"JUST WHAT THE FLYING DONUT DID I JUST WATCH?!" Snotlout exclaimed as he landed on his ass in the ruined hotel room.

"Hold that thought Snot," Astrid said before making a call on her phone. There was ringing on the other end of the line before it went dead. Astrid tried again only this time she received a busy signal immediately. "Guys…. I can't reach Gobber,"

Hiccup hopped over to a window, moved the curtain aside, and looked outside. The streets were empty and the streetlights, leading to the hotel, seemed to be going out one by one. "Guys we have to go now!" He announced and then instructed the twins to help Heather and Fishlegs while Astrid offered him her shoulder.

"Wait what?!" Snotlout questioned.

"Now Snotlout! Move your butt!" Hiccup said more firmly as they vacated the ruined suite. In the hallway the lights were flickered ominously.

"What about your…." Snotlout motioned to the equipment still in the room but the look his cousin shot at him…. Well… he asked no more questions after that and just quickly followed them. They were ignoring the elevators and instead using the emergency stairs to head down to the ground floor.

When they made it out into the lobby they saw no one. Granted it was around 4AM but there still should have been a receptionist. The lights in the lobby flickered rapidly causing Fishlegs to squeak. Then an ominous purple sludge started to bubble out of the walls causing Snotlout to shriek. They ran for the front doors only to find them locked.

"We're gonna die… We're gonna die… We're gonna die…" Snotlout frantically repeated as he banged on the locked glass doors, looking back once to see the purple sludge creep closer to them.

"MOVE!" Astrid commanded as she approached the doors with a fire extinguisher. She bashed the glass with it repeatedly until it shattered and the group made a beeline for their van once they were clear of the hotel.

"Dear sweet Freya! Look!" a panicked Snotlout shouted as he had looked back. He shouldn't have but curiosity killed the cat so they say. The entire hotel was starting to become covered with purple goo. It seemed alive and sinister, reaching its tendrils out to the group with malicious intent. "I don't want to be in this type of hentai!" Snotlout yelld before he jumped into the back of the van that Tuffnut had wrenched open. The injured Heather and Fishlegs were already inside and Astrud was helping Hiccup up. All the while the sludge was getting closer and closer.

"GO GO GO!" Hiccup shouted as Ruffnut stepped on the gas pedal. They left the hotel parking lot with a screech of tires.

"This is seriously creepy," Fishlegs observed. The street lights were still off and the road was quite foggy. The van's headlights almost didn't make a dent in the heavy fog and Ruffnut stayed alert.

"Watch out!" Heather shouted. She was pointing towards a figure standing in the middle of the road in the fog. Luckily Ruffnut evaded on time, swerving to the right and drifting past. They hadn't seen what exactly the figure was but from what some could tell it had the body shape of a woman. Astrid thinking that they were safe, reached out to shut the van door that they had left open in their haste to escape, only for her to jump back when the eerie scratching of what sounded like nails on a chalkboard filled the air. Those in the back jumped in fright as black nails pierced the side of the door.

"We didn't lose her!" Snotlout shrieked as a dark grotesque female figure sporting red eyes peered through one of the back windows. "I'm too sexy to die!"

"Snotlout shut up and reach down below your seat!" Astrid ordered as the 'Thing' was trying to climb towards the open door. Luckily Ruffnut's driving was having the desired effect of creating some resistance.

"Why is there a shotgun under my seat?!" Snotlout questioned stupidly as he handed Astrid the weapon. She cocked it before leaning out of the door and yelling "Eat lead mother fu-BOOM," The bang of the gun and the shriek of the creature muffled the rest of Astrid's sentence. Hiccup and the others saw the thing let go of the van and Astrid shot another round off for good measure at its chest. She fell back inside and Hiccup reached over a panting Astrid, the adrenalin was leaving her, to shut the door.

"Get us out of here Ruff," Hiccup said as the van sped through the empty foggy streets.

Ruff wisely chose to take the next right towards the freeway and everyone let out a collective breath when they spotted more cars around them.

"Okay, so what now?" Fishlegs asked, effectively downing the mood in the vehicle.

"Right, we're without equipment and weapons and basically on the run from that thing," Hiccup muttered.

"Weapons we can get easily," Astrid stated. "Just raiding a Home depot would work. The question is how do we stop that thing?"

"So much evil… so much evil…," Tuffnut whispered. "I don't want to go near it,"

"What about actually destroying the house?" Heather suggested. All eyes landed on her. "I'm serious, from everything we know that would seem like the most logical step,"

"The house is the focal point of the leylines as the twins suggested," Fishlegs commented. "It's safe to assume the building acts as some sort of antenna,"

"But that leaves us with the insanely powerful artifact in that basement," Hiccup muttered. "Would destroying the house even matter if we can't destroy that? If it really is Nidhogg's scale then it's not something to be trifled with,"

"But Hiccup, the spell sustaining it is made off of Norse runes. Isn't there any… say runes of protection or invincibility we can use to counter it?" Astrid frowned as she asked this. "Surely the spell sustaining the contract with Nidhogg can't be impervious."

"Well if you can't break the spell why not break the scale?" Snotlout mentioned off-handedly which caused all eyes to fall on him. "What… what did I say?"

"Snotlout you're a genius!" Heather exclaimed.

"I am? Oh… uhm… yes I am," Snotlout said as his chest puffed out.

"All this time we've been too focussed on undoing the runes that make up the contract with this thing. If we were to destroy the medium itself…,"

"No medium, no contract," Tuffnut perked up.

Home Depot, 31 October 2022, 5:27 AM

At Astrid's suggestion Ruffnut stopped at the next Home Depot they could find. They were the only ones in the parking lot at this early in the eerie morning. Heather and Fishlegs, still injured, stayed in the vehicle while Hiccup, who was claiming he could manage to walk, joined them in breaking into the store.

"How do you even know how to do this?" Snotlout asked as he watched his cousin disable the alarm systems while the twins picked the locks afterwards.

"I picked it up during the fae trafficking case," Hiccup answered.

"The what-now?!"

"Long story short Mr. Sassy over here thought it was a good idea to break into a billionaire's mansion's secret basement Mission Impossible style to liberate several fae that were going to be auctioned off." Astrid deadpanned, clearly having wanted to go about the whole thing a different way.

"Hey! I thought you liked my sass!" Hiccup muttered.

"Only when that sass doesn't land you being chased by security guards while carrying a jacket full of irate fairies," Astrid shot back.

"I shouldn't have asked," Snotlout mumbled.

Once they got the doors open the twins crept into the store as if they were secret agents. Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout just walked in. "Guys… the cameras are off," He said upon seeing the twins.

"Oh, you're no fun Hiccup," Ruffnut pouted.

"Party pooper," Tuffnut agreed.

"Hiccup are you sure you don't want to stay in the car?" Astrid questioned as she saw the limp he had.

"I'll be fine," he assured her though.

The group decided to split up briefly, each grabbing a cart and heading out in different directions. Hiccup picked up several sets of walkie talkies since theirs were still at the hotel while Astrid placed a chainsaw in the cart. Hiccup looked at the saw and then at Astrid and then back at the saw.

"What? Bullets worked on that thing. I reckon a chainsaw will as well." She muttered before going to grab a couple of nailguns.

Meanwhile, Snotlout was inspecting a rake when the lights in the store started flickering. The group had left them off so for them to be turning on and off this repeatedly was a sure sign of bad things to come. Snotlout, to this day, would claim that he didn't shriek like a little girl and go running for the twins who were nearby.

"Frick, we need to go," Ruffnut said as she too started having a bad feeling.

"She's coming," Tuffnut whispered to his sister as he was more attuned to the evil that currently roamed free.

"Let's go, Let's go, Let's go!" Snotlout shouted as he ran past the twins. "Hiccup! Astrid! By the Norns where are you?!"

Hiccup and Astrid as well had observed the flickering lights and they had even seen the beginnings of that purple slime that had covered their hotel. "Frick, we need to go now. This thing is intent on wiping us all out," Hiccup muttered and set about to limp towards the entrance, knowing that Astrid would follow.

"Hiccup get in the cart," Astrid said rather forcefully which caused the other to stop and give her a questioning look.

"What?" Hiccup asked, not understanding.

"You're limping, you're a liability and you know it. Get in the damn cart." She said more forcefully.

"I can manage," His stubbornness showed which caused Astrid to roll her eyes. She strode forward and actually picked Hiccup up and put him in the shopping cart before she hightailed it out of the soon to be goo-covered section. Hiccup was at a loss for words as they met up with the other three who were already nervously waiting for them by the exit, carts full.

"Not a word Snotlout!" Hiccup said as Astrid raced past them towards the van with the cart. Snotlout just shook his head at the sight of both of them. If it had been a normal day it might have seemed like Astrid had gotten Hiccup at a Black Friday sale.

Hiccup was unceremoniously unloaded into the van while a chainsaw was chucked at his person. Astrid and the others were quick in emptying their carts but not quick enough as the entity stalking them appeared in the parking lot.

"Floor it!" Hiccup called out to Heather who had taken a seat behind the wheel, keeping the engine running. Rubber burned on the pavement as the van shot past the entity and back towards the freeway.

"Did we lose it?" Snotlout asked as he looked around nervously.

"Nope," Tuffnut answered while indicating to the thick purple cloud following them. Wherever that cloud went the street lights would shatter.

"Oh we definitely pissed it off by not dying quickly," Ruffnut stated.

"Fishlegs, give them the things!" Heather uttered as she swerved to avoid a thrown tree. Fishlegs, who had joined Heather up front, reached into the glove compartment to hand Hiccup and the others a stack of papers with weird symbols on them.

"It's the best I could do while you guys were getting weapons." Heather told them. "It's the Ægishjalm. Slap those talismans on the weapons you guys have!"

"The what now?!" Snotlout yelled as the purple fog got closer. It touched part of the van causing it to corrode away.

"Hey Heather, these talismans work on anything right?" Astrid asked, more like yelled, when the van swerved again to avoid thrown fire hydrants.

"Theoretically!" Fishlegs answered as Heather was preoccupied with keeping them alive.

"Good enough for me!" Astrid announced as she grabbed several talismans from the stack Hiccup held, opened the van door and started sticking them to the side of the vehicle. The purple smog that reached out gave an earsplitting shriek when it came into contact with the talismans and once it was proven effective Astrid ordered the twins to cover the other side of the van with them.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief once the insidious fog retreated. "Okay, what was that and if you had that in your arsenal why didn't you use it before?!" Snotlout asked while looking very very stressed.

"That was the Helm of Awe or Ægishjálm," Fishlegs uttered as he was still heaving from the chase. "Frankly we didn't even know if that was going to work."

"I'm definitely in AWE but I still don't get it," Snotlout said as Heather drove the van into an alleyway to park. "The Ægishjálm is from the Galdrabók grimoire. Luckily we had internet on our phones because all the books are back at the hotel."

"It's an old Norse spell of protection and invincibility," Heather turned in her seat to explain. "We figured we might as well try it. If Norse runes were used to bring this creature into our realm then Norse magic can be used to combat it."

"That's all I needed to know, Hiccup give me one of those," Snotlout said as he outstretched his arm towards his cousin. Once he got two of those talismans he stuffed it into his shirt and pants.

"I don't think that's how it works Snot," Hiccup commented.

"Well the symbol was originally worn on the forehead but I don't see a problem with how Snotlout is using it," Fishlegs spoke up but Astrid shot the portly man a look as if to say 'Don't encourage him,'.

"Okay, Okay, these better keep on working. I'm too sexy to die," Snotlout was muttering.

"So what now?" Ruffnut asked.

"I say we finish this, tonight," Hiccup stated as all eyes turned towards him. "We have to take the fight to that thing,"

"Destroy the scale," Tuffnut nodded.

"Liberate the leylines," Ruffnut added.

"Have Elenor crossover," Heather reminded them too.

"And kick Grisly's ass," Astrid deadpanned.

"Wait wait… WAIIIITTT!" Snotlout exclaimed. "You lot are thinking of going back to spook central?! Nope, no way, nein, Nee,"

"Snotlout we have to." Hiccup tried to explain.

"What part of No didn't you understand? Do you want it in more languages? Nyeht, Nej, iie!" Snotlout uttered. "There is no way me and my sexy ass are stepping one foot back into that manor. You hear me! Not no way that is happening!"

Grisly Manor, 31 October 2022, 7:35 AM

"I can't believe I let you talk me into coming back here," Snotlout grumbled as he held a wooden bat wrapped in barbed wire and talismans. They were currently parked in front of the Manor's driveway. The sun was just peeking over the horizon and even in the daylight the building looked creepier than before.

The twins were sporting the nailguns, with the nails being dipped in Holy water just to be on the safe side while Astrid had a hatchet strapped to her belt and was carrying the chainsaw against her shoulder.

Heather had slapped on several more talismans on all the weapons and clothing before she and Fishlegs began burning bundles of sage, they had 'borrowed' from a nearby farmers market, around the house.

"Okay let's do this," Astrid stated. "I'll take the front, Hiccup and Snotlout will stay in the middle and the twins will be the rearguard. "Snotlout I'm counting on you to clear a path So Hiccup can shatter the scale or at least break the connection long enough for one of the twins to destroy it."

As the group of five approached the house the door swung open with a bang, startling them. "Well, aren't they being welcoming," Astrid uttered, not at all amused.

Once the group stepped into the house they were expecting to see Elenor, floating above the stairway where she died, like last time. Only that wasn't so. Instead Grimmel Grisly stood at the bottom of the stairs and welcomed them with aplomb. "I truly must commend you for getting so far in your investigation,"

"Grimmel, or should we call you Elias?" Hiccup questioned with a frown.

"I haven't heard the name Elias in quite some time," The other man smirked. "But my dear Ghost Hunters, feel free to call me Grimmel. That was my original name afterall." He said as he dramatically stretched out his hands. "Are you ready to give up your souls to Níðhöggr?!" He questioned as the front door slammed shut behind them and a deep purple fog began to fill the room.

"Don't think you're getting away with this!" Hiccup announced as the purple fog surrounded them. The figure of a female stepped out of the fog and morphed into the business woman that had been by Grimmel's side in the beginning. Though the fingers on her hands were black with soot and her nails were sharp and pointy. She elegantly went to stand next to Grimmel as the man let out a full-bodied laugh at Hiccup's declaration.

The woman then placed one of her hands… or talons… on Grimmel's shoulders to still him. "I am hungry," She spoke in such a silky and sensual voice that did not at all correlate to the evil vibe she was giving off. Tuffnut even 'eeped' when she looked at the group after she said this. Her gaze looked as if it could bore into the very core of your being.

"Of course oh gracious Níðhöggr, you must be starving," Grimmel responded. "Yet this should be a special occasion don't you think? It is afterall a millennia that we walk Midgard together." Snotlout let out a strangled choked sound upon hearing that.

"You have brought me something interesting this time," The woman, uhm… dragon…., gleefully announced. "The chase was exhilarating. To think Midgardians had this much fight in them. Much better than the dregs you used to feed me that begged for my mercy,"

"The other construction crews," Hiccup whispered as he realized just where those people went and why the manor never got torn down.

"Don't think for a second we'll let you have your way!" Astrid announced as she grabbed the hatchet and flung it right at the woman's head.

Blackened fingers closed over the handle of the hatchet as the blade was mere inches away from the woman's eye. "You underestimate me Dullahan." Astrid flinched at being called that. The entity continued to evaluate her with a slight turn of the head "No, you aren't one anymore. You reek of the old magics," Níðhöggr hissed. "An aberration who turned their back on their supernatural kin to cavort with mortals," The woman's eyes flashed in rage. "You will be the first I gut!" With that said the entity made a dash for Astrid who was pushed out of the way by Hiccup.

"HICCUP!" Astrid shouted as she realized what had happened. The creature in the guise of a female had her grip securely around Hiccup's neck and hoisted him up with ease.

"Old soul," Níðhöggr said as she looked a struggling Hiccup in the eyes. "You should have graced the halls of the dead long ago,"

"Let go of my man this instant!" Astrid shouted as she reffed the chainsaw and then promptly stuck it in the side of the woman. No blood came out and Níðhöggr looked unamused.

"This was my favorite suit," The entity commented as her hands closed across the still moving blades of the chainsaw and crushed it. The entity did back away however when the talisman on Astrid's weapon burned her.

The woman threw Hiccup aside in anger like a ragdoll and hissed "You dare use Fafnir's symbol to combat me!" If anything she looked even more pissed off now upon realizing what had repelled her. "To think I would see that vile dragon-wannabee's mark grave my eyes again," She spat. Hiccup was dazed for a moment after being thrown to realize what she was talking about. Then it hit him. In Norse mythology Fafnir was a dwarf that turned into a dragon out of greed to guard his hoard while Nidhogg was a dragon to begin with. He quickly surmised that it was possible Nidhogg found it an affront to be associated with such a 'dragon'. Dragons were considered proud creatures in myths afterall.

"Grimmel you need to stop this!" Hiccup shouted. "What are you even trying to accomplish letting Nidhogg free?!"

"You really don't know the reason do you?" Grimmel quirked a brow as Nidhogg was still glaring at Astrid's weapon as if it had personally offended her, which it probably had. "After tonight I will be immortal and Níðhöggr will rule Midgard with me by her side! I've waited 1000 years for this moment!"

'So that's what that was about,' Hiccup thought as he took in the situation. The contract Grimmel made with Nidhogg must entail that he supplies her with souls every decade or so until a millennia is over to gain true immortality.

"Grimmel, enough talk. I'm through pla-," The woman stopped for a few seconds and then looked curiously at her hand that now sported deep purple spidery cracks. She turned back to Hiccup, Astrid and the twins and hissed menacingly "What did you do?"

"Who us? Nothing," Ruffnut, who along with Tuffnut, were busy keeping the fog from nearing them. They had quickly erected a magical barrier but that was shrinking by each passing minute.

"Wait, weren't there five of you?" Grimmel asked as he frowned. This caused Nidhogg to finally pay attention and she left Astrid alone to retreat back into the fog.

"Guys! She's heading towards Snot!" Tuffnut announced.

"You think, Sherlock!" Ruffnut shot back as the twins dropped the barrier. Both Hiccup and Astrid made a mad dash for the basement door while the twins blocked Grimmel's way.

"Come on! Break already you damned scale!" Snotlout had been shouting as he was smashing his talisman-powered weapon into the large purple scale on the altar in the basement. A couple of cracks had formed on the scale but so far it was intact.

The door to the basement was kicked off its hinges and Snotlout screamed as the flying door nearly took his head off. There standing at the top of the stairs stood a very pissed off dragon. Nidhogg's eyes glowed purple with power as cracks made their way up the left side of her body in intricate spidery lines. Like a broken ceramic doll she walked down the steps, each thud of her feet on the rotting wooden stairs causing dread in Snotlout's heart.

"How dare this insolent mortal," Nidhogg decreed as purple flames wafted out of her mouth. "How dare you touch my scale. You must truly be tired of living,"

"Actually… I like breathing quite a lot," Snotlout squeaked.

"Silence!"

"EEP!" Snotlout uttered while he took a tentative step backwards. "Couldn't the twins' illusion spell have last longer," He muttered as Nidhogg stared him down.

"Do you think my scale is so easy to break foolish mortal?" She asked. "You may have scratched it using your feeble attempt with Fafnir's spell but nothing in this world can break it. Soon I will have your souls and manifest to take Midgard. Now die!" Once she was finished speaking a stream of purple flames shot out of her mouth and was aimed right at Snotlout who had no way to dodge.

"NO SNOTLOUT!" Hiccup shouted as he and Astrid came down the stairs. Astrid lunged at the entity but Nidhogg wouldn't budge and just threw her off.

The stream of fire engulfed a good part of the basement and once Nidhogg stopped just a charred room was left. Nidhogg looked pleased with herself only for her not to be the next minute. More spidery cracks made their way along her feminine body and she hissed out in pain as power leaked out. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" She shouted while in extreme pain.

"Serves you right you freakish lizard!" Snotlout shouted triumphantly as he popped out of the rubble. "And looky what I got!" He waved the large purple scale and then bent it. Cracks could be seen forming along the axis Snotlout was bending it and Hiccup, who was checking up on a knocked out Astrid, realized that the flames from Nidhogg herself must have made the scale either brittle or malleable.

The woman doubled over in pain, her face now cracked like porcelain and her eyes burning with fury. The scale finally broke and Nidhogg screamed in agony before fleeing the basement, knocking back Hiccup and Astrid who had been on the stairs. The scream was so otherworldly and Hiccup realized a bit too late in where the creature was going. "Shit, the twins!" He uttered.

When Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout, who was still holding the two broken halves of the purple scale, made their way back up the stairs they encountered the twins poking at a pile of ashes with a pen.

"Are you guys alright?" Astrid asked before hissing in pain as Hiccup accidentally held her to firmly. Some of her ribs were either bruised or broken.

"Yeah, we're totally fine," The twins shrugged when answering.

"One moment we're in a brawl with this Grimmel fellow, the next a purple streak crawls across the ceiling and lands on him, declaring something about 'Taking her dues,'," Tuffnut shuddered. "That thing ended up draining the poor sod all the way to his bones,"

"And then he just went poof…" Ruffnut added while pointing towards the pile of ash and scraps of clothing on the floor.

"Thank Thor you guys are alright," Fishlegs and Heather bursted through the front door. "We were locked out,"

"We're fine," Astrid managed to say. "Surprisingly it was Snotlout who saved the day,"

"I did?" Snotlout incredulously asked before looking at the broken scale. "Huh, I guess I did,"

"Hey Snot, I was just wondering, how did you survive that flame?" Hiccup questioned.

"Uhm….," Snotlout responded, unsure himself, and then shrieked when Elenor manifested herself beside him.

"Well that explains a lot," Hiccup uttered. "Thank you," He directed to the ghost who merely inclined her head. Not long after she started to fade away and gave the group a smile before leaving.

"Good news is the leylines feel to be back in order," Ruffnut told them after the ghost had crossed over.

"Uhm guys….. Not to burst your bubble but I hear sirens approaching," Heather commented.

One Police Plaza, 2 November 2022, 3:17 PM

"FREEDOM!" Tuffnut exclaimed as the group walked out of Police headquarters.

"I can't believe we got arrested. ARRESTED!" Snotlout grumbled.

"Well they had to blame someone for all the damage to the streets," Astrid shrugged. "Not my first time behind bars,"

"At least our lawyers were quick about it," Hiccup muttered. "I have to agree with Snotlout. Being put behind bars for two whole days while they figured out what to charge us with wasn't pleasant."

"Oh but did you see that hunk of a detective," Ruffnut uttered, completely dreamy eyed. "I mean RAWR!"

"I don't know about you guys but I think I deserve a vacation. I did save the world after all," Snotlout boasted before hailing a yellow cab. "No more ghosts, just me and some Pina Coladas at a beach." He uttered as a cab stopped for him. "Smell ya guys later! BAHAMAS HERE I COME!"

"Well there he goes," Tuffnut said as he spotted Gobber nearby. "Hiya Gobber we missed you,"

"Missed me huh," Gobber just rolled his eyes. "Imagine me having to explain in the damage reports just why it looked like pieces of the company-issued van were ripped out?"

"Because they were?" Astrid said.

"Yer lucky they even gave me another one. This is the 6th van this year!" He then turned around and hobbled to one of the parking spots. "Come on you lot. The jet's waiting. We got a new assignment,"

"Already?" Hiccup questioned.

"This can't wait," Gobber said and once everyone was in the new van he handed them manilla envelopes with their next adventure in it. "The GBPA is in a bit of a pickle you see,"

"The Mary Celestia was spotted several times in open sea," Gobber told them.

"Wait didn't that ship…," Fishlegs muttered.

"Yer right lad. That thing should have been at the bottom of the ocean," Gobber nodded.

"So a ghost ship in the Bahamas," Hiccup said as he looked through several shoddy pictures taken at night. "You think we should let Snotlout know we're heading his way?"

Everyone looked at each other before collectively uttering "NAH!"

The End