There has only been a few bad days in Day's life were she felt like a complete dumb ass. And this was one of them.
"I never should have touched it! Why did I fucking touched it?! Why did I thought it was a good idea to touch it?!," said Day as she paced around the living room. She had royally screwed up big time. Not only were they not home anymore but they were now in a completely different universe. A universe filled with killed trolls and monsters hell bent on wiping out humanity.
"This has to be a dream. Maybe I did pass out when I covered myself in blankets. All I need to do is wake up!," said Tailor as he tried to deny what had just transpired. He turned to Marianna and stuck his arm out. "Quick! Somebody pinch me!"
"Sure!," exclaimed Marianna with a non nonchalant shrug before she pinched her brothers arm causing him to cry out in pain. Tailor began rubbing his arm with a frown.
"That fucking hurts!," said Tailor as he tried to soot the pain.
"Well at least we know this isn't a dream," said Day as a way to comfort him but in the end they were stuck in that world either way.
"No manches! Why did we have to turn that fucking thing on?! We saw what Jim did with it in the movie! It caused that entire horrible ending! Of course if would just lead to more trouble!," said Stella as she held her head in her hands as she tried to process the fact that they were no longer at home anymore.
The time machine laid on the table without its green glow anymore. Tailor picked it up and started to shake it.
"Take us back home you bitch! Take us back or I'll melt you over a fire and turn you into a gold ingot," exclaimed Tailor, ever the frustrated mine craft player.
"Okay okay. Podemons calmarnos for unos segundos? Ya que estamos qui debemos saber que hacer ahora. La unico possibilidad para ir al casa es que terminos la historia correcto?," asked their mother curiously. "You ha visto anime de isekai y estos cosas pasan mucho veces."
Their mother had become an anime fanatic when Marianna had introduced her to some K-dramas and anime's like My Happy Marriage. So it was no wonder she knew about the Isekai genre and had a grasp on some of it's themes. And a good thing too since that was the only thing they had going for them at the moment. To follow the Isekai anime wisdom.
"That could work! All we need to do is to end the story and we could go home! I also think some Isekai shows also tend to stop time of the universes were the person first left from sometimes. So if that's the case then when we go back it would be like we never left in the first place!," said Day excitedly at the fact they had a solid plan to get home now.
"And how the fuck do we help complete the story exactly? I thought Jim was the main character. Not us. We're more like background characters to be honest," inquired Marianna as she wondered what their purpose being there actually was.
"Well we could always help him of course! Now all we need to do is to find him! First we go meet him y the canal then we tell him we're new students going to his high school. He seems like the type of guy to give us a tour around the school. We then get super close to him and become his best friends. And when he finds out how the amulet works he definitely has to tell us everything since we'll be his best friends of course!. Then it's smoothly sailing from there!," answered Day as she rubbed her hands like a villain plotting their next heist.
Her siblings just stared at her for a few seconds before they snapped out of their confused thoughts.
"Okay hold your horses! What do you mean by new students at school? Are you saying we have to go to school?! Again?! We just graduated months ago!," asked Marianna in an exasperated tone.
"Uh yeah. That's the only way I see how the plan would work," responded Day with a shrug.
"I just graduated from hell a few years ago and do not plan to go back anytime soon," said Tailor as he crossed his arms with a glare.
"Yeah I don't think I want to go to school either. Even if I still do go to school I don't think I want to deal with going to a completely new one," added Stella as she looked nervous about Day's idea.
"Well it's either we infiltrate the school and help Jim or we stay stuck in this world forever. So- what do you guys say?," asked Day with a raised eyebrow. She watched as her siblings squirmed in their place and glanced to each other a few times. They soon sighed in defeat.
"Looks like we're going back to hell then," said Tailor in defeat.
A few seconds later the sound of a knock on the door startled the family. Day and her siblings jumped behind the couch in order to hide themselves from their unexpected visitor. Their mother just decided to walk up to the door to open it.
"Hola?," greeted Rose only to look puzzled at nobody being there. She soon looked down and saw a large box with a letter placed on top. The letter had a large red wax seal with the letter E on it. She had seen the letter before but she couldn't pin point were. Not wanting to leave the door opened for long she quickly grabbed the box and closed the door. She placed the package on the table and Day quickly snatched the note. Her eyes widened in recognition at the seal.
It was a letter from Mister E. A known character from the show, Scooby – Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
"This is impossible! It's a letter from Mister E! How the fuck did this get here? He's from a completely different show! He's not supposed to be in this universe!," exclaimed Day, surprised at the appearance of the mysterious character.
"At this point just go with it. We're already stuck in a whole other universe. Might as well not question anything or our brains will explode due to the stress," said Tailor as he stared blankly at the box. He was seriously considering taking melatonin and napping for the next century. At least then he wouldn't be awake to witness the fiasco they got themselves into.
Day continued to ramble on about the impossibilities of Mister E being stuck in the Arcadia universe and how he is probably somehow connected to them ended up there. The rest just started going through the package like an early Christmas present since they got nothing else left to loose at this point. Stella ultimately decides to read the letter that Mister E left behind for them to see what the package was about.
The note read:
Dear Young Investigators,
Hello! Hola! Greetings! Salutations! Bonjour!
It appears that Christmas has come early for you all! After watching that terrible ending to your beloved children's media franchise you must have wondered what you would have done differently if you were in their place. Well say no more! It appears the universe have answered your wishes and have given you all a shot at being the heroes this time around!
As for my existence- well- curiosity did kill the cat.
But it did bring it back in the end! You all must have so many questions!
How did we get here? What do we do now? Why are you, Mister E, helping us?
But there is one mystery above all else that is just waiting to be solved.
Were Art Thou Jim Lake Jr.?
There has never been an alternate version of Mystery Incorporated established in the Arcadia universe. But who said that this world couldn't use a few more- investigators.
That is all for now my fellow mystery lovers. Go boldly towards that fleeting daylight and you may just get yourselves a ticket home.
From yours truly,
Mister E.
"Were art thou Jim Lake Jr.? What the hell does that mean?," asked Tailor as he glanced to Day for a possible answer she might have conjured up in that big brain of hers.
"I think it means exactly as it say. Were is Jim Lake Jr.? As if he was missing or something," guessed Day as she grabbed the letter from Stella to re-read it more carefully.
"Go boldy towards that fleeting daylight and you may just get yourselves a ticket home," read Day as she found the clue to their way out of that universe. "The phrase "that fleeting daylight" means Jim. I think he wants us to find him and then we can go home. That has to be what we need to do!"
Marianna soon opened the box and found four backpacks as well as some documents along with a USB key attached to a red bracelet. Day noticed the red USB key bracelet in Marianna's hand and quickly grabbed it to inspect the device. She had seen this item before for she had it in her possession in the sixth grade. She had won it at an engineering competition field trip but sadly lost if a month later. She never really did find out were it had gone to.
Until now.
"I lost this years ago! How the fuck did it end up here? And in Musters E's possession?!," said Day in shock at her bracelets return.
"Maybe he put a message for us in there. Something we can use as evidence to find Jim," suggested Tailor causing Day to quickly rush to her room and come back with her laptop in hand.
"This will do. Now to see what Mister E left for us," said Day as she inserted the USB key to her laptop and checked the files on it. It had multiple photos in it with names attached to each telling the location of were they were taken. Some were taken around Arcadia Oaks such as classes in the high school and the local history museum. Others were taken somewhere else the group couldn't pinpoint yet. But what stood out to Day was a single voice recording among the files.
She pressed play on the file and the rest waited for it to load. To their surprise the sound of Jim heavily breathing in fear started to come from the laptop.
"If anybody is receiving this than I am lost and I don't think I can come back this time. Tell my mother I love her and tell Toby I'm sorry I wont be there to go to school with him as I usually do. I don't have much time left now. Which is a good thing because it means my plan is working. Hopefully my end comes quick. If not...then come find me. Wherever I end up at that is. Just follow the fleeting daylight. Goodbye," spoke a shaking Jim in a weak voice before the recording ended.
The family stared at the computer screen with earing levels of shock and anxiety at the unknown fate of Jim.
"Is he dead? Please don't tell em he's dead," asked Stella nervously as she tried to stop herself from crying at the sad message Jim left behind for them.
"No he can't be! He has to still be alive! That's why Mister E sent us here. Nobody in the world- human or troll- knows what Jim planned to do after he got sent back in time. That's why Mister E needed outsiders to find him. That's why he needed us!," said Day as she started to piece together the true reason why they were sent to that world in the first place. To be heroes to the one person who has been acting like one the entire time. A hero who is now lost – alone and afraid.
Four backpacks filled with school supplies and forged government documents were soon spread across the table. The family turned to see their mother pouring out the contents of the box.
"Mida como el Senor E tambien tenia la mismo idea que tu Day," said their mother before she picked up an Arcadia Oaks high school badge with Day's face and name on it. "Y tambien mida como estaba planeando esto por un buen rato."
Their mother seemed to be right in her theory of Mister E having planning teir arrival for some time. The packed school sullies along with the forged documents and school enrollment showed he had his eye on them from the start. It was almost unnerving when they thought about it but they couldn't complain now. Not when somebodies life is on the line.
"So both Mister E and Jim told us to follow that fleeting light. What does that mean exactly?," asked Tailor in confusion on what the phrase even means.
"DO they want us to follow the sunlight? Like in Croods? Maybe the light is magic and it would lead us to something," suggested Marianna with a smile at her possible theory that was sure to be right. Somewhat.
'That fleeting light,' though Day to herself before her mind started to focus on the word "daylight". Her eyes widened at realization at what the word meant.
They needed to find the Amulet if Daylight.
"It means we need to find the Amulet of Daylight! Because Jim is missing then that means Toby wont go through the canal today! So that means that somebody else has to become the Trollhunter. And it has to be one of us!," said Day in excitement at solving their first puzzle.
"One of us? Being the Trollhunter?," said Tailor with a shocked expression before he shook his head and raised his hands in surrender. "Not gonna be me. I would rather die than hold that much responsibility. This body was not made to fight monsters."
"I have to agree with that. I don't want to die. So I don't think the amulet would pick me," said Stella with a shrug.
"Well it's between you and me dude. I would love to slay some monsters with a large sword any day of the week!," exclaimed Marianna as she rubbed her hands together like a villain and had a mischievous glint in her eyes again. Day playfully rolled her eyes at her twins antics.
"Of course you would want to be the Trollunter just for the sword. But no matter who it picks. We have to go through with the plan and find Jim before tings get worse for all of us," said Day with a serious expression.
The table was set just not for dinner. No- it was set for the most difficult mission of their lives. A sacred responsibility to take care of a world in the absence of it's rightful hero as they search for that fleeting light.
Now all they needed to do was follow it.