A baby had been taken, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM!! Jim was almost pulling his hair out of frustration. How cruel it was. Somebody's child had been taken and replaced with a creature, the family not even realizing their baby was now in another dimension.

"Jim? What's wrong?"

He almost jumped, not noticing Barbara approaching him sooner.

"Uh... I am fine, I think... Yes! I am f-fine!" – he stuttered.

"No you are not. Jim, please, tell me. I can help you with whatever I can, it may not be much but it'll at least make thing easier. Trust me, I have experience." – she put a hand on his shoulders.

"Ugh... I know." he sighed "It's just... I am so much older than you and I should HAVE a way to do this but-" he squeezed the back of a nearby chair and Barbara could hear the faint cracking from the force "I just... I don't know what to do!" – he finally admitted.

"You are a teen Jim, a few centuries old teen, and you should just BE! You don't need to take the weight of the world on your back."

"Yeah..." he almost laughed due to this literally being the case "Thanks mom."

"No problem. Now, will you tell me what this is all about?"

"Don't you have to go to work? I also have to prepare for the school play..."

"Jim, are you trying to divert my attention? It won't work, young man! It's a parent's job to worry! You will tell me, one way or another!"

"I KNOW!" he winced at how loud he said it "Just, not today. I will be late tonight... again. I'll tell you after I'm back." – the 'if I can come back' was left unsaid.

"Really? You are not trying to sneak out of the conversation again, are you?"- she eyed him skeptically.

"No, not this time. I promise." – he looked her in the eyes and she just knew he was serious about it.

'I WILL come back, even if I have to fight my way out of Trollmarket! I promised mom. I can't just leave her... I won't leave her behind!'

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

Jim and Toby found themselves in school. They sat in the chairs, watching Steve and Claire acting. Steve had recently gotten out of hospital, so he was quite vindictive and trying to one-up Jim in every way. He was currently making use of Jim's punishment to try and make Ms. Janeth chose him as Romeo for the play. With how he acted around Claire, Jim and his quite mediocre acting, it was obvious Jim would most likely take the role of Romeo.

"Jimbo." Toby whispered "Are you ready for tonight? With you-know-what..."

"For the 8th time, yes. I have prepared as much as I could. I'm just trying not to panic here!" –Jim's voice slightly rose at the end, making Ms. Janeth scowl.

"Quiet, please."

"Yes, sorry Ms. Janeth." – they apologized.

===With Draal===

Draal the Deadly was currently in stomping through Trollmarket, unable to stay still before the fight. He had already trained, exercised, cleaned his dwelling- twice, yet he was still restless.

'Why do I feel like this?! Am I... nervous? NO! That's absurd! He's just a fleshbag! What can he do?'

Yet, something about the new Trollhunter confused and irked him at the same time. The black-haired boy had challenged him – in more ways than just the coming fight. The boy had acted protectively of his fellow fleshbag, he had also been steady instead of cowering in front of angry troll. The boy not only had not backed away but actually provoked him. Stepping forward, demanding respect, a clear show of confidence in their strength, a challenge to Draal's authority, invasion of his personal space, also some cockiness and brashness. Draal had been too caught in the display and too angry to calmly think it through, so he had not only bumped heads with the boy, entered an insult match BUT responded to a challenge from a fleshbag! HIM! The boy had been acting so much like a juvenile troll that needed to be put into place that Draal had barely resisted knocking his horns into the boy's skull.

Yeah, that may have seriously injured or outright killed the human but it would have been dishonorable to get the amulet in such a way, now that he thought about it. Maybe the issuing the duel WAS the correct decision.

===The library===

"Blinky OK?" – AARRRGH asked.

"OK? I am not OK! Ah, sorry for the tone." He quickly apologized to his friend "It's just... this whole thing is ridiculous! A fight, to the death?! Master Jim has hardly had enough training! I fear he would literally be crushed! All of Trollmarket would be there!"

"Hmm..." AARRRGH looked thoughtful for a while "It's OK. Trust Jim."

"Yeah, I guess you are right, my friend. I may be judging the situation a bit too hastily, maybe even biased. We have to trust master Jim's skills and support him through this ordeal with all we can! He has even taken some books to his home and has read at least a bit. Maybe he has figured where Draal's weak spot might be!"

===Time skip===

It felt a bit oppressive to be walking on the streets of Trollmarket right now. Trolls shot Jim and Toby looks and whispered to themselves. Toby stuck close to his friend for support and Jim was tense. The way all these trolls were gathered made it seem like there were even more than usual. Maybe it was because he'd never seen all trolls gathered together...

A small hand on Jim's back made him relax. Toby was near him, near enough that if all went to hell, he'd be able to grab him and run away together.

'Focus! You have to make sure you are not discovered and potentially executed on the spot. Just find the right moment and hit Draal's weak spots every time you can!' – Jim went through his plan.

"Master Jim! Young Tobias!" Blinky jogged towards them "You are finally here! I was getting a bit worried."

"Of course I am here, I put myself in this mess, so I should fix it myself." – Jim wished he'd be able to go back in time and kick himself before the whole challenge happened.

"And I am here to support my friend!" Toby eyed Jim "Despite him trying to convince me several times not to come tonight."

'Yeah, because if I do end up having to turn back to my real form, I'd have to also make sure you are safe while escaping.'

"Ah, yes. Now, we don't have much time to loose! Everyone has started gathering and the duel will start soon!" – Blinky led them off to the forge.

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

The atmosphere was quite oppressive. They'd been in the forge so many times before but Toby had never thought it may feel so... oppressive. Above them were almost all trolls living here and they were waiting for the 'show'. Jim had his armor on and Toby could just tell he was steeling himself by the slightly distant look in his friend's eyes.

Oh, yeah. Despite all that has happened, Jim still didn't like conflict. The only times Toby had ever seen him lash out was when he was desperate or really distressed. Jim was strong, very strong, if he tried, Toby was sure his friend could bench-press a couch without a problem. That would be totally awesome and seeing everyone awed would make Toby's day but Jim didn't like showing off either. There was something that bothered him.

Toby never knew Mr. Lake and the way Jim got when people talked about his father... At first, Toby thought he was upset about his dad leaving but recently, it was more like the association with the word was the thing making Jim uncomfortable rather that James Lake himself. Was it always like that? Did he just start noticing that about his friend? More and more questions popped in his mind and all were connected to his bestie. Toby wanted answers but decided against it, this was NOT what his friend needed right now!

"Hey, Jimbo. You holding up there."

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I know how much you hate this but don't worry! I have your back. If something happens, I'll even jump in and kick Draal in the gronk-nuks!" – he flashed a smile at his friend.

"Haha! Of course you'd do that." – Jim believed his friend's words.

He looked at Toby took a deep breath and exhaled, letting off a lot of the tension he had in.

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

Draal waited the duel to start. He was trying to intimidate, even stare down the fleshbag but it wasn't working. In fact, it had the opposite effect. The moment he tried that, the boy went from scared to defiant! Now, the two were glaring and glowering at each other.

No matter what, he was going to win!

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

As soon as the match started, Draal charged at Jim.

The older troll had come to the duel without any weapons, probably thinking that he'd be able to take out Jim without needing them. Jim knew that cockiness can be one's fall, so he had prepared, he even had a one of his daggers hidden in his clothes. He was not going to use it if everything went fine but it was nice to have a more comfortable weapon on had in case something happened.

Jim jumped to the side, dodging the first charge. Draal stumbled a bit after not hitting anything, turned around and tried to punch Jim. He twisted his body, ducked and twisted between the stone fists, they only coming close but not doing any damage.

The trolls in the arena were having mixed reactions. Some were disappointed by the lack of injury, others were excited to see how the boy would fare against the previous Trollhunter's son while others were booing and shouting. AARRRGH and Blinky were anxiously watching from the side, not making a sound. Toby... Toby was in awe! Jim was doing better than he expected. It was nothing like the training sessions with Blinky and AARGH! Right now, his friend moved more swiftly and quickly than every other time he'd seen him in the forge.

"GRAAAAAAH!" – Draal roared.

The blue troll was angry! He hadn't been able to even scratch the human boy, only coming close before missing by a few centimeters. So, he jumped, rolled into a ball and went straight for Jim.

Jim quickly jumped to the side, summoning Daylight to protect his top half with the blade. The spikes scraped over the blade instead his cheek. Sparks flew and he tumbled to the side. Draal continued rolling, made a turn using the wall and again went after Jim. Jim got on his feet and quickly scampered away to not be hit by Draal's sharp, spiky back. The crowd roared and stomped in excitement at the sight of more action. The sword weighed Jim down and made him a bit unbalanced, having one instead of two. Draal was not giving up anytime soon, so all Jim could do was dodge.

Toby saw that and held his breath. His friend was now scrambling and struggling not to get run over by a spiky ball of doom. What had happened?!

Blinky stared a bit at Jim. What had happened? Until a moment ago, he'd been going great? What had caused the sudden shift in his movement? He hadn't been hit on anything. Was it the shock of Draal's spikes coming so close, only the swords protect- THE SWORD! Blinky's eyes widened as he realized that. He watched the boy closely, now knowing what to look at. As he dodged Draal's continuous attack, it was obvious the sword was somehow clashing with his style.

'How is that possible?! Master Jim has not fought before. The sword should have been his first real weapon! Unless... it wasn't. But why would a young human need a weapon in this age, then?' – Blinky got a feeling something wasn't quite right.

Some things just weren't adding up and Blinkous berated himself for not noticing earlier. Theories and questions started forming in his mind but he shook his head, focusing on the battle in front of him.

After Draal almost ran over him for the 10th time, Jim had enough. As the older troll charged at him, he made no effort to dodge.

"JIIIIIIIM!" – Toby shouted in panic.

Jim waited and when Draal came too close to dodge, he embedded Daylight's blade in the floor under an angle and crouched behind in. Sparks flew as Draal came and was sent up in the air. The sudden lack of contact and weightlessness that came from propelling straight up and going down made Draal disoriented. He uncurled and fell flat on his stomach. Before he could properly get on his feet, an armored leg delivered a kick in his face.

"Gah!" Draal stumbled backwards "You little-"

He was interrupted when Jim grabbed the ring in his nose and tugged, the pain momentarily blinded him, so he swung his arms around. Jim jumped away, summoned the sword in his hand and waited. It would be kind of unwise to go in and get knocked away, losing the advantage he'd managed to re-gain. Just then, the platforms started to rumble and move yet again. Of course they won't let the battlefield stay the same during the whole battle! Jim cursed in his mind and jumped off of the already rotating platform, only to be punched by Draal. Jim flew a bit before he painfully thumped on the floor.

"Haa... haah..." Draal breathed heavily as he walked towards his fallen opponent "You cannot be the Trollhunter... you are just a boy!"

"Like I wanted this stupid amulet ho hit me in the head!" – Jim delivered a swift and frustration-filled kick to Draal's gronk-nuks.

A lot of the trolls and one human boy winced. Draal doubled down in pain. Jim pointed the tip of Daylight at him.

"I give you a chance here, give up and no one would get hurt... further." – he added as an afterthought.

"Never!" – Draal growled and swiped at jim.

He dodged the swipe with ease. Something in the wall behind him started to slowly click. Jim remembered that sound from the many training sessions Blinky had put him through.

"OK then. I guess we're doing this the hard way... Now come at me!" – Jim baited him, resisting the rising urge to flash his teeth to make the aunt even more effective.

Jim carefully backed away, keeping his eyes on Draal the whole time. This could change everything. If it went fine, he might take Draal out in one move, if not... he'd return to his plan to tire the troll out, which had worked quite well until now, judging by the heavy breathing.

CLICK! NOW!

Jim quickly dropped to the floor as a giant blade swung out from the wall. It hit Draal square in the chest and sent him flying over the edge.

'OH NO!' – Jim paled at the thought that he the troll.

After no agonizing screams we heard, he calmed down a bit and rushed to the spot.

Everyone was quiet, not realizing what had happened for quite a while.

"Master Jim won!!" – Blinky finally cheered, prompting a cheer from Toby and AARRRGH.

"Finish the fight! Finish the fight..."

The chant ran through the forge. Jim looked from the platform as Draal hung below him.

"Heh... what are you waiting for? Finish me." – Draal sounded defeated, he'd accepted his fate by now.

Jim just stood there and stared down at the troll. It would be an understatement to say that Draal was scared, he was terrified. At that moment the silhouette of the boy, looming over him felt powerful, oppressive...

Jim felt terrible. The win brought him no satisfaction. He felt terrible, he was revolted! This reminded him too much of the past. Gumm-Gumms cheering at the carnage, him saying to the side, watching. How trolls had given up, fought to the bitter end, screamed as they were broken... As Draal's fate was put in his hands, he felt as if he'd taken his place in those memories.

Jim furiously grit his teeth and almost snarled. He lifted his sword, feeling even worse by seeing Draal flinch at the sight of the blade, and stabbed in the stone next to him. He leaned down, grabbed Draal's arm a bit roughly and pulled him up, surprising the troll with his strength.

"Get up! I am not killing you."

The crowd was displeased and started shouting.

"SHUT UP!" Jim shouted, the fury in his voice evident "SHUT YOUR DANED MOUTHS! ALL OF YOU!"

The forge fell silent, nervous glances exchanged between trolls. Vendel stared, shocked, contemplating what to do.

"I WON! Do you have something to say? HUH?! I won't kill him! I refuse to kill him and guess what? You can't do anything! I am the new Trollhunter, whether I like it or not! I don't care what YOU think is right" he pointed at Vendel "I will do thinks my way and I REFUSE to kill somebody because of a stupid spat! So shut up or come down and settle it on your own!"

Jim was seething at this point and even his amazing self-restraint couldn't hold back his emotions from showing.

"Ooookay... time to go Jimbo." – Toby tugged his friend's arm.

Blinky and AARRRGH ushered Draal through another door on the other side of the arena. Jim sent Vendel one last dirty look before also being dragged out of the forge.

======

Jim was in his back yard when he heard something big and heavy moving closer. He steeled himself, hand casually sliding towards his hidden dagger.

"I know you are there. Show yourself!"

From the foliage came Draal. The thought of cutting the greenery a bit crossed Jim's mind but then he remembered he also used this to get in and out of the house without being noticed, so he let the idea go.

"What are you doing here? What happened after the fight? I didn't see you after Toby dragged me off." – Jim was confused.

He thought they had settled the argument, so why was the older troll in his back yard.

"I have come here to apologize and thank you."

"For what? Why?"

"I am sorry for my behavior; it was uncalled for."

"Yeah, you acted like some bigot. No offence."

"None taken. I also thank you, for not killing me with the sword of daylight."

"No need. I am not so cruel to kill you for a spat, for which I am also guilty, especially with your father's own weapon. What would that make? I am not some monster."

"Yeah..." – uncomfortable silence followed with Draal not expecting the conversation to go this way.

"Yeah, so... want to talk?"

"About what?"

"About your father. You looked kinda..." Jim struggled to find the proper word to not insult Draal but gave up "Look. I can't say I've had a close relationship with my father. I respected him, but we weren't close. He wasn't the best father, heck, he wasn't a very good father. Although it may not be exactly the same, I can relate somewhat." – Jim sat down in front of the back door.

"What do you mean?" – Draal sat on the grass not too far away from him.

"Uh, how do I explain it? Do you know what adoption is?"

"Yeah, I know what that is. I am not stupid." – Draal sounded a bit offended.

"So, my mother, she died when I was very young, even before I could walk even, so I was raised by my father. The one I told you about. I..." Jim took a calming breath "One day... I ran away from my real family. It was just... too much for me. I didn't want to be part of any of that..." he whispered in the end "I lived on my own before I met mom a few years ago. I planned to stay for a bit and leave but one day I just realized that this house had become my home. Barbara had become the mother I never had. She's closer to me than my father ever was. I don't want to lose her, nor leave her, you know. I just couldn't lose."