Sirri-Hehe, you know I love my cliffhangers!

merendinoemiliano-Thank you!

T3ddyBearL0ve-Aww, don't say that about good ol' Merl! (I lied he totally deserved it.) Hehe, I know you love your troll Jim and his badassery! You know, I really don't know the answer to that question. Jim may be a troll, but you scare me sometimes lol. Oh hell yes that Secundo Ire for RotT is going to be hard to write. I already have writer's block on what to do for the second half lol.

Nightspyder-You're welcome! I'm glad you're liking it so far!

WyldClaw-Thank you so so much! I loved the Jlaire reunion too, so I'm happy you like it! We love Nomura, insults and all. Oh, they will, but they're gonna need some help…

The changelings swarmed them in a whirlwind of claws and fangs. Jim slashed Daylight across three changelings. They exploded into dust. Jim took advantage of the cover and dove into the dust cloud. He hacked left and right, all the while parrying away blades and daggers. A sharp whistling rang through the air. Instinctively, Jim called up his shield. An arrow thunked against it.

Jim's eyes scanned the balcony. He had to get rid of that archer before they really hurt someone, before-there! A slim, light blue changeling, armed with an intricately carved bow. Jim summoned his glaives and hurled them at the archer. The blue changeling's eyes widened in shock before they poofed into dust.

Something hard slammed into Jim. He whirled around with a snarl. A broad, muscular changeling leered down at him. He reared back and threw a punch, which Jim dodged with ease. He grabbed the changeling's arm and, with a heave, lobbed him into the air. He soared through the air and landed on some unlucky changelings, flattening them.

Jim snorted with pride before calling Daylight. He raised it high above his head, ready to finish off more-

"W-wait!" the changeling he had just been about to kill off cried. "It's me!"

"What's that supposed to-" he paused and looked more closely at the changeling. He was mustard brown, and his horns curled around its face. He wore a brown vest and a pair of shorts. His long brown hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. A pair of slitted yellow eyes peered back at him anxiously.

"…Vardan?"

The changeling-Vardan-practically beamed. "Yeah! Oh, wait-" He thrust a silver javelin into the side of a changeling sneaking up behind Jim. It crumbled to dust with a wail. He turned back to Jim with a fanged grin. "That was Mr. Tarkov! Man, I hated that guy!"

"Nice shot," Jim admitted. He caught a shuriken spinning through the air and flung it back at its owner. "How are Claire and the others doing?"

Vardan sidestepped a punch. "Okay, I guess. Ms. Nomura's doing most of the heavy lifting though."

"Then I better go and help. You think you can handle all…this?" he waved a hand at the oncoming changelings.

"Oh, don't worry about me." Vardan twirled his staff in a deadly circle. "I've got a whole century of bottled-up frustration to let out."

Jim nodded and darted off to find his friends. As it turned out, it wasn't very hard. Nomura's purplish pink form stood out amongst the other changelings, her scythes whirling blades of death. But despite the ferocity in her fight, she was clearly outnumbered. Not only did she have to protect herself, she also had to keep an eye out for Claire and Blinky.

Jim jabbed his sword into a changeling seconds before it was going to attack Claire. Claire coughed from the dust and waved her hand in front of her face. "Jim?"

He laughed at her dirtied face. "Yeah, it's me. How're you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks for asking," Nomura answered, slicing her scythe across a changeling's chest. "It's not like I betrayed the Order so they're all out to get my hide or anything like that."

"Sorry, Nomura. You're doing great," Jim grumbled.

"That's all I wanted to hear."

He turned to Claire. "But seriously, how are you doing?"

"Useless," she growled. "Utterly useless. If I had my shadow staff, things would be different."

"Remember Claire, there is no point in wishing for things that will not be!" Blinky called. "Adapt with the situation!"

Jim frowned. Blinky…why did it sound like he was speaking from above?

"Up here, master Jim!"

He lifted his gaze and blinked in surprise. His mentor was on the balcony, a familiar-looking bow in hand. A quiver of arrows was slung across his shoulder. As Jim watched, he pulled an arrow out and fired at a changeling. The arrow hit its mark and the changeling fell.

Blinky grinned in triumph. "Aha! See, Claire? You don't need your magic, just as I do not need my books or dwarkstones!"

"Maybe he's right…" Claire muttered. She turned to Jim, a determined look on her face. "Jim! Could you get me a staff?"

"Of course." Jim scanned the changeling army for a staff. He yelped in alarm as a spear was thrusted at his side. He grabbed the shaft of the spear and yanked it out of its owner's grip. He pierced the changeling's stomach before offering it to Claire. "Your weapon, m'lady."

Claire took the spear. "Thank you, good sir." She twirled the spear elegantly before slicing off a changeling's head.

She grinned. "Oh, yeah. I can work with this."

While Claire attacked changelings with her new weapon, Jim launched himself into the air. He flung his glaives down below. He landed on a changeling's shoulders and twisted its neck with a sickening crunch. He caught his glaives and morphed them into Daylight just in time to thrust it into a charging changeling.

For the next few moments, everything was a blur. Jim rolled, slashed, and ducked, fighting like he never had before. He was surrounded by a constant dust storm, and yet-

They just kept on coming.

Panting, Jim risked a glance at the others. His heart sank. Oh, this was bad. This was very, very bad.

Nomura was nearly overwhelmed by all the changelings around her. One scratched her with their claws, and she yowled in pain. Vardan was facing off against a monstrously huge changeling; his javelin looked about as threatening as a toothpick. Claire, being as small as she was, was able to slip in and out of the changeling's grasps, but he wasn't sure she could keep it up much longer. And Blinky…the changelings had discovered where he was, and he was running out of arrows.

There were too many of them.

Distracted by his friends, Jim failed to notice a changeling sneaking up on him. He gasped as someone rammed their fist into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He stumbled back with a wheeze. Another changeling slashed their sword across his face, drawing blood. Yet another kicked his knees, making him fall to the ground. Then another, and another, and another.

Jim could feel his willpower fading. The armor flickered, sensing his dwindling spirit. But he couldn't give up…his friends needed him. They needed their Trollhunter…

He struggled to his feet, only to be kicked down again. A changeling wrapped a garrote around him, pinning his arms to his sides and stifling his breathing. Another changeling raised a katana high above their head, ready to deliver the killing blow.

Suddenly, an arrow whooshed through the air and pierced itself through the changeling's heart. The changeling looked down at the arrow in shock before turning to dust.

All right, Blink! Jim cheered, looking up at the balcony. His celebration stopped short as he realized it wasn't Blinky who had saved him.

No, it was a lavender troll with silver hair who had fired the shot. One that was eerily familiar too…

A lightbulb went off in Jim's head, and he gasped. Could it really be-?

Carbak stepped over the piles of dust, a giant spiked mace in hand. If Jim could breathe, he would've whooped for joy.

"Now," Carbak said with a grin and a twinkle in his eye, "this is where the real party starts."

A/N: I'm so sorry about the late update you guys, but my professors decided to grace my weekend by giving me three tests and two quizzes. Love them for that. But! It's here now, and Jim kicking changeling ass galore.

Yeah, you all probably called that Carbak and the berserker trolls would come back. But hey, Jim didn't think they would, and that's all that matters lol. And yes, I headcanon that Blinky can fire a bow and arrow pretty okay, because a troll as old as him has got to know SOME kind of fighting.

So in the next chapter, not only do we get Jim kicking more ass, we get berserker trolls kicking ass! And maybe a little boss battle with Eunice hehe. See you in the next update, and thank you guys for your patience!