On the other side of the island, the Marines were now aware of the location of the Dragon Riders and began to inform Wrinkly.
"Vice-Admiral Wrinkly! We have found the Dragon Riders crew location!" said a Marine saluting. "They are on Scrap Island! They're preparing to depart as we speak, so we don't have long, sir!"
"After them men!" Wrinkly ordered. "Get on the ship!"
"Yes, sir!" they saluted.
They then raised the anchors and unfurled the sails, and began to sail around the island.
"Vice-Admiral Wrinkly, after having such a heartwarming farewell with Hiccup and his friends, don't you think that this is rather awkward?" Gustav asked.
"Tell that to Sander, not me!" Wrinkly barked. "He's the one who got all pissy and told us we had to go back! Cocky bastard."
Asmund was lying down on a deckchair next to him. "Should have known that I can't catch my grandson wasn't a good excuse."
"Hey, shut your trap, you rookie!" Wrinkly snapped. "What do you know?"
"Uh, are you sure you want to take a nap there, sir?" a commander asked. "We're about to go into battle."
"It would be a pain to ride to headquarters on my bike; it's fine. I'll stay out of the way," he assured him.
"Uh, maybe you should go inside. Or even better, you could help us fight."
On Scrap Island, the Dragon Riders were getting ready to set sail themselves.
"Set sail!" Hiccup ordered as they unfurled the sails.
The people of Water 7 were waving them goodbye, and the Eret Family were the saddest to see them go.
"The Eret Family will never die!" Teeny called out. "When you come back, we'll be right here waiting for you!"
"So that's it, we're leaving?" said Fishlegs.
"Hiccup," Chopper cried.
"Last call Dragon, are you sure?" Eret asked. "It still feels as if I'm missing someone."
"I don't want to leave him behind, but we all agreed back at Galley Law," said Hiccup.
A few days ago, Ragnar had returned and informed them of his encounter with Snotlout.
"So you're saying that Snotlout is really coming back?" Hiccup asked.
"Uh-huh, I saw him on the coast," said Ragnar. "He was practising his big return speech."
"That's great news!" said Tuffnut.
"I thought we were going to leave him behind," said Ruffnut.
"That's Snotlout for you, should have known," Fishlegs sighed.
Fishlegs, the twins and Chopper then began to leave.
"Hold on, a sec!" said Hiccup, and they stopped writing their tracks. "As much as it pains me to say, we can't bring him back here."
"Why not?" Ruffnut frowned.
"In case you forgot, he questioned my decision and nearly put the entire crew in danger," Hiccup reminded him.
"I agree until he bowed his head and apologises for what he did, he can't come back," said Toothless.
"He is our friend!" Chopper yelled at them.
Fishlegs nodded. "Yeah, we can't just—"
"Hear them out," said Astrid.
"Astrid?" Fishlegs frowned.
"Snotlout chose to duel Hiccup as he lost that fight," Astrid reminded him. "And when he lost, he left our crew on his own accord. Hiccup is our captain, and we are better off without a crewmember that does not respect our leader when things get rough. A crew with no respect and the captain, who doesn't demand are destined to fall apart quickly."
Everyone looked at one another in silence.
"Granted, our crew is easy-going most of the time, but what Snotlout did cannot be forgotten so easily," said Toothless.
"Don't you think you're making this more complicated than it needs to?" Fishlegs asked.
Hiccup sighed. "Look, I want him back as much as you guys do, but if he doesn't apologise for what he did and pretends like nothing ever happened between us, then what's stopping him from doing it all over again. In other words, we'll leave the island without him if it comes to that."
"Look, I agree that Snotlout is the one at fault, but can't we settle this all out once he joined up with us again?" Fishlegs asked.
"So the fact that he left our crew is nothing to us?" Hiccup question strongly. "So he can come and go whenever he pleases?"
"No, but I—"
"Fishlegs, I have to agree with what Hiccup is saying," said Ragnar. "From his speech, I didn't hear him say I'm sorry once."
"If he does this stuff again and again, how are we supposed to trust him to have our back?" Astrid asked.
"If Snotlout says that he sorry, that's good, but he tries to make an excuse, then he is no longer welcome here," said Toothless.
Hiccup nodded. "When not pretending to be pirates, we are actual pirates, and even we have to follow some rules. We still have a few days into the finish with the ship; we can wait that long. It's now all up to him."
"We waited for him all that time. He never bothered to show up, so we have our answer," said Hiccup.
"It's your call," said Eret.
Snotlout was running to Scrap Island as quickly as he could.
"I can do it! I can do it!" he said to himself repeatedly. "I'm joining the crew again! I'm sure the new ship is done by now, and everyone must be waiting for me to come back. I just had to wait for the perfect time, not like I'm going to have a problem anyway. I have been training day and night, so I'm ready for anything, but we are friends and just to be nice out trying to make a big deal out of how awesome I am. Since your crying and begging your hands and knees, I guess I can make an exception and come back.
'Oh, Snotlout, you're the best ever. We'll do anything to have you back.' Or something like that. There's no way they can get rid of a guy like me; they would be completely lost without me. They'll all love me even more than ever before. All right, full speed ahead! We had some good times, but this is farewell. Thanks for having me, Water 7!"
The Dragon Riders were still on their new ship, but they couldn't wait any longer.
"Snotlout, come on," said Chopper.
"Hiccup, can't we stay a little longer?" Fishlegs asked. "We're not in a rush just yet, right?"
"Are you forgetting that my grandfather is on the other side of the island?" Hiccup reminded him.
Then suddenly, the entire ship shook violently.
"What was that?" said Astrid after getting knocked off her feet.
Then something hit the water hard, and Eret looked out towards the horizon, and he could see what was causing it.
"Dammit!" he cursed. "Bad news! The Marines are here!"
Sure enough, sailing around Water 7 was Wrinkly's flagship.
"Great, just perfect," Hiccup sighed.
Everyone on the island could see Wrinkly's ship bearing down on the Dragon Riders.
"Wrinkly's battleship!"
"Big Bro! Dragon! You've got a get moving!"
Wrinkly was standing on the figurehead with a microphone in his hand. "Hey, Hiccup! Can you hear me? This is your grandpa speaking! Don't try and ignore me!"
Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, I hear you! But I thought you were supposed to leave us alone!"
"Well, I say a lot of things! The truth of the matter is I'm sending you a little watery grave!"
"What?" Hiccup stared.
"I know this is not much consolation, but for what it's worth, I'll fight you all on my own!" He then turned one of his men, who was holding the cannonball in his arms. "Cannonball, please."
The Marines were struggling to hold the cannonball. "Right, coming up!"
"What's he trying to do?" Ragnar frowned.
They then watched as Wrinkly easily picked up the cannonball and held it just like a regular old ball.
"I call this one my… Meteor Fist!" he yelled and tossed the cannonball like it was pitching a baseball.
It moved so quickly they didn't even have time to see it before it hit the island, causing an explosion. The explosion's shockwave caused them to drift away from the island, but the sheer power behind the throne was enough to scare them.
"He just threw that with his bare hands?" Ragnar stared.
"That flew faster than any cannonball I've ever seen, and he pitched at just like a baseball," said Toothless.
"Can't say I'm surprised; this is the same guy who went toe to toe the King of the pirates after all," Astrid grimaced.
Wrinkly laughed. "There due to fly a lot faster back in my younger days."
"We need to get out of here right now!" Astrid yelled. "If we don't is going to wreck our brand-new ship!"
Wrinkly looked at his men. "Now bring me 1000 more on the double!"
"Yes, sir!" they nodded.
"All right, men, you have your orders! Move!"
The Marines began rushing around the ship until it finally bought the conveyor belt filled with cannonballs and presented it up to Wrinkly.
"This is bad!" said Eret. "Looks like there's plenty more where that came from!"
"The Meteor Fists Shower?" said Gustav horrified.
"Huh oh, those guys were good as dead," said Sven. "Just one shot on their ship is going up in smoke."
Wrinkly had removed his coat, and the Marines presented him with the cannonballs. He then began to crack his knuckles and smiled broadly.
"Now I hope you're ready, boys and girls, you can try and run if you like, but you ain't getting away from me," he said.
"Full speed ahead!" Hiccup ordered as they began to sail away from Water 7. "Everyone protect the ship on the cannonballs!"
"Got it!" Astrid yelled.
Ragnar looked towards the coast. 'Dammit, is he really not coming? What is that idiot doing?'
Wrinkly then grasped the first cannonball getting ready to bombard the Dragon Riders.
Chopper then smelt a familiar scent in the air. "He's here!" He then quickly rushed towards the side of the ship and looked towards the coast. "Snotlout came back after all! Do you hear that, guys? Snotlout is right over there?"
"Are you sure?" Heather asked.
"Huh-uh," Chopper nodded.
Snotlout had indeed arrived and was now pushing his way through the huge crowd of people.
"Let me throw! Move! Move!" he yelled. "I'm sorry, this is important!"
He eventually made his way through the crowd of people was panting for breath.
"Hey, why are you doing, pal?" Teeny asked. "Shouldn't you be on that boat?"
Snotlout looked up and could see that the Dragon Riders were sailing away with the Marines firing upon them.
"Wait, what the heck is going on? Why are the Marines here, and why is Hiccup leaving already?"
"You really out of the loop, aren't you?" said Teeny.
"This has got to be a mistake. Sure we have our differences, but you can't be really leaving without me? They can't! They can't! How could they do this? We're still friends, aren't we? We've been fighting side-by-side all this time? You knew I was there, right? After all that happened, I may have worn that mask to protect my pride, but it was still me. Did you give up on me because we haven't talked since then? Is that it? Come back!"
Snotlout then rushed towards the edge of the steps.
"The stairs are broken over there, you know!" Teeny yelled. "Don't hurt yourself!"
"It's a misunderstanding! It has to be!" he yelled. "Hey, look everyone! I'm right here! Don't worry, I made it in time! I'm coming back into the crew!"
He then lept off the stairs and landed on Scrap Island, and then he looked out of the Dragon Riders. "Don't leave me here."
The Dragon Riders were currently defending themselves from Wrinkly's attacks. Astrid and Toothless had just cut through a number of cannonballs with their weapons.
"Wing Blast!" Hiccup yelled, transforming into his hybrid form, and slammed his wings together to knock the cannonballs, of course.
Ragnar was kicking the cannonballs as hard as he could, and Eret was blasting them with his own weapons.
However, Wrinkly didn't even pause every time he picked up a cannonball.
"Snotlout's here, Hiccup!" Chopper yelled. "It's not too late!"
"Everyone, protect the ship!" Hiccup ordered.
Snotlout then began running across the coast to catch up with the Dragon Riders.
"Hey!" he yelled at the top of his voice. "You should be happy! The Snot is back! So how about the weather we're having, Chopper? We should go fishing, after the cannonballs are gone, of course! Oh, by the way, I got some great news! If you guys just turn around and pick me up right now, then I'll be happy to rejoin your crew!
Come on, guys! It's okay, I know you're nervous about seeing me again, but we're buddies here! Come on, it's not a big deal! Downtown you actually believe me? I was just kidding! After all the stuff we've been through together, I leave the crew over something silly like that! Sure we had a little disagreement, but with friends and friends can put the past behind them, right? Hey, you hear me! Say something, you guys!"
He soon came to a stop when he reached the edge of the shore and could see that the Dragon Riders were not stopping.
"This isn't funny anymore!" he yelled at the top of his voice.
The Dragon Riders were still fending off the cannonballs.
"Hiccup, Snotlout is calling for us," said Chopper.
"I can't hear him," said Hiccup.
"Toothless! Astrid!" Chopper cried.
"I don't hear anything," said Toothless.
"Me neither," said Astrid.
"Liars! He is right there!" Chopper pointed.
Snotlout just looked at the Dragon Riders, who were merely sailing away.
"You're serious, aren't you?" he said. "I can't believe this; you're really going to leave without me, huh? All right then, I get it." He then remembered their argument on the Going Tiger and then fell to his knees. "Fine, you made your decision. If that's how it is, there's only one thing I have to say to you…" He then looked out towards the Dragon Riders. "I'm sorry!"
Hiccup immediately stopped what he was doing.
"I was stubborn, I know! I take back every word that I said!" Snotlout yelled at the top of his voice.
All the Dragon Riders then immediately smiled; they had all been waiting for him to see those exact words.
"That's more like it," said Toothless.
"It's about time," said Astrid.
"I know I may be pathetic; I know I already said that I quit, but will you let me take it all back?" Snotlout cried with tears in his eyes. "Please, I'm begging you! You've got to forgive me! If I'm not with you, there's no point. Don't leave me alone; I need you guys! I'll do anything; please let me rejoin the crew just one more time!"
"Then quit your crying and hop on," said Hiccup's voice.
Snotlout looked up and saw Hiccup standing in front of him in his dragon form.
"Hiccup?" Snotlout stared.
"Just hop on already," Hiccup smiled.
Snotlout wiped his tears and nodded; he then quickly mounted Hiccup. Once he was on his back, Hiccup promptly took off back towards the ship as soon as he could. Within the space of a few seconds, the two of them had landed on the ship.
"Now the whole gang is back together; let's get away from these cannonballs," said Hiccup transforming back to his human form. "Then plot a course to the New World! Let's go!"
"Yeah!" everyone cheered.