T3ddyBearL0ve-Yes, we all love Jim's six-pack! Yep, I'm definitely not the mushy type either, but this scene kinda called for it, ya know? Do not worry, there will be very few of these scenes in this fic! Oh, yes, those eyes…I'd watch out for 'em if I were you. And yay! Jim finally had his victory roar!
LunaWolf44-Yeah, Jim did a good job hunting! And his red eyes are cool, but they're also something else…*evil laughter* Ahem. Yes, Claire and Jim are one of the best cartoon couples ever! They're so wholesome! Let's all unite to fight against Eunice, the queen b*tch.
merendinoemiliano-Thank you! Yeah, the fight scene could've been longer, but this chapter was super long to write so I was getting pooped lol. Also, fight scenes are hard to write! For me, at least. Hopefully the fight scene in this chapter is a little longer. Thanks for the review!
The last few days had been the best Jim's had in a long time. Being a half-troll was so much better without that armor on! He could finally get used to living life as a troll. With the Eclipse armor, it was like a fight was just around every corner. He couldn't really relax. Now, he could finally let himself breathe.
Ecstatic over the news, he FaceTimed his mom and best friend the next day. "Mom! Mom, I have something to show you."
"Oh! Okay, what is it, kiddo?" Barbara Lake asked, juggling a burbling baby in her arms.
"Yeah, Jimbo! Tell me you found something cool. I'm getting tired of trees," Toby joked.
"So am I, bud. But trust me, it's not trees." Jim angled the camera down so they could get a view of his armor-less body. "Notice anything different?"
"Whoa, Jim, that's a lot of blue-wait, wait, wait, YOU GOT THE ARMOR OFF?!" Toby yelled.
"Yep," Jim laughed. "Man, it feels good to be out of it."
"I bet," his mom agreed, beaming. "I'm so happy for you, Jim! I know you didn't like it having it on twenty-four seven." She adjusted her glasses. "Hm, you look healthy…wow, super healthy. Honey, have you been working out?"
"Not unless you count fighting, and I haven't been doing enough of that to get these." Jim prodded his abs. "I guess they were just…part of the deal? I've kind of been walking around shirtless, since my old clothes were ruined. Claire and Nomura are out buying some new ones for me, though."
"What's all the commotion?" a voice snarled from the background. "You just woke up Anthony here-" the voice faltered, and a familiar green face appeared. "Young Atlas? Is that you?"
"Hey, Strickler," Jim beamed. "How's it going?"
"Fine, fine, but-" Strickler's yellow eyes slitted. "Is the camera faulty, or did you get your armor off?"
"No, the camera's fine," Jim laughed. "I really did get the armor off! Isn't that great?"
"It's wonderful," Strickler agreed, showing off his sharp teeth in a smile. "I'm very happy for you, Jim. But tell me, why did the armor give you such trouble in the first place?"
"Oh, yeah…about that," Jim rubbed the back of his neck, "I asked Merlin about it, and he said it was because the armor was protecting me…apparently, I was so scared and shocked the first night of my transformation, it thought I was in danger. So this whole time, it's been 'keeping me safe,' even if I wasn't in danger anymore. But one day, I just kind of…accepted what I am now. It's really not so bad being a half-troll," Jim grinned.
"That makes so much sense," Toby whispered in awe. "And good for you, Jimbo! I'm happy you're finally seeing how cool you are now. Like, what you can do now…it's totally awesome-sauce!"
"I'm not going to lie," his mom said, "I was worried, you going on this trip. I mean, besides the fact you're leading dozens of trolls and you might have to fight something and-and what I'm trying to say, I was worried for your mental health. I-I didn't want you to be scared of yourself, like you were that first night. I'm so relieved you're better now."
"Thanks, Mom," Jim whispered, voice thick. "Man, I miss you guys."
"We all miss you, Young Atlas," Strickler said. "And Ms. Nuñez, too."
"Trollhunter! The gnomes are trying to start a revolution again!" a troll called from afar.
Jim sighed and wiped his eyes. "Sorry guys. Duty calls."
"It's alright, kiddo," his mom said. "We'll call you later. I'm happy you got that armor off, too," she smiled. "I love you. Bye!"
A chorus of 'bye Jim!' followed, and Jim waved goodbye before hanging up. He shoved his phone in his pocket and grumpily jogged back to camp.
.
.
.
"How unusual," Blinky murmured, studying Jim's arm. "Unusual, indeed."
"Will you just tell me what's so 'unusual,' Blinky?" Jim complained. "You've been poking and prodding me for the past fifteen minutes." The party had just crossed into Utah, so they were celebrating by taking a short break. And Jim wasn't happy his break was being spent being analyzed by Blinky.
"Just trying to be thorough," Blinky grumbled before reluctantly dropping Jim's arm. "It's rather puzzling, that's all."
"Why is that?" Claire asked from the side.
"I was always curious on what kind of troll Master Jim is," Blinky said. "I couldn't identify him when I first saw him, but I was hoping that without the armor, it would be more obvious." The six-eyed troll shook his head, mystified. "But I am still at a loss. I've never seen a troll like Jim before. He may be a half-troll, and that has never existed before, but still…perhaps Merlin created a new kind of troll, the likes of which I've never seen before? Who knows…"
"Huh," Jim mused, fixing the sleeve of his hoodie, "should I be worried about that?"
"No, not at all," Blinky reassured him. "It's just unusual."
"I mean, I guess I could ask Merlin-" the ground trembled. It was so subtle, Jim doubted he would've felt it if he was wearing shoes. Or if he was a half-troll. The ground shook again, a little stronger this time.
"Did you feel that?" Jim asked quietly.
Blinky nodded, eyes wide.
"Feel what? What are you guys talking about?" Claire complained, gaze flicking from Blinky to Jim. Then her eyes settled on something in the distance. "Uh, J-Jim…" she stuttered. "Something's out there…"
Jim whipped his head in that direction. He narrowed his eyes, and sure enough, a large thing was advancing towards them. No, several large things. And they looked suspiciously like-
He jumped into a tree and roared, "Everyone, grab a weapon! A rock, a tree, anything! We're about to be under attack! But don't-"
The party screamed and dispersed into the woods.
Jim sighed. "Panic."
A low groaning rumbled from underneath Jim. He looked down and snarled. Several golems made from stone stood around Jim's tree. They grabbed the tree with their large hands and started shaking it vigorously. Half a dozen other golems approached Claire and Blinky.
"Oh, no you don't," Jim growled. "For the doom of Gunmar, Eclipse is mine to command!" Oops. Wrong incantation. Force of habit.
Red magic swirled around him, and the black and red armor appeared around him. He wasn't happy to be back in it so soon, but, well. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
He unleased a primal cry as he summoned Eclipse and launched off the tree. He sliced off a golem's head and thrust his fist into its chest. He yanked out the totem and crushed it. Another golem wrapped its arms around Jim and started squeezing. Jim chuckled. The golem was going to have to try harder than that if it really wanted to hurt him. He burst free from the golem's grip, shattering the creature. He stepped on the totem with a satisfying crunch.
Claire's scream reminded him of the greater danger present. He swiveled to face her and gasped. The golem held her in one hand, while Blinky punched it uselessly.
"I really wish I had my shadow staff right now!" she yelled, her legs kicking furiously in mid-air.
Jim leaped towards her, but something grabbed his feet and slammed him back into the ground. He lay there, stunned, and couldn't move even when a golem picked him up and threw him into a tree.
He growled in pain as he slowly rose to his feet. He didn't have time for this! Claire needed him! Jim roared, summoned his shield, and barreled towards the golems. He rammed one into a tree trunk. Before it could break free, he thrust the sharp tip of the shield upwards. The golem's head was neatly severed from its neck.
Jim heard heavy thumping behind him. He picked up the headless golem with ease and chucked it at the other oncoming golem. The two smashed against each other and collapsed on the forest floor. Jim dismissed his shield, summoned Eclipse, and leapt on the two stone monsters. Overcome by a surge of battle frenzy, he roared and started hacking away.
Kill, kill, kill, his mind screamed. As the golems were reduced to ribbons, his vision turned a hazy red. I don't care, he thought as he viciously stamped on the totems. I don't care. Now, time to save Claire.
Jim dashed to the golem holding his girlfriend. He punched it squarely in the jaw. The golem reeled from the blow and dropped Claire in confusion. Jim took advantage of the creature's daze and jumped high in the air. He brought his fists down on the golem's head with a feral snarl. The golem's head crumbled, and Jim quickly took care of its totem.
After that, the other golems were all too easy. In a matter of minutes, the golems were piles of broken stone. Jim slouched, panting. Wow. That was a lot more golems than the last attack. He turned to Claire. "You okay?"
She shakily rose to her feet. "Y-yeah. I think so. Just a little bruised." She sighed and brushed off her pants. "I'm just getting super tired of not being able to fight."
"Hey, you still throw a killer right hook," Jim joked. "Was that all the golems-"
A golem burst out of the trees and rammed into Jim. The Trollhunter gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. The golem didn't rest and immediately started punching Jim, repeatedly slamming his horns into the ground. Jim growled and kicked the golem off of him. The creature stumbled back, but recovered and charged him again.
As Jim dodged its blows, he noticed this golem seemed different. For one, it was a lot more quick and precise than the others. And while the other golems were made from mossy stone, this one looked like it was carved from polished white marble.
But that wasn't important. Right now, Jim had to focus on removing its totem. He summoned Eclipse and slashed it across the golem's chest. Before he could reach the totem, the golem grabbed Jim's hand and flung him into the air. He spun through the air several times before smashing on the dirt.
Jim coughed weakly. He blinked the dust from his eyes, and the next thing he knew, a huge white hand squeezed around his throat and lifted him into the air. He gasped for air and kicked his legs uselessly. The golem's grip tightened, and Jim felt like he was going to pass out.
Then a burst of red flared across Jim's vision. Rage and newfound strength coursed through him, and he wrenched the golem's fingers from his throat. He dropped to the floor, thrust his hand into its chest, and crushed the totem. The golem crumbled.
In Jim's haste, he didn't notice that attached to the totem was a tiny bomb. It exploded, sending out a thick cloud of dark purple dust. Jim coughed, his eyes watering. He tried not to inhale the strange substance, but it was everywhere. It was in his mouth, his nose, even his ears, and-
Jim's eyes widened in horror. He knew this stuff. It was gravesand.
Oh no.
A/N: Oh my gosh, I'm so so sorry for the late update! I was out of town, so I had no time to write at all. I'll try to make it on time with the next chapter.
I realized when I was writing this I hadn't written an interaction with Jim and his best mom! Toby and Strickler too, of course. So here they are! They won't come a lot in this fic, though.
Yes, all that gravesand Jim inhaled…definitely not going to have the worst possible things happen to our best boy, right? (*whispers* no, they're definitely gonna happen)
Anyway, sorry for the late update, again! Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review!