The battle between Class A and B was now really heating up as all the players were now on the battlefield. Hiccup had managed to catch Bard's scarf, and he quickly pulled it out of his hand before Hiccup at the chance to pull him towards him.
"Everything is going according to your plan," said Fishlegs.
"So far, but the only way we win this is if we take Cael and Bard off the board," said Hiccup.
"You sure we can fight without your armour?" Fishlegs asked, looking concerned.
"I'll just have to be more careful, but if we retreat now, we will lose so that have appeared all our cards on the table now," said Hiccup.
Ruffnut was using her athletic skills to dodge flying pieces of metal while firing squads of acid at Taina. Palma used her powers to use sheets of metal to block the acid, but Toothless immediately began firing plasma blasts.
"We can't let any reputation of the field were done for!" said Lance as he grabbed a stopcock and tossed it at Ruffnut. "Fire!"
The stopcock then launched itself even faster at Ruffnut, who was in midair and unable to dodge. Thankfully, Agnar appeared just in time and blocked the stopcock with a trashcan lid which he coated with his balls.
"Thanks, Agnar," said Ruffnut.
'I'm the only one where my pop of balls don't stick to; I found write-off of them,' he said. 'It looked like a throw them randomly to trap the enemy, but they are also personal trampolines for me. This was part of the plan from the start; not only did he give me a way to block Lance's attack…' A split second later, his face was pressed against Ruffnut's breasts. '…it also let me smash into these!'
Ruffnut looked at him, infuriated. "I don't think so!" She then grabbed Agnar and skidded across a pipe. "Take this creep!"
She then spun around as fast as she could and tossed Agnar through the air. He then hit one of his balls and began bouncing around the entire battlefield with incredible speed. Palma found herself completely surrounded and quickly covered herself.
"You're the worst," she said.
"Stop dodging me," Agnar pleaded.
Toothless also continued firing plasma blasts across the field. This combination forced Lance and Taina into a corner.
"We should withdraw, but they're so fast we don't have time to strategise," said Lance. "They practically got us trapped here now."
"Yeah," Taina agreed.
"Our classmates are putting up a good fight," said Clueless.
"If Ruffnut can get into range, it's game over," said Dogsbreath. "She's doing so awesome."
"Our girls aren't greater close combat, so Lance is forced to protect them himself," said Salem.
"We had outnumbered them, but thanks to Hiccup's out-of-the-box thinking, he's even the odds," said Bear. "He was one step ahead the entire time."
"It's not just that, but he's adjusting his strategy as he goes," said Wendy looking impressed. "Man, I can see why he's the smartest guy in our class."
"If they keep this up, Hiccup's team will win this fight for sure," said Ingrid.
"Not that I expected anything less from Hiccup," Astrid smiled.
Fishlegs suddenly saw a sheet of metal heading straight towards Hiccup and quickly blocked it. Cael then jumped onto the roof and charged towards them.
'It impossible to get strong on my own,' he said. 'I'm not meant to be a protagonist; I copy other people's powers. Still… I don't feel bad or resent the power I was born with because in every masterpiece ever created, there are supporting characters who outshine the leads. Your power is mine.'
He then began accessing Hiccup's power which he talked about when he struck him earlier. "I've got you now!"
"Fishlegs, now!" Hiccup yelled.
Fishlegs then suddenly grabbed Cael and slammed him into the ground, and quickly pinned him down.
'It won't activate,' said Cael. He suddenly realised what had happened. "Oh man, no fair! I drew a blank."
"How did you know that you couldn't copy your power?" Fishlegs frowned, looking at Hiccup.
"In a way, he did, but now is not the time to explain," said Hiccup.
"Cael!" Bard yelled and was about to move in to help.
However, Hiccup suddenly appeared right in front of him and quickly pushed him back, knocking his voice modulator off.
"I wanted a fight you again ever since the festival," Bard smiled. "Come at me!"
'I can't lose sight of him; if he gets away, the entire flow of this battle will change an instant,' said Hiccup. 'Bard, you're too much of a threat to ignore.'
"Looks like about to see his metal," said Blood King.
Eret just looked at the monitor, remembering when he began training Bard. At first, Bard had difficulty mastering the binding cloth, which was frustrating him to no end.
"It took you six years to learn how to use these binding cloths?" said Bard as he tried to untangle himself from the binding cloth. "Does someone like me even have a chance to master them like you did?"
"I for a long time, but I was practising from scratch," said Eret. "No one was there to shepherd my progress. People like you and me have to be resourceful; when the time comes, if we can't look out for ourselves, then we're good as dead. Keep on practising, and remember I'm not the type to waste my time on hopeless cases."
Bard began falling back, putting as much distance between him and Hiccup as he could. He knew he had no way of beating Hiccup in a straight-up fight; their fight at the Thawfest Festival proved that.
'I'm different from who I was back then,' he said to himself. He then quickly wrapped the binding cloth around a few pipes and pulled them tight. "Hiccup!"
He dislodged the pipes and flung them towards Hiccup; without his armour, he was much more vulnerable and had launched an attack at the moment he launched himself at him. It certainly looked as if you were trapped Hiccup with a perfect pincer movement.
However, Hiccup raised his palm and swung it forwards, channelling 20% of his power into the thrust. Bard braced himself in the wind pressure, but Hiccup hadn't done it to attack him. He used it in order to push himself backwards, avoiding the pipes.
"I thought I had him," said Bard and then quickly picked up his voice modifier. "Well, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve."
He then turned and ran away.
'I can't lose him; if he gets away, he can disrupt the way we fight,' said Hiccup and began chasing after him.
Bard used the binding cloth to swing from pipes to pipes. 'I won't be able to brainwash Hiccup at this rate. Got a retreat. Sorry, Cael, you went through the effort of creating an opening for me. I can't let things end like this.'
Fishlegs had made Cael weightless and were now dragging him around on a rope. In his attempt to free himself, he said a piece of piping at him, but Fishlegs easily knocked it aside.
"Guess using Palma's power won't get me out of this mess," said Cael.
'It was then five minutes since we started fighting; Cael's copy ability only lasts that long,' said Fishlegs.
"I know you probably think you're in the clear, but I've extended my powers to 10 minutes," said Cael as if reading his mind. "If I attack suddenly, what will you do?" Fishlegs turned on him and raised his fist. "Man, aren't you a shrewd one?"
'He's not talking in case I have Bard's brainwashing power too,' Cael noted. "Oh, by the way? You know how many powers I can copy?"
Fishlegs held up three fingers, which is an assumption he made based on the three clocks on his belt. 'He definitely has Palma's telekinesis as well as Taina's side alteration.' He finally reached the jail and opened the door. 'Strategically, it would make sense to have Bard's.'
"Getting three," Cael chuckled as he floated towards the jail. "You think that must be the case because I've got three clocks. So what happens if I was just pretending to have that many can actually hold four now?
There are a lot of different types of powers that I can copy. I can't activate more than one at a time, that's true, but their residual effects are sometimes long-lasting. Things I use are objects and not on people are especially handy that way. Taina's size alteration, for example, that effect sticks around. If I make something big, it stays oversize even if I switch over to a different power."
He then laughed. "Do you see yet? Do you understand when I say 'fire' it's all over?" Fishlegs eyes widened, and he quickly shut the door. "This supporting character has an ace up his sleeve."
Fishlegs then quickly rushed back towards the battlefield as quickly as he could. 'Did Cael do something to Hiccup? When?' He wanted to rush back to the battlefield to help Hiccup but stopped. 'But…'
Just before the match started, Hiccup explained their plan. 'Fishlegs, the key to our victory is for you to rejoin the others once you put Cael in jail. Whatever, you do not worry about me.'
Fishlegs hated it, but he had to trust Hiccup and rushed over to rejoin Ruffnut and the others.
Hiccup was still chasing after Bard, who was trying to put as much distance between them as possible.
'If I can't face them head-on, we can't win,' he said as he swung across the battlefield. 'So, I've got to make it my kind of fight.'
He looked back and saw that Hiccup had already closed a sizeable distance between. 'He's too fast! I'm done for.'
Cael smiled within the jail. "Time to… fire!"
Hiccup then suddenly felt a massive impact hitting his cheek, almost knocking him out cold.
"Lance's additional impact," said Cael. "When I hit a target, I can cause a second stronger impact remotely. Sorry, Cael, I didn't plan on getting caught. I hope that I gave you an advantage."
Bard stared, stunned as Hiccup began falling. 'Cael… He must have used Lance's power to replay his early attack.'
Seeing this was his chance, he immediately spread out his binding cloth.
Meanwhile, Ruffnut and the others suddenly had the tables turned against them. Palma used her powers to lift Taina on an enlarged nut so that she could reach Toothless.
"Now shrink," she said, grabbing Toothless' ankle.
Toothless suddenly found himself shrinking to the size of a pin, and Taina then quickly punched, flying across the field.
Lance also managed on the offensive by observing Agnar's movements and then punched him hard in the stomach as he flew by him.
"Got you," he said.
"Nice one!" said Palma as he immediately sent items flying at Ruffnut. "If we catch one, they'll be goners."
Ruffnut braced herself to withstand the attack.
"Ruffnut!" Dogsbreath yelled.
"There you go!" Jack cheered. "Let's carve them up!"
Bard was now moving to capture Hiccup, but he was still conscious.
'I can't forget… I have to remember…' said Hiccup and then recovered from the blow. He then quickly landed against the wall's surface and clenched his fist. '… How far I've come!'
Bard fired his binding cloth, but Hiccup jumped off against the wall at the exact same time dodging his attack.
Fishlegs had arrived to support the others, then quickly did a blow at the back of Palma's neck and knocked her out cold.
"Palma!" Taina cried.
Fishlegs then tackled her pushing her into some of Agnar's balls that were stuck on a nearby pipe, trapping her in place.
"Palma… Taina!" Lance yelled just as he grabbed Agnar.
Ruffnut suddenly appeared right in front of him and dealt him a powerful uppercut, taking him out.
Fishlegs stood there; he was immensely impressed with Hiccup's foresight. If he had gone to help Hiccup, then Ruffnut and the others would have been overpowered and captured.
Hiccup had now grabbed Bard's binding cloth and then spun around, having it wrapped around his chest to pull Bard closer towards him. Bard was cool completely by surprise as Hiccup shot right above him and then dealt a powerful axe kick. The two of them crashed towards the ground, and Hiccup quickly pinned him.
'No!' Bard cried. 'I waited so long for this… to show you how much I've grown since last time. But your classes are moving forward without stopping, rising further and further ahead while I crawl along. Damnit… the Hero Course… is amazing.'
He then smiled.
Hiccup and the others then took Bard, Palma and Lance to jail. They couldn't take Taina because she was still stuck to Agnar's balls. Regardless with four prisoners in their jail, they won the match.
"With incredible teamwork winning yet another 4 to 0 match is Class A!" Bard wailed in the mic. "This marks the end of today's training, and I think we can all agree that everyone has proven their potential. Now for the results, Match 1… A… Match 2… B… Match 3… draw… Match 4… A… Match 5… A! The winners of the Hero Course Battle is, unfortunately, Class 1-A!"
Class A immediately cheered.
"I wasn't feeling super competitive, but this loss definitely stings," said Salem.
"I know, talk about a frustrating end," Felicia pouted.
"I witnessed such soon brought deceptions," Faith cried.
Once he was out of jail, Bard immediately approached Eret and Blood King.
"Mr Eret… I couldn't stand against him on my own," said Bard looking frustrated. "I'm still not strong enough. This test also decided whether I was ready to transfer, right?"
"How'd you know?" said Blood King surprised, and turned to Eret. "Did you tell him?"
"No, I figured it out on my own. Thinking about the timing and format, it seemed like a prime opportunity to evaluate my progress. Plus, I was the only one who fought twice."
"This isn't finished until we gone over your critiques; rejoin your team," said Eret.
The sun was now setting, but they still needed to go over the team's review. Hiccup's armour was now back to its regular size, and Hiccup was now wearing it himself.
Eret looked at his class. "You all performed admirably. You came up with a strategy to take down your opponents and conducted to your situations." He then looked at Hiccup. "That said, having your AI taking control of your armour was nearly crossing the line."
"I technically didn't cheat," said Hiccup awkwardly. "Plus, I figured if we were also acting like villains, then there was no way they would play by the rules either."
"Just make sure you don't do it again, but regardless you all did a fine job."
Blood King looked at his class. "There was no faulting your strategy, but you did underestimate your enemy. In future, you need to remember that your enemy may not be as honourable as you."
"And I'm still no match for Hiccup," said Bard. "I thought after all my training I could face him like an equal, but I was wrong. I did my best, but it was just not good enough."
"Bard, no one asked you to do any more than that," said Eret approaching him. "Everyone here has been training for months to become heroes who can save the people of this world. No one can master being a hero right away; it even took Skullcrusher years to master his abilities. Before becoming a pro hero, you have to make sure to take care of yourself; otherwise, you'll fail. If you don't have the power to stand your ground on your own that you can't protect anyone else. With that in mind, with what you've shown today was enough to show a passing grade."
"That's great, but I still have a ways to go," said Bard. "After fighting everyone today, I understand; I experienced first-hand how amazing the Hero Course is. I'm not going to be satisfied by merely passing. I need to work harder and aim higher to live up to my potential.""
"That's fine; give it everything you've got and more," said Eret.
"Yes, sir!"