Barely a day's respite had passed before the gaggle of trollhunters, Creepslayerz, Akiridions and one lone halfa were back at it again. Mother's loss still weighed heavily on their thoughts, but the world wasn't going to stop just for the death of an exiled AI. With the mothership compromised (despite now functioning on all cylinders) the Tarrons bundled up their parents' pods and decided to ship them off to a more secure location. In this case, that happened to be the backroom of Stuart's secondhand tech store, where they had formulated the heist plan and the same one that Toby had commandeered over the past few days to complete the editing of his movie.

"…Check the AIT connectors!" Krel grunted as the taco truck swung wildly around another corner and he was forced to push his mother's healing pod back upright, 'lest he be crushed. At his side, his sister did the same for their father.

"Photon levels in the blue" Aja reported as she stumbled over her own feet. "Whoa!"

"Sorry!" Stuart called over his shoulder as they went over a pothole, making the whole truck rattle some more. Honestly, it was a wonder the vehicle had lasted as long as it had.

"It'll be okay" Dan murmured (more so to himself than anyone else) from where he sat nestled in the back corner of the truck bed, high up in the corner like a spider with Luug & Cujo tucked firmly in his arms. Part of him worried that the move from the mothership would further damage the royal cores further than they already had been, but another part argued that if they were already as damaged as Mother had reported with her last dying thoughts, then what was a little more damage worth? "Everything'll be okay"

"Stuart!" Krel worried, "What's our ETA?"

"Not long now!" Stuart called back as a glimpse of Vex's elderly form could be seen sliding back & forth in the passenger seat. "Nearly at my humble abode!"

"Not near enough!" Vex snapped as he braced himself between the window & the dashboard. "Step on it, Durian!"

VROOM! VROOM! HONK! HONK!

Stuart responded in kind by slamming his foot down on the accelerator and honking on the horn (despite the lack of traffic) as he wove his way through the streets of Arcadia. "Ugh!" Aja grunted as she fought to keep her father upright.

"Energy levels are normalising" Krel breathed in relief over the blaring sound of the horn.

"Mama, Papa, if you can hear me, we're on Earth" The siblings placed a pair of their spare hands over the orange-tinted lids of the pods; their palms hovering over where their parents' cores resided. "Remember that old mud ball?"

"It's not much" Krel hummed, "But, uh, I've come to like it"

Dan spared a glance towards the two orbs who hummed fondly at their children, and in turn, their own bodies. It was an odd thing to see, watching a spirit form so quickly like that. Occasionally they would flicker in and out of existence, like if Dan blinked, they would disappear like they'd never been there at all. It was almost like they were trying to force themselves through the stages of ghosts before they had already made it to that point; likely so that they could interact with their children, if only for a moment before passing on. It was both an odd & sad sight to witness.

"Here we are!" Stuart called as he slammed on the break, breaking Dan from his thoughts as the taco truck screeched to a halt on the scent of burning rubber. "Let's move!" A few hurried & awkward moments later found the siblings ferrying their parents inside with Vex hovering like an anxious grandparent, Stuart stumbling over light-up squeaky slippers & Dan, who brought up the rear, with an armful of canines.

"…Don't tell me it was an artistic choice!" Toby's snappish tone greeted the group as they wheeled their cargo inside & hooked them up to the Durian technology hidden in the backroom. A little red hat hurried across the floor and over to a small dollhouse, letting the halfa know where the trollhunter's pet gnome had gone.

"Hurry—over here!" Aja called as she hefted their mother into an upright position towards the back of the room.

"Hook them up to the daxial array—" Directed Krel as he did the same with their father.

"Oh my gosh! Are these your parents?" Toby gushed, abandoning his laptop for the time being as Vex stumbled in, beneath the weight of said array (now portable thanks to Krel's genius). "They okay? Do they need anything? I have a Nougat Nummy, if they want one…"

"—Recalibrate the power gauge to one-seven-eight"

"Checking diagnostics: daxial array powering up" Aja reported as she trotted over to the gaudy device that their parents were hooked up to, fingers trailing over the buttons as she adjusted the settings to Krel's liking.

"Arf!" Luug barked from Dan's arms as he struggled to be free. In turn, Dan blinked dumbly from where he stood in the doorway where Cujo soon fled to play with the Akiridion dog. No matter how much time he had spent with the Tarrons, all the technical jargon still flew straight over his head.

"Ha, Mama & Papa's cores are stabilising" Krel replied in kind.

"Toby, what are you doing?" Dan mused as he watched the stocky boy pluck a half-eaten Nougat Nummy from his pocket & wave it before the king & queen, like it would wake them from their slumber. If only it were that easy.

"Er, while I was holding down the fort I thought I'd finish my director's cut" Toby hummed as he pulled the chocolate bar away from the healing pods and proceeded to peel back the aluminium before biting into it again as he turned to face the halfa who leant up against the doorway. "But then Chompsky started acting out"

The gnome in question squabbled in gibberish as he raced passed, dodging & weaving through their feet as he was chased by the two canines who seemed to be under the impression that he was a chew toy of some kind. "No! I can't make you taller in post! Ugh! He thinks he's a star!"" Toby retorted irritably as the little red hat flashed by & slid into the front room. Not that that slowed down the canines at all. Dan stifled a snort at the absurdity of it all; particularly as he had to dance out of the way of wayward canines as Toby turned his attention back to the siblings who were busy plugging in their parents. "Does this mean you're going home soon? Back to Akiridion-5?"

"Of course" Krel chuckled fondly before catching sight of his friend's fallen expression. "That was always the plan"

"What?" Toby despaired, "But you can't! Not yet, anyway! I've got good—no, great news! Captain Kleb is going to premier before Gun Robot 7 at the local drive-in!"

"Congrats, man" Dan hummed as his gaze tracked the movements of their pets who appeared to be closing in on the little gnome. It made him wonder if or when he would have to intervene—they wouldn't eat him, right?

"Thanks!" Toby preened as Krel trotted over to the upturned laptop on the desk tucked into the back corner of the opposing wall.

"That's amazing!" Krel agreed, beaming. "All of our friends are going to be there"

"We'll be local celebrities. Maybe they'll finally name a street after me: Domzalski Drive!"

"Your moving picture party will be the perfect way to celebrate after we stop Morando" Aja agreed as she joined them; though her tone still sounded a little on the scolding side as she reminded them of the imminent danger. "He's already on his way to Gaylen's core"

"Gaylen's core?" Stuart piped up as he trotted back into the room; likely to make sure that everything was alright when he had heard their raised voices. "OM—Gorbon! Are you—are you trying to tell me that Gaylen's core is real?"

"Yep, pretty much" The siblings chorused, nonchalantly.

"What? What's a Gaylen's core?" Toby asked, confused.

"Is it anything like a ghost core? Or a soul?" Dan added, brows furrowed.


For about twenty minutes, the teens trotted after Stuart as he raced about the place in search of—something—with an eagerness that Dan only ever saw on flea market day; when the Durian would visit the local flea markets or thrift stores in search of a good deal or other earthly trinket to hoard away. It was why he had so many ring toss water phones that he didn't know what to do with; the halfa reckoned that he just liked the way they looked & didn't actually know how they worked. Eventually, the Durian returned from the depths of the store with a large leather-bound tome in hand (it was just about the only thing in the place that wasn't technological in some way) which he thumped down on the front desk without much ceremony.

"Well, uh, according to legend" Stuart began as he flipped through the vinyl pages littered with a language that neither earthling could decipher, before landing on the chapter he had been looking for. "As recounted in A Brief Recapitulation of Akiridion Lore—"

"What? You guys have one of these too?" Toby gasped, eyes lighting up when he heard the title of the book. "S it anything like A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore? Ooh! Ooh! Is there one for ghosts? Like—like A Brief Recapitulation of Ghost Lore?"

"Er, probably" Dan shrugged noncommittally with his hands in his pockets, before turning back to the book before them.

"Anyway" Stuart continued, "Gaylen ruled as a being of immense power, until he was defeated in the battle that shook the universe. And Gaylen perished, sadly, but some Akiridions believe that his core remained & contained the latent powers of a god. Whomever uses his core has the power to create & destroy entire planets—"

"Yup, definitely the same kinda book" Toby hummed with brows furrowed as he recalled the memory of Blinky with the troll lore tome, reading out a similar-sounding prophecy about death & destruction.

"—And I have always wanted one!"

"Hm?" Dan hummed, brows jerking up in surprise.

"Not—not to destroy a planet, of course! I'm not a lunatic, but it'd just be nice to shed some weight…"

"Uh, I don't think weight loss is Morando's plan"

"Fortunately, when we were in Mama & Papa's memories, they showed us where Gaylen's core is, or at least who's protecting it" Krel replied.

"We need to talk to Jim about a troll named Can-in-jars" Aja continued.

"Do you mean Kanjigar?" Toby puzzled.

"I guess so" Krel shrugged. "Is there a way to contact your Jimbo?"

"Hm. Lemme check to see if I have my best friend in the whole wide world's phone number…" He grinned as he plucked his phone from his pockets & dialled his contact. "Yep, totally do!"


After a few more minutes of rigging up a connection between Toby's phone and the collection of old vintage televisions that lined one wall of the store, they were finally able to call his wayward friends. Static played across the screens as butterflies flitted around inside Toby's stomach and he nibbled anxiously at his lower lip. With all the commotion of aliens in Arcadia, he hadn't had much time to sit down & talk with Jim, Claire & the others which made the butterflies kick up just a little. Would they be upset that they hadn't talked in so long? How was their search for a new heartstone going? Were they okay?

"Cujo! No! Don't eat that! C'mere, c'mere you crazy mutt! Spit that out!" Dan muttered in the background as he chased after the little green hound (& in turn the gnome & Luug) around the front of the store whilst Toby & the Tarron siblings called Jim. The absurdity of the domestic scene (despite the supernatural elements to it) made Toby smile and eased his worries, if only a little.

KRRCH!

"—Your timing could not be worse!" Blinky greeted them with glowing Dwärkstone blade in hand. In the background flashes of violet & red armour could be seen as Claire & Jim fought back against their mysterious attacker.

"Blinky!" Toby cheered as he drank in the weathered troll's face that looked almost tinny on the burner phone Jim had gifted to him. He could still remember the ordeal they had gone through to teach him how to use the device instead of eating it like Aaarrrggh kept trying to do.

"Master Jim, Lady Claire & I are below Hoboken, New Jersey" Blinky continued as he ducked out of the way. "Mid-confrontation with a mysterious armoured foe—oh!"

"What was that?! He looked scary!" Toby exclaimed in worry, those damned butterflies retuning in full force as the camera phone was knocked aside in the kerfuffle, leaving them with a nice view of the sewer tunnel. "Uh, I don't wanna interrupt, but it's kinda super important. Long story short, but remember Aja & Krel?" He rushed out as the two siblings bent into frame with nervous smiles upon their faces.

"Hi!" Aja smiled as Krel waved at Jim & Claire who popped into frame.

"Is that Toby?" Claire appeared briefly as she shot across the frame, wielding magic with ease without the need of her staff (new or old).

"Claire!" Toby beamed at the witch. In the brief glimpse that he got of the witch, he was glad to note that she was still the same if a little older. It was enough to assuage whatever concerns he had had, for the moment at least.

"How's it going?" Jim smiled conversationally as he sliced & diced, stepping around the witch as he did so.

"Perhaps we can save the introductions for a more opportune time?" Blinky reappeared, stepping over the phone as he exchanged places with Jim. "This foe requires out undivided attention!"

"D'you know anything about something called Gaylen's core? As in where Kanjigar stored it for safekeeping to protect the universe?" Toby rushed out, worry clear in his tone.

"Kanjigar kept many secrets—begone!"

"Our parents gave Gaylen's core to Kanjigar and another troll name Vendor" Implored Aja.

"Vendel" Krel amended.

"In that case, I would recommend—ah! Back you foul beasts!—I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU CONSULT THE SOOTHSCRYER!" Blinky bellowed before the screen cut back to static.

KRRCH!

"Good luck with the scary armoured guy, Jimbo! Claire! Y'know I worry!" Toby called in reply, despite knowing that the call had already cut out.

"I believe this is yours" Dan then reappeared around the corner absolutely slathered in dog drool (Was that a cowlick? How did his hair get like that?) and looked so put-out that Toby had to stifle a snort at his appearance. Hair bedraggled & styled in such an un-Dan style, dog drool dripping from every surface & under it all a deadpan expression that could've put Blinky's to shame. The halfa held out the drowned gnome to the boy, making sure not to touch the hat like he'd mistakenly done before (as seen by the healing bite marks littered across his hands), much to the chagrin of the two canines hopping around his feet.

"Having fun?" Toby cheekily smiled as he accepted the slobbered gnome from the halfa. He was still concerned about his friends, but the halfa helped to brighten the mood, even if he didn't know it.

"Tonnes" He deadpanned, wiping away a thick layer of drool from his face.

"What is a suit-cryer?" Krel questioned, coming back to the task at hand even as his lips twitched upwards at the sight of the bedraggled boy.

"More importantly, where can we find it?" Added Aja.

"In the most incredible place ever!" Toby smirked. "You my friends, are about to be the first Akiridions & halfa in Trollmarket!"

"Er, actually—" Dan interjected.

"—Wha! You've already been in Trollmarket?!"

"Only briefly, to collect some souls"

"Okay, fine, but my point still stands! To Trollmarket!"