I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. Direct quotes from the movie will be bolded.

Drastic Turn of Events

The day had arrived.

All of Berk was gathered in the arena stands. Colourful flags and banners hung from the metal bars that separated the stands from the ring. Front and center was Stoick, sitting in a grand wooden chair with a proud smile on his face.

Hiccup lingered just outside the ring, peering nervously through the steel-barred door. His new helmet fell just over his eyes, blocking his view for a moment. When he pushed it back in position it was to see Astrid and Sunset standing in front of him with worried expressions on their faces.

"How are you feeling?" Sunset asked.

"Like I'm about to throw up," Hiccup replied.

"Er, try not to do that."

Astrid placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. He tried not to blush and focussed on what the blonde was saying. "Be careful with that dragon."

Hiccup swallowed thickly. "It's not the dragon I'm worried about," he admitted.

"You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?" Astrid asked worriedly.

"Well, I've already done that, so I'll probably do something crazy this time," Hiccup joked feebly.

"Just do the same thing to the Nightmare as we did to Toothless," Sunset directed. "It's possible to train dragons. We know this. Now you just have to prove it to everyone else."

"You make it sound so easy!" Hiccup exclaimed. "And we both know this is very likely going to end in disaster." He took a shaky breath to calm the pounding of his heart. "Sun, if things go wrong, you need to make sure no one gets to Toothless."

"Of course." Sunset nodded. "But...promise me nothing will go wrong, okay?" she pleaded, her eyes welling with tears.

Hiccup did not respond.

"Alright all, settle down!" Stoick's thunderous voice boomed through the arena. The cheers immediately stopped. "Now, if someone would have told me that my son would place first in dragon training, I would have tied them up and made them set sail with the belief they had gone mad!"

The crowd roared with laughter. Hiccup grimaced.

"But yet, here we are. And no one is more proud or surprised than I am. Today, my boy becomes one of us! Let the fight begin!"

Gobber hobbled down the narrow slope that led to the steel gate. He used his axe-hand to pry the door open and shot Hiccup a look of pride. "That's your cue, Hiccup. Knock 'em dead!"

The boy quickly gave Sunset a hug before entering the arena. Gobber shut the gate behind him and went back to his place beside Stoick. The crowd screamed loudly as Hiccup stumbled into the ring.

"Go Hiccup!"

"Slaughter that beast!"

"Show no mercy!"

Trembling, Hiccup walked over to the weapon's rack and removed a shield and a small dagger. He gazed firmly at the bolted door and said, "I'm ready."

Sunset watched as the door bolt was raised. She twisted on her heel and was about to hurry off when Astrid grabbed her arm. "Sunset, you can't leave," the blonde said firmly. "Hiccup needs you here."

"I know he does." Sunset gently pried the girl's hand off of her arm. "I'm going to the stands. When Hiccup does his Hiccup thing, I'm going to make sure Stoick lets him."

Astrid nodded and the redhead took off. The blonde turned to peer through the iron bars at Hiccup, who was watching the rumbling cage door warily.

BOOM!

The door flew off its hinges and the Monstrous Nightmare charged out, its body aflame. The dragon snarled at the heckling cries and scaled the enclosure, blowing fire at the jeering crowd. Hiccup watched as the dragon dropped back to the ground, finally spotting him.

Growling, the dragon moved forward.

The Vikings went silent.

Hiccup extended his arm and dropped the dagger. He kicked it aside, and then dropped the shield. The crowd muttered in confusion.

"What is that boy doing?" Stoick whispered, a bad feeling rising in his stomach.

Feeling a little less hostile now that Hiccup had discarded the weapon, the Monstrous Nightmare growled softly, pacing back and forth in front of the boy. "Ssh," Hiccup said softly. "It's going to be alright."

The dragon regarded him in a dubious manner, its eyes straying to Hiccup's helmet.

Understanding, Hiccup removed it and tossed it aside. "Don't worry. I'm not one of them."

And in that moment, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was finally proud of that fact.

The Vikings gasped at the admission and began muttering amongst themselves. Stoick gripped the wooden armrests and glared into the ring. Hiccup ignored the Vikings and slowly extended his hand towards the dragon.

Stoick jumped from his chair, his heart pounding. "Stop the fight."

"You need to see this," Hiccup said firmly. The dragon's muzzle was inches away. "We don't need to kill them. We're all wrong about dragons."

"Stop the fight!" Stoick roared, about to slam his hammer down on the metal encasement.

Sunset lunged out of the crowd, wrapping her skinny arms tightly around Stoick's forearm, attempting to hold him back. "Don't!" she cried. "Let Hiccup do this!"

Furious, Stoick threw Sunset aside. The girl crashed into the encasement, her helmet smacking into the metal. The loud metallic sound startled the Monstrous Nightmare and it snapped at Hiccup's hand. The boy yelped in panic and Monstrous Nightmare, spooked by Hiccup's sudden movements, attacked.

Hiccup screamed as a he barely avoided a stream of fire. Astrid grabbed an axe and pried the iron gate open, rushing into the ring to help. She grabbed a hammer from the weapons rack and threw it at the dragon, effectively distracting him. As the Nightmare went after Astrid, Hiccup hurried to collect his shield.

"Move!" Stoick hollered, shoving through the crowd to get to the doorway. Gobber watching in worry as his apprentice scrambled around the arena, deflecting fire attacks with his shield. He turned to see how Sunset was holding up-only to find the girl twisting herself through the metal encasement.

"Sunset!"

The redhead dropped into the arena, landing beside Hiccup and Astrid. Angry, the Monstrous Nightmare unleashed a torrent of fire around the ring. Astrid, Sunset and Hiccup crowded behind the boy's shield to avoid the attack.

Stoick threw open the door. "Over here!" he bellowed.

The kids raced for safety. Astrid got through first, but the Monstrous Nightmare landed in front of Hiccup and Sunset, preventing them from going on. They quickly backtracked, the Nightmare hot on their heels.

They didn't get far.

The dragon pounced, pinning the two to the ground. With a mighty roar, it prepared to unleash a deadly attack.

Déjà vu, Sunset thought, immediately recalling their last encounter with a Monstrous Nightmare.

A familiar roar pierced the air. Gobber glanced at the sky and gasped. "Get down! It's a Night Fury!"

Toothless bounded over the crowd, blowing apart the encasement with a single blast. He disappeared into the swelling smoke. The Vikings crowded around, straining their eyes and looking about frantically. "Someone get in there and help them!" one Viking cried.

For a moment, Stoick couldn't breathe.

Suddenly Toothless rolled out of the smoke, battling viciously with the Nightmare. Their snarls echoed through the arena. Eventually, Toothless managed to kick the Nightmare off and immediately placed himself between the frightened dragon and his humans.

The Monstrous Nightmare stepped forward, but a mighty roar from Toothless caused the dragon to back off. With a soft snort, the Nightmare retreated into his cage.

"Get out of there!" Gobber roared at the two teens, who were still sitting on the ground, stunned.

"Get the Night Fury!" someone else shouted.

That one cry sent the kids to their feet. They raced over to Toothless, desperately urging him to get away. "Toothless, you need to leave!" Sunset cried.

"Please, bud," Hiccup pleaded.

But Toothless refused to leave them.

Vikings swarmed into the arena, shoving the kids aside and attempting to capture the Night Fury. Toothless snarled and slashed out. Stoick strode through the crowd, grabbing a hammer and raising it high. "No!" Astrid cried.

"He's not going to hurt you!" Hiccup yelled. "Dad, please!"

"You're scaring him!" Sunset added.

Stoick ignored them. He swung the hammer and Toothless pounced before he could do any damage. The Night Fury pinned him to the ground and opened his mouth for a plasma blast.

"Toothless! Don't!" Hiccup screamed.

The horror in his voice caused Toothless to cut off his attack. Confused, but not wanting to make his friends upset, he turned around with an assuring gaze, promising not to harm the man.

The Vikings, not realizing that Hiccup had just been obeyed by a dragon, piled onto the Night Fury. Hiccup and Sunset hurried over to intervene, but Astrid held them back. "You're only going to make things worse," she whispered.

"Don't hurt him," Sunset pleaded, tears running down her pale cheeks.

"Please," Hiccup begged. "Leave him alone."

"Put that dragon with the others!" Stoick roared. The Vikings obeyed his order. Slowly, Stoick turned a burning glare onto Hiccup and Sunset, who could only stare back helplessly.

Everything had just taken a drastic turn for the worse.