AN: Heads up with the longest chapter, like, ever! It's 50 pages long!
A response to a Guest Review: "What gave me the idea -for Jim and Max to be brothers-?" I was thinking about the similarities at first. Like the Crazy intense blue eyes, then the blue smoke. Jim's lack of father figure, and Max's dad being 'dead'. I just had to change the cannon slightly for it to work. The reason Jim's turbo energy levels are always so low is because the amulet is constantly siphoning it off of him.
If there are any other questions about anything, feel free to PM me or review. Love the reviews. Usually if I get a lot of reviews, I update sooner.
I don't own stuff. ENJOY!
Chapter 3
Jim walked back with Max to Claire and Steel. He couldn't stop himself from smiling and his tail was practically wagging. As they got closer, he ran low up to Claire wrapping her in his arms and spinning her around. He gave her a long kiss along her jawline to her ear. Purring for everyone to hear. She giggled and licked the upturned corner of his lips. His eyes gazed into hers softly.
'Find yourself?' She asked for his ears only.
He whined happily in response. Then set her back on the ground. Max caught up and laughed at how happy Jim was.
"Alright, about those rabbits…" Jim smiled, rubbing his hands together.
"Yeah, what about them?" Steel asked.
He laughed and shook his head. "I'm starving."
"I'm guessing that you can't eat human food then?" Max said, slightly grossed out.
"Not really," Jim shrugged, his tail twitched.
"Jim, as much as I like rabbit, I want something other than rodent for lunch." She smiled. "Also, I think you and Max want to spend some time together."
Claire knew him so well, he smiled and replied, "Thank you, babe!" nuzzling her cheek. "But I'm not leaving you here, no offense to Uncle. I'm just not comfortable with it." Jim lifted his head, testing the air. "Camp is close, your arm up for a little jaunt?" Claire nodded, he lowered himself for her to climb onto his back.
"But, let's stick to the ground. It's going to be a while before I want to go jumping mesas again." she said. Jim nodded and wrapped his tail tightly around her waist.
"Lunch?" Max said.
"Kinda nocturnal. So, you wanna race?"
"You are so on!" Steel yelled, and planted himself on Max's chest.
Than Max was talking to no one. "Flight or Speed?" he paused and rolled his eyes. "I don't think anything would be against him." another pause. "I don't actually think he does." then a confused look crossed his face. "I'll have to ask him."
"Earth to Max, what the hell are you talking about?" Jim said, Claire on his back, her chin rested on his shoulder. They both looked extremely confused.
"Oh, I hear Steel's voice in my head, he can talk to me so no one else can hear, but I still talk out loud. I've gotten so many weird looks at school." He laughed.
"What did he say?" Claire said.
"Uh, I can still hear you." Steels voice said.
"Shut it bucket head," Max said.
"Anyways. I'm looking forward to taking a midnight nap, I've been using a lot of my magic, and I'm exhausted. So let the race begin." Claire said sighing.
"Sorry Claire." Jim said, "Would you officiate?"
"Wait, hold that thought. Steel, turbo speed." Max said, his suit change and became more blue, some of the markings looked fluid. "Ok, ready." he bent down into a pre running position.
Claire rolled her eyes, "On your marks, get set, go." she said it quickly and without emotion. Both boys took off at running. Jim did his best not to jar Claire too much. Then laughed when he realized that Max was racing to a destination he didn't know. Claire whispered in his ear, "Does he know where he's going?" she asked.
Jim laughed, "Nope." He gently transitioned onto his fours, running alongside Max, who was going surprisingly fast.
"You're not going to let him beat you are you?" Claire asked.
Jim glanced over at his brother and smirked. With a competitive snarl, he moved to running on all fours and started running faster. And oh how he wished he could have seen Max's face. He had slowed down in a moment of shock but then picked up his pace, but was unable to keep up with Jim.
After running around the bases of small mountains and plateaus, Jim came to a stop. Max ran up behind him and switched back to the steel suit, dropping the helmet. Max bent over with his hands on his knees panting.
"How… do you… run so fast?" he said gasping for air.
Jim shrugged and let Claire down, releasing his tail from around her waist and letting it sway behind him. "You ok?" He asked. Jim and Claire snickered at the boy struggling to breath.
Max gave a heavy nod than stood up straight, Steel disconnected from him. Looking around he asked, "Where's your camp?"
"It's up that mountain a ways, found a nice large cavern for everyone to rest." Jim pointed up at a spot on the side of a large basin where the mouth of a cave could be seen.
"Wait, everyone?" Max asked.
"Are there more half trolls?" Steel added.
Jim shook his head, "No, I'm truly one of a kind," he growled. "Trolls, two changelings and a Wizard. But mostly trolls."
"So if you're camp is up there, why did we stop down here?" Steel asked.
"Because they don't really like humans. There are a few exceptions, but it takes a while." Claire said pointedly. "And while you are now apart of Jim's 'pack'. I'm still not sure how they would react to another person." She explained. "Now can I please go take my nap?"
Max mouthed the word 'pack' to Steel, he shrugged with a question mark on his face.
"I'm gonna take Claire up, wait here." Jim picked Claire up behind the legs and shoulders. Then pushing off the ground with his powerful legs, jumped up to the ledge. When he landed he bent his knees more to cushion the landing for Claire, letting her down he said.
"Hey, don't tell Blinkey, not yet. He and mom have been phone chatty lately."
"Got it babe. I'll just tell him you went out hunting. I'll also see if I can't convince him to let us stay a few more days." Claire let out a long tired yawn.
"Your the best," Jim licked her forehead. "Now go get some rest."
She turned and walked into the cave silently. Jim listened to her steps into the cave, once he heard blinkey catch up with her, he jumped back down to where his brother was. He smiled on his way down and landed softly on the ground below.
...
Max watched his brother jump up to a ledge at least 40 ft above the ground in one leap. Steel laughed at the face he was making, his jaw hang slack and his eyes were blown wide.
"Does he even need to use turbo energy to enhance his abilities?" Steel said.
"No, but I'd like to see what happens when he does." Max shook his head. "I'm still curious how he doesnt blow up."
"Hm, I think it might have something to do with that armor of his. Remember when Forge blew up the room and Jim put his armor on?"
Max nodded.
"Well, when he did his turbo energy levels spiked. I think that the armor might channel it for him, similar to how I do it for you." Steel humed.
Jim landed silently, with a large grin on his face.
"That's not normal." Max said.
"Yeah, you're going to need to be a lot more specific." Jim stood and gestured to himself. "I'm not normal." He laughed his eyebrows raised.
"He has a point Max." Steel noted.
Max shrugged.
He watched Jim, his tail started to move more quickly and his ears started twitching. He wondered how much he could feel from his tail and if his ears moving was voluntary or not. Jim was awesome, as far as Max could tell he was a really nice guy who just doesn't like people messing with his family. Which he totally understood.
Jim rubbed his hands together and his long tongue crossed his upper teeth. "Alright, I'm starving. Time to go hunting." his smile was feral and his eyes had thinned, a low growling sound came from him.
Max's pulse quickened at the sight of his brother being totally creepy, Jim picked up on it and froze.
"But, if you don't…" he started.
Max cut him off, "No. I'll come with you. I want to get to know you. Even if you are being totally creepy." he said it with a smile.
Jim relaxed again and his tail set to twitching again. His smile was pure bliss and his eyes lit up the rest of his face. "You'll probably want to fly, I don't know if you'll be able to keep up with me otherwise." he laughed and waited for Max to change.
"You know, I could show you how to enhance your physical ability further through your Turbo energy." Max offered.
Jim let out a loud belly laugh, "If you do that, you're never going to beat me in a race." He lowered onto his hands and feet.
"Was there ever a chance of me doing that before?" Max laughed, then transformed into his flight suit.
Jim shook his head, "I was pushing it before, but probably not."
Max hovered above the ground, and laughed.
Jim lifted his nose to the air, sniffing the area for prey. His eyes thinned once again and became laser focused. Without warning, he took off at breathtaking speeds. Max gained altitude and followed from the sky, watching him was incredible.
In between the smaller cliffs Jim ran in the shadows where the moon's light didn't reach, he swerved around the rocks and jumped over obstacles as though they were perfectly visible. As he exited the small canyon, his speed increased. Max struggled to keep up, even flying. Running on the ground Jim pounced onto the wall and started actually running on the side of a freaking cliff. He heard a growl and Jim suddenly disappeared from view.
Steel used his scanners to locate him, he was hiding in a small shadow next to a rock formation.
"What's he doing?" Max whispered.
In Max's head steel said, "I think he found a rabbit."
"Oh."
They watched Jim stalk forward, low to the ground and invisible to the naked eye. They spotted his target, a small brown rabbit chewing on some roots. Jim silently crawled into the blue light of the moon.
In a blur Jim had pounced and the rodent hung limply from his mouth. Max glided down and landed with flight mode vanishing, leaving him without his helmet.
Jim dropped the rodent from his mouth into his hand. He eyed Max warily, his tail drifted nervously around his legs.
"Dude, I told you to just be yourself." Max said.
Jim shook his head, "No. You really don't want to see me skin this." Max was about to talk again but he stopped him. "Just trust me bro." He said.
"Alright." Max nodded.
"I'm going to run around the corner. I'll be back in a few minutes. And if your hungry, I'll kill you a rabbit and cook it for you." Jim laughed and placed the furry brown creature back in his mouth and leapt away, out of sight.
In a flash, he was in his normal clothes and blue jacket, and Steel unlinked from him.
"That was kinda disturbing." Steel said.
"Yeah, but I really want to be able to get to know him. He said that he has to fight his instincts so that people aren't weirded out by him. And I don't want him to have to fight himself when he's around me."
"But aren't you weirded out in the least? He killed the poor bunny with his mouth." Steel whined.
"I'm fairly sure that's what he's talking about, he's worried about making others uncomfortable, so he pushes away his… How did Claire put it?" Max paused.
Steel tapped his face, thinking back. "I believe she said, feral behavior."
"And he has to constantly fight against it? It's probably draining, fighting what your brain is constantly telling you to do. I may not know exactly how it feels, but I hate having to hide being MaxSteel from Kirby, Butch, and Sid. So I can't even imagine having to hold back all the time."
"Hey, at least you don't look like that." Steel pointed in the direction Jim had left.
"He's better looking than you." Max laughed. Turbo zapping Steel.
"I'll have you know, Claire happens to think I'm incredibly handsome." Jim poked his head out from around the corner. The light of the moon lighting up his horns and fur. He walked closer and sat cross legged by Max, his tail sat idly around him. He was licking his teeth, and smearing… he was licking blood off his face. In his hand he held the skinned and gutted rodent. "She's even told me she thinks I look better than I did when I was human…" Jim's face fell, he paused for a moment. "This is going to take some getting used to."
"I only found out about six months ago. It was so weird." Max said.
Jim's head tilted and his face contorted, his brows drew together. "How did you not know?"
"Forge didn't feel like sharing any information with Max and I." Steel said.
"I still promise to give him a second chance, but he sounds like a real jerk sometimes." Jim snarled.
"You have no idea." Max sighed, he glanced at the meat in Jim's hands. "Uh, you going to eat that?"
Jim's eyes popped and he laughed. "Oh, almost forgot about that. You sure you don't mind?"
Max shook his head. Jim smiled, then sheepishly dug into his meal. Max laid on his back and looked up at the stars, trying to ignore the squelching sound of the meat as Jim ate. He took a deep breath of the clear, cool night air.
"You know, I've always liked the night sky." Max said. "Looking at it just feels right."
Jim choked, coughing, he beat his chest with his fist. He snarled and regained his breath. Max sat up and eyed him carefully.
"You okay." he asked.
Jim nodded, he licked his fingers and tusks. Turning to Max he smiled and said, "Just what you said, it's kinda funny." his jaw opened and closed as he cleaned the inside of his mouth with his long tongue, dislodging pieces of meat from in between his teeth.
"Why? I was being serious." Max said.
Jim switched to sitting on his calves. "No, I know. It's just ironic, because…" Jim paused, "Don't tell Uncle about this. He could use it against me." Max rolled his eyes in response, but nodded. "It's ironic because the night sky is the only sky I can look at."
"Are your eyes sensitive to light?" Steel questioned.
"Sortof, bur the sun kinda turns me to stone." Jim shrugged it off, but Max's face was shocked and Steel's face was an exclamation mark. "Guys it's fine, I came to terms with my troll half a while ago. Other than the few drawbacks, it's actually pretty great!" Jim's smile was accented by his tusks protruding out from his lower jaw.
"What are those?" Steel asked.
"Well, not being able to be in the sun is one. Another is almost zero human contact, and I can't eat most human foods. I would say I lost my humanity, but I guess I never actually had that in the first place…" Jim shrugged, "But if I find out that Merlin knew about this I'm going to kick him in the gronk-nucks then throw him through a tree." His voice rose to a growl.
"Who the heck is Merlin?" Max questioned.
Jim's tail flicked back and forth. He let out a long sigh, "Merlin is the wizard who screwed up my life, then turned me into a troll." His voice slowly rose, "He kept saying 'you were the first human trollhunter, but you were never meant to remain so.' And if I found out that he knew that I was half alien…" Jim snarled and the sound echoed off the canyon walls, making Max and Steel jump. Jim's ears fell, "Sorry…"
"Sounds like this Merlin guy, uh, makes you really mad." Max said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Jim's tail curled and uncurled itself as it swung. He gave a low growl, "He has zero social skills, he's also a real jerk." he snorted.
"Kinda like Forge." Steel smiled.
Jim laughed, "Yeah, kinda like Forge." Jim got to his feet and held out his five fingered hand to help Max up. "Now that I've had a good meal, we can go mess around. You said something about enhancing my abilities with Turbo energy?"
Max took his hand and got to his feet, the touch of his hand was like hard clay, but smooth, his eyes stayed on his hand grasped with Jim's.
"Max?" Jim said, drawing his attention back to his face.
"Yeah, sorry. Just wasn't expecting your hands to be so soft." He let go of the blue mit and shook his head. His brothers eyes sparkled with admiration, a small laugh escaped his lips.
"Glad you like them."
"So, Max." Steel interjected, "What are you going to show him first? How to run really fast, or jump really high? OH! How about you show him how to make his eyes glow?" He ranted.
"My eyes already glow, Steel." Jim laughed.
"I know, but then they'll glow even more!" Steel threw his arms around excitedly.
"How about just throwing it?" Max suggested.
Steel sighed. Jim's ears twitched and said, "How do you throw energy?"
Max wiggled his eyebrows, glancing around he spotted his target. It looked like he was going to punch the air, but his hand glowed blue with the energy. As his arm swung what seemed a ball of the stuff flew out of his hand and hit the closest boulder in a puff of smoke.
"Woah, that was awesome!" Jim stepped closer.
"Thanks." Max shrugged, "now you try."
...
Jim watched Max throw a ball of glowing blue energy into a boulder some yards away, hitting it with a dramatic flash. Energy that his brother naturally generated because he was an alien. The same energy Jim supposedly generated, because he was an alien. Well, part alien.
He kinda felt like his life was a lie, but that's fine. Nothing in his life really ever went his way.
Ever.
Max asked Jim to try to repeat the display.
"What?"
"Try throwing some of your Turbo energy." Max rephrased.
"Uh, how?" Jim's ears flicked.
"Just focus on the energy in your body, channel it to your hand. Then use the force of a throwing motion to get rid of it." Max explained.
Jim focused on his hand, and 'focused on the energy'. He stared at his hands hard enough to bore holes right through it.
"Uh, Jim. Are you focusing?" Steel's voice rang.
Jim growled and moved his eyes from his hand to glare at Steel. He quickly threw his arms up and shut up.
"Hm, I wonder if it's because you never learned to use it when it first started manifesting itself." He paused for a thoughtful moment. "How did you channel it so you didn't blow up?"
"Well," Jim put his hand down and his face softened. "I didn't know about it until about two hours ago. So I'm going to say the amulet was the thing keeping me from blowing up, as you so gently put it."
"Amulet? Is that the thing you put in your pocket after you busted out of the cell and your armor disappeared?" Max said.
Jim gave a heavy nod, he could feel the weight of his horns. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the small device, and tossed it to Max with the sound of it going through the air. He caught it in both hands and turned it over, the stone inside faced him. The amulet lit up and reflected blue on his face. Steel hovered over his shoulder to look at the amulet.
"Woah." They both breathed out.
Jim chuckled, his tail drifted around behind him and around his legs."That," He pointed to the amulet. "Is the reason my life got better, it also screwed it up."
"How does it work?" Max asked, his face betrayed his cool tone with eagerness.
Jim gave him a toothy grin and without saying a word, held up his hand an the amulet appeared in a flash, no longer in his brothers grasp.
Max looked back at his hands, finding the amulet gone.
"Dude…" Max gaped.
"This is the amulet of Merlin. And…" Jim sighed. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command." His body enveloped by armor, the clang of the pieces sounded as they fit to his body. The normal blue smoke, that wasn't magic, evaporated off of him as the magic set him back on the ground.
"That's how you've managed to not blow up… when did you say you got this?" Max said.
"Uh, about a month before I turned 16." Jim said.
"So, about the same time I started generating Turbo energy…"
"That's what dad said." Jim focused on his hand again. The non armored, four fingered one. Max and Steel watched him focus as hard as he could, he snarled then said. "I can make a magic sword appear in thin air, but I can't use my own freking bio-energy?"
Max stifled a laugh, "I don't think that's something to really be complaining about."
"Hey, at least you've never gone critical." Steel added.
Max rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, that's not fun. Wait, how often did you have to wear the armor to not blow up. If I don't link up with Steel every eight hours I go critical."
Jim looked up at the stars, thinking carefully. "Well, I trained everyday for several hours, and then there's the fact that I kept getting attacked at home, and I trained at home too, not just at TrollMarket. But I don't think that I put it on every eight hours." Jim looked back at Max. "I still don't really know how it works though."
"Me neither. Steel?"
"Well, my information is limited, but my understanding is that Jim, your dad, being full Tachyon, can generate it and dispel it naturally. The two of you didn't get all the Tachyon DNA to make it so you would be able to get rid of it like he does." Steel shrugged.
"Ok," Jim nodded like what he said actually registered in his brain. "But how come I can't get it to… I don't know, show up in my hand?"
"Beats me. When I first started generating Turbo energy, it was spilling off of me. Now, I use it to transform the steelsuit."
"Eh Hem?" Steel pretended to cough.
Max rolled his eyes, "Steel uses it to transform the steelsuit." he corrected.
"I'm glad the amulet doesn't have an attitude." Jim smirked.
"Hey!" Steel shouted, "I take personal offense to that!"
"Hey, you've been calling out my weird behavior all night and called my ears big." Jim said.
Steel folded his arms and huffed.
"What Steel?" Max said, responding to nothing, than Max suggested something else. "Show me how you summon the sword."
Jim didn't even have to think twice about it, he just lifted his hand and Daylight appeared in his grasp.
Max stared thoughtfully for a moment, "Ya think?" he said. Again, talking to Steel in his head.
Jim stared at him, his head slightly tilted.
"Ok, try taking off your armor and then pretend like you're summoning your sword."
Jim gripped the amulet and pulled it off his chest, replacing it in his pocket. Then focused again on his hand. Small, almost invisible sparks of blue appeared for a fraction of a second.
"Well, that's something." Max said, sharing a grin with his brother.
Suddenly there was a roar that ripped through the sky.
"We'll practice it more later, for now, we might want to deal with that." Steel pointed at something moving in the distance, toward them.
Jim had moved in front of Max, placing himself between the monster and his little brother. His stance lowered, and his eyes became thin. He looked closer and if he could, he would have palled. It was some kind of troll.
Jim snarled as it came closer.
"What is that?" Max yelled.
"I'm not sure, Jim?" Steel diverted the question.
"It's some kind of troll, I don't know what kind though." Jim growled.
"Steel, let's go Turbo! Strength." Max yelled and Steel planted himself on the other's chest and they transformed.
The beast was almost on top of them, huge, fast, and strong. It was easily a head taller then Jim, if it stood on it's back legs. Otherwise it crawled on all fours. It's limbs were long and thin but muscular, clawed digits, it's color was that of the copper cliffs. It had eight dark glowing orange eyes, but the four on each side were so close together it looked as only one. Something resembling a pair of wings could be seen on it's back, but they seemed too short to do any good. It's tail, looked incredibly dangerous, similar to that of a scorpion, and it's overbite looked unnatural even for a troll.
Jim roared at it, piercing the sky like a mountain lion scream, and it slowed for a half second before charging faster, returning a similar sound, only more venomous.
Max was about to charge it, when he noticed Jim shrinking slightly. Which made Max scared.
Picking up on his brother's unease Jim forced himself to stay, sure he was invading this troll's territory and he should really get the hell out of there, but he couldn't let this thing hurt Max. Re-asserting his dominance with another roar, he charged before it got any closer.
Taking it in a tangle of limbs, somersaulting over the other repeatedly. He tried to pin it, and though his strength was superior, he lacked knowledge of the creature to efficiently stop it. It's tail came out from underneath it and knocked Jim off of it. He snarled in response, shaking himself off.
Max ran up behind him and tried to detain the creature, but was stabbed with the scorpion tail. Orange acid dripped down the front of the steelsuit, still in strength mode.
Jim heard Steel say, "This acidic compound is eating away at the suit, it's compromising its integrity."
That's not good. Shit, I should have gotten him out of here when my instincts told me to.
"Max! Get out of here!" Jim yelled.
"I'm not leaving!" he bit. Max transformed to flight mode and Steel came off his chest. Max gripped Steel's arms and out of him came blasts of Turbo energy. Shooting the creature from a distance.
The creature didn't like being shot at, it turned around and spun, shooting out of its wings came small brown spikes, knocking Max out of the sky with a painful sounding thwack! Reverting back to the regular steelsuit.
While the creature was distracted, Jim rammed into it at full force. Sending it crashing into the side of a cliff. Jim didn't wait to see if it got up, he ran toward Max and scooped up his and Steel's limp bodies.
Running as fast as he could away from the unknown specie of troll.
Steel came to first, shaking awake in Jim's grasp. "What happened?" he slurred, rubbing his head.
Jim moaned, letting out inhuman sounds to explain literally nothing.
After they were a good mile away and out of its territory, Jim finally came to a stop. He laid Max on the ground.
Steel stared at him for a moment, "He should be fine, he's just unconscious," he said after scanning him.
Jim, crawled around him, a persistent whine in the back of his throat, his tail flicking back and forth. He pushed Max's cheek with his nose, nudging him awake.
Max groaned, "Everything hurts, I don't wanna get up." He said.
Jim let out a long sigh, "you didn't get cut did you?" He thought only of the potential magic poisons there were in that venom.
"No, but the steelsuit took a beating." Steel stated.
Jim's head whipped around and he growled at Steel. "Not talking to you." He turned back to Max, "are you ok?" He asked.
Max nodded and sat up slowly, "Yeah, just have a killer headache…" He said, before being cut off.
Jim lunged forward latching onto Max, his tail wrapped around his waist as Jim nuzzled his little brother. Max, unsure what to do in response, just wrapped his arms around the other. Hugging him tightly.
"That was my fault," Jim said. "We were in that his territory, but my dominance got the better of my instincts." He shook his head, "And you got hurt."
"No. it's not your fault, it was that thing, it attacked us first." Max reassured.
Jim still shook his head, "he told me to get out of his territory, but I didn't listen."
"Dude, I'm fine aren't I?" Max said, though slightly uncomfortable. Guys don't show affection often, so having his brother hugging him, and rubbing his face on him was real weird.
Jim, picked up on his unease but didn't mind it. His instincts were too strong to beat down, and Max said that he was ok with him being a troll around him. So, it was fine, right?
"So…" Steel began, "I'm not sure what this is, but Forge wants us back."
Jim let go of Max. "Time to go meet uncle Ferrus." he sighed, and helped Max up.
"It won't be that bad, besides, dad probably told him, and he probably wants to apologize." Max said.
"Although I have a hard time believing that, I should apologize to." Jim said.
"What about Claire?" Steel asked.
"I think it might be better if we let her sleep, magic exhaustion makes her really cranky. And as much as I want to be with her 24/7 it's unrealistic at the least. Also not sure if I want her around him yet." Jim sighed.
"Aright, let's go. It's not far." Max said and started walking, Jim walking next to him and Steel on the other side.
Wanting to keep him close via tail, but not wanting to make him more uncomfortable he asked. "Hey, um, Max?" Jim said as they walked, his ears twitching and his tail drifting dangerously close to Max's arm.
"Yeah, Jim?"
"Um, so this probably sounds really weird…" Jim gripped his horn.
Max looked at his brother, brows furrowed. "Yeah…?"
"Can I… um," Jim stuttered, and his eyes flitted over Max's arm and his own tail.
Max looked confused for a minute, then realization dawned on his face. He touched his arm to Jim's tail, on its own accord snaked up his arm twice. Jim looked confused himself, than smiled shyly. He squeezed Max's wrist, "Thanks."
"Yeah, but can I ask, why?" He puzzled.
"I have to make sure you're safe… so I can protect you. And I know you're a hero, and you can take care of yourself, but my brain is screwed up. And, I've gotta make sure my family is out of danger." Jim said.
"And this makes me safer?" Max laughed, holding up his arm gesturing to Jim's tail.
"Yeesss…" Jim said it more like a question, "I can move you out of harm's way if I need to now. And I'll know where you're at." He nodded.
"Alright."
"It also helps me stay calm, I'm not sure why though." He gave a shaky laugh.
"We should have Berto scan your head, see what's going on in there." Steel said, floating above Jim, tapping his horns.
Jim batted him away, "Yeah, that's not going to happen. Are you always this annoying, bucket head?" he asked, using an insult Max had used multiple times.
"Unfortunately for us, yes." Max smiled.
Steel huffed, then darted ahead to the mountain base's front door. Clicking some buttons before the door opened. He hovered next to the door, waiting.
As they passed Jim smiled,"Thank's Steel." He said.
Steel's face changed to an exclamation to a bashful smile as he followed them in.
...
They made their way to the briefing room, Jim's tail still around Max's arm. Kat, Jefferson, Forge, and their dad were standing around a holographic table. Berto was sitting off to the side.
Max was in the steelsuit, no hemet. "Hey, what did you need uncle Ferrus?" He said, scanning his black cast, and other missing arm. He had a death glare set on Jim.
Max glanced up at Jim, who was doing his best not to glare right back, he just smiled and waved, "Hi uncle Ferrus."
The whole room tensed as they spotted Jim. Jefferson paused with a corndog halfway in his mouth, Kat looked like she'd seen a ghost. Berto, who was working on Ferrus' new arm, sighed. One look to his dad told him that they hadn't been told yet. Ferrus glared harder.
Jim realized the same thing, his tail tensed around Max's wrist. He glanced around the room, no one had noticed it yet, so he removed it before anyone did.
Recovering for himself, "Is that not your name? That's what Max keeps calling you." Jim played sarcastic, the others relaxed, if only slightly.
Max sighed in relief, he nudged Jim with his elbow for him to walk forward. "So, everyone who hasn't met him, this is Jim." Max smiled.
"You might want to ask your dad why he hasn't told anyone yet." Steel's voice rang in his head.
"We've met." Forge bit out. "Where's your mate?"
Jim did his best not to snarl. He forced an angry smile, doing his best to be civil. "She's safe, away from you."
Max broke some tension, "So! Dad, why is the angry man, who keeps trying to kill my… Jim, not aware of certain things?" he asked panicked.
Ja'em turned and glared at Forge, before turning back to his sons', "We're waiting for your mom to get here." He said.
As if on cue, Molly walked in. She paused at the sight of Jim, for a moment Max was worried she would freak and attack him, but she didn't.
"And that's why you said not to freak out when I got here?" She pointed at Jim and walked over to Ja'em, a gentle kiss on his cheek.
Jim stared at her for a moment, his head tilted slightly. She smelled like an office; fresh ink, coffee, and paperwork, which is weird. The brothers stared at their father, waiting for him to begin.
Ja'em took a deep breath, "Ok, just so everyone doesn't freak out. Jim could you explain that you weren't always like this. Then I'll explain the rest."
Jim nodded, "Yeah, that's probably best, it would be weird." He grinned. Sitting on his calves he began explaining a miniscule amount of information about being the trollhunter. Then continued to the recents. "So, I wanna say two and a half months ago, after finding out that Merlin's tomb wasn't actually a tomb. We brought said wizzard back to Arcadia, and before the eternal night began, he gave me a potion which turned me into this. A half troll."
"Wait," Jefferson said with him mouth full of corndog,"You were human? Before you looked like… this?"
"Well, I thought so, but I guess not." Jim ran a hand up his horns. "That's for him to explain." He gestured for his dad to start.
Ja'em let out a long strained sigh, "Molly, please don't hate me." he said, holding his hands up. "Now, I came to earth about two years before any of you met me. I had a different name back then. James Lake. I was married for about a year and a half, and by the time I left… I had a six month old son." He threw his arms around, the air tense.
"Ok," Molly said. Love still in her eyes, but cautious. "Why are you telling us this now?"
Ja'em, looked at Jim and Max. Pleading them to help.
Jim, of course noticed and came to his aid. He did an over dramatic bow, his tail pretending to tip an imaginary cap. "James Lake Jr. at your service." He smiled. He glanced at Forge, "Sorry for breaking your arm uncle Ferrus." He looked at Molly, her face tortured.
Steel, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, spoke, "Surprise." He said, doing jazz hands.
"Mother of MARS!" Forge gasped.
The last of Jefferson's corn dog fell out of his gaping mouth. Kat's mouth was hanging just as much.
"And you're telling me now!?" Molly exclaimed.
Max stepped forward, "Mom, please don't be mad."
"She's not mad Max." Jim stated.
The McGrath boys turned to Jim, "What?"
Jim stood and looked at Molly, "Right?" She shook her head. "She would smell very different if she were mad." He stated plainly.
"James is right. Just shocked, worried, surprised." She said then turned to Jim, "and smell?"
"It's Jim, actually. But yeah, smell." he shrugged.
"So, everyone, this is Jim. My big brother, he's cooler than all of you combined." Max smiled brightly.
"Max, you might want to look at Forge's face, he looks like he's about to blow a gasket." Steel said in Max's head.
He glanced at his uncle, his face was redder than a tomato. His teeth grit so much he thought his jaw might snap. His knuckles were white, and the blood vein in his forehead looked like it was gonna pop.
He was going to try to say something, his dad was about to say something, everyone was about to say something. And that's when Jim did something that was almost stupid, but it wasn't.
Jim lowered himself, and slowly crawled next to Forge. Everyone watched, confused. The confusion snapped the Commander out of his rage enough to watch. Jim proceed to crouch next to him, he lowered his head, digging his chin into his shoulder. As far as it would go. His horns were pointed up, the furry back of his neck exposed.
Forge, stared at Jim and his strange display, "Wha… what are you doing?"
"I wish Claire was here," Steel said, "She knows all about his weird behavior." Steel stated.
Jim shook his head, standing he snarled. "This means nothing to you."
Silence ensued and Jim walked back over to Max, his tail curling and uncurling, agitated. Max heard Jim growling under his breath, he thought about what he could do to calm his brother's frustration.
On one of his tail's swings toward Max. He subtly moved his arm in its path, so that when it brushed it, Jim's eyes flickered. He looked down at his brother, who held his arm out less subtly this time.
Jim coiled his tail around Max's arm, and released his growl.
All eyes were trained on the two boys, except for Berto, who was still working on Ferrus' new robot arm. No one seemed to want to acknowledge it, but their dad seemed to know what was going on.
Forge broke the silence, "Was that some kind of… apology?"
Jim's head shot to look at him, he nodded.
Forge's face grew ever more confused.
"It means nothing if you don't respond to it though," He tilted his head and watched the Commander, "although, I ought to thank you, uncle Ferrus." Jim forcibly smiled.
"What?" just about everyone said.
"Yeah, had you not shot me, captured me, kept me separated from and held my mate hostage, and gotten it to the point that Dad had to come cast Claire's arm, I never would have found my dad, or Max. Or known I was part Tachyon. So thanks."
With each added accusation, another head turned to glare at the Commander. Jim turned his whole team against him in one complementing sentence. He was fairly proud of himself.
"I can not believe you Forge." Ja'em said.
Kat glared, "Uncle of the year over here."
Jefferson laughed at her joke, pulling a sandwich out of nowhere. He pulled another out, and tossed it to Max. "You want one Jim?" Jefferson asked, trying to be friendly.
Jim held up his hands, "No thank you."
"What in the world could have provoked you to do that Forge?" Molly gasped.
"He was a dangerous threat!" Forge defended
"Correction, I am dangerous. But I'm not a threat, at least not anymore."
"Tell that to either of Forges' arms'." Berto finally said something.
"Hey, I was not the cause of the destruction of his robot arm."
"Cybernetic Limb, if you please." Berto corrected, then turned back to the arm.
"Yeah, what happened to that?" Jefferson asked.
"That would be the lovely lady Claire." Steel stated.
Jim lauged, thinking about how kind and beautiful she was. And also how quickly she turned sour and dangerous when threatened.
"What's so funny?" Ja'em said.
"Oh, just about how quickly Claire can go from kind to murderous in 0.2 seconds flat." Jim chuckled. "And how cute her little nose is when she's angry and it crinkles up." Jim scrunched his nose whilst laughing.
"And they say teenage romance doesn't last." Kat comments.
"So uh, what did Chief do to tick off Claire?" Jefferson questioned.
"He kept calling Jim a thing. Apparently she doesn't like that." Steel said.
"Well, she doesn't like it because of how much it hurts me every time someone calls me a thing, or a monster. Fragile emotional state, is what mom calls it. I used to go to school, and I had a normal life, in practice I was human. Now people take one look and run away screaming, OR, attack." He looked at Commander Ferrus.
Everyone once again glared.
"So uh, how did Forge find you?" Jefferson dared.
"Well, Claire and I were out, jumping the messas. When this careless dork had his autopilot on and knocked me out of the sky. Broke Claire's arm, but I took most of the impact from the fall. Afterwards, I was an idiot and left her to go beat his sorry butte." He nudged Max, who was eating his sandwich.
"Idiot because Max obviously beat you to a pulp." Kat smiled proudly.
Max's face turned an undignified shade of red and Steel burst out laughing.
Jim calmly stated, "Idiot because I left her alone," and shrugged.
"What's so funny Steel?" Berto asked.
"Jim kicked my sorry excuse for Turbo Strength butte." Max said.
"Like it was nothing." Steel continued laughing. "He caught his punch, smiled like demon, then he threw us into the canyon wall."
Max rubbed the back of his neck, "Not our best moment."
"Anyways, I went back to Claire. I set her arm and then got shot unconscious. I woke up in one of the holding cells, broke out and found her."
"Wait, you're the reason the cells look like a feral beast was let loose in there?" Jefferson gawked.
He ran a hand up his horn. "Again, sorry. Then Forge blew up the room we were in and I smashed his arm after he held Claire hostage. I got her arm clean, but that's when Dad came in… and he didn't recognize me, but I'd seen many pictures of him and I knew exactly who he was. Only to find that he's an alien, and I am, was, half alien. And that I have a brother, who is also half alien… This has been a very eventful night."
"So, uh Jim…" Molly started, and both Jim's heads' perked up. "My husband Jim, did you know about Jim?" she pointed at troll Jim.
"About him being alive? Yes. About him being a half troll? No." He ran his hand down his face.
"And didn't you worry about him, you know, being half Tachyon?" She pressed, almost angry.
"Well, I didn't even know that Max was going to have my ability to generate turbo energy, so no." he looked at Jim. "Sorry son."
"It's fine, uh, Max's mom, I have something that expels it for me. And it's never once been a problem." Jim tried to reassure.
"You can call me Molly, or mom, if you would like." She smiled, then her face turned sour on adult Jim. "You are very lucky that he's not dead!" she scolded.
Jim leaned over and whispered to his brother, "See, now she's mad, Max."
Steel hovered between the two while the adults talked about how it was fine, and how it wasn't fine. Then asked, "So what does anger smell like?"
"Well, a lot of emotions smell like adrenaline, but it's a mixture of chemicals in the body that are caused by the emotions. As well as body language, heart rate, breathing, and just about everything observable. But mostly adrenaline."
"What does adrenaline smell like?" Max asked quietly.
Jim shrugged, "I have no way to explain that to you." his ears twitched violently, and his tail gently tightened and loosened around his brothers arm. "But this is killing my senses." he whispered before raising his voice. "It's okay though, I'm still alive against all odds, on purpose or otherwise." he smiled a toothy grin.
All heads turned to him.
"Jim, is there anyone still out to kill you that I should know about?" His dad said.
"No, not out for my title at least." Jim thought about it for a second.
"What does that mean?" Kat said surprise written on her face.
"Being the Trollhunter is a job you hold for the rest of your life. Most of the time, your life is relatively short after you pick up the amulet. Unless you're me. In which case, you kill everyone trying to kill you before they can do the same to you. Or, be smart, and turn them against their side."
"You got bad guys to switch sides?" Steel yelled.
"How many people were trying to kill you?" Forge shrieked.
"Yes, I got lots of my enemies to switch sides. And the number of people trying to kill me personally," he counted on his fingers as he focused his tongue came out slightly. "Well lets see, Bular, Strickler, Noumora, Draal, the stalkling, NotEnrique, Gladys, Otto, The Janus Order as a whole really, the hordes of goblins, Angor Rot, Gatto, Gunmars armey, the nilogarths, Gunmar himself, blood goblins, Angor Rot again, Claire while she was possessed, then Morgana. And I'm fairly sure some of the ghosts in the void want me dead too. And that's not even bringing into account the curses and poison's i've had dealt my way, as well as people who just wanted me dead in general."
"How are you still alive?" Forge yelled.
"That's what I want to know." Kat said.
"Yeah me too." Jefferson added.
"Oh my word!" Molly gasped.
"I'm so proud of you son"
"That's impressive amigo."
"You just keep getting cooler and cooler." Max smiled.
Jim's ears lowered slightly at the amount of attention he was getting, a bashful smile on his lips. "Thanks guys," he said, releasing his nervous hold on Max's arm, letting his tail sway naturally. He looked at Kat and Jefferson, "So, um I don't know who you two are."
"OH! Sorry, I'm Katherine Ryan, but you can call me Kat."
"And I'm Jefferson Smith, best pilot on base." he saluted with his sandwich.
"You wish!" Kat replied.
"Good to meet you." Jim smiled. "Now, uncle Ferrus…"
"That's commander to you." he snaps.
Jim's eyes dilated to slits for a fraction of a second before he calmed himself. He smiled an evil smile, "Just remember who disarmed you without trying." he snarled.
Tension in the room rose again. And Forge shrunk a bit, although his aggression toward Jim did nothing to help Jim's mood.
"Hey Max," Steel said in Max's head. "I think it might be a good idea for someone to get Claire."
"Good thinking little bud, let's go." he whispered.
Max and Steel hastily the room, Jim watched with a silent moan trying to escape his throat.
...
Molly stepped closer to Jim, he watched her as she examined him, standing still for her to eyes poke and prod. She didn't touch him, just stared.
She looked at his face intently, Jim tilted his head. Curious about what she was thinking.
Jim let out a nervous whine.
"Hey, Molly." Ja'em said. "I think your making him nervous." He chuckled.
Jim nodded and Molly backed off.
The room was eerily quiet, and with all eyes trained on the lone trollhunter.
His dad watched his son's nose scrunch up for a second and shook his head like a dog before he spoke, "Alright, someone's gotta calm down. Because it smells like y'all are taking a math test you didn't study for." Jim stated, "Except for Berto, he studied."
Berto raised his screwdriver, before returning to his work.
Jefferson burst out laughing, "Are you trying to say we smell nervous?"
Jim relaxed slightly at the change in the man's demeanor, "That among other things. I mean, uncle Ferrus' aggression toward me is inviting my hunter side." he rolled his neck and stared at the man, "So if you could stop that would be great." His eyes bugged, he tried to hide the rage coursing behind them.
Nervously, Kat and Jefferson exited their room.
He could sense that Forge didn't like him, he wanted him out of his base and away forever. His constant glaring felt like he was challenging Jim for authority and the right to be here. Unfortunately for him, that's not how humans work. Unfortunately for Forge, that is how he worked.
"Look, Commander" He bit, "I'm here weather you want me here or not. But if you keep this up, we are going to have problems." He growled. Whether he wanted there to be problems or not, there would be. His instincts would make sure of it.
"Jim, I know you explained some of this to me, but what's going on?" His dad prodded, brows furrowed and tense from the high stress.
Jim's ears flicked against his scruff as small and large footsteps alike entered the room.
"He feels challenged." Claire stated, walking in, next to Max who was just changing to his civies, she now had her small pink backpack. "The aura you're giving off is causing his instincts to be on edge. I suggest you get a grip." She took strides towards Jim and he immediately wrapped her up in his tail pulling her close and crouched down to nuzzle her cheek.
"I think you need to stay with me from now on." Jim moaned nervously, a half smile barely visible. He moved his tail around her arm.
"And you need to calm down." She smiled at him, brushing some stray scruff from his face. "You're scruff's on end."
"I'm sorry, but could you please elaborate?" Forge said impatiently.
Claire sighed and rolled her eyes, returning her now angry gaze to the Commander. "You ever stare an angry dog in the eyes?"
"Pht… no, that would be stupid. It's like challenging it to ohhh… oh."
"Congratulations, you aren't as dense as I thought." Claire patronized, placing her hands on her hips, Jim's tail still firmly around her uncasted arm. "Now," she took a breath. "Jim, I've bought you three nights without an explanation. Not counting tonight, which is almost over."
"Three nights? What do you mean?" Molly asked.
"We're not talking about it, especially with hostiles in the room." Jim taunted darkly.
"Son, com'on. I know you had a rough start with Forge, but you can trust him." His dad said.
Jim had to literally bite his tongue and grit his teeth so he didn't growl or snarl at his dad. After a few tense moments of his growls echoing through the room, he spoke.
"I'm sure you can trust him, but I can't. I can't trust him with things that could put my family… my troll family at risk. All he needs to know, is that for at least the next three nights. I'm going to be chilling with Max and you. If that means I'm gonna be around him, and I'll have to fight my every nerve to accept his unspoken challenge, then so be it." He turned to Forge. "Uncle Ferrus, look, I already gave you your second chance. You blew it. But just for family, you get a third."
Jim stood tall, his presence overwhelming the room. The light growl in his chest settled, and he let out a long held breath.
"Here's what I don't understand." Berto spoke up, startling everyone. He was basically invisible sitting in the corner working on the cybernetic limb. "Chief, why do you dislike Jim so much?"
"He broke my arm!" He waved the casted arm around.
"Validly," Steel said.
"Yeah, and Max broke Claire's arm. You don't see me challenging him." Jim said flatly.
"He blew up the holding cells."
"That was your own fault," Claire said.
"He beat up Max."
"You beat me up in training." Max stated.
"He… sliced a tank in half?"
"That was you?" Molly asked, trying to stifle a laugh.
Jim nodded, rolling his eyes.
"He… he… he's a troll." Forge nodded as if that made his argument.
"And I'm an alien, you never seemed to have a problem with that." Ja'em said.
"And ouch." Jim feigned hurt, although it was real.
"Fine, I don't have a legitimate reason." Forge huffed, then almost tried folding his arm. "I just… heskindasortareallyquiteintimadatingandheseemsabittoostrongforjustakidandIfeelthreaened." He muttered inaudibly and barely cohearnetly.
"I'm sorry what?" Steel said.
"Awe, I'm flattered." Jim smiled. Forge's head perked up, eyes wide with horror.
"You actually heard that?" Forge said in disbelief and pannick.
Jim turned his head and gently ran a finger up his long pointed ears. "I can hear everything. But don't worry, they won't know what you said."
Forge visibly relaxed.
"If you please stop glaring at me. You don't have to worry about any of that, I promise not to hurt you as long as you don't hurt me, my mate, or family." Jim stepped forward holding out his hand. "Deal?" His warm blue eyes shined.
Forge shook it, "Deal."
Everyone around them let out a breath.
Jim, stepped back and lowered into a crowch for Claire to sit on his leg. Now comfortable with the anger in the room gone.
"Now that we aren't trying to kill each other… Claire, wanna tell Jim what you told me on our way back." Max sighed.
Claire tensed on Jim's thigh. "Well, after I woke up, I heard you roaring about an hour ago. So I got a tracking spell from Merlin, on my way to find you I got attacked by some kind of troll. I didn't recognize it, but it was dangerous, and super teritorial. I managed to knock it out with my magic, but then about three more came out of the cliffs. I started running back to where the spell was leading me, apparently back to here." She glanced around. "Max swooped in and saved me just as they caught up to me. Thank goodness too, I'm exhausted." Claire pretend to fall backward, Jim caught her and rubbed the blunt of his horn against her head.
"I'm glad you're alright," he looked at his brother, "Thank you Max."
"Just be glad Steel suggested someone go get her. It's tense when no one knows what to do, or how to make you calm down." He stressed.
"Hostile troll?" Molly looked really confused.
"Hostile trolls," Jim corrected. "Max and I ran into one earlier. If he was just one territorial troll, it could be avoided. Now, if there's a pack, they need to be dealt with. And we'll need more information on it." He ran a hand down his face. He rolled his neck, pleading with Claire.
She threw her hands up in innocence, "It is not my job, you're the Trollhunter. That means contacting your sources, yourself." She poked him in the chest.
"I know, but there's like a 99.99% Chance that she's with him. And you know that she'll want to talk to me, and you know that she'll know something's off, she can tell when I lie. I'm the worst at keeping things from her." He whined.
"Eh, bro, whatcha talking about?" Max nudged his shoulder.
He looked at all the confused looks around the room.
Jim's eyes met his dad's, "Mom."
Suddenly, Ja'em started choking and coughing.
Jim turned back to Claire, "can't we just ask Blink?"
"Already did," Claire said, she sat up straight, in a mock Blinkey tone, she said. "I haven't the foggiest. You will have to contact Stricklander, he knows more about the trolls of the world then I."
"Ugh…" He drawled out the sigh that turned into a growling snarl.
"So, uh, your mom is dating something you called a changeling? And he might know about this troll?" His dad asked slowly recovering from his coughing fit.
"Strickler was one of my enemies that I got to change sides. He knows more about trolls than most trolls I've met. He also happens to be a few centuries old, so he's gathered a lot of information and such."
"So, about the dangerous troll?" Forge said, Berto fitting the arm to his body.
Jim took a deep breath, "I can't fight them if I don't have any information on it, that would be dangerous and stupid. And I've done enough of dangerous and stupid things to last me a lifetime, so I've gotta call him and ask him about this troll." He pulled out his phone and found that it had no service, no bars, no nothing. He rolled his eyes, "Right, super top secret base, of course your going to block cell service."
"Let me set up a video call…" His dad said.
Before Jim could stop him, Ja'em had taken his phone and had a video call going to Strickler within seconds. Handing the phone back to Jim.
"This is going to be good." Claire smiled, "try explaining this room to Strickler, or your mom, and let's not mention the fact that your dad is here."
Jim panicked and grabbed his horn and stood, Claire sliding off and trying to not laugh at his panic.
"You know you were going to have to tell her sooner or later." Max said.
"Yeah, but I was hoping I wouldn't be able to see her, or her see me, or that the entirety of my new pack would be here for her to interrogate." He flopped on the floor cross legged, losing his grip on Claire.
Then Strickler answered.
"Young Atlas, this is not your typical method of contacting me…" He tilted his head, he looked to be in his car. "Why are you on the floor, and where are you? Jim, who are these people?" He got defensive quickly. In the little box that showed what Strickler saw, he saw the bodies but not faces of the others in the room.
Jim quickly got off the floor, "I'll tell you in a second. Mom isn't with you, right?"
The phone's view turned, now facing his mother. Luckily, his dad was out of the frame for right now. "Why? Would it be a bad thing to call your mother?" she smiled.
"Shit!" Jim yelled. His tail whipped behind him.
Her brows furrowed. "Language Jim." She absconded.
The room had a good laugh at that.
"Sorry. Stickler, I've got a question about a new species of troll."
The camera angle turned, and was on Strickler now. "Well, first tell me where you're at, and what it looks like, anything specific."
"Well, we're in a place called Copper Canyon, it's the color of the rocks, like an orange sandstone. It's got long limbs, and a scorpion tail. It shoots spikes and it's venom is extremely acidic, though I'm not sure if it's poison. Eight eyes, but only looks like two."
Strickler's eye were wide, "I sure hope you didn't engage a whole tribe at once."
"You know these trolls?"
He nodded. "Yes, they're Cliff Crawlers. But more commonly known as Crawlers. Their numbers are almost as great as that of a single goblin horde. Did you find some on your journey?"
"Sorta, Max and I ran into one. Then Claire found a few more." Jim stated without thinking.
The camera turned back to his mom, "Who's Max?"
"Sh… FRAKT!"
"Walt?"
"It's not much better language." Strickler laughed. "Glad you've been practicing your trollish, young Atlas."
"Not as much as he should." Claire smiled.
"Anyways, who's Max?" His mom repeated.
"Strickler, how do I defeat these things. I need some information, they might cause a danger to the people that live here. I can't have that." Jim said. Blatantly ignoring his mom.
"Jim, who's Max?" She said.
"Hold a moment Barbara. Jim, first thing you need to know, they can survive in the sun. They can't move in it, but they can survive. It's their coloring, along with the venom. It's their blood."
"Ok, so how do I kill it? Let alone a whole pack. Last time I fought something that could be in daylight I got struck by lightning." he deadpanned.
"I'm sorry you what?" His mom yelled.
"Mom, I'm trying to be the Trollhunter for like five minutes. Please."
"Fine."
"Just like any other troll, use Daylight. Or Eclipse. Just don't get stabbed with its tail, it's a fate worse than Creepers Sun."
"And the spikes it launches out of its wings?" Max stepped into the frame.
"Who is this, young Atlas?"
Out of sight, Steel laughed. "Young Atlas?" He whispered.
"Oh bug off." Jim growled. "Strickler, Mom, this is Max."
"Cool, so where are you? How did you meet?" His mom asked.
Definitely not in a secret base that's a hollowed out mountain with my alien half brother and alien dad.
"Oh, just at a… private… facility. We ran into Max when Claire broke her arm. Found some old… friends and got her a cast. We were just talking about the troll and deciding how to deal with the tribe when I figured I'd need more information to beat them."
"Why are you lying to me Jim?" her eyes narrowed.
"Wow, I didn't realize she was that good." Ja'em whispered from off screen.
Jim shot his dad a glare, "Really?"
"Barbara, you don't know Jim's lying to you." He sounded exasperated.
"Oh, I know. I always know."
Jim shrunk under her gaze from a couple thousand miles away.
"Mom, I'll call you later. Right now isn't the best time… Please just drop it." His ears drooped, and he gave her the puppy dog eyes.
"Ugh, fine." She folded her arms and huffed, the sound of the car door opening and closing, and, "See you later Walt."
"Alright then, later." He said, "Max, you had a question about the Crawlers?"
"Uh yeah, it's spikes, they knocked me out of the sky and knocked me and Steel unconscious."
"Steel?"
"Also for another time." Jim stated, a growl settled any argument before it started.
"So, sir…" Max began, "Are these… Crawlers, something that need to be dealt with? They haven't been a problem before."
"Please, call me Strickler. And yes, being as territorial as they are. They are now making themselves known to you because they've felt the presence of Jim and the other Trolls. They won't go back to hiding now, seeing as they've been found out. Although they are not quite as conscious as most species of troll, they are incredibly intelligent. They have no pack leader, but will hold their own. Jim, make sure that you get all of them."
"Noted, thank you Strickler." Jim said.
"Wait, what do you mean the presence of Jim and the other trolls?" His dad asked.
"Well, would you look at that!" Jim shouted out of the blue, shoving his dada out of the frame. "I've had enough of my two completely unrelated worlds colliding and… yeah. Bye strickler!" And with that Jim abruptly hung up. Cutting Strickler's questions off.
Claire laughed, "Really Jim?"
"Son, what was that about?"
"Yes, Claire. Really. And would you look at the time! Sun's going to be up soon, as luck would have it. We're nocturnal. Looks like we better be going back to our camp." Jim tried to pull Claire out of the room with his tail. She forcibly pulled him back with her magic and stood him in front of his dad.
"Jim, it's not like Forge is going to go out on a murder spree. And it's not like your dad is going to tell him. He's asking a question, answer it."
Jim dared look back at her, her focused eyes glowing purple. He shrunk and his ears fell, his gaze turned back to his dad.
"So, we're here with a couple hundred trolls. A few changelings and a Wizard… it's fine, we won't cause any trouble. Please don't let Uncle Ferrus know. We need to make it to New Jersey." he said it as fast as he could, like ripping off a bandaid. Tensing to see what his dad would say.
Ja'em blinked a few times, "How did a couple hundred trolls not show up on scanners?" He blanked.
"That's… a valid question. How did you manage that Jim?" Steel asked.
"We're stealthy." He shrugged. "But I wasn't kidding about the fact that we should get back to camp, sun's going to be up soon." He turned to Claire, "And I want to sleep and not have to worry about guarding you." He nuzzled her nose with his own, moving his tail around her wrist.
"Jim, you know you don't have to guard me. And no one here is going to hurt you or me, not anymore." She strained.
"Jim, if you and Claire want you could come back to my place, sleep there." Max offered.
"Does your house have a room without windows and comfortable sleeping space?" Jim asked doubtfully.
Max pressed his lips, "No…"
"Everything you do and say confuses me son, what are you talking about? No windows?" Ja'em asked.
"That, actually isn't something you need to worry about, maybe soon. But not now." Claire said.
Jim stared down at her in disbelief, "What happened to answering his questions?" He whispered.
Claire whispered back, only inaudibly for human ears. "Him knowing that there are other trolls isn't a bad thing. Him accidentally slipping up and saying something to the commander about the one thing that would without a doubt kill you, is not something I'm willing to do yet."
"Yeah, what she said." Jim stated, being an idiot and completely forgetting only he heard her.
Claire facepalmed so hard.
"Claire, is your head ok?" Steel asked.
Claire nodded.
"What did she say. I didn't hear anything." Max said.
"That's because she was speaking on frequencies to low for humans to hear. She's speaking on a frequency that he's specifically attuned to." Steel stated.
"So, what did she say?" Their dad asked.
"Oh, that's none of your business. Something about what Max and Jim talked about earlier."
Ja'em rolled his eyes, "Of course." He sighed.
"But, we really should be going, Claire's been exhausting her magic all night. And, honestly, I want some alone time with my mate like we initially planned, before all… this." Jim gestured to everything around him.
"Alright, are you sure you'll be safe with all those Crawlers?" his dad asked.
"Jim can hold his own, trust me dad." Max smiled. "Wait till you see him fight."
Jim and Claire walked part way back to the cave, and when the sun started creeping over the horizon, they ran.
They got to the cave just before the entrance was bathed in sunlight.
"That was too close." Jim huffed.
"Agreed." Claire said.
They made their way to one of the smaller split-offs in the cave where they made camp, on their way they ran into Merlin.
"So, young Trollhunter, did you find tonight to be something quite… Alien?"
Jim lost it, he snarled once, gripped Merlin by the collar and spinning him around, threw him across the massive cave the size of a football stadium into the wall. Landing with a moan and an undignified cry of pain. Jim roared, making the walls shake and the sound echoed through the cave.
"I'm going to run him through in the evening." Jim growled.
"Yeah, that sounds appropriate." Claire nodded, "But for today, let's get some sleep."
Normally Jim would be standing on guard with the events of the day, but he was too exhausted and collapsed on his sleeping bag and quickly feel to sleep.
Claire laughed at his slumped state, and curled herself in the crook of his body. His tail, consciously or not, pulled her closer to him, wrapping around her waist.
She fell asleep with his fingers laced, his tail holding her secure, and a gentle purr vibrating in her mate's chest.
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