Spoiler Alert. If you haven't watched Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, please stop reading NOW. You have been warned.

A/N: Since the ending of ROTT left many ToA fans (including myself) very disappointed, I decided to take matters into my own hands and change it up. This is also my first fanfiction :)
Story sets off during The Final Battle between Jim and Bellroc.

Enjoy!

Claire looked around. Everybody was there, on the ground. Safe. Alive. Now, if only they could come up with another way to go up against Bellroc's titan before it connects with the Heartstone...

And then she noticed.

"WHERE'S JIM? He didn't come down with us?"

"No," Toby replied. "He's still up there, with Bellroc!"

Claire felt her heart skip a beat.

No.

The battle on the train flashed past her eyes. No armour. No amulet. The bruised ribs. His limp body...

No. Not again!

"He's alone, no armor... We NEED to help him!"

"Can you shadow portal us back?" Douxie panted.

"I tried... I'm spent! Besides, Bellroc's magic is too strong."

Tears pricked Claire's eyes. No. This isn't real. This couldn't be the end. It just... couldn't! After everything they've been through, after all the wars, the battles... Don't they deserve a happy ending? Don't they deserve to live, peacefully, once and for all? Or was this fate? Was this... the inevitable?

The heartstone moved closer and closer to the titan, like a giant black hole, ready to devour all life. It was too late.

"Guys! Jim's not winning this," Toby panicked.
"Not winning yet. Jim's got this," Krel cheered, half-heartedly.
"Stop with the rambling! Let's get back up there and do something-"
"The Evacuation? Emergency Plan B?"
"What if we chained Bellroc with magic and just-"
"Oh my gosh, I think the heartstone's moving faster-"
"There must be another way! Another... Solution!"
"Come on, this isn't the end-"

"CAN EVERYBODY SHUT UP!"

Snap. All eyes locked onto Claire.

She didn't realize she was screaming. Everything piled up and words clouded her brain. She didn't notice how broken she sounded, until her words hung there, in the silence. Like a bomb. Ticking, ticking and ticking, until it eventually exploded.

"IT IS, OKAY?" She allowed the tears to flow freely now. "Jim, he's... He's hurt. He has no amulet, no armor, no support... He's going to die up there... alone."
She released a shaky breath.
"And so are we. This is... the end."

And all of a sudden, it was too heavy. She felt her knees turn to liquid as they slammed onto the ground, something breaking inside of her. A switch perhaps, that allowed all the emotions to overwhelm her. It was like water breaking through a dam. Jim, her Jim... was going to die. The world was ending. They lost. They failed everyone.

"We can't give up on Master Jim!" Blinky protested, "Amulet or not, he IS the Trollhunter! I have faith in Master Jim! He... He always excels, even in the worst of situations!"

"Yeah, Jim is pretty magical," confirmed the wizard. "He's cheated death too many times, turning into stone, evil magic shards, its-"

Magical.

"MAGIC! THAT'S IT!" Douxie jumped. "THE TRIFURCATE RADIATION BLASTER! We used it to nullify Bellroc's magic... IT COULD WORK AGAIN!"

"Holy... Douxie, you GENIUS!" Blinky boomed as all his six eyes lighted up. He raced towards the Taco truck.

"Akiridion technology!" Krel celebrated in the background, "The blaster is perfectly intact. We're ready to fire another blow."

This could be it. This could be the solution.

"Blinky! Let me come with you," Douxie shouted as he ran towards the truck. He's lost everyone. Merlin, Archie, Nari... He's not losing Jim. The Trollhunters are his only family. He needs to keep them safe... no matter the cost.

Blinky nodded and pressed down the accelerator.

"Hold on, Master Jim... we're coming."

The truck sped off, leaving the rest of the team as they watched the lava threatened to encase the vehicle.

Jim looked around. All clear. His friends were hopefully safe now...

This is his fight to finish.

"BELLROC! THIS ISN'T OVER!"

"Trollhunter..." Bellroc breathed as she snapped her head towards the source of sound. The scrawny boy stood there, masking on a warrior face. A chuckle escaped her lips. How pathetic.

"COME ON, BELLROC! FIGHT ME!"

A snigger escaped Bellroc's lips. "Yes, Trollhunter... It is time."

This is it. The final battle.

Jim bit his lips. "Come on Stuart, where are you..." he pleaded as he ran down the titan's side. The amulet should be here now. Stuart should've fixed it. So why...

BOOM!

Bellroc followed him, lava spewing from her titan. Everything felt so hot. His ribs were on fire, his hand stung with pain, the force of gravity acted on the wrong direction, and the heat... oh, the unbearable heat...

"Is that all you got, Trollhunter?" Bellroc teased, "you cannot hide from me forever."

"Who said I was hiding?" Jim growled as he positioned Excalibur for battle. The sword weighed down on his shoulder, making him wince. Since when did Excalibur get so heavy? Gosh, he missed his old Sword of Daylight. But it makes sense- this was King Arthur's sword... of course, it was tailored to his size and strength, and not Jim's noodle-like arms.

But he couldn't let it show. He needed to be strong. One last time. For his friends. For his family. For Mankind. Trollkind. Everyone. This was unlike anything they ever fought... unlike anything they've ever faced. And, for once in his life, he didn't have any plan. He felt utterly clueless.

Bellroc snickered. "You're afraid, Trollhunter."

"Trollhunter lives and dies by 3 rules. Rule #1, Always be afraid."
"Afraid?" Jim questioned.
"Fear is good!" Blinky explained, "It keeps us alert, keeps us on guard! Makes us vigilant! A hero is not he who is fearless, but he..."

Jim's gaze hardened.

"But he who is not stopped by it," he breathed.

As if acquiring some new source of strength, Jim hauled Excalibur as he charged towards the demigod. Bellroc drew her staff in defense, the two clashing. He released another battle cry and lifted Excalibur again, aiming for her eyes.

"You Fool!" Bellroc laughed as she dodged Jim's blow. "You really think your sword fighting skills are in match of my titan? You really think you could stop me, without your trolls and wizardy, alien friends? Look at yourself! That girl has shadow magic. The wizard has powerful sorcery. The aliens have technology. The Trolls have knowledge. Even the fat boy has a warhammer."

Jim panted as he barely dodged Bellroc's staff.

"And, Trollhunter. What do you have?"

Swish. Another dodge. Caught off guard by the question, Jim stumbled back.
What do I have? The question that circled his head for months was finally voiced. And, as disappointing as it is, he couldn't think of an answer. Throughout the entire fight... He was nothing but a burden to his team. He turned into a beast. He attacked his own friends. He turned to stone, and Claire had to risk her life in the Shadow Realm to bring his soul back. He bruised three ribs. He burnt his hand. He was unable to save the lives of so many of his loved ones. He couldn't activate the new amulet. He couldn't even come up with a plan.

Useless. How useless.

"Your friends are better off without you, Trollhunter."

"Every hero in the annals of history has faced dark hours, Young Atlas," Stricker began, cautiously. "In such moments, it's important to recognize one's... limitations."

"What are you saying?" Jim asked, even though he knew exactly what Strickler meant.

"Perhaps you should consider staying behind the lines. So you don't risk yourself, or your compatriots..."

"NO!" He screamed, both to Bellroc and to the voices in his head, "I know you're trying to distract me, Bellroc. IT WON'T WORK AGAIN!"

Bellroc paused. "Or... will it?"

Out of the blue, inferno blasted across the titan. Jim's eyes widened. There was no time to run. He jumped and lifted Excalibur in his defense, and in doing so, he slashed his sword towards the flames, dissipating the heat.
Bellroc didn't hesitate- she threw herself across towards Jim and pushed him off the edge. Douxie's sticky magic was still holding on. If not, even gravity would have killed him by now. No, he needs to be in an advantageous position. With Bellroc being above him, gravity was acting on Excalibur in the wrong direction. If he could somehow get back up...

With a grunt, he leaped back up the titan, above Bellroc's position. He lifted the sword above his head, grit his teeth, and swung.

This is it...

"One hit, and you will be changed forever!"

One Hit. This hit. This hit will prove his worth. This hit will knock Bellroc off her perch.

But suddenly, mysteriously, Bellroc smirked. Jim frowned as Bellroc made no attempt to dodge the incoming sword. Instead, she raised her staff, flung it, and...

Slammed it onto Jim's chest.

Jim screeched in agony. He bit into his tongue as pain coursed through his veins, numbing his senses. Like boiling acid spilled over him. Come on, keep it together, he thought. Come on-
Bellroc hit him again, making him double in pain. He cried again, sweat rolling down his forehead, tears forming in his eyes. No, no, don't give in...
He tried welding Excalibur again, but Bellroc knocked it out of his grasp with ease.

"So weak. So disappointing. You are unworthy to face a god, child."

She lifted Jim by the collar and threatened to drop him off the Titan. But instead, as if wanting to have fun, she lifted Jim back to the Titans's surface, almost ceremoniously, before tossing him onto the rocks.

Jim folded himself into a foetal position, the pain intensifying. He slammed his fist onto the rock, trying to direct the pain to a different place. But it was so strong... gosh, he wished his mom was here, or Blinky...

Almost. He almost saved the world. He almost defeated Bellroc. Almost. Almost.

But a life of almost... is a life of never.