Fallen Hero (rewrite!)

Becoming: Part 1

***Not many changes to this chapter :,)***

Jim:

I dragged my bike back to my house. The squeaky tires were the only thing accompanying me. Everything seemed normal for everyone, but me. The neighbors' dogs were barking, and little kids were being told to come back inside. Toby went home ahead of me to check out the canals, while I was left alone.

Hopefully, Toby is okay. When he decides to tell me, I'll be ready to help him.

It's my chance to be the sidekick this time.

I walked up to the front of my house and waited for mom to come out. Just as expected, she pulled out of the garage and stopped next to me.

"Hey Jim," she said, greeting me before leaving for work.

"Hey, mom."

She peeked her head out of the car and looked around.

"Toby isn't with you today?" She asked, suspiciously.

"He went home earlier than me."

She nodded, tucked her head back into the car, and continued, "Did you two fight?"

"No. We're fine," I replied instantly. I don't want her suspecting anything. Not this early at least.

"If you say so."

"Are you going for a night shift?" I questioned, trying to change the subject. I already knew the answer anyway.

"Dr. Gilberg is out with bursitis, and Dr. Lenz has a wedding out of town this weekend. I didn't really have much of a choice kiddo."

"Do you have your-"

"Dinner?" She said, cutting me off. She plucked it off the car seat beside her and showed it to me, "thank you."

"Try reheating it instead of nuking it. Takes all the flavor and nutrients away," I reminded her.

"I'll keep that in mind. Love you, honey."

"Love you-" I stopped myself. The paper with Mr. Strickler's number I had asked for was sticking out of my pocket. I grabbed it and handed it to her.

"My teacher wants to see you."

She took the paper and examined it.

"Are you in trouble?"

"No! He just wants to... Ask about my extracurriculars."

"Ok then..."

She put the paper down in her cupholder and rolled up the window. As she was driving away I yelled, "bye mom!"

I remember today as if it were yesterday. Except it's different today. I don't have the amulet, but special powers or not, I'm still a Trollhunter.

I put my bike away, walked over to the front door, and stabbed the key in the lock. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Toby looking at me from his window. As I turned around to say give him a quick greeting, he quickly shut the blinds.

That's weird. That never happened before.

I threw my bag on the couch and turned on the TV. I slouched back as I looked through the various shows. The front door to Toby's house creaked loudly and something crashed inside the house. I diverted my attention to the windows where I saw Toby run out the door and get on his bike. He drove in the direction of the canal, with a petrified look on his face. Once he was out of view, I hopped on my bike and followed him.

The rocky path to the canal made my bike shake and bounce. I screeched to a stop, hid my bike, and spied from behind a tree. Toby was standing in the canal with his new armor on. I silently cheered for him from behind the shrubs. He was visibly shaking and suddenly froze. Bular walked out from underneath the bridge and stood in front of Toby.

"Hand it over, Trollhunter," Bular spat out, demanding the amulet.

Finally noticing the severity of the situation, I quickly hopped on my bike and sped down the canal.

"Toby, get on your bike and get out of here!" I yelled at him.

He quickly nodded in agreement and tried to get on, but Bular grabbed him and snatched him from the ground. I screeched to a stop and watched Toby helplessly. I couldn't do anything to help. Not without Daylight at least.

"I'm too young to die, giant troll dude!" He screamed as Bular tossed him into the air.

"Let him go," I said, trying to keep up my strong front.

"Gladly."

I watched him being thrown to the side by Bular. I ran to him and knelt down to help him. He pulled my arm down and whispered in my ear.

"Jim. I know what you did."

I stared at him in shock as the words left his mouth.

"What are you talking about? I didn't-"

"Kanjigar told me. He told me that you reset time, in hopes that everything would go back to normal."

How did he find out so soon? How did Kanjigar know about this?

I opened my mouth to say something but he continued.

"But that's not true. This won't solve anything, if anything it'll become worse. You have to return as soon as possible. So..."

He pulled the amulet off of him and wordlessly held it in front of him, towards me. I stared at the amulet for a few seconds, until my thoughts were interrupted by Bular growling behind me.

"Merlin was wrong. A human cannot be worthy of the amulet. You're too weak."

I grabbed the amulet before he grabbed me and pinned me against the wall. My lungs were crushed at the sudden impact, making me gasp for air.

"Too easy to kill. Let the pathetic Trollhunter have the honor of watching you die before he meets his own doom."

"Jim!"

I wedged the amulet in the space between his hand and my body, and responding to the panicked action, it let out a small burst of energy. Bular howled and dropped me without hesitation. He fell back and clutched his arm in pain. I looked at the amulet.

It was unscathed. Good as new. Like it hadn't been destroyed by two evil nature spirits who wanted to restart the world.

"I was going to give you a painless death," he said, getting up. "Now it seems I've changed my mind."

He backed up and started charging at me.

It's now or never.

I don't want Toby to be killed. I don't want anyone to die because of me. I just want to make things right. This is the only way to do it.

I took a deep breath and incanted,

"For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command."