Chapter 20; Mind Games
In the sewer of Arcadia, a small ball of light making a high-pitched giggling was traveling through the sewers. It was zipping all over the sewer with very fast speed. Soon the ball of light exited the sewer and found Strickler, who was walking through the town's square alone at night. Strickler heard the lights' laughter and put his guard up. But that didn't stop the ball of light then entered Strickler's ear. Strickler's eyes flashed, then Strickler heard the voice of a ghost. "Impure." Strickler turned around and saw Bular. Strickler then said in fear. "It… It can't be. Bular. You're dead."
"I live. Only to find you've left my father to rot in the Darklands? You dare to conspire to steal my father's thorne?" Bular said as he got closer to Strickler. Stickler backed away and said. "No, I would never betray…" Strickler then fell down and Bular saw the Inferna Copula. Bular then said to Strickler. "The Inferna Copula? You think Angor Rot will bring your reign?" Bulat then laughed, and then a civilian woman appeared. But all she saw was Strickler, cowering in fear. Bular then said to Strickler. "Abandon the ring now, before I feast on your corpse and floss with your intestines."
"Bular, please!" Strickler said as the women walked passed them and went through Bular. Strickler was surprised, but then he knew what was really going on. Strickler tapped his head a few times and the ball of light exited his head. "Pixies." Strickler said, looking at the ball of light. Strickler then crushed the pixie like a bug and Bular disappeared again. Strickler then got up and said with great anger in his voice. "Angor! You dare attempt to distort my mind with a pixie?" Angor Rot then appeared behind the statue and was laughing. Strickler changed into his Troll form as Angor Rot got closer. Strickler then said to Angot Rot. "The nightmare would scare the ring from my hand? You are a dog and this is your leash!" Strickler then punched Angor Rot, knocking him down. Strickler then said to Angor Rot as he kicked Angor Rot and pulled out a knife. "I am your master. Obey my command and kill the Trollhunter and Kamen Rider!"
"Then you should avoid that school of yours tomorrow." Angor Rot said and then Strickler returned to his Human Form. Once Strickler was gone, Angor Rot said. "But the ring will be mine."
At school the following day, Darci and Mary ambushed Claire with questions. "Jim Lake asked you to the dance and you didn't tell us?" Mary said to Claire before Darci said to Claire. "Spill it, C-bomb, before Mare and I go ka-boom."
"There's not much to really tell, except… I sorta asked him." Claire said and both girls gasped. Darci then said to Claire. "Good, girl!"
"Excuse me, Darci. Do not celebrate. Educate. That's not the way you do things, Claire. There are rules to being on top of the social food chain. What sort of world do you think we live in?" Mary said before she and Darci started to walk to class. "If only you knew." Claire said as she followed them. As for the guys, Noah and Seth were getting things out of their lockers. And so was Jim, but was stopped when Toby closed his locker. Toby was still sore from his training with the warhammer and he said to Jim. "I can't feel my arms."
"First day of training can do that, but you are the one that wanted the war hammer." Jim said as he moved Toby out of the way and opened his locker. Toby then said to Jim. "Hey, hey. Next time a magic troll assassin pinches your sword or Soul's powers, you'll be happy ol'Warhammer and Shadowdancer have your back."
"Shadowdancer"? Let me guess. You haven't run that by Claire." Jim said and then Noah said to Toby. "I'm surprised you didn't add Kamen Rider to your code names?"
"Well Jim, Claire, and I aren't wearing masks, so that would make no sense." Toby said before Seth said. "Also it would be too long, for any of you three."
"No it wouldn't." Toby said before Seth said. "Kamen Rider Torllhunter, Kamen Rider Warhammer, Kamen Rider Shadowdancer? Too long. I would go with Kamen Rider Hunter for Jim. Kamen Rider Dancer for Claire. And for you Toby, Kamen Rider Hammer."
"What? Why Hammer? Why not Kamen Rider War instead?" Toby said and Seth said. "Kamen Rider War, make you sound evil."
"But it is cooler." Toby said before he and Seth started a debate on what Jim, Claire, and Toby codenames would be if they were Kamen Riders. "Should we just go?" Noah said to Jim and Jim agreed. As they were walking Noah said to Jim. "Still, with Toby and Claire backing us up, or letting us use their weapons, dealing with Angor Rot might lower the chances of us all dying."
"Yeah, but at least we can take it easy in school." Jim said before Noah said. "Yeah, Angor Rot lost his staff and now he can't attack us in broad daylight anymore." Meanwhile under the school, Angor Rot was in the sewer, and he was also holding an orange hexagon jar. Angor Rot then stabbed the jar and pixies started to fly out. "Sweet dreams, hunter and rider." Angor Rot said as the pixies were released and they started to affect the school.
Back in Trollmarket, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh were in Blinky's library and each of them was going over books upon books, each looking for something different. Aaarrrgghh was looking for something to help stop or cure the poison, and Blinky was going over information on Angor Rot. Once Blinky found some information about Angor Rot, he said to Aaarrrgghh. "I fear Master Jim, Master Noah, and Master Seth are in far more danger than we imagined. According to the Gloomanac, Angor Rot was killed and then reviewed with great magic power, but his soul was placed into a single ring, the Inferna Copula. Whoever bears it, controls him. Aaarrrgghh, it says here that Angor's been stealing the souls of Trollhunters in a blasphemous attempt to fill the void ever since." Aaarrrgghh then felt pain from his wound, and started to leave to have Vendel check on it. Blinky stopped Aaarrrgghh and said. "Wait, you don't have to go, or you don't have to hide it from me. I might only have two eyes, but I can see clear as day. It's obvious. Ever since my human deformity, you have been distant."
"Uh… yes. Distant."
"I may look different, but I'm still the same Blinky. How about, yo cheer you up maybe later today, I could rent a minivan, we could go for a drive? Something with tinted windows, of course. I hear we're not too far away from the world's largest thermometer. I bet you could eat it!"
"Mm, not today." Aaarrrgghh said before leaving. "Perhaps another time, my dear friend." Blinky said in sadness as he watched his friend leave him.
Back at the school Jim and Noah found Claire and Jim told Claire about her Codename. "So… "Shadowdancer"? Don't you think I should be… I don't know. Coming up with my own name?" Claire said to Jim and Noah. And Noah said to Claire. "And want your name be?"
"How about "Queen Death Viper 5000 of the Shadow Realm"?" Claire said before Jim said. "Yeah! That's more like it." Then they all went to class and that is when the pixies had started their fun.
There were only a few at the start, but the nightmares were powerful and hit them all hard. Claire was one of the few. Her nightmare started the moment she entered Senor Uhl's classroom. After she took a seat and pulled out her notebook to take notes, Uhl started to talk about Killahead Bridge. That surprised Claire, more so when Uhl said. "The question then became… "Why wasn't Claire paying better attention to her baby brother?" Claire gasped then found herself alone in the classroom, with only Uhl, who was yelling at her. "Why, Claire? Why would you let them take him? It's all your fault!" Claire then run out of the room and in the hallway, she saw Enrique crawling away from her. Claire then followed, but was never able to reach him.
Back in Trollmarket, Aaarrrgghh had shown his wound to Vendel. After Vendel checked it out, he said to Aaarrrgghh. "Your fears are true. You've been nicked by Creeper's Sun poison and you're turning to stone."
"You have medicine?"
"To slow it, yes. To cure it… regrettably, no. Sooner or later, the poison will overtake you."
"How long?"
"Weeks. With treatment, a few months. You need to tell your friends."
"No."
"No?"
"Don't want Toby to know."
"I understand. Then this will be our secret." Vendel said as he gave Aaarrrgghh the medicine. Back at the school, the nightmares were in full swing. While Jim, Noah, Seth, Toby, and a few others weren't affected, many others were. "This is bad." Jim said before Noah said. "What was your first clue?" Toby then waved his hand in front of a student and said to everyone. "It's like we're invisible, guys."
"No, we're not invisible. They're sleepwalking, like a night terror but in the day. Have you guys seen Claire?" Jim said to everyone, then Toby said. "No. Who do you think did this?"
"If I had to guess, Strickler knows what is going on. Let's go." Noah said and they all ran to Strickler's office. Once inside, they didn't see Strickler. "No surprise he's gone." Jim said before Seth said. "Principal of the year everyone."
"This is supposed to be our safe place, guys! What's happening? Why is everyone crazy-town banana-pants?" Toby said to them, and Jim said. "I don't know, but I don't like it either. I need time to think."
"We may be down a Shadowdancer, but Warhammer ain't leaving your side, guys." Toby said as a pixie appeared behind Toby. "What's that?" Noah said, pointing at the pixie. Jim then said to Toby, as the pixie landed on Toby's shirt. "Tobes, don't move. There's something glowing on you." The pixie then moved to Toby's nose. Toby whimpered as Jim, Noah, and Seth grabbed a book. "Stay very, very still." Jim said as the were all going to hit them, but the pixie entered Toby's nose. Seth then said as they lowered their book. "Well that's not good."
"It's in my nose! It's in my nose!" Toby said before Jim said. "Blow your nose! Hurry, hurry!" Toby tried, but it didn't work. Toby then said. "Oh, my gosh, it's inside of me!"
"Maybe that's what's causing everyone to go crazy?" Noah said as Toby was freaking out. "Not helping, Noah." Jim said to Noah, before he said to Toby. "Toby, don't freak out."
"You need to study me." Toby said to them, and then Jim said. "What are you talking about?"
"Like in the movies. I'm that guy. I'm the test subject you got to study to learn how to fight the stupid alien creatures." Toby said before Noah said. "Toby, this isn't a movie."
"Whatever! But all that matters is that you guys pay close attention–" Toby then started to enter his nightmare. In Toby's nightmare, it actually started ok. Toby was in a cloud of pink smoke with the school mascot. When they were together they blasted off to the atmosphere on a rainbow. In space was Toby's favorite food. It was a dream of love at first, but Toby's nightmare really started when Toby said to the mascot in slow-motion. "Will you be my date to the Spring Fling?" The mascot nodded yes, and Toby removed the mascot's head, and under the mascot custom was he grandma. As his grandma tried to give him a big smooch, Toby tried to only run away, but he started to fly back down to earth.
Back in the real world, Jim, Noah and Seth were watching Toby scream. "And there goes Warhammer." Jim said as Noah pulled out his Driver. Noah then said to Jim and Seth. "I don't know what is going on, but Jim call Blinky. Seth I know we're in school, but Soul; Sylph Fighter should keep those things away from us."
"Ok." Seth said as he pulled out Sylph. "Henshin!" Noah said as he placed Fighter in the Driver and Seth did the same with Sylph. "Sylph Fighter!" The Driver said and Jim caught Seth as Noah became Soul. Soul then fired wind at all of the pixies entering the room. Jim then called Blinky, who was at Jim's house. "Thank you so much for coming over, Mr. Blinky." Barbara said as she gave Blinky some tea. Blinky took the tea and said. "No problem, but may I ask why?"
"Well, to be frank, I'm concerned about Jim's progress."
"There is no alarm for concern about Jim, he's had his final growth spurt, but his voice should be changing soon."
"I meant his odd behavior. Not his voice. But,you know the late nights with Noah and Seth, and the lying."
"Jim has a solid head on his shoulders. And now that we're blasted through his emotional roadblocks, you shouldn't witness any more unusual outbursts from your son." Blinky said before his Bat Phone rang. Blinky answered it, but didn't show who it was to Barbara. "Hello?"
"Blinky, everyone's going crazy-town banana-pants!" Jim yelled through the phone. Blinky was worried that Barbara heard that and said walking away from her. "Oh, good, good. Good afternoon, Mr. President Eisenhower. I suppose I could pencil you in."
"Help! We've got flying glow-balls making everyone crazy. It's like they're all trapped in a dream and can't wake up."
"It sounds like an infestation of the genus Manicus-Delusious."
"Blinky, we only have time for the chest sheet, not the textbook."
"Pixies." Blinky said and Noah said. "Pixies? What do you mean?"
"Pixies have a powerful hallucinogen commonly used as a diversion to cloud the minds of an enemy." Blinky said before Jim said. "Diversion?"
"Wait, do you mean Angor Rot is in the school?!" Seth said before a three pixie was able to get past Soul's wind. One tried to enter Noah, but Soul's helmet had no ear or nose holes, so that didn't work, and Soul crushed it like a bug. Jim used his book to kill the one going after him, but the one going after Seth worked. It entered Seth and Soul saw Seth nightmare. They stopped the wind and Jim said to them. "Guy?"
"I'm fine, but I can see Seth's nightmare." Noah said as he saw the school to an area lit by only torches. Noah got up and said. "Leave Seth here, we have to find Angor Rot now before he hurts someone."
"Yeah." Jim said as they left Strickler's office. Meanwhile Angor Rot was moving through the school hearing the nightmares of the students. Steve's nightmare was that instead of being unique he was common. Darci's nightmare was her best secret being revealed and everyone laughing at her. Mary's nightmare was that she showed up to school in her underwear and people were looking at her. Eli's nightmare was that he was the only one that could fight the darkside of Arcadia. Uhl's nightmare was that his truck was totaled. Lawrence's nightmare was that he was now very fat instead of who he normally is. And Janeth's nightmare was that she was having to do a one woman play, but she didn't have any prep work.
Meanwhile, Blinky ran to the school, and said. "Do not fret, Master Jim, Master Noah, Master Seth! I am on the way!" Blinky then stopped and said as he took a breath. "Darn this flesh-vessel!" Blinky then saw a car and ran to it. The car was unlocked, and Blinky got in it. "Now to ignite the accelerator." Blinky said as he thought the car turned on like a gyre. "Car, activate. Go! Please?" Blinky said but that didn't work either. Blinky then hit his head on the steering wheel. That caused the horn to honk and the alarm to blare. Blinky yelled before leaving the car and started running to the school again.
At the school, Jim and Soul were looking for Angor Rot, and Angor Rot was doing the same as he was looking for them, all while laughing at the people having nightmares. "For the glory of Merlin…" Jim said as he put on his armor, just as Angor Rot found them. "Daylight and Soul is mine to command!" Angor Rot said and he took Jim's sword again. "Here we go again!" Noah said as he switched Sylph Fighter with Gnome Archer. As Soul drew his sword, Angor Rot said to them. "You've kept your wits, hunter. Unlike the rider."
"What is he talking about?" Jim said to Soul, and Noah said to him. "It's Seth. His nightmare is not only of Angor Rot, but clones of him, one for each of our elements." Yes, what Noah was seeing while looking at Angor Rot was not only him, but a fire clone, a water clone, a wind clone, and an earth clone, but that one didn't look that different from the original. Jim pulled out his knives and they got ready to attack. But then Steve appeared, and Angor Rot used him as a meat shield. This caused them to hold off their attack, and Angor Rot got closer to them. "Gnome Blade!" Soul's Driver said as Noah switched Archer with Blade.
Once Angor Rot was close, he threw Steve away and attacked them. Because of Seth's nightmare, Soul was attacking the nightmare clones, because he saw them attacking from everywhere. "Seth! Let go!" Noah said as he tried to toss the sword to Jim, but Seth was too scared to let go. Angor Rot then grabbed Soul and smashed against Jim then the lockers over and over again. The damage caused Noah to return to normal, but that wasn't the worst. A pixie entered Noah's left ear, and the pixie showed Noah his nightmare. In Noah's nightmare, he was in chains and he saw his friends getting killed by Angor Rot. Noah freaked out, until he remembered that this was all the pixie in his head's fault. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Noah yelled as he hit his head on the locker. It got the pixie out, but Noah used too much force and knocked himself out. Angor Rot laughed and said. "This hunt is over, rider!" Angor Rot then raised Daylight, ready to kill Noah, but then Jim stabbed Angor Rot's right leg, causing him to scream. Jim then quickly grabbed Noah and used his weapon to hit the jar full of pixies. It released the pixies and as Angor Rot was dealing with them, Jim used that moment to escape with Noah, who was still knocked out.
Meanwhile back at Strickler's office. Seth woke up and hit his head. The impact caused the pixie to leave Seth's head. "You bug!" Seth said before he crushed the pixie. Seth saw that it was just him in the room, so after placing tissues in his nose and ears. He left the room with a box of tissues to find the others, who weren't having it any better with their nightmares. Claire followed Enrique to a locker that was someone like a suction vortex. And as for Toby, he was still getting running from his nana, who still wanted smooches from Toby. Once they were in the gym, Toby's nana started to hit him with dodgeballs. As Toby ran in fear, he hit a wall, which caused the pixie to fly out. Toby then left the gym, thinking that he figured out the cure first and was going to find the others.
However if Toby had stayed in the gym for a few more seconds, he would have seen Jim carrying Noah into the gym. Jim hid Noah, before he got ready to face Angor Rot alone. But before Angor Rot appeared, a pixie entered Jim's left ear. Now it was time for Jim's nightmare. In Jim's nightmare, he stood in an area with purple crystals, and was in front of Killahead Bridge, which was a glow with the light of the Trollhunters amulet. Jim took a step back, and hit something. Jim turned around and saw all of his friends and family turned to stone in fear. "Get a grip. This is a nightmare. Wake up, Jim! This isn't real!" Jim said to himself, but all that did was just remove the bridge and the statues of his friends. Angor Rot then entered the gym. Jim heard him, but the pixie wasn't making him visible.
Meanwhile, Seth found Toby, and gave him some tissues and they were trying to find Jim, Noah, and Claire. They had found Claire in a locker, screaming. Because of her nightmare, she followed Enrique inside, and felt like she was getting sucked in. They opened it, and pulled her out. "Sorry about this." Seth said as he slapped her hard across the face. That got the pixie out and Toby said to Seth. "Seth, a gentleman never strikes a lady."
"We don't have time for manners!" Seth said before Claire slapped him. "You deserve that." Toby said to Seth before Claire said to them. "Toby, Seth, what the heck is going on?"
"Angor Rot, released pixies, that make nightmares, into the school, and now are attacking Jim and Noah. Now place these in your nose and ear and let's go find them." Seth said as he gave Claire some tissues, and after they started looking for Jim and Noah. "There! There's Jim." Toby said as they saw Jim in the gym. Seth then said. "And Noah must be with him." Then Angor Rot appeared to them and locked the door to the gym. As Seth, Claire, and Toby tried to open the door. Angor Rot said to Jim. "May today be an example, hunter. Nowhere is safe for you, or your rider friend. You two are never beyond my reach. Even right here, protected by peers, nothing can stop me from getting to you two."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
"You know nothing of waiting. I've waited centuries to reclaim what is mine… what I lost." Angor Rot said before he attacked Jim. Angor Rot attacked Jim, causing Jim to lose a knife and hit the ground hard. The pixie left Jim's head and Angor Rot picked Jim up and twisted his right arm, dropping the other knife, and pointed Daylight at Jim's neck. Jim then said to Angor Rot. "What do you want from us?"
"I want you or the rider to get my ring. We share a common enemy."
"Strickler?"
"He wears the Inferna Copula. You or the rider will steal it for me."
"You want our help?"
"In return, I shall sever the connection between your mother and Strickler. We will both be free." Angor Rot said before he released Jim. Jim turned to Angor Rot and said. "Why should I trust you?"
"Because you have no other choice." Angor Rot said before he threw Jim's sword back to Jim, and then knocked him down with a headbutt. "The next time our paths cross, hunter, it will either be the end of Strickler, the rider, or you." Angor Rot then left the gym and disappeared. Once Angor Rot was gone, Seth, Claire, and Toby finally got into the gym and were checking on Jim and Noah. Meanwhile, Angor Rot was back in the sewers, and was chanting in a foreign language while holding the jar the pixies came from. Angor Rot's chant was recalling all of the pixies he had unleashed in the school, which was walking everyone one up.
As the sun started to set, Strickler had returned to the school, and there was cops and even teams of firefighters. The students were very shocked or embarrassed about what they saw, so everyone chose to forget about it and never speak of it again. Strickler found the female cop in charge of the situation, and he said to her. "I came as soon as I got word. What happened?"
"Looks like some kind of chemical leak in your science lab. That stuff can make you go pretty loopy."
"Please tell me no one was hurt."
"They're all accounted for, and no one was seriously hurt."
"That is great, very great indeed." Strickler said as he turned to Jim and Noah, who had ice packets on their heads, Seth, Toby, and Claire. Then Blinky arrived and found them just as Strickler turned back to the female cop. Blinky then said to them, as he was out of breath. "By Deya's grace! You're alive!"
"Blinky, why are you out of breath?" Seth said to Blinky and Blinky said to them. "Master Seth, I had to run the entire way with a lavatory stop or two. Also, Master Jim, your automobiles are the most obstinate machines."
"You what, I should teach you how to ride my bike in case you need a ride to an emergency, like today." Noah said before Blinky said. "I'll take those lessons, but that's not what matters. How did you, Master Seth, and Master Jim survive Angor Rot?"
"Angor Rot wasn't trying to kill us. He just wanted to make a point so we would help him." Seth said before Blinky said. "Help with what?"
"Have you heard of the Inferna Copula?" Jim said to Blinky while looking at Strickler. "Indeed, I have." Blinky said as they all turned to Strickler. Meanwhile in the sewer, Angor Rot had misted one pixie, and it had entered Angor Rot's head. Now it was time for Angor Rot's nightmare. In Angor Rot's nightmare, Angor Rot was crumbling to pieces, and inside was nothing. Angor Rot banged his head against a wall to get the pixie out. "Enough of this madness!" Angor Rot said before he crushed the pixie.