Eret watched as the newest addition to their little '"family" was walked into the lab. It was a little girl, this was something all new. He'd never seen them bring in a subject so...young.. What the hell?
But nevermind his thoughts ,or the random change. He still had a task, a job to do. He'd have to train her no matter what. He continued to look on as the child was strabbed down to a table, Dr.Mildew moving a cart full of surgical tools over.
He pulled a mask over his nose and mouth, motioning towards his assistant. "Bring me Chemical X-J79." He said in a rather cold tone of voice. Eret crossed his arms over his chest, watching as he would begin his work on the child. It was just another procedure, something he'd seen nearly every day while working with them.
But it was different today. This was a life so young, a life so small. What if she isn't one of the lucky ones? What if she's one of the failures? He sighed deeply as he tried to ignore it, but the little girl's cries kept drawing his attention back over to them. She looked so innocent, she looked so helpless. And she looked so...small.
Malnourished even. She looked to be about 7 years old. He couldn't simply stand by, could he? No...he could. He'd done it time and time again for every subject..he'd beaten them and taught them proper techniques both in hand to hand and with their newly given abilities.
But he couldn't do this. As Mildew filled the large syringe with the strange , slate colored chemical- Eret shuddered. He watched as she was injected, the green flames of energy within him beginning to build up. The veins in his arms grew more visible, and grew a bright green color.
He gripped his forearms tight, trying to ignore it. Ignore the pain she was being subjected to. Ignore her wails and cries for her mother.. he tried to ignore it all, and put on the mask that he wore.
The mask of cold and tonelessness. The mask that bred most of the warriors in here. But it was so damn hard...why? Why did he feel this way? Is it some sudden change of heart? A sudden feeling that he could do better? He didn't know what to call it.
But either way, it was enough. A burst of green energy was launched at Mildew's hand, Shattering the bones within the man's hand with ease and sending him flying onto his back. Eret lunged over to the table, burning through the straps that held the child.
He looked down briefly, catching sight of the child looking up at him in wonder. Mildew arose slowly, screaming at him now. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING , BOY?!?!"
Eret paused, staring down at the child then over at him. "The right thing…" he says finally, raising a hand and opening fire on Mildew with full force. The burst of energy sent him flying back, pressing him against the wall. But he didn't stop there, stepping towards Mildew.
"I should've stopped you so long ago.. I shouldn't even be here… God I was an idiot. I can't keep doing this..and I won't allow you to either." He says, finally closing in on the old and burned man. He could hear him breathing, but just barely.
His large hand grabbed Mildew by the face, energy surging in his palm as he glared at him. "I won't do this...not anymore...I'm going to fix the things I've done.." he says, unleashing the full force of his powers onto him. He heard the wild screams of Mildew , but they soon faded.
Mildew's face soon faded from his sight, and as he stopped his attack all he saw was a body falling to the floor, the head having been turned to ash.
He stared at the corpse for a moment, visibly shaking. But the feeling of a small hand tapping his leg turned his attention away. He looked back to find the little girl staring at him. He couldn't help but to smile. She was beautiful, a small child with short cut reddish-orange hair and bright blue eyes. Even a few freckles.
He kneeled down beside her, placing a hand onto her shoulder. "I'm sorry...I should've stopped him sooner.." he began as the girl hugged him tight.
"Thank you…" she said, crying into his shoulder. He smiled. "You're welcome… come on. I'm gonna get you out of here and back to your mother and father."
She smiled through her tears "Thank you Mister.."
"Eret...call me Eret.."
"Mister Eret...I'm Emily." She said as she pulled away. He lifted her onto his shoulder. "That's a pretty name Emily." He said as he walked towards the door. He knew he'd have to fight his way through several guards, but they'd be no match for him.
He'd be back for Drago later though.
(The Safehouse- Now)
Eret leaned back in a rolling chair, digging his hands into a Berk Burger bag and pulling a large cheeseburger out of it. He took a rather large bite of the food and looked over at Windshear who stood nearby, rewiring the left gauntlet of her suit with it laying on the table before her.
Her mask was still on, even after all this. "You know. You can trust me." He says, reaching into the bag for a bundle of French fries. "I mean, with your identity. Knowing it wouldn't service me in any way."
"That's what you say. I don't trust just anyone. " She replies, not taking her eyes off of the piece of gear before her. She smiled as the wires finally connected in the proper order and moved to punch them down into place. Once done, she slid a covering over them and locked it back into place.
"It's because I was the bad guy right?" He asks as he spins in the chair, freely ignoring most other things. His goggles lay in the table beside his bag. He kept it close to him at all times, the mask however was still fixated upon his face.
"Yes. That and, how can I trust someone as obsessed as wearing a mask as you?" She asks him as she slides the gauntlet back onto the wrist, turning and firing off her Razorwhip at a dummy about 50 feet away from her. She nailed it right in the head and proceeded to reel it back in.
Eret scoffed as he watched her, the words she said ringing throughout his head. "I can't simply take this mask off...it's... personal." He says, standing up and walking towards her.
"Same here. My mask is personal too, cause it's my identity." She replies as she turns to face him. "It's simple, you want trust, you gotta give respect and trust of your own in return."
Eret paused for a moment, taking heed of her words. It made sense in all honesty, enough sense for him to comply. "Alright, fine. I'll remove it. Just please don't...laugh…" he says, undoing the back strap of the mask and removing it, allowing the bottom half of his face to show.
Windshear found nothing out of the ordinary, save for maybe a scar that went down the side of his face. "What's the big deal?" She asks as she examines his face a bit more close.
"The big deal is the scar.." he says, keeping his eyes off of her at all costs and looking towards the floor. He absentmindedly began to count the cracks in the floor as Windshear looked at him, bewildered by his response. She couldn't see anything wrong with the scar, it was barely even noticeable.
It was only about an inch long and went from the bridge of his nose to just below his right eye.
"It's nothing.." she says, scoffing softly. {How vain can one be? To think a scar so small is worth constantly concealing it with a mask?} She wondered as she turned around once more, ready to fire her Razorwhip at another target.
"It's not nothing. I look hideous...I look like a monster…" he says solemnly, adjusting the mask upon his face once more and walking back over to his food.
"You look like a regular human being who caught the business end of a price of shrapnel. And it barely did that much damage." She says, turning to face him once again.
He stood over the table that held his food, staring downwards at the floor, almost as though he was deep in thought. She couldn't help but to wonder what was going through the man's head now.
"I'm twenty eight years old...joined Drago's crew when I was twenty… in those years I discovered alot about myself… I liked to get paid, and didn't care who suffered as long as the check cleared.. but one day that all changed." He starts, taking a moment to pause as he looks to her once more.
"Changed how?" She asks, now interested in the tale this former criminal had to tell.
He sighed for a moment. "It all started five years ago..with a little girl named Emily. She was their youngest subject yet...and I couldn't let her suffer that."
{Five Years Ago- The Freezing Temperatures of the Canadian Wilderness}
Eret stomped throughout the white colored plains of the forest, an automatic weapon strapped to his back with a pistol at his side. In his fur wrapped hands, he carried a bundle of warmth.
Emily hugged herself close to him, as he tried his best to keep the young girl covered with the fur, thus shielding her from the cold , cold air and the snow that flurried around them.
"Fan out and search!!"
He'd heard it being echoed from not too far away and quickly lunged behind a large tree, positioning himself against it's trunk and sinking down to one knee. Eret looks at Emily, his mask and goggles still fixated upon his face.
"Stay here and keep quiet alright? I'm gonna go handle them." He says, receiving a nod of affirmation in response from the child. He tucked her into the large fur as best he could and moved up to his feet, then rushed over to the next tree. Drawing the semi-automatic rifle he'd stolen out, he pressed the side against the tree and set his eyes through the rear sight aperture.
Watching with precision, he waited for the blue of the sky and the white of the snow to turn dark, therefore signalling a target for him to fire at. It came soon after, and he unleashed three swift shots which echoed throughout the forest.
Blood spilled into the snow, about 50 feet away. He could see the splatter as the first round made contact with the man's head, tearing through his helmet with ease and bringing him down right away. The last two shots to the chest and stomach were to ensure his demise.
He smirked to himself, happy with the work he'd done and quickly preparing from the rest of them.
"That came from over here!!" Another man shouted as he rushed to the area. Eret's smirk still hadn't faded, in fact it had turned to a smile as he watched this. "Like moths to a flame." He whispered as he lined up the man's head with his crosshairs.
Bang
Another one bites the dust. He falls to the ground. His allies soon rushing to his side. "Now the fun can really begin." Eret exclaims as he sets the weapon down and comes from behind the tree.
{Four of em. One of Drago's six man strike squads...they're supposed to be the elites…}
Eret analyzed each man carefully, they all are the same uniform. Black Baclavas over their faces with black face paint around their eyes.
A black IOTV with a red devil head spray painted onto the center of the chest, right over the sternum. Armed with two Bowie knives, several reloads in their vest pockets and a pistol at their sides.
They were hard to shake off, he'd give em that. But they were also easy to pick off. And now that they were in the same area, in the same vicinity nonetheless...this was going to end soon.
Eret wasted no time, the energy having already been built up and saved in his palms. He whistled sharply, drawing their attention before launching a burst of energy that tore through some of the trees, leaving them burnt to a crisp in the wake of his attack.
As the smoke and steam cleared, all that could be seen were the charred bodies of the men, dropping to the ground with several heavy thuds. Upon further analysis of each man, Eret discovered that he'd managed to melt the plates in their IOTVs to their bodies.
He was pleased with his work and swiftly turned to run back to Emily. He scooped up the child and then the weapon, making sure to place it on safe before carrying on. The two continued their trek from there.
About an hour later, they reached a river where a small row boat sat near the shore. He sat her down onto her feet and went over to retrieve and prepare it for a long voyage. As he did this, she wiped her eyes and looked at him. "Mister Eret, where are we going?" She asked.
He looked back to her. "New York.. that's your home right? Manhattan?". The child nodded in response.
"I stole your file before we left. Memorized all the information I needed. I'm gonna make sure you get back to your mother and make sure she sleeps soundly at night knowing her little girl is safe." As he gave his explanation, he finally got the boat onto the water but tied it down for a moment.
Eret moved to a tree nearby, feeling the branch before ripping a rather wide one clean off and analyzing it. His hands lit up once more with the green energy and he molded them around the branch, shaping it properly.
As the excess wood burned away, all that was left was an oar for him to row the boat with. He smiled at the work he'd done, and proceeded to make another one, burning away the excess wood and repeating the process over again.
Eret moved back over the boat, setting the oars in place and motioning for Emily to join him. As the girl made her way over, the sound of rapid footsteps approached the too and a metallic click rang throughout the area.
"Both of you...freeze!!" The man says, aiming his weapon at the two. The man moves carefully down a hill of snow as Eret moves an arm over Emily to keep her safe, drawing his stolen pistol to defend himself and the child.
"Go away and I'll let you live." He says plainly as the man makes his way towards them. "I've got direct orders from Drago. To kill the traitor and the experiment. His secrets can't get out.'' the man says, his crosshairs trained upon Eret.
Emily watched this with fear live in her young eyes, hugging Eret's leg. "Mister Eret…" she mumbled as Eret looked to her then the man once again. "You're not gonna kill anyone." He says, ready to fire his pistol.
The man swiftly opens fire, a bullet ripping through the air and rushing towards Eret's chest. But the bullet suddenly was torn to pieces, shrapnel falling down to the snow before Eret's feet.
"Huh?" He wondered aloud, looking down to see Emily's eyes glowing a bright whitish color as a field of gray and silver energy surrounded them. The field then expanded at a fast rate and hit the shooter, the energy alone began to tear his body apart.
Eret's eyes widened and he moved quickly to cover her eyes, making sure the child didn't see the Carnage that befell the man. Eret himself soon looked away, and opted instead to move the child into the boat and begin rowing it away.
"After seeing that, I knew I had to protect that child with my life. Their experiment had worked, too well. She was bouncing with energy, and that meant that she couldn't be in the public."
Windshear looked to him, a look of wonder upon her face as she listened to his words. She honestly couldn't believe it- the former Trainer of Drago's experiments was turned good by a toddler? It was amazing. But as she thought this, she noticed his face went downwards.
He was frowning, it seemed a tear was escaping his eye. "We made it to the Canadian border…. I thought we were in the clear so I hijacked a car and we took off." He looked to her again.
"They found us hours later, and they had sent a militia of sorts. Emily...she wanted to protect me...she poured out so much power...her little body couldn't handle it…"
He looked to his hands, his memories building once more. Eret now recalled it in perfect view- holding Emily in his arms as the child coughed wildly.
"Easy kid, easy.." he said, looking briefly around the area at the damage that she'd done. Two whole helicopters were on fire in the middle of the street nearby, and several dismembered body parts laid around.
He looked on as a man near a gas pump struggled to move to his feet, screaming in agony as he crumbled to the ground. It was a sick sight to see, even for him. The gas station almost blew up, thankfully the blast didn't reach the tanks.
He laid a palm upon her head. "You alright?" He asked, getting a small nod in response. She then coughed once again, a bit of blood flying out upon his mask.
He drew a finger over the wet substance, a look of horror coming to his face as he wiped the mask. "M-mister Eret…." She spoke, so slow...so calm.
He frantically listened to her. "Yeah?!" He asked, wondering what she'd need.
"T-take off your mask…" she says, a small smile coming to her face. The man didn't hesitate, removing it swiftly for the child to see. This seemed to brighten her whole world up, as she reached up as best she could to give him another hug.
He smiled with Glee as the child whispered into his ear. "You're beautiful Mister Eret…". It was like a form of recognition. He felt that he had actually done something right for once as he heard this. But that feeling sunk down to the pit of his stomach as he felt the life slowly draining from her body.
Eret was shaken from his thoughts as he felt her grip loosen up. He pulled her down gently,nudging her slightly. "Emily?" He asked.
The child gave no response, but merely lay there , seemingly asleep. A smile plastered upon her face as she thought of the man who'd saved her.
"E-emily?!?" He began to shout, gently shaking her. His body felt weak, his hands loosened and he nearly dropped her to the ground, but swiftly caught her. "Emily?!"
It was then the tears began to fall, as he felt her life slip right between his fingers. So young.. so happy. And now she was gone. This was the type of thing that Drago did, that Mildew did...and sadly..
It was what he used to do.
"I buried her next to the biggest tree I could find. When we were journeying to the border, she'd always admire the trees. I got the scar on a mission after that."
Windshear looked at him solemnly "What type of mission?"
He bit his tongue softly as she asked this. "My last mission...delivering the news to her mother.. I tracked her down and told her and…" he shook his head. "She swung a knife at me, I barely even dodged it in time...not that I could blame her though… she did nail me in the shoulder with it before I left.."
She gasped softly as she heard this, offering a hand to him.
He turned to her, taking her hand into his own. "Emily said I was beautiful...I wear the mask to hide the scar that ruined that... because it feels like I've let her down again…"
"You didn't let anyone down….you saw the light Eret…" she replied, moving her hand to the back of her head and removing her own mask.
Heather's eyes showed clear as day now, Eret smiling softly at her. "You did the right thing...and now at least I know I can trust you…" she says as he looks to his own mask once more, pondering over what to do next.
"Wear the mask... remember Emily however you see fit...but do that with us, while serving justice to the people that brought her there.."
(Henry Haddock's Apartment)
Gustav grunted softly as a wooden staff was swung at him, the teen moving his arms into an X-formation to block it as best he could. He had a few bruises from the training session- that and many more.
He and Hiccup had been training together for the past three weeks now, and Gustav had become quite the quick learner. Hiccup had also noted that the boy enjoyed pranks and joking around. A bright attitude was always a good thing to have in this profession.
But it was also kinda annoying.
"Ya know, I've been attacked with a bo staff so much I'm starting to gain a fear of sticks." He remarks as Hiccup spins on his left heel and thrust the staff outwards in a motion barely tracked by Gustav's eye. Just barely, Gustav managed to block that aswell.
"You're getting good at reflexes." Hiccup notes as he doubles back, spinning the staff overhead before launching the weapon toward Gustav, then rushing behind it.
Gustav had to be swift, he'd learned that within the first week. In a rushed motion, he slapped the staff aside and lept to his knees, dodging the overhead kick that Hiccup had planned to launch his way.
He rolled onto his back and brought his knees up, then launched himself to his feet to regain his position. He brought his arms up into a defensive stance and watched Hiccup closely, the older man moving in a circle around Gustav.
He then rushed the teen once again, Gustav ducking a palm strike aimed at his chest and lunging towards Hiccup.
As he connected with him, the both of them rolled back onto the floor with Hiccup bringing his feet up to his chest and kicking Gustav off of him and onto the couch nearby before leaping to his feet with ease.
"You're getting pretty good at this." He notes as he walks over to Gustav, who crosses his arms over his chest and huff's. "Still not good enough to go out into the field…." the teen complained
"True...but you'll get there soon. I give it about two to three more weeks honestly. You're really good at combat, Gustav." Hiccup notes as he walked towards the kitchen,grabbing two bottles of water and tossing one to the teen as he sulked on the couch.
Gustav launched his arm out, grabbing it and twisting the cap off before chugging it down. "You really think so? That soon?" He asks as he turns to face Hiccup, a look of hope plastered upon his face now.
"Oh yeah, definitely. But we're gonna need to go over a few things other than just combat. Situational awareness, reflex training, muscle endurance, lung endurance, agility training, investigative awareness…"
As Hiccup listed these things, Gustav audibly sighed and fell onto his back.
"And then there's the matter of a name and suit."
He perked up once more, raising up to look over at his mentor, who merely smirked at him. "Oh I've got all that prepped already, I'd rew up a design and made up my name!!" He said as he rushed over to Hiccup, vaulting over the counter that divided the kitchen from the living room and landing next to the man.
"Really now? What are you gonna call yourself?" He asks, his interest having been piqued now. He downed his own water and tossed the empty bottle into a waste bin nearby as Gustav smiled.
"Fanghook...it's based off of the late Hookfang. My suit is different though." He said, watching as Hiccup visibly tensed up for a moment.
But then he smiled "That sounds cool to me." He says finally, turning to Gustav. "Now then, let's get some pizza." He says as he walks towards his phone which sat on the counter.
As he went to pick it up, it began to ring with an unknown caller icon appearing. He lifted an eyebrow as he looked at this, sliding the green icon across the screen to answer the call and pressing the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
There was no reply, just the sound of breathing. Ragged, tired breathing at that. "I've got a hostage situation here... it'd behoove you to do something about it…" a disguised voice spoke, taking Hiccup by surprise.
"I'm sorry...what?" He asks as he tenses up once again.
"I didn't stutter. 225 Alleyway Boulevard. Bunch of human trafficking holed up in an abandoned complex." Was the voices response.
"Who is this?!" Hiccup asked as the voice chuckled for a moment. "I'm just a fan… a fan with information. You should probably hurry detective. The people are waiting."
The man hung up then, leaving Hiccup to stand there in a mixture of shock and confusion. He looked to Gustav for a moment, then walked over to the wall panel that housed the elevator. "I gotta go. Keep watch up here in case Astrid or someone shows up." He says, entering his code and getting into the device, leaving Gustav in confusion.
"Um...alright then." He replies as he watches his mentor leave. It's ten at night, he expected him to leave soon, but not like this.
As the elevator made it's descent, Hiccup tried his best to wrap his head around the situation. If he showed up to the address, he could very well be walking into a trap set by the Caller. But what if it really was a tip off about a hostage situation?
He couldn't change it, and decided upon messaging Gustav with his location and links to Astrid, Heather and Eret's phone numbers just in case things get out of hand.
His phone was rigged to automatically send a signal to Gustav in the case of his capture, letting the boy know to assemble the others and move in.
He took off, his car roaring to life as he took to the streets of Dragon's Edge , his GPS locked onto the address he'd been given. As soon as he arrived, he could tell the situation may have been real.
It was an apartment, an old and rundown one at that. It had been shut down years ago, and yet there were people inside. He made his way to the third floor, which housed life and kept silent as he stalked his way down the hall.
There were about six doors linings the hall, with one more door at the very end , facing him. It was locked down tight, several heavy locks set in place to keep someone out, or something in.
Brief pause and scan of the area with his enhanced senses revealed a good bit of life signs inside, about twelve. And they all seemed scared- hearts pounding rapidly. All of these came from the door straight ahead.
He continued to look around, finding more and more people, but all of them either calm, happy or drunk. He grit his teeth in anger. Those first few lifesigns were a mix of both old and young alike. By focusing his hearing, he could make out the heart rates of children and teenagers, a few adults as well.
Hiccup walked the halls, not even donned in his Night Fury suit. He'd taken to the building so Detective Haddock, complete with badge, brown leather jacket, white button up shirt and jeans.
As far as he knew, the caller only knew him as the detective, so having Night Fury show up after getting his call would seem off. He gripped the pistol kept attached to his belt carefully, even though he wasn't going to fire it any time soon.
He looked to the first door, hearing the sound of "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" starting to play on a speaker.
"Dammit…" he muttered as he stalked down the hall, turning to the first door before plunging his left foot forward and kicking it off of its hinges with ease. He watched with an emotionless face as the few men behind the door lept to their feet, ready to fight.
Four men stood there, around a round wooden table in a small apartment. They were playing cards in the dining/kitchen area, while ignoring the people they kept held up down the hall.
{Jitterbug}
"DEPD, put your hands up now!" He shouted, pointing his gun at them with one hand and flashing his badge either the other.
{Jitterbug}
The men looked to one another briefly, before lunging at Hiccup.
(Jitterbug}
He actually smirked at this and ducked a swing from one man as another tackled him into the hallway.
{You put the boom boom into my heart, you send my soul sky high when your loving starts}
As they collided with the floor outside, Hiccup brought his knee up swiftly, right into the man's crotch and head-butted him in the nose, breaking it on impact. As the man sunk down, he pushed him off of him and lept to his feet, being met with a baseball bat swinging his
way.
{Jitterbug, into my brain}
He narrowly avoided that one, lurching back before grabbing the man by the wrist and twisting it back in a swift motion, breaking it. He watched as the bat dropped from his hand and caught it with the edge of his foot, kicking it into his other hand swinging it at the back of the man's head to bring him down.
{It goes a bang bang bang til my feet do the same.}
Hiccup watched as he crumpled to the floor, turning back as the last two men kicked him back onto the wall, one of them reaching for his pistol as the other grabbed at bat that he'd just dropped. Hiccup kneed the man he tussled with currently in the stomach, taking his breath away long enough for him to tackle him to the floor.
As they connected with the floor, Hiccup swiftly arose and sweeper the other mans heel, taking him to his level. As he approached the floor, Hiccup lunged outward and grabbed the mans neck, swinging him back towards him before planting him headfirst into the floor.
He kept to his feet, kicking the bat into his hand once more and swiftly turning, cracking it down onto the chest of the man he had tackled previously. With those four down, he began to move to the next door, remembering to pick up his pistol beforehand.
He was surprised none of the others had arrived upon hearing the ruckus outside.
{Wake Me up, before you go go don't leave me hanging on like a yoyo}
He burst into the next room, immediately throwing the baseball at the first man he saw. He stumbled out of the way as a man lept to tackle him and allowed him to dive headfirst into the wall before pulling him back and sending three swift yet powerful punches to his face, releasing his shirt to allow him to sink to the floor.
The man he'd thrown the bat at pulled a butcher's knife off of the counter nearby and rushed towards Hiccup, being met with a palm strike to the sternum that shocked him and caused him to drop the knife. As it hit the floor, Hiccup grabbed the man's right arm and performed a backflip, bringing the man to the floor while simultaneously breaking his arm.
He then came to his feet, kicking the man in the sternum one last time before inspecting the room he and the other has came from. It was just them.
One room left. Hiccup looked around the kitchen of the room, an idea coming to mind. As the men behind the last door conversed amongst one another, all six of them stopped as the door was soon knocked against.
They looked at one another before one of them opened it up, seeing the Auburn haired figure smiling as he carried...a microwave?
The microwave was sent flying into the man's chest, and he went flying back with it. Hiccup lept into the room, starting a riot of sorts for the five men who were still standing.
He lunged onto one of them immediately, grabbing him by the waist and forcing his head into his chin, forcing the man's own head upwards. Hiccup turned swiftly on his heel and drove the man down into the floor and over his shoulder.
As soon as he hitnthe floor, a frying pan of all things was flung his way. Easy as hell to avoid, but Hiccup being ever the opportunist, grabbed the wrist od the attacker and drug him to the floor with him, lurching his hand back to release the payment and slamming it into his face.
He arose to his feet then, the last three men left standing finding their best weapons : a kitchen knife, a baseball bat and a 2x4.
"Seriously? Great value weapons at their best." He comments as they rush him, one of them grabbing his left arm as another grabbed his right and they pinned him to the wall.
He feigned struggling, attempting to get free while, in actuality, allowing them to pin him down. He looked on as the man with the bat approached and cocked his arm back, swinging the bat towards his head. Hiccup ducked swiftly, allowing the bat to connect with the side of the head of the man to his right.
Right arm free, he punched the man holding his left and grabbed at the other man's bat, slamming his palm into the man's chest and knocking the wind out of him.
With him dazed, Hiccup swung the bat at his head and took him down. One man left standing.
The other man recovered from the punch and saw that the others had been taken out. He looked to Hiccup, who spun the baseball bat in his hand.
"...shit.." he said as Hiccup smirked and approached him.
(Thirty minutes later)
Each man was being carried into a squad car, and the people they'd been holding prisoner were being questioned by police. Hiccup looks on as Tuffnut approached him, offering a fist bump to his friend and fellow DEPD worker, who returned the gesture.
But as they carried on, a hooded figure stalked them from several buildings away, a pair of binoculars offering excellent sight of everything.
He grunted softly as he set them aside and picked up a phone, dialing a number and awaiting an answer.
Hiccup looked as his phone rang in his pocket, and answered it quickly. "Good job detective. I was half expecting you to don your pyjamas and handle them, but this works just as well...you're still the same after all these years it seems." The modulated voice says, Hiccup gritting his teeth gently.
"Alright, who the hell are you?'' he asks, growing even more impatient as time goes by.
"A friend.." was the response,before the line went dead. The hooded figure smirked as he picked up a red and black themed helmet, sliding it over his head before placing his hood back on.
The eyes of the helmet glowed an orange tint as the black dragon teeth design began to glow with the same color. He adjusted his black plated vest, the red hood he wore having been sewn into the back of it. His large arms were left bare and exposed, the short red sleeves that were fixated on the vest covering only his shoulders.
He looked to his black and red gloves, and reached into his back, feeling the sheath and the katana he'd carried with him was perfectly placed for combat.
Finally he loaded two Desert Eagle .50 Cal handguns, with minor enhancements and an Armalite AR-10 A-2 semi-automatic rifle, the rifle was soon strapped to his back. His dark red zylon/kevlar stitched pants fit his form as well as the vest, he stomped his black combat boots down gently into the rooftop as he moved to a better position.
He got into a kneeling stance, glaring over at Detective Haddock as he got into his vehicle. "Found you…" he utters to himself as he turns around, exiting the roof.
As the detective made his way back to his home, he tried to piece together the mystery that had arisen during this day. A mysterious caller giving perfect information on a human trafficking ring, and claiming to be a friend? It didn't seem right at all.
He was going to get down to the bottom of this. He decided that s he entered his apartment, giving a wave to Gustav who rolled off of the couch and began following him to the elevator.
"You going out again?" The teenager asks as he bites into an apple he'd been eating, Hiccup momentarily disregarding his words before replying. "Staying in and doing some research."
Gustav nodded "Ah….lame." he replied as Hiccup looked to him for a moment before getting into the elevator, Gustav hopping in behind him.
"What kinda research?" He asks as Hiccup presses a button to rush the elevation process. "Gonna trace the weird caller. Or at least try to."
The tracking process was incredibly easy- the phone that had been used wasn't guarded by any form of technology whatsoever. It was left open to anyone to trace, and that's what he did.
The Night Fury had found that the signal came from an apartment in the Upper West Side, and took to the streets once more to investigate.
"Third floor, room 303." He noted as he hung onto the ledge of the window, sliding a shuriken beneath it to lift the latch and pushing it open. As Night Fury set foot into the building, he was met with a loud bark- turning to see a large black dog running his way.
He sighed as he thrust out his left arm, causing the dog to bite into his left gauntlet and get stuck there. "Easy boy, I'm not gonna hurt anyone." He said, scratching the dog behind it's ear in an attempt to calm the beast down.
This seemingly worked, as the crazed animal began to whimper softly and released his grip, landing onto his feet as Night Fury petted him. "I knew you were a good boy... actually I didn't.. didn't know you were even in here." He says, casting a glance off to the side as he walks around a bit.
After flipping on a light switch, he finds himself staring at an entire wall covered with newspaper clippings, blurry pictures, articles and more- mostly of Night Fury, Windshear, Astrid Hofferson and Hookfang.
Some were about a secret underground experimentation . He'd definitely need to go further into researching this, starting with using his mask to capture an image of it all for later. Once done, he looked to a wooden table that housed a pistol, picking the weapon up and analyzing it for fingerprints.
"Clean...smart." he noted as he sat the weapon back down and turned to the canine behind him, which merely watched his movements.
"Your master left you here?" He asks as the dog walks over to him. Night Fury sighs softly and continues his search of the building, finding nothing out of the ordinary. Until he reached the refrigerator- finding a small explosive placed inside.
"Wow… I did not see that coming." He said as he went to take it apart, finding a timer set to go off within about thirty seconds. "Oh come on!" He shouted angrily as he turned on his heel and rushed towards the dog, grabbing it before leaping out of the window and grappling onto the roof across the way.
The explosive went off, smoke filling the apartment as the blast tore the refrigerator apart, and left a large burn in the corner of the kitchen.
"Low level explosive, definitely not meant to kill… maybe to stun?" He wondered aloud as he set the dog down onto the roof, the animal growling lowly as he surveyed the damage himself.
He looked at the German Shepherd for a moment, sitting down next to him and smiling gently. "So...you got a name?" This seemed to draw some reaction as the animal just gave him a look of confusion before looking at the apartment once more.
"Guess not.." Night Fury said while looking at the damaged gauntlet that the dog had bitten into. "You've got a helluva bite though" as he looked closer, he noticed a lot of spacing between the bite marks.
"You uh, you're missing some teeth aren't ya? I oughta call ya Toothless or something.." he says with a chuckle, the dog looking at him for a moment upon hearing this.
"You uh, think that'd work?" He asks, the canine merely licking his cheek in response. He nodded "Toothless it is… maybe you can help me figure out who this mystery caller is then bud.."
And so the Night Fury had made yet another friend, and possibly another enemy. The time he planned to spend solving this mystery was being set up, even as it seemed his hectic life kept growing worse and worse.