Sprite and Suneater had tied the villains up with vines and tentacles.

"The neurotoxin should be circulating throughout your body's at this point," Suneater panted. "You're not going to die, but I don't be doing any running for a while."

"And those vines will be using sleeping spores which will keep you sedated," Sprite added.

"We'll be taking these masks with us, who knows what kind of tricky had hidden inside them," said Suneater as he picked up the mask.

"The others are probably way ahead of us by now," said Sprite began making their way to the door.

"We need to—" Suneater then lost all his strength and began to fall over.

Sprite quickly grabbed him and placed his arm over his shoulder. "Just rest, you've been through a lot. I've got a healing factor you don't, you need to save your energy."

"I guess I was hurt worse than I thought," said Suneater before he lost consciousness.

Hiccup and the others were making their way down the corridor as quickly as they could hoping to catch up with Vemillion before he confronted Grimmel.

"Oh man, Ragnar and Asmund," said Red Riot. "I'm really worried about those two, especially Asmund."

Hiccup couldn't help but nod in agreement.

'Not even the first ease believe you can do this,' Fat Gum sighed. 'Guess one moment of confidence doesn't mean much if they haven't seen done anything to back it up, but still…'

He then quickly turned towards Hiccup and Red Riot. "Listen! You left comrades to guard your backend if you're a real man you'll trust them."

"Yeah, he'll handle it no problem!" Red Riot yelled.

"Doesn't take much to change your mind, does it?" said Hiccup.

"Ragnar is back there, I know you can do this," said Red Riot. "He and I went to the same school, after all."

Hiccup blinked. "You did."

"Yeah, but in any case Fat is right. The only thing we can do is have faith in him, we can't afford to waste a second the time Sprite and Suneater bought us. All right, let's go!"

'Could have told him to calm down,' said Rock Lock.

Trapster noticed the walls were moving. "Strange, the guy was manipulating the buildings seems to have eased off for some reason."

"You're right, it's not twisting any more," said Hiccup.

"I'd expected him to follow as many obstacles in our way as he could to trip us up. It is not then that means is awareness and control does not extend through the entire place. There's also the police squad above, is possible he focused all his attention on them instead."

"So there's a limit of how much of the building he can keep tabs on," said Rock Lock.

"It's just a theory, but maybe rather than having assimilated into it, he is moving around inside the walls to monitor what's going on. So when he does take control of an area, perhaps his true bodies nearby. If you post an actual eye or an ear out to keep track of us that all it takes. I just need to see him."

Mimic's eye was looking down in the chamber below went to his shock; he discovered that the three villains have been knocked out cold and were tied together in vines and tentacles. There was no sign of Sprite or Suneater, but there was a trail of blood leading to the door.

He did know exactly what happened, but in the desert, they had only been able to delay just two of the heroes. Obviously, one of them was beaten quite badly, but still, he expected a lot more from them.

"They only managed to delay two of the heroes," he growled furiously. "Garbage or not those three are supposed to be strong." A thought then appeared on his head, which could explain to what happened. "That's right; it's his fault!"

He then shot off down the corridor as quickly as he could.

Meanwhile, on the surface Centipede and Bubble Girl had managed to capture the three villains. Sadly, the passageway that led to the underground complex was completely sealed, and neither of them had the power to break through it.

"I can't believe you all came out to stop us," said Bubble Girl as she tied up the villains. "It seems crazy to me."

"Well, it's not. Fighting you people was the only sane option. We couldn't just sit it out, if we did Grimmel, the Grisly would have killed us without a thought."

"Grimmel?" Blue Girl frowned. "I thought he was just a young head of Dragon Killer."

"He was, and to our boss got sick. The boss valued the old ways, he wanted the Dragon Killers to stay as we were, even in these new times. We're not like villains we have integrity, he didn't want us to be seen as just another group of lowlife thugs. He is who we respected, we trusted him. The young head that we made himself a villain and allowed scum to join us. He makes decisions on his own, doesn't the rest of us want. He brings that his build is the only one that matters."

"The boss is in bad shape, he can't even talk, and we know who to blame."

"Watch it," one of them hissed.

"As much as you dislike Grimmel, using pretty sure that we're not going to catch him," Bubble Girl noted.

"You don't stand a chance. A wack job like him doesn't care about consequences or even's own future. Those are the ones that you have to watch out for, it's what makes them so dangerous."

Hiccup and the others were running down the corridor when suddenly a large hand extended from the wall and slammed into Trapster.

"Trapster!" Red Riot yelled.

'He wants me to knock me off the fight before I lay eyes on him,' said Trapster noting that the tunnel had been formed in the wall behind him he was being pushed towards it.

"Those idiots can't handle their job, I just have a take care these guys myself!" Mimic roared.

Then just before he entered the tunnel, Fat Gum jumped in and shoved Trapster out of the way.

"No!" Trapster yelled.

Fat Gum just looked at him. 'If we don't stop this guy then Asmund and Ragnar stayed behind for nothing. Come on, Trapster do your thing!'

Fat Gum was then pushed down the tunnel.

"Be careful, Fat!" Trapster yelled.

Fat Gum roared down the tunnel several rebels until he landed in a dark room on the floor on his chest. As he began to pick himself up the muffled sounds beneath, and when he looked down, he saw Red Riot beneath him gasping for breath.

"When you come from?" Fat Gum stared.

"I jumped out in front of Mr Eret," said Red Riot as he picked himself up. "I figured I wouldn't take any damage, but then you jumped, and I kinda got stuck."

"Well, nothing we can do now," said Fat Gum as he turned to look ahead of them. "Get ready, we're not alone."

Red Riot turned and saw that he was right because the shadows was a muscular man with long brown hair and a mask over his mouth.

'Go ahead and punch me,' said Red Riot as he completely hardened his body to its maximum. 'I'll smash your fists to pieces!'

The villain raised his fist and slammed it into Red Riot, and he quickly braced himself. However, the power behind the punch was so great that he was sent flying into the wall. Next thing Fat Gum new was that the villain began pummelling him with a barrage of superfast fists and he could feel the impact of every single one.

"You good," Fat Gum asked, looking behind him in his eyes widened.

Red Riot had been smashed into the wall, and his arms were crumbling. Clearly, the impact of the blow was strong enough to break through his skin.

He looked at his arms and shock. "No, my arms are…"

"You know what I think?" said the villain. "Knives and guns have got no place in a fight, anyone can win if they've got a weapon. That's the coward's way, a real fighter killed his opponents using nothing but his own strength. Are you a real fighter?"

"You're not gonna take us down that easily!" Fat Gum yelled as he swung his fist at him.

However, before his blow could make contact, a force field appeared around him, and his attack bounced off.

"What?" Fat Gum stared as the force field faded away. 'Looks like some kind of barrier.'

"So we have Fat Gum and a boy with a hardening power," said a voice and then stepping out of the shadows was a masked man with a bald head and dressed up like a monk. "They are both better suited for defence, disappointing isn't it Wrath?"

Wrath then quickly gelled several more powerful blows at Fat Gum, which tall right through his jacket. The attack only lasted a few seconds, but he felt every single blow that was dealt to him.

'I can feel his blows even through my Fat. Each punches like a bullet.'

"You call that a good defence, you're both looking rough already," said Wrath. "I mean you're not mincemeat yet, but still…"

Fat Gum frowned. 'These two weren't on the metahuman list we got. They bring in outside help? One makes a barrier and the other rains down powerful punches. This will be a tricky pair to fight.'

"We are spear and shield, whereas you are just simply are two shields," said the monk.

"Wait, hold on," said Wrath looking at the monk. "Who would win a fight with two shields? Sounds lame."

"To be fair, I don't know whether that boy even qualifies as one," said the monk looking at Red Riot.

Red Riot had managed to get back onto his feet, but his arms were completely numb. 'My arms are cracked, and it hurts. I couldn't absorb the blow, another barrage like that and I'm done. I thought that I had gotten stronger. Damnit, I'm still weak!'

"Remember your unbreakable!" Fat Gum yelled, snapping him out of his thoughts. "If you let them break your spirit, that means you've lost. When you're up against villains, the key is to make them lose the will to fight first. You can't your drive before they do. Now let's take those two backends down and get out of here! The others are waiting for us!"

"They believe they can defeat us, you must be thrilled," said the monk as he created barriers around himself and Wrath.

"I like the way that fact guy thinks," said Wrath excitedly. "All right, this is starting to get good. Get rid of this damn thing Shield, I don't need a stupid bubble to keep me safe."

"Rise above your own desires, remember what Master Grimmel said," said Shield tiredly. "He paired us for a reason, our skills complement each other, ensuring victory."

Wrath groaned, and then he began sending a variety of punches that Shield. However, he created a barrier around himself and shielded himself on the blows.

"What you hope such violence will accomplish?"

"Grimmel didn't ask whether I wanted a team up with you!"

"'Master Grimmel' show some respect."

"Who cares! All I want is a good deathmatch."

"Very well, if you think you can take them yourself by all means." Shield then began to lower the barrier around them.

"That's more like it," said Wrath and then turned to face Fat Gum. "You're not so bad after all!"

He then delivered larger punches towards Fat Gum, and just like before he could feel every single blow behind it.

'When I getting close I can't dodge his hits,' Fat Gum grimaced. 'And there's so much strength behind him that even I can't absorb all the damage. He'll wear me down until I have nothing left. They were arguing before, but I'm sure the other guy will put up a shield of his partner needs one.' His eyes then turned towards Shield remained composed. 'It felt like an iron wall when I punched it earlier, my power isn't enough to take it down. We will be able to win while that guy is still standing. Despite what I said, Red Riot is in rough shape, but I've got no choice I have to face them. Get this long, and I might die, but if I don't try, we'll be dead for sure.'

"Fat Gum," said Red Riot feeling helpless.

"Your name is Wrath, right?" said Fat Gum looking directly at him. "It's been a while since I've been hit back hard and I've done a decent amount of fighting over the years too. In the end, it's all going to come down to what happens; first, your arms get tired, or my body gives out. Which is stronger, spear or shield? I guess we're bound to find out and we?!"

"Oh right, you totally get me, fatso!" Wrath yelled excitedly. "Shield remember…"

"No barriers," Shield sighed.

"Yeah! This is going to be awesome guys!"

He then launched himself at Fat Gum, and Red Riot could only watch as the battle ensued.

'Fat,' he said as Fat Gum took the blows. 'He's protecting me, even though those punches are obviously wearing him down. What is wrong with me? I will so sure that I was getting stronger, but then he broke through my defence with a single attack, and now I'm just in the way.'

Fat Gum was taking the blows, and it was extremely painful, and Wrath was moving past every single second. 'He's getting faster, and each hit hurts more than the last. Am I going to be able to hold out long enough?'

Red Riot wrote completely useless as he watched.

"Come on wide load, hang in there," said Wrath as he kept swinging his punches. "You can't pass out on me yet! We've got a long way to go, and I'm just getting warmed up!"

'Damnit, I can't just stand here,' said Red Riot as he watched. 'I have to do something, Fat Gum is going to die because of me. Useless bastard! You're hardening cracked, and you can't find anything worthwhile underneath! Can't I do anything?'

Shield noticed Red Riot's spirit had been broken. "The boy won't be a problem, he's already finished. You can see it in his eyes."

'It was just like it was back then, nothing's changed… nothing,' said Red Riot.

About a year ago, Dogsbreath was still in middle school, and at his school, a couple of bullies were picking on a kid.

"Hey there, we heard about you. You're the guy who can change leaves into money, right?" said one of the bullies as they held out several leaves. "Nice power, man.

"So make these into bills quick, dude. We're kinda short on cash."

The kid looked at them frantically. "I can't do paper bills! Anyway, where is our very quickly!"

"Then we'll just have to spend real quickly, won't we?"

"I can't guys, seriously!"

Dogsbreath then approached. "What's up, you bulling some kid for chump change? That's not very manly, jerks!"

The two bullies looked at him, and they weren't particularly impressed.

"Who's that?"

"Third-year Dogsbreath."

Dogsbreath then charged towards them.

"Here, he comes!"

"I got him."

Then suddenly, a large stone slammed into Dogsbreath's face, and he cringed in pain.

"He's not really that strong, his power just makes his body a little bit hard."

"Bastard," Dogsbreath groaned.

The two bullies then took the kid away.

"Now let's go."

"Get back here!" Dogsbreath yelled.

"Forget about it, Dogsbreath," said a voice in the bushes and seconds later two guys popped their heads out.

"You were watching?" Dogsbreath stared.

"Why are you always sticking your head out like that man?"

"It doesn't matter what your power is, so long as you have an honourable heart! That's what Crimson Riot believes."

"No one believes stuff like that anymore."

"Like the pros say, your body moves before your brain can think which means…"

He was about to chase after the bullies again when Ragnar appeared around the corner and scolded them.

"It's Ragnar Keatson from Class 4."

They watched as Ragnar yelled.

"He's really going at them," said Dogsbreath.

One of the bullies then attempted to hit him with a large rock, but Ragnar merely activated his power and smashed right through it. He then grabbed the two bullies by the helm of their shirt and lifted them off their feet.

"Man, I don't want to be on his backside."

Ragnar appeared to say something to the two of them and then released. Seconds later, they watched as the two bullies walked off. The kid they bullied smiled up at Ragnar and then ran off.

"I think you got it sorted."

"I hear that Ragnar is applying to Berk Academy. His power is strong, his instincts are great and get people to listen to him. I also the rumour that his mother is a hero guess his following in her footsteps. It's all about approval ratings these days, that's what people are looking for in a hero."

"Yeah, and Ragnar's got that covered. He's definitely human material."

'What about me?' Dogsbreath moaned. 'My hardening is pretty weak, and it's nothing flashy. It's kind of boring, that if you have a chivalrous heart, it doesn't matter what your power is. Train your body as hard as you can, and your spirit will make up for your metapower weakness or at least that's what I thought.'

Later that day, they began the way down the corridors.

"Hey, speaking of high school I'm kind of thinking I might go for Berk too."

"Please, normal people like us don't grow up to be heroes idiot." He then looked at Dogsbreath. "Hey, D! Do you want to apply for Joint Tech together?"

"Oh, I don't know. I haven't really thought about it that much so…"

Later that evening, he was looking at his application form, and his number one choice had been Berk.

'As lame as it sounds seen somebody like Ragnar in action got me thinking. What if I had a flashier power, would that give me the confidence I need to apply for the Hero Course at Berk.'

He continued to walk down the street and then suddenly he saw a large man looking down at two girls from his school. He had to be the biggest guy Ragnar had ever seen, his entire body was hidden by a cloak, and as weird, as it sounds he could hear what appeared to be a voice from an old radio giving a news report.

"What is that?" he stared.

"The Hero Agency tell me where it is," he said in a booming voice placing his hand against the wall about them.

The two girls were utterly terrified and were unable to speak.

"What? You're not going to answer me!"

He then moved his fingers slightly, and suddenly huge cracks appeared in the building.

'Crap, why are there ever he was patrolling at times like these!' Dogsbreath panicked as he looked around frantically. 'Someone—no, I can do it.'

"It's a simple question," said the big guy plunging his large fingers deep into the wall. "Why won't you tell me?"

Dogsbreath wanted to help them, but his body refused to listen. 'Move! Come on!'

Then suddenly Ragnar appeared out of nowhere placing himself between the two girls and a man. "Around the corner and make a left at the big street. The Agency is two kilometres away!"

"Thank you very much," he said and then turned to leave. "Everything is for my master."

Ragnar then took a deep sigh of relief. "That was scary."

The two girls then immediately hugged Ragnar.

"Thank you for saving us!"

"If you had stopped and we would have been squashed for sure."

"We had better get out of here, I sent him to the police instead," said Ragnar.

Dogsbreath just stood there. 'I froze… why didn't I go? Why?'

Later that night, Dogsbreath was in his room, looking at his application form.

'That autumn, a guy the same age as me was in the new fighting back against a villain. Everyone was talking about him, but there were witnesses before Skullcrusher showed up that said another kid, his friend may be, helps the heroes. My spirit is not making up for anything… when you're really scared… when your life is really on the line… that's when your true colours show. Facing danger and choosing to take the next step forward, that is what makes a person hero material.'

Feeling that he cannot be a hero, he began crossing out his application for Berk.

'I'm not a hero, not even. My mum told me the first time that my car appeared I accidentally cut my eye. For a while, after that, I whined and cried about how much I hated my power. Thinking about it now, it's probably why am I at him so much.' He then picked up a book about Crimson Riot. 'I hated my own power, but here's was similar. He stood tall investors life to save others.'

He then tossed the book across the room, and it hit a shot knocking a few of his items onto the floor.

"That's not it, is it," said a voice behind him.

Dogsbreath's eyes lit up and then turned around and saw that he was looking at a holo recording of a news interview of Crimson Riot.

"No, I'm sorry," said the news reporter.

Dogsbreath looked at the ground and saw that when he tossed the book that a holo device fell out of it. 'Oh, it came from a book of great heroes that I got my birthday a while ago. Guess I never got around to watching it.'

"If you're ready, we'll start the interview," said the reporter.

"Right, hit me," said Crimson Riot.

"Even among heroes, you have a reputation for being a bit reckless. After rushing headlong into danger. Tell me, are you ever afraid in those situations?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course, I'm afraid! Show me someone who is not afraid of facing death, and I'll show you an idiot!"

Dogsbreath just stared at him. 'I never understood what he was about before, not really anyway. I thought that he was cool for just charging full force into everything.'

"I'm where I am now because when I was a sidekick, I failed to save someone in peril."

"I heard about that, but it wasn't your fault. With the crime rate as high as it is—"

"I don't think you understand, that day I hesitated, and somebody lost their life because my spirit was weak. Yes, I'm frightened when I fight a villain, knowing that it could end in my death, but there's something I fear more. The look on someone's face as they die that is far worse. It is the fear of seeing them look again that drives me."

"Can you tell me what chivalry means to you?" the reporter asked.

"It means a strong spirit, it isn't a matter of being bold or confident or fearless. I am a hero, and I have sworn to protect people, it is about that I have written upon my heart and one that I will die to keep. You want to know what chivalry means to me? Living a life with no regrets."

Dogsbreath then began to cry as he finally realised the spirit of the hero was truly about.

The next day he told his friends that he planned to submit his application form to Berk, much to their surprise.

"You serious, D?"

"Yeah, I am," said Dogsbreath. 'I won't freeze like that again, ever.'

Afterwards, he made his way to the locker room and apologised to the two girls from yesterday.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I saw that guy threatening you, but I panicked. I was too scared to move."

"Uh, who is he?"

"Pretty sure that he is from Class 1."

"Don't worry about it, anybody would be scared."

"Ragnar is just special, that's all."

Ragnar had been listening to their conversation and looked at Dogsbreath curiously.

After that, Dogsbreath began to train like crazy to strengthen his power and learned everything he would need to pass the theory. So when he took the exam, he passed both the theory and the practical test, and his classmates were overjoyed.

The next year Dogsbreath was making his way to the Academy, and he changed his, making it a lot more spite.

"New hairdo?" Ragnar asked.

"Yeah, I thought a little change can hurt," Dogsbreath shrugged. "I'm not going to regret stuff any more, I will protect people like a hero. I'm not the pathetic loser I used to be."

"What happened that day… with the villain," said Ragnar folding his arms. "It was really tough on you more than it was on the rest of us?"

"So, what's it to you?"

"I'm just saying that I'm impressed that you managed to step forward even after being terrified," said Ragnar. "Anyone with lesser spirit would have collapsed and given up, but not you. Just make sure that spirit doesn't dwindle, because I am feeling there will be rough days ahead."

Dogsbreath smiled. "I will, and thank you."

Back in the present Red Riot remembered Sprite's words and took them to heart.

'I've been in a ton of scary situations since then, but one thing is fighting me more than anything else,' said Red Riot clenching his fist.

Fat Gum had taken quite a beating from Wrath, but he was still standing much to his surprise.

"You're kidding, right?" said Wrath. "How are you still standing?"

'If you think that I'm just a shield, and that mistake is going to cost you despite,' said Fat Gum clenching his teeth through the pain. 'I've been absorbing every below you dealt me, sinking each one into my body and storing its power. Doing that takes energy and burns the fat that protects me from taking serious damage. So my defence is getting weaker, but I'll take those punches and almost beer that can shatter any shield!'

Fat Gum was now channelling all that energy into his fist and Shield took notice of this. "Wrath, he's up to something. Finish him quickly!"

Wrath charged at him ready to deal the final blow, and Fat Gum was worn out to move. 'It's time to strike, but he's warmly down more than I expected. Not sure I'm ready to release the power I absorbed.'

"Showing what you got! Don't hold anything back!" Wrath yelled excitedly as he unleashed a barrage of fists.

Then suddenly appearing out of nowhere right between the two of them was Red Riot.

'Red!' Fat Gum stared.

'I won't regret anything!' Red Riot yelled as he hardened his skin to its maximum. 'Now or never again!' He was then struck by the fists, but unlike last time he was now hardening his body between attacks and holding his ground. 'I'll do it! I will become a hero! I'll protect people!'

Wrath was completely stunned by his resolve. 'He was blown away so easily earlier?'

'If I crack, I harden again,' said Red Riot defiantly. 'Stay strong, protect others even if it means your life!'

"All right kid, let's go!" Wrath yelled, raising his fist.

Red Riot roared clenching his fist, but before that to attack and make contact, a barrier appeared around Wrath.

Wrath glared at Shield. "A shield now?"

"Of course, don't be a fool," said Shield and looked at Red Riot who had used up all his strength and was collapsing. "Nothing can overcome the defence of my defence. The boy's attack was in vain."

"It wasn't in vain," said Fat Gum's voice within the smoke and he caught Red Riot. "Thank you, Red. You bought me the time I needed."

When the smoke clearly saw that Fat Gum was no longer fat and was channelling a large amount of energy to his fist.

"Shield, take this pain down!" Wrath roared.

"The two of you are going to lose, do you want to know why?" Fat Gum roared.

"My wall will stand," said Shield.

"I'm not so sure," said Wrath.

"You made a mistake and so did I," said Fat Gum. "We underestimated the hero Red Riot at his shivering spirit!"

He then swung his fist against the barrier and shattered it in the shockwave it created sent both the villains flying into the wall opposite making Red Riot smile.

"A spear and shield, the victory is ours," said Fat Gum.