Voyagers Saga
Broken Nest
Chapter 4: Grotesque Misconduct
Raids were not at all uncommon near the seashore in these barbaric times where Vikings sail the sea. But though Viking raids could be notoriously brutal, they haven't yet been able to match up to what the Marauders were capable of doing.
The Marauder squad leader looked down as the fort commander was dragged towards her. "Let's try from where we left off before your men turned stupid: where is Captain Lynch?" she asked.
"I don't know. I never heard of him. I hope he gets his foot bit off by a clam for causing all this trouble," said the fort commander.
"That brings me to some good and bad news," said the captain.
"Are they relevant to me?" asked the commander.
"Well, first off, we're going to leave and check elsewhere," said the captain reasonably as the commander's guards moved away.
"Oh, too bad, so sad," said the commander sarcastically.
"Well, that brings us to you bad news: I'm going to vaporize you," said the captain, pulling out a blaster and firing a orange beam into the Viking's chest, the luckless commander vanishing with a scream that cut off. "Make the attack look like it was another local tribe. We'll try inland. MOVE OUT!" the captain called, waving her men back to their gunship.
…
Things on Berk were a little less settle than usual because they had just received a message. It seems that Dagur the Deranged is coming with a small armada of Berserkers and the dragons needed to disappear.
"So...this Dagur guy's completely insane?" said Matt, standing next to Starflame. He'd decided to stay on Berk until he 'graduated' which wouldn't happen till he learnt how not to fall off from 30 feet up.
"Well, he didn't get the name 'the Deranged' for being reasonable," said Stoick in a dark tone, "Not like his father, Oswald the Agreeable."
"Yeah, though we'll still need to trade here every so often. Some of us have real...appetites," said Matt, aimlessly before looking ahead, "Oh, here they come. Any advice for dealing with Dagur the Dufus?"
"For starters, don't say anything about dragons," said Stoick, "Secondly, he will push your temper so it's best to have someone cool-headed around to keep yourself in check."
"I'm perfectly cool headed," protested Matt, a distant buzzing coming from the ship approaching.
Stoick glanced towards the ship before dismissing the noise and saying, "Also, Dagur has a tendency to pick on kids smaller than himself. Hiccup and Fishlegs usually fall into that category, but you might want to keep him clear of your own."
"Believe me, he picks on Lilo, he'll be in traction before the day's out," muttered Matt to Starflame who nodded.
"It's mostly boys who aren't manly that are his favorite target," said Stoick, "Which makes me worry about Gary."
"Gary's tougher then he looks, I assure you." said Matt, adding, "If Dagur tries to hurt any of my crew, I'll feed him to that sea dragon that's stalking me."
"Why do ya suppose it does that anyways?" asked Stoick.
"It's the fates annoying me again," said Matt darkly, stomping off and leaving Starflame to give Stoick a confused shrug with her wings before following.
Eventually, the moment they've all been dreading had arrived. The Berserker ships had entered Berk's harbor and were getting ready to dock.
"Ten-shun," said Matt, the disguised marines all standing to attention. When the gangplank lowered, Matt could guess which one was Dagur, seeing as he was the youngest-looking, had a mad twinkle in his eyes, and his helmet had long horns that seemed somehow familiar to Matt. "Ok, like I said, play nice for now," said Matt quietly.
"Dagur, it's good to see the son of my old friend," said Stoick, his teeth slightly gritted.
Dagur looked around with a lofty look before focusing on Matt. Dagur strode on over to Matt. Now they were closer, Matt could notice they were about the same height, though the horn gave Dagur an extra foot on him.
"Is there a problem, sir?" said Matt, using the same tome he would use to call someone a 'smeghead'.
"You're not from here," said Dagur, "I know all the men on Berk, and most of what they might call 'men'."
"I'm from...Britannia. Me and my men have settled the area," said Matt in a neutral tone, returning Dagur's gaze.
"Ah, Britannia, I hear the people are really easy to plunder there," said Dagur.
"You haven't met my men, have you?" said Matt, the two now seemingly waiting for the other to blink.
"And you haven't gotten a good look at my men, have you?" responded Dagur.
"I can think of 6 ways I could have killed you and your men before you even finished getting on shore. Your security is sloppy and overconfident," said Matt, forgetting himself briefly to give a professional opinion.
"And your men look like they couldn't carry a single log between them," said Dagur.
"Really? Xander?" said Matt, a mountain of a man, walking intro view at the head of the dock, the planks audibly creaking and cracking. "He's big," said Matt
Dagur glanced up at Xander and said, "Hmm, you crew seems to have its characters of note. I think you've earned my tolerance...for now."
"Good, but let's be clear; if any of my men have...accidents, don't sleep," growled Matt quietly, his eyes blazing blue for a second.
"Ooh, a tough one," said Dagur, apparently missing the blaze, "You wouldn't happen to have Berserker blood in you, would you?"
"That comparison has often been made," admitted Matt. Matt stopped as he noticed Dagur look aside and spot Lilo, who was the only one not at attention, chatting to Stitch and Sue who looked annoyed thanks to the 'collars' they had as a disguise. "I wouldn't if I was you. Size isn't everythiiiing," warned Matt, grinning as he hoped against hope that Dagur would ignore the warning.
However, what Matt didn't know was that Dagur wouldn't ignore a challenge, especially if it involved something mean. He strode over to Lilo and said, "Hey kid, those are some ugly dogs of yours."
"Oh, he's an Egyptian blue-furred ectoplasmic detection hound." said Lilo with her usual happy demeanor.
"He's an ugly mutt," said Dagur before looking at Sue and said, "And an even uglier weasel." Luckily nobody saw Sue use her middle claw to make a very human insult as Dagur turned back to Lilo. "You don't look like a Viking," he said nastily, causing Stitch to growl.
"Matt says I'm too young to pillage," said Lilo.
Dagur glared at that. "Is that supposed to be a joke? I was pillaging at your age easily. You look weaker than Hiccup," he said, Matt covering his eyes in horror given that there were some instincts that EXP added...such as always taking a prompt to cause mayhem like Dagur's.
"Bet I can throw you into the water before you can," said Lilo. Stoick also heard that and started forward to try and diffuse things when Dagur went to grab Lilo. Nobody outside the crew were sure what happened, other than one second, Lilo's arm had been grabbed and the next one, Dagur was half way through an arc off the dock The Vikings started at Lilo with shock. "The trick is to let your opponent build up momentum and then use his weight against him," she said.
"We've travelled," said Matt quickly, before pulling Lilo aside. "Much as that was fun..." he was heard saying as a confused Dagur pulled himself up on the dock, with an impressed look.
"So, it looks like your crew can fight after all," said Dagur as he walked up to Matt, "I could like you, if you swore loyalty to me of course."
"You can't afford me," said Matt darkly
"Your loss," said Dagur.
"Uh, Dagur, perhaps now may be a good time to tell us why you've come here," said Stoick, "The annual treaty-signing isn't for several months."
"I'm here because something's used dragons to destroy 3 of my outposts," said Dagur loftily.
"What makes ya certain it was dragons who did it?" asked Gobber, "Not that we train dragons."
"All the outpost soldiers had been burnt as had the buildings," said Dagur.
"Musta been wild dragons then," said Gobber, "They can be pretty nasty."
"There are no wild dragons near my lands. Plus, my men found this," said Dagur, pulling out a helmet with a half symbol on it and tossing it down.
Stoick picked up the helmet and looked at it. "Hmm...this is very peculiar," he muttered.
"I know, it's used by you," said Dagur.
"That looks like one of the helmets I sold a few years back," said Gobber, "Souvenir helmets were a big thing back then. Everyone wanted to collect one helmet from each clan."
"You expect me to believe that?" said Dagur with a laugh.
Matt spoke up at that, "No, but my sq...clan's been trading for food with them for the last week or so and I've been here on business. Nobody could have hit your outposts and gotten back without my men noticing...even if they flew."
Stoick glared at that, "I told ye the first time, we haven't got any dragons here."
"Then you wouldn't have a problem with me trying to find them," said Dagur.
"Yer wasting yer time," said Stoick.
"It's my time, I can waste it however I want," said Dagur.
Matt watched as Dagur walked up the dock before saying "What a little whiny creep."
"I much preferred it when his father was chief," said Stoick.
"I can see why. You know...I don't usually...but if you wanted him to have a few accidents. I could arrange a discount," said Matt, apparently talking to the water.
"Well, as tempting as that would be, it would start a war. And Berserker are known to fight until-" started Stoick before there was a splash. Stoick turned around and saw an absence of Matt. "Where'd he go?"
...
Gary and Megan had decided not to attend the 'welcoming' of a guy that Hiccup and company agreed was the biggest jerk in existence though they had all watched as Lilo had flipped him into the drink.
"Well, I suppose we ought to be standing out of his way," said Gary.
"So...how bad is Lilo's new punching bag?" joked Megan, looking at Hiccup.
"Well, let's just say he likes practicing with knives, mostly to see how close he can come to hitting you," said Hiccup.
"Hmm...I'd pay money to see him try that with Matt. He gets really annoyed if you poke him without permission some-oh and there's that dragon again," said Gary, pointing out where Matt was glomped and pulled into the water
"You know, we ought to think up a name for him if he's going to keep showing up like that," said Megan.
On cue Matt was shot out the water again, landing somewhere far behind them. "How about Spitter?" suggested Gary before a happy whistling was heard from Matt's oceanic tormenter.
"Nah, not slimy enough," said Megan.
Lilo had walked over by then and said, "How about Steampipe?"
"Why Steampipe?" asked Hiccup.
"Because he can shoot steam out his nostrils and make a piping sound," said Lilo.
"I like it...now can someone fetch a ladder?" called Matt, from where he had landed in a thankfully unlit torch tower.
"I'll get it," said Gary before walking off.
...
Gary finally found a ladder, with some bird's nest direction from Matt (who, with nothing to do, had fallen back on the traditional 'being a smartarse' pastime) found a shed near Gobber's. Gary checked the rungs and said, "Ok, I think this will do. I just hope Matt hasn't been eating too much."
"Well, what have we here?" said a voice behind him.
"Of course," said Gary to himself in French. He looked up to see Dagur leering over him. "Uh, hello," said Gary.
"You're new here, from the new crew, I bet. But you're not Britannia, are you?"
"Er, my family is, but I was raised Fra...in Gaul," said Gary.
"Oh, a Roman's pet then," said Dagur with amusement.
Gary gave him an annoyed look and said, "I was not a pet, I was a servant. To a very respected family I'll have you know."
"Still a pet in my eyes, Gaul. How much did they pay for a scrawny thing like you?" said Dagur, clearly enjoying Gary's discomfort.
"It was a family-born thing," said Gary, "My parents worked for them."
"I can see why you were sold then," said Dagur, amused as Gary glared. "Is anything the matter?" he asked tauntingly
"No...nothing's...wrong..." said Gary, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to pull my friend off of a tower."
Dagur blocked the way for a minute. "Not yet, the captain claimed you and your companions are his equals, his 'men', so you should be able to fight."
"I don't see a reason to fight," said Gary, "There's nothing to fight about."
As Gary tried to walk past Dagur, Dagur stuck out his foot and nearly tripped him up. "I think I can think of a few things to fight about," said Dagur, "Like how I don't like your face."
"I don't want to fight you," tried Gary, trying to get back to his feet again
"Let's see how quickly I can change your mind about that," said Dagur, snatching the ladder away from Gary.
"Hey, I need that," called Gary, a little overloud in the hope someone more reasoning turned up.
"Oh, and how are you planning on getting it back, shrimp?" taunted Dagur.
"I...I..." began Gary before hanging his head. He couldn't very well use his...skills against Dagur, not without exposing the crew.
"Just what I thought," said Dagur before using the ladder to knock Gary onto his back, "You're about as manly as Hiccup, and that's not much."
Hey, what the hell you doin'?" called the voice of one of Matt's men at that.
Dagur glanced towards him before saying to Gary, "I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other." He then dropped the ladder on Gary and walked away.
Chris ran up shortly after. "Gary, you ok? That jerk do anything?"
"I'm fine. A little dirty, nothing to worry about," said Gary.
"You sure?" asked Chris, clearly not believing a word.
"Of course, it's nothing that I can't endure. I mean, he is an honored guest and it would be very rude to strike out against him," said Gary.
"You are allowed to kick his ass if you want," said Chris.
"That isn't the way that gentlemen solve their differences," said Gary, "Now I need to help Matt get down before something decides to use his head as a nest."
...
"He tried to fight you?" snapped Matt.
"Well, I didn't accept his challenge, isn't that important?" asked Gary.
"No...I mean yes. You did the right thing. Bullies have short attention spans. He'll get bored if you don't rise to it," said Matt.
"Then that's exactly what I intend to do," said Gary.
"Good...and if he does hurt you, rip his liver out. Works for me," said Matt cheerfully.
"That hardly seems polite," said Gary.
"No...but it's good for stress," said Matt.
After Gary walked off, Lilo commented, "You know, Gary's the only person I know who probably wouldn't be affected by Manners' powers. Or at least not noticeably."
"Yeah, people need to let loose otherwise they go mad...insane..." said Matt, before Chloe muttered "And then they join a mercenary company."
"Well, how long will it take for him to give up finding a dragon army?" asked Lilo.
"The dumb tend to be hard to get bored," said Matt.
"Three days, that's my bet," said Chloe.
"You think he'll keep looking that long?" asked Lilo.
"No, but he'll have worn out Stoick's patience by then," said Chloe.
...
As it turned out, Dagur kept himself amused by tormenting Gary. During the first day, it was typical schoolyard bully stuff: trapping him in boxes, dangling him from a tree, he even stuffed a live eel down his shirt. However, Gary took Matt's advice and ignored it and it appeared to be working.
"Are you made of stone?" Dagur finally snapped.
'Sometimes,' thought Gary before saying, "No, it's just that we Gauls have an exceedingly long-lasting patience. We can wait out just about anything."
"I noticed," muttered Dagur before suddenly smirking, "You know, Gary, I'm starting to like your style. How about we bury the hatchet?" Gary reflexively covered the top of his head. "It's...a phrase...usually," said Dagur, pulling a waterskin out his pack. "Here, to our future victories," he said, offering it, Gary noticing some white smoke coming out.
"Is this kr'ta?" he asked
"I never heard of that stuff. But it's a special elixir that only we Berserkers know how to make," said Dagur, holding out the waterskin, "Here try some."
Gary wasn't sure he wanted to, because that reminded him too much of kr'ta, especially the way the drops from the spout hissed when they hit the ground. However, Gary knew that Matt was still breathing so, with a shrug, he gulped down a sip and coughed. "Got...a kick," he said weakly.
"Yep, so, wanna chase down some wild hogs and butcher them?" asked Dagur eagerly.
"I...I need to go...hurt...the captain..." said Gary, twitching a bit before walking stiffly towards where the gang was resting.
Dagur shrugged and said, "More swine for me then." He took a swig from the waterskin before his eyes bugged, he started frothing at the mouth, and then he let a loud yell before charging off into the woods.
...
Matt looked up to see Gary walk in. "Hey Gary...you got a second?" he asked.
"Yeah...what about?" asked Gary, twitching slightly, his stomach feeling a little unstable.
"Look, I know things have been hard and we're roughing it..." said Matt, as Gary walked up.
"Kinda hard to miss..." said Gary, his fist clenching and unclenching a little sporadically.
"You ok? You need anything?" asked Matt, looking in close before being pushed in the shoulder. "Don't do that," he said immediately.
Gary's eyes glowed yellow for a second before snapping, "Oh yeah, why shouldn't I?" He shoved Matt in the shoulder again.
"Because when that's done more than two times everything just turns into a red haze of death and I never remember how I get covered in stuff," said Matt.
"Oh, you mean like this?" asked Gary before shoving Matt a third time.
Matts left eye twitched and a faint grin appeared.
...
Megan and Chloe were passing as Matt walked out. "So...what happened?" Chloe asked.
"Punched him in the face," said Matt casually before walking onwards.
Megan and Chloe paused at this for a moment before quickly walking to the room Gary was in.
Gary was embedded in the wall. "What happened?" he groaned.
"You shoved Matt three times, didn't you?" said Chloe.
"Did I? The last thing I remember is having a drink Dagur offered me," groaned Gary, as Megan tried fruitlessly to pull him loose.
"And you accepted it? Gary, even Morph could tell you that was a bad idea," said Chloe.
"Really?" said Megan, causing Chloe to concede "Well...maybe not Morph, but anyone else..."
"Well, it would have been rude to pass up," said Gary.
"Gary, rudeness is not that big a factor around here," said Chloe, "I mean, just watch one of the Hooligans for about five minutes and you'll see that manners aren't a high priority."
"We're talking about the five minutes being mealtimes, right?" asked Megan.
"No, Vikings classify honor...erm...you seen Star Trek?" said Chloe, pushing out for an example. Gary just stared blankly. "Ok, let's try something else. These guys go for honor, especially in combat. Any other manner goes down the toilet. This is basically a civilization of Matts," said Chloe finally.
"No wonder Matt barely lifts an eyebrow around here," said Megan.
"No, really, it's nothing I can't turn the other cheek about," said Gary.
"It won't work. I doubt Dagur is smart enough too," said Chloe before sighing, "Don't accept any more 'presents' from him...and stay near one of the team at all times."
"I'll...try my best," said Gary.
Megan sighed and said, "C'mon, Gary, let's get you something non-toxic to drink."
...
Dagur watched from the sidelines, annoyed. His search had found nothing except vanishing sheep and his new 'hobby' now had a bodyguard: the man mountain of a newcomer who had a frighteningly realistic impression of a dragon growl.
Still, Dagur had enough time. That scrawny twig can't be under watch all the time. And maybe a bigger dose will make him a little more combative. He grinned before turning to find the man mountain looking down at him. "Is there a problem, sir?" said the man, looking strangely serene for someone who looked capable of picking up a longboat without difficulty
"Not at all, just wondering when Gary can come out to...play," said Dagur, his eye twitching at the last word.
"The cap...the chief made it quite clear that if you came within 3 feet of Mr. Gary that I was to crush you to the size and shape of a ball and throw you out to sea," said the man calmly.
"You can't be telling our chief what to do," said one of Dagur's bodyguards, pointing his sword at the giant's gut.
Xander looked down before effortlessly pulling the sword out of the guard's grip by the blade. "A demonstration? Are we watching closely?" he said before effortlessly bending the sword into a corkscrew and passing it back politely. "I trust the situation is now clear, gentlemen?" he said calmly before walking back over to Gary.
Dagur and his bodyguard looked at the twisted sword. "Where did that Lynch fellow find this guy?" asked the bodyguard.
"I don't know, but I want one," said Dagur.
"I'm unique," called the man, Xander, causing the two to jump.
"Still, that wimp Gary's had a taste of the Berserker way," said Dagur, a little more quietly, "It's only a matter of time before he wants more.
...
Over the course of the day, the gang has noticed Gary seemed to be loosening up regarding manners. For instance, there was a little matter of the small belching contest...
"...and me old dad said nobody ever got it that far again, hence me name," said Gobber, the gang all looking pale.
"It's the story version of Matt's singing," said Chloe distantly.
"So I think that makes me a proper judge when it comes to gaseous expulsions. Now then, boys, let's see your war faces," said Gobber.
Matt looked over at Gary. "You sure you want to be here? You're not really a burper," he said.
"Well, when in Rome, right?" asked Gary.
"Wow...go for it then, my man." said Matt, impressed.
"Ok boys, get ready to chug," said Gobber, putting down large mugs of frothy beverages.
Matt looked at his before sniffing it and gagging. "What the smeg is this?" he asked.
"Yak milk, oyster juice, some pine sap for texture," said Gobber, "Just what you need to build up a big belch."
"That sounds like poison." said Matt weakly.
Chloe said "We've eaten worse." causing Matt to shrug and down his mug in one shot.
Gobber sighed, "Even I never did that, it's the taste, wait for it..." he said.
Matt's stomach made an interesting sound as his throat seemed to bulge a bit. "That's a burp?" asked Megan weakly.
"No, definitely more solid, stand back," said Chloe.
Matt gagged and ran outside, a hurling noise heard from outside. "Now then, everyone else...on yer marks...get set...chug," said Gobber cheerfully.
Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Gary all took a big swig from their mugs. They've seen from Matt's example not to drink too much. Snotlout was the first to let rip, his burp actually causing dust to come down...sadly he had been looking at Chloe at the time, resulting in Chloe lunging at him.
Fishlegs was next. He didn't get too much in the volume department, but his breath making some flies drop dead had to count for something. Tuffnut followed, causing Chloe, who was mid-way through choking Snotlout to look around.
Gary clutched his belly as it was giving a pretty loud gurgle. "Whoa, looks we'll be getting some jetsam," said Gobber. Gary grimaced before his face partially contorted and he let out a massive burp. The burp grew in size and deepness until it seemed more like Gary was roaring. A flock of Terrible Terrors that had been hiding in Gobber's house immediately took flight and flew out the door, one flying through Fishlegs' burp and theatrically falling down, spinning on its hindlegs before falling over.
After a bit, Gary ran out of gas and he noticed the others looking at him. "Uh, excuse me," he said a little bashfully.
"You're a natural, kid," said Gobber, impressed.
"Not exactly what I'd call natural," said Chloe, fanning the air away from her face.
Gary stopped at that. "Wait...those dragons flew right out...WHAT IF DAGUR SAW THEM?" he said panicky.
"They're Terrible Terrors," said Gobber, "They're small, but not stupid."
"We need to get them back right away," said Gary before heading towards the door. Gary ran out, looking for any sign of the flock and as such wasn't looking where he was going, running right into Dagur.
However, Dagur had something else on his mind. "Did you see the dragon?" he asked excitedly, his sword at the ready.
"Dagur, I can explain," said Gary.
"Where is it? With a roar that big, it had to have been a Thunderdrum," said Dagur.
"Erm...yes...I...saw it...out to...sea?" Gary said carefully and about as convincing as NegaMorph holding Matt's wallet.
"No, it had to have been here. Where are you hiding it? I knew there were dragons here," said Dagur, pointing his sword at Gary.
"Of course there aren't any dragons here," said Gary desperately.
"Gary?" Gary glanced back to Megan walking outside, looking concern.
"Yes, Ma'cherie?" said Gary, forgetting not to use modern French for a minute
However, that's when Dagur walked on over to her, taking a step on Gary's chest along the way. "Well, well, who do we have here?" he asked leeringly.
Gary glared at that. "You do not touch her!" he snapped, getting back up.
"Or what?" asked Dagur, "You think you could defend her better than yourself?"
"I will kill you if you touch her!" shouted Gary.
Dagur just laughed at that, albeit his twisted demented laugh. "And here I though you didn't have any backbone at all," said Dagur, "Looks like that pick-me-up worked after all."
"What was in that drink?" said Gary angrily, grabbing Dagur and lifting him up.
"Sorry, special Berserker secret," said Dagur, "Can't tell you...unless you wanna join."
"You...YOU!" snapped Gary, now lifting Dagur off his feet.
Matt walked into view at that and stopped. "GARY, PUT DOWN THE DELEGATION!" he yelled. Gary turned and snarled at Matt, his yellow eyes and sharp teeth making his face look demonic for a moment. "GARY!" snapped Matt. Gary seemed to snap out of it then, dropping Dagur in favor of clutching his head.
Matt stomped forward and took his turn to grab Dagur, effortlessly flooring the bodyguard who lunged without even looking. "I warned you what would happen," he growled.
"They're harboring a dragon here. I heard it," said Dagur.
"And the reason you are poisoning my men?" said Matt, angrily.
"It's not poison. My men and I take it all the time," said Dagur with an eye twitch.
"That gives you no leave to slip my men something that is clearly making him ill. I could kill you so easily...and not even leave a body. DON'T PLAY STUPID WITH ME!" Matt snapped, actually roaring.
"What's going on here?" Gary, Matt, and Dagur looked to see Stoick giving them a disapproving look.
"This...scum tricked one of my men into taking some kind of elixir that almost sent him mad. So I'm going to kill him, is that ok?" said Matt a little manically.
"That's not how we do things on Berk," said Stoick, "We settle them in a sensible and honorable manner."
"Do we have to?" said Matt before looking disappointed, "Fine."
"Now, tomorrow, we'll settle this with a match in the arena," said Stoick.
"With swords?" asked Dagur eagerly.
"With staffs. We don't kill just because someone displeases you," said Stoick.
Matt looked around before seeming to finally notice he was holding Dagur and letting go. "That's good..." he said before hissing into Dagur's ear, "Matt's in agreement that you need some bones fractured."
Dagur wasn't sure why Matt was referring to himself in the third person, but it was hardly the first time he heard someone do it. "And Dagur is going to turn Gary black and blue," he hissed back.
"Hah, you have no idea what that kid can do. On his bad days I once saw him rip a T-49 tank in half, have fun," said 'Matt' with a manic grin.
'You know Gary's never done anything that violent,' said the real Matt's voice in his head, 'The worst he'd done is bash peoples' heads until they're out cold.'
'True, but I like to make jerks squirm,' replied Draconus.
The Matt personality gave a little mental poke before turning their head towards where Dagur was attacking a tree stump with his blade like an angry wood chipper. 'Yeah...I can see the terror,' said Matt sarcastically.
'He's hiding it. He's just taking out his fear on that stump,' said Draconus.
'Can I have the wheel now? I need to show Gary how to use a stick without hurting only himself,' said Matt.
"Fine...only if I get to control one of the eyes at the fight. It's boring in here," said Draconus.
'Deal, but if you make me dizzy, it's our stomach that suffers,' said Matt.
'It's a deal...' said Draconus before relinquishing control.
...
Matt tossed an ion staff over, modified to only tazer, to Gary. The two were out the way in a clearing. "Ok, let's get going," said Matt.
"Matt, have you ever been taught to use a quarterstaff?" asked Gary.
Matt pressed a button on his own ion staff, a second blade appearing and turning it into the staff mentioned in the name before spinning it. "Close combat was kinda mandatory," he said.
"Ok, and wood is supposed to be less painful than this, right?" asked Gary.
"Pain is your motivators. Dagur will probably try to kill you 'by accident'. Me and Draconus are in agreement...in fact, he'll be helping," said Matt, before suddenly yelling "THINK FAST!" and taking a swing.
Unfortunately, Gary didn't think fast enough and got a blow to the shoulder. "Ow," he yelped, "You didn't tell me to get ready."
"Dagur won't," said Matt, in a crueler tone that indicated Draconus was 'helping' before he delivered a triple blow that ended with Gary on his back.
Draconus placed the tip of his staff on Gary's sternum and said, "If you wanna beat a barbarian, you need to start thinking like one. You can start by forgetting about chivalry and all that other crap that doesn't exist yet."
"But...OOF!" began Gary before a blow winded him, Draconus saying "You're dead...up and try again."
Gary got up and but quickly got knocked back down again. They did this a few times before Gary said, "Can you at least let me get into position? You're not giving me a fair chance."
"What are you going to do about it, sissy?" asked Draconus, poking Gary again.
Gary's eyes suddenly went yellow as he shrieked, "I am not A SISSY!"
Draconus jumped back, blocked several rapid fire blows that the furious Gary threw at him. "That's more like it, tiny," laughed Draconus.
Gary just screamed and hammered forward with frenzied blows. Soon, Draconus found himself mostly on the defense. "Ok, that's enough kid. You're fighting to unconscious, not the death," said Draconus, desperately before blasting Gary back with a low powered blast. Gary was knocked back, but almost immediately sprang up and charged at Draconus with a savage yell.
Draconus glared and span, whacking the back of Gary's head with his staff as Gary charged by.
Gary fell to the ground and sat back up a few seconds later. "What just happened?" he asked, looking completely bewildered.
"You freaked out, man," said Draconus with a laugh.
"I did?" asked Gary before clutching his stomach and groaning.
Draconus walked forward before grabbing Gary and peering a little too close for comfort. "Yup. Whatever that idiot, Dagur slipped you is still working its funky fun. Guess the ingredients aren't good for gargoyles," he said before noticing he'd lifted Gary up, who was turning blue. "Oops," he said, dropping Gary again.
"I...I don't feel so good..." said Gary before he started gagging.
"You barf on me and I'll tear your spine out and floss with it," said Draconus, backing up.
Gary staggered over to behind a tree before a vomiting sound was heard.
"Ok, we could use this. I wanna try something Gary. It seems a certain word may trigger your freak out," Draconus called.
"Do we have to right now?" asked Gary as he staggered back, "I feel sick."
"Well...I do have an idea," said Draconus.
"Wait...urgh...you think a single word could cause me to-" began Gary, only for Draconus to say casually "Sissy." -KILL THAT DAMNED VIKING WHEN I FIGHT IM!" finished Gary.
"Thata boy. Now how about putting that rage to good use and-" started Draconus when Gary let out a frenzied cry and delivered a kick right into the universally vulnerable spot.
Gary immediately came down from the united states of fury to realize what he'd just done. "Erm..." he said before Draconus said in a rasping voice. "1...2...3..." causing Gary to flee.
It just so happened that Megan was coming over to see how the training was going. She was almost there when Gary ran past her. "Hey, Gary, what's-" started Megan.
"Can't talk, gotta run!" yelled Gary.
A few seconds later, a boulder exploded and Matt, under Draconus's control, charged through the rubble. "WHERE IS HE?" he roared.
"Er..." said Megan, not really sure if she should tell him anything.
"Don't bother, I can smell his fear," growled Draconus before pausing and telling Megan in a civil tone, "You two make a nice couple. You have quite a few things in common."
"Really?" asked Megan, causing Draconus to say "Yeah...you got a kick like a mule." before he ran off.
Megan filtered this through before realizing what Draconus was referring to, since Matt never let that particular one down. "What could have possessed Gary to do that?" she remarked.
...
The dragon academy was again the arena. Dagur's crew was all in attendance. "Sir...you sure you want to do this? Killing another clanmember even accidentally, too easy if this Viking's as weak as you say," said Dagur's second.
"I think he's grown a few vertebrate since last night," said Dagur, "I hope I get some sort of challenge. It'll be too easy if it ends before the first minute's up."
"We don't need a war. We don't even know what's destroying our outposts," said the second, slightly desperately.
"You know, you're taking all the fun out of beating," said Dagur, sounding annoyed.
"We just need to make it look like an accident. This new clan will be tied to the same rules as the others," said his second.
"Whatever," said Dagur, "Where is that shrimp anyways?"
"Heading to the arena, last I heard," said Dagur's second before cheering was heard from above, "That ought to be him." The two looked around to see Gary walking into the arena, alone. "That's odd, where's his second?" asked Dagur's second.
"Oh, so he thinks he's man enough to fight me on his own, does he?" said Dagur before snapping at his second, "Get out, I won't have that twig one-up on me!"
"Yes, chief," said the second, walking out and up to the rim, seeing Matt, "Confident little sprout, isn't he? Not taking a second?"
"A second what?" asked Matt.
"To take over when he dies." said the Viking, causing Matt to pale.
"When he dies?" he said weakly, his voice seeming to echo like two people were talking at the same time.
"Well, it's supposed to be until one of them's knocked out, but we Berserkers can get carried away," admitted the Viking.
"WHAT?" snapped Matt in the same dual voice before saying in a normal voice, "We got to stop this."
"We? I just put-" started the Viking.
Matt interrupted by saying with a slightly different voice said, "Can't we wait until Gary's taken a few hits to the head."
The Viking was about to reply before Matt said, "Tempting, but no. I'm not taking chances."
"You ok?" said the Viking carefully only to be clocked in the face and knocked out, Matt saying "Now look what you did," before saying "He looked at us funny."
…
Meanwhile, Gary was getting into position, trying to remember what he had learned from Matt...which only made him a bit more nervous. A second later he was forced to jump back to avoid a slash from Dagur. "Listen, Dagur, there is a better way of dealing with frustration than through aggression," said Gary.
"Oh shut up," snapped Dagur, aiming another swipe.
Gary held his staff in a defensive position as he said, "There really is no need to be brutal. You can be surprised how many situations can be solved by simply talking."
A second later, a quarterstaff hit Gary on the head. This stunned Gary enough for Dagur to knock him off his feet. "This is really disappointing," said Dagur, "I expected an easy fight, but this is too easy. I guess even with some elixir, you're nothing but a sissy."
"Sissy? SISSY?" snapped Gary, his eyes blazing white before he double kicked Dagur.
"Now that's more like-" started Dagur before Gary got a good hit at his diaphragm. Dagur staggered back before being slapped across the face with a quarterstaff and getting his legs shot out from under him before he rolled back to avoid another blow and getting back up. "Ok, now we're fighting," said Dagur before charging at Gary.
The two traded blows, Gary for some reason repeating "NOT A SISSY!" over and over with each blow until Dagur smashed his staff in half
"Ha, not so tough without..." started Dagur before Gary struck with his broken staff halves and cracked Dagur's staff in two different places. "Evening it up, eh sissy? I can see why he brough-OOF!" he said as Gary screamed like a wild animal and delivered a blow to both sides of Dagur's head with the pieces of quarterstaff.
When Dagur brought up his staff to defend himself, Gary's blow quickly shattered it in three and for good measure, he stomped on the pieces hard enough to crack them. Gary said in a deeper voice, "Gonna rip you apart."
Then the fight completely devolved into a brawl. And by 'brawl', it was more like Gary slamming Dagur into the floor again and again. Matt watched in horror as Draconus said inside his head "Oh, the sissy's doing well. HAH! Being a head voice means I can say that and he can't hear."
"As much as I like to see Dagur get his, I think he's gotten more than enough," said Matt, "I think he's unconscious by now anyways."
An angry yell from Dagur silenced that as the Viking finally got his second wind and flipped Gary.
"Eh, they'll probably beat each other senseless eventually," said Draconus. Matt sighed at that, counting the seconds. It would only be a matter of time until all that rage brought out Gary's...other side.
Suddenly, Gary grabbed both of Dagur's legs and started spinning him around and around, building up more speed. Then he let go and sent Dagur with enough force to hit the arena doors and make them open. Gary roared before charging out of the arena.
Matt pointed. "Xander, get him!" he said quickly.
Xander nodded and immediately ran forward to try and grab Gary. "Young one, you need to regain control of yourself," said Xander as he reached forward to grab Gary. However, Gary weaved around his arm before grabbing Xander by the waist. Then he managed to lift Xander above his head. Matt and the group watched with minor horrified interest as Xander was thrown aside before Gary glared to try and spot Dagur.
Matt quickly looked around for anything to use. The dragon-slaying equipment was restored to keep up the appearance of the Hooligans still being dragonslayers, but Matt needed something a little less lethal. His eyes fell on some nets in the corner before running over as several Vikings tried to succeed where Xander had failed. Unfortunately, Gary's strength allowed him to easily toss them aside like volleyballs. Matt looked around to make sure nobody was there before grabbing a net and running out after Gary, waving to the others to follow.
He was just in time too as Gary had just spotted Dagur, who wasn't fully conscious after being slammed into the doors, but enough of his survival instinct existed to make him try to keep away from Gary.
"Gary, I order you to calm down!" called Matt, running after Gary while hauling the heavy net along. Gary just turned and roared at Matt, his eyes burning yellow and his teeth looking sharper than before. Matt stared before throwing the net in desperation.
The net went over Gary who snarled and tried to find his way out of it. "DOGPILE!" called Chris before jumping onto Gary. The term was unfamiliar to the Vikings, but it didn't take too much guessing as to what Chris meant. Several of them also jumped onto Gary to get him down to the ground.
Matt however stepped back before the 'dogpile' went flying as Gary threw them off, pulling the net off and charging after Gary again, though he was starting to lope as his 'other side' kicked in
"Gary, get back right now!" snapped Matt. Gary only paused to punch Matt, sending him flying backwards. Then he started loping over to the woods. "GARY!" snapped Matt, getting up before staggering and falling over again, out cold.
...
When Matt came around, he was pretty sure he had a big bruise on his chest by the way it was throbbing. "Easy there, lad," said Gobber's voice, "You took a big blow there."
"Where's...Gary gone?" rasped Matt, getting up unsteadily.
"Into the forest," said Stoick, "He seems to have lost his mind. What could have possibly gotten into him to make act like such a..."
"Berserker?" offered Chloe.
Matt managed, "He said...Dagur gave him a drink...of something."
"I've heard rumors that Berserkers drink an elixir that only they know the recipe of," said Stoick, "When they drink them, they go into a mad bloodrage frenzy."
"It's why they're called Berserkers," said Gobber, "Also because of their bearskin shirts. Berserkers may be brutes, but they know how to skin a bear perfectly."
"So basically Dagur drugged one of my men," said Matt, his annoyed tone coming back.
"It would seem that way," said Stoick.
"I hope Gary hasn't killed him...I want to," said Matt angrily, getting up...before falling over again.
"Dagur went into the forest to look for him," said Stoick, "I've sent my own men in as well, to find Gary before he does." He glanced out the window and said, "I hope they find him soon. It's almost sunset."
"Me too...poor guy," said Matt to himself, not particularly thinking of Gary at the moment.
"I think we better start looking ourselves," said Chloe, "Lots of scary stuff comes out at night. Wouldn't want to be lost in the woods then."
"Yeah...Gary might fin-OW!" said Matt, falling off the bed he was on as Chloe 'accidentally' kicked it.
"You'd best hurry then," said Stoick, "I'd send Hiccup, his friends, and their dragons, but I can't risk them stumbling across Dagur."
Matt got up unsteadily and was the last out. "I hope we find him before Gary...poor guy won't stand a chance," he said. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Matt whispered to Chloe, "Get the guys and start looking. Gary's probably going to be even more berserk as a gargoyle."
"Oh goody," said Chloe grimly.
...
However, Hiccup and his friends had already taken the initiative of looking for Gary. But they had the sense to be looking for him without their dragons. "Ok, he can't have gone far," said Hiccup, looking around at the darkened woods.
"Uh, Hiccup, this won't take too long, right?" asked Fishlegs, "It's kinda getting dark."
"We'll be fine. We just find Gary and get him back before Dagur finds-" began Hiccup before Dagur's voice said "Find what?"
The group turned around to see Dagur. "Oh, hey Dagur," said Hiccup, "We thought you were in the other part of the forest."
"I'm exactly where I want to be." said Dagur, a little too quickly before a rustling was heard. The group quickly turned towards the source of the rustling. There was a bit of anticipation before a rabbit hopped out.
"Oh, it's just a cute little bunny," said Ruffnut. The rabbit looked at her, wiggled its nose, and then let out a screech showing sharp fangs as its eyes glowed red before it leaped upon her face.
"Ok, didn't expect that," said Hiccup.
A louder roar was heard as the moon came out, causing even the bunny to pause before it shrugged and carried on trying to gnaw Ruffnut's face clean off.
"I knew there was a dragon on this island," said Dagur, "You've been trying to keep it for yourselves."
"I've never heard a dragon roar like that," said Hiccup.
"It sounds like its saying your name, Dagur," said Astrid, a little nervously as another roar was heard, closer and louder now.
"Then it knows who its slayer is," said Dagur with a manic smile, "You kids stand back and watch how a real warrior slays a dragon."
The sound of something merrily tearing its way through the woods towards them however seemed to put a minor damper on that, judging from the way Dagur's manic smile seemed to glaze before, as the moon was hidden behind a cloud, a dazed Gary staggered out the bushes, looking like he'd gone four rounds with the roar's owner.
Hiccup gave a sigh of relief and said, "Gary, we've been looking all over for you." "Don't...come near me..." gasped Gary.
"What? You got an upset stomach?" asked Snotlout mockingly.
There was an unpleasant gurgle before Gary said, "As a matter of fact..."
Snotlout leaned in and said "Actually you do look like that time I tried some of-" he said before Gary upchucked.
Everyone winced in disgust before Hiccup said, "I think you really need to see a healer now."
"Oh, he'll need a healer when I'm done with him," said Dagur as he walked forward.
"Dagur, he really does look ill," said Astrid as the moon came back out and Gary went bug-eyed and started twitching.
"Well, I've got the cure-all right here," said Dagur, holding up a familiar waterskin.
Gary quickly stepped back into the shadows and said, "No, keep that thing away from me."
"What wrong? It'll make this a little more interesting," said Dagur reaching to grab Gary and pull him out of the shadows. He didn't care that Hiccup and his friends were watching...why should he?
"DON'T!" shouted Gary, but fortunately the sky was rather patchy tonight and the moon was obscured again.
"Don't what?" said Dagur, dragging Gary out of the shadows again
"Dagur, leave him alone," said Astrid.
"We've got unfinished business, don't we, Gary?" said Dagur, "Our match hasn't officially ended and I think you need to man up again."
"Get AWAY!" snapped Gary, pushing Dagur back.
"You're strong enough with a sip, but let's see how tough you get with a full gulp," said Dagur before tackling Gary down and forcing the waterskin to his mouth.
"No...n-glub!" managed Gary as he was forced to choke it down before Astrid and Snotlout finally acted, dragging Dagur off as Gary choked it down.
"What is wrong with you?!" snapped Astrid, "Can't you see what that stuff is doing to him?"
"I don't care. This is my fight," snapped Dagur pushing Astrid and Snotlout aside as Gary started yelling with pain as the moon came out again "Ok, Gary, let's see what you're made of," said Dagur, dragging Gary to his feet, "Put them up." Gary weakly held up his hands, which were shaking very noticeably. "Ha, you're shivering with fear," said Dagur, "Well you're not going to get any mercy from Dagur the Deranged."
With that, Dagur aimed a jaw-shattering punch at Gary...and stopped as Gary grabbed the fist and began squeezing, an unpleasant crunching heard as Dagur was forced to one knee...before being thrown into the air. The others watched as he sailed through the air before landing in a tree. By the dazed look on his face, he was out cold.
A grunting snarl from Gary snapped them out of their shock and they turned to see Gary doubled over in a patch of moonlight. "Gary, we're going to get you to Gothi. She'll know how to take care of you," said Astrid.
"Get away from me..." snarled Gary in a voice that didn't sound human.
"Look, we can help you," tried Hiccup before Matt and Chris ran into view.
"Get away from him!" Chris snapped.
"But Gary needs help," said Fishlegs. Then Gary started moaning louder, his voice becoming deeper and more inhuman.
"Really, listen to Chris," said Matt, a little desperately.
"Uh, guys, something's really wrong with Gary," said Snotlout stepping back. Gary's skin was starting to turn stone grey and his hands were growing claws that were gouging the ground.
The killer rabbit took one look at Gary, screamed, and hightailed it into the woods. Ruffnut sat up, with only a few chewmarks on her face and asked, "What did I miss?"
"GO NOW!" yelled Matt, reaching under his cloak for something.
The kids needed little prompting, turning around and running quickly. The twins briefly paused to grab Dagur but they ran when they heard a monstrous roar behind them.
The sound of rapid fire cracks were heard, coupled with more roars as the group ran for it, finally taking a breather after a full 20 minutes run, mostly as Dagur was waking up. "What happened?" asked Dagur.
"Gary just turned into a monster!" yelled Snotlout.
"He means a monstrous Berserker," said Hiccup, "We're lucky to have dragged you away alive."
"He beat me? You're lying," said Dagur in shock and anger.
"You saw what he did with one sip," said Astrid, "That much elixir you gave him made him unstoppable."
Dagur looked down to see his waterskin was gone. "I gave him all of it?" he said in shock.
"I hope not," said Fishlegs, "I mean, that would probably kill someone, right?"
"Yes...I think," said Dagur, a little distantly.
"I guess you must have dropped it back there," said Hiccup.
"Oh well, I guess we'll never see it again," said Fishlegs.
Another roar was heard before Matt flew out the undergrowth, followed by the monster Gary had turned into, holding Chris by the throat. "Running time," said Matt dizzily.
The group quickly ran as fast as they could. "Is that a dragon?" asked Dagur, looking back.
"No, it's an angry gargoyle...from France," snapped Matt who was quickly leading the pack. "Where does this go anyway...oh crap," he added, before the group ended up near the cliffs.
"I told you we should have brought our dragons," muttered Snotlout to Hiccup.
"I'll deal with that monster," snapped Dagur, causing Matt to stare.
"I'm sorry, I thought I was insane. He's made of STONE!" he said as the crashing sounds of Gary's approach could be heard.
"What? He's a troll?" asked Dagur.
"No, gargoyle, is that helmet making you deaf?" snapped Matt.
Gary burst into view with a roar, Chris nowhere to be seen before he charged at the group, going for Dagur in particular. Matt muttered, "I can't believe I'm doing this for him," before shoving Dagur out of the way. However, that left him right in Gary's path and he ended up getting a backhand that sent flying off the cliff. The others watched in horror as Matt flew clean over the edge, though there was a strange flash of light as they ran up and no sign of him in the dark.
But then Gary roared before leaping off the cliff. He spread his wings and glided away into the darkness. Dagur snapped at that. "COME BACK HERE AND FACE ME YOU SISSY!" he yelled into the darkness, a roar that sounded like it was a question heard.
Fishlegs covered Dagur's mouth and asked, "Are you crazy?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?" asked Astrid sarcastically.
The roar sounded again, closer before, with a crash, Gary landed behind them. Dagur pushed Fishlegs aside and said, "Aha, face your match, beast. My sword shall make quick work of you." He lunged forward with his sword, but the blade broke when it struck against Gary's stone hide. Dagur stopped at that, both he and his opponent looking at the broken blade before Gary reached down to grab him. Dagur, however, jumped back and said, "I think it's time for a strategic withdraw."
The gargoyle snarled at that, moving with surprising speed for a walking boulder. The kids turn and ran along the cliff. "Look for a passage too narrow for him to through," called Hiccup.
"Why would I listen to you?" snapped Dagur.
"You could try fighting that thing barehanded," said Tuffnut.
"That would be awesome for 10 seconds," said Ruffnut.
Dagur looked over his shoulder to see the gargoyle smash a tree apart to keep its pursuit. "No," he said to himself in a rare show of intelligence.
Then Astrid pointed forwards and said, "There, that cleft!" There was a cleft in the rockside that looked pretty narrow, but it seemed to extend back far enough for all of them.
"Erm...are you sure?" began Fishlegs before Gary nearly caught him and he gained a surprising turn of speed. Fishlegs was the first to reach the cleft, but he got wedged in the entrance. That problem was soon fixed by the others running into him with enough force to make him pop through.
A second later, Gary reached in, trying to pull them back out. "We need to get in deeper," said Hiccup.
However, Snotlout seemed to have tapped out, seeing how he was muttering to himself, "Find a happy place, find a happy place."
A voice said "Oi, find your own happy place. We were here first."
The group turned around as much as they could to see Techo and Megan in the back of the cleft. "What are you guys doing here?" asked Tuffnut.
"Hiding from Ga-...the big monster," said Techo.
There was a roaring sound followed by the sound of rock crunching as Gary started trying to dig them out. "Oh...Ga-" began Megan miserably before Techo kicked her.
"Ix-nay," he hissed
"Uh, if he really is made out of stone, that probably means it won't take him too long for him to reach us," said Fishlegs.
"About 2 minutes, give or take," said Techo gloomily before asking, "Ok...which idiot called him the S word?"
"That'd be this guy," said Tuffnut, elbowing Dagur in the gut.
"Hey, maybe we can throw him out so the gargoyle will leave us alone," said Ruffnut.
"Oh...you're Mr. Stupid. You're lucky the boss didn't rip your spleen out and make a balloon animal out of it," said Techo frankly.
"He's lucky I won't banish him to a demon toad's pit," snarled Megan in a slightly demonic voice. Everyone bar Techo jumped back at that.
"Uh, she's just joking," said Techo.
"So she's not a witch?" asked Dagur.
"You're lucky I'm not," said Megan with a glare.
"She could hurt you in ways that don't bruise cause it leaves nothing to bruise," said Techo cheerfully
"Guys, as much as I'd like to threaten Dagur, can we please something about that?" asked Astrid, pointing at the raging gargoyle outside. Tuffnut and Ruffnut shrugged before pushing Dagur forward to the front of the cleft. The gargoyle paused, before holding its arm into the tunnel expectantly with a toothy grin.
"Guys, guys, we don't have to resort to sacrifice," said Hiccup, "There has to be another way out of this."
"We need to calm hi...calm it down," said Megan.
"How? By singing it a lullaby?" asked Snotlout.
"Oh, maybe I sing him one of Mea... my mom's lullabies," said Fishlegs.
"Can you speak Fre...Gaulish?" said Techo as the gargoyle, now realizing he wasn't going to get Dagur began scrabbling again.
"Uh, no, but I'm pretty sure the sound of it will be soothing enough," said Fishlegs before starting, "There was a pretty little toad all by herself at the side of a road..." The effect had an immediate effect on the gargoyle. Namely that it was backing up and making discouraged sounds.
The gargoyle looked around before grabbing a boulder, aiming a throw at the hole...and jumping back as the boulder exploded in a flash of blue light. "Was that a Night Fury?" asked Dagur. However, a dark blue dragon of a different build landed in front of the gargoyle, snarling loudly.
"I don't think so," said Techo, muttering, "About time, boss."
The dragon roared at the gargoyle who roared back, ignoring the rising hum coming from its opponent's open mouth until a blast of blue energy shot out and nearly knocked him down, instead turning a tree into a pyre. The gargoyle soon got back up and roared again, pounding his chest in a show of aggression.
The dragon just snarled before tackling the gargoyle out of sight and hearing of the others before saying in a quiet hiss, "Gary...get a grip." Gary snarled before getting a chomp on Matt's shoulder. Matt roared before grabbing Gary and throwing him off, sending another plasma blast after him, the two back in view.
...
"We must be in that guy's bed. Let's go before it decides to eat in!" yelled Techo, wincing as the dragon and gargoyle rolled by, trying to bite and claw one another. "Megan's gonna kill yoooou," he muttered.
"But a gargoyle and a new breed of dragon?" said Dagur, "Why can't we wait for one of them to kill the other before finishing it-" There was a loud clang as Megan hit the back of Dagur's helmet with a big rock. There was definitely enough strength behind it to knock him out.
"Ok, now dumb-dumb's out cold, someone grab him and then we run," said Techo, 'accidentally' kicking Dagur across the face as he stirred.
The twins grabbed Dagur and the group squeezed out of the cleft before running away, the two behemoths being too locked in battle to notice. Techo spotted a gap between some rocks. "Over here. Take the idiot first, go, go, go," he called, all business, ducking as a stray plasma blast, this time red shot overhead. The group quickly navigated through the rocks, coming back into the forest on the other side.
Hiccup and Astrid were almost through when Techo yelled "GET BACK!" the dragons beam attack hitting the rocks overhead which glowed for a second before exploding. The group was almost all the way through when they heard one particularly loud roar, sounding like whichever one was giving it was in a lot of pain. Then it seemed to quiet down.
Hiccup and Astrid got up to see that Techo and Megan had been blocked off by rubble from the blast. "Come on, we've got to get back there," said Astrid, already climbing up to see a strange sight. She was able to make out a group of people, but the moonlight was in the wrong angle, making her mostly see them in shadow. However, she was able to see that the gargoyle was lying on the ground near them and not moving. She could however see the dragon, standing out thanks to its size and apparently...talking to the men clustered near the gargoyle? It's all it could be doing judging from the gestures it was making.
Hiccup had climbed up and was looking at the strange sight as well. "What is going on over there?" he asked.
"I don't know. Does that dragon look like the boss to you?" said Astrid, pointing to where the dragon was now waving to another group emerging from the trees.
"Yeah, but dragons can't talk, can they?" said Hiccup.
"Looks like it's...wow," said Astrid, as the dragon seemed to glow, a flash of light seen. "And it vanishes too?" she said skeptically
"I don't think so," said Hiccup.
"We'd better get back, give Matt's clan the bad news," said Hiccup, the two deciding this mystery could wait.
...
They caught up with the others to see Dagur walking along sulkily. "I can't believe I missed out on slaying a dragon again," muttered Dagur.
"That dragon saved us from that gargoyle!" snapped Astrid, finally losing her cool, "That gargoyle killed someone."
"Killed who?" said a voice behind them. The group turned to see a bruised and cut Matt with Techo, Megan and Chris, who was carrying an unconscious Gary.
"You...you were thrown over a cliff," said Snotlout in disbelief.
"I can swim," said Matt, casually before his eyes fell on Dagur. "Ah, just the person I wanted to kill," he said angrily.
Dagur backed up and said, "Wait a sec, if anything happens to me, that'll mean war."
Matt looked around before saying "That's only if anyone realizes you made it here," he said pleasantly. The twins merely stepped aside to make room for Matt to get at Dagur. Matt grinned and walked forward at that before saying, "You poisoned one of my men. If there's a war...you started it."
"Hey, it's a whole Berserker armada up against your small crew. It's obviously bad math," said Dagur, backing up.
"You'll still be dead," said Matt simply.
Dagur turned to the other guys and said, "You're not just gonna stand there, are you?"
"Yup," said Tuffnut.
"Yep," said Ruffnut.
"I don't see a reason to get involved," said Astrid.
"I'm not stopping that guy," said Snotlout.
"I might not wanna watch," said Fishlegs.
Matt grinned. "Let's make this clear for the hard of thinking: poisoning my men...equals you dying...ok?" he said with a mirthless grin.
"Hey, he's not dead, right?" said Dagur.
"That's the only reason you aren't," said Matt.
"Then you don't have any right to kill me," said Dagur.
"I can do this though," said Matt, before punching Dagur on the jaw. The blow sent Dagur spinning back before he fell to the ground. Matt walked up and pulled Dagur back up. "Want a fight with someone who knows how to fight properly?" he snapped, readying another punch.
"Matt...wait..." said a weak voice. Matt turn to see Gary was awake. "I think...he's had enough...for one night..." said Gary weakly, "I think...we all could...use some rest..."
Matt looked at Dagur and leaned in, before doing something that would come back to bite the gang: he let his teeth and eyes morph for the usual creep factor and said "Go away!" Dagur screamed and immediately turned around and ran away. Matt let his features change back, waving, "Bye, don't forget to write. Let's get Gary back to town and we can fetch the dragons too. I have a good feeling that Dagur will want to leave."
...
Sure enough, Dagur was ready to weigh anchor when they got back. However, he was raving about demons and shapeshifting monsters. The Berserkers mostly thought that Dagur had been given a pretty bad fright was slightly more deranged than usual.
Matt grinned. "I live for this," he said to himself happily.
Of course, Stoick was more than happy to see them go, especially when Matt told him what he did to Gary, though leaving out most of the 'too interesting' details.
"I'm just disappointed. Back home we'd have destroyed him," said Matt, mostly to himself.
"Well, we've been trying to keep the peace here," said Stoick, "As much as I'd rather see someone more sensible leading the Berserkers, I haven't any authority to make that change."
"If he does do it again, there will be a new Berserker boss," said Matt with a cold tone.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather not have a war," said Stoick, "Wars have a tendency of spiraling out of control."
"I know how you feel," said Matt to himself.
"Still, at least we won't be seeing Dagur around anytime soon," said Stoick, "I hope Gary feels better soon."
"He'll be fine. He's mostly just feeling guilty," said Matt.
...
Gary was sitting up when Megan peered in, a good sign though his grim face wasn't. "Hey, I can get you something if you're feeling hungry," said Megan.
"I'm ok. I don't feel like eating. I think I already ate." said Gary before burping up a stone.
Megan and Gary stared at the stone before Megan said, "Ok, I hope whatever else passes through okay."
Gary sighed. "I had a feeling I had done that. Was anyone hurt?" he asked, pausing as he remembered Dagur and adding "...who didn't deserve it?"
"Well, Matt and Chris were battered a bit, but I think they'll heal pretty quickly," said Megan.
Gary sighed. "At least it is over," he said to himself before saying, "What if I had found you first?"
"Gary, I'm a sorceress. I'm pretty sure I can protect myself from a rampaging beast," said Megan before wincing and saying, "Not that you're not normally out of control."
Gary sighed. "I know what I am like when I lose control. That was exactly the right word," he said kindly though there was a hint of hurt in his voice
"But you usually have great control. It was that cocktail Dagur made you drink that made you go, well, berserk," said Megan.
"It could easily be anything else," snapped Gary for a second.
"Gary, you're stronger than that. Gargoyles are protectors, you could only have lashed out if someone really pushed you to the edge. I know that even as a beast, you have a gentle soul inside and would only be aggressive if you have to."
Gary sighed at that. "I am just afraid. I do not want to wake up to find that I hurt you," he said gloomily.
"Gary, you could never hurt me. And I don't just mean I can protect myself from any harm," said Megan.
Chris walked in at that, looking around shiftily before pulling his glove back to show his wrist comp. "Ok, had my comp beam a scan of that gunk. Here's the results," he said, "Apparently that stuff is made from fermented bog myrtle, minced fly amanita, shredded loco weed, chuck full of stuff to boost someone's adrenaline level to Berserker quantities,"
"Wait, did you say 'loco weed'?" asked Megan.
"Yeah, why?" asked Chris.
"That stuff's supposed to be the opposite of wolfs bane. Instead of repelling or suppressing werewolves, it energizes and excites them. It's almost like catnip for werewolves," said Megan.
"But I'm a weregoyle," said Gary.
"You have a little bit of werewolf blood in you, literally," pointed out Megan.
The two stopped at that and turned to look at Chris. "What? I only took a little sniff. You think I'd be stupid enough to taste it?" asked Chris.
"I did wonder why you were sweating," said Megan.
"Don't be silly, I'm fine," said Chris, twitching a little, "Is it hot in here or is it just me?"
There's another chapter. This one featuring one of the few established villains in the show, Dagur the Deranged. I definitely kept with his ax-crazy (pun intended) personality, though I expanded a bit on the berserker bit from historical references. Also, we have a glimpse of what lies beneath Gary's gentlemanly nature. He usually has better control over himself, but stuff like the elixir can bring out the worst in him. And after two chapters that focus on Gary, we'll turning away to other things. We will be seeing Dagur again in this story, but we have other enemies to deal with. Keep an eye out for next week's chapter and please review.