Once they met up, Jim and Toby walked away from the classroom and made their way to the bike racks, intent on calling Marinette like they always did. They soon reached the racks and pulled out their lunches, and just as they sat down, Jim's phone started buzzing.

'Right on cue.' Jim thought to himself.

"What do you think Marinette is going to think of the amulet?" Toby asked as he opened up his lunch bag to reach in and grab the meatloaf Jim had prepared.

"Only one way to find out," Jim said as he pulled out his own lunch, and opened up the video call, revealing Marinette on the other end. But there was something different about her.

"Hey boys, how's it going?" Marinette greeted them, waving at them through the screen.

"Hey Mari, we're doing good, but what's happened on your end? Plus, there's something different about you. Did you get a new haircut?" Toby asked, noticing Marinette's hair looked different, making the girl smile at the question.

"I'm glad you noticed. I went to a salon today with Juleka, and decided to dye the ends of my hair. What do you think?" Marinette questioned, as she twirled her hair to show the newly dyed hair ends.

Before, her hair was its natural color everywhere, but now, the ends of Marinette's pigtails were a fiery red, complimenting her blue eyes.

"It looks amazing. You look great!" Jim exclaimed before biting into his meatloaf.

"Thank you guys. I honestly thought that it would be too much at first, but I love the results. And things have been quiet over here. No akuma since Rogercop," Marinette reported, hopeful that things would continue to be quiet.

"That's good news. Seems like Hawkmoth is quieting down. He hasn't done a flux of akumas since before Lady Wifi,'' Toby brought up. It was ridiculous how much Hawkmoth took advantage of those people.

"Yeah, let's hope that he's taking a break for now. So how are you guys? Anything interesting on your end?" Marinette asked. Toby and Jim's eyes lit up at the question.

"You won't believe what we found in the canal while on our way to school this morning," Jim began, reaching for his bag, intending to pull the amulet out and show it to Marinette.

"What is it? A dead racoon?" Marinette asked, both as a joke, but also somewhat serious since she knew Jim would be happy to have one less raccoon in the neighborhood.

"No, but wouldn't that be nice? But what we found... was this," Jim continued, holding up the amulet to the phone to show it to Marinette, who's eyes widened at the intricate relic.

"Oh my... it's beautiful," Marinette gasped, as she leaned toward her screen to get a better look at the amulet in Jim's hand.

"It's pretty cool alright, but you won't believe how we found it," Toby remarked as he ate his meatloaf, peaking Marinette's interests as Jim put the amulet back into his bag.

"I'm listening," Marinette assured, as she backed away from the screen and sat back in her chair.

"So after we left home, we were running late for school, so we had to take the canal to save time." Jim explained, making Marinette fondly shake her head at him.

'Like sister, like brother.' Marinette thought to herself.

"I bet Toby hated that," Marinette remarked, looking over at the rounded boy as he ate.

"You have no idea. But it was worth it because when we got to the bottom, Jim found a pile of K-spar that wasn't there yesterday," Toby began as he finished off his meatloaf, leaving Marinette on the edge of her seat.

"A voice calling my name was coming from the rocks, and when we went to look, I found the amulet sitting in the rubble," Jim continued, explaining how they found the strange amulet in the first place, much to Marinette's curiosity.

"Did you say... is it 'called to you'? Do you think it's magic?" Marinette asked, starting to see what the boys were saying.

"Yeah, we think so. Is Tikki with you? She might know if the amulet is magic," Jim asked, hoping to have the kwami confirm their suspicions, only for Marinette to shake her head in response.

"Tikki is asleep right now. We've had a rough day, and she's so cute when she's sleeping," Marinette gushed, and also told them without actually saying it, 'Don't wake Tikki up for this'.

"Fair enough. Though what if it is magic?" Toby asked, wondering if the possibility was actually a reality waiting to happen.

"What do you hope for it to do? Turn you into a superhero?" Marinette asked, wondering what Jim wanted to happen if the amulet did end up being magic.

"That's exactly what I'm hoping for, I at least hope you guys will be able to recognise me if I do become a superhero, unlike you Marinette," Jim stated as he finished off his meatloaf, remembering Marinette's first time transforming into Ladybug.

Compared to her civilian look, Marinette's Ladybug form was very different. As if she knew to keep her identity a secret, Marinette's Ladybug appearance had lightened her eyes to a cyan instead of deep sapphire, added a blue tint to her ebony black hair, and had hidden her Asian characteristics to as if they practically were non-existent. So even if someone put a Ladybug mask on Marinette, they still wouldn't be able to make the connection too easily.

"Yeah, it's pretty useful. Though, a word to the wise... being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be, bro," Marinette warned, trying to give her older brother a piece of advice. But unfortunately for her, boys wouldn't listen until they saw it for themselves.

"Easy for you to say Marinette, you've already got a hero gig," Toby disagreed.

"You seriously think this is a game? I'm in charge of millions of lives over here in Paris. It's not something to take lightly. One mistake is all it takes, you guys," Marinette griped, trying to get them to see that being a hero wasn't a joke.

'Don't they pay attention to the akuma attack videos? We have real stakes, compared to that of comic books!' Marinette thought to herself.

"No, but it would be so cool to be a hero like you. Especially if this amulet turns out to be magic," Jim remarked, still not seeing what Marinette was talking about. But before Marinette could answer, the bell rang.

"Looks like you guys have to go," Marinette pointed out, much to the boy's annoyance. They had gym class next.

"Yeah, we better get going," Jim agreed, as he and Toby packed up their bags.

"Hope you guys survive Coach Lawrence," Marinette teased as they finished packing, standing next to each other to look at the screen.

"We can only hope. Bye Marinette," Toby fair-welled as he and Jim waved at their sister.

"Bye boys. And if the amulet turns out to be magic, remember what I've said," Marinette pressed.

"I will. See you tonight, Mari." Jim replied, as he continued to wave.

"Bye guys. Love you," Marinette said as she waved back, before she hung up. Once the screen went black, Jim put his phone back into his bag.

"She's got a point you know. Being a hero isn't all glitz and glamor," Toby remarked, understanding Marinette's warning.

'Hopefully Jim understands too,' Toby thought to himself.

"She worries too much. I'm sure if I ever became a hero, I'd do just fine," Jim assured before he entered the locker room, and left Toby in shock, standing at the door. But it only took a second to shake himself out of it.

"Oh boy, that attitude will change in the first few minutes on the job," Toby sighed before heading into the locker room himself, not eager to start gym.

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(Time Skip)

The two boys had changed into their gym clothes, and were currently in what Toby often referred to as 'Hell Incarnate' on the account of Coach Lawrence being very... intense about the subject he taught.

Today was no different as Toby tried to climb one of the ropes that hung from the ceiling.

"Hang on. Almost there. So close. So close!" Toby exclaimed as he struggled to lift his body up the rope, trying to reach the top of the rope to ring the bell.

"Come on, Tobes. You've got this," Jim encouraged. Toby had already managed to get three feet off the ground, what's a few more feet?

"So close!" Toby cried out, as he reached for the next hand hold above him, only for his arms to give out. The rounded boy fell to the ground, and the rope wrapped around his ankle, keeping him suspended in the air in embarrassment.

"What is that on my rope?" Coach Lawrence questioned as he walked towards Toby, while he groaned in exhaustion.

'So much for getting to the top today,' Toby griped in his thoughts.

"Every student here should be able to climb this rope and ring that bell," The coach explained in annoyance, while Toby continued to hang in the air.

"I want all of you to be made of iron. Iron!" Coach Lawrence exclaimed before poking Toby in the gut. Jim couldn't watch, and looked away from the... awkward scene.

"You have got to be kidding me. I don't know what I feel more sorry for. You or the rope," The coach ridiculed, not that Jim was listening as he was more focused on Claire as she sat on the bleacher with her friends.

Deciding to be bold, Jim walked over to Claire and her friends as they laughed at the video that was playing on the girl's phone.

"Buon giorno, (Good morning,)" Jim greeted, deciding to use his Italian as a way to boost his confidence. His greeting made both Claire and her friends look up from the video they were watching, and at him.

"You speak Italian?" Claire asked, surprised that he seemingly could. In fact, before now, she didn't even notice him unless he was staring at her when he thought she didn't realize. But at the question, Jim quickly lost his confidence and began stuttering like a fool.

"Come on Claire!" One of Claire's friend's suggested, having enough of Jim's nervousness. The other two girls agreed and started to walk away.

"Um... uh..." Jim continued to stammer. But as if by a miracle, Claire turned back to face him.

"Do you like Shakespeare?" Claire asked, breaking Jim out of his stuttering.

"What?" Jim questioned, not understanding what Claire was asking.

"Do you like Shakespeare?" Claire repeated.

"Shake...speare?" Jim asked, still not getting why Claire was asking until she pulled out a flier from a binder in her arms, handing it to Jim.

"The school play. We're having trouble getting boys to audition," Claire explained, to which Jim saw that the flier was for the school's play of 'Romeo and Juliet'. The boy was left surprised that she recommended he try out.

"Arrivederci, (Goodbye,)" Jim called out as Claire left, trying to make a good impression.

Meanwhile, behind him Coach Lawrence was still insulting Toby as he continued to hang from the rope.

"It's like a flabby pinata, and I'm pretty sure you're filled with candy!" Coach Lawrence shouted as Jim shook his head at the adult insulting his friend instead of helping him.

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(Time Skip)

Soon, gym class had ended, and the boys were in the locker room. They had already changed back into their normal attire, but as Toby tried to put on his sock, he started to have some difficulty because of his... rounded figure.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! So close! Ahhhhhhh!" Toby chanted as he struggled to put on his first sock, only to stop trying to catch his breath.

"You talked to her?" he questioned, not quite believing Jim had really talked to Claire.

"Yep!" Jim confirmed as he tied his shoe on, while Toby managed to get the tip of his foot into the sock. But he fell back from the bench and landed on the ground, trapped in the space between the lockers and bench.

"Like, actually spoke to her? Not just, you know, in your head?" Toby asked from the floor while Jim grabbed his bag and pulled out the amulet.

"I unleashed my Italiano on her," Jim admitted, looking back at Toby as he tried to get up from the floor while Jim held the amulet in his hand.

"Oh, no," Toby quietly groaned as he used momentum to squeeze out of the space between the lockers and bench, ending up on the floor.

"You should totally do it," The geology nerd encouraged, while Jim grabbed his bag.

"What? The play? I'm not an actor," Jim argued as he closed his locker door and sat on the bench.

"Come on. You're always saying how you want your life to be more exciting," Toby pointed out as he tried to put on the sock, only to fall back to the floor.

"Right?" The rounded boy asked from the floor.

"I don't think Romeo and Juliet is exactly the answer, Tobes," Jim admitted as he walked to the end of the row of lockers, while Toby got up from the floor.

"I don't mean just, you know, exciting. I mean... more. I just need to know that there's something more to life than high school," The boy in blue explained as he leaned on the lockers, looking at the amulet in his hand. Though he didn't say it, he was kind of jealous of Marinette.

'She has a higher purpose as Ladybug... why can't I have the same?' Jim wondered to himself. But his thoughts were interrupted when a shadow moved at the end of the locker row, drawing Jim toward it while Toby focused on putting his socks on.

"Something more?" Toby asked as Jim walked away, ending up at the end of the locker row, hearing some sounds from the shower room. Jim then walked to the steaming shower room, wanting to know what was the cause of the noises.

"Hello?! Anybody in there? Hello?" Jim called out, as he creeped closer to the shower room. He then peaked through the doorway to get a better look, squinting his eyes to see the shadow move again through the steam. Jim leaned forward, to try and get an even better look, when...

"Got one! Whoo-hoo! Finally! Success, success!" Toby shouted in accomplishment, shocking Jim out of his task. He left the doorway and filled the shadow away as paranoia.

But unknown to Jim, his suspicions were right as the steam cleared enough to reveal a tall, stone being with six eyes...

...The very same one from the canal that morning.

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Soon enough, they were outside and walking to the front of the school with their bikes, ready to go home.

"So, good news, dude. My orthodontist says I'm almost done with my braces. Only four more years," Toby celebrated as he and Jim walked toward the gates to freedom, only to turn at the sound of someone opening their locker.

When they looked, they saw Steve Palchuk, the resident school bully, and the boy Jim and Toby thought to be a boy version of Chloé Bourgeois. Which was both based on what they've heard from Marinette, and what they've seen from the sidelines when they visited Paris in the past.

At the momnet, he was terrorizing Eli Pepperjack by stuffing him into a locker with his snickering cronies present.

'Forget about being just like Chloé Bourgeois... he's probably worse since he's not afraid to get his hands dirty,' Jim thought to himself as they watched.

"Okay. Nothing to see here," Toby dismissed, trying to avoid becoming Steve's next target and soon-to-be victim.

"We can't just let him do that," Jim argued before figuratively signing his own death warrant and walking towards the bully and his goons.

"Oh, yes, we can. If Psycho Steve's terrorizing him, he's not terrorizing us," Toby pointed out, only to see Jim was walking to Steve.

"Jim? Jim! Oh, no," The rounded boy worried as he saw Jim walk to his own demise.

"Tell me again, dweeb-face. Tell me about the creatures and maybe I'll let you out!" Steve demanded, as he stood next to the locker that he stuffed Eli in, hitting it with his elbow to gain a reaction.

"Or you can let him out right now. I mean, you know, it would be nice," Jim argued, hoping to appeal to Steve's softer side; if he even had one; to let Eli go. But the bully turned around and glared at Jim like he had just kicked him in the face.

"Nice would be you minding your own business," Steve growled at Jim, looking like he was about to murder the poor boy.

"Oh, Hi Jim!" Eli greeted from his locker prison, only for Steve to punch the door again to shut the poor kid up.

"So, where were we? Um... Oh, yeah, okay. You were telling me about the monsters you saw this morning, with fangs and. What was it, again?" Steve questioned, recalling what the little conspiracy theorist had been raving about earlier and punched the locker door again.

"Stone for skin! In the canal!" Eli answered fearfully, trying not to incur Steve's wrath.

"Stone for skin? Man, Eli, you've got some imagination," Steve teased, as Jim put his bike down and decided to talk to Steve.

"Look, Steve, seriously, just let him out," Jim insisted, standing up for Eli and making Steve walk to him, and grab his jacket collar.

"Or you'll do what?" Steve asked as he lifted Jim up from his feet and towards himself, arm pulled back and ready to punch him.

"OK, do it. Punch me," Jim dared, causing a crowd to form. Toby, who had put his bike down earlier, panically ran through to help his friend, but stopped himself, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

"You... you're asking for a beating?" Steve questioned, not believing that Jim was acting this stupid.

"Yeah. Just go crazy," Jim taunted, causing Toby to panic even more as the crowd forming around Steve and Jim got bigger.

'Marinette is going to kill me if anything happens to Jim! And then kill Jim for getting in Steve's line of sight! And then kill Steve for even messing with her older brother! She's a superhero now... she could do it,' Toby panicked in his thoughts.

"In 20 years, you're gonna be fat and bald and you'll be working in a muffler shop. Meanwhile, Eli will have a career in software and he'll be a billionaire," Jim remarked as the crowd got even bigger, feeling more confident with each word.

"I do like computers," Eli admitted from the locker, making Steve punch it one last time to shut him up, while Toby decided to interfere.

'Screw whatever Steve does to me! My best friend is not getting hurt on my watch! Besides, I'm much more afraid of what Marinette would do to me if Jim got hurt,' Toby thought to himself before taking action.

"Let him out! Let him out!" Toby chanted, prompting the crowd to join in as well. The peer pressure the crowd was causing made Steve hesitate, but he was prepared to punch Jim senseless when Coach Lawrence burst through a door on the other side of the quad.

"Palchuk, what's going on here?" Coach Lawrence demanded, making Steve let go of Jim and put on his 'Good Boy' act as the teacher stood at the door he came out of.

"Uh, nothing, sir," Steve lied, scratching the back of his head in an attempt to seem more innocent.

"Why aren't you at practice?" Coach Lawrence questioned, causing Steve to reach for the locker he put Eli into.

"I was helping Eli, here," Steve fibbed, right before he opened the door, revealing Eli in a contortionist-like position.

"Hey guys!" Eli greeted with a wave from inside the locker, afraid to come out and angering Steve.

"He was stuck," Steve explained, turning to face Coach Lawrence who didn't care about what he was doing, only that he got back to practice.

"On the double! Now!" Coach Lawrance instructed Steve, leaving the conflict behind, allowing Steve to slam the locker door close again while he glared at Jim. The bully walked to Jim, and learned to whisper in the boy's ear...

"Friday, at noon. You and me," Steve challenged the now frightened boy, right before retreating towards where Coach Lawrence went.

"Tick-tock. Tick," The bully taunted as he wagged his finger in time with his words, adding more emphasis to his threat.

While Jim could only think that his life was going to end on Friday, his thoughts were interrupted when Eli knocked on the locker door. Jim reached for the latch and freed the conspiracy theorist from the locker... and made him fall face first to the ground.

"Thank you," Eli said from his spot on the ground, not minding that he landed on his face, and was just grateful to be free from the locker.

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(Time Skip)

By now, Jim and Toby were in the street, riding their bikes home, and still hung up about what happened earlier.

"That was awesome, man. Did you see how I did that chant? 'Let him out. Let him out.' I mean, you probably won't live past Friday, but it was awesome," Toby gushed, only for a car horn to interrupt the rounded boy's talking. They looked to see Barbara as she was leaving the house in her car.

"Good thing your mom's a doctor," The geology nerd pointed out as Barbara stopped her car, allowing Jim and Toby to pull up beside her.

"Hey, boys," Barbara greeted, tilting her glasses to readjust them as she smiled at the two boys.

"Hey, mom." Jim greeted back while Toby caught up to his best friend.

"Looking sharp, Dr. Lake," Toby complimented as he joined up with them.

"Thank you, Toby. So are you," Barbara greeted Toby, returning the compliment much to Toby's surprise.

"Oh! Does it show?" Toby asked, looking down at his body to see if his 'dieting' was really working.

"You're going to be out all night?" Jim asked, seeing that she was dressed for a night in the clinic.

"Dr. Gilberg is out with bursitis, & Dr. Lenz has a wedding out of town this weekend," Barbara sighed, knowing that she was the go-to in these situations.

"Okay, well, don't forget to bring your..." Jim began, before Barbara interrupted him.

"Dinner. Thank you." Barbara said with a smile as she pulled out the packed lunch Jim had made earlier, much to his satisfaction.

"Right. And try to find an oven to reheat it in instead of nuking. It takes all of the flavor & nutrients away," Jim nagged, trying to get his mom to take better care of herself. But that was right before he remembered that Mr Strickler had asked him to let Barbara know to call him.

"Jim, there must be a million things you'd rather be doing than looking after me," Barbara said as she put the paper bag away, and pulled Jim from his train of thought. He ultimately decided against telling his mom about Stricker's request, not wanting her to worry about him.

"Can't think of one," Jim answered with a smile when his mom faced him after putting her dinner away.

"Love you, honey," Barbara farewelled, right before she put the car window up.

"Bye, mom," Jim called out as Barbara left. Toby could only shake his head at their interactions.

"You mother your mother a lot," Toby fondly remarked, knowing that Jim does it often.

"Ha! See you tomorrow, Tobes," Jim farewelled before he got back onto his bike and rode toward his house.

"Hey, and by the way, don't use mayo on the sandwich. It's the wrong note," Toby called out as he followed Jim's example and rode home too.

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Soon enough, Jim had entered his house, walked into the living room, and tossed his bag onto the couch. He then grabbed the remote that sat on the coffee table and turned the T.V.

As the T.V played a commercial, Jim sat down on the couch, and took out the amulet. As he looked over it for most likely the millionth time that day, his phone started ringing.

"I am Gun Robot. Pick up your phone..." Jim's phone ringtone played. Taking it out, he saw that it was Toby calling him and answered.

"Hey, Tobes," Jim greeted as he placed his phone to his ear.

"Did it talk again? Did it do anything interesting?" Toby asked, wondering if the mysterious amulet had done anything more.

"Nope!" Jim reported.

"Toby Pie! Dinner!" Toby's Nana called out from the other end, causing Jim to wince, and pull the phone from his ear.

"In a minute, Nana! I've got to go. Text me if it does anything cool, or if Marinette tells you if Tikki knows about it," Toby requested while Jim kept looking over the amulet to find any more details he had missed.

At that, Jim hung up the phone before he changed the T.V. channel to a where a girl was fighting a robot. But his attention changed back to the amulet as it suddenly glowed a light blue. He immediately plopped onto the couch, his focus solely on the seemingly magic amulet in his hand.

"Um... Hi. How are you doing? I'm Jim. But then, you knew that because you spoke my name, which is... weird. Hello? Anybody in there?" Jim questioned, trying to get more of a reaction from the amulet, other than the pulsing blue glow he had at the moment. But when nothing else happened, Jim threw his arms down in defeat.

"And now, I'm talking to an inanimate object," The boy sights, realizing that he must look crazy to anyone if there was someone else in the room at the time, before lifting the amulet to his face once more.

"Come on! Talk again, or you are going up on eBay," Jim threatened, just before he heard a loud clatter from his basement. The sound made Jim set the amulet down on the coffee table, and walk to the basement door.

He opened the door, just before more clattering occurred.

"Raccoons!" The boy groaned out before he reached for a broom. Jim then slowly stepped down the stairs, stopping at the halfway point to scout out the room, finding rocks near the heater as a shadow quickly retreated.

Feeling slightly fearful, Jim made his way down more steps and onto the cold basement floor.

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Meanwhile in the living room, the amulet glowed, and an arm in the inner mechanism switched positions.

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Flicking on a light, Jim slowly moved around the basement, searching for the raccoons with the broom in hand. Catching his reflection in his jumpy state, he screamed before calming down after realizing it was just him moving in a mirror.

He continued to move deeper into the basement, when the light suddenly burst off, scaring Jim as he tightened his grip on the broom with a yell. Realizing no one was there, he sighed and took a closer look at the rocks by the furnace as 6 eyes opened in the darkness behind him, and a troll appeared right behind him.

"Master Jim!" The troll screamed in excitement, causing Jim to scream back as he jumped backward. He ended up bumping his head on a valve wheel connected to a pole for the furnace, wincing in pain. Just when he opened his eyes, the troll appeared right in front of him again!

"Master Jim!" The troll greeted excitedly, causing Jim to scream again before he bumped his head again as the troll came closer.

"We have found you!" The troll exclaimed, while Jim readjusted his escape path with another scream.

"I am known as Blinky," The troll, now revealed to be named Blinky, introduced as Jim backed away in a different direction than before.

But he was stopped by a stone arm blocking his path. Jim lifted his head up to find another troll, larger in size, towering above him.

"Hi," The larger troll greeted, causing Jim to scream again as he jumped away from the large troll.

"It's Aaarrrgghh!!! Three Rs," The large troll, now revealed to be named Aaarrrgghh!!!, exclaimed as Jim soon found himself cornered between the two trolls.

As they got closer, Jim dropped to the floor with a scream, holding his hands on his head to try and keep himself safe, while the trolls looked down at him in curiosity.

"Hmm. He says...Aaaaah...a lot,"Aaarrrgghh!!! pointed out, mimicking Jim's panicking with a confused look on his face.

"It's more of a yelp, I believe. A greeting, perhaps," Blinky concluded before he screamed in an attempt to greet Jim. But it caused another scream to erupt from Jim's raw throat as he got up from the ground to run away.

Unfortunately for him, Aaarrrgghh grabbed his legs and dangled him upside down as Blinky stepped closer.

"Master Jim, you have been chosen," Blinky exclaimed, revealing the reason why the two trolls were there. Aaarrrgghh!!! then lifted Jim up, making him cover his eyes as his body trembled.

"Hmm. Blinky, he looks scared," Aaarrrgghh!!! pointed out, seeing how Jim was reacting poorly to their presence.

"Uh, Aaarrrgghh!!!, my good fellow, would you mind? This is a moment of some solemnity," Blinky explained, trying to get Aaarrrgghh!!! to see that this was a delicate matter they were about to discuss.

"Hmm? 'Solembily'?" Aaarrrgghh!!! asked in confusion.

"It means serious and dignified," Blinky defined, hoping to continue his explanation soon.

"Hmm. Dig-oo-nified," Aaarrrgghh!!! attempted, before Jim spoke up from up in the air to stop his blood from rushing to his head.

"P-P-Put me down, please?" Jim asked, his voice shaking. Thankfully, Blinky silently gestured to put Jim down. Aaarrrgghh!!! followed the gesture, and gently put the boy down, then patted Jim's head as he let out another yelp.

"Thank you. Now, where was I?" Blinky questioned, trying to remember what he was talking about while Jim was pinned between them.

"Uh, "Master Jim... found you..." Aaarrrgghh!!! listed off.

"Yes. Thank you," Blinky said, grateful for the help before he started again.

"Master Jim, you have been chosen," The four armed troll proclaimed, while Jim tried to run. But Aaarrrgghh!! stopped him by blocking his path with his large hands, allowing Blinky to step closer to Jim.

"The Amulet of Daylight challenges you to ascend to the most sacred of offices," Blinky continued, as Jim trembled in their presence.

"Orifices? What orifices?" Aaarrrgghh!!! asked, mishearing Blinky, much to the smaller troll's slight annoyance.

"Offices. It means responsibility," Blinky explained, quickly helping his large friend before turning his attention back to the frightened Jim.

"Unbeknownst to your kind, there is a secret world, a vast civilization of trolls lurking beneath your very feet, hidden from view," The six eyed troll revealed, much to Jim's surprise as he tried to wrap his head around this.

"Tro... Tr-Trolls?" Jim stammered out, not believing that this was happening.

But then again, his sister dealt with supervillains empowered by magical butterflies sent out by a madman that got his powers from a piece of magic jewelry. So anything magical was highly possible.

"Trolls. Yes, trolls. And it is now your charge to protect them," Blinky explained, causing Jim to yelp in shock.

'Say what now?' Jim thought to himself.

"For you, Master Jim, are the Trollhunter," the four armed troll exclaimed, causing Jim to yelp again as Blinky made his proclamation.

"Trollhunter," Aaarrrgghh!!! repeated, much to Jim's horror and shock at the opportunity on his figurative doorstep as he was towered over by Aaarrrgghh!!!.

"This honor is yours to accept. So, what say you?" Blinky asked, opening his arms wide. But Jim couldn't get anything out, his eyes wide and his heart pounding. At least until he shook his head to focus on what was in front of him.

"I need a minute!" Jim exclaimed, before he ran to the stairs, and left the basement, closing the door behind him, and leaving the two trolls that invaded his house behind.

"Is that a 'yes'?" Aaarrrgghh!!! asked as he and Blinky stood alone in the basement, dumbfounded that Jim hadn't answered them.