Imperfect Harmony
After discovering what he saw with the Dragon Eye, Hiccup got the rest of the Dragon Riders up and brought him outside of his house. He would have showed them inside, but he wanted the Autobots to see this as well.
"Okay bud, go ahead." Hiccup said to Toothless as he held up the Dragon Eye.
Toothless bent down and and castes a low flame. As soon as that happened, the strange symbols and peculiar writing appeared right in front of everyone on the side of the house. The other riders and Autobots stare at this scene in amazement.
"That is cool." Bumblebee beeped.
"Definitely worth getting up for." Fishlegs said in awe.
"Perhaps a chemical reaction within the Dragon Eye causes these images to appear with Toothless' flame?" Ratchet thought with equal amazement.
"Whoever made that thing knew what they were doing." Arcee said.
Fishlegs and Hiccup walked up to the images to inspect them. "There are parts of maps and symbols, nothing I've ever seen before." Fishlegs said.
Optimus zoomed in on the symbols as well. "I may still be learning about your literature and calligraphy, but what I have managed to memorize does not match these markings." Optimus said.
"What's that?" Snotloud questioned as he pointed to the symbol at the center of the markings.
"Must be some kind of tribal crest or something." Hiccup theorized.
"Ooh, I like that way better than our tribal crest." Tuffnut said
"Tuff, we don't have a tribal crest." Hiccup said deadpanned.
"Well, we should. I mean the Autobots get there own tribal crest, so why can't we?" Ruffnut said.
"There more like insignia's that define our loyalty and morals." Bulkhead reminded.
"What matters is that I want our crest to be like that." Tuffnut said.
Fishlegs look back at Hiccup. "Hiccup, this map, you realize it..."
"Goes beyond the boundaries of the Archipelago. Oh, I know." Hiccup finished.
"Whoever owned that Reaper ship, obviously had something to hide. The question is what?" Elita questioned.
Everyone, from human to Autobot, looked at each other not saying a word until Astrid spoke up. "So, what's our next move."
/
The next morning, Hiccup and Bumblebee stood in front of the Berk council to discuss their discovery. The council comprised of Stoic, Gobber, Sven, Spiteloud, and the recent additions, Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus.
"Look at this! There are maps we haven't seen, writing we can't read dragons we don't recognize! It's...it's incredible!" Hiccup said as he looked towards the council. "This Dragon Eye, this is proof that there is a whole other world out there, a world we must explore."
Toothless ceased his flames and the council looked at one another.
"This sure beats normal council business." Gobber said.
"It's alright everyone, you can speak your mind. We are a council after all, that's why we're here." Stoic said.
"This expedition could prove beneficial. Such knowledge could help us all learn about what lies beyond Berk's borders." Optimus said.
"With all due respect Prime, I disagree." Spiteloud said. "We may have been at peace with the Outcasts and some dragons here in our borders for three years, but those Decepticons are still out there. Who's to say they won't strike while we go off on some wild goose chase out there."
"I'm with Spiteloud." Sven said. "If that Dragon Eye leads to unknown places and new wild dragons, then no good will come from it. Best to stay here and protect our island in case the Decepticons come back with another full invasion force."
"I completely disagree with you, Sven." Hiccup said firmly. "Look around you. How can you say that no good can come from discovering new species of dragons. We're even discovering life beyond our very planet." Hiccup said as he gestured to the Autobots in the room.
"What you and the other dragon riders should be doing is hunting down Dagur and putting him in jail where he belongs. The Autobots can handle the Decepticons." Spiteloud said.
"Another reason to go." Hiccup argued. "Dagur was heading beyond our borders. He thinks we won't go past them, but that's where we'll find him. This also gives us a chance to take the fight to the Decepticons a different way."
"Please explain." Ultra Magnus said.
"The Decepticons are out there searching for sources of raw Energon. We always fight them after they dig it up, but now we can find it out there before they dig it up and gain the upper hand." Hiccup explained.
"Which can give us an edge against Starscream." Bumblebee beeped.
Spiteloud shook his head and turned towards the chief. "Stoic, anytime you like to chime in, so we can put this all to rest."
"You're right, Spiteloud. Let's put this to rest." Stoic said as he approached the table.
"Dad." Hiccup tried to say.
"Let me speak, son." Stoic interrupted. "This is as important for you to hear as it is for them."
Hiccup sighed and walked away with Bumblebee, thinking that his father was going to deny his request.
Stoic turned and looked at the council. "Spiteloud, you're absolutely right, these have been some of the best years. Nothing is more important than peace, peace among us,each with our neighbors, peace with the dragons, and peace with our new Autobot allies." Spiteloud looked happy, thinking that Stoic was on his side, but Stoic continued. "Having said that, let me ask you this, Spiteloud: when you and I first had Alvin in our sights and everyone was telling us to leave well enough alone, what did we do?"
"Crushed him, that's what ya did." Gobber said as he slammed his ham on the table.
"Thank you, Gobber." Stoic said, rolling his eyes.
"My pleasure, chief." Gobber said cheerfully.
Stoic looked back at the council. "When Valka was taken and I went in search for her, could anyone have stopped me?"
"Well, technically you're the chief, so no." Gobber pointed out.
"Thank you, Gobber." Stoic sighed before continuing. "When I stared deep into the eye of Shockwave and it looked like I was done for, did I give up?"
"No, you threw your ax right into that one eye of his!" Gobber said excitedly.
"Yes Gobber, thank you." Stoic said before turning and facing Hiccup. "You know where I'm going with this. Think of the most important hing in the world to you, ask yourself honestly how far would you be willing to go to get it. What would you risk?" Stoic placed his hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "The boy's life has been dragons. His life is dragons and will continue to be. We can't stop them from going, so we might as well support him."
Optimus stood up from his seat. "It is true that we have to wait for the Decepticons to dig up an Energon mine."
"But with this Dragon Eye we can discover new lands, and in return, new Energon sources we can mine for ourselves." Ultra Magnus said.
Stoic stared at his son proudly, while Hiccup had a mix of joy and disbelief on his face. "Go lad. Find whatever it is that is pulling you, and when you find it, Berk will be right here waiting for you."
Gobber stepped beside him. "Ya better get out of here, before all this nostalgia wears off and he changes his mind."
Hiccup smiled at his father and ran off outside. Toothless and Bumblebee were about to follow, but Stoic stopped them for a brief moment.
"You take care of my boy, you two." Stoic said.
Toothless nodded his head while Bumblebee thrusted his fist into the air. The dragon grabbed the Dragon Eye and they both followed Hiccup outside.
Stoic looked on proudly as Optimus stood next to him. "Do you think I made the right choice?" Stoic asked.
"Sometimes you have to let someone go, to help them find their destiny." Optimus said. Stoic nodded and continued to stare at his son with pride.
/
Hiccup packed his shield and all other essentials for the journey ahead of him and Toothless. Looked on in the distance where the fog bank lay and patted Toothless' head.
"You ready for this?" Hiccup said to Toothless.
"Blah, blah, blah." Snotloud said from behind him.
Hiccup turned around and saw the rest of the dragon riders on their dragons and the Autobots Bumblebee, Arcee, Bulkhead, Smokescreen, and Wheeljack surrounding the Jackhammer ship. Each of them had an eager grin on their faces.
"Why do you have to make a production out of everything? Let's just go already." Snotloud said impatiently.
Hiccup looked at them. "Okay, but if anyone has any reservations-" The other dragon riders didn't give him a chance to speak as they flew right past him.
"Into the great beyond!" Snotloud yelled.
"The great beyond!" The other riders yelled.
"Okay, no reservations." Hiccup said as he looked down at Toothless. "Let's go, bud!" Hiccup mounted Toothless and they followed the others onto the fog bank.
"You heard them, guys! The great beyond!" Smokescreen cheered as he entered the Jackhammer.
"The great beyond!" The other Autobots cheered.
Before Arcee could enter, Optimus and Ratchet stepped forward and spoke to her. "Arcee, once you have established a safe checkpoint, use the Groundbridge beacon to send a signal so that way we can send any aid."
"If you should need medical attention, I can be there instantly." Ratchet added.
Arcee nodded. "Don't worry Optimus. As soon as we set up a clear base of operations, I'll inform you both."
She then entered the Jackhammer and it soon took off and followed after the dragon riders. Into the great beyond, to see what else was out there.
/
The excitement quickly died down after several hours of flying through the fog bank. All of the dragon riders started to look tired from doing nothing but flying and shouting.
"Into the great beyond." Snotloud said weakly.
"The great beyond." The others said in the same tone.
"Where'd all that enthusiasm go, kids?" Wheeljack joked over the comms.
"I think we lost it a few hours ago." Astrid replied dully.
"Oh, come on, you guys." Hiccup said as he still looked cheerful. "So, we've had a couple of rough hours. Nothing that's worth anything comes easy."
"They do say optimism always helps in these situations." Smokescreen said over the comms.
"Are those supposed to be riddles, because now is not the time you two. We have to keep saying 'great beyond.'" Tuffnut said.
"Oh, gods." Hiccup said under his breath before looking down at Toothless. "Toothless, let's see if there's anything out there."
Toothless roared and fired his sonar blast, but he received nothing.
"Toothless isn't getting anything, how about on your end Wheeljack?" Hiccup asked over his own earpiece to communicate with the Autobots.
"I'm not picking up anything yet, Hiccup." Wheeljack answered.
Then the sound of thunder was heard and it began to rain heavily, much to everyone's displeasure.
"Looks like Mother Nature is raining down on our parade." Bumblebee joked.
"Not the best time for humor, Bee." Arcee said.
"Ugh, seems like the further we in, the worst it gets." Astrid groaned.
"Hiccup, I think we should turn back. We've been flying for most of the day." Fishlegs said.
"We just have to keep pushing forward until we're put of this." Hiccup urged.
Then sunlight started to peak through the storm clouds, which Hiccup and Astrid noticed.
"Hiccup, is that-" Astrid said.
"Yeah, it is." Hiccup finished. "Everybody, fly to the light."
Hiccup led everyone to where the sunlight was coming from and they were able to break through the storm. Everyone stared in amazement at the now clear open water with small patched of islands throughout the ocean.
"Alright, sweet sunshine at last." Bulkhead cheered.
"Look at this." Astrid said with wonder.
"It's incredible." Hiccup said.
"I know, right? We made it, Hiccup! We made it!" Astrid said with excitement.
"Uh guys, can we slap each other on the back later? Meatlug's wings are about to fall off." Fishlegs said.
"He's right, we can go on for long periods of time, but your dragons need to rest." Arcee warned.
"Sorry, guys. There's a place to land up ahead we can set down." Hiccup said.
Suddenly they heard a strange sound in the air and the dragon seem to be attracted to it.
"Whoa, whoa, what is it, girl?" Fishlegs asked looking down at Meatlug, who perked up. "Don't you want to rest?"
Then all the dragons faced against the island below as if they were drawn to it. From the island they could hear strange musical tone.
"Guys, do you hear that?" Hiccup asked.
"What is that?" Snotlout asked.
"Is that music?" Smokescreen asked.
"I've got no idea, but the dragons are definitely pulled towards it," said Fishlegs.
Wheeljack checked the scanners on his ship which displayed the island they were flying to. "My scanners are picking up an odd frequency sound originating on that island."
"Then I guess that's where we're going," said Hiccup.
They then flew down towards the island, not knowing that things are about to get a little crazy.
They all landed on the beach shore that was next to a waterfall that overlooked the ocean. After such a long flight, they all decided to relax.
"Feels good to finally stretch the legs." Bulkhead said as he and the other Autobots exited the ship.
"Okay! I'm never going back to Berk," said Snotlout, who lying on the white sandy beach.
"I hear that, buddy!" Smokescreen said as he looked across the ocean. "This place sure is beautiful."
"Berk? What's that? 'Cause I forgot," said Tuffnut, who was playing in the water with his sister.
"Well, I guess we don't have to vote on where we're making camp," said Hiccup, who was sitting next to Astrid on a boulder but overlooked the waterfall.
"I can definitely get used to this." Bumblebee said as he sat down on the beach.
"Nicely secured, good spot to make camp, it looks pretty promising." Arcee said as she looked around the beach.
"Ha ha! I'll take out the fire," said Snotlout. Moments later, Snotlout poured a strange liquid over the sand and to a nearby shrub. "Hookfang, light it up!" Snotlout ordered.
Hookfang lit up the liquid and the entire trail of the gel caught on fire and slowly trailed to the shrub, until it finally caught on fire.
"Monstrous Nightmare gel," said Snotlout showing them the jar. "Don't leave home without it."
"Nice." Wheeljack said impressed.
/
Later that night all the Dragon Riders were sleeping next to the dragons, except for Hiccup and Astrid, who were staring up at the full moon. The Autobots were in their vehicle modes and were in shut down mode.
"You were right Hiccup," said Astrid. "There's so much more out here. And it's beautiful."
"And this is only the beginning, Astrid," said Hiccup smiling. "Who knows what we'll find out here?"
They continued to stare at the night sky, with nothing but the odd musical sound in the background. They never noticed that Stormfly opened her eyes and seemed to fixated on the music.
/
The Nemesis
Breakdown walked through the halls of the warship with an unhappy expression on his face. He still remembered how the Autobots and their organic pets humiliated him and his team the last time they fought.
Since then, he's been itching for another shot at his long-time rival, Bulkhead. Starscream, however, kept him and the other Stunticons on the ship until they can launch a full counter-attack against the Autobots.
Breakdown soon entered a room and found his fellow Stunticon, Drag Strip, pacing around and looking pretty peeved.
"What's grinding your gears?" Breakdown asked.
"I'm sick of just sitting around and doing nothing." Drag Strip complained. "We're Stunticons, we're not supposed to just stay in place! We have to get out there and put the scrap on some Autobots!"
"Trust me, I'm with you one hundred percent, but how do you suppose we do that?" Breakdown asked.
Drag Strip smirked when an idea came to mind. "Why don't we set up a trap for them?" Drag Strip walked towards terminal and typed in a few keys till the screen displayed an island. "This island is suspected to harbor a fresh Energon supply. If we dig it up, we can lure Autobots and ambush them."
"I don't know, Starscream won't like it that we risked losing fresh Energon." Breakdown cautioned. "He was a pain in the tailpipe before, but now that he's in charge it's almost unbearable."
"What Starscream doesn't know, won't hurt him. Besides, this could be the chance for you to settle the score with that big green Autobot, Bulkhead, I believe." Drag Strip tempted.
That did it for Breakdown as he smirked at the idea of finishing Bulkhead off.
They made their way to their Groundbridge and set a course for the island. After exiting the portal, they looked around and saw that they appeared to be in a rock quarry of some kind.
"So, what's the next step?" Breakdown asked.
"All we gotta do is dig up some Energon, and let the Autobots come to us." Drag Strip said.
They walked forward, but paused when they heard something zip past them in the air. They turned around and looked around the sky, but they couldn't see anything. They looked at each other and shrugged before continuing moving forward. They stopped again when they started to hear musical sound.
"What the heck is that?" Drag Strip asked.
"Not sure, but I don't like it." Breakdown warned as he brought out his hammer.
Pretty soon, they heard the sound of footsteps were heard and a large shadow loomed behind them. They both displayed a fearful look on their face before deciding to turn around.
From that moment, they wished they would have stayed on the ship.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!"
/
Morning soon came and Astrid was still asleep, until she was woken up by Hiccup, who was shaking her awake. "Astrid, wake up," Hiccup said. "Do you hear that?"
"What? I don't hear anything," said Astrid rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes.
"Exactly, it's gone. The sound is gone," said Hiccup.
Astrid then realise that Hiccup was right the sound that they heard yesterday was gone. Everyone else, from dragon rider to Autobot had woken up as well.
"The sound isn't the only thing that's gone." Bulkhead said.
"Yeah, the dragons are gone. All of them." Fishlegs said.
They all looked around and noticed that they were right. All of the dragons seemed to have disappeared.
"How do you lose a bunch of giant, flying, fire breathing lizards?" Wheeljack asked.
"We should head put into the woods, see if they wondered in there." Arcee suggested.
"Then let's go." Hiccup said as they all made their way deeper into the island.
They all walked into the forest of the island in hopes of finding their dragons, but so far they were coming up with nothing.
"Stormfly!" Astrid yelled.
"Come here, girl!" Arcee yelled.
"Hookfang, you there?!" Smokescreen yelled.
They were searching every nook and cranny, but the twins searching methods were a little lackluster. They kept on circling around a small boulder that could no way hide Barf and Belch.
"Ugh, how many times are you guys gonna check behind that rock?" Astrid asked tiredly. "Barf and Belch cannot hide behind it."
"Clearly, you are not aware of the stealthiness of one Barf and Blech, or is that 'Two Barf and Belch'?" said Ruffnut looking at her brother.
"Hmm, excellent question." Tuffnut pondered. "One head..."
"One dragon..." Ruffnut continued.
"Two brains..."
"One body..."
"Two bodies, half a brain," Snotlout added.
"Just go with it. Sometimes there's a method to their madness." Bulkhead said.
"Keyword being 'sometimes.'" Smokescreen said.
Bumblebee looked around, but so far he wasn't getting anything. He turned towards hiccup who was starting to look worried. "You see anything yet, pal?"
"Not really, Bee. So far I'm seeing nothing." Hiccup said feeling puzzled. "I don't get it. Where would they go?"
"Oh, my Meatlug," Fishlegs sniffed. "She wouldn't do this. She wouldn't leave me. She would never do this on her own."
"Don't worry, Fishlegs. We'll find them and everyone else." Wheeljack said trying to keep him calm.
Then they heard rustling in the bushes behind them. They all stood there preparing for a fight while the Autobots activated their weapons, but then suddenly Toothless jumped out of the bushes and tackled Hiccup to the ground. He then licked Hiccup repeatedly.
"There you are, bud," Hiccup said relieved. "Where did you go?"
"Man, he gave us quite a scare." Bumblebee beeped.
Toothless then roared and began to walk around them strangely.
"Okay, I think your dragon ate something weird in the forest, because he is out of his mind," said Snotlout.
"No, no, I think he's trying to tell us something," said Fishlegs.
"He almost looks in distress." Arcee observed.
Hiccup then bent down towards Toothless looking concerned. "What is it, bud?" Hiccup asked. "Is it the other dragons?"
Toothless grabbed Hiccup's metal leg,much to his surprise, and dragged him deeper into the forest. The other riders and Autobots just stared as Toothless ran deeper into the forest.
"Uh, how far do you think he's going to get before he realises?" Astrid asked.
Hiccup then got up from the ground looking quite stunned. "Hard to say. He seems pretty committed." Hiccup said as he looked down at his missing leg.
Toothless had grabbed Hiccup's legs so ferociously that he tore it off from his body. Seconds later Toothless came back, looking quite embarrassed, and dropped Hiccup's leg in front of him.
"That's okay, bud. I like the enthusiasm," Hiccup reassured.
"He seemed determined to get to that direction." Arcee said.
"Then that's where we're going. We'll drive on ahead and see what's up." Wheeljack said.
Once he reattached his leg, he climbed onto Toothless' back and looked at the others. "That's a good idea." Hiccup then turned to the other dragon riders. "You guys stay here in case they come back. Toothless and I are gonna look for them from above with the Autobots."
They then took off, with Hiccup and Toothless flying and he Autobots driving. Hiccup and Toothless, however, didn't get very far when they heard a very loud roar. Hiccup looked down and saw a purple scaled Thunderdrum on the ground and it was approaching the other riders, without them noticing.
Quickly Hiccup made Toothless turn, but Toothless didn't want to, he wanted a fly towards the mountain in the distance.
"No. No, bud. This way," said Hiccup struggling to make Toothless turn.
It took some effort, but Hiccup was able to make Toothless turn on the full down towards the Thunderdrum.
The other riders had just heard the Thunderdrum jump out of the bushes behind them and they quickly ran towards the nearest rock to hide behind.
"Oh, Thor! Oh, Thor! Thunderdrum!" Fishlegs screamed in terror.
The Thunderdrum fired its sonic scream at the riders, forcing them to cover their ears. Toothless then came flying in from above and fired multiple plasma blasts, forcing the Thunderdrum to fly away.
"Good job, bud. Let's hope that's the last we see of that guy." Hiccup said while patting Toothless on the back.
They landed in front of the dragon riders who came out of their hiding place. They were rubbing their ears and looking a little disoriented from the sound attack.
"ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO DRAW TOWARDS US?! CHANGEWING? SCREAMING DEATH? MAYBE THE ENTIRE DECEPTICON ARMADA, I'M SURE THAT'D BE FUN!" Snotloud yelled.
"Snotloud, you're yelling very loudly!" Hiccup yelled out.
"OH REALLY? I CAN BARELY HEAR MYSELF. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET ATTACKED BY A WILD THUNDERDRUM!" Snotloud retorted.
"Okay, we need our dragons. I'm going back out there." Hiccup said. The other riders just gave him a blank look, since they couldn't hear him. "I SAID I'M GOING BACK OUT THERE!"
The riders immediately protested, thinking that it was too dangerous to go out there on his own.
"NO WAY HICCUP, YOU ARE NOT LEAVING ALONE!" Astrid yelled.
"YEAH, WE'RE DRAGON-LESS AND DEFENSELESS!" Fishlegs yelled.
"AND WE CAN ONLY COMMUNICATE BY YELLING!" Ruffnut yelled.
"WHICH, ALTHOUGH QUITE ENJOYABLE, IS NOT VERY STEALTHY! ARE YOU HEARING ANY OF THIS!" Tuffnut yelled.
"Okay, fine. We'll all go together." Hiccup said, only to receive another blank look from the riders. "Oh, for the love of-I SAID WE'LL ALL GO TOGETHER!"
"WHY DIDNT YOU JUST SAY SO? JEEZ!" Tuffnut yelled.
"Hiccup, you there?" Bulkhead said over the comms.
Hiccup placed his finger over the comm in his ear. "Yeah, I'm right here Bulkhead."
"Just heard some loud noises back there. Everything okay?" Bulkhead asked.
"Not really. A wild Thunderdrum came by and now the others are having trouble hearing." Hiccup answered.
"Well, either way, you and everyone else might want to come check this out." Bulkhead said.
"What is it? Did you find the dragons?" Hiccup asked.
"We found something alright. You and the others might want to get over here as quickly as possible." Bulkhead answered.
/
It took a while, but the effects of the Thunderdrum's roar finally subsided and everyone was able to hear again, much to Hiccup's relief. They made their way through the creepy forest in order to rendezvous with the Autobots.
They managed to spot the Autobots, but they didn't turn around to face them. When they stood right next to them they looked on in horror at what they discovered. A mountain of of dragon bones.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Smokescreen said.
"Are those what I think they are?" Fishlegs asked with worry.
"Weirdly-shaped white rocks." Tuffnut said obliviously.
"Dragon bones." Hiccup said while looking worried.
"Ah, a boneyard. Yes, I like it." Tuffnut said in excitement, but it went away when the others just glared at him. "I don't like it."
Arcee picked up a stray bone out of the pile and examined it. "These bones are too old to be any of your dragons, so that's a good thing."
"Thank goodness." Astrid said in relief. She then noticed a strange rock on the ground and picked it up. "What is this stuff?"
"I have no idea." Hiccup answered.
Arcee came and Astrid handed it to her. "It looks like fossilized tree amber." Arcee said.
"If that's the case, then what is it doing on the ground?" Fishlegs asked.
"And not on the trees?" Smokescreen asked nervously.
All of a sudden, a roar was heard in the distance, which got them immediately on edge.
"Okay, what was that?" Snotloud asked fearfully.
"That, my friend, was a dragon in trouble." Fishlegs said.
"It came from over ther." Bumblebee beeped.
They all ran toward the direction the sound was coming from. They soon found themselves in a gorge and saw a whole bunch of dragons of different kinds trapped in the same amber they found. Each of the dragons appeared tired after trying to break free, but gave up due to the amber being too strong.
"Whoa." Hiccup gasped.
"Major horror show." Wheeljack said.
"You said it." Bulkhead agreed.
"You guys do know what's going on here, don't you?" Tuffnut asked.
"Yeah, something is trapping the dragons in this amber rock substance and immobilizing them." Fishlegs said as he studied the trapped dragon.
"Oh, I had a completely different idea that involved oily fish and bad mutton." Tuffnut said.
"What goes on in your head?" Bumblebee beeped as he stared at Tuffnut for a bit.
"And do you want know what the worst part is? I think whatever is trapping them, is also eating them." Arcee said.
"Okay, now I know I'm gonna be sick." Smokescreen said as he held his stomach.
"Ah, come on. Who would be doing that?" Ruffnut asked skeptically.
"You're about to find out."
Everyone turned their heads and were completely surprised by who else was there. Stuck to the far end wall of the gorge, stuck in the same amber as the dragons, were Breakdown and Drag Strip. Breakdown's torso and legs were trapped, but his arms were free, with one of them transformed into his trademark hammer. Drag Strip was the most comedic of the two as his entire body was upside down while being stuck.
The dragon riders and Autobots stared in disbelief before Snotloud, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut started laughing.
"Now that is just too funny." Tuffnut said while still laughing.
"Well, well, well." Snotloud said smugly as he walked right up to the trapped Decepticons. "Looks like you two are in quite a pickle, huh?"
"If I wasn't stuck in this stuff, I'd snap you in two." Drag Strip growled out.
"Don't take this the wrong way, I am really enjoying this, but what happened to you Breakdown?" Bulkhead asked his rival.
"You're about to find out. He should be back any second now." Breakdown said.
"Who should be back?" Hiccup asked.
They all soon heard a roar in the distance and looked up in the sky. Heading right towards them was a large dragon with yellow, blue, and orange scales. It had frills on its wings and had a tail that resembled a Monstrous Nightmare.
Everyone looked at the large dragon in fear and awe as it made its way too them. Not wanting to be discovered, they all his behind a couple of large boulders to prevent them from being seen. While they were hiding, Toothless tried to make his way towards that dragon, but Hiccup managed to hold him back.
The dragon looked around for a bit before picking up a trapped Terrible Terror and flew away. Even still, Toothless still tried to make his way toward it.
"No, Toothless! No, bud!" Toothless said as he held Toothless back.
"We've been watching that thing take those lizards away, never to be seen again." Breakdown said.
"Every time that thing makes that little noise, they just keep on coming, only to be trapped by this stuff." Drag Strip explained. "Boy, I'm sure Soundwave would get kick out of that."
"So, it uses that song of his?" Wheeljack said.
"Songwing." Fishlegs blurted out.
"What?" Astrid asked.
"That's what we should name it." Fishlegs reasoned.
"Now? Really? You want to name it now?" Hiccup asked in disbelief.
"We've got bigger things to worry about." Arcee said.
"Well, we have to call it something." Fishlegs said.
"Yeah, I'm thinking Death Song might be more appropriate. You know, cause you hear the song, you're dead." Tuffnut said.
"That actually does have a nice ring to it." Smokescreen said.
"Gotta admit, he makes a pretty good point." Hiccup agreed.
"Yeah, I do." Tuffnut said proudly before being confused. "Wait, what was it again?"
"It doesn't matter what we call it. If it's doing it to all these dragons, then it probably did it to ours." Astrid said impatiently.
"Then let's spread out and find them." Bulkhead said.
Everyone ran in different directions to find the missing dragons. They called out there names hoping to get a response from them.
"Snotloud, look!" Astrid yelled.
Snotloud turned to find Astrid standing next to a trapped Hookfang. "Hooky! I am getting you out of here, Fangster." Snotloud reassured.
"Astrid, I've got Stormfly!" Fishlegs yelled.
Pretty soon every one of the dragon riders stood next to their trapped dragons. All of a sudden, they heard the roar of the Death Song. Toothless ran off before Hiccup could stop him.
"Toothless, no!" Hiccup yelled.
Toothless hopped onto a boulder and faced the Death Song just as it came back. Toothless fired a plasma blast at it, but the Death Song dodged it and spat out its amber. Toothless tried to get out of the away, but he wasn't quick enough and was soon trapped.
"No!" Hiccup yelled as he ran towards him before turning back to the other riders. "You guys, get your dragons out now!"
"Autobots, set your blasters to stun!" Arcee ordered.
Each of the Autobots activated their Energon blasters and started firing at the Death Song, but it kept on avoiding them. It soon started spitting its amber attack at them and one by one they all found themselves being trapped as well.
"Oh, come on!" Smokescreen yelled as he became trapped.
"Scrap!" Wheeljack said as he too became trapped.
The Autobots tried to break free, but the amber was just too strong for them.
"This stuff is hardening too quickly!" Arcee said.
"Wha-I can't move! I'm totally stuck!" Fishlegs yelled.
"Me too." Snotlout said. "I can't believe that thing got me. I'm usually so limber."
"Yeah? Well, at least you got your own cocoon." Tuffnut muttered.
"Oh yeah, like this is a picnic for me." Ruffnut grumbled before they suddenly broke away from Barf and Belch and landed on the ground sideways.
The Death Song then headed towards Hiccup, who was too busy trying to free Toothless, so he didn't notice it approaching.
"Hiccup, it's coming for you!" Astrid yelled.
Hiccup turned just in time to see the Death Song fire it's amber at him, but at the last second Astrid pushed him out of the way, but this meant that the amber hit her, leaving her trapped on the ground.
"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled.
Seeing that he had no choice, Hiccup had no choice but to do a tactical retreat. He ran towards an opening in the gorge that was too far for the Death Song to follow.
However, he didn't notice the steep slope on the other side and slid down it. He soon landed on the ground hard, and looked up to come face-to-face with the same Thunderdrum that attacked them earlier.
"Oh, hey." Hiccup said nervously. "Remember me?" The Thunderdrum growled at them and looked as though he was ready to pounce. "I'll take that as a yes."
Hiccup raises shield and looked at the Thunderdrum, trying to remain calm.
"Hey, I'm thinking we may have gotten off on the wrong foot." Hiccup said nervously. The Thunderdrum then roared at him, but Hiccup protected himself with his shield. "Note for the Book of Dragons, Thunderdrums carry a grudge."
Suddenly the Thunderdrum tackled him, but then he noticed the glob of amber that was on the ground just where they stood a few seconds ago. They looked up and saw the Death Song flying above them.
The Thunderdrum then flew up and charge towards it, however the Death Song slapped him with its tail and pinned the Thunderdrum to the ground.
"Don't worry, I got your back." Hiccup said while raising his shield.
He then fired a bola that wrapped around the Death Song's mouth.
"That's not gonna hold him for long," said Hiccup.
Hiccup tried to think of the next move, but so far he only came up with one idea, and it was not going to be pretty. He slowly stepped towards the Thunderdrum as it continued to stare at the Death Song.
"Okay, you might not like what I'm about to do, but trust me, it's gonna work out for the both of us." Hiccup said.
Then without warning Hiccup jumped onto the Thunderdrum's back. In that instance, the wild dragon took off into the sky trying to shake Hiccup off of him.
"Haven't we gone over this?" Hiccup said while clinging onto the Thunderdrum with all his might.
"I said I'm trying to help the both of us. Don't you listen?" Hiccup yelled while trying to control the Thunderdrum. He then realise what kind of dragon he was talking to. "Of course, you don't listen, you're a Thunderdrum, and Thunderdrum's a hard of hearing."
Then the Thunderdrum flow downwards at top speed and Hiccup screamed as they approached the ground.
However, Hiccup managed to survive the crash so he was still alive. Hiccup and the Thunderdrum got up and found the Death Song nowhere to be seen.
"At least we lost the Death Song." Hiccup said before looking extremely frustrated. "I can't believe this is actually happening. I should have left those guys back on Berk. Now their cocooned in that crazy rock stuff, I'm being chased by an angry Death Song, and now I'm stuck here with a wild Thunderdrum who can't hear thing we say."
Hiccup looked down for a moment and then realized something. "Wait a second, of you guys can hardly hear a thing, then you probably can't hear the Death Song's call." Hiccup said. "And if you can't hear the Death Song, then it can't lure you in. That explains why it hasn't captured you."
Hiccup then raised his hand towards the Thunderdrum and slowly approached it. "You know what, Mr Thunderdrum?" Hiccup said cautiously. "You're gonna help me get my friends back. And I'm going to make sure that dragon never bothers you again. What do you say?"
The Thunderdrum snarled at him, but calm down the moment Hiccup placed his hand on its snout. He then jumped on its back and flew back to the mountain.
/
Back in the gorge, the other dragon riders and Autobots were still trying to break out of their amber prisons, but with no success.
"Where's Hiccup? I knew he'd leave us, I have to pee." Snotloud complained.
"He didn't leave us, he'll be back." Astrid assured as she tried to move. "If I can just reach my knife."
"It wouldn't matter, Astrid. This amber is just too strong." Arcee said.
"We can't even transform like this." Smokescreen said as he struggled to break free.
"So much for exploring the Great Beyond, right Arcee?" Bumblebee beeped as he looked towards the female Autobot.
"Don't count us out yet, Bee. We've gotten out of worst spots then this." Arcee assured as she smiled at the scout.
Bee nodded and had a determined look on his face. "You're right. We've still got Hiccup out there, so we can't give up."
"Ugh, are you done yet?" Drag Strip complained. "All of your whining is giving me a headache."
"Oh, would you shut up!" Snotloud yelled.
"Why don't you come here and make me!" Drag Strip yelled back.
"Maybe I will!" Snotloud yelled as he began to struggle harder against his amber prison. Seeing as he didn't get any results he just stopped struggling. "Give a few minutes, then I'll make you shut up."
"At least will have the satisfaction of watching it eat you first." Breakdown said with a smirk.
"What are you talking about?" Ruffnut asked.
"Yeah, you were here first, which means you're next on the menu." Tuffnut taunted.
"Yeah, but at least it'll have more to work with when it sets it sights on Bulkhead." Breakdown taunted.
Bulkhead growled at his nemesis. "I hope you give that thing indigestion."
"Well, I hope we get out this soon. I don't want my last breath being me inhale her stinky fish hair." Tuffnut said as he blew some of Ruff's hair out of his face.
"Oh yeah, that's real original. You know what? I hope it eats you first. At least I'll have something cool to watch before I die." Ruffnut said.
"You just stay on your side of the cocoon, missy." Tuffnut said. All of a sudden, their cocoon was suddenly rammed and they landed on their backs. "Whoa! What's going on? Do it again!"
They all turned and saw Hiccup on the back of the wild Thunderdrum, indicating that they were the ones who rammed into the twins.
"Okay, so that's a negative on plan A, ramming the cocoon open." Hiccup said.
"Please tell me you have a plan B." Astrid inquired.
"We'll tell you when we think of one." Hiccup said nervously.
"Well cutting, smashing, and blasting are ano-go at the moment." Smokescreen said.
"Once this stuff cools down, it becomes harder than any rock I've seen." Fishlegs added.
"Cools down?" Hiccup repeated.
"And hardens." Fishlegs added.
Bumblebee saw the inquisitive look on Hiccup's face so he knew he was brainstorming. "You've got an idea brewing, don't ya buddy." Bumblebee beeped.
"I think so." Hiccup said as he jumped off the Thunderdrum. "Nobody move."
That comment didn't sit well with anyone.
"Hiccup, now's not the time for jokes." Wheeljack deadpanned.
Soon came back with Snotloud's jar of Monstrous Nightmare gel. He then started to spread it all over his friends' cocoons.
"What are you doing, Hiccup?" Snotlout asked as Hiccup covered him with the gel.
"Just trust me, Snotlout." Hiccup said.
"Says the man who's about to set me on fire?" Snotloud said in a panicked tone.
"Well, you said it only stings a little." Hiccup said while walking away.
"I was lying. You know I'm a liar!" Snotloud yelled.
"It'll be okay, Snotlout. I promise," Hiccup assured, even though Snotlout didn't look completely convinced.
"Hey kid, why don't spread some of that stuff over here?" Drag Strip asked.
"Uh, why should he?" Snotloud asked as he narrowed his eyes at the Cons.
"Yeah, as far as we're concerned, you guys are getting what you deserve." Ruffnut said in agreement.
"I second that." Smokescreen said.
"After all the things you've done, getting eaten is not even the worst thing you deserve." Bulkhead said angrily.
Hiccup stared at the Decepticons for a moment and looked back at the jar of gel. After thinking for a few seconds, he walked to the Cons and started spreading the gel all over the amber covering them.
"Hiccup, what are you doing?" Astrid questioned.
"Yeah, why're you helping them?" Wheeljack asked.
"Because if our roles were reversed, they wouldn't think twice about leaving us for dead. We have to prove that we're better than that." Hiccup said.
"Ugh, I hate that we have to prove we're better than that." Tuffnut grumbled.
"I know, it takes the fun out of everything." Ruffnut grumbled.
Arcee looked down in thought before looking back at everybody. "It's what Optimus would have done."
Bumblebee nodded at that. "It's like he said, freedom is the right for all sentient life."
Suddenly the Death Song's roar was heard. Hiccup quickly hid the Thunderdrum behind a boulder and watched as the large dragon landed next to Fishlegs and Meatlug, causing the dragon rider to whimper in fear. The Death Song soon picked up a Grunkle in its teeth and flew away to consume its next meal.
"Hurry up, Hiccup! He just took the appetizer, and I think I'm the main course!" Fishlegs panicked as he broke of from Meatlug and fell on the ground.
"Fishlegs, relax." Astrid said.
"Yeah, that was a pretty big Grunkle. It'll probably take hours to finish it off." Bulkhead tried to reassure.
The Death Song soon came back and landed right in front of Fishlegs.
"Or minutes! Help!" Fishlegs yelled.
Fishlegs tried to move around using his exposed leg, but he only managed to move around in a circle. The Death Song's head rotated to follow his movements.
"Hi, sir." Fishlegs said nervously.
The Death Song then snapped his head upright and roared at Fishlegs, causing him to scream in fear. Then it heard the roar of the Thunderdrum and looked up to see it flying right at him with Hiccup on its back.
"Hey, remember us?!" Hiccup exclaimed.
The Death Song immediately took flight and shot out globs of amber at the duo, but they dodged them. They flew straight at the large dragon, but instead of colliding they zipped right past it.
Hiccup jumped right off the Thunderdrum and skidded his shield into the ground, causing sparks to appear and catch a trail of the gel on fire. The fire soon went to the captive dragons, dragon riders, and Cybertronians. No more than seconds later, all those that were trapped were soon free from the amber.
"Yes, it's working!" Astrid cheered as she got to her feet.
"Now that feels much better!" Wheeljack said as her began to stretch.
As soon as Toothless was free, he instantly ran over to Hiccup, who wasted no time in giving a big hug to his friend. "Hey bud, good to see you." Hiccup said.
Breakdown and Drag Strip were also free and they rubbed some of the amber off of their bodies.
"Now that that's taken care of..." Drag Strip said before pulling out his Energon blaster and aimed it at the Autobots and Dragon Riders, Breakdown doing the same with his shoulder cannon.
"I knew this would happen!" Snotloud yelled in anger.
"Hiccup just freed you, and this is how you thank him?!" Astrid exclaimed.
"It's like he said, we would have left you to the slaughter." Breakdown said.
Drag Strip placed his finger over his comms. "This is Drag Strip. Me and Breakdown are under fire from Autobots. Requesting immediate backup."
No sooner than he said that, a Groundbridge opened up in the sky and an entire squadron of Vehicons in jet-mode came flying out.
"On your dragons, now!" Hiccup ordered.
Everyone of the dragon riders took flight and started blasting the Decepticons, which returned fire. A few Vehicons transformed and landed next to the two Stunticons and started firing upon the Autobots, who returned fire.
Breakdown charged right at Bulkhead and tackled him right into the wall of the gorge. The Con kneed him in the gut, but then Bulkhead drew his wrecking ball and slugged him right in the face.
Arcee raced towards Drag Strip and kicked his Energon blaster right out of his hands, then followed it up with a kick to his face. Drag Strip staggered for a bit, but then backhanded Arcee away before she could slice him with her arm blades.
Bumblebee came in not a minute later and punched the Stunticon in the side of his head, then kicked him in the torso, sending him crashing into the gorge wall.
Bumblebee then went over and offered his hand to the downed Arcee and helped her up, which she was grateful for. "You okay, 'Cee?"
Arcee nodded. "Don't worry about me. I've taken far worse." Arcee said. Bumblebee nodded his head and they both jumped into the fray.
Hiccup and Toothless chased after a Vehicon in the air before firing a plasma blast, shooting him down. He was about to go after another one, but a high-pitched roar caught his attention. He looked down and saw a light-blue baby Thunderdrum trapped in the amber. He then turned towards the adult Thunderdrum, who was still in a dog fight with the Death Song.
"It's an adolescent Thunderdrum. No wonder he stuck around." Hiccup realized. He then turned towards Snotloud, who had Hookfang blast down another Vehicon. "Snotloud, you get the Thunderdrum, while the others handle the Decepticons. I'll take care of the Death Song."
Astrid and Stormfly flew up into the air and saw a couple of Vehicons coming right towards her. "Let's show these guys your new move, girl?" Astrid said as she gave her dragon a pat on head.
Stormfly then straightened out her tail and protruded all her spikes. They then twirled around in place and the spikes then came raining out. The Vehicons had no time to dodge as they were pierced by the spikes and came crashing down onto the ground.
"Good girl." Astrid said as she patted her dragon's head.
The Decepticons on the ground weren't fairing any better. Drag. Strip got up and saw Smokescreen kick a Vehicon to the ground and blasted another one. Wheeljack drew his twin katanas and sliced the heads off a couple more Vehicons. Bulkhead also seemed to be gaining the upper hand against Breakdown.
Seeing they had no other option; he gave a call back to the Nemesis. "This is Drag Strip, requesting an immediate Groundbridge for retreat." Not a second later, a Groundbridge opened and Drag Strip turned towards his teammate. "Breakdown, we're getting out of here!"
Breakdown growled at that, but he kicked Bulkhead away as he, along with Drag Strip and any remaining Vehicons, exited out of the battlefield.
"We nearly had them." Smokescreen said.
"They'll be back, kid, and we'll be ready." Bulkhead said reassuringly.
In the sky the Thunderdrum fired a sonic blast, but the Death Song dodged it. Then it noticed Hiccup and Toothless about to join the fight and chose to chase them instead.
"Okay bud, let's relocate this guy... permanently." Hiccup said looking down at Toothless. Hiccup then noticed the cave and gained an idea. "And I've got just the place." He then looked back at the Death Song, which was still following him. "Okay Mr. Death Song, welcome to your new home."
They then flew into the cave and the Death Song followed them. Toothless, being able to fly through the caves, was able to dodge the stalactites and stalagmites, but the Death Song had no such luck. It kept on slamming into them, but it didn't give up the chase.
"Okay bud, get us out of here." Hiccup said.
Toothless began to navigate through the cave and found a spot where he could turn around. The Death Song followed him, but turned too quickly and slammed into the cave wall, though he quickly recovered and chased down after Toothless and. Hiccup.
Toothless shot out of the cave, where the Thunderdrum was waiting. Then the dragon fired a massive sonic blast that weakened the rocks above the cave. Toothless fired a plasma blast that caused the cave to cave in, trapping the Death Song inside.
"Yeah! Nice going, guys!" Hiccup yelled. "No one can hear his song in there.
They then flew back to the other Dragon Riders, who were coming back from the gorge, the Autobots, who were now inside the Jackhammer, and among them was the baby Thunderdrum. The moment he saw the little one was okay, the adult Thunderdrum flew over to his baby and they nuzzled each other.
"If I were you two, I maybe find another island." Hiccup advised. "I don't know how long that's going to hold."
"Uh, you know they can't hear you, right?" Tuffnut asked.
"Yes, Tuff, I know," Hiccup sighed. "Let's get out of here."
They flew off leaving the Thunderdrum alone with his baby as they flew off in a different direction as well.
/
Once they were a safe distance away from the island, Hiccup looked at the other riders apologetically, feeling guilty that he dragged them along this adventure.
"Hey gang, I just want to say I'm sorry for getting you all into this." Hiccup said. "If you want to turn back-"
"Are you kidding?" Astrid said.
"There's no way we're missing out on this." Wheeljack said over the comms
"No way." Ruffnut said.
"That was the most fun we had with a new dragon species in years." Snotlout said.
"There is one thing we need to do, though." Astrid said.
"I'm all ears." Hiccup said.
"We need an island, our own island." Astrid said.
"A place to set up a base camp so we can communicate with Optimus, plus set up our own Groundbridge." Arcee added.
"They're right, Hiccup. We're way too far out to travel back and forth to Berk." Fishlegs said.
"So, what you guys are saying, is that we need a base of operations." Hiccup said.
"Exactly, but this time we don't let the dragons pick it." Fishlegs said, but then Meatlug snarled unhappily. "Sorry, girl, it has to be said."
Hiccup then looked at Snotlout. "All right, Snotlout, you're the man of the hour for bringing the Monstrous Nightmare gel, you choose."
"Seriously?" said Snotlout feeling stunned.
"Yeah, seriously." Hiccup assured.
"All right! What'd you say, Fangster?" said Snotlout looking down at Hookfang, who then roared. "Ha! Couldn't agree more. Into the great beyond!"
"The great beyond!" They all yelled as they flew across the ocean, off to search of a new place to call home.
/
The Nemesis
Starscream narrowed his eyes in anger as he paced in front of a kneeling Drag Strip and Breakdown. "I gave you both explicit orders to remain on the ship, until further notice!"
"We were just trying to set up a trap for the Autobots." Breakdown explained.
"Setting a trap is one thing, to not inform of the plan is close to borderline treason!" Starscream yelled as he got in close to their faces. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't lock you in the brig right now?!"
Drag Strip raised his hands to placate the situation. "Lord Starscream, I know that this plan went completely south, but we didn't leave empty handed."
"I don't see the husk of an Autobot." Starscream said sarcastically. "I wasn't informed if you terminated any of them, not even their organic pets. How is it that despite this, you say that you didn't leave empty handed?"
"Because we've got some very interesting information." Drag Strip said with a smirk.
That seemed to get Starscream's attention. "What kind of information?"
Breakdown seemed to understand and continued where his partner left off. "Despite being organic, those fleshies are still causing problems, but we may have discovered a species of dragon that could rectify that problem."
At that, did the new Decepticon leader began to smile evilly.
/
Hey everybody! Here's the next chapter of my story!
It seems our heroes have begun their journey into the great beyond and have had a pretty interesting yet dangerous encounter with some Decepticons.
Also, when I saw the new How to Train Your Dragon movie, Hidden World, I gotta say it was amazing! The visuals were beautiful, and the ending was a perfect bittersweet ending.
But there is one thing I need to say...
Despite how much I love that movie, I will not incorporate that I to my story.
Before you get mad, let me explain. The events in that movie will contradict the plans I have for my story, so I will not have the events of the movie itself in my story, but I may have some aspects of it, such as the Lightfury.
I also have some good news. When I am done with the events of How to Train Your Dragon 2, I'm going to post a sequel story and it's all going to be original content and an original arc.
It is called... ... ... Dragons and Transformers: Beast Wars!
That's going to be so much fun!
One last thing, I would all like your opinion on which story you would like for me to do the most. A crossover of Terminator and The Walking Dead, or a crossover of the Suicide Squad and Stargate SG-1? Let me know what you think.
Well, that's all I have to say. See you next time everyone!