on.
***
"Good, Blinky left the window open," Jim said, sneaking to the window of the museum. "I hope he took care of the cameras."
He and Toby climbed through the window. "It's true." Toby said. "You always return to the scene of the crime. They try to rehabilitate us, but the big house only made us better criminals."
"The goblins are all gone," Jim said.
Vendel was standing by a dress on display. "Ridiculous garment," He said, touching it with his staff. Jim and Toby ran into the room. "You're late," Blinky told them.
"Sorry," Toby said. "Draal was training Jim."
"Draal?" Aaarrrgghh asked.
"Training?" Blinky asked.
"Yeah," Jim said. "He sort of made a home in my basement to look out for the place."
"Of course," Blinky said. "When a troll is defeated in combat, it's completely natural for them to take refuge in the victor's domicile."
"So, you understand?"
"I understand such an arrangement could only end in disaster. Utter disaster!"
"Are we simply waiting here to be discovered?" Vendel asked. "Or were you planning on showing me this thing you believe to be the Killahead Bridge?"
"The Trollhunter was just about to show us the way," Blinky said.
They walked through the door to the room they were fighting Nomura in. "And as we were chasing away the goblin pack," Jim said. "We ran past this closed exhibit. And there it was: the Killahead Bridge."
They walked over to a sheet covering something up. Jim and Toby pulled the sheet off to reveal a giant ship. "That is not a bridge," Vendel said.
"But it was right here!" Jim said. "You saw it, Tobes. You took a picture of it."
"It was out of focus, and I did forget to turn on the flash. We were running so fast. We were being chased; you know. Maybe we only thought we saw it?"
Vendel turned to Blinky. "Blinkous Galadrigal. I've not left the Heartstone in a century. I only did so tonight because of the grave peril the Killahead Bridge represents. For you to invoke that danger without just because--"
If Master Jim says it's so--"
"You will be only too quick to believe him. You've never met a conspiracy theory you didn't like."
"I hate conspiracies. This is why I am dedicated to rooting them out."
"Like you rooted out the plot to rid Trollmarket of all its cat meat?"
"That was a misunderstanding."
"Or the time you were convinced we were infested with flea trolls?"
"Precaution is the soul of virtue."
"Everyone in Trollmarket thinks you're paranoid."
"If it's everyone, it must be a conspiracy!"
Vendel sighed. "It would seem your pupil is desperate to play the hero, while you are desperate to see danger where none exists."
He walked out of the room. "Aaarrrgghh, take me home."
Aaarrrgghh and Toby followed him out. "It was right here," Jim said.
"Perhaps Vendel's right," Blinky said. "Perhaps I have flooded your imagination with flights of fancy. I blame myself."
"Not you, Blinky. You have to believe me. I know what I saw."
Blinky looked at him. "If the proof isn't here," he said. "It has to be somewhere. You worry about your studies. I'll worry about this."
***
"So, say what we saw isn't just an illusion and they really did move it," Toby said the next day at school. "How could we possibly find it?"
"Well, I don't think we're gonna be lucky enough to stumble on it again, Tobes." Him said. "But one thing is for sure. That curator did not move it by herself."
"Maybe she had help! Other changelings, perhaps?"
Jim saw Claire step out of a car and wave goodbye to her parents. "Oh, no, Claire," Jim said. "Claire?" Toby said. "A changeling?"
"No, when I thought I was gonna die, I wrote Claire a letter, too, and told her everything."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
"There you are!" Claire went over to them. Toby looked at her. "Hey, what's up, Nunez?"
She passed him. "Hey, Colby."
"It's Toby. Not that it matters. You can call me whatever you want."
Claire went over to Jim. "You've been looking for me?" Jim asked.
"You didn't run into Miss. Janeth yet, did you?"
"Is she mad I couldn't make rehearsal yesterday? Something kinda came up." He said. "Steve filled in. That's what understudies are for, right?"
"You haven't heard?" She asked. "Steve isn't the understudy anymore. You are.cShe's tired of you never showing up, so she made Steve Romeo.
"Come on! But I memorized all my lines!"
"It doesn't matter. Miss. Janeth is on the warpath for you. I'd watch out."
Claire walked inside and Toby went next to Jim. Jim sighed. "I have algebra with her too."
***
"As it is true for any such equation," Miss. Janeth said, writing something on the board. Jim walked inside the classroom late. "For instance, let's take 3x." she stopped writing. "So, you won't come to rehearsal, Mr. Lake, but you arrive to class. I saved you the best seat. Front row." She still hasn't looked away from the board. Jim stood up and slowly made his way to his new seat. "As I was saying," Miss. Janeth continued. "Every algebraic equation requires balance. Not unlike, say, actors in an ensemble!" She looked straight at Jim. "For instance," She went back to writing on the board. "Every piece of this equation plays an important role. That is unless variable x is a zero. X has no role. X doesn't show up. X lets the equation down." She started scribbling on the board. "Then, the entire play—I mean, equation—falls apart! It becomes impossible!"
She handed Jim the marker. "Mr. Lake, how would you solve this mathematical problem?"
***
Claire ran over to Jim after school. "Hey," she said. I see you survived Miss. Janeth's 'Math class of Doom'."
"And now she's given me a mountain of homework I hardly understand."
"You know, I did honors algebra last year and was pretty okay at it. What if you came by my place for a study sesh?"
"Really? Why would you do that? I screwed up your play."
"Promoting Steve to Romeo wasn't your idea. And honestly, I'd rather be on stage with you, even if you are a total flake." She giggled. "See you at six?"
"Yeah," he said. "Totally. See you at six."
***
"Master Jim," Blinky said. "Master Jim!"
"Master Jim!" Aaarrrgghh said loudly behind Jim, causing him to jump.
"Yes," Jim said. "Sorry. Paying attention."
"As I was saying," Blinky said. "Assuming that Killahead Bridge was in Arcadia, and it was indeed, as you say, delivered to a clandestine location, that would mean more changelings, scavenging, assembling, and disassembling. If we prove that the museum curator wasn't working alone, then Vendel might start believing that you saw the Killahead Bridge."
"So, we find another changeling," Jim said.
"Stop saying that so loudly." They saw a troll near them, eavesdropping. "Do you mind?" Blinky asked.
"Whatever," he said, walking off.
"Changelings have not been heard or seen in Trollmarket for centuries. The mere word could cause hysteria."
"Then how do we find one?" Jim asked.
"RotGut's," Aaarrrgghh said as they stopped in front of a small shop.
"Purveyor of fine charms, totems, and spells," Blinky said. "Follow my lead."
He knocked on the front of the shop and a troll's eye popped out of a window. "Ailment or curse?" he asked.
Another troll's eye popped out of another window. "Oi, numbskull! I'm supposed to answer it."
"But I already did answer it."
"What is not clear about 'I deal with the customers,'." The window shut. "' And you handle the wizardry'?"
"Hold a tick," the other window closed. Blinky turned to Aaarrrgghh and the two boys and laughed. One of the windows opened again and the second troll's eye was seen again. "Good, Rot," he said. "Stick with that." He looked at them. "Welcome to RotGut's. How may we service you?"
"Gut. My good troll," Blinky said. "We suspect one of these fleshbags may be a changeling."
Rot looked at the two boys.
"Other fleshbags," Aaarrrgghh said.
"You're going to need a gaggletack," Rot said.
"Unfortunately," Gut said. "You see, we're running a bit short on those. Very hard to get."
"But I got a bag of them right here," Rot said.
"What in the world?" Gut said. "Could you excuse us for a moment?" He asked, closing the window.
"What are you doing?" he asked. "I'm trying to drive up the price over here."
"I thought we were trying to help these nice lads." Rot shut his own window.
"Gaggletack?" Toby asked.
"Rare artifact," Aaarrrgghh told him.
"Exceedingly rare," Blinky said. "An object of great mystery. With physical contact, it reveals the true nature of a changeling."
Rot opened his window. "Step back, please."
A drawer popped open and a horseshoe flew out of it, hitting Toby in the face. "It hurts!" He said. Jim picked up the horseshoe."
"Made of pure iron," Aaarrrgghh said.
"Why would you put such a precious thing on a horse's foot?" Blinky asked. "Beware. Changelings are swapped with their human counterparts at birth. So, it is likely these troll-pretenders have dwelt amongst you for decades. They could be anyone. Used car salesman, tax collectors, television executives."
"Dentists," Toby said.
"Yes," Blinky said. "Especially dentists."
"So, who do we start with?" Jim asked.
Toby took the gaggletack from him. "I got a few ideas."
***
Toby hung from the gym rope right behind the Coach. He put it against his face and dropped to the ground. "Domzalski!" Coach said. "Drop down and give me 50."
Jim snuck up behind Eli and poked him with it, causing Eli to jump. "Hi, Jim!" He waved. He rubbed his arm. "Oh! Um..."
Jim ran away. "Thank you!" Eli called.
"Step right up!" Toby said at a booth labeled "horseshoe toss". "Toss a horseshoe, win a prize!"
He was still there hours later. "Step right up." He said. "Toss a horseshoe. Win a prize."
"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak--"
Steve got hit with the gaggletack during play rehearsal. "Hey! Who did that?" he called.
Jim handed Toby the horseshoe. "Your turn."
Toby walked past people, touching them with the gaggletack. "Nope. Nope. Nope." He said as he walked past them. He walked over to Jim, who was by his locker. "Any luck?" Jim asked.
"Nope."
"Yeah, I struck out too."
"I don't believe that's appropriate school attire."
They turned around and saw Strickler, looking at the student's clothing. "You uh, wanna try it out on Mr. Strickler?" Toby asked.
"Come on," Jim said. "You really think he is one?"
Toby looked at the gaggletack and started walking over to him. Jim stopped him. "Now?" He asked, taking the gaggletack. "I don't want to embarrass ourselves."
Toby pulled the gaggletack back. "You just don't want to admit that Strickler-"
"I don't want to upset anyone who grades our final exams!"
Toby let go of the gaggletack. "Fine!" he said. "We'll do it later."
He took the gaggletack from him and tosses it to the side. It landed right at Strickler's feet. He looked at the boys. "Whoopsie!" Toby said. "Slipped."
"Sorry," Jim said to Stickler.
"Uh, mind picking that up for us, Mr. S?" Toby asked.
"And waste such idle hands as your own, Mr. Domzalski?"
"Our backs," Jim said. "Coach Lawrence put us through the wringer this morning."
Claire walked over and picked up the gaggletack. "Here you go, Mr. Strickler," she said, handing it to him. "Here's your...horseshoe back."
"Thank you, Miss. Nunez. But that belongs to Mr. Lake."
"Well, that would explain the flying horseshoes." She walked over to Jim and handed him the gaggletack. "So not going to ask."
Strickler walked closer to him. "Take care of your back, Young Atlas. Such is the danger of carrying the world on one's shoulders."
He walked off and Toby squinted at him. "Suspicious." He said.
"Suspicious?" Claire asked.
"Claire!" Jim said.
"Still here."
"What's up?"
"You're still coming with me, right?"
"Right!" He said. He looked at Toby. "Claire and I are gonna go to her house...for math stuff." He handed Toby the gaggletack and he and Claire walked off.
Toby looked at the gaggletack. "And now, my horseshoe-shaped little friend, we expose the definite changeling in our midst."
***
Toby was at the dentist. His dentist was singing and humming to a Spanish song that was playing while his assistant was handing him the things he needed. Toby took the gaggletack out of his pocket and tried touching his face with it but he kept moving to the song and he had his eyes closed. He finally managed to touch his face with it.
"It must work," Toby said. "Why aren't you working?"
The assistant took the gaggletack from him, using a towel. "Why don't I take that, sweetie? It's not very hygienic."
***
Jim rang the doorbell in Claire's house. She opened the door and greeted them with a "Hey."
He walked inside. "Nice casa."
"Thanks," She said. "Make yourself at home. I'm just making a little snack." She walked into the kitchen and he saw a baby in a baby chair, cooing at him.
"And you must be Enrique," Jim smiled.
Enrique was a small baby with freckles, brown eyes, and blonde hair. He giggled and Jim saw Claire disappear into a different room. Once he knew she was gone, he turned to Enrique. "Enrique," he said, pulling out his amulet. "Look at this." He started waving it around. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to make babies ogle."
Claire walked back into the room. "I hope you like guacamole," she said. He quickly put his amulet away. "I put a little milk in it," she said. "Secret family recipe."
She saw Enrique giggling at Jim. "He really likes you," Claire smiled. They saw down on the couch and Claire set the giant guacamole bowl down on the table. "I've never seen a bathtub of guacamole before," he said.
"I wish," she said. "I would totally take a bath in guac." She dipped a chip in it and ate it. "It's so good."
He did the same thing. "This is the best thing I've ever had." He said.
"You're not just saying that?"
"You know what? I hang up my chef's hat. You are the avocado master!"
***
"Okay," Toby's dentist said. "Patient's ready for clean-up." He walked out. "Goodnight, Gladys."
"Have a nice evening, Dr. Muelas." His assistant, Gladys said.
"Stupid horseshoe," Toby said, still laying down in the chair, his words mumbled a bit. "I really thought he would have been one."
"What's that, sweetie?" Gladys asked.
"Nothing," He said. "Wow, this Novocain you numbed my mouth with is really strong. I can't even feel my hands."
"That's because I didn't inject you with Novocain, dear. I hit you up with a potent paralyzer." She walked closer to him.
Why would you do that?"
"Well, it's not every day someone comes in with a gaggletack. I had to do something to keep chose chubby little legs from running away."
He gasped and tried to get out of his chair, but the numbness was strong. He managed to fall out but still couldn't move much. She walked closer to him. "Oh my!" she said. "We have to get you back in your seat."
He tried rolling away from her and her eyes glowed red and yellow. "We have a lot of work to do."
***
"See," Claire said, pointing in her textbook. "The equation only contains powers of X that are non-negative integers. Does that make sense?"
"Is it supposed to?" Jim asked.
"Nah," she said. "That's why it's called algebra."
They both laughed. "Thanks again for this," Jim said. "I feel really bad about what's happening with the play. I know it means a lot to you."
"You know," she said. "I was super mad at you. But then, I realized you've got a lot more going on than people think."
"I do. I do?"
"Come on, Jim." She closed the textbook. "You didn't think I invited you here just for algebra, did you?" She held up the letter he put in her backpack. "You can't just write a letter like this and not expect a conversation. You have to battle monsters? Saving the world in which we know? What monsters are you battling? I mean, we all have stuff we've got to go through. But are you in some kind of trouble?"
"Yeah! Metaphoric. I was...in an exploring stage. Not successful."
"Your words are beautiful, Jim. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I don't know, there's some sentimental stuff at the end which I thought was...kinda sweet."
"Really?"
"If you ever need to talk to someone about the monsters, you can talk to me. It can be our secret."
"Yeah," he said. "That would be great." He opened the textbook again. "So, on to problem 42?"
***
"Nomura warned me about you kids," Gladys said as she grabbed a drilling tool from the counter. Toby was back in the chair with his mouth held open. "Tell me," She said, holding up the drilling tool. "Who else knows about the bridge?" she turned it on. "That's why you're here with a gaggletack, isn't it? To find out what we've been up to? Don't evade. Who else knows what we've been up to in Arcadia?"
Blinky dropped down from the ceiling. "Halt, changeling!" he said. "Or else my giant friend will tear you limb from limb!"
Aaarrrgghh was having trouble getting through the open skylight. "Maybe later," he said. Gladys chased Blinky around the room with the drilling tool. He ran past a painting of the sun. "Ahh! It burns! Oh. It's just a painting."
Gladys started running at him again. Aaarrrgghh tried grabbing her from above, but she dodged his giant arm. He managed to grab the tool she was using, along with most of her arm. "Prepare to meet doom!" Blinky said, swinging toward him on a light. He hit her with it and the drill fell out of her hand, right next to the gaggletack. "Not bad for a historian!" Blinky said. She tried to pick up the drill but picked up the gaggletack instead. The horseshoe glowed blue and she started changing into her troll form. She hissed at him and threw the horseshoe at him. He dodged it and the gaggletack hit two blue pipes. A gas started coming out of it. "What's that?" Blinky asked Toby. "Laughing gas," He said, his words muffled from the thing holding his mouth open. They all started laughing and Gladys started chasing him again. They spun Toby's chair around while doing that and he managed to grab his phone out of his back pocket.
***
"Have you thought about telling Miss. Janeth about whatever you're going through?" Claire asked. "Maybe she'd reinstate you as Romeo if she knew about it."
"Well, that could be...it's really hard to explain."
One of their phones started ringing and Claire grabbed it and answered it. "Hello? Yeah. Okay."
She handed Jim the phone. "It's for you," she said. "Someone named Woby?"
Jim took the phone. "Woby?" he asked. Toby's words were muffled since he was laughing, spinning in a chair, his mouth was held open, and Blinky was being chased by a changeling. He somehow understood what was going on and handed Claire the phone. "I have to go," he said, picking up his things. "Thanks for the guac."
He ran out. "Fighting monsters again?" Claire asked. "Who are you, Jim Lake?"
***
Jim rode his bike down the street as fast as he could while holding the amulet. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command."
The armor appeared on him right when he got into the dentist's office. Everyone was still laughing. Toby was hanging from the ceiling, his mouth not being held open anymore, Aaarrrgghh was hanging from the skylight, and Blinky and Gladys were laughing in different corners of the room. "What in the world?" Jim asked.
"Jimbo!" Toby said.
"The Trollhunter!" Gladys said, lunging at him. "Die!"
Jim jumped out of the way and Toby fell from the ceiling. Gladys lunged at him again and Jim's sword appeared in his hand. He swung at her and he was blinded by a light. Gladys was now on top of him, pinning him to the ground, and the amulet on his chest was glowing. "Perish, you worm!" Gladys said. She reached for his amulet and he grabbed her hand. "Die!" She said. His sword appeared in his free hand and stabbed her in the chest. Blue smoke erupted from the building and she turned into ash. "There goes proof," Aaarrrgghh said, still hanging from the skylight. They were covered in dust and ashes. "Oh my gosh," Toby said. "She's in my mouth!"
The armor disappeared from Jim's body. "I killed our only evidence of changelings in Arcadia!" he said.
"And my dental hygienist!" Toby said.
"You finished the fight, Master Jim," Blinky said. They were all done laughing by now. "And in self-defense, for that matter. Vendel may continue to have his doubts, but we continue to have our lives. A fair bargain, I say." He smiled.
"Just out of curiosity, what are you guys doing in Toby's dentist's office?'
"I thought it was possible that danger may come of you should you cross paths with the wrong changeling. So, we followed Tobias as a precaution."
Aaarrrgghh finally managed to get through the skylight and fell to the ground. He was barely tall enough to fit inside the room, with his two horns at the top of his head touching the ceiling. "And curious," he said, holding up a pair of dentures. "About what?" Toby asked.
"You humans have a concept that is quite foreign to us," Blinky said. He breathed in Toby's face and he got a whiff of horrible smelling breath. "Oral hygiene," Blinky said. "Looks like we're officially out of laughing gas. We should depart."
They walked out of the room and Aaarrrgghh had a hard time fitting through the door. He backed up and Toby went over to the door. "Excuse me!" he said. "Look at this place." He looked around at the messy room as Aaarrrgghh tried fitting back into the skylight. "Do you have some magic artifact that can clean up this mess?"
"Yes," Blinky said. "I believe it's called a Tobias." He smiled and walked off.
Toby sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."
***
A group of goblins was passing stones to each other. "I've just confirmed the worse," Strickler said to Bular. "Gladysgro has been slain."
"Well, then the impure served her purpose," Bular said. "She already brought us the stones from Madagascar. Her job was done."
"I'd advise you to care for those you employ."
"Care?" Bular asked, walking toward the almost finished bridge. "I only care to find the stones so my father can escape this wretched prison. Once we have them all, I will crush this troll-pretender myself. And then every flesh-thing in this horrid world will know..." The fetch started glowing green and another stone came out of it. Strickler picked it up to see troll markings on it. "It seems Nomura has gotten her way," he said. "Another changeling has been chosen." He laughed. "And look who it is."