(A/N) Welcome back to this next chapter. I'm really happy with how this turned out. I had fun making sure I got everyone's character right and just going with the flow from there.

Guest Reviews (I think this is the most reviews I've had for a single chapter yet, thank you everybody for taking the time and letting me know what you think. It's great hearing from you guys.)

: That last chapter with Johann was just a little set-up, but Inferno will not be making an appearance in this story. I'm giving Inferno an upgrade instead. Hiccup will make a custom sword, and it will be awesome and similar to inferno, just not yet. Hiccup doesn't even have Gronckle Iron yet.

Brenne: Can't wait to give you more Villain Hiccup, I hope I can deliver. No he hasn't defeated the Red Death yet, I'm getting to it, but no, the Red Death wont be taking over Hiccup's mind. He is completely insane in the fanfic and driven by a lust for revenge.

That Night Of Fury: Thank you for the compliments. Unfortunately no, magic will not be a major part of this. Everything Hiccup does will be backed up by science.

MAD Marty: Thank you, and this comment made a future scene 10 times better, flow more and be more believable, so thank you again.

Guest 1: Je ne peux pas attendre pour vous donner plus. Et oui, j'ai utilise Google translate donc si cela ne ve pas, blame google.

PlaidOtaku: I can't wait to write this.

Guest 2: HAHAHA, another review that had me rolling on the floor laughing :) Especially the Wolverine-Super-Hiccup! Please continue!

Without further adu, have fun reading :)

Chapter 14

Metal clanged against metal as Gobber threw yet another sharpened weapon on the steadily increasing pile. He raised his arm and wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he turned around to the other large pile of weapons in the forge. Yet another dragon raid had plagued the village the night before. The livestock losses had been minimal, only two sheep and a yack had been taken. Fishlegs' early dragon raid system had come worked perfectly once again, giving the villagers an hour's head start to prepare for the battle. Even so there had been several injuries, two deaths and many burnt buildings. The repairs would take weeks and Gobber was swamped, desperately attempting to provide tools and nails to the workmen while repairing the dulled and damaged weapons used in the battle.

Ready to take a break from the sweltering heat of the forge, Gobber thought back to a time when the post-battle rush had been rather enjoyable. He'd ben able to take his time with his work, talk with the villagers who stopped by with an order and playfully banter with his apprentice. Of course it had been the help of that apprentice that had given him the time to do those things.

Looking over his shoulder as he grabbed his mug attachment, he called out to his new apprentice, a young lad named Gustav Larson, who was busily sweeping the floor at the moment.

"I'm steppin out fer a moment lad. Ya might as well take a break as well. Go grab a drink or somethin."

"Sweet! Thanks Gobber!" Gustave answered as he eagerly ran out the door into the sun. "Gustav, Gustave, Oi! Oi! Oi!"

Gobber shook his head as he limped out after him. The boy was getting more arrogant and prideful as time went on. It didn't help that he had pretty much become a willing slave to Snotlout, he practically worshiped the boy.

Gustav's parents had pushed the lad on Gobber when the blacksmith's apprentice spot opened up. They were concerned with how he was becoming more and more prideful, attempting to walk on the backs of others his age while at the same time doing almost nothing to earn his respect. Instead he was looked up to because of his close affiliations with Snotlout, who was most likely to become the next heir, even if nothing had been formally stated yet.

The goal was that by learning a physically demanding trade, Gustav would learn to value hard work as well as respect for authority and who's authority to respect. So far things hadn't gone as planned. The boy couldn't be entrusted to do anything. Whenever he swept the forge, he always did a half fast job. He was constantly pushing to do things he wasn't experienced enough to do yet. The boy was barely able to keep in his head which type of metal was good for what and yet just last week, Gobber had found Gustav in the forge, by himself, attempting to light the bloody thing. He had of course not known about the flue vent yet and if Gobber hadn't arrived when he did the whole forge would've been a pile of ash right now, effectively leaving the Vikings defenceless for at least three months until a new smithy could be built.

That was what had made Hiccup, well… Hiccup, Gobber mused as he made his way to the Great Hall for some mead. Hiccup was never prideful or arrogant and he actually knew his way around the forge. He wasn't as good as Gobber, he hadn't taught him everything, not yet anyways, but years of experience around his mentor had made Hiccup quite skilled. The tail fin on that Night Fury alone proved that Gobber thought with pride.

The boys blacksmithing had actually been quite useful to the village as well, even if he'd be the only one to admit it. No matter what, whether it be rain, snow or shine, the day after a dragon raid, Hiccup would be right there in the forge, on time, ready to tackle the multitude of damaged weapons with his famous sarcastic quips. He wished he could say the same for his new apprentice. Gustav didn't even have a sliver of sarcasm in his whole body.

Gobber finally managed to make it to the Great Hall, filled his mug with mead and sat down in a corner. No sooner had he settled down than a shadow appeared behind him.

"Afternune Gobber." Spitlout greeted, "Ya get ma sword sharpened yet? I'm goin' to need it by first light if I'm going to help those poor traders make it past that dragon scourge surroundin' us."

"Yer on yer way ta the meatheads tomora I take it?"

"Ya, they have ta make it past that useless fishbone somehow don't they?" Spitlout scowled. "I'm not sure why it's so difficult for them to take him down. Now how bout ma weapon?"

Gobber narrowed his eyes, and it was not missed by the Chief's brother. "Don't get yer skivvies in a knot Spitlout, I'm workin' on it. You'll have yer weapon by tomora, don't you worry."

"Now Gobber, what's goin on? Why just a year and a half ago an you would'a had all those weapons good as new by breakfast. You loosin' yer touch?"

At this Gobber stood up and looked the second in command in the eye. "Now don't you be insultin ma work there mister or you might not be getting yer sword back at all." Gobber coldly replied as he shoved his mug into Spitlout's chest. "Maybe a kitchen knife instead. I'll have you know I'm better than ever at what I do. Maybe if you an the rest of the village had payed attention ta Hiccup ya might not have to be waiting fer it, but if tha were the case there wouldn't be no reason for you ta need yer weapon so soon, would there?"

This time it was Spitlout who narrowed his eyes. "Easy there Gobber, if I wasn't mistaken, I'd almost say you were holdin' some sympathy up to tha boy."

"You better believe I'm givin' some sympathy to 'im. I feel sorry that he had to go through 15 years a torcher from you all!" Gobber's voice was at a yell now and steadily rising, drawing looks from surrounding Vikings. "I'm sorry that 'iccup was driven so low that his only option was to befriend a dragon! I'm sorry tha' even when we treated him poorly as we did that he still tried ta offer us a route ta peace, ta make our lives better, and yet you still refused to acknowledge 'im!" The village broke into angry murmurs as Gobber made his next point. "AND I'M SORRY THA THIS VILLAGE WAS TOO BLIND TA SEE THA BENEFITS THA HE COULD A GIVEN US OF HIS OWN FREE WILL!" At this Gobber turned and faced the staring Vikings around him. "INSTEAD YOU ALL DROVE HIM AWAY AND PUT US ON HIS BAD SIDE! 'ICCUP MAY HAVE HAD A PEACFUL NATURE TA BEGIN WITH, BUT I PITY THA FOOL WHO ENDS UP DEAD IN HIS SIGHTS!" Shouts of indignation rose up against the blacksmith at his words as they took a step forward to confront him themselves.

At this, Spitlout turned to the crowd. "THE LAD HAD IT COMIN!" The crowd instantly turned quiet as they focused their attention away from the blacksmith. "HE WASN'T A VIKING! WHEN THE GOIN' GOT TOUGH HE TURNED HIS BACK ON EVERYTHIN WE KNEW AND SIDED WITH THE ENEMY. IS HE DANGEROUS? NO. ARE HIS ALLIES DANGEROUS? NO MORE THAN USUAL!" Spitlout turned to Gobber "YOU PITY THE FOOL THAT CROSSES HIS PATH, I PITY HIM IF HE TRIES TO MESS WITH THE MIGHTY TRIBE OF BERK! TOMORROW WE SET SAIL TO PROTECT A FEW TRADERS. HICCUP WILL SHOW UP AND WE WILL PROTECT MORE THAN JUST A FEW SHIPS! WE WILL PROTECT THE VIKING WAY OF LIFE! NO COMPROMISE! NO MERCY! OUR ENEMIES WILL FALL BENETH OUR FEET AND WE WILL CRUSH THEM! HICCUP WILL GET WHAT HE DESERVES AND THAT NIGHT FURY WILL DIE!"

The Vikings cheered and turned back to their drinks. Gobber looked around as it appeared that not one of them had taken to heart what he had said. He wasn't really surprised, had they been here and not out on Astrid's expedition to find Hiccup, he wouldn't be surprised to find even the teens that grew up with Hiccup reviling in their tribe's glory.

Chuckling, Spitlout put a hand on the blacksmith's shoulder, "Thanks Gobber." He said quietly, "I couldn't have made such an invigorating speech without yer help." He smiled as he walked off.

Gobber shook his head as he made his way outside. He all of a sudden couldn't stand being in the same room as the drunk meatheads. "Yer underestimating 'im." He muttered under his breath. "Snotlout was the last to do tha', and look where tha' got 'im, frozen stiff as a board… Twice." He sighed as he made his way back to the forge.

o~0~O~0~o

The single man standing on the bridge let his gaze travel across the deck of his ship in the dying light. It would be dark before too long. He took in the polished decks, the perfect sails, the gleaming weapons, the battle hardened men scurrying over equipment and rigging, but his attention was drawn mainly to the four unused grapple-winches and empty dragon proof cages on deck.

The man and his crew were in fact dragon hunters, men who sailed the seas in search of dragons to capture, cage and sell for great riches. They had been sailing in the barbaric archipelago for over a week now searching for one particular dragon. A dragon with ebony black scales and a fearsome reputation. Only this particular dragon had become a sort of legend among the Viking's in the area. It never showed itself, never stole food and never missed. That in itself was not abnormal for a Night Fury, the man thought to himself, but the fact that the reports came with descriptions of a disgraced heir leading the dragons to battle on the back of such a beast were. Raid's had become more chaotic, deadly and damaging since the boy had come on the scene.

The man himself couldn't wait to see what this dragon rider was capable of, but if he was enthusiastic about meeting this figure, his brother was ecstatic. But then again, his brother was always exited when he had a new potential opponent to challenge. He had heard his brother comment that hopefully this dragon rider would be more entertaining than the one they were used to dealing with.

"DO YOU SE ANYTHING?" The man called up to the crow's nest.

"NOT A HEAD TO BE SEEN." Was the reply.

"WELL KEEP YER EYE'S PEELED. WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER INCEDENT LIKE YESTERDAY."

"AYE SIR!"

Just because they were on a mission didn't mean that the hunters wouldn't take the opportunity to make some cash. Yet after a week of sailing that had come across nothing, save for the one lone Monstrous Nightmare that had shown itself the day before. It had come out of clouds right next to them and caught the crew completely by surprise. They had quickly scrambled to take the dragon down and his crew had done well he mused. They were all battle ready within 30 seconds, but that didn't help when the dragon had kept itself well out of range. It didn't attack like a dragon normally would, and it didn't fly away. It just flew next to them for a whole 15 minutes. They had tried to close the distance between them and the beast, but a ship isn't exactly known for it's speed and maneuverability.

Then they dragon had done something unexpected, it had started to angle itself closer, ever so slowly, inch, by inch, until an overeager crewman had shot one of the dragon proof chains at the creature. The man had put it too full power, but in the calm, the dragon had plenty of time to react and dodge out of the way before disappearing back into the clouds. A few trappers had shot some dragon nip arrows in the process, but none even made their way close to their target. Disappointed, the crew went back to work. His brother had said nothing since then, he had just retired to his cabin with a contemplative look on his face.

The sun disappeared below the ocean, revealing a moonless night and plunging the ship into darkness. A fog rose up out of the sea and completely enveloped them, limiting visibility to only a few feet. The man took a deep breath. "This isn't fog, it's smoke." He said to himself. "Get yer weapons ready!" He cried out to his men and once again, they were rushing to battle positions. In mere moments, they were all battle ready and waiting breathlessly for an attack. Several minutes stretched by in the complete silence, adding to the tension that every man felt in that moment.

A banshee like wail cut through the air from above like a cray of death and a man cried out "NIGHT FURY!"

"WHERE!" He yelled in excitement. This was it, the reason why they had come.

Before a reply could be yelled back to him, two blueish-purple explosions rocked the deck, illuminating the ship and destroyed two winches as well as sending men flying. A black mass raced past as the wail teetered out and a tearing sound was heard. The mass continued upwards before folding its wings and beginning to plummet once again before righting itself. It started screaming once again towards the ship with the familiar wail announcing the impending attack. Two more small explosions came forth and the two remaining winches were obliterated. With the ship rocking back and forth from the aftershocks and small fires starting to rage across the deck, the man on the bridge was the only one left standing. He noticed that in the confusion, the sail had been torn from the mast. He growled in frustration as he realized that in less than 10 seconds they had been rendered almost defenceless against any and all air attacks and dead in the water. "Put out those fires!" He shouted, trying to get some control over the situation again.

Not one man had been able to recover from the attack when a black dragon landed on the deck with graceful ease. A voice rose from on top of the beast. "No one move, or this dragon here will turn you to ash."

No one thought about disobeying, save for one.

The man looked to the side to see a familiar face making its way calm and collected from the captain's cabin. His brother had a slightly buff figure, was dressed in a sleeveless leather tunic with spiked shoulder guards. He had a scar running down the left side of his neck and had brown hair with a goatee. He began to clap his hands as he walked forward. "Well done Hiccup. Very impressive. You made fools of my crew whose very profession is hunting down the beast you ride… in a matter of seconds. I take it that Nightmare yesterday was yours?"

Hiccup crossed his arms as he leaned foreword and looked down at them with a smug smile across his face. "Well thank you for the flattery. Dragon hunters eh? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow you out of the water right now?"

"Now, now, no reason to be rash. Me and my brother over here have been travelling for weeks just to get the chance to meet you. It would be terribly unkind to kill us now that we've finally succeeded."

Hiccup contemplated this, "Dragon Hunters, coming all they way out here to look for me? Someone who sides with the dragons. Maybe somebody hired you to kill me and my dragon?" Hiccup accused with a raised eyebrow.

"Hiccup," the figure consoled, "you're terribly mistaken. We mean you no harm. My name is Viggo Grimborn, and my brother over there," He pointed to the man up on the bridge, "Is Ryker. Did someone hire us to find you? Yes, they did. To kill you? Not yet."

Hiccup's eyes narrowed, "You still haven't given me a reason not to kill you."

Viggo smiled, this boy wouldn't be sidetracked, he mused, fun. "Because I'm part of something bigger. You've been making a name for yourself and my employer is interested. After all, it's not just anybody who can control the dragons. He wants to know more about you, whether or not you'd be worth his time to meet, face to face. If you want in on his enterprises, you'll play along."

If it were possible, Hiccup's eyes only displayed more hostility behind them. "Why should I trust you?"

"Because were willing to give you a gift. We've done some looking into you, we know from first hand accounts that you smart, inquisitive and good in a forge. What could be of more use to you than the recipe for a metal that is both stronger and lighter than regular Iron. We call it Gronckle Iron."

Hiccup perked up in curiosity, "Say I was interested, what would I do?"

"Follow me."

Viggo turned on his heals and entered the captains cabin without looking back. Hesitantly Hiccup dismounted Toothless. "Keep an eye on all of them bud, if one of them moves, shoot them." The dragon grunted in response.

Hiccup slowly followed Vigo into the cabin. They were the only two in the room. It was richly furnished, a few dragon heads and weapons adorned the walls and a single table had been set up in the center of the room. He recognized the board set up on top.

"They say there are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true, the other, is to refuse to believe what is. Maces and Talons." Viggo gestured to the board. "I began playing with my Grandfather when I was just a boy. I always insisted on being the honorable Viking Chief. I could never understand how he bested me time and time again. Ha ha. For years I assumed his skill transcended mine, I believed what wasn't true. But you see, in Maces and Talons, as in life, the line between good and evil is often unclear. Black and white can become grey so easily. What one soul considers evil, another might consider righteous. The honorable Chief that fails to see this is found to be the fool.

For instance, you could view me and my brother as evil. We find dragons, we catch them, we sell them and become rich. For one such as yourself, who lives in close affinity with them, such a thing would be horrid. However, you take the man whose wife and child have been taken away by them…" Hiccup glared at the man, but Viggo continued, "and all of a sudden, our actions are seen in another light. For a high price, we do what that man cannot and remove from the equation the very thing that split his family apart. The dragon that no one else can take care of and placing it at the mercy of the one it wronged."

Hiccup took a nervous glance towards the door.

"Relax Hiccup, I wasn't talking about your Night Fury. Though that creature would be worth quite the fortune, it wouldn't make proper business sense to go to war with you. My employer has much more business lined up for me than what one Night Fury could cover. I was merely talking about what got me into this business in the first place."

"So, what does this have to do with me?" Hiccup asked.

"Everything." Viggo answered, "Where do you draw the line? Where does the line become grey? I want to know your motivation. What drives the heir to Berk, who's mother was killed by a dragon, to reject his birthright and kinship to run off with a Night Fury and declare war? Power? To show off? For the fun? Revenge?" At the last prod, Hiccup stiffened. Viggo took notice and smirked. "The question is… What are you willing to do to get it? You've impressed me Hiccup. My employer might take some time to come around, but he will. Your smart Hiccup, I can see that. You'd be a valuable addition anywhere. I enjoy a battle of the wits, there is no greater pleasure of mine than to see an opponent fall under his own feet. I'd love to have the chance to play against you for real in this life, but in order to know what we'll be doing, I have to ask a question. Will we be divided against each other, or work as allies for our mutual benefit?"

Viggo gestured to the board. "Would you like to play a game?"

Hiccup walked up to the board and grabbed the Chief of the Marauders. He twirled the black piece in his hand. "Why not?"

Viggo smiled as he developed a strategy, "Fitting choice. Now why don't you tell me why you fight?"

Hiccup smiled as well as he developed his own. "I spent 15 years living with the Vikings, constantly abused and looked down upon because of my weak stature. I don't know why I put up with it for so long. I guess I just needed Toothless to point me in the right direction. Now that I finally have the means to pay them back, the Vikings are going to discover just how strong I don't need to be." Hiccup replied with a smile as he moved a pawn out onto the board, leaving his hunters in reserve.

Satisfied, Viggo reached into his shirt and pulled out a parchment of paper, "The Gronckle Iron recipe." He explained as he held it out. Hiccup took it as Viggo made his first move. He was looking forward to this.

After three tense hours of the Night Fury staring down the unarmed crew of the dragon hunters, growling every time one of the men so much as flinched, the door to the captain's cabin finally opened. Hiccup walked out with a satisfied smirk on his face before turning back to the man who had followed him out. "That was fun Viggo, we'll have to do it again sometime."

Viggo, who had a shocked look of admiration on his face replied, "Likewise."

With that, Hiccup crossed the deck, mounted his dragon and took off into the sky.