Toby liked the Three Rules of Trollhunting far more than the Changeling Code, he decided as he and Jim climbed slowly up the crystal stairs. They were much more straightforward and pretty much boiled down to: stay alert, don't start fights you don't want to finish and hit where it hurts.

They reached the top of the stairs and Jim pulled out the horngazel Blinky had given him. Toby stared at it longingly. What he wouldn't give for a chance to take one apart and see how it worked. The troll's tools seemed to generally consist of a magic stone or crystal of some variety powering a set of runes. Toby, as a very low ranking changeling, had never really gotten the clearance to know more.

"Toby?"

He blinked and quickly closed his mouth. Jim was giving him a curious look.

"Sorry," He said with a sheepish smile. "I zoned out."

Jim nodded and turned back to the rock wall in front of them. Toby watched with fascination as he drew the arch and opened the portal.

"That is so the bomb…"

Jim grinned as he pulled on his mask.

"I know right?"

He stepped through the portal and Toby followed. The glowing blue energy had a soothing welcoming feel, unlike the chaotic electric touch of the Fetch.

Jim slipped the horngazel into his shoulder bag and re-adjusted his mask.

"I really need to master that helmet soon," He grumbled.

"Yeah, I've gotta have something to wear for next Halloween… At least you don't randomly get stuck in your armor anymore."

"I suppose so," Jim sighed.

They begin to make their way back up the embankment to where they had stashed their bikes.

"It's too bad we can't use this for gym class credit," Toby said, rubbing at his sore arms. "That was definitely worth a couple weeks."

Blinky was no lightweight as far as training went. He made Coach Lawrence look like a softy.

Additionally while he did give them instruction, he seemed to be the type who believed in learning on the job. As a result they were doing a lot of running for their lives. Or at least that's what it felt like. If it wasn't for the way he listened to Toby's concerns and would occasionally give one of them a caring pat on the arm or back, he might have thought the troll was trying to kill them off.

His train of thought was cut off by Jim's amulet letting out a sharp ping. They both glanced at it.

"What's it doing…"

Something large and black hurtled into them. At the exact moment it struck Jim, the amulet released a concussive burst of light flinging both Toby and their assailant away from him. Toby rolled and came up on his feet. He quickly made sure his cloak was still properly covering him, before looking up.

He froze.

It was Bular. The large black troll was pulling himself out of the bushes were the light had just flung him.

Toby quickly ran over to Jim, who was also getting up.

"Come on, J- Trollhunter, time to run," He hissed urgently.

Jim looked up and saw Bular, who was up and charging them again, let out a yelp and bolted, Toby on his heels. There was no way they were going to be able to outrun Bular and he was between them and their bikes.

"Come on! Come on! Through the trees!"

The trees did slow him down but not quite as much as Toby had hoped. The Dark Prince crashed through them, snapping decades old timber like it was toothpicks. In a minute they reached the end of the woods. There was nothing but open space between them and the houses.

Jim stopped.

Toby skidded to a halt a moment after.

"What are you doing?"

"I'll hold him off," Jim said, shoulders tense. "You get to safety."

"No!" Toby snapped. "Are you crazy?! If you're fighting, I'm fighting."

He pulled the ax off his back and moved to stand beside Jim. He could feel himself shaking. He wondered if the pendent masked the scent of his fear.

"Toby…"

There was no more time for discussion. Bular was upon them. Jim dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding getting his head, or at least his mask, removed. Toby took advantage of the moment and brought his ax down on Bular's outstretched arm.

The troll roared and whipped back around to slam him into a tree. His vision flickered for a moment. Jim let out a yell and Toby struggled to stand up. His head throbbed abominably and he cursed his weak fleshy body. If he was in his other form…

That was it!

With the cloak on no one could see what he looked like. He wasn't shaped much differently as a troll. For once his small size was to his advantage.

He waited until Jim had Bular distracted before transforming. As he hoped, the cloak blocked most of the orange yellow glow. His teeth were sharp in his mouth as he grinned and charged forward, head no longer ringing.

The blow he landed on Bular elicited a roar. The troll turned around with a snarl and drew both of his swords. Toby whimpered, his ears pinning back under his mask.

He managed to bring up his ax just in time to block a slash that would have decapitated him. Bular leaned into it forcing him to the ground. In human form Toby would have been done for but, as it was, he was still way outmatched. Bular's rancid breath made Toby's hackles go up. He smelled of blood, both fresh and old.

There was a flash of blue as Jim attempted to land a blow on Bular's back, but the troll must have heard it coming. He brought up his other sword and used the push-through of the motion to throw the human off. Jim bounced hard when he hit the ground but managed to struggle back to his feet. A few more hits like that and he wouldn't be able to. They needed to get out of here quickly.

Toby took advantage of Bular's distraction with Jim to roll out from under Bular's sword. The troll made a grab for him and he narrowly dodged out of the way. His foot caught in something and he went down hard.

He glanced down, it was an old sewage pipe. Toby's face split into a grin.

"J- Trollhunter!" Toby yelled. "Copy me!"

Toby swung his ax into the ground as hard as he could and the pipe began to crumble. Jim must have heard him because he immediately did the same with his sword.

Except that when Jim did it, Daylight released a flash of violent blue energy.

Toby scrambled quickly away from the light. The pipe broke open with a crash and Bular dropped into the ground. The troll's eyes widened for a moment then narrowed with fury as he struggled to free himself.

"I will skin you and use your hides to stuff your entrails," He roared.

"Now we run," Toby said.

Jim nodded rapidly.

They made it about half way across the field before a louder roar caused Toby to glance back. Bular was free and once again in pursuit.

This was complete bushigal. Jim was starting to flag and Toby, still in troll form, had to slow down to not lose him.

He cursed again under his breath. If Bular caught them now, in the open field, they were toast.

Before he could even try to figure out what to do something slammed into them from the right.

Toby barely managed to hold back a snarl as he was flung into the air and landed on something…

Fluffy?

It was Aaarrrgghh!

He dug his fingers into the giant's fur and quickly switched forms. They needed to be able to move as fast as possible so it was a risk he had to take. Beside him, Jim scrambled for purchase. Toby didn't think he had noticed.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," Toby yelled as he clung to the troll. "But what are you doing here?"

"Was worried," Aaarrrgghh said, his voice sending vibrations through Toby's stone. "Hold on."

They shot through the rest of the field into the suburbs. Passing dimly lit and darkened houses. In one yard a tall black haired man stared in shock as they passed by. Toby cringed at the blatant violation of his training, but there was no time for subtlety. Hopefully he would have the sense to not say anything.

Soon they were in the main part of the city, Aaarrrggh dodged from side to side as Bular began throwing things at them.

Eventually they managed to lose him. Aaarrrgghh stopped by a dumpster.

"Down. now," he panted. "Will lead him away."

"Will you be okay?" Toby asked fearfully, Jim's body language mirroring his.

"Yes," The troll grinned. "Quicker alone. See you later."

He stayed long enough for a fist bump and then bolted.

Toby and Jim jumped behind a dumpster just before Bular went by.

It was a long tense walk home. Toby and Jim had decided to wait until morning to retrieve their bikes. Toby almost wanted to weep for joy when he saw their little corner of the suburb.

Unfortunately for him, his night wasn't quite over yet. The moment they came to a stop in front of their houses, Toby's phone pinged. He pulled it out and grimaced.

"Who is it?" Jim asked automatically, leaning over his shoulder to look. "A solicitor huh?"

"Yeah, I should probably stop filling out all those free-prize things," Toby said, tucking his phone back into his pocket. It was just as he suspected.

"So do you want to…" Jim started to ask.

"Sorry," Toby cut him off before he could finish. "I got to go. I promised Nana I'd…" His brain scrambled for the first excuse it could find. "I'd help her with her dentures."

Wow, good one Dumbzalski, He thought sarcastically.

"Okay…" Jim gave him a bit of a strange look, which was really quite understandable, then looked away for a moment and rubbed at his neck. "I guess it was a bit of a long night. We should get some sleep."

He glanced back at Toby again and offered him a little half-smile that made Toby's heart twinge for some reason.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Of course," Toby said.

Toby wrapped his ax and cloak in the scent masking pendent and then hid them in the shed. The goblins almost never went in there because they didn't like some of the chemicals Nana used on their garden.

He glanced at his room and noted the light was on. It hadn't been on when he left.

He crept quietly into the house and up the stairs. The door was open a crack. He peered in and felt his shoulders relax, it was his goblins. Three of them were sitting in a circle playing Candy Land. Hopefully they wouldn't eat any of the cards this time. He opened the door and entered.

Kracka was the first to turn to look. He gave Toby a smirk and nodded. Min glanced at him for a moment before turning back to glare at the board with half lidded eyes. Foon on the other hand, threw down the dice it was holding and darted over to Toby to clamber up his back and onto his left shoulder.

"Woah there," He yelped. "Watch the claws."

Kracka shot the younger goblin a glare and it lowered its head and quickly shifted to Toby's right shoulder. Kracka relented.

Toby glanced around the room.

"Is Bob here tonight too?"

Kracka nodded and poked something behind him. A blearily head poked out the sheets. The goblin's eyes shifted slowly around the room before landing on Toby.

Hi Bob, He signed.

She nodded at him and gave a little half salute before settling back down.

With greetings out of the way, Kracka offered Toby the yellow gingerbread man. Toby sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry guys I'd love to join you but I have cleaning duty tonight."

He had their attention at that. Bob glanced at them and then at Toby. He signed Clean-up to her. Her eyes brightened with interest.

Kracka tossed his board game piece aside and then scrambled up onto Toby's left shoulder.

"Coming along huh?"

Kracka grinned and nodded.

"Okay."

Kracka and Foon jumped over the crackle of light as Toby shifted. He patted around checking to make sure he still had his mask and hammer on him. Good. They were both there. Wouldn't do to go to anything involving other changelings without them. He set the mask to the side before switching back and grabbing a nondescript dark-grey hoodie from his closet along with his backpack. Kracka and Foon crawled into the backpack as Toby put on his hoodie. Bob climbed up his leg and into the front pocket.

"Are you coming?" He asked Min.

Min shook its head and crawled up onto Toby's bed. It turned a couple circles before curling up into the blankets.

"Suit yourself," He said with a shrug.

Time to go.

Toby glanced around anxiously as he waited at the bus stop and pulled his hood up over his mask. After a short wait, a bus with the route number 2 pulled up.

"Are you sure you have the right route, kid?" The driver, an elderly Chinese man with a chip missing from his ear, asked.

"Does this bus stop between today and tomorrow?" Toby responded, flashing his eyes.

The driver flashed his eyes back.

"Show your pass."

Toby opened the link on the 'spam' text and held it up to the scanner. There was a soft ping and the driver closed the door.

Toby scrambled to find a seat as the bus pulled away from the station. Fortunately there were only six other people tonight. All wore nondescript clothing like Toby. One nodded at him as he passed but the rest ignored him.

The ride was short and quiet, the bus pulled to a stop in the center of the trail of destruction Bular had created. The other changelings disembarked from the bus, Toby following carefully behind them.

A stocky light skinned woman was waiting for them. Unlike the other changelings she wore no mask, her square scar-crossed face on display. Toby had met Alfhild a few times before. She worked full time for the Janus Order; she had no cover and therefore no need to protect her identity. Her blue-white eyes watched them sharply as they approached, before she grinned a toothy smile and clapped her hands together.

"Excellent," She said, voice entirely too loud for the late night street. "You're all here. This is just a quick cover-up job. Make it look like the damage is from a drunk driver. If all goes well we'll be home in time to get some good sleep… Or hit the bars before they close."

With that she started addressing the individual changelings.

"997, 1176, you're both in the woods tonight. Cover any of our Dark Prince's tracks. Make it look like someone was doing some illegal logging. You will be using the truck I brought."

The two changelings nodded and left.

"1607 retrieve any security footage you can find regarding the culprits and clean the tapes."

Toby felt a pulse of fear. Sure he and Jim had worn their disguises but what if…

"1870." Toby snapped to attention at his number. "1223 You two are in charge of covering claw marks and making sure anything that can't be passed off as car damage is unrecognizable. Your tools are inside the undercarriage of the bus."

"Yes Ma'am."

Kracka popped out of Toby's pack with a disappointed grumble, drawing Alfhild's attention. Toby tensed as she approached. She might have been only about five feet, but she had a much bigger presence.

"You brought Goblins?"

Kracka and Foon climbed out onto Toby's shoulders, he felt Bob stir in his pocket.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Excellent, I have a job for them later. Bring them by when you're done."

Toby and the other changelings made quick work of the trail of destruction. The Janus Order generally tried to leave as much work as they could to the city. Only taking care of anything that might draw suspicion to their cause.

"You had a job for the goblins Ma'am?" Toby asked moving back to stand before Alfhild.

Kracka perked up and grinned at her. She reached into her pocket, pulled something out and tossed it to him. The goblin caught it and Toby craned his neck to see what it was. It was a set of car keys.

"They get to crash a car."

Kracka whooped and scrambled down Toby's side to wake Bob, Foon hot on his heels. They were always down for some vandalism and chaos. Toby watched apprehensively as they bounded off to get into the, no doubt stolen, car. Hopefully they would survive the crash fine.

The other changelings returned settling down as safe distance away from the road as the goblins began revving up the vehicle.

"And they're off."

The car screeched down the road, careening off lamp-posts and stop signs as the goblins hollered and waved in excitement. Toby waved back as they went by, tensing when they shot directly toward a small flower shop.

The car crumpled when it slammed into the wall, taking out the window and some of the brickwork. Smoke billowed from its engine.

"Aaaand that's a wrap," Alfhild said, turning back toward the watching changelings. "Back into the bus with you all. Chop. Chop. I've got just enough time to make it to L.A before sunrise and I'm not wasting it."

The other changelings obeyed, all too ready to head home, but Toby waited anxiously. The car door slammed open and he relaxed as three green forms emerged. They were a little charred, but all in all unharmed.

"Come on guys," Toby said holding out his arm, the goblins scrambled up, resuming their usual places.

He turned back around, ready to head to the bus and found Alfhild watching him. He tensed slightly before forcing himself to act casual.

"Are planning to become a goblin trainer?" She asked, watching him with a slight tilt to her head.

"Maybe…" He said not wanting to show his attachment. Though now that he thought about it…

"Hmmm," She nodded and then dismissed him.

He darted back to the bus.

Author Notes:

Toby gets his first clean-up duty. The next one won't be quite as nice.

On the goblins' pronouns:

In this story the goblins are genderless, so they are using pronouns to designate position. (Partially because I used he for Kracka in the first chapter and don't feel like correcting it)

Swarm leader(s): They/them

Offensive specialized: He/him

Defensive specialized: She/her

Unspecialized/generic address: it

If the goblin changes specialization its pronouns will change accordingly.

I am trying to be better about describing people so be sure to let me know how I'm doing. I will appreciate any tips.