Back upstairs, Jim ran to the living room, reached the couch and quickly grabbed his phone. He then speed dialed Toby, feeling extremely panicked.
"Pick up, pick up," Jim chanted, hoping that Toby would pick up. As if someone answered his prayers, Toby's voice appeared at the other end of the line.
"Hey, Jim," Toby greeted, making Jim breath a small sigh of relief, before his nerves got the better of him.
"Tobes, it's me! You're never going to believe what happened just now," Jim began, still not believing what had happened just moments ago.
In the dentist office, Toby was sitting in the patient chair, waiting for an emergency appointment.
"Yeah, I'm kind of in the middle of something, Jimbo," Toby protested as the dentist stuck his un-gloved hands into Toby's mouth, putting a cotton bud in the side of his mouth before grabbing a bunch of tools.
After dinner, Toby had accidently tripped on Mr Meow Meow PI's tail, and landed on his face, causing his braces to get knocked loose-even breaking a few teeth-and a cut gum line on top of that, so he was at the dentist… again. But since he was already going to come the next morning before the incident, his dentist thought he could kill two birds with one stone.
"I am freaking out here! Seriously freaking. I need to talk to somebody." Jim pleaded, needing Toby to listen to him as he continued his panicking.
"Chillax. What's going on?" Toby asked on the other end, allowing Jim all he needed to explain.
"Okay, just a few minutes ago, I heard something in my basement. I thought it was raccoons, but then-" Jim began to explain.
Meanwhile in Dentist, Toby's eyes widened at the drill his dentist had pulled out and intended to stick in his mouth.
"Yeah, hang on a second-" Toby began, right before the dentist spears the drill into the poor boy's mouth, causing a scream to erupt from his lips.
Jim winced at the scream that came from the other end of the phone, before Toby tried to keep talking.
"Sorry, Jim. I'll have to call you back," Toby said on the other end of the phone, before he screams again.
"No, not that one!" The rounded boy protested, right before Jim hung up. He then pulled up his contact list, hoping to find the one other person he could possibly tell. Once he saw Marinette's contact, he pressed it, and put his phone back up to his ear, while the line rang.
"Come on, sis. Pick up, pick up," Jim pleaded, hoping that Marinette wouldn't be too busy to pick up. It was far from their usual time for video calls, but he was hopeful.
"'It's Marinette, leave a message. Beep! He he," Marinette's voicemail answered, much to Jim's disappointment.
He then checked the Paris News app and saw a new live stream about Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting a new akumatized villain.
"Great, just great. The one person I know who could possibly tell this craziness to, and she's doing her job!" Jim griped before walking to the sofa and plopped down, looking up at the ceiling in thought.
'What am I going to do now?' The boy thought to himself.
(Time Skip)
The next day finally came, but Toby was still at the dentist, so Jim didn't have a chance to tell him about the trolls from last night. Marinette ended up fighting the akuma till the end of the day, and hadn't been able to talk to him at lunch time like they always did, falling asleep before he could call, so he still couldn't tell anyone.
He had thought about telling his dad and Sabine, considering they were in Paris with Marinette while the akuma's attacked the city. But they didn't even know Marinette was Ladybug. How would they react to Jim's encounter with Trolls, only to inadvertently find out about their daughter's own magical situation because of that?
His sister would never forgive him for involving their parents. Not that he would intentionally endanger them either. So he decided to try and talk to Mr Strickler.
Which was precisely what he did, as he opened the history teachers office door with orchestra music playing. He poked his head through the doorway to see Mr Strickler sitting at his desk.
"Ah, hello, Jim. What can I do for you?" Mr Stirckler greeted, seeing that the boy looked a little on edge.
"Um, do you have a minute?" Jim tentatively asked.
"Are you alright?" Mr Strickler asked before he turned off the music, worried about his favorite student.
"You look peaked. Here, sit," The history teacher offered as he gestured to the space in front of his desk. Jim exhaled in relief, and walked into the room.
"Okay. I don't really know how to say this, but last night, something incredible happened. Actually, unbelievable. Completely unbelievable. As in, you won't believe me, but I'm telling you it's true. I promise you it's true," Jim rambled on as he sat down, only to see it was too low, and stood up to readjust it. His actions worried Mr Strickler, but once he was happy with the height, Jim sat back down and continued to speak, only to repeat the process a second time, before Mr Strickler thankfully interrupted him.
"All right. Just calm down. I'll believe you," Mr Stirckler reassured, in an attempt to calm the boy down enough for him to explain. Thankfully, it worked.
"Uh, okay. Last night, two, um, things showed up at my house," Jim started to explain.
"Things?" Mr Strickler questioned, as he messed with his pen out of his normal habit.
"You know, things. Guys. But really weird. One had these eyes, and the other one was huge and hairy. And they said that they were tro-" Jim began, only to stop.
The troll named Blinky said that their race was secret… and he had kept Marinette's secret for this long… he could do the same for them.
"Tro?" Mr Strickler asked, confused as to what the boy meant, halting his pen fiddling.
"Tr...trainers! Trainers, who want to train me in... ch...uh... chess," Jim continued, stopping himself from spilling the beans, as he looked around the room for a good alternative, his eyes landing on the chess board near the office windows.
With the excuse in hand, Jim got up from his seat and grabbed a chess piece as Strickler watched him with a chuckle.
"And why would that have you so perturbed?" Mr Strickler asked, not understanding why Jim would be so freaked out about two chess coaches approaching him.
"They really weirded me out," Jim fibbed as he looked out the window to see Steve kicking a soccer ball far off the field, only for the ball to curve in the air and hit an unsuspecting passerby.
The blonde suddenly turned round and wagged his finger. It was like the boy had a sixth sense to tell him when one of his potential victims was watching him prove himself to be a ruthless killer.
"Tick-tock. Tick-tock." Steve taunted, causing Jim to sadly look at the chess piece, knowing that he was doomed on Friday.
"Now, I think I know what has you so distraught, Jim," Mr Strickler observed as he leaned back in his desk chair.
"You do?" Jim asked, as Mr Strickler stood from his chair with pride and made his way to the boy.
"It's like I told you yesterday, you have a lot on your shoulders. Too much, in my opinion, for someone your age. And I think this opportunity…" Mr Strickler trailed off, as he walked over to the boy and stood next to him.
"Chess?" Jim questioned as Mr. Strickler took the chess piece from his hand.
"I think it's causing you anxiety. I know you want to be there for your mother, but a great poet once wrote, 'Do what's good for you, or you're not good for anybody'," Mr Strickler recited as he overlooked the chess piece, set it back on the board, knocked another piece down, and turned to face Jim. A second after he finished speaking the school bell rang, but Jim was already feeling much better.
"Hey, thanks for the advice. I like talking to you," Jim admitted before he walked back to his bag and grabbed it.
"Always," Mr. Strickler said with a smile and turned to head to his desk while Jim left the room.
But the amulet lit up from the open pocket of Jim's bag, catching Strickler's eyes, and causing them to grow in realization and panic when he saw it. The history teacher could only stand, frozen in disbelief after seeing the relic.
(Time Skip)
School had ended, and Jim was back at home. He had been prepping the lunches for the next day, slicing his knife through the skin of the tomato, and making perfect-sized slices. After smoothly sliding the pieces onto three sandwiches, he fingers the knife before nicely throwing it in its respectful holding place in the knife holder. Adding lettuce and cheese, he places the last slice of bread upon each one and finishes his cooking.
Once he was done with the lunches, his eyes moved to his bag which glowed as the amulet peeked out from its hiding spot. He grabbed his bag, headed to the back door and left the house, stepping into the backyard. He pulled the magical artifact out and studied it once more as it continued to pulse blue light. Suddenly, the arms of the amulet started to spiral as the rim glowed blue, changing the symbol from letters to words in Chinese, to Spanish, and finally to English.
"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command," Jim read from the rim of the amulet. But just as he finished reading the words, a wind started to blow through the backyard, with a few unexplainable anomalies happening around him.
Jim's eyes grew as he brought the amulet closer to him, wondering if it was responsible for the changes around him, when a blue spark appeared from the amulet. The spark surrounded him, before hiding near his heart, with more sparks soon following the first's example. Jim's body suddenly floated into the air while a blue wave of magic intrapped him.
Pieces of silver armor started appearing and connected to his body, but it was a little too big at first, much to Jim's confusion. That was until it had started shrinking to his size, exiting the boy as he looked at his new getup.
"This is so freaking cool!" Jim exclaimed in excitement, just before the sparks from his amulet appeared once again, this time falling to his hand, and creating a sword.
At first, the sword was much too big, but like the armor before, it shrunk to his size as blue smoke poured from it. Once the smoke cleared, Jim lifted the sword above him, smiling smugly to himself before he started to have fun, posing and swinging the sword around, his confidence with wielding the weapon growing… until it wedged into a rock.
With the force of trying to pull it out, he finally got it free after a few failed attempts, only to get it stuck in another rock behind him. Jim could only think of how he would have been thoroughly embarrassed if anyone had been present to see the unfortunate accident.
At the Canals, by the deathbed of Kanjigar, a car pulled up near the edge of the canal. Mr. Strickler then exited the vehicle, and walked down the canal slope to reach the bottom to appear beside the pile of rocks. The history teacher's hand reached into the pile of rocks, to where the amulet used to lay, only to see that his suspicions were confirmed when he pulled out a piece of stone that once held the amulet.
"It's been taken. You failed. You let it go. Your father will be displeased," Mr Strickler reprimanded as Bular appeared behind him. The dark troll growled at the man, his eyes glowing in the dark light.
"Whoever holds the Amulet of Merlin, I shall destroy him, just as I have done with every single one of them," Bular vowed.
"Worry not, you brute," Mr Strickler reassured, his eyes starting to glow yellow.
"I know where to find it," The… history teacher revealed before he turned to walk away from Bular, going back the way he came.
"I believe the amulet has found its champion," Mr Stricker continued as he walked away, with Bular following behind.
Back at Jim's backyard, the boy now clad in silver armor, had readjusted his approach of trying to pull the sword from the stone, and finally managed to do so. He held it up in the air with a smile and chucked to himself in accomplishment once he freed the weapon.
'Wait till Marinette gets a load of this!' Jim though.
(Time Skip)
Night had soon fallen in Arcadia, and Jim, who had found out how to take the armor off by taking off the amulet from his chest, was at his desk, hoping that Marinette wasn't dealing with an akuma. He had to tell someone what happened or he would burst at the seams.
So as he pulled up Marinette's contact and dialed her up, he fiddled with the amulet in his hands. Thankfully, his prayers were answered when Marinette showed up on the computer screen. But it looked like she was in… her room?
"Hey Jim, sorry about not answering you earlier. Hawkmoth released an akuma yesterday, and it took a while to defeat. Then I got home and started on my homework, but I fell asleep," Marinette apologized, explaining herself.
"It's fine Marinette, I totally get it. Looks like Hawkmoth is coming out of his reprieve," Jim remarked, seeing that Hawkmoth was now picking up the pace, yet again.
"Yeah, there's even an akuma on the loose right now!" Marinette griped, especially since this particular akuma called for an… unconventional plan to try to defeat them.
"Is that why you're at home right now?" Jim asked, bringing up that he could see Marinette's room wallpaper behind her.
'She must be sitting on her storage trunk.' Jim thought to himself.
"Yeah, it does involve the akuma that's on the loose. You're probably not going to like it though," Marinette nervously admitted, knowing that Jim might be a… little protective of her after hearing this.
"Well, I might as well get it over with then," Jim sighed, leaning back in his seat, allowing her to say her peace.
'The news about the amulet and the trolls can wait a little longer.' Jim remarked, his 'big brother' instincts kicking in.
"Okay, so the day started normal, and things were looking good till Science class rolled around. Things were fine till Ms. Mendeleiev caught Nathaniel drawing in his notebook. She sent him to the office, but when he was leaving, he tripped and his notebook fell to the floor, showing the drawing he was making which was himself as a superhero, saving… me," Marinette admitted, turning away from the phone in her hand to prevent Jim from seeing her flattered blush and mistake it for a normal blush. But that didn't matter since Jim started to smirk at the situation.
"Oh, this is too rich! So not only have you gotten your first crush this year, but now people are crushing on you? I'm honestly jealous," Jim teased much to his little sister's ire.
"Lay off, will you? You already know I'm in love with Adrien," Marinette remarked, reminding Jim of the boy who took his sister for granted.
"You already know I think you can do better than him. Nathaniel is a nice guy, and you should give him a chance," Jim suggested, making Marinette roll her eyes.
"You won't let this go, will you?" Marinette questioned, even if she knew the answer.
"Nope, especially now Nathaniel's crushing on you," Jim teased, much to Marinette's annoyance. Nathaniel might not have known about her brothers, but he was still akumatized at the moment, which meant no joking about him.
"Yeah, well, I got paired with Sabrina and Chloé for science class," Marinette revealed. Jim winced, and the whole story unfolded. Marinette then regaled of how she had seen how Chloé took advantage of the redhead.
Then she explained how Chloé had tried bribery via fashion, before Evillustrator attacked Chloé with a giant blow dryer. Her retelling ended when she told Jim how she and Chat had run the Akuma off, but Chloé hadn't known why she was being targeted.
"Wait, if you didn't know if Nathanial was Evilustrator, how do you know now?" Jim asked, hoping that Marinette would explain that little detail.
"Well when I got home, he showed up to invite Marinette to his birthday party, and the invitation had Nathaniel's signature symbol on it, same way I have my brand, you know?" Marinette explained.
"Yeah, I do. Goes to show that you know your classmates pretty well," Jim praised, making Marinette blush again at the compliment.
"Thanks. So after I said yes, on the condition of him not hurting Chloé anymore, he left, to which Sabrina used that time to burst out of my trapdoor and scare the living daylights out of me. Thankfully she didn't see me transform, and she was understanding of me needing to postpone working on the project together, and then left. After that, I had to come up with a plan to go to the party as Marinette, but have Ladybug on a secret mission, to not raise suspicions when I told Chat Noir to handle catching the akuma with me as Marinette," Marinette explained the last of what happened, and also explaining her plan to catch the akuma, making Jim smirk at his little sister.
"You're going to be working with Chat Noir in your civilian form? That'll be interesting," Jim teased with a smirk on his lips, making Marinette shake her head at him.
"I thought we had talked about this. Chat Noir and I are just friends. And that's all we'll ever be," Marinette sighed, hoping to get Jim to stop talking about it. It was no secret Jim was rooting for any guy beside Adrien to win her heart, but he seemed to root for her partner more than the others. Tonight would just give him more reason to do so.
"Okay, if you say so," Jim slyly trailed off, knowing that when Marinette was set on something, it would not be easy to change her mind.
"Yeah, so that's what's going on over here. How about you? Did the amulet do any more magical stuff?" Marinette asked, finally giving Jim the opportunity he needed as she started walking to her trapdoor.
"You will not believe what happened last night. After I got home, there was a crash in the basement, and when I went to look, I found two trolls had snuck in!" Jim exclaimed, making Marinette's eyes widen in surprise. Did she mishear him or did he say…
"Did you say Trolls? Like under the bridge trolls? Those types of trolls?" Marinette asked, as she began to descend down the stairs to the living room, where Tikki flew over to her holder and landed on her shoulder.
"What's this about 'trolls'?" Tikki asked as Marinette reached the living room/kitchen, catching the girl's attention.
"Jim said that he saw trolls last night," Marinette answered her kwami, signaling to Jim that Tikki was present as well while Marinette walked to the apartment door.
"Are you talking to Tikki?" Jim asked. Marinette nodded, much to Jim's relief.
"Great! Does she know what this amulet is? The trolls said that it was the 'Amulet of Daylight' and that I was now what they called 'The Trollhunter' before trying calling you and Toby to tell you guys," Jim explained, showing the amulet to the girl and kwami.
But at the sight of it, Tikki's eyes widened in shock.
"Marinette, how long has he had that?" Tikki fearfully questioned, as Marinette started walking down the first flight of stairs to the ground floor.
"Jim said he found it in the canal. But that was two days ago," Marinette answered, not seeing what the big deal was as she reached the floor below her apartment. That is until Tikki's eyes widened even more
"Why didn't you tell me?" Tikki grilled as Marinette continued down the next flight of stairs.
"You were asleep. I didn't want to wake you up," Marinette responded as she continued down the stairs, all while Jim was watching the seemingly one-sided conversation.
"Well you should have. If you think being Ladybug is a big deal, it's nothing compared to the responsibility that Jim now has on his shoulders. Did the amulet call to him?" Tikki interrogated, wanting to know if Jim had it for the reasons she thought he did.
"He said that it did. That's how he found it in the rock pile it was hidden in," Marinette explained as she reached the next floor down. The kwami gasped in shock, placing the little nubs she had for hands to her mouth before tearing up.
"Oh no, Kanjigar," Tikki sadly whispered, but it didn't stop Marinette from hearing it while she walked to the last flight of stairs.
"Who's Kanjigar? And what do you mean being the Trollhunter is harder than being Ladybug?" Marinette asked, which made Jim worried a bit more.
'Tikki said what now?' Jim thought to himself.
"The only way for Jim to have the amulet in his hand is if Kanjigar, the previous Trollhunter, died. And if Jim found the amulet in a pile of rocks, then that was Kanjigar," Tikki explained, making Marinette and Jim's eyes widen in shock as the girl reached the ground floor of the building.
"What did she say? Does she know about the amulet?" Jim asked, wondering what made Marinette so worried, and turned her attention back to her brother on the phone screen. In her shock, she stopped walking to the front door, standing at the halfway point between that, and the stairs.
"She said that being the Trollhunter is a bigger responsibility than being Ladybug, and that when you found the amulet in that rock pile, it was the remains of the previous Trollhunter!" Marinette answered, making Jim's jaw drop.
"Say what, now? She really said that?" Jim worriedly questioned. But unfortunately for him, a knock on the door interrupted them. Marinette turned to face it, seeing an outline of someone with cat ears waiting outside.
"I have to go, but I promise we'll talk more about this after I finish with Evilustrator," Marinette vowed, her thumb reaching for the hang up button.
"Marinette, hang on a sec…" Jim began to protest, only for Marinette to hang up. He was then left alone in his room, with more earth shattering questions than answers as he leaned back in his chair.
"What am I going to do now?" Jim thought out loud, left frozen in shock.