After the boys got their new Gaggletack, they headed home after making their plan for the next day. Per routine, when Jim went to bed he had called Marinette and they had their usual catch up like always. This time however, Jim contacted her when Marinette was in the middle of her Work Experience field trip for school and she was in the process of making a pair of glasses for Jagged Stone. This also gave him the chance to tell Marinette that Claire invited him to her house, prompting her to congratulate him while also growing a little jealous that he was making great progress with his crush. He even told her about their new Gaggletack and his and Toby's plan to find Changelings the next morning, which got a little bit more criticism than Jim was expecting. But that didn't stop Jim and Toby from executing their hastily made plan.

They started off with one of Toby's lead suspects, Coach Lawrance, who he tested in gym class in the most spy-like way he could by climbing down one of the ropes from the ceiling. He was then followed by Eli, and Steve, who were suspects Jim had on his list. While Jim had actually tried the more direct approach with Eli, he had decided to have some fun with Steve and throw the Gaggletack at the blonde's head. After Jim's failed attempts, Toby had decided to eliminate as many suspects as possible and tried setting up a horseshoe stall before getting bored after an hour when no one even tried to play. Once an exhausted Toby cleaned up the stall, he decided to walk in a crowd of people to save time, touching everyone in his path with the Gaggletack but earning nothing.

Meanwhile, Jim used the time to talk to Marinette while waiting for Toby to finish up with the crowd. During that time, Marinette had filled Jim in about Pixelator, outlining every detail like she always did. When she told them about her right limbs being pixelated and making it harder for her to fight Pixelator, he was concerned about Marinette's state after the battle before she assured him that she was fine. After she wrapped up the battle part of the recap, Marinette also reported that Jagged Stone had really worn her shades during the concert that she attended that night, and honored Ladybug with a song written for her. To say that Jim was excited to hear about Jagged Stone using her custom made shades was an understatement. He couldn't or wouldn't help the whoop of joy that burst through his lips.

"That's amazing, Mari! I knew you could do it!!" Jim praised once he calmed down, leaning against his locker while he spoke.

"Thanks bro, that means a lot." Marinette replied, her cheeks reddening as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "But how are things going on your end? Any luck with finding any Changelings yet?" the pigtailed girl asked her brother, wanting to know about their day now that he heard about hers.

"Nothing yet. All the suspects we've checked have proven to be clean." Jim admitted, frustration leaking into his voice.

"I told you placing your hopes in a horseshoe was a bad idea." Marinette reminded Jim, a snarky tone filling her voice as she spoke to Jim.

"Yeah, but it's the best we've got so far, sis." Jim replied, trying to defend their plan even if it wasn't working.

"In any case, have there been any other issues?" Marinette questioned, her worry leaking into her voice while Jim fondly rolled her eyes at her.

"Relax, Marinette. There hasn't been anything else at all other than what I've already told you." Jim assured his sister, hoping that it would be enough to ease Marinette's worries.

"Good." Marinette sighed out. "But you will tell me if there is, right?" the designer asked, hoping that Jim wouldn't do anything stupid without telling her.

"Yes I will, Mom." Jim teased, immediately annoying Marinette.

"I don't act like a mom!" Marinette exclaimed, having enough of him and Toby saying she was the contrary.

"Yeah, you do." Jim stated, a smirk on his lips while he decided to put his unneeded books into his locker to keep his hands busy, placing his phone on the back wall of the metal cupboard..

"Hardy har har, idiot." Marinette fondly mocked with a roll of her eyes, which was quickly replaced by a smile on her lips at her brother's words just before Jim spotted Toby coming over to meet up with him. But when Jim saw the disappointed look on Toby's face as he drew near, he knew that his last attempt didn't go well.

"Any luck?" Jim asked Toby as he reached for his phone, hoping that his assumption was wrong.

"Nope." Toby replied, confirming the worse.

"Yeah, I struck out, too." Jim admitted, closing his locker before Toby saw Marinette on call.

"Hey, MariFairy !" Toby greeted, happy to see her again.

"Hey, Toby Pie! How have you been?" Marinette greeted with a smile, waving to him as well as she spoke.

"Tired! We've been looking for Changelings all day and have nothing to show for it!" Toby ranted, having so much of enough of their ongoing failure to find said Trolls that he missed Marinette calling him the nickname his nana called him.

"Hey, you guys will find one eventually. I know it!" Marinette encouraged, making both boys smile at her words before their collective gazes caught onto Strickler as he walked by a small group of girls nearby.

"You, uh, try this out on Mr. Strickler yet, Jim?" Toby questioned, once again bringing up the possibility to the brother and sister duo in front of him.

"Oh, come on. You really think he is one?" Jim countered, not liking that Toby was bringing this up again.

"Have you lost your mind, Toby!? Since when was that a possibility?" Marinette questioned, gawking at Toby when he made the suggestion. Like Jim, she was fond of Strickler too, and didn't like the sound of Toby insinuating that he was a Changeling when that could very well not be the case. But when she saw Toby look at the Gaggletack in his hand before looking back up at Strickler, she knew what the rounded boy was thinking of.

"Toby... don't even think about it." the pigtailed girl warned the geology nerd, only for him to completely ignore her and start walking towards Strickler. "JIM STOP HIM!" Marinette shouted, giving Jim only seconds to try and stop Toby from reaching their history teacher.

"Whoa, wait a minute, Toby! You're seriously doing this now!?" Jim questioned his best friend, stepping in Toby's way to stop him. "Think about what you're doing, dude! You could embarrass us in front of Strickler if you're wrong!" the Trollhunter exclaimed, holding his phone up into the air as he grabbed onto the horseshoe in Toby's hands.

"You two just don't want to admit that Strickler–" Toby argued before engaging in a tug of war between himself and Jim, the Trollhunter having a surprising amount of strength with only one hand on the relic.

"Toby, you're being ridiculous! Just let it go!" Marinette countered from Jim's phone, finding Toby's suspicions of Stickler to be unfounded and based on personal basis.

"She's right! Besides, I don't want you to upset anyone who grades our final exams!" Jim agreed as he kept pulling the Gaggletack from Toby.

"Fine! Okay, we'll do it later." Toby relented, letting it go and leaving the horseshoe in Jim's hands.

But just as the school bell rang, Toby decided to be petty and suddenly took the Gaggletack from Jim.

"TOBY!" Marinette shrieked in shock, only for Toby to coyly throw the horseshoe in Strickler's direction before Jim could grab it from the rounded boy. As a result, the relic landed just in front of the points of the teacher's shoes, causing Strickler to look at the teens with an unreadable expression present on his face.

"Whoopsy! Slipped." Toby fibbed, both Jim and Marinette glaring at him for his stubbornness before Jim looked back at his history teacher.

"Sorry" Jim quickly apologized before going to retrieve it. However, Toby moved his arm in front of his lanky friend, stopping him in his tracks so he could use the opportunity to their advantage.

"Uh, mind picking that up for us, Mr. S?" Toby asked from their side of the hallway, hoping that the teacher would do so to prove once and for all if he was a Changeling or not.

"Toby!" Marinette exclaimed, not believing that he was still being so adamant about his theory before Stirckler softly scoffed at Toby's request.

"And waste such idle hands as your own, Mr. Domzalski?" Mr. Strickler applied, understanding quickly what the object was.

"Our backs. Coach Lawrence put us through the wringer this morning." Jim responded with a strained chuckle, soon acting like his back was hurt and thinking that since Toby had already put the test in motion, they might as well get it over with.

Meanwhile, Strickler watched the teens with amusement, knowing full well what was going on. After all, ever since finding out that Jim was the new Trollhunter, it was a safe bet for Strickler to assume that with the familiar object lying in front of him alongside their useless excuses, the two boys were on the hunt for Changelings. Fortunately for Strickler, Claire interrupted the moment by picking up the horseshoe for him.

"Here you go, Mr. Strickler. Here's your horseshoe back." Claire said to the Changeling in disguise in an unsure voice, holding the object out for Strickler to take while Jim, Toby, and Marinette sighed in exasperation at the unforeseen interruption.

"Thank you, Ms. Nunez, but that belongs to Mr. Lake." Mr. Strickler corrected, gesturing to the two boys a few feet away from him.

"Oh. Well, that would explain the flying horseshoes." Claire remarked as she walked over to the boys, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "So not going to ask." the hispanic girl added as she handed the horseshoe to Jim, causing the boy to let out a chuckle while Toby; and now Marinette from Jim's phone, glared at Strickler as he came towards the group of teens.

"Take care of your back, Young Atlas. Such is the danger of carrying the world on one's shoulders." Mr. Strickler said to Jim, mocking the Trollhunter while Claire raised a questioning eyebrow at his words. Soon after Strickler had finished speaking, he walked away as Claire suddenly looked at the Gaggletack and then Jim.

'Something's going on here.' Claire thought to herself while Toby, Jim and Marinette; who Claire hadn't noticed yet, kept watching Stirckler as he left.

"Well that was..." Marinette began, now starting to believe Toby's suspicions to be true.

"Very suspicious." Toby replied, finishing off what Marinette was about to say.

"Suspicious?" Claire spoke up, finding their choice of words peculiar and causing Jim to slightly jump back at her voice when he realized that she was still there..

"Claire." Jim nervously greeted his crush, reaching his free hand to scratch the back of his neck.

"Still here." Claire said in response, still confused by what just happened while Marinette could see that it was her cue to leave.

"Okay, I'm out of here. Bye guys." Marinette spoke up, pulling everyone's attention onto her as she said 'goodbye' to her brothers.

"Bye, Mari" Jim farewelled his sister, waving to her before he hung up and put his phone away.

"Who was that?" Claire asked, curious as to who Jim was just talking to.

"Oh, just my sister Marinette." Jim replied, surprising the hispanic girl.

"You have a sister?" Claire questioned, not aware of that little fact about Jim until now.

"Long story." Jim responded, only to realize that he didn't know why she was still there with them. "So, what's up?" the Trollhunter asked, wanting to know how come she was still with them.

"You're still coming home with me, right?" Claire questioned, allowing Jim to remember their already made plans.

"Oh, right!" Jim exclaimed while a smiling Toby switched around so he would stand on Jim's left, pleased that his friend took a 'wild' step. "Claire and I are gonna go to her house... for math stuff." the blue-eyed boy explained to Toby, handing the rounded boy the horseshoe while not taking his eyes off of his crush before he and Claire walked off. Once Jim and Claire were gone, a chuckling Toby looked down at the Gaggletack in his hands, a scheming glint in his eyes.

"And, now, my horseshoe-shaped little friend, we expose the definite changeling in our midst." Toby muttered to himself, eager to enact his plan to expose the top Changeling suspect on his list. Which was fortuitous for Toby... since he had an appointment with said suspect after school.

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(Time Skip)

After school ended, Toby immediately made his way to the dentist, having needed one of his numerous check ups from his usual GP. Currently, Toby was lying in the dentist chair while Dr. Muelas cleaned and worked on the boy's teeth, humming to Spanish music that was playing quietly on the radio. While the dentist was distracted with everything, Toby had managed to pull out the Gaggletack from his pocket and managed to touch him with the relic after a little struggling. But when nothing happened, Toby was left shocked to not find that this evil man was in fact evil.

"It must work. Why aren't you working?" Toby groaned at the results, thinking it didn't work.

"Why don't I take that, sweetie? It's not very hygienic." Gladys; Dr. Muelas's assistant, said after she appeared by Toby's side, grabbing the horseshoe with a cloth before the dentist continued to sing and work on Toby's mouth. But during all of the rest of his appointment, Toby was left disheartened to find that his dentist was in fact a normal human after all.

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Meanwhile at Claire's house, Jim had arrived on the front porch and rang the doorbell after placing his bike near the door, soon waiting for his host to answer and let him inside. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long for Claire to pull open the door, smiling brightly at him.

"Hey!" Claire greeted Jim, letting him inside her house.

"Nice, um, casa." Jim complemented while he took his backpack off, setting it on one of the hanger rings on the wall next the the door.

"Thanks. Make yourself at home. I'm just making a little snack." Claire said before she walked off into the kitchen.

"Uh, okay!" Jim replied, following her before he spotted Claire's baby brother, Enrique, playing in his hanging bouncy chair and cooing happily. "Hey, and you must be Enrique." the Trollhunter greeted the baby, the little boy still bouncing while Jim tickled him, makingEnrique give him a large toothless smile in return. Happy that Claire's baby brother was eager to get along, Jim quickly looked towards the kitchen to make sure Claire was distracted before he pulled out his amulet.

"Enrique, hey! Look at this." Jim whispered to the baby, drawing his attention to him before showing him the amulet. "For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to make babies ogle." the blue-eyed boy continued, waving the amulet at Enrique as the baby looked at the relic in wonder.

"I hope you like guacamole. I put a little milk in it. Secret family recipe." Claire called out for the kitchen, prompting Jim to quickly hide the amulet before Claire walked back into the living room, a bowl of guacamole in her hands while Enrique bounced happily towards Jim. "Wow! He really likes you." the Hispanic girl happily noted when she caught her brother's movements as he reached for Jim's amulet and the tall boy himself. With a smile at Claire's remark, Jim let her lead him to the couch as he tucked the amulet in his pocket, soon noticing the large bowl Claire had brought with her.

"Hoo! I've never seen a bathtub of guacamole before." Jim exclaimed as he sat down on the couch across from Claire, who took a chip and dipped it into the guac as they sat down, taking a bit out of it while Jim spoke.

"I wish! I would totally take a bath in guac. It's so good!" Claire replied as she enjoyed her chip and guac, prompting Jim to do the same as she had done and reach for the chip to dip it into the guac. All it took was one bite for the Trollhunter's mouth to explode with the flavor of the snack.

"Mm! Oh, this is the best thing I've ever had." Jim cheered as he ate the chip, enjoying the flavor

"You're not just saying that?" Claire asked in an inquiring tone, tucking another strand of hair behind her ear as she took in Jim's praise.

"You know what? I hang up my chef's hat. You are the avocado master!" Jim proclaimed as he bowed to Claire, the two laughing just before Enrique cooed at them, catching their attention and causing them to share another laugh. Looks like the evening was shaping up to go really well for them.

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Back at the dentist office, Toby was finished with his appointment but was still in the dentist chair as he rubbed his cheeks with a groan.

"Okay. Patient's ready for clean-up. Good night, Gladys." Dr. Muelas said to his assistant, glad to be done for the day as he headed for the exit.

"Have a nice evening, Dr. Muelas." Gladys replied as she organized the dentist's tools on the cabinet near Toby, her boss leaving her and Toby alone. However, once he was gone, a wicked smirk appeared on Gladys's face while Toby stared up at the ceiling in frustration with a sigh.

"Stupid horseshoe. I really thought he would have been one." Toby mumbled to himself, his mouth still numb and making it hard to hear him.

"What's that, sweetie?" Gladys asked from the counter, turning her head to only briefly glance at Toby.

"Nothing." Toby replied, dismissing his earlier statement to prevent the assistant from prying anymore. "Wow, this novocaine you numbed my mouth with is really strong. I can't even feel my hands." the rounded boy remarked in a slurred speech, glancing at his hands while Gladys finally turned to face him, her wicked grin still on her face.

"That's because I didn't inject you with novocaine, dear. I hit you up with a potent paralyzer." Gladys revealed as she slaked over to Toby, her words immediately worrying the unmoving Toby.

"Why would you do that?" Toby asked in disbelief.

"Well, it's not everyday someone comes in with a Gaggletack. I had to do something to keep those chubby little legs from running away." Gladys elaborated, shaking Toby's legs for empathize and causing the boy to whimper in fear as he realized what she really was.

With his new information, Toby started squirming in his chair in hopes to fall out while Gladys had turned around to face the cabinet to reach for one of the dentist tools to start torturing the poor boy. Toby had managed to succeed in getting out of his seat, but as soon as he fell to the floor, an evil-smiling Gladys had turned back around and saw him on the floor. A gasp escaped Toby's lips when he caught sight of Gladys's feet coming around the chair, prompting him to try and roll away. Unfortunately for him, Gladys rounded around the chair and caught his escape attempt.

"Oh, my! We have to get you back in your seat." Gladys taunted Toby, venom oozing from her lips, while the geology nerd kept crying out in panic while trying to back away from her. "We have a lot of work to do." the disguised Changeling purred out, her eyes changing colors from white and blue to yellow and red as she advanced on a frightened Toby.

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Over at Claire's house, after the girl put her brother down for bed in his cradle, she headed back downstairs to join back up with Jim to start their study date. So while a monitor beside them showed Enrique sleeping, Claire had started trying to explain how to solve some of the more complex equations.

"See, the equation only contains powers of X that are non-negative integers. Does that make sense?" Claire asked after showing how to solve the equation on her laptop, only for Jim to glance at her in confusion.

"Is it supposed to?" Jim questioned, unsure of the correct answer to Claire's question.

"Nah. That's why it's called algebra." Claire joked, causing the two of them to share another laugh.

"Hey, thanks again for this. I-I feel... I feel really bad about what's happening with the play. I know it means a lot to you." Jim mumbled as he thanked Claire, looking down at his lap as he apologized for his recent actions. At his words, Claire only looked at him with a fond glance.

"Well, at the time I was mad at you. But then I remembered what you told me about how you've got a lot going on in your life." Claire admitted, assuring Jim that it was okay. "Especially when you've got even more on your plate now, right?" the Hispanic girl added.

"I do?" Jim worriedly questioned her, clearly concerned about what she had meant.

"Come on, Jim. You didn't think I invited you here just for algebra, did you?" Claire inquired as she closed her book and laptop, now focused on starting the conversation on what she wanted to talk about.

"Um..." Jim began, only for Claire to interpret him.

"You can't just write a letter like this and not expect a conversation." Claire continued, now holding up the opened envelope of the letter Jim had given her. How he managed to do so, she had no idea. But he was clearly shocked when seeing the piece of paper, if his eyes growing in size and nervous chuckle was anything to go off of. "You have to battle monsters? - Saving the world in which we know?" the Hispanic girl rambled on, looking at the letter in her hands and not noticing how every sentence made Jim cringe and unsure of how to respond now that the truth would be coming out.

"What monsters are you battling?" Claire asked out of concern. "I mean, we all have stuff we've got to go through. But are you in some kind of trouble?" the dark-haired girl asked, revealing that she thought that Jim was being more philosophical than literal.

"I... Yeah! Metaphoric. I was in an exploring stage. Not successful." Jim hastily replied, putting Claire's worries at ease.

"Your words are beautiful, Jim. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Claire responded, hoping to offer Jim some support while the tension fell off his shoulders in that exact moment. "There was also some sentimental stuff at the end that I thought was... kinda sweet." the Hispanic girl added, a blush appearing on her cheeks as she tucked another invisable strand of hair behind her ear.

"Really? Jim uttered in excitement, making Claire's smile grow a bit more as she nodded in response.

"If you ever need someone to talk to about 'the monsters,' you can talk to me. It can be our secret." Claire offered to Jim, hoping to be his confidant.

"Uh... Yeah, that would be great! So, on to problem 42? " Jim awkwardly stammered out, cleaning his throat before letting out another chuckle as he changed the subject, the two of them continuing their study session with the air cleared between them.

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Meanwhile at the dentist office, Gladys had placed Toby back into the dentist chair and reached for one of the tools that seemed to do the most damage and walked over to Toby. Unfortunately for the boy he couldn't do anything thanks to the paralyzer the Changeling had given him, only trying to squirm away from Gladys while his mouth was stretched by a blue holder, his tongue hanging freely.

"Nomura warned me about you kids. Tell me, who else knows about the bridge? That's why you're here with a Gaggletack, isn't it? To find out what we've been up to?" Gladys monologued as she turned to a screaming Toby, ready to inflict some torture onto him as she started her interrogation. Starting up the tool in her hands, the drill and the small circular saw start moving rapidly while she lowered it towards Toby, the boy's struggling beginning anew.

"Who else knows what we've been up to in Arcadia?" Gladys continued to question Toby, both unaware of Aaarrrgghh!!! and Blinky popping their heads up in the skylight window and seeing her slowly inch the weapon closer to Toby. Wasting no more time, Blinky opened the skylight and dropped from the roof, landing into the room in front of Toby to protect him.

"Halt, changeling! Or else my giant friend will tear you limb from limb!" Blinky exclaimed, prompting the larger troll to reach into the room to try and enter it. But he soon saw that he was having a hard time fitting through the small entrance, even bonking his head on the ceiling as well. When he found himself unable to not get inside, Gladys positioned herself into a fighting stance and snarled a now concerned Blinky. He had just nearly dodged Gladys as she lunged her weapon at him, leading to the Changeling to chase Blinky around the room before backing the six-eyed Troll into the room's painting of a sunset beach.

"Oh, it burns!" the historian yelped when he saw the painting, thinking it was real. But when he saw that he was fine, he realized the truth. "Oh, it's just a painting." Blinky sighed out, even taking the time to touch the mural before needing to run out of the way of approaching Gladys, accidentally knocking a tray of tools off of a cabinet next to him in the process.

When Gladys reached the spot Blinky had occupied just seconds ago, Aaarrrgghh!!! had managed to swing his large arm down into the room, only to feel the sharp bite of the drill when Gladys jabbed into the larger troll. From there, the chase continued and soon revolved around Toby, who still laid numb in the chair while Blinky used him as a shield of sorts. This continued until Aaarrrgghh reached down into the room again and grabbed Gladys's arm, keeping her from committing any more harm with the dentist tool in her hand. As the Changeling struggled to get out of his grip, Blinky spotted a large lamp above Toby and grabbed the light.

"Prepare to meet doom!" Blinky proclaimed before he pushed the lamp right at Gladys, hitting her in the face and sending her to the floor while sending her tool flying away from her hands. "Aha! Not bad for a historian!" the six-eyed Troll cheered, pleased with himself.

Picking herself up from the floor a bit, Gladys furiously wiped her lip of blood with a scowl, gritting her teeth as she blindly reached for her discarded weapon. But unknown to her, when Blinky had knocked down the tray earlier in the chase, it also had the Gaggletack on it too, which just so happened to be laying right next to her intended weapon.

So while she meant to grab the dentist tool, her fingers had instead accidentally found the Gaggletack, which Gladys didn't realize until she lifted it up to her eye level.

A shocked gasp escaped from the Changeling's lips before blue lightning appeared from the rusted horseshoe, showing her to those in the room in a burst of blue light. Both Toby and the Trolls watched in terror as she stood back to her feet with a nasty snarl, anger filling the Changeling to throw the horseshoe at Blinky who dodged the oncoming weapon with ease. But instead of the iron Gaggletack hitting a stone head, it knocked against the large blue containers near the room door, releasing the gas inside of them when hit.

"What's that?" Blinky asked Toby before turning to watch the gas rapidly fill the room.

"Laughing gas." Toby said before they all fell into a fit of laughter, followed by a trash can to fly at Blinky's head and knock him over.

While Aaarrrgghh!!! kept trying to wiggle through the window, accidentally breathing in the humourous smoke, Blinky had recovered from his earlier hit and used the smoke to make himself almost invisible to Gladysgro. Not engaged in battle, Toby tried to get the feeling back in his body while Blinky and Gladys started chasing each other again, making Toby spin around when they knocked into the chair as they passed by him.

"You foul-mouthed wench!" Blinky yelled at Gladysgro, still choking up laughter while the room kept spinning around for Toby.

While the boy kept watching the ongoing chaos, Toby realized that his body wasn't working and quickly put more effort into receiving his phone that rested in his back pocket. His effort was rewarded when he grasped the device in his hand and pulled it up to his eye level.

"Hey! Ha!" Toby cheered in a slur. With his latest achievement, he quickly dialed up Jim, hoping that he would get to them before Gladysgro could kill them.

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While Toby, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh!!! were fighting Gladysgro, back in Claire's house, Claire could hear Jim's phone ringing as it sat on the couch near him, the phone shaking from the vibrations. But she decided to not bring it up since she was more focused on the conversation she was having with Jim to tell him about his phone ringing.

"Have you thought about telling Ms. Janeth about whatever you're going through? Maybe she'd reinstate you as Romeo if she knew about it." Claire asked Jim as she sat next to him while holding a pillow between her chest and knees, abandoning their homework as she tried to help the boy and also hoping that Jim could be her partner again.

"Well, that could be... It's really hard to explain." Jim replied, the hispanic girl watching as he rested his hand on the back of the couch as he tried to explain what he was going through. But before he could even try to do so, his phone began to ring again, this time catching his attention.

"Oh, one sec." the blue-eyed boy said to Claire, reaching for his phone and answering it. "Hello?" Jim asked, pressing it to his ear.

Immediately, Claire watched as Jim's face went through a torrent of emotions the long he was on the call. But just after his eyes grew wide before he pulled the phone down from his ear to glance at the familiar phone number on the phone screen, he jumped off of the couch and surprised Claire.

"I have to go." Jim exclaimed, quickly hanging up the phone call before scrambling to get his things packed. Once he did, he rushed over to the door, only to stop and look back at Claire as she was startled by his sudden departure. "Thanks for the guac." the blue-eyed boy added right before leaving the house, closing the door behind him and leaving behind a now curious Claire.

"Fighting monsters again? Who are you, Jim Lake?" Claire wondered out loud, still looking at where Jim had once stood with an intrigued glare.

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Once Jim was outside, he grabbed his bike from Claire's porch and raced towards the dentist office. As he drew nearer to his destination, Jim quickly pulled out his amulet for his back pocket, ready to suit up for the battle that was sure to come.

"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!" Jim chanted for the amulet, quickly changing into his armor while blue smoke followed his trail as he passed through the streets. Arriving at the dentist office, Jim quickly jumped off his bike and let it fall to the ground before running into the building, pushing open the door to the operating space. But when he did so, the Trollhunter found the dentist office in a havoc while everyone in the room was under the influence of the laughing gas.

"What in the world?" Jim muttered to himself in disbelief, spotting Aaarrrgghh!!! hanging through the window with Toby riding the hanging lamp while Blinky and Gladysgro kept laughing away.

"Jimbo!" Toby smiled at the sight of his friend, waving to Jim from his unusual perch.

"Uh..." Jim trailed off, barely letting out a chuckle at his friend's demeanor before Gladysgro finally noticed him.

"The Trollhunter! Die!" Gladysgro yelled in her horrid voice, pouncing on him when he was distracted while Aaarrrgghh!!! and the rest of the group watched with worried eyes.

Thanks to the pouncing Changeling, Jim was thrown into the cans of laughing gas, spilling out the last of it and making everyone else begin laughing again. As they did, Jim had become more focused on the giggling Gladysgro as she jumped back at the Trollhunter, the boy gasping at the advance with shock before he summoned his sword. While gripping his sword in his fist, Jim punched the Changeling in the face, dazing Gladysgro enough for Jim to take the chance to swing his sword at her. In response, Gladysgro recovered from the hit and found the lamp Blinky had used on her, shining the bright light into Jim's eyes and leaving himself vulnerable when he covered his eyes from the light. Using the opportunity to her advantage, Gladysgro pulled Jim down to the ground before she leaped onto him, pinning him to the ground.

"Perish, you worm!" the Changeling evilly snarled, Jim struggling within her grip as he tried to escape.

As he struggled, Jim looked back at his friends and saw Toby; who had fallen to the floor earlier, and Blinky cowering in the corner, Toby holding a lamp out like a spear to defend themselves. But the more Jim looked at the lamp, whilst keeping Gladysgro from striking him with her claws, he suddenly remembered the night before when Draal had trained with him. Now remembering the advice he was given, Jim's armor started to glow the same way it did at that point while he kept struggling against the Changeling holding him down.

"Die!" Gladysgro yelled as she lifted an arm for the killing blow. As she did, Jim concentrated on his sword, the metal evaporating before appearing in his other hand as she bent forward to slice him open with her talons. But before she could even touch him, the sword pierced her skin.

Gladys let out a gasp as blue smoke sprouted from her stab wound, quivering in fear as lightning came out from her stone figure while she stumbled back from Jim in pain. Now free from her iron grip, Jim stepped back to his friends as they fearfully watched the scene in front of them. As Gladysgro yelped in pain, her mouth fell open as the blue smoke and lightning eloped her body before a large blast exploded through the room, the Changeling's life now ended. When the blast died out, it left dark smoke filling the room while everyone stood in places out of shock, gray smears coating their bodies while Jim looked like he had seen a ghost.

"There goes proof." Aaarrrgghh!!! muttered from his spot hanging upside down from the skylight, breaking the silence that occurred after Gladysgro's defeat while the smoke cleared.

"Oh, my gosh! She's in my mouth! Oh, my gosh!" Toby freaked out, immediately dropping the lamp in his hands and trying to clean his tongue of Gladysgro's remains while Jim realized what he had done.

"Oh, no! I killed our only evidence of changelings in Arcadia" Jim groaned in defeat as he pulled off his amulet, his face covered in soot while Blinky quickly stepped beside the boy.

"You finished the fight, Master Jim, and in self-defense, for that matter." Blinky said to Jim as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, assuring the boy that he had no choice but to kill the Changeling if they were to survive. "Vendel may continue to have his doubts, but we continue to have our lives. A fair bargain, I'd say." the historian reasoned, making Jim feel better about his actions.

"Just out of curiosity, what are you guys doing in Toby's dentist's office?" Jim asked, now realizing that Blinky and Aaarrrgghh!!!'s quick reaction time was a little unusual while a still freaked out Toby kept wiping off Gladysgro's ashy remains, Aaarrrgghh still struggling to enter the building.

"I thought it was possible that danger may come to either of you should you cross paths with the wrong changeling. So, we followed Tobias as a precaution." Blinky explained, only for the three of them to jump into the air when a loud bang occured. Looking to what had caused the interruption, the teens and six-eyed Troll soon saw that Aaarrrgghh!!! had finally dropped from the tight grip of the window and was in the room with them.

"And curious." Aaarrrgghh!!! added on to Blinky's words as he stood up from the ground with a pair of teeth, clanking them together as he spoke.

"About what?" Toby asked, eying the Troll's out of curiosity.

"You humans have a concept that is quite foreign to us." Blinky replied, only to lean into Toby's personal space. "Oral hygiene." the six-eyed Troll elaborated, breathing into Toby's face and causing the poor boy to gag at the smell of Blinky's breath. Upon seeing Toby's reaction, Blinky laughed once again, but soon saw no one else had done so, prompting him to stop and look around the room.

"Mm. Looks like we're officially out of laughing gas." Blinky realized, now seeing the room was clear of the hysteria inducing vapor. "We should depart." the historian decided, leading to both him and Jim to head out the door with Aaarrrgghh!!! following behind. But when he found that he couldn't fit through the small doorway, the larger Troll decided to climb back up the window.

"Hey! Uh, excuse me, wait! Look at this place." Toby exclaimed, appalled that everyone else was all for leaving the place a disaster and making them stop in their tracks "Do you have some magic artifact that can clean up this mess?" the geology nerd asked, hoping that there was an easy fix to this.

"Yes. I believe it's called a 'broom'." Blinky said before he walked off to a supply closet, opening it up to grab some of the cleaning instruments inside before passing them amongst the group. "I was afraid you'd say that." Toby groaned, not happy that they had to clean up their mess by hand. But regardless of his personal preferences, he joined Blinky, Jim and Aaarrrgghh!!! As they all started cleaning up, hoping to get done soon so he could head home and forget this botched dentist appointment ever happened.

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In the town's museum, Stirkcler was entering the exhibit where the Killahead Bridge was located and spied a group of goblins working on pulling the hidden pieces of the Killahead Bridge from under the floor. As they did, they formed a chain and passed the pieces down along it to the goblins assigned to rebuilding the bridge, all while Strickler had walked past as he made his way to a supervising Bular. But when Strickler had reported that Gladysgro and Pierre's top agent had been slain, Bular seemed to not care less.

"The female impure served her purpose. She already brought us the stones from Madagascar. Her job was done." Bular dismissed, waving the matter off and infuriating Strickler. "But your college in Paris should have assigned someone better to keep an eye on that girl associated with the Trollhunter. Tell him to assign another one and be done with it." the dark Troll finished before turning back around to walk away from Strickler and focus on the rebuilding bridge.

"I'd advise you to care for those you employ. Gladysgro is one of our kind's most ruthless interrogators, and Piere's agents are the best in their field." Strickler spoke in a cold voice, glaring at Bular as his reluctant partner stepped towards the uncompleted bridge. Whilst he wasn't close with them, they were still his fellow species and felt offended on behalf of his slain comrades at Bular's indifference.

"Care? I only care to find the stones so my father can escape this wretched prison." Bular scoffed at Strickler, not caring at all of the loss of the Changelings despite his partner being as such. But before Bular could continue his monologue, they heard the Fetche activating. Strickler had turned around just in time to see the portal glow green before a stone fell out and landed at his feet, spotting a message scrawled on the stone as he picked it up.

"It appears Nomura has gotten her way. Another changeling has been chosen." Strickler reported to Bular once he finished reading the message, the dark troll walking over to him before he let out a sinister laugh. "And look who it is." the Changeling remarked with amusement, both him and Bular grinning at the news of their new ally.

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On the other side of the world, things were getting interesting with the Parisian superheroes. Prior to their arrival to Notre Dame, Marinette had her usual call with Jim and was filled in on the effectiveness of the Gaggletack, which fully convinced her that it was legit. So when she and Chat Noir met up for patrol, Ladybug took them to Master Fu's and regaled the story Jim had told her of what happened in the dentist office to them, sans using the boy's names. Like how Ladybug was when first hearing about the Gaggletack, Chat Noir had been skeptical too, but he trusted his partner and joined her when she said that she knew someone who could possibly help them. This led to Ladybug and Chat Noir arriving at Notre Dame and making their way to the alcove entrance of Stone Arc, making sure that there wasn't anyone watching the entrance.

"Okay, the coast is clear." Ladybug reported before walking out from behind the corner they were hiding behind, Chat Noir following behind her.

"So, how exactly did you stumble upon this supplier of artifacts in Stone Arc?" Chat Noir asked as they walked into the alcove, his curiosity growing the closer they got to the entrance.

"It's a long story. But I'll tell you more later." Ladybug replied when they reached the wall, placing her palm onto the stone. "If anyone has the possibility of having some Gaggletacks on hand, it's them." the spotted heroine added as she pulled out her yo-yo and took her Horngazel out from within it.

"I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that a horseshoe can reveal a Changeling on contact." Chat Noir commented as he watched Ladybug stab the wall with the crystal key, drawing the entrance outline into the stone. "It just seems so crazy when you think about it." the feline hero added, making Ladybug snort in amusement at his words.

"We live in a world where magic exists. It shouldn't seem too out of the realm of possibility." Ladybug remarked with a side glance at her partner, punching the wall and causing the doorway to start opening up.

"Touché, M'Lady." Chat Noir countered with a smirk, watching as the doorway fully opened up, letting them enter the cavern.

Once the entrance closed up behind them, the cavern was plunged into darkness before the red crystals surrounding the space lit up as Ladybug put her Horngazel away. With the key to Stone Arc safe in her yo-yo, the two heroes walked to the stairs leading to the Trollmarket, descending into the cavernous stairway once more. The two heroes then continued climbing down the staircase in silence, still left in awe of their situation before they reached the bottom and were greeted by the hidden city of Stone Arc.

"Ah, it never gets old seeing this place!" the feline hero breathed out in amazement, the two heroes walking out to the observation area of the staircase entrance to gaze out at the wondrous city of Trolls below them.

"No denying it, kitty." Ladybug agreed as she stood beside him, once again staring out at the city before focusing back onto the task at hand. "Come on, we have a stop to make before heading to our actual destination." the spotted heroine said as she turned away from the view, heading over to the next set of stairs that led to the actual market.

"Where to?" Chat Noir asked, following Ladybug's example and joining her in descending the steps.

"Master Fu asked me to see if I could also get a list of potion ingredients while we're down here too. So we need to go to someone else I know that sells stuff like this." Ladybug explained to her partner as she once again grabbed her yo-yo, pulling out the list she was given from within her weapon and showing it to Chat Noir as they walked.

"Pretty bizarre list if you ask me." Chat Noir said after glancing at the list, soon squinting his eyes to read the list again to make sure he was reading it right. "What even is this last one?" the hero in black questioned as he showed the list to Ladybug, pointing to the bottom of the paper.

"No idea. But Master Fu needs it, so we're getting it." Ladybug admitted before taking back the list.

"So who exactly are we seeing first?" Chat Noir asked as they kept walking, only for Ladybug to see that they were near Nox's stall.

"You're about to find out, cause we're here." Ladybug replied as she pointed to the stall ahead of them, making them pick up the pace a bit to arrive all the more faster. "Hey, Nox!" the spotted heroine greeted as they walked up to the stall, causing the large dark blue troll to look up from his cleaning to spot her and Chat Noir.

"Ah, Mistress Ladybug! So good to see you again!" Nox replied with gusto, a smile on his face when seeing Ladybug. Said smile only grew wider when seeing the boy in black standing next to her. "And I see you brought your partner with you this time." the shopkeeper remarked.

"That I did. Nox, I'd like to introduce you to my partner, Chat Noir." Ladybug announced, starting the introduction between hero and Troll. "Chat, this is Nox. Fine purveyor of quality potion ingredients here in Stone Arc." the heroine in red continued, gesturing to each respective party while she spoke.

"Nice to meet you, Master Chat Noir." Nox greeted the feline, abandoning his cleaning cloth to hold out his hand to Chat Noir.

"It's nice to meet you too, Nox." Chat Noir replied, shaking hands with Nox. "I got to say, I didn't think M'Lady had so many more friends down here in Stone Arc." the feline hero voiced, finding the fact of ladybug knowing a few people in Stone Arc quite interesting.

"It just sort of happened." Ladybug admitted as she looked to her bottom right, bashfully scratching the back of her neck.

"In any case, what can I do for you?" Nox asked, eager to help them.

"Well you're in luck this time around, cause the Guardian asked me to pick up some potion ingredients for him." Ladybug revealed, looking up from the floor and redirecting her focus onto the shopkeeper. "Here's a list of what he needs." the red heroine said as she held out the list to Nox, the Troll gently taking it from her hands before looking it over.

"Quite the array of items." Nox remarked, impressed with the variety the Guardian was asking for. "Luckily for you, I have all but one of these items." the shopkeeper continued as he reached for a quill, scribbling on the list before handing it back to Ladybug. One look at the newly edited list, Ladybug and Chat Noir could see the circled ingredient Nox claimed he doesn't have, the last item on the list.

"You might want to ask Styx if she has that last one." Nox finished before heading into his shop to get the ingredients he had available.

"I guess it's a good thing we're also looking to visit her as well." Ladybug admitted, tucking the list back into her yo-yo as she spoke. "Do you know if she's in today?" the spotted heroine asked the shopkeeper, hoping that it was the case.

"That she is. And having a rare slow day at that." Nox called out from inside his backroom area, gathering the potion ingredients. "You two got lucky." the dark blue Troll added.

"Sounds like we did." Ladybug said, glad that her Ladybug Luck had struck again while Chat Noir looked at her in questioning.

"Wait, I'm confused. Who's Styx?" Chat Noir inquired, not recognising the name that Ladybug had said.

"She's the person that you go to when you need to acquire hard to find things." Ladybug explained, realizing that she hadn't said Styx's name until now.

"It's true. She's quite profitable for it, too." Nox confirmed as he walked back to the front, the ingredients in his arms before he placed them onto his front counter to quickly pack them up.

"And she's also the one we're going to see after we're done here." Ladybug elaborated, just before Nox moved the now filled box of ingredients on the counter to stand right in front of the two heroes.

"That should be everything." Nox announced, placing his hands on his hips. "I even added something extra that the Guardian might appreciate." the shopkeeper said, pointing to a small vial of unknown ingredient on the left side of the basket.

"Thank you, Nox" Ladybug thanked as she pulled out her yo-yo again, opening it to reach inside to pull out some of the money she still had left, giving it to Nox.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Ladybug." Nox sang as he took the money, putting it into his pocket while Chat Noir grabbed the box from the counter. "And you actually caught me at a good time, too. I was just about to close up early." the shopkeeper revealed as he started closing up, grabbing his cleaning rag to finish cleaning the counter.

"How come? Are you having a slow day too?" Chat Noir questioned, a little curious as to why Nox was clocking out while Ladybug put her yo-yo back onto her waist.

"No, I actually have what you humans call a date in the next few minutes." Nox admitted nonchalantly, causing both Ladybug and Chat Noir to perk up at his words.

"Really!?" Ladybug & Chat Noir exclaimed, smiles appearing on their faces.

"Nox, that's great! I'm so happy for you!" Ladybug cheered, her joy becoming infectious to those around her if their widened smiles had anything to say.

"Thank you, Mistress Ladybug." Nox thanked, glad that she was being so supportive. "But if you don't mind, I would like to head home so I can freshen up a bit." the dark blue Troll said, finishing up his cleaning before walking from out behind his counter.

"Fair enough, dude. Can't keep the lucky gal waiting." Chat Noir remarked, seeing the wisdom in Nox's request.

"While I appreciate the encouragement, Master Chat Noir, my date is not a female but a male." Nox corrected, immediately sending Chat Noir into a panic.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Chat Noir exclaimed, afraid that he offended Nox.

"Quite alright. I see that I was being a little too vague just then." Nox assured, an amused smile on his face as he covered up the front of his stall with a tarp to tell others that he was closed.

"So who is the lucky guy?" Ladybug questioned, now even more curious as to who Nox was meeting up with.

"If you must know, it's Tarnite." Nox answered as he finished closing up the shop, tying down the tarp to make sure it wouldn't fly away.

"Seriously!? That's amazing!" Ladybug squealed, recognising the name right away and now seeing just who was the ambassador's type.

"Wait, are we talking about Ambasador Tarnite?" Chat Noir asked, double checking he was thinking of the same Tarnite that Nox was talking about as to avoid another potential offending of the dark blue Troll.

"The very same." Nox confirmed, turning around from his shop to face them with a bright smile. "Now I better get going. And you two should do so as well." the shopkeeper chided the two teens, prompting them to remember that they had other places to go during their visit.

"Right, you make a good point." Ladybug reflected, watching as Nox started walking towards his home. "Thanks for your help, Nox!" Ladybug thanked once again, she and Chat Noir walking the opposite way.

"See you later, Nox! Hope your date goes well!" Chat Noir shouted out as they started walking down their own path, now beginning to head over to Styx's stall. "He seems like a good guy!" the hero in black voiced as they walked, readjusting his grip on the box in his hands as he spoke.

"He is. Otherwise Styx wouldn't be friends with him." Ladybug added, much to Chat Noir's surprise.

"Styx and Nox are friends?" Chat Noir asked, intrigued by the new information.

"18 years now from what I can remember." Ladybug recalled as they kept walking, placing her hand on her chin in thought as she remembered what Nox had told her from the last time she had visited.

"Wow, that's a long time." Chat Noir breathed out, impressed by the length of time Styx and Nox knew each other for.

"Indeed." Ladybug agreed, the two of them still walking.

"So, this Styx character... what's she like?" Chat Noir asked, hoping to get some more information about the aforementioned Troll.

"She's great! Nice, caring and quite playful at times too. For a Troll, she's really easy to get along with." Ladybug regaled, finding Styx quite the great person from her first interaction with her. "Same with her ward, Maray." the spotted heroine added, a fond smile appearing on her lips when remembering the little red Troll.

"She has a ward?" Chat Noir questioned, his curiosity growing the more he learned about Styx.

"Yep. She's been in Styx's care since she was a newborn after she found her in a forest 8 years ago." Ladybug explained, revealing more about both Styx and Maray. "Plus, she doesn't like being left with babysitters when Styx needs to go out for supply runs, which is how I met her the last time I was down here. But she's a delight to be around." the red heroine revealed as they kept walking, voicing her opinion of the little girl from her last visit.

"Wait, 8 years ago? How is Maray so active?" Chat Noir asked, his curiosity growing even further the more he heard about them.

"What do you mean?" Ladybug questioned, a raised eyebrow directed at her partner as they kept walking.

"I've recently been able to research a bit about the Trolls, thanks to Plagg." Chat Noir admitted, revealing one of his new hobbies as of late to Ladybug. "And he said that Trolls don't gain control of their... call to nature, until they are 16." the feline hero said, repeating what Plagg had told him in a more appropriate way for a lady to hear.

"Their 'call to nature'?" Ladybug repeated, only for her eyes to widen when realizing what he meant. "OH! Ew!" the spotted heroine recoiled, finding that information gross as well as informative.

"Yeah, I know." Chat Noir replied, a tired look in his eyes when he explained. "So how come this Maray character; who is eight human years old, is so active?" the hero in black questioned again, making Ladybug look to the side as she thought about it.

"I'm not sure." Ladybug answered. "But like I said, Maray was a newborn when Styx found her. So who knows what her birth parents were like." the spotted heroine added, bringing up that little factor in Maray's past and quelling Chat Noir's curiosity for the time being.

"Well regardless of their curious nature, they sound like nice people. I can't wait to meet them!" Chat Noir cheered, now eager to see these two Trolls the more Ladybug talked about them.

"You're in luck. Styx's shop is just around the bend." Ladybug replied just as they round said bend, soon seeing Styx cleaning up the front counter of her shop like Nox had done.

"Is that her?" Chat Noir asked, pointing to Styx with one of his fingers as he still kept a hold of the box of ingredients.

"Yep, that's her." Ladybug confirmed before they walked over to the shop, allowing Styx to hear their footsteps and look up to see them approaching.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ladybug!" Styx greeted the two heroes, abandoning her cloth on her counter. "While it's good to see you again, I didn't think it'd be so soon." the white Troll admitted as she walked out from behind her front counter to meet them halfway.

"It's nice to see you too, Styx." Ladybug replied, a smile on her lips. "I hope you don't mind that I brought my partner with me this time." the spotted heroine said as she gestured to her partner, making Styx look to see Chat Noir standing next to Ladybug.

"I don't mind at all." Styx assured, a smirk on her lips before focusing her attention onto the feline. "It's an honor to meet you, Chat Noir. My name is Styx, and I'm the owner of this shop." the shopkeeper said, introducing herself as she held out her hand towards Chat Noir.

"It's very nice to meet you, Styx. I've heard a lot about you from M'Lady." Chat Noir responded in kind, taking Styx's hand and shaking it firmly after rearranging his hold on the box of ingredients in his arms.

"Has she now?" Styx questioned before she slyly glanced at Ladybug, making her blush a bit while Chat Noir pulled back his hand and held the box with both limbs again.

"He was curious about you when I mentioned that you know how to get difficult things." Ladybug elaborated, tucking a stray hair behind her ear as she looked off to the side.

"I see. So he's a curious little kitten then, huh?" Styx teased, causing Chat Noir to roll his eyes at the jab while Ladybug giggled, looking back up from the floor and back at Styx and Chat Noir. "So, what can I do for you this time?" the magic caster questioned as she turned around and entered the shop, the two heroes following behind her.

"A few things actually." Ladybug replied as they walked into the shop, taking note of Chat Noir marveling at the interior of the shop. "By the way, where's Maray?" the heroine in red asked, not seeing the red Troll anywhere in the shop.

"In the back room looking for some ingredients. Why?" Styx answered, turning her head to look back at the heroes after reaching the cauldrons in the middle of the shop.

"Well... remember what you said the last time I was here?" Ladybug reminded Styx, gesturing at a still marveling Chat Noir with her head.

"Ohhh, I see!" Styx exclaimed, now seeing what Ladybug was implying. "Are you sure? Maray can get a little overexcited at times." the white Troll warned, knowing exactly how her ward would act when seeing her favorite hero.

"He can handle it. Don't worry." Ladybug assured Styx, waving off the Troll's warning.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." Styx relented before walking towards the back of the shop, pulling Chat Noir away from his awed observing when hearing her words.

"Warned us about what?" Chat Noir questioned, a curious look on his face while Ladybug walked over to him.

"You'll see in a minute." Ladybug replied as she took the box from his hands, placing it onto the floor next to one of the parlor seats while Styx reached the back wall of the shop. A second later, she placed her hand onto the wall and pushed it in, opening up a hidden door near her detailing desk.

"Maray, can you come out here please? There's something really special out here!" Styx called out into the newly revealed back room, sticking her head into the doorway.

"Coming!" Maray yelled back, a clambering soon heard from the room before Styx stepped back to let Maray come out with a basket in her arms. "I couldn't find the powdered fairy wings yet, but I did manage to find the-" the eight year old reported as she pointed to the respective ingredients, only to look up and see both Ladybug and Chat Noir standing next to the parlor.

"Ch... chimera fangs." Maray trailed off, her arms going slack and letting the basket drop to the floor. But thankfully for her, Styx used her magic to catch the basket before it hit the ground, the basket now surrounded by a soft black glow.

"Maray, I'm sure you're excited. But could you be a bit more careful with these? I only have a limited amount before my next supply run." Styx lectured as she levitated the ingredients to her detailing desk, placing them safely onto the tabletop.

"Sorry, Styx! It's just.... AAAAHHH!" Maray screamed in excitement before running over to the heroes, quickly tackling Chat Noir.

"WOAH!" Chat Noir yelped at the impact, wrapping his arms around Maray out of instinct before landing on his back on the ground, Maray hugging him to death while both Styx and Ladybug giggled at the scene in front of them. "Wow! You are full of energy, aren't you?" the feline hero remarked while short of breath, looking at the little Troll girl on top of him.

"I might have failed to mention... out of the two of us, you're Maray's favorite." a giggling Ladybug told her partner, leaving Chat Noir in a state of pleasant shock.

"Really?" Chat Noir questioned, surprised with the new knowledge.

"HECK YEAH! YOU ARE THE COOLEST!!!" Maray cheered as she kept hugging Chat Noir. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M MEETING MY FAVORITE HERO!!" the red Troll exclaimed as she nuzzled into the feline's chest, making Chat Noir smile in response.

"It's nice to meet you too, Maray." Chat Noir greeted, a small chuckle escaping from his lips.

"HE KNOWS MY NAME!!" Maray squealed before she hugged him even tighter, nearly making all the air in his lungs leave.

"Maray, let the poor boy come up for some air." Styx said to her ward, a little concerned by the way Chat Noir's face started to turn pale.

"Oh right! Sorry!" Maray apologized, quickly releasing Chat Noir and letting him sit back up.

"Thank you." Chat Noir managed to say, taking a deep breath before getting a closer look at Maray and Styx. "Wait a minute, I recognize you two. I think I waved to you guys when Ladybug and I first came to Stone Arc." the hero in black released, now realizing where he had seen the two Trolls before.

"That's right." Styx confirmed with a smile. "Needless to say, you left a big impact on my ward." the shopkeeper added, all while Maray started hugging Chat Noir's torso, not needing to crouch due to how short she was at the moment compared to him.

"It's nice to know that I've got a fan down here. It just made Stone Arc a whole lot more enjoyable!" Chat Noir cheered, making Maray squeal and hug him tighter in response.

"Careful, Chat. You might break her at this rate." Ladybug chided her partner, now seeing why Styx had warned them.

"In any case, what can I help you with?" Styx questioned Ladybug, redirecting the group's focus back onto why the heroes were in her shop.

"Well first off, the Guardian needs more potion ingredients." Ladybug began, reaching for her yo-yo once again."We already got most of them from Nox, but he said to come to you for the last one." the spotted heroine explained as she reached into her yo-yo and pulled out the list, handing it to Styx so she could read it and see the circled ingredient.

"Hmm, melted snow from the Mountain of Jubilation. Pretty hard to come by." Styx thought to herself out loud, not surprised that the Guardian was looking for that item.

"Do you have any?" Ladybug asked, Chat Noir still sitting on the ground with Maray hugging him.

"You should know the answer to that one, Ladybug." Styx slyly replied before she raised her hand into the air and waved it around, making a container become surrounded by her signature black glow and fly out of one of the cupboards into her awaiting hand. "This enough?" the magic caster asked as she held out the container to Ladybug, who smiled at the item.

"Plenty! Thank you!" Ladybug exclaimed, taking the container and walking over to the box of ingredients to place it inside with the other items. All the while Chat Noir was once again left in awe of the display he just witnessed.

"That was... how the heck did you do that!?" Chat Noir exclaimed, not believing what he just saw Styx do

"Styx has the ability to use Old Magicks." Maray explained, still not letting go of Chat Noir. "But this is nothing compared to what I've seen her do." the eight-year-old added, proud to talk up Styx's abilities.

"It's true. What you just saw was a parlor trick." Styx confirmed, a hand on her waist as she spoke. "You should see me use magic in a shopkeeper turf dispute." the shopkeeper commented, a sly smirk on her face before turning to her numerous cabinets.

"Is there anything else you came in for?" Styx asked before heading over to the closest cabinet, soon sifting through the vials and bottles and looking for something.

"Yes, actually!" Ladybug replied, looking away from the ingredient box and back at Styx. "I was wondering if you had any Gaggletacks in stock." the heroine in red said, her words causing Styx to nearly drop the container she had in her hand out of shock when hearing the familiar artifact.

"A... a Gaggletack?" Styx stammered out, turning to face the heroes while Chat Noir managed to get back up onto his feet, Maray hanging onto his neck while keeping herself on his back and wrapping her legs around his waist. "Why are you looking for one of those?" the magic caster questioned, concerned about their reasons for asking/looking for such a totem.

"I'm always in contact with the Trollhunter, and he recently got his own Gaggletack to find Changelings in Arcadia." Ladybug explained, revealing the hero's need for the totem. "I was hoping that Chat Noir and I could get some for ourselves in case we run into any shady types here in town." the spotted heroine continued, much to Styx's continued concern.

"Fair point, I guess." Styx sighed out, now seeing the logic behind Ladybug's thinking. "Well unfortunately for you, I don't have any in stock at the moment. I did at one point, but I traded them with RotGuts for Basilisk venom years ago." the white Troll explained in slight nervousness, rubbing the back of her neck as she spoke.

In truth, she was lying about why she didn't have Gaggletacks. The reason was mostly since she was a Changeling and didn't want to be caught when selling them, but there was another reason to it as well. Styx also had some friends and other people she knew that were either Changelings or connected with them, so to keep those certain people safe from any future investigations with said Gaggletacks, she made it a point to not have them on hand.

"Is there any way you can get some?" Chat Noir asked, just before Maray pulled herself up to sit on his shoulders, leaving the feline impressed. "Dang, you're strong." the hero in black remarked with wide eyes, glancing at the little red Troll on his back.

"Thank you!" Maray cheered, grateful for the praise.

"To answer your question, Chat Noir, it wouldn't be too difficult to get a set from RotGuts. To my knowledge, they are the only ones in the world that have a large supply of Gaggletacks." Styx replied, her own knowledge on RotGots stock a little outdated.

"I can confirm that. The Trollhunter mentioned that Gut tried to bump up the price of the one they got, only for Rot to say that they had a whole bunch of them." Ladybug responded, walking over to Chat Noir to ruffle Maray's hair with a smile as she spoke.

"Yeah, that sounds like Gut." Styx reflected, recalling what her first encounter with Gut was like. "Slimy green cheapskate if you ask me." the shopkeeper muttered, now remembering that things didn't end well the last time they spoke.

"Well it might be a bit, but I'll see what I can do to get you a set of the artifacts from them." Styx offered, hoping that it would be a good compromise.

"Thank you, Styx. Anything you can do is perfect." Ladybug thanked, grateful that she and Chat Noir would have a Gaggletack at some stage.

"Still, I feel bad I can't help you guys immediately." Styx pouted, not liking to leave her friends/customers unsatisfied and empty handed. "Let me make it up to you two." the magic caster said, offering to add some form of compensation for the two heroes.

"Styx, there's really no need." Chat Noir argued, trying to assure Styx that it was unnecessary for her to do so.

"I insist." Styx rebutted, not having any of their protests. "Perhaps I can make something for Chat Noir like I did for Ladybug?" the white Troll offered, making Chat Noir confused at her words.

"Like with Ladybug?" Chat Noir wondered out loud, glancing at Ladybug with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh right, I forgot to mention why I even met Styx and Maray in the first place." Ladybug realized, now seeing that she had yet another explanation to give. "So the reason why I came down here over the weekend was because after talking to my kwami, I had a thought of trying to find a disguise that mimics the abilities of a Changeling." the heroine in red explained, starting to regal her previous visit.

"You mean the switching from fully Troll to fully human thing?" Chat Noir asked, making sure they were talking about the same thing.

"Yep!" Maray spoke up, still perched on top of Chat Noir's shoulders and resting her arms on his head. "But she couldn't find what she was looking for, and ended up finding Uncle Nox while I was talking to him after I had run off from my babysitter." the eight year old continued, adding onto Ladybug's retelling of their first meeting.

"Maray then took me on a tour of the lesser known sights of Stone Arc before we headed back to Styx's stall. Shortly after we arrived, Styx had gotten back from her trip after Maray's babysitter had told her she had ran off." Ladybug said, continuing on from Maray's part.

"After that, I made Ladybug a disguise runestone necklace as a thank you for keeping Maray safe and bringing her back to me." Styx spoke up, telling that particular part of the story for the spotted heroine.

"Styx might not have been able to create exactly what I was looking for, seeing as she didn't have the ability to create a Troll disguise for me, but it works like a charm!" Ladybug praised as she pulled out her yo-yo and retrieved her runestone necklace from within to show it to Chat Noir.

"What exactly was she able to make, then?" Chat Noir questioned, bending down a bit to get a closer look at the necklace hanging from Ladybug's hand.

"She was able to create a human disguise, and an exact copy of how she looks as Ladybug. Both tied to these runestones." Maray elaborated, well versed in Styx's disguises while pointing to the corresponding runestones.

"The second one is the one I use the most, since I wear it underneath my transformations." Ladybug admitted as she puts her necklace back into her yo-yo for safe keeping.

"Woah! That's amazing!" Chat Noir exclaimed, finding Styx's skills amazing while he looked back over at the white Troll. "Is there any way I can get one too?" the feline hero asked, hoping that it would be the case.

"Absolutely." Styx replied before she started walking over to the cauldrons, crouching to light the cauldron's fire pits to start prepping for the potions. "Maray, why don't you and Ladybug fill Chat Noir in about how this works while I get the potions started?" the secret Changeling requested as she snapped her fingers, sparking the fire pits of two of the cauldrons and beginning the process of making the disguises.

"Sure thing, Styx!" Maray replied, quickly climbing down from Chat Noir's back and setting herself down on the floor before leading the two heroes to the parlor.

In the time it took for Styx to get the potions ready, Maray had explained the process of how the disguise runestones work, while Ladybug took point of explaining how the disguises were tied to their wearer. Thankfully with the warning of needing to detransform to draw blood from himself, Chat Noir had found himself excited for his part of the potion. It was still a nice wait for Styx to finish making the potions, soon reaching the point where Chat Noir needed to detransform and draw blood for his part of the disguise creation. Like Ladybug had done for hers, Chat Noir used the divider to detransform and did exactly what Ladybug said she had done with her disguises, soon pouring the vials of blood into the potions. While his hero disguise potion turned black, the human disguise turned neon green after he thought about what he wanted it to look like.

His disguise had slightly thick and messy platinum blonde shoulder-length hair, pulled into a low ponytail, while his eyes changed into his father's pale blue while the shape remained the same. While his face retains its shape, it became more chiseled and his skin tone turned into a light natural color. His body type followed his face's example, remaining the same shape but becoming more muscled and chiseled with his height remaining the same. Complementing his new appearance, Chat Noir had finally invisoned his disguise's attire to include a black leather jacket, a white T-shirt underneath it, black jeans and black combat boots.

With the disguise finished, Styx added her blood and the runestones to the concoctions, taking them out of the brews when the color seeped into the stones. When the runestones were ready, Styx pulled them out of the brews and went to her detailing table to turn them into Chat Noir's own disguise necklace, the metal holding the stones together a stunning black iron metal he picked out.

"All done. What do you think?" Styx announced as she turned around from her desk and looked at the heroes, showing the completed necklace to Chat Noir.

"It's awesome!!!" Chat Noir exclaimed, loving the newly made piece of jewelry being presented to him. "It looks so cool!" the hero in black cheered as he gently took it from Styx's hands.

"Thank you. I pride myself in quality disguises." Styx thanked the feline as he immediately put the necklace on, turning to Ladybug to show it off to her.

"What do you think, M'Lady?" Chat Noir questioned his partner, striking a pose to add some extra oomf.

"It looks good, kitty." Ladybug complemented Chat Noir, covering her smile with her hand. "But remember to wear it underneath your clothes in your civilian form." the heroine in red reminded him, hoping that he would be careful.

"Got it." Chat Noir replied, only to check the time on his baton. "Oh shoot! We better get going before it gets any later." the hero in black exclaimed, prompting Ladybug to check the time too.

"Dang it, you're right." Ladybug agreed, turning to face their hosts. "Thank you for your help, Styx." the spotted heroine said to the shopkeeper.

"You're welcome, Ladybug. I hope you two get home safely." Styx replied with a smile, understanding that they needed to get back home soon.

"We will, Styx." Chat Noir assured their new friend. "But before we do..." the feline hero slyly trailed off, looking over at Maray as she held a vintage polaroid camera in her hands.

"I think Maray has a request." Chat Noir observed, making the girl nervously smile at them.

"I do!" Maray confirmed, rapidly nodding her head as she spoke. "If you don't mind, could I get a picture of you and Ladybug?" Maray requested, her hands gripping the camera nervously.

"No problem." Both heroes responded, Chat Noir walking over to the eight-year-old and taking the camera from her to hand it to Styx, followed by him and Ladybug flanking Maray and kneeling down to her height. At the sudden posing, a surprised Maray's smile beamed wider while Styx took the picture, the image printing as quick as a flash before the white Troll pulled it out of the slot and waved it through the air so the image showed up.

"That's a keeper." Styx announced as she handed the picture to Ladybug, who showed it to Chat Noir before pulling out a pen for them to sign the white margin at the bottom of the picture. With the picture now autographed, they give it to Maray, who squeals at the sight of the picture before holding it close to her chest.

"Thank you!!" Maray cheered before launching herself at the two heroes again, hugging the both of them while they returned it in kind. After a good amount of time had passed, they finally pulled away.

"You keep being spunky, okay?" Chat Noir said to Maray, placing a hand on her shoulder as he spoke

"Yes, sir!" Maray replied, standing at attention and mock saluting him, making them all laugh at her antics.

"But seriously, it was great to meet you, Maray." Chat Noir admitted with a smile before he looked up to Styx as she stood behind Maray. "And you as well, Styx." the hero in black added, happy to have met them both.

"Right back at you, Chat Noir." Styx responded while Ladybug got up from her knees and stood up to her full height.

"I hate to be that person, but we need to get going." Ladybug reminded her partner, the boy looking up at Ladybug as she spoke.

"Yeah, I know." Chat Noir sighed out before he turned back to Maray. "See you later, Maray." the feline hero farewelled as he held out a fist to bump it against hers. But instead of copying him, Maray hugged him again.

"Come back soon, okay?" Maray asked, hoping that this wouldn't be the last time she saw her favorite hero.

"I'll do my best." Chat Noir replied as he hugged her back, soon needing to pull away with a ruffle of her hair as he stood back up onto his feet. "Thank you for your help, ladies. It was lovely to meet you both" the hero in black finished as he bowed to Styx and Maray, making them smile.

"Have a good night, you two." Styx said to the heroes as they exited the shop, grabbing the box of potion ingredients as they walked past the parlor. As they left, Ladybug couldn't help but keep smiling at her partner as she took charge of holding the box this time so he could keep waving 'bye' to them.

"Looks like you made a new friend." Ladybug remarked, a joyful look on her face when seeing how happy Chat Noir was.

"You weren't kidding about those two. Maray and Styx are a delight!" Chat Noir replied to Ladybug, turning to face her. As they walked away, they both turned to see Styx and Maray waving 'bye' to them as well.

"I'm glad that you think so. I know I agree with that." Ladybug said, waving her fingers at them in some semblance of a wave back. "Now let's head home before we're missed. I know I've got a busy day tomorrow." the heroine in red announced as they headed back to the exit so they could get home after dropping off the potion ingredients at Master Fu's. As they did, Styx and Maray still kept waving at them until they saw the heroes round the bend, now letting their arms rest when they were gone.

"Good luck, Adrien and Marinette." Styx said after they are out of earshot, glad to have been able to help them once again.

"Today is the best day of my life!" Maray cheered as she jumped up and down in excitement, making Styx smile at her ward's happiness.

"I'm glad that you're happy, Maray." Styx voiced, a hand on her hip as she spoke. "But we still have some things to finish up with." the magic caster reminded her ward as she walked back into the shop.

"So, are you actually going to go to Arcadia to get them Gaggletacks, or are you just saying that?" Maray asked as she followed Styx into the shop, safely tucking her newly acquired photo into her storage pouch on her belt.

For as long as Rayla/Maray knew Artemis/Styx, she always assumed that her caretaker had stumbled onto her ability to change from human to Troll through magical means, considering she knew Old Magicks. But unknown to her, as a means to keep her ward safe, Artemis/Styx had a great many deal of secrets about her past that she kept from her. This included not correcting Rayla/Maray's assumptions of her abilities, and never telling her the truth of how she became what she was. However, for as long as Artemis/Styx lived, she intended to keep it that way for as long as possible since it was the best way to keep her from harm.

"I meant what I said when I told them I'd get them Gaggletacks." Styx confirmed as she started clearing out her cauldrons, getting them ready for a new batch of potions. "But I'm not going to go to Arcadia just to get into an argument with Gut to get them." the white Troll admitted, omitting the real reason why going to Heartstone was a bad idea for her to do.

"I'll just send a message to get them to send two over here." Styx explained, summoning a multitude of potion ingredients with her magic.

"So, we're not going to Heartstone?" Maray questioned, getting into one of the parlor seats and leaning on the top of the chair as she asked.

"No, we are not." Styx replied, knowing that she had promised her ward that she would come with her on her easier trips from now on, but had to put her foot down on this one.

"AW, COME ON!" Maray moaned, unhappy to not get to go with her caretaker to a new destination.

"I'm sorry, Maray. But it's a risk I can't take. Plus I've got a lot of orders to do." Styx added, bringing Maray out of her moping for a bit.

"Fair enough." Maray reflected, soon seeing Styx getting ready to make a new potion. "Can I help?" the red Troll asked. Depending on the potion, Styx usually let Maray help her, and the eight-year-old was hoping that she could for this one.

"Come on over." Styx relented, waving her ward over and allowing Maray to join her. From that point on, the two spend the rest of their time in the shop before closing time making orders, and happily passing the time in working together as master and apprentice.