Good Knight, Big Apple!
"Good melanudrigill those two are sure taking their time out there," Merlin groused as he paced back and forth over the same patch of earth.
Blinkous Galadrigal, or Blinky as he's known to those who call the loquacious troll 'friend', said, "Relax, won't you Merlin? They had been walking all night to guide us safely to this glade, they deserve some time to themselves. There's some a couple hours till sundown, I'm sure that they'll be back well before then, and Claire will no doubt have a new route for us."
"But we should be doing more than travelling at night and resting during the day," Merlin argued, "Jim ought to be using this downtime to keep his skills sharp, not wasting it making out with his girlfriend."
"Ha! You sound just like Hunter Jim!" Blinky retorted.
"That does not make me wrong," Merlin countered, "And the fact that a part of him made flesh by the Aspectus Stone came to the same conclusion tells me that deep down Jim knows it too. Jim did well in defeating Gunmar the Skullcrusher, but he's far from the worst threat out there, and while Morgana is trapped in the Shadow Realm that doesn't mean that she's no longer a threat. I wouldn't doubt that she still has allies in this world, and as long as that holds true the threat of her release remains. The Trollhunter needs to be better prepared for when that eventuality comes if he wants to survive it, especially since Claire no longer has the Skrathe-Hrün to save him from her again."
"Now see here you old..." Blinky started to admonish him, but the rest was lost on his lips when Jim and Claire walked back into view. "Ah! Welcome back, Jim and Claire! Hope you had a good time?"
"Blinky, yes," Jim said as if he just realized the troll was there, "It was rather...enlightening."
Merlin might have been a little out of touch with the whole dating thing, with his last relationship having ended disastrously several millennia ago, but he doubted that "enlightening" would be an appropriate description of a date or "hangout session" as they say these days. What's more is that there seemed to be something different about Claire Nuñez that he couldn't quite place his finger on.
Just as he figured out what it was, Blinky called out, "You certainly seemed to have found yourself a fine walking stick, Claire. Not quite as nice as mine, mind you, but I must say that yours suits you quite well."
"Why, thank you!" Claire said just as Merlin thought to himself, That's not a walking stick, you moron! Even from here he could feel the staff Claire was holding was practically humming with power. This was in contrast with the Skrathe-Hrün, which to Merlin seemed more like it was screaming, though it seemed much more tame (and strangely content) in Claire's hands than it had been in Morgana's. Indeed, he saw the potential in Claire from the moment he met her in person back in his tomb. He had been tempted to take her under his wing then, training her in magic while training Jim as the Trollhunter, but after being betrayed by his last apprentice (Morgana herself) he had swore that he would never take another. Even now, after Claire had risked her life to defeat Morgana, Merlin wasn't sure if he had enough trust in himself to take her on as an apprentice, though it probably wouldn't be any better if Claire were to train herself through experimentation as she might come across spells that she would not be ready for, that might corrupt her as much as his own failings corrupted Morgana. Still he had to wonder where she got this staff from. Had she been trained properly she could have charged one with her own power, and it was unlikely that she just happened to stumble across a magic staff simply lying around here in the middle of nowhere. That means that someone must have given it to her, but who, and why? Merlin was sure that he wouldn't like the answer.
"So I guess that we have where we're heading next ready, then?" Blinky asked, not picking up on any of the silent communications Merlin was sending through his eyes.
Jim and Claire looked at one another for a moment, then after Jim gave her a nod Claire turned back to Blinky and said, "We're going to New York City."
"New York City?" Nomura said in a confused tone, "But didn't Merlin say the heartstone is in New Jersey."
"It is, but New York and New Jersey are just a few hours apart from each other," Jim explained, "Once we arrive there we can get to New Jersey in just a night or two of travel, plus there are sewers and other tunnels that we can travel through during the day."
"But aren't we still a couple months away in that case, Claire?" Blinky asked her. Claire didn't answer, she simply gripped the staff with both hands as she closed her eyes and taking a slow breath. Then she tensed as an orb of light formed at the end of the staff just before she whipped it around and shot the light orb past their group where it exploded into a shadow portal.
"By Jove!" Blinky said in astonishment as Jim took the Sword of Eclipse in hand and announced, "I'll go check it out." He then steps into the portal, but even though everyone else kept their eyes on the portal their Trollhunter had passed through, Merlin kept his gaze fixed on Claire. He knew from what Blnky told him that the last time Claire had created a portal this size it had nearly killed her, that it was only though her friends sharing the burden that her life was spared, and yet her soul was still corrupted to the point that Morgana was able to get a foothold within her. That didn't surprise Merlin as the Skrathe-Hrün was powered by dark magic. This staff, wherever she had gotten it from, was apparently powered by light magic. The fact that it was able to create shadow portals as well didn't surprise Merlin either, as shadows were merely the meeting of darkness and light. What did surprise him, however, was the fact that Claire was able to maintain a portal this size for this long with no signs of strain whatsoever. Had she gotten that much stronger since she had used the Skrathe-Hrün to help the trolls not yet corrupted by Gunmar to escape Trollmarket, or had this staff been specially prepared for this exact purpose? Again Merlin feared that he already knew the answer and that he wouldn't like where it took him.
As Jim reemerged from the portal he called out, "It's clear, everyone! Let's go!" While the trolls walked through the portal Merlin, who could still his curiosity no longer, asked Jim and Claire, "That staff of yours, just how did you come by it?" The kids looked at each other for a second before Claire answered, Um, we….didn't exactly get their names. Sorry."
"Did you say 'their' names?" Merlin asked.
"Yeah. Three strange old women with black, silver, and blond hair. Liked to finish each other's sentences. Pretty odd, but we figured that their information was worth looking into," Jim explained, "Besides, this gets us that much closer to finding the heartstone, regardless of whether or not the lead pays off or not."
"Come on, Jim! Let's go!" Claire called out from over by the portal before entering it herself. As Jim started to follow, Merlin said to himself, "That description, could it be…?" The realization rocked him back on his heels as he exclaimed, "The Weird Sisters! Jim, wait!" However, Jim had already passed through the portal. His frustration reaching a peak, Merlin yelled, "Impetuous boy!" before stalking off to the portal as well.
Reemerging on the other side Merlin found himself in a dim, cavernous building. Of course the lack of light didn't hamper him in the slightest, having gave himself true-sight long ago, so he was able to make out the trolls milling about the stacks of boxes and dust-covered machinery as he heard Blinky ask, " So where are we presently?"
"Assuming our sudden trip hasn't thrown the calibration off on my phone's GPS, it would appear that we are in a warehouse in Manhattan's industrial district on the south-west edge of the isle," Merlin heard Claire answer, and as he honed in on the sound of her voice he thought he saw the glow from her phone-device.
" 'Manhattan'?" Blinky asked in obvious confusion was Merlin drew closer, "But I thought we were going someplace called 'New York City'?"
"And so we had," Claire replied, "Manhattan is one of five boroughs that make up New York City."
There was a beat of silence, during which Merlin thought he caught glimpses of Blinky looking rather stupefied, after which Jim explained, "It's a section of the city. Like a city within the city."
"This New York must be quite the place," Binky remarked in an impressed tone, "if it's grand enough to host a city within itself."
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Jim responded, scratching at a spot on the back of his neck.
"James Lake Jr, tell me that you did not strike a bargain with the Weird Sisters!" Merlin called out as Jim came into view, trying to fasten a lid on his agitation so that he can speak rationally though he failed slightly as he pointed at Claire (who was holding her new staff as though she had been wielding it her entire life) and continued, "Tell me that you didn't get Claire involved with them!"
"Huh, 'Weird Sisters'?" Jim said in confusion, turning himself to face him, "Just what are you taking about?"
"I'm talking about those three 'old ladies' that Claire said she got her staff from," Merlin explained to him, "James, those eldritch creatures are not to be trusted! Even their appearance as old crones is a lie! No matter what they promised you, you will come to regret accepting their bargain mark my words. If you don't believe me just ask Demona or Macbeth, just ask anyone else that has dealt with them! Their 'deals' always end in misery for all who are involved…"
"Merlin, Merlin, just hold up," Jim interrupted as he held up a hand, "I don't know what you're getting so worked up about, but I didn't enter me or Claire into any deals. They simply gave me some information and gave Claire her staff, or rather changed a branch she'd picked up into a staff, as a gift. Something to do with helping her achieve her potential so she can help me achieve mine."
"Even gifts from them should be treated with caution," Merlin warned him, "They are Children of Oberon. Extremely capricious creatures, every one of them, their moods and motives are far beyond human understanding much like their magic. You don't even know what effect that staff will have on Claire, and you just…"
"Can you guys stop talking about me as if I weren't here?" Claire said indignantly, "I was the one who took the staff from these "Weird Sisters" of yours. I was the one who decided to use it. It was my choice, and honestly I feel fine. In fact I feel better than I ever had in my entire life, and this staff feels much more friendly than the Shadow Staff ever did."
"Be that as it may…" Merlin began before Blinky interrupted, "Merlin, enough. The lady Claire knows her own mind. I'm sure that if anything feels off, if the staff gets to feeling like it's too much for her to handle, then she'll let us know (or at least she'll tell Jim.)"
"Well, I suppose," Merlin conceded, sounding somewhat mollified.
"Now then, what was this about information you say the Weird Sisters gave you?' Blinky asked them.
"Okay, so apparently there's someone here in Manhattan who can make Jim human again!" Claire answered him.
"By the stars, are you serious?" Blinky asked in astonishment.
"You finally become a worthy warrior, one who was able to defeat the might Gunmar, and now you're just gonna give that power up?" Nomura asked in indignant disbelief.
"But there's only so much I can do for you guys like this," Jim told her, "If we were attacked during the day I'd be stuck in the shadows with you guys, which would leave us at a real disadvantage if they weren't similarly restricted (now I wish I'd gotten that 'ability to walk in daylight' power stone from Vendel before….you know.) Besides, what those ladies said was that he'd 'give me back a bit of what I'd lost.' By a 'bit' I assume that he won't be turning me completely human. Maybe he'll just confine may half-troll transformation to my amulet or even specifically to the Eclipse Armor itself, allowing me to draw upon its power only when I need it most. Maybe he'll only make it so I can walk around in the day without having to put on two-million SPF sunscreen. I won't know exactly what until we speak with him."
"And just who is this person who's supposed to be able to accomplish this?" Merlin asked them.
"You know, I don't think I want to answer that question," Jim responded in a low tone.
"And just what do you mean by that?" Merlin asked, matching Jim's tone.
"What I mean is that I think you like having your pet Trollhunter at your beck and call 24/7," Jim answered somewhat waspishly, "Back when I was human I had some semblance of a normal life in-between the periods of fighting for my life and the lives of others & the training to do the same. Now I don't even have that."
"It's not like you didn't know what was going to happen," Merlin retorted in a hard tone, "I handed you the potion, told you what would happen if you chose to use it, but you still made that choice on your own."
"You could have warned me about the sun, but you're right on how I made that choice in order to save my family and friends, my home," Jim replied, "Now, however, I have a new choice, a possibility to take back a bit of the life I gave up for the world. Honestly I would like it if he can make me human again, but even if the best he can do is make it so I can take off the armor when I'm not fighting for my life and the ones I love then this trip will still be worth it."
Merlin opened his mouth, but before he could utter a word Claire said, "Honestly, Merlin, it is Jim's choice to make. I'll be going with him to make sure that he's not tricked into some Faustian deal, and in case he needs a quick escape or someone to watch his back, but it's his life: only he can decide what to do with it."
Merlin took in an angry-sounding breath through his nose before huffing, "Fine! Go do what you want, just don't say I didn't try to warn you."
"Fine!" Jim huffed right back as he accepted a hoodie Claire handed him from her bag of holding. Merlin watched as Jim followed Claire over to the big door at the front of the building. After a couple of failed attempts to open it, Jim then thrust his sword through the middle of it near the bottom and Merlin heard a metallic clattering afterwards: likely the locking mechanism that was keeping it closed. Claire then opened it cautiously while Jim stood to the side of it until Claire announced, "It's clear now. Looks like the sun had set a few minutes ago."
Jim returned the sword to his back and threw the hoodie on to cover both it and his head as he nodded and said, "Let's go."
Jim and Claire started to step outside when Blinky called out, "Wait! I think I'd like to come with you, to see this 'New York City'."
The kids looked rather uneasily at each other before Claire said, "I don't think that's such a good idea, Blinky. New York can be rather rough for the humans who live here, and honestly there's far too many people out at any hour to be fooled by a sheet thrown over you. As tough as New Yorkers are I just don't think that they're ready for the existence of trolls, so I think that's better if you say here and keep the others from getting into trouble."
Blinky looked somewhat let down, but he picked his chin up and thrust his chest out as he said, "In that case, lady Claire, I shall await your return!"
Jim nodded and said, "Stay safe, everyone. Hopefully we'll be back soon."
After the kids had walked out of sight, Blinky turned back to Merlin and asked, "You're not going with them?"
"I can't keep protecting the boy from himself," Merlin answered matter-of-factly, "He'll just have to learn this lesson on his own."
"And what about the lady Claire? You seemed to express a great deal of concern for her earlier," Blinky asked him. When Merlin didn't respond Blinky continued, "At the very least I would have expected that you'd express some curiosity as to who it was that your Weird Sisters were saying could undo the spell you claimed was permanent."
"Actually I already have a suspicion as to who it is," Merlin admitted.
"Do you now?" Blinky asked him, "You sure seem to know quite a deal about these beings."
"You ever hear the human saying 'It takes one to know one'?" Merlin replied, "The fact is that nobody knows you better than family."
"Well," Jim remarked, feeling rather gobsmacked at what he saw, "I guess that New York is a bit more progressive than I thought it was."
"Yeah," Clare agreed, sounding just as flabbergasted, "Certainly looks that way."
Standing at the edge of the industrial district, Jim and Claire watched the people of New York walking along the sidewalks as the cars driving the streets began to turn on their headlights. Because of the hour growing late there was fewer people walking about than Jim had ever seen in movies and tv shows that depicted this place. Maybe it was because of the lower crush of people, or perhaps it was because he became sensitive to such things ever since he first discovered his amulet, but he and Claire saw more than a few rather surprising residents that left them both speechless. They saw a man whose head looked like it was literally on fire, a young woman with wings for arms, a guy dressed in studded leather with a mohawk, a nose ring, and a third eye in the middle of his forehead, there was even a centaur trotting amongst the crowd. No matter where they looked it seemed they were able to spot at least one person who didn't look quite human.
"I never heard anything about this on the news or anything," Jim commented to her, "You?"
"Can't say I have, but then again we've been kinda distracted the last year, our hands full dealing with keeping Gunmar and Morgana from destroying our home and the rest of the world," Claire responded. Jim could certainly understand where she was coming from. It had been hard enough trying to catch up with school after finally escaping from the Darklands with the help of his friends, trying to head off Gunmar's plans to conquer the surface world didn't help matters either. It seemed that during those months the rest of the world outside Arcadia didn't exist, or at least wasn't any different that what they read about in social studies, so seeing creatures straight out of myth and legends walking around in this place that was definitely not Arcadia certainly was a shock.
"Yeah, I get that," Jim agreed with her, shaking his head in an attempt to make what he was seeing make sense, "but where did they all come from?"
"You kids must be new around here," a grizzled old man called out from a roadside newsstand.
Shocked into silence from a moment by a stranger addressing them, Claire recovered quickly as she headed the guy's direction, tugging Jim along by their linked arms, and she responded, "Yeah, I always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, so we came here from California on our graduation trip."
The newsstand owner whistled as he said, "That's quite some trip, dear! I didn't even know there was any folk out that way."
Feeling rather defensive towards Claire, Jim couldn't help letting out a low growl as he grit his teeth and said, "Just what do you mean 'you folks'?"
The old man let out a wheezing laugh as he said, "Relax, son! Didn' mean anythin' by it. Just hadn't heard of any New Olympians settling anywhere besides Jersey and here in New York."
" 'New Olympians'?" Claire asked for confirmation, sounding just as confused as Jim felt.
"Cheese and crackers, kid! Don't you guys read the news?" the man asked in disbelief.
Jim and Claire looked at each other for a moment before Claire explained, "We've been kinda busy the last few weeks with finals and all."
"Yeah, exactly," Jim agreed, "It was a rough fight, I wasn't sure that we'd survive it, but regardless here we are."
"You mean that you didn't know that you'd survive it," Claire retorted with a smile and a playful elbow to his ribs.
"Well we can't all be valedictorians or honor students, can we?" Jim replied with his own toothy grin. Jim heard the stand owner chuckle along with the two of them, then he cleared his throat and asked the guy, "So what's this I hear about these 'New Olympians'?"
"I'm talking about our fantastic visitors from New Olympus over yonder," the old man answered him with a jut of his chin down the road. Jim and Claire looked in the direction he indicated and their mouths fell open. In the distance, in the middle of the Hudson where it met the sea, was the grandest, most extravagant city they had ever seen. Looking like something from one of the more recent Final Fantasy games than anything in real life, its glittering spires rivaled New York's in size and surpassed them in beauty. It was hard to make out much in the way of details at this distance, but looking through the camera zoom function of Claire's phone Jim thought he spotted some sort of flying vehicles zooming around them.
"it's beautiful," Claire remarked.
"Indeed it is, dear," the stand owner agreed, "Course it caused quite a stir a few weeks ago when it showed up a few weeks ago out of nowhere, though that was nothing compared to the commotion caused when its representatives arrived at the UN almost immediately afterwards with a request to be recognized as an independent country."
"Really now?" Jim asked him.
"Mm-hmm," the stand owner replied, "Things got tense there for a little while. Might have ended badly too had that queen lady not shown up when she did. Cooled their tempers down real quick, quite literally too, with a little snowstorm right there in the UN building."
"Snow? Indoors?" Claire asked in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, conjured up a living snowman too," the guy continued, "Anyway she got them to not just talk to each other but to listen too, made them realize that the myths we're familiar with and the history they know may simply be distorted by each side's own point of view. What was her name again? Emma? Elisa? Well it was thanks to her that the talks were settled peacefully and New Olympus was accepted into the UN. Of course trade negotiations are still going on, I guess that they want to make sure that we won't do something stupid with it like start World War III, but at least they're still keeping those talks polite and civil."
"That's good to hear," Jim said. Then, remembering why they were there he asked, "Anyway we would like to see some things while we're here. Would you possibly know where we can find the tallest building in New York?"
"That would be the Erie Building, about five or six miles thataway," The stand owner answered as he pointed towards the heart of town. Looking where the man pointed Jim saw an impossibly tall skyscraper whose top was obscured by the clouds.
"Is…is that a castle at the top of it?" Claire asked the old man. Leaning over to look at her phone that she was aiming it at Jim saw that the silhouette of the skyscraper's top did indeed look like a castle.
"That it is, miss," the stand owner answered her, "I'll tell you, that David Xanatos is a bit of an odd duck, but if it weren't for him…"
The rest of what the guy was going to say was lost as the air was shattered by a shrill scream. As the crowd around them froze for a moment in shock Jim said softly to Claire, "At least that part of this town is familiar." He then turned and sprinted towards where he heard the scream, Claire following right behind, as Jim called out to the old man, "Thanks for the information, mister. See you later!" Jim and Claire than started weaving their way through the crowd, which was starting to stir in confused agitation, as Jim began to strip off the hoodie.
In a trash-littered alleyway a group of black-hooded figures have surrounded a young couple. One, a young man with light-brown hair struggles to free himself from the two hoods that are physically restraining him. The other, a red-headed young woman with snake-like eyes and a scarlet scaly tail from the waist down, is lying on the ground as she holds her swollen cheek and sobs.
"No! Selena!" the young man cries out desperately as he continues to struggle against the two holding him down, "Stop it, you bastards! Don't hurt her!"
"Ugh! If there's one thing I hate worse than a freak it's a freak-lover," the one facing the young woman said in a disgusted tone as he hefted his sledgehammer. Holding tight to a grip just below its head, electricity begins to crackle along the face of the weapon as the man raises it over his head and says, "Hold him still, guys. Once we've finished off the freak we can teach this blood-traitor a lesson."
"No! Don't! Please!" the young woman pleaded tearfully, but her entreaties fell on deaf ears there was no sign of hesitation, no evidence of any inclination towards mercy as he tensed his body and swung the hammer down hard...
CLAANNNGG! The robed figure's eyes went wide, as did those of his companions and would-be victims, as his blow was blocked by the largest blade he'd ever seen, outside of an anime that is. Following its edge to its wielder, the thug saw a face that would likely haunt his dreams for the rest of his life as Jim, not even trying to disguise his anger, snarled in his face, "Just who are you to be calling anyone a freak?"
The young woman gasped in recognition as she exclaimed, "Trollhunter!"
"Did you at least get your mother's permission before you used her best sheets to make your clothes?" Jim continues, keeping his focus on the opponents before him.
The hooded thug before him narrowed his eyes as he called out, "It's another one! Get him!"
Out of the corner of his eye Jim saw two of the hoodlums that weren't folding the boyfriend down activate their electric sledgehammers and advance on his position. However it took only the slightest effort to drive the weapon of the one he engaged first up and away from himself and the girl, creating an opening where he was able to clock the bully with an armor-clad elbow before bringing the sword to deflect the attacks of the other two thugs. After that it became a graceful yet deadly ballet, a single sword dancing with a trio of hammers, and the ringing of metal against metal was the music that they danced to. However, to call his attackers "graceful" was generous at best. It was clear that these people were not warriors, that they relied heavily on high-tech weapons and superior numbers in their conflicts. In fact…
With one huge swing of his sword Jim sliced the heads off all three of the attackers' electric sledgehammers at once as he said, "That all you got? I've battled goblins who are better fighters than you lot."
One of the men (Jim felt sure they were all men) scrambling backwards cried out, "Will somebody fry this freak!?"
The two hoods who were struggling with the boyfriend then shoved him roughly in a corner behind them before turning back to Jim and taking hold of what looked like high-tech rifles that were slung behind their backs and aiming them at him. Not wanting to take the chance that they might actually be aiming at the girl instead, Jim took a knee and summoned up his shield, angling it to provide the young woman maximum protection just as the goons started firing. The impacts he felt certainly didn't feel like bullets or similarly propelled rounds, quite possibly some sort of experimental particle beam, but while the weapons were likely quite powerful they weren't a match for his magical armor. Still, every moment he was forced to play defense was a moment more that the others could use to regroup and overwhelm him, so he called out, "Claire?"
"On it!" he heard Claire respond, who'd portaled herself to the roof of one of the buildings neighboring the alley. A couple seconds later Jim no longer felt the blasts striking his shield because Claire had created a portal directly in front of him, with a second portal angled above and to the side of the gunners to send the shots back at them, forcing them to stop shooting and duck out of the way. Apparently the boyfriend took their distraction to be a prime opportunity as he kicked the legs out from one of the men and attempted to wrestle the rifle out of his hands, but the other man was having none of it and aimed his rifle at the boyfriend's unprotected back. Acting quickly, Jim summoned his boomerang-like throwing blades, using them to strike the weapon and throw off its aim before it could fire. A second later the boyfriend managed to disarm the first man and use the rifle to sweep the legs of the second man, striking him in the head with the rifle's butt as he fell.
"We need some backup over here!" One of the guys called out down the alley, where Jim saw a sliding door of a van open and a greater number of hooded figures armed with sledgehammers and rifles pour out of it. Before Jim could decide if he would be able to handle this many combatants without seriously hurting or killing any of them he saw the reinforcements stumble and fall through a portal that Claire had formed horizontal on the ground before them. Looking up Jim saw a second portal form high in the air and disgorge the men, where they fell screaming as they fell for a second before a third portal caught them only for them to reemerge from the second portal immediately after. Jim saw them repeat the falling loop about three more times, picking up more and more momentum with each repetition, until a fourth portal appeared vertically next to their friends and spat them out, causing the to crash together in a jumbled heap.
"And Mom said that videogames aren't educational," Claire said as she looked down to Jim with a huge smile on her face. As the group picked themselves up again Jim finally heard the telltale sounds of a police siren growing louder, at which point one of the men yelled, "It's the cops! Scatter!" As the men took off, not even bothering to pick up their fallen weapons, Claire portaled down to stand next to Jim, arriving just in time to see the last of them dive into their vehicles and take off. The boyfriend, using one of the broken sledgehammer handles as a make-shift cane, hobbled over to his girlfriend stand up, or rather get her upper torso upright while her tail coiled under her to support her, at which she said gratefully, "Thanks Mike, and thank you Trollhunter for saving us."
"You know who I am?" Jim asked her in surprise.
"Of course," the snake woman (snake-lady?) replied, "All of New Olympus knows of you and your predecessors. Your taking up the medallion in order to defend us non-humans was one of the main reasons why we have decided to reveal ourselves to the world now, with a human detective personally saving everyone in New Olympus being the other major one."
"Umm, thanks?" Jim said tentatively, unsure about how to take this. Fortunately he was spared giving a more concise response when the source of the sirens arrived at the end of the alley. To his surprise what he saw was not a black and white like most police drive but rather a beautiful classic red car with a white top, atop of which was a removable domed red light that spun around. Jim reasoned that would make this an "unmarked" police car, but he'd always associated those as rather plain cars used by detectives who either were undercover or on a stakeout in order to not draw attention to themselves, whereas this car practically screamed "look at me!"
The car's driver looked not quite as extravagant as her vehicle, dressed in her red leather jacket and tight denim jeans complimenting each other, though she still didn't look like a cop to him. With her shoulder-length hair and dark complexion this woman looked more like some exotic beauty, though he wasn't able to determine what nationality her family came from. However, the moment she opened her mouth it became apparent that she herself at least was a native New Yorker as, racing around the front end of her car with her gun in hand she yelled, "Dammmit! They got away again!" Letting out her frustration in a huff she relaxed her guard a bit but still scanned the alley for any possible stragglers as she approached the young couple and asked, "Are you folks okay?"
"A few scrapes and bruises but otherwise we're fine, Detective. Thanks," The young woman answered her, and her boyfriend continued, "But I fear we probably wouldn't be if not for the timely intervention of those two."
"I see," the woman, who apparently was a plain clothes detective judging by the badge he now saw clipped to her belt (and, of course, by how the young woman he'd saved was addressing her), said as she glanced at them from the corner of her eye. Then, as the detective turned to face them, Jim felt grateful that she kept her gun (which she held onto) dangling by her side rather than pointing it at them, but her glare felt just as dangerous as the detective asked in a harsh tone, "Just what the hell do you kids think you are doing?"
Looking back Jim realized that he should have expected this reaction. After all, one of the main reasons they'd kept their Trollhunter activities from their parents, and the reason they'd initially lied and humiliated Jim's mom by making her look somewhat unstable (which Jim still felt terribly bad about) was because they were afraid that heir parents would get the authorities involved, who would surely interfere with their stopping Gunmar from conquering the surface world and killing or enslaving everyone they cared about.
Right now, however, caught flatfooted by this lady detective's withering glare, all Jim could think to say was, "Huh?"
"It's nice that young people such as yourselves want to get involved, but the Quarrymen are an extremely dangerous group," the detective scolded them, "They're not the type of people who would hold back just because you are kids. You could have gotten hurt or worse trying out your LARPing 'skills' on them, and then what would your parents say?"
" 'LARPing' again?" Claire groaned softly to Jim, though the space was small enough that the detective heard it too, "I'm beginning to wish that I never came up with that excuse."
"Yeah, Mom didn't exactly appreciate it either," Jim agreed.
"Excuse me, miss detective, but we're not actually LARPers," Clare called out to her, "We do this kind of thing all the time back home in Arcadia Oaks."
"Exactly. These monkeys with hammers are nothing compared to those we fought and beat before," Jim added.
"Look, I know that you probably mean well, but situations like these are meant to be handled by those of us who are trained for it," the detective reasoned, "You should have just called 911, or asked someone else to do so if you didn't have your phones, and let us take care of it instead of risking your necks by taking matters into your own hands."
"I'm sorry, detective, but I can't do that," Jim responded in a calm but firm tone as he placed his hand over his medallion, "I swore an oath, so I'm not about to sit around twiddling my thumbs while someone needs help."
"It's true, detective," the young woman told her, "I realize it may be hard to not judge them by their ages, but they have a sacred duty to protect and defend, just like you."
The detective sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose before saying, "Well, I suppose that I should at least thank you for keeping matters from getting worse before I got here."
"Like the young lady said, just part of the job," Jim responded with a shrug.
"I can understand that," the detective said with a smile.
'My name is Jim Lake, this is my girlfriend Claire Nuñez," Jim introduced them, to which the detective took Jim's outstretched hand and said, "I'm Detective Elisa Maza, nice to meet you."
