Steve is so done with this third apocalypse already, and it hasn't even been a week. They've been attacked by a crazy lady in a suit of armour three times, if he counts the time Krel got attacked by himself, and Steve's pretty sure if it happens again one of them is going to be killed. Probably Krel. How is Steve supposed to tell his girlfriend that within a week of her leaving he let her little brother get murdered?

Oh, and, by the way, the Knight's still following them.

"I thought for sure we could lose her on the Vespa!" Toby cries as they park outside Douxie's shop. The Green Knight stands across the street. She doesn't move to attack them, at least. Steve doesn't think he's ready for another attack after the last one. He climbs off his Vespa and tugs off his helmet, then helps Krel with his because the boy is struggling.

"Thanks," mutters Krel. His cheeks look bruised, but Steve realises that's just him blushing. Makes sense, since he doesn't have red blood. He gives the Akiridion's hair a brotherly ruffle and Krel ducks away to fix it. "Hey! Steve!"

Douxie's organising things as they walk in. The shop still doesn't have any customers. Steve isn't sure if they always come at the wrong time or if the shop really has no business. Toby stomps up to him, spins him around, and points at the window.

"She's still trying to kill us!" he exclaims.

"Not kill us," Krel corrects. "If she was trying to kill us, we'd be dead."

Douxie's eyes widen as he looks over them. Krel awkwardly waves at him with his braced arm, but the wizard's eyes land on the band-aid on his neck and stay there. That would have been Steve's focus too. He'd never admit it out loud, but he's still a bit scared. He'd thought for sure that Krel was about to be killed right in front of them. And then, of course, it would have been his and Toby's turns, after the trauma of watching their younger friend die.

"She's across the street right now," says Steve. He looks back briefly. Yep. Still there. "We got attacked this morning and she's stalked us since."

"You led her here!?" Douxie exclaims. He runs behind the front desk and puts his hand down, and a shimmering barrier flashes to life outside the shop. It fades a few seconds later, but Steve has no doubt it's still there.

"Woah," says Krel. "What was that?"

"A magical barrier," Douxie says. "To protect you and the shop. No one will be able to get in here if they mean any of us any harm. Even if she isn't trying to actually kill you, she definitely means you harm."

"No kidding," says Toby.

"Come on," says Douxie. He pushes back the rug and opens the trapdoor to his library. They follow him downstairs. Archie is sitting on the desk reading a book. His ears twitch towards them as they enter, but he doesn't look up.

"Can you put barrier-thingies around our houses?" asks Toby.

"That might be a good idea," agrees Douxie. "Unfortunately, I'm not very skilled in protective enchantments."

"But you have one here!"

"Yeah, but my uncle made that one." He grabs a book off the shelf and flips it open, laying it on the floor and sitting beside it. Toby groans and sits as well, and Steve and Krel follow his lead. "Hmm… well, these books aren't much help. She's going to keep coming after you until you beat her."

"Well, that's just great," says Steve. "She could at least try not to hurt us if she wants us to beat her."

"I don't think she wants us to beat her, dude," says Toby.

"We suck!" Steve exclaims. "We're all terrible at fighting! We'll never beat her!"

Douxie taps his fingers on the open book. "I might have an idea."

Krel perks up. "That's better than nothing. What's your idea?"

"I have a friend who's pretty good at combat," he says. "I bet I could convince her to train you guys. If you learn how to fight, maybe you can beat the Knight working together."

"We get hero training!?" Toby pumps his fists in the air. "Alright! This is gonna be awesome-sauce!"

"Oh, great," says Krel with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"I'll call her then," says Douxie, pulling his cell phone from his hoodie pocket. He dials his friend and puts the phone to his ear. Toby leans forward eagerly. Krel turns the book so he can either read it or glare at it. It's unclear from his expression. Reading or not, he's definitely glaring. Krel can read English, right? He must be able to, he did fine in school. Douxie's friend must pick up, because he smiles and begins talking. "Hey, Nim – yes, yes, I know you're busy… yes, this has to do with the knight outside – yes, I know people are staring… no, he's at that conference in Nevada – Nim, Nim, listen, I need a favour."

Steve glances at Toby. He shrugs.

"I have some friends who need combat training – I know that's not your job, but you're the only person I know who could train them… please? I'll owe you one. Another one – thank you. Come through the back. I promise you won't regret it!" He lowers the phone and winces. "Guys, please don't make her regret it."

"No promises," says Krel.

There's a loud, groaning noise, and suddenly one of the bookcases sinks into the floor. Steve yelps and scrambles back. "Your bookcase just disappeared!"

"I already regret it," says a new voice. A pink-haired girl walks through the spot the bookcase had been, and it shoots back into place as soon as she's through. She crosses her arms and looks over them. Krel inches backwards with a weak smile.

"Oh, it's you," he says awkwardly.

"Oh, boy," she says. "You're one of the aliens, aren't you?"

"Actually, I prefer Akiridion," says Krel.

She waves him off. "Makes a lot more sense now. At least I know you actually didn't know what shoplifting is. This the lot you want me to train, Douxie?"

"Yep," says Douxie. "That knight out there has been following them and attacking them. As you can tell, they've been losing."

"Why has a knight been attacking them?"

"We're not entirely sure," says Douxie. "Archie and I think they're supposed to help prevent the end of the world."

"Them?" she says. "You've got to be kidding me."

"The Green Knight is testing them!" exclaims Douxie. "That has to mean something."

"Considering she hasn't attacked anyone else in Arcadia," says Toby, preening, "I'd say we're pretty special."

"When I said I wanted to be special, this is not what I meant," Steve snaps.

Douxie's friend sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "Alright, fine. Can't let a bunch of kids get killed and have that on my conscious. Thanks, Douxie."

Douxie gives her a sheepish smile.

"Okay, children, follow me," she says, lips twisting into a shark-like grin. "My name's Nimue and I guess I'm going to be training you."

Krel voiced all their thoughts for them: "Oh, kleb."

As it turns out, while Nimue's family owns a record shop, they also own their own mini-gym underneath the record shop. Steve is beginning to wonder just how many secret underground places there are in Arcadia.

"This," says Nimue, walking them into a fairly large and empty room with padded floors, "is where my moms and I train. Mom is a wizard and Mama was in the military for years. I learned all I know from them."

"My parents used to train me," says Krel. He frowns and Toby puts a comforting hand on his arm.

Nimue looks him up and down, clearly unimpressed. "Looks like they didn't do that great a job."

Krel's face darkens. "Aja is a great warrior! I just – never got into it."

"Well, you're going to have to," she says. "Alright, I'm going to spar each of you individually to get an idea of your fighting styles and abilities. Who wants to go first?"

Toby's hand shoots up. "Me! Me! Pick me!"

"You're up, Red," says Nimue.

"Yes!" Toby hisses, running out into the middle of the room. He activates his war-hammer and jumps from foot to foot excitedly. "I happen to have some training under my belt. Trained with Jimbo."

"Trollish training is fine for fighting trolls," says Nimue. "But this knight isn't a troll. And clearly you don't have enough training to beat them."

"Okay, but she's crazy skilled," protests Toby.

Nimue flips back her hair and smirks. "So am I."

She flicks her wrists, and glowing, sparking daggers form in her hands. Toby audibly gulps. Steve sits on the side-lines. Krel does the same.

"This is gonna be good," Steve says.

"You realise we're next?" Krel points out.

"Still gonna enjoy this."

Nimue tilts her head and motions for Toby to come at her. Toby charges with a yell. Nimue side-steps and sticks out a foot. Toby trips over it and stumbles, only staying upright thanks to his magic hammer. Within moments, Nimue has him disarmed with his hands up in surrender.

"Dead," she says. "So dead. Now let's try that again, but this time, try to stay alive longer than two minutes."

"Sounds good," Toby squeaks. He looks a lot less enthusiastic after getting beaten once.

"This time, look for an opening and use it," says Nimue. "Don't get overconfident. It'll be your downfall."

"Right," says Toby.

Nimue runs at him. Toby actually manages to dodge, which is more than Steve was expecting. Nimue turns, quick as lightning, but Toby manages to catch her daggers on the long handle of his hammer.

"Good," says Nimue. "But not good enough."

She twists the hammer out of his grip, then crosses her blades at his neck.

"Dead," she says.

"Aw, man," says Toby.

"One more try," she says.

Toby winces but plasters on a determined look and readies himself. Nimue charges again, and he thrusts his war-hammer up and lets it carry him into the air. Steve throws his fist up and cheers. Toby lands behind Nimue and swings the hammer at her, but she ducks into a roll and grins.

"Much better," she says, before kicking her leg out at him. He jumps back, then rears back for another attack. Nimue drops the daggers. The hammer comes down, and she catches it with magenta-sparking hands. Toby's face pulls into panic and she adjusts her grip to the handle. She throws Toby across the room.

"Yield!" he yells as she approaches, daggers in hand once again. "I yield, you win!"

"We can try again later." Nimue's daggers disappear from her hands and she looks to Steve and Krel. "Who's next?"

"Not it!" Steve yelps.

Krel gives him a wide-eyed look of betrayal. "No fair!"

"Alright, E.T., let's see what you've got," says Nimue.

"My name is Krel," he says. "And I will pass."

She beckons to him with a hand. "Don't worry. I'll go easier on you since you're injured."

Krel laughs uneasily. "Do I have to?"

"Yes," says Nimue flatly.

Krel glares at Steve before getting up and trading places with Toby. Steve leans back and chuckles. "Wish I had popcorn."

"Me too," says Toby. "Especially for when you get up there and get your butt whooped."

"Hey," Steve protests.

Krel activates his serrator into sword form. He holds it awkwardly in his left hand. Steve feels kind of bad. He knows Krel isn't a fighter, and now he's having to fight with his non-dominant hand. Actually, Steve wonders how that works in Akiridion form. Does he have two dominant hands? What if Krel is actually ambidextrous? Is there another word if someone has four hands?

"Okay, Krel," says Nimue. "Come at me."

Krel turns to Steve and Toby. His expression screams for help. Toby gives him two thumbs-up. Krel groans, then turns back to Nimue. He runs forward, towards her, then, at the last second, switches his serrator to shield form and uses it to slide around her. Steve's mildly impressed. Krel switches back to sword mode. Nimue turns and parries him with her daggers.

"Nice trick," she says.

"Uh, thanks," says Krel.

And then Nimue kicks him in the shin and he drops with a yelp.

"Pay attention to your opponent," she says, grabbing his brace and making him drop his serrator. She aims her daggers towards him. "Not just their weapons."

"Low blow!" Steve calls, cupping his hands around his mouth. "He's injured!"

"Your enemies won't care about that," says Nimue, tossing Krel his serrator. "They'll use your injuries against you much worse than I just did. Watch your weak spots."

"Ay-yi-yi, watch your opponent, watch your weak spots," Krel grumbles, pushing himself to his feet. He shakes his bad arm with a wince. "I only have two eyes."

"Again," says Nimue. "This time I'll attack first."

Krel moans and reactivates his serrator. This time, he automatically makes it a shield.

"You got this, Krel!" Toby cheers.

"No, I really don't," says Krel.

Nimue runs at him. Krel panics and runs the other way, screaming.

Yeah. He really doesn't have this.

"Krel!" snaps Nimue, as Krel turns off his transduction and starts literally climbing the wall to get away from her. "This isn't tag! You have to face me! Stop running!"

"I prefer to call it a tactical retreat," Krel calls back.

Toby covers his mouth to hide a laugh. Steve is torn between amusement or embarrassment for his friend. Running isn't the worst plan, but from what Steve understands, it hasn't exactly done him much good. If it had, he wouldn't have a sprained wrist.

Nimue lets out a frustrated sigh, then runs to the wall and grabs Krel's foot. He yelps as she yanks his leg, then loses his grip and falls to the floor, groaning. He sits up, rubbing his head. Nimue stands above him with arms crossed and expression annoyed. He awkwardly laughs.

"Again," she says. "Without any 'tactical retreats' this time. Did running away work against the knight?"

"No," Krel says morosely.

She pulls him to his feet, then crosses several steps from him. Krel reactivates his serrator.

"He's still doing better than you," Steve tells Toby, even though Toby'd actually done pretty well his last try. Not that Steve would ever tell him that. He does have a reputation to keep up.

"Aw, shut up," mutters Toby.

Krel does not do better than any of Toby's tries the second time. Krel is flat on his back in a minute flat. Nimue pinches the bridge of her nose.

"No wonder you've been losing even three against one," she says. "Alright. Blondie, your turn."

"Yippee," mumbles Steve.

"Good luck," says Krel. His form shimmers and shifts back into its human disguise. Steve squares off against Nimue, activating the serrator Krel gave him. Does he get to keep this? He should ask.

"Alright," says Nimue. "Let's go."

He'll ask later.

Steve adjusts his grip on the serrator sword, then charges. She catches the blade with her daggers, which, up close, don't look like metal daggers at all. Huh. They're probably magic daggers. That makes sense. Well, in the way that nothing in his life makes sense any more.

Steve switches the serrator to static, leaving Nimue to stumble at the sudden change, Steve side-steps, then activates the shield as close as he can to Nimue. She flips backwards, daggers vanishing in sparks so she can vault herself back to her feet.

"Clever," she praises. Steve preens, but then she's running at him, daggers in hand. He yelps and dodges, but she catches his foot with hers and he tumbles to the floor. He rolls over and activates his shield against her daggers.

"How are you so good!?" he grunts.

"Lots and lots of practice," she says, "which you clearly lack."

Steve switches the serrator back to static and rolls out of the way. He scrambles backwards on his elbows as Nimue advances. Before he can reactivate the serrator, she yanks it out of his hand and throws it across the room. He makes a strangled scream that totally wasn't a scream and holds up his arms to defend himself, squeezing his eyes shut.

Dead silence.

He pries his eyes open carefully. He doesn't feel pain. Nimue is just standing there, shocked, behind a golden barrier.

"Uh," says Steve. "Is this some new attack? Did you trap me!?"

"I didn't do that, Blondie," she says slowly.

Steve glances at his friends. Toby's jaw has dropped. Krel is standing, eyes wide. The serrator is still across the room. He gulps, then lets his arms fall and relax. The barrier flickers and fades.

"Did I do that…?" he manages in a small voice.

"DUDE!" Toby shouts. He and Krel run across the room to him. Krel helps him to his feet. Toby bounces excitedly. "Dude, dude, dude, you just did magic!"

Steve looks at his hands in awe. "I – I did?"

"Yer a wizard, Steve," Toby says.

Krel gives him a weird look at the fake accent, then shakes his head. "That was definitely unexpected."

"A Trollhunter, an alien, and a wizard," says Nimue deliberately. A shiver runs down Steve's spine. Him? A wizard? "Maybe Douxie is onto something. Come on. I think training's over for the day."

Steve keeps staring at his hands as they walk back to Douxie's. Krel puts a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" he says.

"I didn't know magic was real a few months ago," says Steve. "And now I have it?"

"Life is weird like that, man," says Toby. "Few months ago my best friend was human. Now he's a troll! I mean, weird stuff happens."

"And a few months ago, I was preparing to become king-in-waiting," adds Krel. "Things change really fast."

Steve crosses his arms and hides his hands close to his chest. He doesn't know anything about magic. Could he accidentally hurt someone with it? Why can't this summer be normal? What, exactly, does the universe have against him specifically?

Douxie isn't in the library when the enter. Archie glances up, somehow making an expression of scepticism even though he's a cat.

"You're back early," he says. "Shall I fetch Douxie?"

"Please do," says Nimue. "Before Steve has a panic attack, preferably."

"I'm fine," Steve snaps.

He's not fine, even if he won't admit that. Does this mean his mom is a wizard? Or his – ugh – biological dad? He hopes it's not his biological dad. He doesn't want to have inherited something as cool as magic from that buttsnack. He doesn't think either of them are, though. Can someone just… poof? Have magic?

Krel and Toby guide him to an armchair and sit him down.

"Listen, I know this is a lot," says Toby, "but it's gonna be okay. You've got us to help you through it! You're still Steve. Annoying, kinda dense, but you've got a good heart!"

"And magic now," adds Krel. "So you're – super Steve!"

"That's a terrible superhero name," Toby shoots down immediately.

Steve manages a laugh. "Not every day you find out you have magic."

"I dunno, man," says Toby. "That sounds kinda every day for our lives."

"That's… fair," Steve admits.

Douxie comes running down the stairs into the library. "What's wrong? Who's hurt? Nim, I asked you to train them, not traumatise them!"

Nimue rolls her eyes. "I didn't traumatise anyone."

"She traumatised us," says Toby.

"Shush." Nimue flicks him in the head. "The blond one is a wizard."

Douxie does a double-take. "Since when?"

"Since now, apparently," she retorts. "He made a shield with magic."

"Can you do it again?"

"I don't know how I did it in the first place!" Steve protests. "It was an accident! I didn't even know it was me!"

"Sixteen is a bit of a later bloomer," mumbles Douxie. "And neither of your parents are wizards?"

"Mom's definitely not," says Steve. "And if my buttsnack dad was, he didn't show it."

"A first-gen then," says Douxie. "And this is the first time you've used magic?"

"As far as I know," says Steve.

"You'll need training," Douxie muses. He taps his chin, then lights up. "I'll call my uncle. He's out of town right now, but when he gets back, I'm sure he'd be happy to teach you. He taught me everything I know. This could be a great asset against the Green Knight!"

"Trolls, aliens, and wizards," says Nimue, pointing to each of them in turn. "I think you're on to something, Douxie. Not sure where we'd find a trio like this."

"I think I am, too," says Douxie. "How has their combat training been going?"

"Terribly," says Nimue. "Steve was doing pretty well, somehow."

"Hey!"

"Toby did well, too, once he stopped being overconfident," she continues. Then she glowers at Krel. He shrinks back. "Krel tried to run away."

"It was a tactical retreat!"

"You climbed the wall! That's not tactical!"

"Yes, it was!"

"Let it go, DJ Kleb," says Toby, patting Krel on the arm.

"She's scary," Krel mumbles under his breath so only Toby and Steve would hear. "It's not my fault she almost killed me."

"I didn't almost kill you," says Nimue. "Baby."

"I am not a baby!"

"Alright, so it didn't go as well as we hoped," says Douxie, holding out his hands to stop a fight before it can begin. "We can try again tomorrow, maybe."

Nimue points threateningly at them. "They better practice."

"We will, we will," says Toby. "We can use the training deck of the mothership, right, Krel? Spar with the Blanks?"

"I guess," says Krel.

Toby nods. "See? We'll practice."

"As for you, Steve," says Douxie, "I have some books for you to look at."

"Aww, man," Steve groans.

Douxie pulls several books off the shelf, which is several more than Steve ever wanted to read. He drops them into Steve's arms. "These are for beginners. Don't try anything in there, but give them a skim."

"What? Don't try anything? That takes all the fun out of it!"

"Magic is dangerous." Nimue grabs a smaller book and thwaps him on the head with it. Steve yelps and rubs his head. "Messing with it can have lethal consequences for the caster or those around them. Don't try anything."

"Alright, alright, I won't," Steve agrees.

"It's getting to dinnertime," says Douxie. "You guys should probably head home. Be careful. Call me if you get attacked."

"We don't have your number," says Toby.

"Oh," says Douxie. "Sorry. My bad. Here, give me your phones."

They all pass him their phones. He lays them on the table and pulls out his own, then taps his and makes an open-handed gesture to the others. All three phones ding. Douxie passes them back to them.

"What?" he says at their looks of disbelief. "Did you think magic and technology don't mix? It's the modern world. Of course they do."

"Thanks for helping us, Nimue," says Toby brightly. "We'll see you later."

"Unfortunately," she says, but her lips twitch into a smile so she must not hate them that much.

They follow Douxie back upstairs into the shop. He has a customer, which kind of surprises Steve. She waves. Douxie waves back, so maybe she's a regular.

"Be safe on your way home," Douxie tells them, glancing warily out the window. Steve follows his eyes and winces. The Green Knight is still there, across the street. It's like she never even moved.

"We'll be taking the Vespa," says Steve. "Hopefully she can't run that fast."

Krel and Toby keep their weapons activated as they leave the shop, but the Knight doesn't move to attack. They climb on the Vespa, Toby in the sidecar again, Krel behind Steve.

"Helmets," Steve reminds them. It's especially important since, who knows, the Knight might crash them on purpose. Krel grumbles but puts his on. Toby does the same. Steve snaps his on and revs the engine.

"Drive fast," says Toby.

"You know it," says Steve.

When they reach Toby's house, they seem to have lost the Knight for now. Steve parks his Vespa in the driveway, and they file inside. Toby digs in the freezer for microwavable meals, because they don't want to risk opening the door for a pizzaman only for it to be the Green Knight.

"I'm going to head upstairs for a minute," says Steve.

"Kay," says Toby. "Still looking for dinner."

Steve nods, then makes his way into Toby's bedroom and closes the door. He pulls out his phone and calls Aja. He puts it on speaker-phone. It's an intergalactic call, so it takes a few minutes for her to pick up.

"Steve?"

"Hey, Aja!" he says. "I, uh – just wanted to check in. Say hi."

"Hi," she giggles. "How are you? How's Krel? I haven't heard from him in a few days."

"Oh, Krel's fine," says Steve. He winces. Fine is relative, but he knows that the second he tells Aja how many times her brother has almost been killed in the past two days, she'll freak out. "He's fine, we're all just.. busy. I'm fine. Too. How are you?"

"Settling back in," she says. "Being ruler is already a lot more work than I expected… Eli likes it here, at least. And the Akiridions like him."

Steve chuckles. "Aw, yeah, that must be right up Eli's alley."

"I miss you," she says.

"Miss you, too." He blows a kiss at the phone, then remembers she can't see that and coughs awkwardly. He hesitates. "Aja, how did you handle it growing up? Being… different? Special?"

He can tell she's surprised by the pause that follows. "I… didn't, really. I ran away a lot. I didn't want to be different, so I tried not to be."

"Oh," says Steve. "And… what if you had been normal your whole life? And then found out you were… different?"

"I don't know," she says. "Steve? Is everything okay?"

"Oh! Yeah, yeah, just… this assignment we have for English next year," Steve lies. He feels bad lying to her, but it sounds like Krel's right. She needs to focus on being queen, not saving their butts from a crazy knight and another end of the world. "Summer work. It sucks. Uh… what about the bounty hunters? How did you handle them constantly after you and trying to, you know, kill you?"

"By fighting back, of course," she says. It's the least helpful thing she could have said, and she seems to sense that. "Just… not letting them get the best of me. I had something to fight for. Mama. Papa. My home. Krel. It helped that I was protecting Krel – I mean, you've met him."

Steve flinches, because he's been doing an awful job protecting her brother in her place. He laughs weakly. "Yeah. I have."

"Is this also about your English assignment?"

"Uh, yes," says Steve. Even he can hear the pitch of his voice shoot up and he winces. It's going to give him away.

Krel chooses this moment to barge into the room. "Steve! Toby thinks he found something to help with the wizard thing–"

Steve makes a very angry cutthroat motion. Aja says, "Wizard thing?"

Krel's eyes widen in horror. "Aja? You're talking to Aja?"

"Yeah, about our English assignment," Steve grits out.

"Oh," says Krel. "Uh, well. Toby found something about… that… wizard game."

"Right!" says Steve quickly. "Yes, the – roleplaying game! Wizards and… Warzones! Wizards and Warzones. We've been playing this roleplaying game, it's really, uh, fun, Aja."

"LARPing," says Krel. Steve has no idea where he learned that word, but it's got to be either Eli or Toby and it helps their story so he's grateful.

"Oh," says Aja. "That's fascinating! I didn't think you'd play something like that, little brother."

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty bad about it," says Krel, awkwardly grabbing his braced wrist.

"Uh, but it's fun anyway," says Steve. This is a lie. None of this is fun. Being chased by a crazy knight is not fun.

"Yes," says Krel. "Toby and Aaarrrgghh! had an idea. For the game. That's important. They sent me to get you."

"Right," says Steve. "I, uh, gotta go, Aja."

"That's alright," she says. "I'll talk to you later then, my blond oaf."

Steve smiles at the phone. "You too, my ninja-kicking angel."

"Fligshaag," Krel mutters, shuddering.

Steve hangs up and pockets his phone. "What's so important you had to interrupt my talk with my girlfriend?"

"My sister," Krel says in annoyance. "And Toby thinks they know where we can find more info on this wizard stuff."

They run back downstairs to the living room. Toby and Aaarrrgghh! are waiting for them, and as they sit, Toby shoves a bowl of microwaved mac and cheese in each of their hands.

"Here, dinner," he says. "Okay. Aaarrrgghh! thinks Blinky might have had a book on wizards in his library in Trollmarket."

"Okay?" says Steve.

"Might still be there," Aaarrrgghh! rumbles. "Go check."

Toby nods. "If it's there, it's gotta be really old and it might have some info that could help us. Aaarrrgghh! even thinks it might give us some clues about this end of the world deal!"

"Really?" says Krel. "That's fantastic! But… when we went, Trollmarket looked pretty… bad."

Toby winces. "Yeah. We're hoping if it's there it isn't too damaged to read."

"Anything is worth a chance," says Steve. "At this point we're going off what Douxie says, and he doesn't have much."

"Trollmarket it is," says Krel. He grimaces. "Here's to no one throwing me off a cliff this time."

"And no more zombie Gumm-Gumms," adds Toby.

"Creepy," says Aaarrrgghh!.

"Wait, zombies!?" Steve yelps. "Who said anything about zombies?"

"I'm sure it's fine," says Toby. "After we eat, we'll nap. I'll set an alarm for midnight and we'll head out."

Steve takes a miserable bite of his mac and cheese. All he wanted was a normal summer. Just one normal month in the summer. Just one. At least he doesn't think the Green Knight can follow them into Trollmarket – that would be a nightmare that he doesn't want to deal with.