It's been twenty four hours...should I file a missing persons report?!? Or three?!? I-I honestly don't know what to do here!" Astrid complained as she poured herself another glass of water, then turned to face Ruff and Tuff once again.
The Twins shrugged as Ruff responded. "Just stay calm- an upset pregnant woman is one thing, but an upset pregnant weather witch is a whole different problem." She explained as she slid the drink she'd poured earlier around on a brown coaster- her cold eyes cutting back to meet Astrid's fearful ones a moment later.
"It's Hiccup. He left for six months straight, are we forgetting that? It's just one day, As. If there's something wrong, the sensors in his suit would have alerted us right?" She asked, watching as Astrid shook her head.
"No, the sensors aren't hooked to the alarms, they just show vitals." She explained , leaning to rest against the edge of the sink. Tuffnut rubbed his chin for a moment and then walked away, leaving the blonde females to dwell in their silent concerns. The male twin returned a moment later in a rush as he hit the doorway.
"His suit says he's unconscious." He said- both of them immediately looking towards him.
Security Room
The three blondes stood and watched each Missing Immortals' vitals carefully.
"They're all unconscious. But their trackers are damn near impossible to find- the signals keep bouncing from place to place...almost like a…"
"A signal jammer. A damn good one- it's relaying their tracker signals through every power line and dish within a ten mile radius of wherever they actually are."
"Which means we'd have to search every building for a few blocks, top to bottom, to find them." Tuffnut concluded with a frown. He looked over to Astrid then his sister, both Twins sharing a knowing glance.
Ruffnut placed a hand onto Astrid's shoulder, gripping it tight. "We'll find them- all of them." She said, not letting Astrid forget that Hiccuo wasn't the only one they had to be concerned for at the moment. She turned to the intercom speaker and sounded the alarm within an instant- the rushing of footsteps that followed never surprised her anymore.
When they turned around, they found Changewing, Windshear and Fanghook standing before them.
"We're here. Snot and Atali are en route." Gustav said, exposing their current absence as best he could.
"Tell them to standby, we may not need them just yet. Any word on Merida?" Tuffnut asked as he began to send out the map coordinator everyone, albeit with a bit of struggle. Tuff wasn't an idiot, but he also wants the most technologically inclined. Those would be the people who use gadgets the most- the likes of Hiccup, Snotlout and Merida. His police training had basic tech courses thrown in between, so naturally he and his sister had a small knowledge.
"Radio silence from her, I can do a fly over the city." Changewing said, but got a No in response.
"This group is fine. We're going on a rescue mission dudes." Ruffnut said with a smirk. "It seems our fearless leader, along with Cami and Eret, are unconscious in an area full of single jammers. We gotta get out there and search it until we find them." She explained.
Gustav's face had gone straight beneath his mask upon hearing of his mentor's disappearance. The past few months they'd spent stopping crime and hanging out together meant the world to him- he wasn't going to lose that so easily. He looked to the other teenage Immortals, and noticed the determination upon their faces.
"Let's do this."
Dollhouse
He'd been there for days...hours? Minutes? He'd lost track of the time, the clock on the wall kept switching up at random. He assumed this was some form of mental torture, meant to trick one into losing track of time until it just eluded them. But luckily, Eret's mind was stronger than that.
He tried to stand up again, but the chains he was bound by kept that from happening. He had a rather fuzzy memory, but still recalled the bartender that forced him into her car the previous night- he didn't remember being bound or sedated.
"Alright….let's try this again." He muttered as he began to work the power core in his chest, attempting to draw out some energy from it. That task failed- as the reactor didn't even acknowledge his request. He had a metallic skeleton, surely the strength from that should be enough right? Wrong.
He'd tried countless times to pull himself free- but the chains held strong and firm. The walls barely even showed signs of struggle on his part.
He pulled at them again with full strength- which wasn't a joke. At his full strength, the man could lift about three tons. Tearing off car doors and denting bank vaults with a few punches was an average thing. But these chains were somehow stronger. He gave a cough as he tried this time, then slumped back against the wall.
What the hell was this place anyways? He wondered that for a moment then watched as the door opened up. In stepped a girl in a grimy old dress, she looked like a Hollywood starlet from 1931 that had been buried since that year.
The closer she got, the more details he took in. The porcelain skin, the cracks in her face and the painted on facial features- made to look as though she's always surprised by what she sees. But he saw the human eyes behind the holes in the facial structure. He assumed it was a mask, and a damn good one.
He deterred that thought at the sight of her hair. It was...dead. No life, no shine. Just a brown mop of strands upon her head. It looked fake.
His eyes widened as she neared him with a key.
"What are you doing?" He asked, but got no response from the woman as she unlocked his chains and moved to get him to his feet.
They began to walk along, leaving the room and traversing the dark and stained hallway outside of it.
"Where are we going?" He asked her, growing a bit unsettled at her silence. She was practically dragging him along at this time- and he couldn't even feel the strength needed to fight back. They reached another door, and she unlocked it swiftly before pushing him in.
He stumbled and almost fell, but was caught by her. She carried him over to a chair in the middle of the room- with several straps around it. She sat him down and strapped him in, then walked off without a word.
"Seriously?!?" He called out. "Not a word? You daft woman, come back here and free me!!" He shouted in rage, thrashing about as best he could. The door opened again, and in stepped a man. He too had a doll like appearance, but was dressed as a butcher. He approached the chair and looked at Eret, then moved towards a mechanism near the back of the room.
Something Eret hadn't noticed before drew his attention then- a strange vat above the chair , several control mechanisms connected to it. He assumed that was the strange porcelain material that these people were coated in.
"You know, my dolls are very special." A voice called out from the intercom. He recognized it as the female from the previous night, and grit his teeth. "They've all got special mechanics, like robots. I control them from here...poor souls couldn't survive the procedure though.."
His eyes widened in realization as he stared over at the Butcher, noticing the soulless look in his eyes.
"Y-you're insane." He said. He realized just what was happening in that moment. These doll-like people weren't alive, they were dead bodies being controlled by this woman...desecrated by her.
"I'm just lonely…" she responded, a hint of sadness in her tone. "But not for long...you and your friends are just what I've been missing. Your healing abilities are perfect for my procedure...and you ...oh golly you're the best darn one." She gushed as if she were speaking of a celebrity. "Your body already has a mechanical skeleton...I just need to control it and we'll be fine...you won't die on me...you'll be able to play with me forever…"
Flashback
The dark clad figure burst through the skylight and landed on one knee, lifting his head up ever so slightly to survey the room. Everyone had turned their weapons on him by now, and were hesitant to fire. That hesitance would be their downfall. He lashed out with both arms, sending small pellets flying in every direction. The bursts of smoke that came from them served as the perfect cover- not just for him.
He could hear it already before he went into his Furyvision- Fanghook was on the move. The familiar sounds of escrima sticks bashing skulls filled his ears, along with some kicks and padded punches. Night Fury jumped out from his position and attacked the nearest man, grabbing him by the right arm before launching himself over his shoulder and Bering ing a knee into his stomach. As he keeled over in pain, Night Fury slammed an elbow into his back to take him down. He'd struggle with walking now, and he'd be an idiot to try to attack again.
Too much pressure would lead to more spine damage, and more spine damage would lead to paralysis, possibly death. He wouldn't let it get that far. A swift kick to the head took him into a deep sleep. He turned as the smoke started to clear and went into a spin kick, directly to the side of an unsuspecting enemies' head. As he fell to the floor, Night Fury looked over. Fanghook was surrounded, but still standing strong.
Night Fury moved to assist, taking one of them by surprise and lifting him overhead. As he did this, the man dropped his weapon from the surprise. Night Fury followed suit by throwing the man at Fanghook, who leapt onto his back and brought up his knees just in time for the man to land stomach first onto them. As soon as made contact, Fanghook grabbed the man's right arm and leg then, using only the well built up muscles in his back and legs, launched himself up and drove the man into the ground, back first.
As that man took a dive, the young hero stood up and turned around, ensuring all of them were down before he spoke to his mentor. "Any reason why we stalked this particular place? I mean, I know there were guys here but…"
"This is the place we were looking for all along...Singetail has operations here, we find out what they're shipping and we find out just what weapons these aliens will be carrying." He said as he scanned the room, finding another closed off area that housed several crates.
"There." He said as they approached the area. It was a brick wall, but they could tell there were loose panels. They felt around a bit before Fanghook found the trigger mechanism. Giving it a good push, the wall shifted open to reveal eight weapons caches.
Night Fury approached one and tore the top off, looking in with his mask in a detective mode- taking pictures and copying down serial numbers. "These weapons are...new...brand new. Never even been seen before."
"I'm not finding anything in my weapons registry either." Fanghook said as he looked up at him. "Let's take one or two for analyzing."
Night Fury nodded at the idea. He'd noticed that Fanghook seemed to have a lot of good ideas in their tenure together. "We'll destroy the rest. They won't be getting their hands on these anytime soon." He said as he pulled an explosive charge from his belt.
"See this?" He asked as he looked to Fanghook. "This charge is strong enough to hurt Metro Man."
His apprentice's eyes went wide. "Wait...you have a weapon for Metro Man?"
Night Fury smirked. "Several."
A moment later the two walked away from the caches, two weapons in hand. Night Fury closed the brick panel up once again and took about 15 steps back. After pressing a button on his gauntlet, the wall blew open and the caches were destroyed.
It seemed as the wall blew apart, so did the memory. Pieces and pieces of debris flew towards him, each one carrying a different , foggy memory. There were some from his childhood among the rubble, some from recent times. And as it all cleared, as he stepped forward through the hole that had been created, he found himself outside. Looking around, he saw it all clear as day.
"Night Fury get your head in the game!" Came the shout from Windshear, her voice relaying in his mind even as he snapped back to reality . He looked around the room he'd been dragged into, finding his belt, minicomputer and cape missing. His coke was gone too, though a second viewing of the room showed that it was beside him. He stood up slowly, feeling his body working to burn away at whatever drug had been placed into his system to sedate him. He felt groggy, each moment came off as sluggish at best when he moved towards the door of the dingy , basement like area.
"Dammit…" he muttered whilst slamming a fist against the door in anger, noticing he barely even left a dent in the metallic structure.
"There's no point in trying...you're gonna become a doll soon anyways." That woman's voice called from a speaker in the room, causing Hiccup to look around still in his enraged state.
"What the hell do you want with us?!?" He shouted, crying out for an answer. None of this was making any sense to him- why the hell was she holding them here. And a doll? Is that what that guy was that drugged him? He certainly didn't look to be completely human, at least not anymore. He couldn't figure it out, at least not in the state he was currently in.
He stumbled around the room a bit, leaning against the wall for a moment. "I've make some amazing progress with your friend...the British one...he's coming along quite nicely." She said in a drawled tone, leading him to punch the wall.
"Eret...you monster, what are you doing to him?" He asked.
"I'm simply making friends...that's all I want...all I ever wanted." She continued, her tone a bit sadder than it had previously been.
This left Hiccup to wonder further on who this mystery woman was, and what exactly she was doing.
"Still no sight of them." Changewing said as he flew over the East district, trying his best to listen out for anything that felt off with his super hearing. So far he'd discovered nothing but dead ends.
He had considered giving up the search at this point, but stopped when he heard a strange pinging sound. It was coming from the south. He rushed to the area, searching a small shed for the source. Finally, he found what he'd been seeking. Whoever set this up was smart, as most signal jammers would be connected to telephone poles or cables. But this one was set up to a small console inside of a shed- besides the train tracks of the Dragon's Edge railway.
The elevated platform overlooked a small area, with several buildings. Some abandoned, some not. He tore the signal jammer from its bearing and crushed it in his palm, then listened out once again.
The sounds of birds chirping was soon followed by water running through pipes- everyday sounds. But he stopped moving his head at a specific sound: a shout of pain from the abandoned building down the street.
As he listened even closer to the voice, he was able to make out the sounds with ease. It was a female voice, one he instantly recognized as Camicazi. Changewing tapped onto his communicator a moment later.
"I found them."
Dollhouse
Hiccup couldn't recall exactly when it had happened. One minute he was arguing with the woman on the speaker, and then he was being dragged down the hall by two burly, doll skinned men. He was promptly brought into a strange room, with a chair in the center. It wasn't your typical chair, as it looked to be made for executions.
He was strapped down into it, staring up in shock as a cauldron dangled overhead. His eyes widened in fear of what was to come, and he began to struggle against the leather straps as best he could- his body still feeling numb. At this point, he'd admit it- he needed his team.
This is a bit of short chapter, but it's worth it I hope. This dollhouse event has been on my mind for a while, and I'll admit- I got writers block. But the main reason I've posted this now is because of today. Today is MY BIRTHDAY, and I was just too excited to get something fresh out to you guys.
Remember guys, I'll always thank and think of you- and I hope you do the same with my stories. Check out my latest story "How to Use Your Death Note" if you're interested in a Death Note themed HTTYD fic. Until next time , XO.