Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

29: Grand Theft Otto

Jim tried cutting his way through the orange crystals again. He saw two more GumGums throw a troll into the cell and walk off. He heard the woman coughing through the wall. "Hey," he said. He reached to look through a small hole in the wall that separated them. He saw a bright, green eye look back at him. He screamed and jumped back. "Nomura!"

"Did I scare you, Trollhunter?" Nomura asked.

"What are you doing here?"

"Gunmar had to punish someone for his son's death."

Jim went back to trying to cut through the crystals. "Trying to escape, are we?" Nomura asked. "What's the boy hero's plan? Dig through solid rock, cut down a hundred guards, and then what? We're still in the Darklands. There is no escape."

"My friends will come for me."

"Aw, I'm sure they miss you, but Killahead is gone. Destroyed. Even if they were able to put the pieces back together, they don't have you to open it. And yet, you still scrape. Scrape, scrape, hero-boy."

"I will get out and I will get home. You'll see."

"I'll see you die, Trollhunter, just like everything else in here."

***

Blinky looked through a pair of binoculars and saw a police officer walking around the park. "We've been on stakeout forever," Claire said. "Do we even know who we're looking for?"

They sat in a car late that night. Blinky sat in the driver's seat with his binoculars, while Claire sat next to him in the passenger's seat. Toby and Not-Enrique sat behind them. "It appears Strickler corresponded with a German named Otto Scaarbach," Blinky said.

"That's his name?" Not-Enrique asked. "Might as well call him Mr. Evil Man. How do you even know he's gonna be here?"

"I interneted him," Blinky said.

Not-Enrique laughed. "Interneted."

"Silence, you impudent runt! I interneted him as Strickler, asking him to meet. But, when he discovers he's been stood up, he'll lead us back to the Janus Order."

"If anyone's hungry," Toby said. "I got peanut brittle popcorn, marshmallow goop, and 16 flavors of bubble gum." He dug through his backpack.

"We get it, Tobes," Claire said. "You got your braces off."

"Did you notice?" He smiled, showing brace-less teeth.

"I think I see Mr. Evil man," Claire said. Blinky looked through his binoculars to see a man in a hat and trench coat walking through the park. "That's gotta be him!" Not-Enrique said.

"Slip out quietly," Blinky said. "One false move and we might spook him."

"Right," Toby said. "Follow him back to the Janus Order. Piece of cake! Let's go!"

He opened the door of the car and fell out, creating a loud thud. Otto looked around and Claire shushed Toby. "Sorry," he said. He stood up, only to fall again. Otto started walking out of the park. "We can't lose him," Claire said. "You drive, Blink. Toby and I will follow him on foot."

She got out of the car. "Driving!" Blinky said. "What a pleasure!"

He drove off and Toby and Claire followed Otto. "There he is!" Claire said. A car drove by and Otto disappeared. "Lost him!"

Toby pointed at a part of the street that had a lot of traffic cones. "That way!"

Otto was running through the street. He turned around and Claire hid behind a barrel. Toby hid behind a cone, which didn't hide him that well. Otto continued running. "You think he saw us?" Toby asked and Claire sighed.