"You don't need to do this, you know..."

"Again with this?!" Toby was a bit annoyed "How many times do I have to repeat it Jimbo? I have your back! Just like you have mine. Now, let's hurry up!"

Toby got on his bicycle, followed by Jim. It was dark as they rode to Trollmarket's entrance. Toby had his backpack on while Jim decided to leave his at home.

'What should I do? Blinky has kept me busy with training these few nights and I haven't had a chance to tell mom about the whole Trollhunter business. I know she'd be OK but she'd be upset if I lie to her...'

Soon they arrived and went to the forge.

"Master Jim! Young Tobias! You have arrived." – Blinky excitedly exclaimed and AARRRGH waved.

"Yeah." – Jim still felt uncomfortable with all of this but Toby's presence assured him a bit.

"Come now, we have much to do tonight!"

"Awesome! I even brought some stuff to train with!" – Toby ran to the side and began taking out his Chubbytracker and headband.

AARRRGH looked at him curiously.

"Oh, this? If I wanna help Jimbo, I have to be nimble! Not that being big is bad!" Toby said, afraid that he had offended the gentle giant "I can't just sit and do nothing, so I will also train!" –he began to jog in one place, AARRRGH imitating him.

...................

Jim dodged blades and deadly (for a human) projectiles. He was getting better at it and with handling the sword. He was still a far cry from what a Trollhunter needed but Blinky was amazed with his prowess. It had been only a few short nightly sessions but the boy was doing better than he expected. He might not have much of a technique but he had persistence and good instinct.

What Blinky didn't know was that Jim had been previously trained with the sword but was just very rusty from not using it for over 4 centuries. He knew the ropes, just needed to remember how it all worked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" a female voice screamed and everyone stopped, Jim barely avoiding a volley of spikes "IT'S TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE!" – Bagdwella came in the forge.

"Bagdwella! What's the emergency? Is someone attacking Trollmarket?" – Bliky quickly asked.

"It's worse!"

"Bular?" (Toby)

"No!"

"Fight?" (AARRRGH)

"NO!"

"What is it?!" (Jim)

"A-A..." everyone waited, wondering what is could be worse "A GNOME RAIIID!" – she wailed.

At that moment, the tension instantly dropped from 100 to 0. Jim facepalmed, Toby looked confused, AARRRGH stared at her and Blinky's look was the definition of 'Are you f-ing kidding me, woman?!'.

"Trollhunter! You need to help me! A bunch of gnomes is raiding my shop. I am just a common merchant; you have to help me!"

Everyone saw she was pretending.

"Ugh...do I have to go?" – Jim wasn't looking forward to this.

"Yes, a Trollhunter must answer every call! Even if it means helping catch a bunch of gnomes..."- Blinky also wasn't looking forward to it.

They followed Bagdwella out of the forge. Toby quickly swung his backpack on and followed his friend.

"...hate gnome raids..." – Jim muttered to himself.

Toby, on the other hand, wondered what a gnome raid was and why was it so hated.

.................

'Oh...that's why...' – Toby thought as he looked at the pure chaos in Bagdwella's shop.

Blurs of red and other colors darted around the shop, knocking things down in the process. One gnome had climbed on top of an old lamp and acting like King Kong, screeching without a stop. Two were fighting for a pair of leather boots, one was throwing buttons from a shelf...heck, one was singing over all the chaos.

"Sigh..." Jim sighed heavily "Come on, let's gather them and then she can decide what to do with them."

"OK." – toby followed into the shop.

AARRRGH stayed outside because it was too cramped inside while Blinky came with two big sacks for the gnomes.

"Put the gnomes in here." Blinky handed one sack to the boys "You go to the left and I'll go to the right."

"OK." – Jim took the sack and headed towards the closest gnome, aka button thrower.

"Wait. Weren't you the one saying Jim should learn to do thing without help from others?" – Toby asked the historian troll.

"Although it is true that a Trollhunter works alone..." *CRASH* Blinky winced "NO ONE should face a gnome raid like this alone, so I'm also helping."

Jim nodded sagely as he was trying to approach the gnome that was currently throwing whatever it could at him. Toby just grabbed a broom he saw laying close to him and went to help his best friend. He went behind the gnome, trying to knock him down and into the sack.

"HISSS!" – a particularly peeved Kong-nome hissed at Blinky and jumped at him.

"Aaaah!" Blinky shouted un surprise as the critter scratched and bit like an angry cat "My eyes! Not my eyes!"

"Ow!" – a marble hit Toby between the eyes.

He swung the broom and finally whacked the gnome. Jim kicked the shelf and the little menace finally fell in the sack. One down, a lot more to go.

At some point Toby took off his backpack in order to squeeze under a table and chase a gnome towards Jim. By the time they were done, it was morning.

"That's the last one. Here." – Jim handed his sack to Bagdwella, Blinky doing the same.

"Oh! Thank you so much, brave Trollhunter! You have helped me with this terrible gnome raid!"

"Yea...Wellp!" Jim deactivated the armor "We, um, better go to school, bye!" –Jim quickly ran away.

"Wait for me!" – Toby grabbed his backpack from the floor and ran after his friend.

............

The moment they were out of Trollmarket, Jim shuddered.

'UGH! That was terrible and creepier than a Stalkling!' – Jim shuddered again at the memory of Bagdwella.

Bagdwella was trying to gain his favor but in a way! Although he's actually also a troll, he was currently in the guise of a young human boy, also, she was old! She can easily be his mother and it just felt worng!

"Wait! *huff* Wait for me!" – Toby shouted, desperately pedaling after his friend.

Jim slowed down so the boy could catch up.

"*huff*J-Jimbo! I know you CAN run away from a scary, man-eating troll on a bike *huff* but I am not one!" – Jim appreciated his friend's effort to joke.

"Sorry Tobes. I just... had to get away from there."

"No prob! I understand you, it also made me uncomfortable."

"I'm going home to grab my bag real quick. You can go on ahead."

"Nah. I'm coming with you. 'No man is left behind!' I also need the extra exercise."

........................

They were in school quite early, so the halls were mostly empty. It gave Jim some time to think. He hadn't had much time to speak with his mother about the whole Trollhunting but with the weekend coming soon, he'd have enough time to explain to her.

"...and maybe we'll-"

"Huh? Sorry, Tobes, I wasn't paying attention. Can you repeat that?"

They stopped in front of their lockers and opened them.

"Fine." Toby began opening his backpack "As I was saying..."

Toby froze. Inside his backpack, a gnome stared at him, half-eaten candy bar in mouth.

"AH! A gnome!" – Toby shouted and let go of his backpack on reflex.

The gnome ran off with the candy before either of the boys could catch it.

""Oh, no..."" – they said at the same time and ran.

..............

Strickler was having a nice cup of tea, relaxing before classes started. It had been a tiring night.

The pieces from Madagascar had finally arrived and joined the half-completed bridge. Bular had caused trouble and complained how the bridge wasn't completed yet. Strickler had of course taken the brunt of it and was now winding down. As he took a slow sip from his mug, he felt the stress seep off and the pain in his head diminish a bit.

*Clatterrrr~!*

He looked up to see gnome had somehow snuck in his office. The little menace had turned over his bowl of sugar and was now holding his pen, which was also the key for his secret office. The two stared at each other.

"Don't you dare- "

The gnome stared as its hold on the pen tightened. Strickler lunged at it but it ran out of his office quickly. He couldn't catch it. He looked at the floor, covered in sugar and spilled tea that had also splattered on his chair.

'And the headache is back again!' – he rubbed his temples and sighed heavily.

...................

"Domzalski! Lake! What are you two doing here?!" – coach Lawrence stopped the two boys.

"Hello coach Lawrence!" (Toby)

"Hello, coach. Um, we were..."

'Oh, how I wish I could do a quick hypnosis or better yet, an invisibility charm! We would have found the stupid gnome if I could do serious magic!'

Begrudgingly, the two boys headed for their Math class. Just because he was annoyed, Jim glanced at the coach. A quick chant less magic and the shoelaces of Lawrence were untied. He went towards the gym and soon Jim could hear him stumble and fall.

"Haha!" Toby laughed "Talk about karma, huh Jimbo?"

"You have no idea." – the corners of Jims mouth raised a bit.

Toby and Jim were on edge the whole time. As soon as Math was over, they rushed out and searched the school again before they were sent to their next class.

"Jim! We're going to split after this!"

"I know. You have to look for the gnome and I'll do the same."

"Got it- JIM!"

"What? Did you see the gnome?"

"No, today was your Spanish presentation! Ya know, señor Uhl!"

"Ah, it had to be today, didn't it?" – Jim groaned.

"This is double bad! Did you have at least time to study, training and all?" – Toby was really worried for his friend; this was Uhl the Unforgiving after all.

"I'm more worried for the gnome." Jim knew Spanish and he was quite good at it, so he wasn't worried he won't pass "Now let's look near the cafeteria. It is lunch break and it might get attracted to the area."

"Right!"

"Do you have a bag with you?"

"Yeah and you?"

Jim just pulled out a small sack.

........................

...He was not in the cafeteria. They had searched every nook and cranny a gnome might hide it, Toby even got chased by an angry lunch lady with a spatula. They admitted defeat and moved to another place.

"I tell you, a mouse stole the lipstick!" – an older girl complained to her friends.

"Yeah, right! I bet it needed it for its date."

"Why can't you just admit you lost it?"

"It's true! I was in the bathroom when I heard a clatter and something small and extremely fast ran out through the door. When I turned around, the lipstick was gone!"

Jim and Toby exchanged looks.

""The gnome!""

DRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! – the bell rang and the two boys groaned.

'Gnome raid and now, a rogue gnome! Damn, I hate them!' – Jim glared at the school and suppressed the urge to growl and bite off the school bell. He was better than that!

...........................

"So, Mr. Lake. What was the most important part of the heroine's development?"

"Well, I think it was the part where she faced Desmond. He was the key point in her development as a character and made the story even more interesting. "

"And her words after the big reveal happened, in Spanish."

"Sí, señor Uhl. Umm..." Jim thought for a bit as he was facing the rest of the class and the teacher " "

Just then movement caught Jim's eye and he looked up. On one of the hanging lamps was the gnome and it was biting at the cable holding the thing up.

– Jim exclaimed without even thinking and everyone looked at him strangely.

"A gnome chewing the cables?" – Uhl quirked a brow.

"Uhm, I mean..." the gnome got startled and ran off " is what she said. Sorry for the mistake."

"Acceptable. You pass, Lake. Just don't make such a jarring mistake again."

"Yes, señor Uhl."

DRRRRRR!

"Class dismissed."

Toby and Jim ran out or the room.

"You go left; I go right?" – Toby suggested.

"Let's get this over with."

Jim ran down the hall, dodging students and faculty members, looking for the runaway gnome. A flash of red! That coupled with the fast, unnatural movement meant that he caught up to the gnome. Jim took out his phone and called Toby.

[What's up Jimbo?]

"I found him. He's heading for the male locker room. Come quickly!" – Jim ended the call and pocketed his phone.

He entered the locker room and it was thankfully empty. The gnome tried to get out but Jim reacted quickly and threw a can at it. It stopped and turned to look at Jim, hissing and showing sharp teeth.

"I've been chasing you all day..." Jim activated the amulet but didn't summon the sword, it was too cramped for it "It is time we end this once and for all! Rah!" – Jim jumped at the gnome.

The creature also jumped towards the boy with a squeaky battle cry, wielding a spoon like a halberd.

...................

Claire walked down the hall, heading for rehearsal. She hadn't seen Jim after he had run out of Spanish and was getting nervous. The boy had been doing great up until now but if he didn't appear today, she'd have to practice with Steve and he was getting really annoying lately.

"I got it!"

"Good job Tobes. We just need to-" – Jim opened the door and came face to face with Claire.

She gasped. He was wearing a very realistic armor. He might have had a scrape or two, plus his hair looking like he'd lost a fight with an angry cat, but otherwise was alright.

"Oh." – Toby hid the gnome sack behind his back.

"Jim! I have been looking for you. We have to go to rehearsal! Nice armor by the way. Did you make it?"

"Uh, no. I got it from someone else." – Jim felt very awkward at the moment.

"Let's go then! Maybe Ms. Janeth will allow you to use it. At least we'll have some good-looking prop in this play.

"Y-Yeah." Jim turned to his friend and whispered "Get the gnome to your house and get rid of it if you can. Just don't let it escape again!"

"Got it!" – Toby saluted as Jim was figuratively dragged to rehearsal.

===At Toby's house===

Toby was holding the gnome sack but now, that he was alone in his home, he felt stuck. He didn't know what to do. He had to get rid of it but just...couldn't! Drowning the creature was out of the question, throwing him in the grinder wasn't an option at all!

'Sigh...What am I going to do?! Should I wait for Jim or...?'

Just then Toby saw a cat crate and decided to do something. He positioned the crate and sack so the gnome can't run off. When the critter was in the crate, Toby closed the door and locked it. It jumped on the bars and hissed at him.

"Whoa! C-Chill dude." Toby took out a candy bar "Want some? It's a peace offering?" – he smiled at the gnome.

It looked at the treat curiously but accepted it.

===Meanwhile with Jim===

"Very well done!" Ms. Janneth clapped "Now, a little break. We'll do this one more time and then you can go.

Jim sighed and slumped on a step. It was tiring to act with the armor on and now he had to wear this on the actual play!

"Lake."

"Palchuk. What do you want?"

"Oooh! You've got some fancy junk and act all important! You chickened out! You big baby!"

"How many times I have to tell you- I don't want to fight!" – Jim would rather not fight at all, if possible, but fate seemed to think otherwise.

"Hmph! I understand. You running away like a coward when things get dangerous..."

Jim got angry at Steve's tone and accusations.

'You don't understand anything! The screams, the smell of death, the laughter!' – flashes of a time long ago flashed.

"You probably got too scared and ran away with your tail between your legs. No doubt you'll run away again if something else happens!"

'NO! I didn't want to be part of that carnage! I swore to protect them! I won't run away this time!' – Jim felt his breath quicken and control slipping.

"...You are just like your father- "

This finally made Jim snap. Flashes of how his father laughed over the dying, how he shattered the corpses of those he killed and disobeyed him. How young Jatar once looked up to him, how he wanted to be just like ! How he joined the other whelps, wrecking whatever remained of decimated medieval villages, eating whatever part of once living human was thrown at him...

"I am... NOT LIKE !" – Jim shouted and head-butted Steve right in the stomach.

The taller boy didn't even have time to react before he flew and crashed in the chairs behind him.

"What happened?!" – Ms. Janneth came rushing at the loud noise.

Steve had been knocked out, blood trickling down his face from a small cut and Jim was panting, on the verge of tears, shaking. Claire and Eli just stood to the side, not knowing what to do.

"I-I am s-sorry..." – Jim looked sick, the smell of human blood bringing back even more unpleasant memories, so he turned and ran.

===Time skip===

Toby was getting nervous. Jim should have come by now. In fact, he should have been here more than an hour ago, considering he walked. Toby was looking out of the window when he finally saw a familiar figure.

'OK! Just how I practiced it! I will...'

Toby noticed just how slow Jim was on his bike. Something was wrong!

"Jimbo! Are you OK? What happened?" – now Toby could see that his friend had been crying.

"Something happened at rehearsal. Steve went too far and I just... snapped." – Jim stated, looking at his hands.

"What happened next? Just tell me and I'll help you egg his house."

"Ah, no. There's no need. Last time I saw him, he was loaded in an ambulance, so I think it will be fine without the eggs." – Jim still felt terrible but Toby made things a bit better just by being with him.

'I wonder if it'll be the same when he sees the real you-' – Jim furiously stomped on that traitorous thought and shook his head.

"So, what happened with the gnome? Did you get rid of it or should I help?" – Jim switched the topic, needing to think about something else for a while.

"OH! About thaaat..."

......................

"A gnome, living in a dollhouse..." – Jim looked at his friend flatly.

"I know how it looks like but listen! The little guy isn't bad! He was just looking for a home! See?" – Toby pointed at the gnome trying to seduce a doll.

"But still..."

"Oh, please! Jimbo, can't we keep him? Just look at him! I even thought of a name for him! Gnome Chomsky- how's that?"

"To be honest... I kinda like it."

"I know! It really suits him and I think he also likes it. Although we had to get of the gnomes, maybe we can take care of him? He can live with me and we can, ya know, doing things our own way."

Toby's words struck Jim. He felt lighter, somehow, maybe a bit elated?

'Even though I was forced to become the Trollhunter, it doesn't mean I need to do things their way. Maybe Toby is right, we can do it our way...I can do it my way.' – he thought with a slight smile.