Chapter 9
Well here is the next chapter. It is a bit shorter than past ones, but I feel as though I cut it off at a good point. Basically this is more OC character development and dialogue; hopefully it isn't putting you to sleep since it doesn't involve Hiccup, Astrid and Toothless as much.
But I still hope you enjoy it. Thank you
Express Way- Night
The night was calm in the rest of the town. Everything seemed too normal. Which is what it was…too normal. Soon, this false sense of normalcy would come to a swift end in the little Upstate New York town. A storm was brewing that no one could foresee.
Ben was driving the three kids back to David's house in his non-F.D.O.S.R licensed vehicle, which was a Blue Sedan with a cracked window and dented bumper. He always meant to get the window and bumper fixed, but he'd become such a workaholic under Dr. Klein that it constantly slipped his mind. Hiccup and Grace were in the back of the car; both apparently fast asleep, while David sat on the passenger side in the front next to Ben. He was fully awake and deep in thought as he watched the passing street-lamps through the windshield in an almost hypnotic trance. Ben kept moving his eyes between the road ahead and David, thoughts flooding his head as he tried to think of something to ask David. He finally went with the easiest, most simplistic conversation starter that he could think of.
"So how long have you and Grace known each other?" he asked, somewhat anxiously.
"Since kindergarten," David muttered.
"You two are really close, aren't you?" Ben asked and David shrugged, still not looking at Ben, only watching the street lights and road ahead. He didn't avert his eyes for anything.
"You could say that." David responded half-heartedly; sick of the small talk with a man that he still didn't entirely trust. He decided to ask a question that's been on his mind for the past twenty minutes. "Why did you free Toothless? I mean, why did remembering cartoon characters from your childhood make you change your mind?"
"I put them into Toothless' scenario and felt bad about it." Ben answered
"But…did you really care about those characters that much? Until you worked with this Dr. Klein guy, they were just fictional drawings to you, weren't they?"
Ben chuckled a bit, "Not when you're a kid. When you're a kid, they're more than that. They become a part of your life, like distant family members or friends. They let you find relaxation and comfort through their personalities and adventures. Why are you so confused by that, didn't you feel the same way about a character or group of characters?"
David looked down from the windshield and sighed, "No," he shook his head, "They never meant that much to me."
"There had to be one show or character that you were invested in as a kid." Ben said. David was suddenly hit with a hurtful realization and he shook his head somberly.
"Just ask Grace, I didn't have enough of a childhood for that." David sniffed a bit and Ben gave him a confused look.
"What do you mean?"
"After September 11th, my Dad was shipped to Afghanistan. I was only eight and I was the man of the house." David chuckled a bit at this, "When that happened, I didn't let myself enjoy childish things like that anymore."
"How often do you talk to Grace about this?"
"Basically every day." David chuckled a bit more. "Every day she tells me the same thing. That I need to relax, that I need to escape. But all I hear is "I need to immerse myself in pointless things" or "I need to find time to put myself in denial"."
"But it's neither pointless nor denial." Ben said as he pulled off of the highway, "It's about finding peace with your inner child. It doesn't matter how old you are, everyone is a kid at heart, even those like you who try to repress it. Hell, when I was at Princeton I'd watch Pixar movies in my dorm on the weekends to unwind."
"Really?"
"Yeah, like I said, most everyone is a child deep down."
"Not me." David muttered. He was now upset at himself for throwing every bit of his childhood out of the window. How could he do that? He could have still taken responsibility for his mother and brother and accept that the world was a cruel place, but he also could have let himself enjoy some form of escapism like Jake had. Besides, he always seemed really happy when he talked about Hiccup and Toothless and "John Powell being a God among men". Why couldn't he be like that?
David didn't just lose his chance at having a childhood, he actively forced himself not to have one, and now with him getting ready to go away to college, it was too late. He hated himself now more than ever, and shed a single tear. It was one of the only tears that he had shed in a long, long, LONG time, he was that upset.
Neither Ben nor David knew, but Hiccup was feigning sleep. He peeked through one eye while listening to their discussion. He kept silently listening, learning more about David, as he had when he listened to him and Grace in the kitchen earlier that day.
"What is this childhood and escapism I keep hearing about?" Hiccup thought, "and why is David not accepting of these things?" Hiccup turned his head and looked out the window of the car, watching as they pulled into David's neighborhood.
David kept looking down until he noticed blaring blue and red flashing lights hitting the inside of the car.
"What the hell is going on here?" Ben asked. David looked up and saw a mass of police cruisers outside of his house, lights flashing blue and red light that illuminated up the night sky. Officers were going in and out of his house and talking to each other and neighbors, who had woken up due to the commotion.
Grace, who had just woken up, and Hiccup began to look around at the scene.
"David who are these people?" Hiccup asked. David snapped out of his shock and quickly turned to Hiccup.
"Hiccup, get down." David said strictly, "I don't want anyone to see you."
Hiccup lowered in the seat so no one could see him while his eyes moved nervously from side-to-side. David looked around and let everything sink in, realizing what most likely happened.
"Jake…shit, Jake." He muttered as he threw the seatbelt off and pushed the door open. Before Ben could stop the car fully and protest against his hot-headed action, David hopped out and ran towards the police barricade. Suddenly, a tall officer with a black beard and shaved head walk up to him and put his hand out to stop David.
"Let me through." David growled.
"I'm sorry kid you can't come through." the officer said sternly.
"This is my house! Let me through!" David said angrily, and the officer suddenly understood and let the teen run under the police barricade towards his house. That's when David got a full view of the damage. He saw the shattered glass and broken door that showed, clear as day, that someone had broken into their house. His mouth dropped in shock at the sight. He then heard a familiar voice behind him, "David!"
He turned and saw Sandra, who cried and ran to him, wrapping her arms around her son. They hugged and she looked at him.
"Thank God, I thought you and Jake were taken from me!" David's face becomes somber.
"What happened to Jake?"
Sandra looks at David as her hopeful expression fell and became full of despair "He isn't with you?"
David shook his head and Sandra began to tear up again. It was then that David saw Ben walking over to him, an apologetic look on his face as well. It was then that he put two and two together.
"I know where he is." He whispered to himself before turning to Sandra. "Mom, listen to me." He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her directly into her tear-filled eyes. "I'm going to get Ben back."
"No, Dave, that's asking too much…" Sasha started but David shook his head.
"I can do it. You've got to trust me, I know where he is." Sasha opened her mouth to protest, but stopped as David continued. "Go to a hotel and I'll call you later. Don't tell anyone where you're going, do you understand? Not even a police officer. I'll call you when I get Jake back. Please, just trust me. I can handle it."
Sandra nodded in an understanding manner, "I know." she sighed, "You're my son, but you're also an adult. Ever since Stan has been gone you've been so stoic in taking his role, and I'm certain that you know what you're doing. After all, you're always the rational one."
David smiled and nodded. He hugged Sandra one last time before he broke it off. Ben watched this from behind the barricade, eyes widening in horror as he realized what he had caused. David smiled at his mom once more before he walked back towards Ben. He stopped right in front of the twenty-nine year-old intern and glared at him.
"You're going to get me into F.D.O.S.R. You're going to get them all back. You're going to redeem yourself."
Ben nodded somberly, not protesting at all. He suddenly realized that Dr. Klein had a point. He would only be redeemed if he fixed his mistakes, his wrongs. Dr. Klein may not have meant what David did just then; hell he meant the complete opposite. But Ben knew that he had to fix the problems that he caused. David walked back under the wooden barricade and back towards Ben's car while Ben's head was still deep in thought.
"Dr. Klein, you've lost your mind." Ben thought harshly. He didn't even have a clue as to how true that thought actually was.
F.D.O.S.R- Night
A bright light flashed into Jake's eyes, which caused him to squint and shield his eyes. He was able to see Dr. Klein standing before him, smiling demonically. He pulled the lamp away from Jake's face so he can get a good view of the man who had kidnapped him.
"How on earth did a normal kid like you get so lucky as to find a living, breathing Night Fury in your backyard, and not just a Night Fury, but Toothless himself?"
"I'm not lucky." Jake spat angrily. He was able to look around at his surroundings now. He saw Astrid restrained in a nearby chair by two men who held her arms. Her face flashed between expressions of anger and expressions of nervousness. "If I was lucky, we wouldn't be here right now."
Dr. Klein nods in understanding, "That is a valid point." He closed his eyes and nods as if to say "Let's move on."
"Anyway, I wanted to know why you kept my dragon away from me." Dr. Klein said.
"He's not yours." Jake spat.
"Let me guess, he's Hiccup's?" Dr. Klein said as he rolled his eyes.
"He's not Hiccup's! He doesn't "belong" to anybody!" Astrid spat from her restrained position, "Don't talk about him like he's some pet, he's more than that!"
"You shut up bitch." Dr. Klein hissed, eye starting to twitch. Astrid was silenced at this insult, her face turning red from embarrassment.
"Where's Toothless." Jake growled, looking up at Dr. Klein so that it looked as though he was ready to murder him, which wasn't really untrue. "Where is he?"
"Well I suppose it's only fair to brief you on your little friend's current predicament," Dr. Klein smirked, "as we speak Toothless is under a mild sedation to get ready for his showing to the Military today."
Jake raised an eyebrow, "Wha…what? Why the hell are you showing him to the army?"
Dr. Klein shrugged, "I think the better question is, why the hell not?"
Jake looked over at Astrid, who now only had a look of concern on her face. She was angry before, but now the idea that Toothless was going to be examined by some military power in this universe disturbed her. What was he going to be used for? What plans did this psycho have for her boyfriend's best bud? What was warfare like here? These thoughts and more all raced through her head, which made her uneasy.
Jake looked back at Dr. Klein, "You can't use him in warfare, it isn't right."
"So you don't want the army to be the best it can be? Because if you oppose this, you're robbing them of great advantages in the War on Terror," He then began to pace. "And, if I recall, your father is in the army."
Jake's mouth hung open, "H-how do…how do you…?"
"I'm the head of a government division kid," Dr. Klein sneered, stopping in mid-step and turning to Jake, "I have access to all sorts of information. Let's see, you name is Jacob Reynolds and you are a 7th grader at the local Junior High School. Actually I take that back, you're going to be a seventh grader after summer vacation. Finally, your address 37 Haymore Drive, you have a brother named David, and you have a mother named Sandra." Dr. Klein then proceeded to pace, becoming ever more cocky. Astrid watched as Jake's face showed signs of uncertainty.
"Your father is Sergeant Stan Reynolds, 32nd Division currently serving in the hell-hole that is Afghanistan. Osama might be dead, but the Taliban are resilient and your father is still facing death every second of every day. I'm sorry to come off like such a dick, but I'm trying to make a point here."
Jake looked down, not wanting to look into this man's eyes. It was eerie that he knew so much, even if he was in the government. Actually…that made it even scarier. Jake's head was reeling from what Dr. Klein was saying. Dr. Klein walked closer to Jake and leaned towards him so that they were face-to-face. Jake couldn't keep looking down, so he looked directly into Dr. Klein's soul-less, grey eyes that resembled that of a madman who was desperate to become dictator of the world.
"My point is that, in effect, what you are doing is showing that you don't want to help your father."
"Stop…" Jake whimpered.
"Because if you don't let us show Toothless to the military, your father won't have the opportunity to have the protection that research on Toothless could provide, and do you really want that Jake? Let me be blunter, do you want your father to come home alive so he can embrace you, or dead in a casket?"
Jake didn't say anything, he was fuming now. Dr. Klein nodded, "I thought so."
As he began to walk away, Jake finally mustered the courage to speak up. "How dare you."
"Sorry?" Dr. Klein said, somewhat taken aback by the boy's comment. Astrid was surprised as well.
"How dare you say that about my father, how dare you say I don't want him to come home safely, how dare you say that I don't care about him, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'VE GONE THROUGH SINCE HE LEFT!" Jake shouted, eyes watering and face red as a turnip. "AND NOW YOU'RE SAYING I DON'T WANT HIM TO COME HOME SAFELY! GO FUCK YOURSELF YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
Dr. Klein's face was now pure rage. How dare a little rat punk speak to him like that! He was the GREAT Dr. Russell Klein!
As soon as the last words of Jake's insult left his lips, Dr. Klein reared his hand back and slapped Jake as hard as he could across the face, knocking him to the floor. Astrid jumped up.
"Jake!" she shouted, but the two men held her back to the chair. Dr. Klein walked over to Jake and knelt down to him as he lay on the ground, covering his bloody nose that was most likely broken.
"You feel that kid? That's reality literally slapping you in the face." He leaned closer and hissed in a low voice, "Stop siding with fiction."
He then stood up and left the room. Astrid was released by the two men and they left as well. Astrid decided it was better to help out Jake, who was lying on the floor in a small pool of blood that streamed down his face form his nose.
"Jake are you all right?" she asked, picking him up and looking at his face. Jake just looked at her and nodded slowly, still shaking from what just happened.
Lee's House
Lee lay on his couch watching television after his stressful night of being Dr. Klein's bitch. He sighed and rubbed his face in agony, trying to forget how much of a hypocrite he really was. He hated Dr. Klein and didn't hesitate to speak ill of him…when he wasn't around. But when he was, he suddenly remembered that Dr. Klein is the person who wrote his paychecks and knew more about him than his closest family did, so he transformed into the ultimate ass-kisser.
Next to the couch was a large, life-sized Toothless model that Dr. Klein asked him to watch for the next day, as it was going to be put on the stage during Dr. Klein's presentation. Lee eyeballed the fake dragon and kicked it lightly with his foot, seething at Dr. Klein for making him the bottom of the hill that shit rolled down.
"I'm a graduate of Dartmouth University and he's got me watching a fucking model dragon." he groaned and turned his attention back to the television.
Ding-dong
Lee turned his head to the door. He exhaled, showing his annoyance, before he stood up and walked over, shouting "I don't know who's there, but whoever it is, all I have to say is that somebody better have died for you to be bothering me this late."
He opened the door to see Ben with an urgent look on his face. Lee rolled his eyes.
"Ah, the amazing science prodigy has graced my "humble abode" with his holy presence." Lee said sarcastically, but Ben didn't show any sense of humor. "What can I do for you?"
"Lee we need to talk."
Lee raised an eyebrow, "Wow, why so serious?" his eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh God, did somebody really die? Oh shit man I'm sorry I was just venting my frustrations when I shouted that. God me and my big…."
"No you idiot nothing like that!" Ben said angrily. He pushed his way in, followed by David, Grace and Hiccup. Lee was fine until he shut the door and suddenly realized who had just walked into his house. His eyes widened and he turned to look at Hiccup. He pointed at him. "Um, Ben…?"
"Let me guess, you're shocked I'm here too." Hiccup said and Lee nodded. Hiccup shrugged. "Well, no surprise there."
Hiccup then turned around and noticed the fake Toothless. "What the heck?" He stood dumbfounded and raised his eyebrow at the sight, "I…I don't even..." he shook his head and put his hand to his face in embarrassment. "This dimension must be made up of nothing but stalkers."
"Why is he here?" Lee asked.
"He got through a weakness in the dimensional rift," Ben held his hand up, "listen Dr. Klein got Toothless."
Lee shrugged, "Yeah I know that, I was there."
Ben mentally face-palmed himself and looked at Lee. "Are you serious?" he asked. He nodded and Ben rolled his eyes. The other three heard this, and shook their heads disapprovingly, not shocked by anything anymore.
"Asshole wanted me to stay late because he heard me insult him in the locker room when I was talking with you."
"Look we need your help to get into F.D.O.S.R. tomorrow so we can get Toothless out of there." Ben said hurriedly.
Lee shook his head, "I'm sorry I can't do that."
"Why not?" Ben asked, slightly aggravated.
"Well let's see. Because I like my job…."
"You hate your job."
"No, I hate Russell, but I love being a scientist. Second, Russell is in the government and he has dirt on us that we can't even fathom. He probably has information on our first sexual encounter."
Ben shook his head.
"So in the grand scheme of things, you're a coward." Ben nodded, "and apparently all of this coming from the man who called me an ass-kisser? Clearly you're more of a suck-up than I ever was."
Lee bit his lip, "Shut up." He started to walk away, but before Ben could follow him Hiccup went over and stopped him.
"Sir, if I may." He said, "Look, I know you don't want to speak your mind because you're afraid of how your boss will react. I felt the same way when I had to fight the Monstrous Nightmare and I couldn't tell me father how I was against it. But please, you've got to help us. I beg you. If not for me, then do it for Toothless."
Lee closed his eyes, and Hiccup decided to add one last thing, "And if not for Toothless, do it for yourself."
Lee thought this over; Grace and David looked at each other nervously. David then stepped forward, "Sir, your boss took my brother and Astrid as well. Please, you've got to get us in there." Lee's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, shocked over what David just told him. He always thought Dr. Klein had a screw loose, but never thought it could be of this magnitude. Slowly, Lee nodded.
"What do you guys want me to do?" he asked.
"We need your van, and for you to sneak us into the complex." Ben stated before looking over Lee's shoulder, "Oh and I think that fake Toothless over there will come in handy." He said, pointing to the dragon. Lee looked at him.
"Wait, you already have a plan?"
Ben nodded. "Yeah, David and Hiccup's came up with it on the way over here."
Lee looked at the two. "Is it something stupid?"
Hiccup shook his head and smirked, "No, more like something crazy."
Well I finally got to get Hiccup to reference the movie. Even if it wasn't intentional, it's still needed in this story haha.
I hope this chapter wasn't too short and, if it was, I apologize. I'll make sure the next one is longer. Don't worry, more action is coming up. Hopefully I'll be able to write it up soon.
As usual I appreciate the views I get from you guys, and, please leave reviews if you'd like. I always like reading people's input. Thanks
