Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

32: Hiss, hiss, bang, bang

A small, white cat ran past a movie theater and into an alley behind it. It hid when he heard two teenagers walking out of the cinema. "Boy, that stunk," the boy said. "That director's gonna have a short career. He threw his bucket of popcorn before walking down the street with his girlfriend. The cat meowed and ran to the bucket of popcorn. The boy had missed the dumpster and it spilled out onto the ground. The cat ate a piece and heard a sound coming from the dumpster. It jumped on top of it to investigate, only to be met with piercing red and yellow eyes. Two more pairs of eyes appeared behind them. The goblins pulled the cat into the dumpster and crawled out, scurrying onto the streets.

***

Jim's alarm clock beeped at exactly 6 am. Jim groaned. "My stupid alarm..." a smile grew on his face and he got up, looking at his alarm clock. "My stupid alarm!" he turned it off. "I love you!"

He got into the shower. "Cold, cold, cold! I love cold water!" he turned the faucet onto hot. "I love hot water even more!"

He skipped down the stairs and saw Barbara in the kitchen. He smiled. "Mom..."

She tasted what she was making in the bowl and her face turned to disgust. "Did I put salt in instead of sugar?"

Jim hugged her from behind with a huge smile on his face. "Well, good morning, kiddo." She smiled. He reached his hand into the bowl. "You may not want to eat that," she said, but it was too late. He already put it in his mouth. His face also turned to disgust, but that didn't last very long, because it was soon replaced with a smile. "Tastes like home. Don't change a thing."

"You're chipper this morning."

"Yeah, well, better chipper than dead." He took a brown paper bag out of the fridge. "That's true, I guess," Barbara said. "Everything okay?"

"Are you kidding?" he asked, making his way toward the door. "Everything is great!" he grabbed his backpack. "It's back to normal. It feels good to be back!"

He opened the door and walked out, closing it behind him.

"Back?" she asked. "Back from where?"

***

Jim rode ahead of Toby and Claire, breathing in the fresh air. "Have you talked to him about it?" Toby asked Claire. "No," she said. "It has to come from you. Why haven't you talk to him yet?"

"He just got out of the Darklands. He needs time to recover."

Jim rode on his back wheel with his hands on the air. "Check this ou—" he almost fell off his bike and went back to riding normally.

"Seems fine to me," Claire said. Jim turned to face them. "Come on, slowpokes!" he said. "Let's take the old shortcut!"

"Well," Toby said. "Since you've been gone, Claire found a faster way."

"Come on," he said. "Faster than the canals?"

***

The three of them emerged out of the side of a truck and the portal closed behind them. "You're right," Jim said. "You have gotten good at that."

He heard the school bell ring and he smiled. "Good ol' Arcadia Oaks High! I wonder what we'll learn today!"

He rode ahead of them. "He's clearly not fine," Toby said. "Who in their right mind looks forward to school?"

They parked their bikes and locked them up and walked inside the school. Mary was talking to a girl near their lockers. "I mean, have you seen how tight Hank's jeans are?" she asked. The students in the room saw the three enter and cheered. Jim looked at them in confusion and Eli hugged him. "Jim, you're back!" he said. "You're alive!"