Chapter 4: Tooth Troubles

I figured that some of us already know what happens next, so I thought of the best chapter title I could. And for any of you who are interested, Cottonmouth25 has made a Dragons and Monster Hunter crossover, just FYI.


The next morning, everyone was gathered at the Academy. Hiccup had high hopes for the saddle project, but Snivels wasn't so sure. He and the rest of Hiccup's Pokémon had a feeling of uncertainty.

"Okay," Hiccup announced. "Before we get started, I just wanted to say..."

He was pushed aside by Gobber. "I think they might want to hear from the artist himself," he said.

Hiccup stood next to Probopass, who rolled his eyes and started speaking in an annoyed voice. "Probo, pass. Probopass. Pass. Probopass!"

Snivels scoffed. "Oh, tell me about it," he grumbled.

Gobber ignored them and continued. "I've made a lot of saddles in my day. But these saddles are special. They're like my children. That is, if you strap your child to a flaming reptile and ride on it. So, without further ado..." He grabbed the cloth that covered the saddles and yanked it off.

The sight was surprising, and certainly not what anyone was expecting. The saddles were nearly loaded with heavy weapons that gave the Speed Stingers and Snivels an uneasy feeling.

Hiccup was the first to speak. "Wow, Gobber, this is certainly...not what I had imagined."

Gobber laughed. "How could it be? I'm Gobber! No one knows what it's like to live up here." He tapped his helmet with his hammer.

Probopass and Snivels both gave him a look. "I can name at least two people that have more than half a brain," Snivels muttered.

Hiccup looked at the nearest saddle. "Is that a..."

"Yep, flamethrower," Gobber interrupted, giving it a demonstration. "Didn't see that one coming, did you?"

Snivels ignored his instincts of distrust, and walked up to him. "No, they come with one built in, actually," he said flatly.

Gobber just smiled. "I know. But really, can you have too much firepower?"

The twins and Nidos caught their attention. Barf and Belch's saddles were equipped with small catapults. The Nidos each handed a rock to their respective trainer, and the twins loaded the catapults and fired. However, the rocks each hit one of the Zippleback heads, and the dragon slumped to the ground, unconscious, almost landing on Zweilous. "Catapults for ze twins?" one of the heads asked. The other head groaned. "Not a very good idea."

Hiccup and Snivels sighed, and hen turned to Fishlegs and Lombre, who had strapped a saddle onto Meatlug. Goodra was off to the side, but even without the heavy Dragon-Type, Meatlug was having trouble flying, since her saddle had four huge maces strapped to it. "You can do it, girl," Fishlegs said, timidly, "Just think light thoughts!" But thoughts were no match for four huge weapons, and the Gronckle just thudded to the ground in a daze.

"Come on!" Gobber yelled. "That saddle can't weigh much more than Fishlegs!"

Fishlegs himself replied indignantly, "My mom says I'm just husky."

Snotlout, meanwhile, was struggling to load a saddle on Hookfang. Sadly, the Monstrous Nightmare wasn't cooperating. He was incessantly scraping his head against the ground and growling. Even for a Nightmare, it was restless. When Snotlout finally got the saddle on, Hookfang roared and flung it right off, sending it thudding against the far wall, spitting fire everywhere. "Come on, Hookfang, what's wrong with you?" he asked, frustrated. The dragon coiled up, facing away from him. "OK," he snarled, temper rising. "Who wants to trade dragons?"

Not everyone was unhappy. "This saddle is actually pretty good," commented Astrid, riding on Stormfly.

"Wait 'till you try the horn!" Gobber called over.

But Snivels interfered quickly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." It didn't take much for him to sense that something would go wrong.

As if on cue, Hookfang chose that exact moment to let out an angry roar. The noise frightened Stormfly, causing her to fling spikes everywhere, making everyone duck and dodge. Snotlout was pinned to the wall. "Really, again?" he asked in dismay.

"Uh, you know," Hiccup said, "We're really gonna need to make a few -"

Gobber enthusiastically interrupted, "Changes! Way ahead of you. I've got so many new ideas!" He winked and tapped his helmet again. "It's getting crowded up here," he said with a chuckle. Probopass shook his head (or in some cases, his whole body) before following his friend out of the arena.


Much later, when the sun was setting and everyone else except Toothless (and Snotlout) was gone, Hiccup and Snivels were cleaning up the arena. Apparently they weren't doing a very good job, because when Stoick entered, he said, "My Odin, what happened here? This place looked better when we were killing dragons here."

Hiccup looked around at the burn marks, craters, and Nadder spines riddling the Academy. "Yeah, we sort of got...Gobbered," he replied, for lack of a better word.

"Well, you know Gobber," Stoick said sadly. "He means well...but doesn't always do well. So, what are you going to do about him?"

His voice carried all Hiccup's regrets and hopelessness. "I'm gonna clean up his mess and make a few changes to his work," Hiccup said dejectedly. "Look," Stoick said, and Hiccup could tell that he was about to receive a father-son lecture. "Gobber's like family."

Hiccup interjected with a protest. "I know! That's why I can't say anything to him!" Stoick replied grimly, "No, son. That's why you have to. It's not fair to you, and it's not fair to Gobber."

Far from happy, Hiccup argued, "Why do I have to say something to him? You didn't, you just passed him off to me!"

Stoick wasn't hurt. "That's what the chief does," he said. "He delegates. Look, I gave you this Academy because it's the best thing for Berk. Now you have to do what's best for the Academy. I'm sorry, but what's best is very rarely what's easy."

"Took you long enough to figure that out," Snivels muttered.

Stoick looked back at him. "What did you say?"

"You don't wanna know," Snivels said quickly.

"What about him?" Stoick asked, gesturing to Snotlout, snoring softly and still pinned to the wall.

"Leave him," was Hiccup's reply. "He's going for a record."

Stoick nodded wisely and replied, "Enough said."


The moon was high in the sky when Hiccup, Snivels, and Toothless got back. They hadn't meant to be out so late, and they were exhausted. Stoick was covered in mud, slime, and a few other gruesome things; and told Hiccup that he was going straight to sleep. Hiccup told him he'd have a talk with Gobber. Not wanting to see how the talk would go, Snivels headed back home to check on his pack.

As Toothless and Hiccup approached the forge, Hiccup could hear Gobber humming to himself happily. "You never know, bud," Hiccup told Toothless. "Gobber might have looked at my plans and is actually making the saddles better." Toothless nodded, just before a huge explosion rattled the night and caused smoke to fly from Gobber's windows.

"Or maybe not," Hiccup sighed, and they kept walking.

While Toothless stayed outside, Hiccup went in the smithy. "Gobber?" Hiccup asked only to find a crossbow aimed directly at his head. "Don't shoot!" He cried, throwing up his hands.

"I'd never shoot you, Hiccup," Gobber told him reassuringly. "Unless I absolutely had to."

Hiccup laughed nervously as he put away the weapon. "You know, about the weapons," Gobber said conversationally. "Maybe the catapults were a bit too much for some of the dragons yesterday. So I'm going a different way. I've taken out the two big ones."

Hiccup was very happy and relieved to hear that. "Gobber, that's great," he said, just as Gobber turned away from his work bench.

"And replaced them with six little ones!" he crowed, holding up a bunch of spoon-sized catapults that couldn't have thrown pebbles.

"Gobber, we need to talk," Hiccup said, his voice heavy, "I-I think it might be time for you to...take a little break."

The blacksmith snorted. "In case you hadn't noticed, the only time a Viking takes a break is when he's dead."

Hiccup sighed heavily. "Maybe break is the wrong word," he amended. "The thing is I'm not sure things are working out." He took a deep breath and sadly pronounced his next sentence.

"I'm gonna need to take you off the saddle project."

Gobber stopped working and laid down his hammer. There was a very long silence. Finally, he spoke. "You're getting rid of me, Hiccup?" he asked, sounding sad and dejected, with a tiny spark of hope at the center of his voice, the hope that Hiccup was wrong. "Now I see why you had me put down the crossbow."

Hiccup felt awful, but not as awful as he had imagined. Stoick was right – this was the right thing to do. "It's just the saddles," Hiccup reassured him, "I'm sure we can find something else for you."

At last, Gobber turned around, but only partially. "I don't need your pity. I've lost an arm and a leg – I think I'll survive losing a job."

Hiccup placed a hand on his back and patted it sympathetically. Then he left with only one last look at the displaced blacksmith.

Joining Toothless outside, he could feel his sad gaze on him. He knew what had happened in there, and he was wondering how to cheer up his master. "Oh, that was awful..." Hiccup murmured, "I feel so terrible. I don't know what could be worse."

All of a sudden, there was a round of screaming from deeper in the village, followed by a terrifying roar and a burst of flame. "Okay, looks like I'm about to find out," Hiccup said to himself.

A red Monstrous Nightmare burst out into the plaza, spitting fire wildly. It was Hookfang!

Snotlout ran up to a frightened Hiccup, all out of breath. "I never...thought I'd say this," he wheezed. "But Hiccup...HELP!" His voice went from tired to hysterical in an instant.


Hookfang roared to the heavens, climbing rapidly up a building and spraying fire everywhere. Miraculously, nothing actually caught fire. The Nightmare wasn't aiming at anything, simply shooting at whatever grabbed his attention. And with him being a Monstrous Nightmare, those things were many and varied.

Vikings fled in the masses from the raging dragon, but Hiccup rushed to the scene. "I don't know what it is!" Snotlout said. "I was just patting his head! He loves that! But this time he went crazy! My dragon hates me..." The teens gathered a safe distance in front of the rampaging Nightmare, who was shaking his head rapidly from side to side.

"I've heard that a pet takes on the characteristics of its owner," stated Fishlegs, "I think that's what's happening here." Snotlout went from fearful to wrathful in less than a second, savagely punching him in the gut. "Yep," he rasped painfully. "I rest my case."

Occasionally, Hookfang scraped his head on the ground as if scratching an itch, or trying to eat the pavement...A realization burst in Hiccup's mind. "When's the last time Hookfang ate?" he asked Snotlout.

"Not for days," the Jorgenson replied.

Hiccup reached into a nearby basket and pulled out a fish. "You hungry, boy?" he asked softly, and the Nightmare calmed down at the smell of the fish. He eyed Hiccup balefully before he tossed him the fish. Hookfang instantly snapped it up and chewed, but then shrieked and spat out the chewed-up wad of fish matter right at Stoick.

"Sorry about that, Dad," Hiccup said to him.

"We have to bring this dragon under control!" Stoick said forcefully, throwing the slimy fish out of his beard and having it eagerly caught by Toothless. Beartic was nowhere in sight, possibly guarding the Haddocks' home.

"I can do this, Dad!" Hiccup said to him, and then turned back to Hookfang, his hand held gently out in front of him. Hookfang kept up the baleful glare, but didn't move. Hiccup patted him on the head and said, "There you go...there you go..."

But when Hiccup reached out with his other hand to scratch Hookfang's jaw, the Nightmare shrieked again and blew fire straight at him. "Hiccup, run!" screamed Astrid as Hiccup just avoided the burst of flame. "Way ahead of you!" he called back as Toothless ran to protect him.

There was a brief struggle between the Night Fury and the Monstrous Nightmare, and it ended with Hookfang reaching back with his jaws and flinging Toothless off of him. He hit the ground with a growl and just avoided a quick tail lash.

"Toothless, stop!" Hiccup yelled, and pushed him out of the way just before he would have been victim to a fire blast. Instead, it set a house on fire, and the Vikings taking shelter inside were forced out.

"I'm sorry, son," Stoick said to Hiccup, resting a meaty hand on his shoulder. "I've seen enough. We tried it your way."

No one noticed Kickin' Hawk watching from on top of one of the houses.


Stoick enter the forge with a fearsome expression on his face. "Gobber, we need you!" he said fiercely.

The big Viking sniffed. "No you don't," he muttered. "Nobody needs me. Nobody needs any of us. Not even you, Bertha." He sat down sullenly on the catapult.

"Are you...crying?" asked Stoick incredulously.

"Course not," the blacksmith replied sadly. "Just chopping onions."

Stoick pointed out, "There are no onions."

"Not anymore," Gobber replied. "Look what I used to chop them with!" He held up a mace.

"There's a dragon in the plaza that's out of control," Stoick said.

"Why don't you call Hiccup?" Gobber asked, sounding as if the words were painful.

"No," Stoick said firmly. "We need you."

Those three words were all Gobber needed to hear. He grabbed a cart full of weapons and followed Stoick out of the forge.

No sooner after they left, Snivels soon entered. He had discovered what was going on, and decided that it was his turn to help. Sneaking into the very back of the forge, he ducked into the little area that was Hiccup's workspace. He quickly found and put on a metal and leather helmet specially shaped to fit him before turning to look at the many weapons and gadgets Hiccup had invented over the years.

"They don't need a Viking," Snivels said, his expression hardening.

"They need an expert."


The teens and their Pokémon watched Toothless and Hookfang stand their ground across from one another. Neither was willing to back down an inch.

Snotlout was really nervous now. He turned to see Salamence watching from the side. "Salamence, do something!" he yelled desperately. But Salamence just snorted, and laid down, facing away from Snotlout.

Snotlout was stunned. "I don't understand, it was obedient before!"

Blaze walked up to him. "His trainer needs experience," she said. Snotlout looked up at her as she continued. "If the trainer's poor, then the Pokémon won't respect them, and won't obey their commands."

High-level Pokémon, like Salamence, only obeyed trainers with a lot of experience. And Snotlout, being who he was, didn't have even half the experience he needed to train Salamence.

"Come on guys, think!" Hiccup said desperately, "What haven't we tried?" All he got was silence. "Snotlout, you have an idea?" Hiccup asked him, but all he said was a strangled, "Gobber."

They all turned to see the blacksmith armed to the teeth, looking more than ready for battle. Probopass was with him too, but he looked more bored than determined. "Stand back!" Gobber said with more ferocity and more determination than they had heard from him in a long time, "I'm here to do what I do best."

Snotlout gaped. "He's going to kill my dragon," he said, voice breaking.

"No, he's not!" Hiccup said firmly.

"Uh, yes he is," Tuff piped up. "You don't use that stuff to butter toast."

Ruff piled on, "I mean, we would, but definitely not you."

Hiccup ran to his father. "Dad, you can't be serious!" he said in shock. "Hookfang is Snotlout's dragon!"

Gobber stopped him. "Sorry Hiccup," he said. "Sometimes you have to fall back on the old ways."

Hiccup argued back. "Hookfang is a good dragon!" he said, both gently and firmly.

"He's a good dragon!" Snotlout echoed, tears welling in his eyes.

"There's probably just something wrong with him," Hiccup continued.

"There's definitely something wrong with him!" Snotlout sobbed, voice rising.

"We have to try and help him!" Hiccup finished.

"We can't get rid of him just because he's having a bad day!" Stoick intervened at this point. "A bad day for a dragon can be a disaster for us. That's not a risk I'm willing to take."

"Of course you wouldn't," said a voice. "And that's because you're not a Go-Getter."

Everyone turned to see a figure emerge from the shadows.

"But I am."

It was Snivels. He was wearing a fireproof leather outfit, full of pockets to carry all sorts of weapons. He took out his whip, and cracked it loudly, catching Hookfang's attention. The next thing anyone knew, Blaze, Amber, Tito, Xylia, Palus, Dragonfly, Wavern, and Kickin' Hawk were beside Snivels. "Thanks for filling me in," Snivels said to Kickin' Hawk.

The Hawlucha nodded. "What are friends for?" he said.

Snivels nodded, and then he turned to look at Hookfang, who was scowling at them.

"Go-Getters, unite!"

Before anyone could blink, the Pokémon all ran forward, jumping on Hookfang and holding him in any way possible. Snivels used his whip to grab onto Hookfang's horns, and then he jumped onto the dragon's head. He then pulled out a strange ball-like object with a pin in it. Using his teeth, he pulled the pin out, and dropped the ball, which landed beneath the large dragon. The ball then released a huge cloud of smoke, causing anyone who breathed it in to choke. Hookfang shrieked, as the smoke stung his eyes, and he shook his head.

Snivels grinned. "Gas Grenades, always good for stunning the opponent," he said. Hookfang roared, and shot a stream of fire. The flames came out strong, but they gradually weakened, until they came out no more. "He's all out of fire," Snivels said.

By that time, the Gas Grenade had gone empty, and the smoke was clearing up. "Would one of you tell us what's going on here?!" Stoick yelled.

Hookfang roared in anger. Snivels shuddered. "I can't translate," he said, shakily. "I'm not allowed to say words like that."

"Snivels, what is going on?" Hiccup asked, calmly.

Snivels glanced at him before leaning down toward the scaly skin of the Nightmare and taking a good long sniff. "He has a bad tooth, in the lower jaw," he said. He sniffed a few more times. "It's been hurting him when he chews, which is why he hasn't eaten anything," he added before sniffing again. "If it isn't removed soon, it could get infected." He concluded.

Everyone stared at Snivels in shock. All of that fuss over a bad tooth.

Gobber stepped forward. "Time to put this beast outta his misery," he said. With a yell, Gobber jumped right on top of Hookfang, climbing up onto his neck and reaching into his mouth. The Nightmare shook his head crazily from side to side, but Gobber held fast.

Snivels leaned his head next to Hookfang's, and made a series of dragon-like growls, obviously speaking to Hookfang. The Nightmare immediately calmed down. With a mighty wrench, Gobber pulled his hand out of his mouth and allowed himself to be thrown to the ground.

"You didn't kill him!" Snotlout cried.

"For a toothache?" Gobber asked skeptically. "What kinda lunatic are you?" He held up the disgustingly rotten fang that he had pulled.

"A rotten tooth, I don't know why I didn't think of that," Hiccup said to himself.

Gobber turned to him with a giddy smile. "That's because you're not Gobber!" he said proudly. "I've forgotten more about dragons than most men will ever know!"

"You know all of that was mostly us," Snivels commented.

"We know," Astrid told him.

Blaze then asked, "What did you say to him?"

Snivels repeated the growl he had done earlier.

"And that means...?" Snotlout asked impatiently.

Snivels gave him a look and said, "Hold still."

Snotlout gave a look of surprise before bragging, "I knew that."

Blaze scoffed, "What a kid."

Hiccup turned to Snivels, and asked in amazement, "How were you able to do all of that?" Snivels just smiled as he took off his leather helmet. "Let's just say that a lot more happened while you were out than you think, he said, exchanging a glance with Astrid. Blaze then walked over to Snivels, with whom she exchanged a fist-bump.

Hiccup turned back to Gobber, who was limping toward his cart full of weapons and said in a satisfied way, "Well, time to put the girls away." But just as he laid his hand on the cart, an idea, a brilliant idea, came to light in Hiccup's mind.

"Gobber!" he called. "Not so fast." Gobber's response was a knowing look and a smug grin.


When the world around you changes, the good men find a way to change with it. And Gobber is one of those good men.

In fact, he's one of the best.


Snivels, Blaze, and Kickin' Hawk sat on a hill observing a flock of dragon, including the Speed Stingers, line up in front of a building to get their teeth cleaned, a jolly, familiar voice could be heard bursting forth in song.

"I've got my axe and I've got my mace,

And I love my wife with the ugly face,

I'm a Viking through and through!"

"That is one happy Viking," Kickin' Hawk said. Snivels nodded, not saying anything.

Blaze looked over at Kickin' Hawk. "Why did you agree to fight beside us, anyway?" she asked.

Kickin' Hawk shook his head. "Snivels's trainer is certainly unlike anyone I've ever met before."

Snivels turned to him. "Is that good or bad?" he asked.

Kickin' Hawk smiled. "I mean everything to you and your friends in a good way," he said. "That's why I decided to join the team." That last part was accompanied with a smile.

Blaze didn't notice, but a funny feeling bloomed in her heart as he said that.


A lot of Team Go-Getter action, and an explanation for the life of Kickin' Hawk. His family was loyal to the King, and he's sworn to protect the one remaining heir to the throne. Plus, we get a look at some more of the stuff Snivels had invented, and an idea about what he'd been doing before Hiccup regained consciousness after the end of the war. Review, follow, or favorite.