As I was waiting for my side dish to be completed in the oven for Claire's parents' barbeque, I heard the door open and I turned to see that Jim was back. I waved and greeted, "Hi, Jim. How was your training at Trollmarket?"

        "It could've gone better. When is your and Draal's next training session?" Jim wondered as he sat down on the table.

        I sat down across from him and explained, "We have it scheduled for later tonight due to the barbeque at Claire's house happening at noon today."

        "That's right. Of course you would be going. Hopefully, this will go well then." Jim said sighing with relief. What is he talking about? Last I checked, he was a student not a teacher.

        "What will go well then?" I asked peering at him quizzically.

        "Claire invited me to go along and Toby pointed out that this could be a restart for me since the last time I met her parents... it was under less favorable conditions." Jim elucidated.

        "Oh yeah. I remember you explaining that one to me. That's a pretty big step in your guys' relationship." I stated while smirking.

        "Any advice for me. From sis to bro?" He questioned.

        "Hmm... Let's see. Since your going to the party, you could bring something to it. It's proper etiquette and could possibly get you some bonus points." I suggested.

        "Okay. What do you think I should bring?" Jim questioned.

        "Oh. I'm just bringing a side dish. Nothing to fancy. Just cornbread..." Then, I stopped talking as I recalled that the cornbread was just about done and I didn't set a timer. I dashed out of my chair, opened the oven, and peered inside. It was too late. It wasn't charcoal burnt, but I definitely wouldn't be able to present this to the party. There goes that plan. I sunk to my knees and groaned bringing my palm to my forehead as I complained, "Why didn't I just use the stupid timer?"

        "If it makes you feel any better, you're still a better cook than Mom." Jim said while patting my shoulder.

        "As much as I love our dear mother, that goal is not hard to accomplish." I said looking downcast at the ruined side dish. Jim turned off the oven, grabbed the oven mitts, and grabbed the side dish out of the oven as I sat there on my knees mourning the lost food. He scraped the food out into the trash and placed the dish into the sink.

        "Come on, Mo. If we hurry now, we can make it to the grocery store and back in time for the barbeque." Jim said. I nodded my head and stood up. Now is not the time to mourn over food, Monica.

        "You're right. Let's go." I said, grabbing my keys and heading over to the car....

        "I can't believe that you went with the daisies." I mumbled as we walked into the Nunez home. While I carried three different bags of chips, Jim had gotten the Nunez' a pot of daisies.

        "Should you really be judging me right now? Besides, I think these daisies look beautiful." Jim remarked.

        "At least, I brought food of some sort." I snapped back as Jim started eating some of the tortilla chips and guacamole that was set on the counter in the Nunez's kitchen. Jim mumbled something in response, but I didn't catch it due to another voice that drew my attention to the yard. I stood there flabbergasted at the sight I was seeing. For there in the yard was another Jim. Only difference was that he was wearing a yellow jacket.

        Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed because when I looked back at the real Jim, his eyes were wide with shock as well and guacamole fell onto his jacket from the chip that he was holding. Then, Jim started screaming and running around the island in the kitchen. I grabbed him after his third lap around the island and pulled him to the stairs.

        "Jim, pull yourself together. I know this is stressful, but do you really want the rest of the world to know that there are two Jim's in existence right now?" I asked. This seemed to calm Jim, but only slightly.

        He took a deep breath and stuttered, "Right. Right. I've got to call Blinky and figure out how the heck this could possibly happen. But, what do we do about him in the meantime? He could possibly ruin the tiniest chance that I have at impressing Claire's parents."

        "Leave that to me. Now go call Blinky." I demanded. Before he said another word, I strode out of the house with my bag of chips in hand. The first person to notice my arrival was Claire, who came over and took the bags of chips and placed them where the other side dishes were before asking, "So, what's up with Jim? He's acting extremely weird."

       "Well, Claire, it's a long..." I was interrupted as Jim's double embraced me proclaiming, "Ah. My beloved sister, it is so good to see you. You look as radiant as always."

        Claire's mother came up behind him and said while she brought us to the back door of the house, "Hello, Ms. Lake. I'm so glad you could make it. Now that the two of you are here, would you care for a tour of the home?"

        Jim's double intercepted my answer and proclaimed as we entered the house, "But, of course. We would cherish a personal tour of the Nunez home. Lead the way. Ah. Ah." I got a little nervous as we rounded the corner to the stairs where I left Jim, but sighed in relief when I saw that he wasn't there. He must've heard us coming. I hope that he'll figure out how to undo this because I don't know how much longer I can keep this up.

        Throughout the tour, I would grow so nervous that Jim would be right behind the door, but thankfully that hasn't happened yet. As the tour went on, Claire's mother entered Claire's bedroom and announced, "And this is Claire's bedroom."

        "Ah. This room never ceases to amaze me." Duplicate Jim said.

        "What a weird thing to say, since you've never been in here before." Claire said.

        "I think what he meant to say is that her room is very lovely. This house is absolutely beautiful, Mrs. Nunez." I complimented trying to salvage the situation.

        "Maybe we should get back to the party. Every vote counts." Claire suggested.

        "Every vote does indeed count." Jim's double concurred.

        As soon as we got outside, I was about to grab double Jim and bring him to the real Jim, but I was pulled to the side by a couple of teachers from Arcadia Oaks Academy, who were asking how long I had been employed at Arcadia Oaks High. I gave short brief answers not really paying attention because right now Duplicate Jim was having a conversation with Claire's father at the grill.

        "Monica? Monica!" Someone said bringing back to the conversation, but I realized that the teachers that pulled me into the conversation had moved on to talking to other people and the person who had spoken was Claire.

        "Yes, Claire?" I asked.

        "What has been going on with you and Jim today? You both have been acting super weird." Claire wondered. I glanced back over to duplicate Jim, but saw that duplicate Jim was now the real Jim. The reason why I knew was that the real Jim had the guacamole stain on his jacket. He must've figured it out.

        "Monica?" Claire asked. I snapped back to attention and answered, "Sorry, Claire. There was a slight situation with Jim, but I think it's all cleared up. In fact, let's go talk to Jim to make absolutely certain."

        I went over to Jim with Claire following close behind and threw my arm around him, startling him while asking, "Hey, Jim! How are you feeling now? Back to your old self?"

        "Sure am, Mo." Jim confirmed giving me a thumbs up.

        "Are you sure there's nothing wrong? Because like I told Monica, you two have been acting super weird. Especially you, Jim. Maybe this was a bad idea." Claire said.

        "No, it was just my nerves and Monica was just trying to make sure that I didn't mess up badly." Jim stuttered, then answered clearly, "But, I'm okay now. I promise. Would you excuse Monica and I for a moment?"

        Once we were inside the house, I asked, "Did you take care of duplicate Jim?"

        "I hope so." Jim said going to the stairs. The real Jim whispered to an unknown person, "Hey. How did it go?"

        "Who are you talking to..." I wondered, but stopped mid-sentence. That's when I noticed that there was a third Jim wearing Jim's armor. Rage boiled within me and I slapped Jim upside the head and growled, "Are you for real right now?"

        "Ow!" Jim complained, then replied, "Did you have to slap so hard? To answer your question, it was an accident that Trollhunter Jim..."

        "Trollhunter Jim?" I questioned.

        "I guess you missed out of a couple things." Jim said as we followed 'Trollhunter' Jim, who seemed to be checking the rooms, around the house. I gave Jim the 'explain yourself look' and Jim explained, "Okay. So, apparently, I forgot to remove the Aspect- whatever stone from my amulet while training today and Blinky thinks that this stone may have given a previous Trollhunter the ability to duplicate himself rather than give him the strength of many like they had previously thought. The duplicates take on a specific personality of the Trollhunter and this duplicate of me..."

        "Is the Trollhunting side of you." I finished for him. Now it is starting to make sense. Then, I asked, "But, what happened to Romantic Jim?"

        "He's gone. Yeah. I returned him to the amulet." Trollhunter Jim answered heading to the end of the hall.

        "Really? Great! I hope it wasn't too painful." Jim said. He was about to take the amulet from Trollhunter Jim, but Trollhunter Jim jumped back and declared, "Sorry, but my work is far from done."

        "No, you're definitely done." Jim stated.

        "Yeah. He's the real Jim. You're just a part of his personality. Therefore, you work for him." I said getting ready to summon the Thriskule in case things go south.

        "Hardly. You created this mess, distracted by your infatuation with Claire. You have forgotten your duty. You don't deserve the sacred responsibility of the Amulet." Trollhunter Jim proclaimed.

        "Woah. Woah. Woah. Sorry you feel that way. But, like Monica said, you work for me." Jim declared.

        "I hoped it wouldn't come to this. I'm taking command." Trollhunter Jim said.

        I summoned the Thriskule and stepped in front of Trollhunter Jim stating, "I don't think so, fraud."

        "You..." Trollhunter Jim growled. He lifted his sword to strike, but someone yelled, "Are you freaking kidding me?"

        We turned around, then all three of us shouted, "Claire, I can explain!"

       "Okay. One of you, what is going on?" Claire questioned.

        "Jim's amulet is on the fritz and-" Then, I was interrupted by Trollhunter Jim who proclaimed, "Claire, let me say this, short and sweet, I've decided that I cannot see you anymore. Our relationship is interfering with my duty as-"

        "This is the worst day of my life!" Jim shouted.

        "Okay. That's the real Jim and it's also obvious due to Monica trying to protect him and not you." Claire pointed out.

        "Claire, I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen, especially not here. The amulet, it's malfunctioning, and creating other me's. Or parts of me, I guess." Jim explained.

        "Which part is he? The jerk part?" Claire wondered while glaring at Trollhunter Jim.

        "No, it's the poor imitation of Batman part." I answered. We turned back to Trollhunter Jim who had disappeared and Jim growled, "He keeps doing that."

        "Like I said, he's the poor imitation of Batman." I said. Jim glared at me, then stated, "Come on. We gotta find him before he ruins the party."

        Claire and I went back to the party while Jim stayed inside in fear of causing confusion for the other people of the party. We searched the party before we found him on a bench. Claire grabbed his shoulder and declared, "Got ya, you little..."

        Jim fell over in fright and pleaded, "Please don't hurt me. Everything's so scary out here. Strangers. Pollution in the air. Bears in the woods."

        "Oh, boy. You are not Trollhunter Jim." Claire said.

        "This is going to be a long party." I sighed.

        We brought him inside and up the stairs to where the real Jim was and Jim complained, "He made more? Of course, he did. Why did I have to be so clever?"

        "Okay. You call for back up and keep an eye on Scaredy Jim while Monica and I search for the others." Claire said.

        We walked down the stairs and immediately ran into another Jim, who proclaimed, "Yo, yo, yo! Holla! This party is crispy!" He started dancing, then high-fived himself. He threw an arm around Coach Lawrence and declared, "Coach, hey! I've decided that I'm your new captain of the wrestling team."

        "Tryouts aren't till spring, kid." Coach Lawrence pointed out and walked away.

        "No, prob. I'll do it now." Jim said and jumped onto Coach Lawrence's back. I stared in absolute horror as Jim began wrestling the Coach, but poor Coach Lawrence was simply trying to get Jim off of him. I pulled Jim off of Coach Lawrence and Claire said, "Time to tag out, Jim!"

        "Holla! Crispy, yeah!" Jim exclaimed.

        Claire and I split up, recovering the duplicate Jim's and putting them all in Claire's bedroom. While Claire was throwing another Jim into her room, I was in the backyard keeping an eye out for anymore Jims when Claire's mom tapped her glass and announced, "Arcadia Teachers Union, thank you so very much for joining me today. With your votes, I can lead Arcadia to a brighter and safer tomorrow."

        "You want to be safe!" Another voice shouted that was all to familiar. I buried my head into my hands too scared to look as Trollhunter Jim continued, "You have no idea what's out there. You'll need real leadership. A real hero. Someone who won't waste time with distractions, like dull chit-chat over cheeseburgers. You need someone who's not afraid to get his hands dirty. Maybe I should run for City Council, I--" That's when I stopped him and pulled him away giving a quick apology to Claire's mom.

        Claire joined me and said, "It is you. What are you doing?"

        "Severing ties, Claire and Monica. A true Trollhunter can't be concerned with pointless personal connections." Trollhunter Jim stated.

        "Why you little--" But I was interrupted by Claire who declared, "Fine. You wanna break up? Lets do this. But somewhere private. There are some things to be said that aren't for everyone's ears. Monica, stay here."

        "Claire-" I didn't get much further because Claire said, "Trust me, Mo." I nodded realizing that she and the real Jim must have a plan.

        After Trollhunter Jim and Claire went inside, I realized something. I have to deal with the aftermath of Trollhunter Jim's speech. Great. After making up an excuse to several people including Claire's parents about what happened with Jim, which was so not fun, I walked into the house to see the real Jim and Claire talking. Realizing that the crisis must be over, I walked past them mumbling, "I'll be in the car wishing I was an only child. Don't mind me."

        And to think, the day is still not over.