A large figure stood atop a Berk rooftop, glaring down into the dark city below. This figure had dedicated his life , wealth and body to protecting his city. With a roaring thunderclap, he hit the scene of any crime and shut it down with the strength of God's.
This was the shape of Thunderdrum. And on his shoulder, a ten year old Auburn haired boy clung to his form, staring out alongside him. The emerald eyed child looked at the large figure, his dark green Viking like helmet covering his eyes and head, leaving his chin exposed and his trimmed down beard (had to trim it, sorry) shown.
"See this son….this is what we fight for.." Thunderdrum spoke in a voice that echoed like thunder. He looked to the small form, who was dressed in a black, dark blue and red suit of his own design. His emerald eyes were shielded by plexiglass eyes that showed a green tint.
"This is Berk… a freezing cold hell hole. And our home." He carried on as the young lad looked on in astonishment at the city. The lights of the buildings guided his way it seemed. "One day, if you're ready, this will be yours to defend in your own…" he says, the young Hiccup nodding quickly.
"Dad...this is scary…" he says, receiving a hearty laugh in return. "The world is always going to be scary son….so sometimes you have to be seen scarier." He says as he looks down. "Hold on tight now."
With that, the sound of his large feet leaping from the roof could be overheard, as he landed on a building below and lunged once more, landing in an alley.
"We will find most of our work in alleyways." He says, watching as a now startled man drops a gun to the ground, a woman behind him scooting away on the ground.
"Robbery….sad." he said as he set the young lad down in the dumpster nearby and nodded "Watch carefully." He says as he turns to the would-be robber.
"Hey hey hey, no no no!!" The man shouted as he backed away, Thunderdrum clapping his hands together and creating a shockwave to send him flying back.
The small Hiccup looked on in astonishment at this, smiling slightly as he watched his father proceed to carry the man out of the alley and toss him down for the police to pick up. "Too easy right son?" He asked as he walked over to the boy, stopping him up into his arms once again.
"Too easy dad!" The boy said happily , getting another laugh from the man.
They spent most of that night, taking down the petty criminals of Berk and laughing along the way. The father and son had grown closer this night, despite all the worst factors of Berk attempting to take ahold of them p. They say, perched upon the edge of a rooftop eating donuts and looking into the city.
"This is our home son...and as such, it's our responsibility to protect it as best we can.. you think you can do that?" He asks the boy, who eagerly nods his head and smiles while taking a bite of a donut.
Thunderdrum laughs heartily ''I love the enthusiasm lad.." he replies, eating two of the donuts at once.
"Now then, you've got your uniform. Got your powers and weapon. What's your name son?" He asked the lady, a glimmer of hope shimmering in his emerald eyes.
"...Night Fury."
(Dragon's Edge- Now)
A brown 2006 sedan came to an abrupt stop in front of a bank about three miles from the DEPD building. Three man ran outside carrying duffel bags full of money, signalling the driver who pushed open the passenger side door.
One of them launched his duffel into the vehicle and hopped in as the other two took to the backseats.
"Easy money boys!!" The driver shouted as he sped off at full speed, the sounds of sirens coming behind them.
"This is Officer Thorston, I'm on the trail of the rob- YES! I'm the female! Do I sound like a man to you?!?" Ruffnut shouted into her radio angrily, yet another dispatcher mistaking her for her brother.
She sighed as she looked at the empty seat next to her. "I wish she was here…" she said in reference to her best friend who had taken leave for three weeks.
She looked on as she whipped her patrol car around a corner and sped up to keep pace with the robbers up ahead.
"She's on our ass!"
"She's not the only one!'' a voice called out as a dark image landed on the hood of the car. The men screamed as Night Fury gave them a smile and a wave, before knocking on the driver's window and motioning him to roll it down.
The driver refused to comply and soon found a gloved fist crashing through the window and into the side of his head, knocking him unconscious. The Night Fury hung along the side of the car now. "All ya had to do, was roll down the damn window." He complains to the unconscious driver as the other men move to draw out their guns.
"Those are conductors. That's not good for you guys." He comments, leaving them bewildered. Their confusion is answered once a wave of electricity surges through the vehicle and through their guns, shocking them- Night Fury grappling away a split second before it hit him.
The electricity also shut down the engine, causing the vehicle to slow to a stop in the middle of the street.
Night Fury jumped to the ground and looked over with a thumbs up as a blonde haired figure appeared, eyes completely white and the stealth suit she'd 'borrowed' now painted a gold and blue color scheme.
"Good job Stormfly." He commented. A smile grazed her features as she seemingly hovered above the ground, bursts of electricity shooting from her hands to allow this.
"And I guess you were right about flying..'' he says as he watches this. She then shakes her head. "Nope, this is taking a lotta power to do right now so…" she then landed, having been only about three feet off the ground in general.
"Gonna need to work on that one." he comments as he watches her.
The squad car pulled to a swift stop, with the blonde haired officer bursting from behind the wheel, gun drawn and aimed at the men in the car. Ruffnut approached them cautiously, watching Night Fury and Stormfly with eyes wide.
"Oh no way!!! A new hero?!? And it's a chick?! Finally!" She said with a wicked smile as she gave Stormfly a once over. Stormfly's eyes remained white, something she'd mainly been focusing on controlling in the time they'd been training together.
"I'm Stormfly." She says, offering a hand to Ruffnut who took it without a second thought. "Awesome!! So are you two like….together?" She asked, eying both her and Night Fury, who awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
"This is just a partnership." He replies, bringing another smile to the female officer's face as she rushed to his side, grabbing his left arm and caressing it. "So...you're single then. Ever thought of dating a cop?" She asked, giving a wink as Night Fury's cheeks lit up red.
"Um...yes but also I don't think they'd be uh, good for image?" He responded, not truly knowing what to say or even do in the situation. Stormfly merely watched the two of them, chuckling to herself.
As the three conversed, and soon moved to properly arrest the bank robbers, a figure stalked them from a rooftop- a half faced gas mask of sorts upon the lower half of his face with a pair of black and dark green tinted goggles upon his eyes, a black leather overcoat covering black plated kevlar suit beneath.
Dark brown hair shown from his head, waving gently in the wind as he watched the group. "So….this might be a problem." He comments to himself as he turns and exits the rooftop- not before Night Fury catches a glimpse of him as he leaves.
"What the…"
(At the Safefouse)
Astrid pulled her hood over her head, her eyes dimming down to their original shade of blue as she pulled down the mask from over her mouth and nose as well. She took a seat in a rolling chair next to Night Fury's computer and watched as the hero contemplated something in front of the computer. From the glimpse she'd given the screen, he was watching footage of the robbery earlier- which they'd thwarted.
"Do you always do this?" She asks, causing Night Fury to look to her in slight confusion. "Always go over closed crime scenes like this?" She explained, spinning in the chair as she looked up to him.
"Usually, no. But there was someone watching us earlier, and I'm gonna try to figure out who, if possible." He says, pausing the street camera footage and zooming in as closely as he can on the masked figure that had been on the rooftop.
Astrid's eyes narrowed gently as she leaned towards the computer, staring at the mask and the goggles. "I've seen someone like him before...but I ...I can't recall w-" she paused abruptly, her eyes widening as memories began to flash throughout her mind.
Images of a gloved hand reaching out and grabbing her by her hair, pulling her back and throwing her into a glass chamber. She watched in horror as the figure entered the chamber, locking it behind himself. The Goggles and Gas Mask stood out most , as the chamber filled up with a thick white cloud of gas.
That was all she could see , all she could recall before everything went black. Astrid gasped and launched to her feet, hands slamming into the table holding the computer. "He was one of them...he worked with the people that did this to me!!"
Night Fury whipped around, facing her almost immediately. The words registered in his mind very quickly and he formed up a simple question. "What did he do for them?"
She shook her head in anger as she stared at the image. "He was a sort of enforcer...and trainer.."
"Trainer?" He asked, taken slightly aback by the answer. It didn't make any sense to him- she'd went to them for healing not any sort of training.
"Yes...after everything they did to me, the 'treatment' they gave me.. they made it seem like a disappearance, held me there for months trying to train me as their little weapon." She replied, eyes locked onto the image.
"What?"
"They took people, kids, teens alike- and promised them healing, ya know...help for illnesses and injuries.. and they experimented on them. It was all a front, a ruse for them to kidnap Innocents and ruin their lives!! Some of them died in there! Some of them….some of them lost themselves and were made into their slaves. And he- he was in charge of training all of them...prepping them for imminent war." Her look had changed slightly, hardening even further as she turned to face Night Fury.
"I haven't seen that man in years, but recognize that mask all too well…. We need to find him , and find out what the Hel he's doing in Dragon's Edge…"
He could feel it- the emotion behind every word that spewed from her mouth. He watched as she gritted her teeth in frustration, trying to keep herself calm given the current circumstances. And he couldn't blame her if she lost it- she had every right to considering what they'd just found. He placed a supportive hand onto her shoulder "We'll find him...and make sure he and the other people who did this pay for it..''
(Industrial District- Shutdown Factory)
The masked figure that had been stalking the streets of Dragon's Edge wandered into the seemingly empty building. The lights were off- that was to be expected. The various machines used by workers before it's closure stood idle. The man walked over to a forklift nearby, placing a hand onto the side of it and emitting a green energy from his hand. The forklift began to jolt to life then, exploded. As it did this, the man smiled a sick grin that was covered by his mask.
"Still good...gotta find Dagur fast though. Sooner I complete this task the sooner I'll get my upgrade." He says in a slight British accent as he begins to leave the factory. As he steps outside, he checks his tracker- seeing Dagur's location still being marked down as the DEPD building.
"I'll need to make haste with this one... hopefully that little hero problem won't be much of a bother here."
"That's what you think pal." A feminine voice sounded off from above. The figure turned, looking upwards as Windshear descended from the roof above and landed about five feet away. She drew up quickly, three white feather cut blade being held in her left hand. She glared over at the man, her light blue lit mask locked dead onto him.
"Gas mask...weird goggles...green energy powers...You're the creep that's been killing people across the US." She says , ready to launch her weapons at any given moment.
"And you're the psychopathic heroine of Dragon's Edge, Windshear. Weird that you use such harsh means - i.e. the knives, to deliver justice."
She gave a shrug "I believe in teaching scum a lesson they'll never forget." The blades were launched outwards, aimed directly at his armored chest. She knew that with the force thrown, they'd Pierce deep enough to just barely graze bone- and not do any fatal damage.
That's if they hit. Which they didn't. The blades hit the ground in a mass of black metal , melting across the sidewalk. "Neat trick.." the man says, clapping his hands together and slowly building up energy in between them.
Windshear growled lowly as she cartwheeled aside, avoiding the burst of energy that was sent her way by a hair. She landed in a kneeling stance and fired her razorwhip at the man's left arm, breaking through his gauntlet and hitting his forearm.
He gasped gently as he felt the pain strike him and grabbed onto the metallic rope that held the blade , swinging with enough Force to send Windshear flying into the brick wall nearby. As she hit the wall, she thrust her legs outwards to brace herself and reboundeded off of it, rolling onto the ground and jerking the rope back towards her- bringing him along with it.
He hit the ground with a thud as she stood up and retracted the bladed weapon into her gauntlet. She chuckled as she took up a fighting stance- left arm brought above her temple to block and right arm brought near her mid riff- fist out to strike.
"You should really just make this easier on yourself Windshear…" he comments as he stands up, his bleeding forearm going ignored for the time being. "You don't want this problem…" he said, moving into a stance of his own.
The two stood there for a moment, before either one made a move. Windshear launched herself forward, going into a slide on the ground in an attempt to sweep his legs from beneath him. As she did this, he lept upwards and launched a burst of energy her way- she rolled out of it's way and lept towards him, tackling him to the ground and delivering three swift punches to his face.
He grabbed her fist as she went for a fourth hit, then grabbed at her opposing wrist to bring his head up, driving it into her nose. Once he saw it begin to bleed, he lifted her up by her forearms and slammed her down into the sidewalk- a grunt of pain escaping her lips as he did so.
He released her then, aiming both hands at her face and charging up the energy needed to complete the task at hand. "Sorry love, nothing personal." He stated.
She chuckled. "I suppose I should say the same then." She replied as a sharp beeping sound drew his attention. He turned , looking at his left arm and finding a metallic disk with a red light in the center of it on his arm.
"What the.." he said, being cut off as several volts of electricity surged throughout his body and brought him to his knees. He sunk down slowly, the pain slowly overcoming him. "H-how?!?!" He asked as he looked up at her.
She have a shrug "Did it when I tackled you.." was her response. The last thing he saw was her boot soaring towards his face before everything went black.
When he finally woke up, he found himself staring at three blurry figures. He listened as modified voices chattered amongst one another, before finally noticing him.
"He's awake.." the male in the group stated as he approached. The sight of lit up green lenses was more than enough confirmation of the situation. She'd brought him to her friends- great.
"Your names Eret Eretson right?" Night Fury asked the dark haired man, who soon realised his mask and goggles were gone, leaving his face exposed. "Yes...please give me back my mask.." he said, shaking slightly as his head whipped around, searching the room for the items.
"Yeah, that'd be a no. You've already been revealed, what more could you need it for?" Stormfly asked as she held the mask in one hand and ran her fingers over the goggles that sat on the table behind her.
"I need them…. desperately.. I'm not sure you'd understand..but if you could return those that would be lovely." He replied, trying to remain calm, but his eyes darting over frantically.
"How bout this? You tell us what we want to know and we'll consider it. Let you wear em until you get to your cell." Windshear said, arms crossed across her chest as she glared at the man.
Eret chuckled, noticing the blood had been wiped away from her nose. "How's the nose doing?" He asks as she walks towards him. "Just lovely...how's yours?'
He lifted an eyebrow at this. "Perfectly fi-" a swift blow to the nose shut him up, his nose instantly ran red and he let out a groan of pain. "What the bloody hell?!? Ah, God I think you damn near broke it!!" She shouts as Night Fury drags Windshear away from the man.
"You'll have to excuse Windshear..she's not as...gentle with criminals as I am.."
"Gentle?! You've broken people's bones before!!" Eret replies in anger as blood behind to pour into his mouth from his nose.
Night Fury simply nods and gives a wicked smile "My point exactly…"
He swiftly launched a leg towards Eret's left leg, delivering a kick that slightly fractured his shin. "Holy shit!" Eret shouted as he glared daggers at Night Fury.
"You have just dug yourself into a hole pal! A hole! When Drago gets ahold of you idiots you're all done for!"
"Drago?!?" Stormfly asked, eyes glowing brighter as she approached him now. Eret looked at her I'm surprise, but his face lightened up softly as he saw the Sparks emanating from her hands. "Miss Hofferson…how have you been?" He asks as she grabs ahold of his chin.
"I've been a wreck...trying to put myself back together after you people broke me!! I thought I'd taken your little group out...but I guess I was wrong." She comments as electricity slowly behind to surge through her fingertips and into his head.
He grits his teeth and grunts heavily "P-please!'' he began as she does this..
"You...you're asking for mercy from me?!?" She asks, increasing the current slowly and steadily. "I'm going to try your brain and make your eyeballs pop form your skull.." she stated , staring into his eyes as they filled with fear.
"Astrid please!"
"Astrid that's enough!" Windshear called over as Night Fury gripped her hand, drawing she away from the bound man , whose head slumped downwards as she let go.
He let out a wild cough as he stared at the floor. "Can I please just have my mask? It's all I care about right now...I'll tell you whatever, just give the mask back!" He soon shouts, Night Fury pausing.
"Why is this.." he picks up the mask, which only covered the lower half of his face. "So important?" He asks.
Eret sighs deeply and looks up at him, turning his face ever so slightly to allow the light to shine upon the right side of his face. Night Fury moved closer, inspect it and finding nothing more than a scar, about an inch and a half long, going across his chin and to his bottom lip.
"Because I look like a monster without it….I'm...ugly…" Eret turned his attention to the floor once again, a tear escaping from his eyes. "You look normal to me.." Night Fury states as the dark haired man shakes his head.
"I'm a monster...it's all I've ever been. All my life I've been a product of filth… from the day of my birth to the day I joined those people...I've been nothing more than a monster." He looks up to them now "And I'm trying to atone for that… by first getting free of Drago…"
Astrid scoffed at that. "You? Their little trainer, atoning for his sins? You're garbage. You are indeed a monster.."
"And you're going around murdering people now." Windshear notes, a finger raised in notion.
"Those people I killed were hardened criminals, murderers, rapists...the lowest. I'm doing the world a favor by ridding it of them.. Astrid I know I did horrid things to people, but not worst than what the actual scientists had been doing...I'm doing my best to make up for to to all of you.." Eret states, looking over to Astrid now.
Night Fury looked to him then Astrid, who turned away, and began to walk off. He looked at Eret once more. "Why are you in Dragon's Edge?" He asked as the man continued to shake I'm his chair. " A better question would be, why are my abilities somehow cut off?"
"I injected you with something to shut them out temporarily. The chains around you are just for added measure. Now answer my question. Why the Edge?" He replies and instantly offers a rebuttal.
"I'm sure to scratch off the next name on my list. Dagur Brzak, murderer, drug Lord, weapons dealer. Gotta start somewhere right?" He asks, Windshear gasping behind Night Fury.
"Dagur is already in prison, there's no need to kill him!!" She shouts as Night Fury brings an arm up to keep her back. "She's right." He says as Eret smirks.
"He's scum...most of the bastards in there are. I get to him, I can wipe him off and get names of some more people in need of my little brand of enlightenment…"
"You don't need to do that.." Night Fury says as he brings his arm down. "Just ...turn yourself in or something.. taking care of the criminal element is our job, we don't need you spilling blood when not needed."
"Your system is idiotic! " Eret spits back at him , anger building up inside now. "You fight them, you jail them, they escape and it just REPEATS!! I'm doing the right thing, and taking them out before they can do anymore damage! Before-" he stops, calming himself down.
"Before another person like me comes along… helping to torture Innocents and ruin lives...I don't want to let that happen again, to anyone.." he states, a genuine look of sadness upon his face as he looks at the heroes.
Windshear felt her rage begin to subside as Night Fury merely looked the man in the eyes. "Then…..then join us.." he says, shocking both Windshear and Astrid who had just returned to the conversation.
"What?!?!" The blonde shouted in shock as she heard this, Night Fury whipping his head around to face her. "We could use him I'm our war on crime… and in finding this Drago fellow and assuring that whatever group he runs is shut down."
He looks at Eret again "But once we're done there, he goes to a cell…"
Eret merely blinks, shrugging as best he could with the chains holding him. "I suppose that's fair." He says as he looks past Night Fury to Astrid "Is that fine with you?"
"Working with you? Fuck no." She replies, turning to Night Fury now. "But….if we can use you to bring down Drago, Mildew and everyone else from that place….then I'm afraid I have no choice.."
She looks at Night Fury once more, a frown upon she face which he soon shares.
"Great! It's settled then.. so do we have team jerseys and stuff?" Eret asks mockingly, soon shifting in his seat "And could someone please free me?"
(Later that night)
Astrid sat up in her apartment, reading a book on her couch. The television played in the background , but the sounds of 'The Golden Girls' were blocked out by her own thoughts. She couldn't believe Night Fury expected her to work with that bastard.. it was like an insult.
And yet, she understood where he was coming from. She was torn from her thoughts by the sound of the door being knocked upon. She walked over to it and peered through the peephole, seeing a families face.
A smile actually came to her own face as she adjusted the bun her hair had been tied into and tugged on the bright blue Hello Kitty shirt she wore.
She pulled the door open, seeing a pair of emerald eyes staring back at her. He smiled awkwardly "Hey Astrid.."
"Hiccup...can I help you?" She asks as he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly with his right hand. His left hand seemed preoccupied with a large metal suitcase.
"I wanted to talk to you, mind if I come in? It's fairly... important." He replies, watching as the blonde looked at him in bewilderment before stepping aside and motioning for him to come in.
As he entered the apartment, he gave it a quick look over. "Nice place." He says whilst placing his suitcase down. Astrid offers him a seat at the couch next to where she'd sat, which he takes happily.
She moves towards the kitchen, asking "You want something to drink?"
"Um...water would be fine." He says as she returns with a glass of water and a glass of orange soda, placing both down and sitting down beside him.
"So...how's work been?" She asks, having been absent as of recent. "It's been..work." he replies with a chuckle as he takes a sip of water. As he sets the glass down, he clears his throat. "I suppose I should get right to it then."
Astrid nodded, feeling a bit awkward in the moment as her rival sat next to her, a random visit taking her by surprise.
"Um...well I'll start like this..my father always told me that trust is a big thing I'm any partnership or friendship or...anything..ya know?"
She nodded, not knowing where he was going with this. "I trust you Astrid , and I hope you trust me. I know sometimes partners they fight and have their issues, but those issues can be resolved.. sometimes people make decisions that their partners won't like."
"Hiccup what are you saying here?" She asks, a well trimmed eyebrow lifted in question.
"I'm saying...I know you're Stormfly." She blinked heavily "I'm what? I didn't quite hear that."
"I know you're Stormfly.." he says, looking to her. Her expression said it all, she was going to try to lie her way out of it. "I know you use an old stealth suit that you repainted and that your powers stem from an underground research group.."
"Hiccup…." She said, her eyes locking onto him in all seriousness.
"I know because…" he looked to the suitcase, and pressed a thumb against the small black panel above the rim. It beeped and a click could be heard .
He finally lifted the top of it, revealing a black and dark blue suit and a large lensed mask.
"I'm Night Fury…."
sorry for the short chapter guys, i promise the next one will be longer. been under the weather a bit lately but imma be back at it soon. til next time, keep reading and if you like this story, share it with your buds and check out some more!! thanks!!