Sorry again for the long wait! But here you go, the first of the two climax chapters.

Chapter Nine: Separate Battles

Pandemonium exploded in the plaza.

Following the first strike by Hiccup and Jack against Alvin and Pitch, the armies of both sides went berserk. Nightmares charged blindly, and Outcast Warriors became more violent and fierce than ever. All of Berk's villagers hid their children in houses before grabbing their axes and swords and joined the fray.

Astrid was close to the other Dragon Riders, keeping the Outcasts and Nightmares away from the armory. It was a literal ring of fire as Hookfang engulfed himself in flames. Snotlout stood in front of the dragon, bludgeon at the ready and smashing away at any Nightmare or Outcast that came in a three feet range. "Now this is what I'm talking about!'

Fishlegs was from above, with Meatlug firing chunks of burning rocks at the Nightmares that came from the sky. Assisting Fishlegs and Meatlug were the twins on Barf and Belch. The two heads of the Zippleback shot out streams of dark green gas before the other head sends out sparks. An explosion erupted in the sky, catching a group of Nightmares off guard.

"Blowing things up," said Tuffnut.

"It's what we do best," Ruffnut finished.

In the center of the plaza were the thieves from the Ugly Duckling. They were dealing against the largest Outcast Battalion. Vladimir crushed some skulls together, while Hookhand was easily parrying sword blows with his hook. With a simple swing, he knocked a sword clean out of an Outcast's hand before throwing in an upper cut.

"Haha, this is good fun!" North laughed merrily. With his dual blades, he was on a roll, slicing Nightmares coming from all directions. Tooth was up in the sky. Darting around so quickly that you could barely follow her with your eyes, she took down a line up of Nightmares. Tooth stopped mid-air, letting out an exhausted sigh. She turned to Baby Tooth. "I think my battle skills have gotten a little rusty."

"Don't drop your guard yet, mate!"

Tooth ducked as a boomerang flew over her head, striking a Nightmare coming from behind. The weapon whirled in the air before falling back to the hand of it's owner atop one of the houses. The Easter Bunny gave the Tooth Fairy a slightly smug smile.

Sandy lashed out a massive whip made of pure golden dream sand. It passed through the Nightmares, turning them to dust. A large black cloud began to surround him in all directions. Anxiety started to grow inside the Sandman. The Nightmares were boxing him in.

There was a blast of fire from above, dispersing a pile of Nightmares. Sandman looked up to notice a Gronckle flying over head. Fishlegs gave the Guardian a determined smile. "We'll help you up here," he said, the twins appearing beside him. The Sandman gave the dragon riders a nod.

Elsewhere, Fergus and some soldiers from DunBroch have practically gone berserk. They made a beeline directly for Berk's prison. Fergus raised up his prosthetic leg and kicked an Outcast right in the stomach. "Make way!" he bellowed.

Fergus punched his path through a line of Outcasts, knocking them into side of the walls. It didn't take Fergus long to reach the end of the corridor, where a large man was bound by chains, locked in a cell guarded by metal bars. One of the smaller soldiers quickly popped in between Fergus and the door. He took out a key and inserted it into the lock with a click.

Stoick slowly lifted his head upwards. "You are?"

"Fergus, King of DunBroch. I'm assisting your son and his friends in this epic battle." The soldier barely had time to move away when Fergus decided to bust down the door. With a swing of his sword, the King cut away Stoick's chains. The wounded chief pushed himself against the stone walls as he got up to his feet. "Do you have a spare sword?"

"Of course I do!" Fergus laughed, drawing one from a nearby guard and passed it to Stoick. "What would you like to do?"

Stoick forced out a grin. "I'm going to help my son."

In the center of the plaza, Merida and Rapunzel's backs were suddenly pressed together. Panting, Rapunzel lashed her whip out at one of the approaching Outcasts. Merida placed three arrows in between her fingers and pulled on nocking point. The arrows flew into the chests of charging Nightmares.

"Where are Jack and Hiccup?" Merida asked, almost desperately.

"We got separated," Rapunzel replied. She shot forward to kick an Outcast before quickly moving away to defend Merida's back. "I'm getting a little worried about them. We have to regroup."

"We can find Jack easily. We just look for anything shiny and blue. But how are we going to catch up with Hiccup?"

A ferocious roar rattled the atmosphere. Many of the Outcasts stopped attacking out of surprise and Rapunzel hurriedly finished them off with a large slash. She turned her head left and right, looking for the source of the cry. "Was that—"

"Toothless," Merida finished. "Come on, let's at least get to Hiccup."

In the craziness of the battle, Hiccup whipped his head around. Toothless was held back by dozens of Outcasts. Their large hands brought in ropes and muzzles, and many of them attempted to pile up onto Toothless' tail and wings. Hiccup shot a glance to his right. Alvin was running towards the satchel pinned to the side of the house. And that satchel, contained the Crown of the Wilderwest.

Hiccup took a single step closer to Toothless. The Night Fury shook some Outcasts off it's mouth and roared. Hiccup froze in his tracks. Toothless looked at Hiccup with stern eyes. Hiccup's teeth bit into his lip. He was reluctant to leave Toothless behind. In the corner of his eye, Hiccup could see Alvin closing in on the satchel.

"I'll be back, Toothless," Hiccup said before swiftly darting off. Sword in hand, Hiccup slipped through the battling crowds, Alvin's back in sight. The Outcast chief peered over his shoulder. Seeing Hiccup right behind him, Alvin drew his sword.

"Alright, boy," Alvin began, "it seems that I'll have to deal with you first." The second Hiccup stepped in range of Alvin's sword, the Outcast instantly made a swipe for Hiccup's neck. With a sudden flick and a blank face, Hiccup parried Alvin's blow. Alvin was clearly surprised. A small wave of anxiety shot through his nerves.

Hiccup brandished his sword. A whoosh sound was clearly audible. "I am not going to let you become King of the Wilderwest".

Alvin growled between gritted teeth. "You think you can defeat me?"

Hiccup narrowed his brows at the rhetorical question. He had no idea could he pull out victorious in a battle against Alvin. He did know one thing. And he was sure Alvin was aware of it too. "I'm just not going to let you win."

With a battle cry, Alvin was the first to strike. His sword was directed straight at Hiccup's chest. Hiccup lifted his own blade, ready for a defensive counterstrike. At the last moment, Alvin pulled back his blade slightly. He moved it to the side, directly towards Hiccup's open torso.

Hiccup barely had time to react. His arm moved on his own. The two swords quickly made contact as Hiccup was sloppily able to guard against Alvin. The Outcast Chief chuckled arrogantly. "Did your instructor not teach you such moves?"

Alvin started raining fast and thick blows on Hiccup. The young boy's arms whizzed around frantically blocking the attacks. Each strike sent a shock through Hiccup's body that rattled his insides. His stance began to falter. After parrying one of the lunges, Hiccup recoiled a couple of feet.

His heart was beating in his ears and sweat tricked down his temples. Hiccup took a deep breath in. His heart refused to slow down. Alvin was in a much better state, standing up straight with his sword poised for attack. Sitting beside Alvin's feet a fallen warrior. Hiccup noticed the viking's belt.

It only took seconds for Hiccup to push himself forward. His pointed his sword for Alvin's chest. The Outcast had a smug grin on his face, and Hiccup's sword simply made contact with the face of Alvin's blade. "That's not going to work, boy."

A smirk curled up Hiccup's lips. Alvin didn't expect it, and the mere sight of the confident light in Hiccup's eyes made him nervous.

Hiccup could see his right hand in the corner of his eye. He pushed harder against Alvin's blade. Hiccup's right hand reached for the body of the unmoving warrior. His fingers wrapped themselves around a hilt. Just as Alvin eyes widened, Hiccup drew the extra sword, and brought it's point into the side of Alvin's torso.

Alvin took a large step back, and Hiccup moved out of the way as well, the spare sword dropping to the ground. The blade had pierced Alvin's chain armor, and now a splotch of red was growing. Alvin shot Hiccup a murderous glare. "It seems that I have underestimated you."

"Did you think I was staring at the sky for three months, Alvin?"

The Outcast Chief snarled in disgust. Alvin lowered his head and spat on the floor. He brought up his sword again and ran forward. Hiccup matched Alvin's movements and charged as well. Hiccup made a downwards swipe. Alvin neatly sidestepped. He lifted up the sword, aiming for Hiccup's hip. The edge of the blade scratched through Hiccup's tunic and onto his skin, leaving a slash.

Hiccup immediately shifted away and thrusted his blade forward. Alvin didn't turn in time, and Endeavour left a cut on the Outcast's face. Alvin was distracted. Hiccup pulled his sword back for a moment before shooting it forward. The blade left a gash in Alvin's stomach. Hiccup hurriedly backed away. He looked at Alvin with sorrowful eyes. "I didn't want to have to do that, Alvin. But I had to. I can't give you a chance to become King of the Wilderwest."

Alvin forced out a dry chuckle. "Soft as usual, Hiccup." With that, Alvin fell to the ground, leaving Hiccup the standing heir to Grimbeard the Ghastly.

The pain from Alvin's cut started making it's way through Hiccup's body. He became reluctant to move, and every muscle started to ache. Exhausted and wheezing, Hiccup lifted his head up to the sky. His body tensed up immediately. Hiccup watched in horror as a cloud of black and blue collide. And Jack fell from the skies.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Is this chapter a little too short? (sobs) The next chapter will be entitled "The Power that Triumphs Over Fear". Okay, it sounds a little cliché and lame, but bear with me...