The Marines had just opened fire on one of their own battleships, the same battleship that Hiccup and Lael had been fighting on. Hiccup survived it and quickly flew back towards the column, which he had just reached before he reverted back to human form.

"That was too close," Hiccup panted. "I never dream that they would shoot their own ship." He then began looking at himself. "I can't seem to transform back just like last time; I guess that's one of the downsides about Titan Wing Form. I stated that four for about a minute, so I'm guessing I won't be able to transform for a minute too. I better hide until then, or else he's gonna stomp on me like a bug."

Hiccup then quickly ran back into the column to hide.

Lael was hovering in the air thanks to his Moonwalk and had observed everything.

"He doesn't seem to be able to transform, no doubt a side effect," he said. "Whatever the case is still alive. Well, this would have been a waste of time if he died in a measly cannon attack."

He then quickly headed straight back down towards the column.

The battleships continued to rain fire down on the main island, and the giants were trying to carry everyone to safety as quickly as they could.

"Look, everyone, you can see the front gate!" Kaley pointed. "We're almost there!"

They all cheered as they could see the front gate coming into view; it looked like they were home free.

"Keep running!" Teeny yelled down to the giants.

Magni was looking back towards the courthouse; he was still very much concerned about Eret and Coco. He had fought as hard as he could, but in the end, he was not strong enough to rescue Eret.

On the Bridge of Hesitation, Spandam was smiling joyously at the destroyed battleship, believing that Hiccup had been killed in the explosion.

"Your precious Dragon was rampage aboard that battleship, and now he's a pile of ashes!" Spandam laughed. "Your captain is dead; go ahead and give up already!"

"You think a little cannon fire is going to kill him," Ruffnut scoffed.

"If you think that you don't know Captain very well," said Tuffnut.

Eret looked back at the battleship and was surprised by the attack on the ship. "What the hell? That ship was filled with their own men."

"You're starting to understand the merciless nature of the Buster Call," said Spandam. "This is the face of justice, Eric Earlson. Now do yourself a favour and hand over Heather Owson and those pirates; if you cooperate with us, I'll see that you're pardoned for your crimes. Why are you even bothering to protect this woman anyway? What's in it for you? You're not even a pirate.

The World Government is devoted to protecting normal citizens like you from people like them. Do you really trust them more than us? This woman those two pirates are protecting has blood on her hands. If you choose to defy us… well, you remember what happened to Tom."

Eret then promptly struck him in the face with his extended fist, catching him completely by surprise.

"My face," Spandam groaned. "I didn't think it could get any more swollen."

Eret smiled as he reattached his arm. "Keep your mouth shut; I've heard enough of your crap."

"I mean, you really think you could fool anyone with that speech," said Ruffnut shaking her head.

"Yeah, even the two of us know it was shit, and we're not the brightest," Tuffnut nodded.

Spandam then got back on his feet and drew his sword, looking at them furiously.

"Oh crap, he's using the elephant sword!" said a Marine.

"That thing is unstoppable."

"Okay, listen, Tusk," he said to the sword. "This has gone on for far too long; I want you to fatally wound Heather Owson while her guard is down."

Tusk just grunted, telling him that he understood the order.

"Take this!" Spandam yelled, raising his sword high. "Elephant Charge!"

He then swung his sword and the blade transformed into an elephant's head, but its trunk was still a sword. It was speeding towards Heather, who was still so traumatised from the Buster Call she was unable to move.

"Bastard!" Eret yelled.

Then, to everyone's surprise, he grabbed hold of the elephant's head and, with nothing but pure strength, was able to halt its advance before it even reached her.

"He stopped it," said Spandam shocked.

Heather just sat there staring.

"Way to go!" Ruffnut cheered.

"Nothing can stop us now!" Tuffnut yelled.

Tusk was trying to break free from Eret's grid, but he was just too strong.

"You just keep building your pyre higher and higher," Eret glared.

"What are you doing, Tusk!" Spandam yelled at the elephant. "You're an elephant dammit, how are you losing? Get them and slice them to pieces!"

Eret responded by raising his left and transformed it into its cannon form. "You best make your nose normal again, elephant, unless you want a couple of new nostrils in the middle of your forehead."

Terrified, Tusk's nose reverted back to normal.

"Okay, there you go, smart move," said Eret and then turned his eyes to heaven. "Heather Owson, you think Dragon and the others are still coming?"

"Without a doubt, they'll be here," said Heather.

"And you two?" Eret asked, looking at the twins.

"Do you even need to ask?" said Tuffnut.

"They're not gonna let anything stop them, certainly not a little cannon fire," said Ruffnut.

Eret looked at Spandam. "I already told you once before that I'm betting everything on them, Spanda."

"You what?" Spandam blinked.

Eret released Tusk and looked at him. "Funny, I never dream this day might actually come. If only I had the power before, I wouldn't even be here. Even if it killed me, I have to stop them from taking Tom.

Everyone knows the reputation of Enies Lobby, and everyone knows the power of the Government. But the Dragon Riders didn't care, they knew what they were up against, and they still pressed on. In order to save their friend, they were willing to take on the entire world without hesitation, and that's my kind of people."

He then grabbed hold of Tusk. "I've never forgotten the role you played in Tom's death, and I never will. Every time I pictured your stupid face, I've dreamt of smashing it." He then charged towards Spandam, dragging Tusk with him. "Smashing your face in…"

"What are you doing?" Spandam panicked. "Don't come any closer! Stop this!"

"…until there was nothing left than a bloodied hamburger!" Eret roared as he tossed Tusk over his shoulder.

Spandam screamed up to the point that Tusk landed directly on top of him. Tusk rolled to the send, and the impact had caused the bridge to crack under his weight.

"That's a pretty good start," said Eret. "Thanks to the Dragon Riders, I finally get to live out this dream."

The Marines were rather terrified, understandable considering they had just witnessed Eret toss a 5,000-pound elephant with the greatest of ease. They then became even more nervous when Eret raised his left arm, configuring it into his gatling gun.

"Weapons Left!" Eret yelled and fired at them. "I died before, and it wasn't that bad. I'll do whatever it takes to get the Dragon Riders out of here, even if it means me dying for a second time."

After firing several shots, he converted his hand into its cannon form and blasted the last remaining Marines on the bridge.

"Handover your escort ship, right now," Eret demanded. "I'm making an escape route, and you're helping."

"Hey, leave some fun for the rest of us," said Ruffnut.

"Yeah, we want to help too," said Tuffnut.

Heather finally managed to get a grip on herself and got back to her feet. "And I'm helping too. I'm all right now." She began to remember Saul's last words to her before he died. "This is different, this is nothing like Draknar, and I've got nothing to be afraid of this time. I'm not alone; this time, I've got my friends."

While this was all going on, the Marines were still bombarding the main island with cannon fire. The giants had just passed the main island front gate and were crossing the ravine.

"Hurry!" Teeny yelled.

"The main gate to just ahead!" Tilestone yelled. "We're almost off this island; it's just a little further!"

"Run giants, given all you got!" Lasse yelled.

"Just leave it to us," said the giants.

"We can finally get out of here; we're going to be saved!" said Kalena.

The giants then broke right through the main gate, and it looked as if they were home free.

"Maybe to the other side," Gabor smiled.

"Giants doors don't do nothing when you have giant muscles," said Kadir.

However, those smiles quickly disappeared as they saw staring down at them were free huge battleships.

"Oh, crap," said Gabor.

"Three freaking battleships?"

"They must have been waiting for us."

The Marines were quite shocked to see them.

"Look, they made it out!"

"How did they get free? We left them tied up in the courthouse."

"They're stronger than we thought."

The Marine captain resto towards the Vice-Admiral, who was evacuating the Enies Lobby personnel.

"Vice-Admiral, sir!"

"I know," he said. "Aim the cannons at them."

"Sir!"

The Marines were checking every single person that came aboard to make sure that no one snuck aboard.

"State your unit, Marine code and have your picture ID ready before you can board the ship."

"Your good; go on."

"What a relief; I thought we were going to go down with the island."

All the battleships were now aiming directly at the Eret Family and Galley Law.

"Resistance is futile, pirates," said the Vice-Admiral. "You make one move, and we will empty our ammo on you."

"This couldn't get any worse!" Tilestone yelled.

"Ah, man," said Teeny. "I doubt they're going to offer us amnesty."

"And we can't go back; the island is burning," said Kaley.

"We've got nowhere else we can run to," said Kalena.

"Everyone of their weapons, all of them, aimed at us."

"So what's going through your head right now, huh?" Lasse asked, looking at Palmer.

"I'm thinking back on my life," he said."

"You shouldn't talk like that."

"It even that…"

"Or what?"

"…what comes next, the afterlife."

Once all the Enies Lobby personnel have been verified and begun raising the gangplanks.

"All remaining personnel have bordered; all ships retreat to a safe firing distance."

"They're not really going to shoot us, right?"

All of them just stood there terrified as he looked down the bowels of the guns pointed towards them.

"Th-this is crazy," said Teeny.

The Vice-Admiral waited until they were a fair distance away from the island and raised his hand.

Meanwhile, over at the column, Lael managed to locate Hiccup, who was now flat on the ground.

"He sniffed me out," Hiccup winced.

"So that power of yours demanded much as it gives," said Lael. "Seems like a pretty fair trade, though. One must always pay a great price for a great power. Life Return Paper Art: Fighting Form!"

He then started to shrink down until he was normal size, and just as Hiccup looked up, he vanished.

"Finger Pistol!"

Hiccup yelled in pain as Lael struck him in the shoulder with his finger. Then Lael grabbed his throat and slammed him against the wall so hard he trapped him in place.

"Time to give up," he said lenient towards Lael. "If you continue with these ridiculous attacks are have to—"

Hiccup then spat in his face, and frustrated Lael, slammed him deeper into the wall, completely wedging him inside. He then jumped back a fair distance away and prepared for a final charge.

Hiccup struggled to free himself, but he was completely stuck. The only way he'd be able to free himself was if he was able to transform, but he was still unable to do that.

"I can't move," he said.

"I admit you came close, closer than anyone ever has of beating me, but close doesn't cut it," said Lael and then charged towards him. "Now die! Finger Pistol: Spots!"

He then began thrusting his fingers with incredible speed, and if they made contact, that would certainly be it for Hiccup.

"Come on, transform," Hiccup pleaded. "If I don't, I'm going to die."

Lael smiled gleefully, but then he stumbled as he suddenly felt a huge pain in his legs. Clearly, Hiccup's last attack did far more damage than he anticipated.

'That bloke from earlier damaged my legs,' he said as he began to stumble.

Hiccup then felt and so transforming. "Hey, I can transform again!" He then reverted back into his hybrid form and managed to break free from the stone wall. "It would seem as if my last attack worked; it looks like I can hurt you after all."

Meanwhile, Astrid and the others were still in the passageway, which was now completely flooded. They were all finding it very difficult to breathe, and there was no way they could get out.

'There has to be some way we can survive this,' said Astrid.

'Is that really nothing we can do,' said Toothless.

'I've got to think of something; if I don't all going to drown, we have an even make sure that Heather is safe yet,' said Ragnar.

'Is this really the end?' Snotlout whimpered. 'I suppose I have lived a good life, and there's no denying that I had some fun times. But I'm not ready to die! I can't drown in a tunnel; this is not a fitting death for the Snot!'

'I can't hold my breath any longer,' said Chimney.

'It hurts too much; everything is starting to go dark,' said Fishlegs. 'Someone, help!'

"It's all right, just hang in there," said a voice. "I'm not going to let you die."

Then suddenly, they felt something wrapped around and then felt themselves being dragged down the passageway.

'What? What's going on?' said Toothless. 'It feels like something is pulling me.'

It was difficult to see straight, but all of them could see the tail of a fish and then, on closer examination, they discovered it was a mermaid.

'Am I hallucinating or how migraine eyes on a mermaid,' said Ragnar.

It was a mermaid, but to their combined shock and horror, it was none other than Coco.

"I'm swimming as fast as this tail can let me," she said. "None of you are going to die on my watch."

All of them then suddenly fell into a state of shock, even Chimney and Paws.

'She's the mermaid?' said Snotlout horrified.