A Grumpy Troll and A Prince

Chapter 5 ~ Escape Artists

The guards walked through the halls past the burning torches. One in particular looked quite strange. It was actually Three and Four in an adequate disguise. They used their hair to swing over to a shelf at the other side of the hall, without drawing attention of course. Four looked around and asked Three "Where do you think our friends are?" This time he didn't notice that Four had said they were his friends too because he retorted back with a sarcastic comeback.

"If I had to guess, I'd say inside a Bergen's stomach."

Four groaned and placed his hands on his hips in a sassy way. "Could you try to be more positive!? Just once. You might like it." Three swung around and shot back "Okay. I'm sure they're not only alive, but about to be delivered to us on a silver platter."

Four didn't get the memo and instead breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. That wasn't so hard was it?" Three smacked his face once again from how irritating this was getting. How was he this stupid!? The prince's hug time bracelet went off and he gasped. "Three!"

"Really!? Hug time aga-" Four immediately shushed and told him to listen. Multiple chimes with faint colored lights could be seen around a corner. "There they are!" Now who's the smart one Three? He rushed off while Three blinked for a few seconds and ran off after him.

-

The captured trolls were all huddling together in quivering fear while their bracelets went off. Many bergen guards were busy setting the tables and fixing the lights on the ceiling. "This is going to be the best Trollstice ever!" X cheered. He flattered himself with his excellent idea while his royal entertainer walked by his side and FM pushed the cart with the cage on top. Mr Puzzles instructed "Tomorrow is Trollstice everyone and it must be perfect!"

"Yes Mr Puzzles!" He smirked to himself and the commanding orders reminded him of when he was so high and mighty all those years ago...before the trolls had made their escape... "It feels great to be ordering everyone around again!"

Three and Four slipped down onto a chandelier and the prince was the first to spot their friends. "Three look!" He studied the cage and tilted his head. "They're alive?" The two ducked down before anyone heard their whispering and Four said "And on a silver platter. We were both right."

It always bugged Three to be shown up, but him being right on a sarcastic note seemed to not nag him as much.

Mr Puzzles knew that his plan was working, but if he was really going to win the king over, he needed more convincing. With his devilish charm, Mr Puzzles pulled out a worn out piece of cloth and said "To mark the occasion your highness, I found your old Troll bib." What was the king going to do with an old bib now!?

Apparently, it somehow won X over as he took it out of the TV man's hands and stared at it in awe. "Wow! I bet it still fits-" He tried tying it around, but it was a little too tight. Within seconds, the bib had exploded into millions of little pieces and a faint sound of giggling could be heard. X angrily turned to see Mario laughing until the others shushed him. "Oh so you think that's funny do you? We'll see who will be laughing when I eat you all!"

Mario's laughter turned into sheer panic and his friends expressed the same. X then raised an eyebrow. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7....8? "Mr Puzzles, this won't be enough to feed all of Bergen Town!" Sweat drops played on Mr Puzzles screen while the king had another thought. "How do we have Trollstice if there isn't enough trolls!?"

Mr Puzzles patted his head and reassured "There's plenty more where that came from your majesty. I can just go back and grab more!" Four gasped as he realized that the TV guy was right. Because of him, Mr Puzzles knew where they lived and could capture them all. He shared a worried glance with Three, who he could tell was sharing the same thought.