The explosion was caused by a cannonball as it hit the fence surrounding the island.
"What the hell is that?" Snotlout asked.
On the Bridge of Hesitation, even the Marines were surprised.
"Already?" Spandam choked.
"The battleships are firing on us?"
"It took up the stockade."
Then they could see sailing out of the mist and through the Gates of Justice was a mighty battleship.
Onboard the ship stood a Vice-Admiral with the scarred face.
"Vice-Admiral, our cannon fire landed a direct hit on the stockade at 4 o'clock around the main island," said a Marine.
"So, what's your point?" the Vice-Admiral asked.
"Um?" said the Marine, not sure how to answer.
"Is there a reason why that should matter to me?"
"I-uh, I guess not, sir."
"This is a thorough discriminate attack; I only care if we don't hit something."
"Right."
"Our mission is to bomb everything on this island into the sea. We will start by targeting the Tower of Law, and once were in firing range, we will launch a full-scale blitz on Enies Lobby."
"Yes, sir."
"If you so clearly understand the orders you have been given, stop wasting my time and start reloading the cannons!"
"Sir!" said the Marine, looking terrified. "Yes, sir!"
The Marine and immediately ran off to follow those orders.
"They blew a hole in the fence around the island," Toothless noted. "That was a pretty massive explosion."
Snotlout gulped. "They got enough room to steer a whole fleet through there and rein fire down all over us."
"It's worse than you think," said Toothless. "Take a look; the whirlpools that usually surround the island have completely vanished. If they aren't around to keep ships out and the Gates of Justice are wide open, there's nothing to stop the attacks. I'm guessing those whirlpools were only there because the gates were blocking the flow of the current of the waterfall."
"So now the gates are open, the current has a straight shot to the falls and smooth sailing for all those battleships," said Snotlout looking terrified.
Toothless nodded. "Things are about to get ugly."
"Then should we get moving?" Snotlout asked.
Toothless looked up at Ragnar. "Ragnar, things again rather serious down here."
"I'm on my way down!" Ragnar yelled.
However, before he had the chance to jump, cannon fire struck the top of the tower and hit was so much force that it was not clean off.
"No, Ragnar!" Toothless and Snotlout yelled.
At the Bridge of Hesitation, the Marines were completely shocked.
"They bombed the Tower of Law."
"Ragnar was up there," said Heather horrified.
"You think they hit him?" Eret asked.
"No, they hit the tower, weren't you paying attention?" said Tuffnut.
Ruffnut punched him in the elbow. "He's wondering if he fell with the rest of the tower, dimwit."
Galley Law and the Eret Family also witnessed the Tower of Law being demolished.
"Look, they took out the Tower of Law!"
"It's falling over," said Gabor.
"Let's just hope those guys are okay," said Palmer looking completely shocked.
The Marines on the main island were utterly terrified as they realised what had struck the Tower of Law.
"That wasn't just some accidental explosion up there."
"You're right; I think we're under attack."
"We've got a get off this damn island!"
The top of the Tower of Law fell down towards the waterfall, taking down the drawbridge on its way down. It then disappeared within the bottomless waterfall, and that was only the sign of things to come.
Toothless and Snotlout were deeply concerned about Ragnar's well-being, as it looked for a moment that Ragnar had fallen into the waterfall with the rest of the tower.
"H-he can't be…" said Toothless.
"Where are you, Ragnar!" Snotlout yelled.
"I'm right here," said a voice behind them.
The two of them immediately spun around and saw Ragnar standing behind them. He looked a little shaken, but otherwise, he was completely fine.
Snotlout looked at him furiously. "We thought you were dead!"
"Come on, you should know by now that we Riders are a resilient lot," said Ragnar dusting himself down.
Eret was holding out the transponder snail, hoping for any kind of good news.
"Hey, Eret… the twins… Heather… we're all okay over here and headed your way now," Toothless said to them over the transponder snail.
"Thank goodness," said Heather giving up a sigh of relief.
"Well, we better get things in order," said Eret putting the transponder snail away. He then turned his eyes towards Heather, smiling. "How are you feeling right now? You think that you're up for a fight?"
"Of course," said Heather.
"You can count us in," said Ruffnut as she drew her sword.
"Yeah, we want to have some fun as well," Tuffnut nodded, doing the same.
"What are you waiting for?!" Spandam yelled at the Marines. "Why out before backup arrives!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Marines then charged towards them.
"Noticed the ship on the other side of the bridge, right?" Eret smiled as he removed the glove over his right hand. "I'm thinking that it's our best chance to get out of this mess."
"We're were already wanted criminals; we might as well steal a ship," Heather shrugged.
"And it would be fun stealing the ship they plan to use to spirit you away," Tuffnut added.
"Take them down!" Spandam ordered.
The Marines raised their rifles and prepared to fire.
"Sixteen Flower!" Heather yelled, crossing her arms.
"Fire!" a Marine ordered.
The Marines then discovered that an arm had sprouted on their left arm and pulled their rifles upwards just as they were about to fire. This forced the Marines to fire their rifles up into the sky.
"What the hell?"
"Strong Right!" Eret yelled, launching his right hand and began flying around the Marines. "Face Slap!"
Eret yelled, pulling the chain causing his hand to slap the Marines right across the face. He pulled on the chain once more, causing the handle to fly back, slapping them on the other side of their faces. The twins immediately charged in and between their blades, easily taking up the Marines.
"Second formation, go!" Spandam ordered.
The second group of Marines then immediately charged in, but Heather was more than prepared.
"Thirty Flower!" Heather yelled.
Then sprouting from the ground were 30 hands, and each pair of arms grabbed the Marines angle, causing them to fall to the floor face first.
"Master Nails!" Eret yelled, shooting nails from his mouth.
The nails then pierced the Marines clothing trapping him in place.
"All right, third group attacked!" Spandam commanded. "Fourth… Fifth… Sixth… All of you! Just get in there and stop them!"
All the Marines then immediately began charging in towards them.
"I think we made him mad," said Ruffnut.
"Damn, they're like a parade of lemmings that goes on forever," said Eret and then looked at the others. "Take a step back for a second." He then raised his left arm. "Weapons Left!" He then transformed his left arm into a carrier then fired a cannonball at the Marines.
"Burst Fire!" He then unleashed his flamethrower upon the Marines, stopping them in their tracks.
"Eret Boxing!" He then quickly moved in and began pummelling the Marines with his fists.
"That is some serious firepower," said a Marine.
"There's no way we can fight this guy."
The Marines then slowly began backing away.
"What? You're still not impressed?" said Eret. "Okay, Eret…"
The Marines brace themselves, not knowing what he was going to do next.
"… Transform!" Marines began to wonder what he was about to turn into, and seconds later, Eret transformed into his centaur mode. "Now gaze upon… EretCentaur!"
"He's a horse?"
"No, wait. That is a make any sense; his torso should be in the front, not the legs."
"Monster!"
The Marines then immediately began running away, and Eret began chasing them down.
"Hey, get back here!" Eret yelled. "Quit running, dammit!"
Spandam was looking at the Marines, infuriated. "Hey, what the hell are you morons running for? Turn around and fight him!"
Heather and the twins then decided to join in. The twins then began attacking any wondering Marine they could reach, and Heather summoned several arms on their shoulders and began hitting them on the top of the head.
"Please, somebody help me!"
Some of the Marines even decided to jump off the bridge just to get away from them.
Spandam then quickly pulled out his transponder snail. "Escort ship, come in escort ship! We need reinforcements ASAP!"
"Yes, sir! How many men should we send in?"
"Did you really just ask me how many men, you idiot?" said Spandam furiously. "We've four extreme dangerous criminals going on a rampage leaving a trail battered Marines in their wake! Ship captain, navigators, signalman, oarsman, I want you to send every single man you've got on that ship."
"Yes, sir! We'll all work together to bring the criminals to justice!"
"Get down here and save me!"
The Marines just stared at the transponder snail blankly.
"That all you care about?" they said.
Meanwhile, in the secret passageway that led to the Bridge of Hesitation, Coco and Chimney were still running as quickly as they could. As they ran, Coco began drinking down a bottle of wine and somehow managed to move even faster.
"Come on, you two, pick up the pace," she said to Chimney and Paws.
"Wow, your fast, granny," said Chimney trying to keep up. "The power of booze is amazing, huh?"
"Oh no, to be honest, it's not the booze that's doing it for me," she said honestly.
"No?" said Chimney curiously.
"I'm having fun," she said, smiling. "Come to think of it, I hadn't had this kind of excitement since the good old days back when Tom was with us."
She then began thinking back to those happier times when Tom was still alive, building ships with Iceberg and Eret.
"And how are you two feeling right now?" she asked, looking at Chimney and Paws.
"Great!" said Chimney excitedly. "I'm having a blast! So much fun! So much fun! The life of a pirate is nothing but fun!"
"Coco! Chimney! Paws," Astrid's voice yelled down the tunnel.
They turned their heads and saw, running down towards them were Astrid and Fishlegs.
"Thanks for leaving the guide marks!" said Fishlegs.
"Hey, it's the pirate lady!" Chimney cheered.
"Did you guys feel that giant tremor?" Fishlegs asked.
"Sounds like the party is starting up there for sure," said Coco.
"Cannon fire! Cannon fire!" Chimney sang.
Back in the storage room, Hiccup managed to gain the upper hand in his battle against Lael, who had been taken completely by surprise by his transformation.
"Shave!" said Lael and quickly vanished.
"Not this time!" said Hiccup vanishing as well.
Both of them moved with incredible speed around the room, there were moving so fast they were nothing but a blur's. Hiccup landed in the centre of and began following Lael's movements and opened his mouth.
"Plasma Bolt!" he yelled.
He then fired a plasma ball, moving with incredible speed, which grazed Lael's cheek. Lael tried getting closer to him, but Hiccup disappeared and reappeared directly behind him.
"Neo Dragon Fist!" Hiccup yelled, hitting him in the chest with a very fast fist.
Lael found himself flying across the room and hitting the wall hard.
He didn't know how Hiccup did it, but now he was able to keep up with him, and his attacks were far stronger. "Shave!" He vanished and reappeared in front of Hiccup, lifting a finger. "Finger Pistol: Yellow Lotus!"
He then began thrusting his finger at Hiccup with blinding speed, but miraculously, he could dodge each and every one of his attacks. Then suddenly, he vanished into thin air, and when Lael looked up, he saw that he was right on top of him.
"Neo Dragon Talon!" Hiccup yelled, coming down for a kick.
Lael managed to jump out of the way in time, and Hiccup smashed the stone floor upon contact. Sadly for him, while he was able to dodge the blow, the shockwave of the attack sent him crashing into several crates.
Hiccup looked closely at the crater for any kind of sign of movement and then saw Lael pulling himself out, tossing several crates across the room.
'His physical prowess is comparable to a Six Powers Master,' Lael noted as he brushed himself down. 'He's completely different from when I fought him at the Galley Law mansion. That transformation of his somehow increased his speed, but how did he accomplish it. A Zoan Type is only to have three different transformations. What the hell is going on?'
Hiccup then zoomed in towards him, and Lael did the same. Both of them then collided fists with one another, but Hiccup's attack had more power and sent him skidding across the floor.
"Razor!" said Lael and began zigzagging across the room towards Hiccup.
Hiccup, however, nearly took to the air and zoomed down towards him, clenching his fist. "Neo Dragon Fist!"
Lael was barely able to hold his ground from the attack, and when he looked up, he saw that Hiccup reverted back to his human form and looked completely worn out, even more than before.
"I figured as much," said Lael clutching his waist. "That transformation of yours takes a huge toll on your body. Though I admit that I am curious on how you're able to perform such a transformation."
"My ships Doctor discover that his Zoan type possesses more transformations than the standard three," Hiccup explained. "He uses a special pill to perform said transformations, but I was able to do with my own willpower."
"And in the process pushing your body weight too far, and I doubt you can take much more. Not the wisest thing to do. Wearing yourself down to the brink of exhaustion just for a few minutes of strength."
"It's better than letting you take away everything that I care about," said Hiccup as he rose to his feet. "I will do anything to keep that from happening."
"But you still lost, even if you do defeat me. You must have felt that explosion earlier; it's a pretty safe bet that was a battleship launching a warmup shot. Shouldn't be too much longer until they start a full-scale bombardment, and for all we know, your friends at the Tower of Law could be dead already. Maybe they got out, maybe they are already running through the underground passageways tried to get here in time to help you."
He then smirked and then immediately spun around, swinging his leg. "Tempest Kick!"
He then unleashed his slashing attack against the wall, and seconds later, a crack appeared, causing seawater to burst into the room.
"What did you do?" said Hiccup.
"You might defeat me, but you can't stop this seawater from flooding the tunnel and drowning anyone who happens to be in there."
Hiccup couldn't believe that he would go this far. "You bastard."
"Face the facts, Dragon, nothing is going your way," said Lael. "But don't let me stop you from trying. I'm interested to see how far you'll go in your misguided attempts to save your little friends."
"This isn't a game we're playing!" Hiccup yelled furiously.
Meanwhile, Eret, Heather, and the twins were easily dispatching the Marines on the Bridge of Hesitation.
Eret was currently firing his Gatling gun at the Marines, the twins showed off their swordplay against them, easily overpowering them, and Heather managed to knock several out cold with her arms.
Sadly more and more Marines seem to appear as they were tried to overwhelm them with numbers.
"If nothing else, they sure are persistent, huh?" said Eret.
"They just keep coming," said Ruffnut.
"How many Marines do they have?" Tuffnut asked.
"Based on the headcount so far, we're taken on a full unit," said Heather.
"Speed up, you goons!" Spandam ordered. "I want Heather Owson captured on that ship post-haste! We don't have long; the battleships are coming!"
"Actually, we're out of time, sir," a Marine gulped.
"What did you say?" said Spandam spinning around.
Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing as they saw sailing out of the mist were 10 battleships.
"Aw, look behind the fog!"
"The ships are here!"
Spandam then saw that the Marines were now running away. "Hey, why are you running! Get back here!"
Heather immediately fell to her knees as fear gripped her. "Oh no."
Spandam then smirked. "You asked for it, Heather Owson; the Buster Call is here!"
Once the battleships were in range, they immediately began firing upon the main island. The Giants was still carrying everyone and will, running as quickly as they could just to get ahead of the cannonballs that were raining down on top of them.
"They're here!"
"They've started the attack!"
"Run faster!"
"Get out of here!"
"What you were trying to do?" Gabor yelled.
The battleships continued raining fire down upon the island.
"The Buster Call has commenced! Our primary targets are Dragon Conqueror Hiccup and his crew of roughly 60 pirates. However, due to an agreement with Admiral Asmund, the criminal Heather Owson, currently located on the Bridge of Hesitation, is not to be targeted! Assessment of the current situation is unnecessary; our objective is to launch a full-scale attack on the Judicial Island of Enies Lobby!"
The battleships did not pause upon their bombardment of the island, despite knowing that there were probably still many Marines upon it. Heather was utterly terrified as she watched; it was almost exactly like the time she witnessed the Buster Call for the first time 10 years ago.
Spandam merely laughed. "The invocation of merciless death… the Buster Call has finally begun!"