Well...it's been a minute (over a year). How y'all doin?

So, I finally got down to watching Wizards and it was just as amazing as I thought it would be! And I got to see my boy! My Jim! And Claire! Ahhh!

For the purpose of this fanfic, I won't be changing the background I gave Morgana. In this story, the events of Wizards never happened. Nor the events of the end of 3 Below. I already wrote the start of the new school year, jumping passed the timeline of both of those seasons. Though, I might be cherry picking information from both (like Douxie and how much Toby and Eli know about Krel and Aja.)

I hope that makes sense, and thank you!

(Also, I just got engaged, so I'm spending a lot of time wedding planning. I hope to update fairly regularly from now on, but who knows?)


Previously on Arcadia or Bust:

Jim, Claire, Blinky, and Merlin came back to Arcadia, only to find that James Lake Sr. had turned up. Merlin gained favor with the party by turning the man into a pig temporarily. Jim went back to school in a glamour mask, only to be exposed as a troll by Steve, who punched him in the face. Now that everyone knows what he looks like and who he is, Jim continues school as a Troll. He's been recruited for the football team too.

Everything would have been great...except James Lake Sr. left a bag of cocaine on top of a trash can, as a drop zone, only for Jim to find it and go on a drug fueled rage across town. Now unconscious, Jim must face the consequences...

When Jim awoke, he was bouncing slightly in the back of a van. Not an ambulance, a van. He groaned to wakefulness.

"Oh, you're finally awake." Spoke a voice.

Peeling his dry eyes open, he looked around the plain, armored vehicle to find himself surrounded by men in uniform with thick helmets and guns.

He wanted to ask what was going on, only he was muzzled, and strapped to some kind of plank. If he tried really hard, he could probably break free, but he was still exhausted.

And he wasn't sure how trolls fared against gunshots.

"You're being escorted to a secure facility where you can't hurt anyone ever again, you disgusting beast."

Oh, that wasn't good. He'd hurt someone?

So that dream was real?

Where was he? Where was mom? Claire? Toby? Did they know where he was?

"...mmm..."

"I'll unlock your muzzle for one minute. Make it quick."

A switch clicked and Jim felt his jaw relax ever so slightly. Just enough to talk.

"Does my mom know where I am? What happened?"

"Do you think we care about some mother of a beast?"

Jim swallowed, feeling heat rising to his cheeks from anger and embarrassment. "Dr. Barbara Lake. At the Arcadia Oaks hospital. Please...she'll worry about me."

Someone else spoke. "She was there when we took you. You were unconscious. She knows."

Well. She knew. She'd tell Claire, and Toby, and Blinky...but now what? Behave?

Was he under arrest then? Was he going to have a trial?

What the hell happened?

24 hours previously.

They did everything they could. Now it was just up to Jim to pull through. His heart rate was down, and his stomach had been pumped of the excess cocaine he hadn't already thrown up.

Barbara was on the clock, so she couldn't just sit and wait. Though, that might have been a blessing. It was agony just waiting. Watching his chest rise and fall with great effort.

It was supposed to be a tense, quiet waiting game.

But that all changed with the soldiers that stormed in in full riot gear.

"Hands in the air!"

Several men entered the room, and immediately secured Claire, Toby, and Strickler.

"What's going on?!" Demanded Claire.

An African American woman, only in uniform and not full gear, strolled into the room, head held high.

She stopped right at the end of Jim's bed, raking her eyes over his prone form. "So this is the menace. I didn't think they hospitalized beasts."

Barbara stormed into the room. "What are you doing?! Who are you?! Get away from my son!"

The woman just turned and held her gaze. "Colonel Kublitz. I'll be taking your patient into my custody."

"No!" Barbara argued, shouldering passed her. "We've been talking to the police! This is all a big misunderstanding! Jim was poisoned! And he can't be moved! He's unstable!"

The woman was not dissuaded. "Amazing that you'd be so protective of something that tore up your town, terrorized your neighbors, virtually held your city hostage. Why would you try to save that?"

Barbara snarled at her. "He's my son!"

"I suppose he gets the blue skin and horns from his father? I know a troll when I see one. Last time, I missed them all. I'm not missing this one. He's coming with me."

"And I'm telling you, I will not discharge him!"

"I don't need you to." She snapped her fingers. "Bring in the board."

"You don't have the authority!"

"You'll find that I do."

"You can't take him! He's not a monster!" Claire shouted.

"This doesn't concern you, little girl."

"It actually does! That's my boyfriend! And I'm not going to let you take him!"

The woman shook her head. "Please people, I can only be so disgusted." She nodded to the men standing by Claire, Toby, and Walter. "Escort them out."

"You can't do this!" Toby shouted as he was shoved forward.

Out in the hall, they watched in horror as the soldiers wheeled in what looked like a dolly with a flat metal back, with thick straps that wrapped around.

Barbara was pushed out of the room a moment later.

"You can't do this! Stop! Stop! You'll kill him!"

"All the better." Said Colonel Kublitz. "Then we can stop having these apocalypses."

"Jim stopped Gunmar! He's a hero!" Claire cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "He's our protector!"

The Colonel ignored them, and put her focus back on the room.

A few moments later, Jim was wheeled out, strapped down by the arms, legs, pelvis, chest, and neck. A horrible muzzle, like the kind Hannibal Lector was forced to wear, covered his face.

"No!" Claire shrieked. "You're killing him! Let him go! Let him go!"

But the Colonel had enough talking and directed her men, and Jim, out.

"We can't let them leave!" Cried Toby, "we have to help him!"

"There's nothing we can do right now," said Walter. "They have guns and authority. We'll find a way to help Jim. Somehow."

"Do you think my mom could do anything?" Asked Claire.

"Local government rarely has anything to do with the federal, let alone the army. But it's worth a try."

"I'll call Ophelia." Said Barbara.

"No, Mrs. Lake," interrupted Claire. "I'll handle it. You're still on the clock."

Barbara sighed, and brushed her hair back. "I suppose I am. Thank you, Claire."

The next day at school, the student body was slightly shaken. Rumors had spread, and evidence of Jim's rage still remained, like the doors ripped off the hinges.

Most students gave Toby and Claire a wide berth.

Darci came running the second she spotted them. "So what happened? Where's Jim? Dad said they weren't going to arrest him. Is he still in the hospital?"

Claire frowned hard, lines pulling at the corners of her lips. "They took him. Some soldiers from the army or CIA or FBI. I don't know. They muzzled him and..." she started crying.

Darci and Toby were there to comfort her immediately.

"I don't know where they took him! I don't even know where to start! It's like...Area 51 stuff. I might—we might never see him again!"

"Excuse me?" A voice cut in. "I'm very sorry, but I couldn't help but hearing your distressed cries. You said the Troll Jim has been taken to a secret government facility?"

Claire looked up to the newcomers, sibling students she had shared plenty of classes with, but she blanked on the names. "I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

"My name is Krel." Said the boy.

"And I'm Aja," the girl answered. "It's okay, in all the end of the world craziness, my name slipped your mind. It happens! But, anyways, if I'm correct, I believe Jim may have been taken to Area 49-B. My brother and I have experience breaking in. Of course, we'll need a different plan from last time..."

"Wait wait wait...you know where Jim is?"

"Most likely," Krel corrected. "It's the closest government facility that specializes in the paranormal and extraterrestrial."

"And...you and your sister have broken out of it?"

"Into it...and then back out."

"Why?"

Krel scratched the back of his head. "We Uh...needed something."

Toby patted Claire's shoulder. "Don't worry, Claire, they're cool. They've got secret underground knowledge, like Jim. You know?"

Claire, quick as she was, made a little nod of understanding.

These two siblings weren't what they seemed.

"The lightning in a bottle!" Claire snapped her fingers. "I'm sorry, I totally forgot about that."

"Like I said, end of the world stuff." Aja shrugged. "We had our own problems to take care of."

"Of course, we still do," shrugged Krel. "But we understand the importance of helping friends when we can."

"Well, I appreciate it. And I'm sure Jim will too. Why don't you guys come with us after school? My mom works in local government and she said she was coming up with a plan. We could use someone with insider knowledge."

"Lively!"

"How dangerous is this place?" Asked Darci. "What kind of stuff are they going to do to Jim?"

"If he's lucky, they'll cage him and observe him." Said Aja.

"But, they did try to dissect me, so that's on the table too."

"Oh Jim..." Claire got misty-eyed again.

"Now, now, no reason to cry!" Krel interrupted. "Area 49-B is mostly about extraterrestrial research. Jim might just be held there...for safety. Yes, for safety. That's what we can hope for."

The way he said it didn't instill Claire with confidence.

Jim remained in and out of consciousness for several hours, fighting nausea, and confusion. When he was conscious, it was all a blur of technology and bright lights. Needles poked at his skin, and he felt the coldness of metal under him.

Several hours later, when he was coherent, he awoke to find himself strapped to a table, naked, and surrounded by several specimens floating in jars and canisters. Slowly, he became aware of the researchers around the room, in yellow hazmat suits. They looked foreign and alien. All of this was drowned out by the bright light shining down on him from above.

It was like a strange nightmare.

"Jim Lake Jr." Said a woman's voice.

"That's me." He croaked.

"Who's Jim Lake Sr.? Another monster?"

Jim scoffed. "In a way, but he's entirely human, if you were wondering." He flexed his cold hands, willing circulation back into them. "What happened?"

"According to our reports, you decided it was perfectly acceptable to ingest a kilogram of cocaine, and go on a rampage through your town."

Jim's throat felt dry, and his nausea came back in full force. "I did what?"

The woman held up a tablet, and showed him a video. It was a compilation of security footage from around the city. In each one, his rampaging form tore through the area, upheaving cars, sidewalks, and light posts. Anything in his way. Then towards the end, he saw himself carrying Claire over his shoulder roughly. She screamed out in pain.

"I…I didn't…that's not me."

"It is you." The woman snarled. "You hurt all those people, terrorized a whole city. And they tried to protect you, acting like you were one of them. But you're not. You're a beast. And that's all you'll ever be. No matter what you think."

Jim stared at the tablet as the footage started over. It was him, but it…wasn't. This Jim was erratic, chaotic, and cruel. It made sense why this woman and her team would believe he was a beast if this is what they saw. So now what? He had to convince them that he wasn't actually that bad? They had video evidence.

This was all his father's fault. That had to have been his cocaine on the trash can.

There had to be a way to convince them that this was a horrible misunderstanding and that he was a victim of circumstance.

That could take a while.

After school, Aja and Krel went with Claire and Toby back to her house to share their knowledge of the government base with Ophelia.

But what they found there instead was startling, to say the least.

It was all hands on deck. Blinky, Barbara, Ophelia, Xavier, and even NotEnrique were hard at work making signs and banners.

"Um, mom?" Claire asked upon entry.

"Oh Claire! I didn't even hear you walk in!"

"What's going on?"

"We're campaigning!" Barbara said with gusto.

"Campaigning?"

Ophelia held up a sign that said 'Free Jim Lake Jr.' on it. "For Jim's release!"

"What?"

"If there's one thing the government hates, it's attention and protests! So we're going to get the whole town in on it. I have some contacts at the news station too! It's going to blow up!"

Claire frowned. "Wait, I thought you went through all that effort to hide the trolls, why would we risk exposing them now?"

"Oh Claire, we're not exposing the trolls, we're campaigning the release of a boy that looks different."

Claire crossed her arms, skeptical, but not in denial. "Go on…"

"Think about it. Jim's not a prisoner that's in jail. There was no trial. No arrest. He was given no rights and kidnapped by the government. This kind of stuff shouldn't happen in the US."

"But how do we convince the town that Jim really isn't a monster? He did do a lot of damage. I know we convinced the city not to press charges as long as Jim helps clean up…but what about all the cars he flipped?"

"That's where you come in!"

"Me?!"

"My apologies, Lady Claire," Said Blinky. "That would be my doing."

"What did you do?"

"I simply explained to your mother that your skills in magic have improved to the point where you were able to restore our truck to a near perfect condition after that accident we had."

Ophelia continued. "And I'm going to pretend to not be angry that you didn't tell us you were in a serious car accident on your way back from New Jersey. Blinky said you almost died!"

"But I didn't!" Claire held up her hands in defense. "See? All good! Magic and all that…"

"So, you can restore the cars that were totaled?" Asked her father.

"Well, maybe…? It might take a little time. Using that much magic is exhausting."

Barbara rested a hand on her arm. "Anything you can do to sway the town that Jim isn't a monster will help. If we have to do a fundraiser to pay for damages, we can do that too. Anything to get the town on our side."

"I'm willing to try!" Claire assured.

"So I guess we're not needed?" Asked Aja.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Ophelia, approaching them. "As you can see, we're in a state of chaos here. Are you friends of Jim and Claire's?"

"Naturally!" Said Aja. "I'm Aja, and this is my little brother Krel."

"It's very nice to meet you, I'm councilwoman Nuñez. Please, if you're willing to help, we'll certainly take it."

"Well," said Krel. "We were here to offer a different sort of help…"

Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"What my little brother means," Aja stated, elbowing him out of the way. "We have some information on the government facility that Jim was taken too. Area 49-B. Mostly used for research into the extraterrestrial and paranormal, but I suppose that could extend to Jim and the trolls." She rubbed her hands together nervously. "We…had to recover some equipment from the facility. Which required breaking and entering…"

Ophelia leveled a look at them both. "Is any of this so-called equipment dangerous to the city? Do I need to be concerned?"

"No no no!" Krel waved his hands around. "Well, it's mostly safe. Unless there's a malfunction. But even then, that's a small possibility…"

"Krel…" Aja bit.

"What? I'm just being honest with the woman!"

"It's okay guys, you can trust Mrs. Nuñez." Said Toby. "She knows all about Jim and the Trollmarket."

"I mean, next thing you know, you're going to tell us to trust everyone in Arcadia." Joked Krel.

"I'm working my way there."

"Fine," said Aja. "We're not...from earth. We're in hiding from our home planet. We've come to take sanctuary here."

"And we need to repair our ship before we can leave." Added Krel.

"Aliens." Said Ophelia, with the blankest expression and tone.

"Uh, we prefer the term extraterrestrials."

Ophelia just sighed. "Trolls. Wizards. Aliens. What's next? Gnomes?"

"Oh, there's been gnomes," answered Toby.

"Goblins?"

"So many goblins."

"Okay, so space invaders." Ophelia threw up her hands. "I guess we're just that town now, huh? Great. Wonderful."

Barbara smoothly took over the situation. "What can you tell us about the facility?"

"Well, for starters, it's very hard to get into. 10 foot cement walls, blast doors, motion sensor laser guns, the last time we broke in, we had to fake an alien sighting to lure out some guards, stole their uniforms, and snuck in disguised. And we had our AIs monitoring our every move through security cameras and luring personal outside with tacos."

"Hmm…sounds dangerous. How did you sneak out?"

"We…didn't." Aja laughed awkwardly. "We kind of busted a giant extraterrestrial arthropod out to cover our escape. We were only lucky that that woman saw us in our real forms and not these human projections. No doubt, she's hunting for us anyways."

"A jailbreak won't work anyways," stated Claire. "They took Jim from Arcadia. If we broke him out, he wouldn't be able to return here, cause they'll just take him again."

"The woman in charge is Colonel Kublitz, and she's really mean."

"So I gathered from her visit in the hospital." Said Barbara with a scowl.

"Then the campaign is our only hope," confirmed Ophelia. "If we can't break him out, and we can't appeal to the Colonel's heart, then we put pressure on her superiors to let him out."

"But first, we need to get the town on our side. Which means clean up duty."

"Has anyone seen Jim? I need a library card, and I was hoping to borrow his." This was said by Merlin, who waltzed into the Lake house as soon as they returned from the campaign meeting.

"What?" Asked Claire. "You mean you didn't hear?"

"If I had heard any news about Jim, do you think I'd be asking?" He put his arms on his hips. "I don't have one of your cellphones, I'm not 'in the loop' as you like to say."

Toby answered, "Jim's been kidnapped by the government and taken to a secret facility to be experimented on!"

Merlin blinked once, twice, and scratched his chin. "Well, that's not good."

"No, it's really not!"

"So are you going to help us save him?" Asked Claire. "It's your magic that got him into this mess in the first place!"

"Oh, so sorry for trying to make sure your boyfriend stayed alive. I won't do it again," he rolled his eyes. "But yes, I'll help rescue Jim. What is it that you need? Dimension door? A portal to get him out? Or perhaps some fire power down the front door?"

"No, we need you to help fix the damage Jim did to the town."

"You want me to what?! Do I look like a janitor to you?!"

"Come on man, it's all part of the plan!" Said Toby, "We're going to get the whole town on our side, and then we're going to campaign and make a big stink about him being taken! It'll give them a bunch of unwanted attention, and they'll have to listen to us!"

"Oh yes, I'm certain that's exactly what's going to happen…and not mass execution."

"This is the 21st century, the government isn't going to execute an entire town."

"Oh, they don't do that anymore? Pity. Anyways, I suppose I can help reverse the damage Jim caused…what damage would that be, exactly?"

"James Butthead Sr. left a bag of cocaine out where Jim could find it and he ate it and went into a drug fueled rage, where he flipped over cars and light poles and scared the bejebus out of everyone." Toby stated. "The police agreed not to arrest him, because of the circumstances, as long as he agrees to clean up the town…but then the army came in and yada yada yada, Bob's your uncle."

"What? When did this happen?"

"Just yesterday."

"How did I miss it?"

"You were probably at McDonalds."

The man frowned, "I hate that I've become predictable. Alright, I'll get to work doing street repairs first thing in the morning. Until then…does anyone have a library card I could use?"

Maybe they'd let him go on good behavior, he wondered. Jim followed every direction to a T, and regarded every scientist or personnel politely. Yes sir, no sir, yes ma'am, no ma'am. Please and thank you. Every ounce of humanity he could muster, he demonstrated.

In return, he'd been poked and prodded. Blood, urine, sweat, spit and all manner of bodily fluids had been extracted and examined. He had run on a treadmill for hours until he collapsed. He had gone without food and water for the last two days.

They were treating him like anything but human.

He was just happy they weren't using UV lights yet.

"How are you feeling?" One of the researchers asked.

"Hungry, tired." He panted from his table.

"What do you eat?"

"Anything…do you have any socks?"

"You'll have to wait a bit longer for food. Until the Colonel gives the okay."

"And how much longer will that be?"

"She'll be here soon, why don't you ask her yourself?"

Jim really hated interacting with the Colonel. Most of the personnel were indifferent to him. Some of the researchers actually spoke to him, but most just treated him like he wasn't even there. The Colonel though, she was cruel. She belittled him, humiliated him, reminded him of the actions that had put him in here.

She made him feel like an animal, more than anything else after his transformation had.

"Why is she so much meaner than everyone else on this base?" He asked rhetorically.

"She's scared of you." Said the researcher, not looking at him. "And you'll never be free as long as she is."

Great. Awesome. Just what he wanted to hear. Oh well. He'd just have to up his politeness. Maybe he could convince them to let him cook or something. That could work.

Soon enough, the Colonel arrived, tablet under her arm and a sneer on her lips. "James Lake Jr."

"That's me," he rolled his eyes. He'd been through this every time she'd come to see him.

"Junior at Arcadia Oaks High School. Nearly perfect GPA up until last year where you got a large stint of absences. Starred in the drama production of Romeo and Juliet. This is you?"

"Yes! I've gone to the Arcadia Oaks school district since Kindergarten!"

"Except Jim Lake Jr. looks like this," she held up last year's school photo, with the old him. The human him. The him that didn't flip cars and trash towns.

"That was me a few months ago."

"This doesn't look anything like you."

"It doesn't? Not the eyes? Face shape?"

"What I don't understand is that your DNA samples came back, and they had some commonality to Jim Lake Jr.'s DNA, about half. So, what happened?"

Jim kept a wary eye on her, thinking his answer through. He had been asked something similar by a police chief several states away. Then, the truth hasn't been too hard to confess, they were far from home and they had treated him like a person.

A criminal, but a person. And they apologized afterwards.

But this woman...there was no mercy in her eyes.

"Well? Are you going to give me answers? Or am I going to have to force them out of you?"

Would she even believe the truth?

"Magic." Jim provided, as a start.

The Colonel was unimpressed, and growing impatient.

So he elaborated, carefully, "this amulet," he gestured to the stone embedded into his chest. "Was created by Merlin the wizard of Arthurian legend. It chose me to be the protector of man and troll."

All of the Colonel's attention was quickly on the amulet, as she studied it. "Protect from what?"

"Gunmar, mostly...how much do you know about the tornado in Arcadia?"

"I know that it wasn't a natural tornado. I know that your town was upheaved by trolls from deep underground, and that when it all went away, the town shut it down tight. There's only a few amateur videos of the incident."

"That was Gunmar. He led an army of evil trolls that wanted to blot out the sun. It was my job to stop him...but I wasn't exactly a star athlete...so, Merlin turned me into a half troll."

Turning this entire exchange, the Colonel never once looked away from the amulet. "I see...and what happened to Gunmar?"

"I stopped him. I killed him. And killing him destroyed his army. Everything is safe now." He managed to smile. "Now that you know I'm not all that bad, would you ease up a bit? That last incident was an accident...I didn't know it was cocaine, I just thought it was trash!"

"Silence."

Jim bit his lip, waiting for the Colonel to make up her mind.

"I want to study this amulet in more detail."

"Well, you can look all you like, but it's embedded in my chest."

"That's never stopped me before." She turned to the researcher nearby. "Get me some gloves and some forceps."

Immediately, Jim started to squirm and pull at his restraints. Forget politeness, she wasn't getting anywhere near him with forceps! The restraints groaned as he pulled on them, tearing the welding apart.

"Sedate him!" The Colonel ordered.

He tried to resist, he really did, but the mask held over his face made him weak. It didn't completely put him under, but it did make his head a little foggy and his limbs not cooperate.

"Just sit still, it'll all be over soon." The woman's voice could have been soothing, if it didn't hold such malicious intent.

Jim felt the pull on his chest as the cold metal forceps tried to pry the amulet free.

Of course, Jim had a stroke of genius. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!"

It didn't release him from his binding, but the armor forced the woman away from him, and added extra support over the amulet's edges.

And as an added bonus, he summoned his helmet and visor, which pushed the anesthesia mask away from his face.

Now to just get free!

The researchers had all gone from the room when he started to glow, but the Colonel stayed behind, unable to tear her gaze away.

"Fascinating..."

Hopped up on adrenaline and rage, Jim gave a final heave to his bindings and broke free.

"What do you think you're doing?" Said Colonel Kublitz.

"Leaving, preferably. Look, I told you what you wanted to know, I let you poke and prod me for days without water. But I'm done. I'm going home."

"And then what?" She asked. "You think we won't come after you again? Hell, you think you can break out of here?"

"I can try." He rolled his shoulders and summoned daylight. "And maybe if I make a good enough of an impression, you'll find it not worth it to try to get me back."

"Try if you can, but now that I know exactly what that amulet is capable of, I'm not letting you leave with it!"

Thankfully, Jim had a spectacular response time, and darted out of the way at the first sign of the gun, or laser. Whatever that thing was.

She fired beam after beam, only for Jim to dance out of the way, swiftly and gracefully. He dove behind other specimens and lab equipment, but the Colonel seemed to have little regard for them. Glass tanks exploded, making the floor slippery and sending glass everywhere.

Before Jim could even reach the door, the room was already surrounded with armed men, all armed with lasers.

"Give up, Beast! There's nowhere to run!"

"I'm not a beast!" Jim shouted back, with a roar. Looking up, he found a large vent in the ceiling. That very well could be his way out.

But as he jumped to grab for his hold, a beam connected. Bolts of electricity crashed into him over and over in waves, flowing from his horns to his toes, making him convulse violently and unwillingly. He collapsed on the floor in a writhing mess.

"Don't touch him yet, the current is still in his armor."

Jim felt it too, passing through his very body like he was made of metal.

Then it all stopped, and he laid exhausted on the floor. He blamed it on his hunger, his thirst, his restlessness. This was a battle not won.

"Now then, where were we?"

The electrocution left him too tired to fight, and just awake enough to feel all the pain.

"You know, a blast at that voltage would have killed a normal human." She said. "Guess you can be thankful for that, huh?"

Jim could only let out a weak groan, before his armor faded away. The hands that grabbed him hurt, even just from the residual shock. He was placed back onto a table, and strapped in again. He had no strength to fight.

"Alright, let's try this again."

They didn't even sedate him, just tore into the flesh of his chest to remove the amulet.

"Scalpel isn't going to work, I need a chisel."

He could feel the tool cracking into his chest, one knock at a time, carving away. It hurt, oh it hurt, and he cried out in pain.

And then it was over, and he felt so hollow inside, so empty.

The Colonel held up the amulet in the light, bits of him still clinging to it. "There now, that wasn't too bad was it?"

Jim was unable to answer, his body trembling in pain and shock. His breaths were erratic and shuttering.

"Clean this up, and then find out what the secret is. I want that armor for myself!"