=Normal POV=
{Saturday, June 18, 2022-5:45 pm}
(Archian Preparatory; Dragon Training Field)
The area was quiet. This day began as something they would all remember as graduation from High Schoo, but now it's become the day Hiccup was going to flip out and teach someone a lesson in messing with the people he cares about. Immediately after the Valedictorian speech and inspirational song were given, the process of graduating was halted by two people rushing down the center aisle needing Hiccup. Not a lot of what was said got heard, only those close to the small group did and even they didn't understand. Astrid and the friends recognized Viggo and Ryker right away, so did a few others in the crowd. Nothing lasted as Astrid vividly pointed out that a mass of dragons were flying in, and then a man with a colossal dragon made his way forward. Words were exchanged, mostly sarcasm on Hiccup's side, but then the man became angry and ordered his dragon to take control of Toothless, the Night Fury. Toothless moved in to kill Hiccup, but Astrid rushed in and pushed Hiccup and herself out of the way, and the blast hit not more than a foot or two from where Hiccup had been standing.
Astrid went unconscious, and Hiccup's entire demeanor changed to one of determination. Hiccup vowed to show Drago the error of his ways after getting his dragon back, but nobody knew how this would happen. Toothless was under the control of the Bewilderbeast and hadn't listened to Hiccup before, what would be different now. Now, everyone remained where they were, afraid to move.
"Your dragon is perfect to lead the army…" Drago threw his leg over the saddle and struggled to open it, but once he did; Toothless got in the air.
"Toothless!" Hiccup reached for him.
"You're nothing without your dragon," Drago laughed.
"And you're nothing period," Hiccup glared looking up at Drago on Toothless's back. However, Hiccup was faced with a problem. Drago had Toothless, controlled by the Bewilderbeast, and Hiccup was stuck on the ground with no way to get up there.
"Hiccup!" Valka called to him, hurrying up with Stoick and Gobber beside him. Alvin, Spitelout, Frida, Termagant, Hoark, and Hiccup's friends were next. Dagur and Mala arrived seconds later. Ryker, still holding Astrid, and Viggo were last. "The Bewilderbeast is rumored to control every dragon, except for baby dragons," she panted.
"Because they don't listen to anyone…" Hiccup remembered as he looked around and spotted the stables. Hiccup made a B-line for it and located a couple of the babies; then released one and got on it's back. Yeah, this was a struggle, but he would be fine. The dragon emerged out of the stables in the air with Hiccup on it's back. High in the air, Hiccup got closer to Drago and Toothless and had the baby dragon hover a bit as he took a deep breath.
"You're certainly hard to get rid of; I'll say that," Drago remarked.
"Toothless…" Hiccup said softly. "Hey, it's me, bud…It's me. It's me, I'm right here, bud. Come back to me," he tried while putting his hand out slowly. Below, Astrid began to shift and awaken as she looked around.
"What's going on?" Astrid inquired.
"Hiccup is going to get Toothless back, and then whoop Drago's ass," Dagur stated as Ryker carefully let Astrid down, and she looked up to watch the scene.
Drago laughed as everyone watched from below. "He's not yours anymore. He belongs to the Alpha now. But please, Oh, great Dragon Master, try to take him. He will not miss a second time,"
"It wasn't your fault, bud. They made you do it…" Hiccup continued as Toothless showed to change. But then, something happened as Hiccup's hand got closer; Toothless whined a bit, shaking his head. "You'd never hurt her. You'd never hurt me…" Hiccup pushed as his hand made contact with Toothless's snout and the Night Fury's eyes went from slits to normal, warbling softly.
"How are you doing that?" Drago asked, surprised and a bit curious.
Toothless's eyes changed to slits again, and he growled at Hiccup. "I won't leave you. I won't let you go, Toothless. I promise. Come on…Everything is alright. Come back to me, please?" he begged as Toothless's eyes returned to normal, him crooning lowly into Hiccup's touch. "Please? You are my best friend, bud…" Hiccup got closer, tears showing in his eyes while Toothless reverted back to being under the control once more. "My best friend…" Hiccup almost whispered, though, everyone heard it because when Hiccup gave his speech; he was wearing a small microphone that apparently was still attached.
Toothless jerked away from Hiccup, growling and warbling as he shook his head; then finally, opened his eyes and looked at Hiccup with big black irises and a smile. Hiccup smiled. "Atta boy! That's it. I'm here!" Hiccup told him as Toothless got excited and moved closer to him. Drago now pissed raised his staff.
"Enough!" Drago hit Toothless with the bullhook, making the Night Fury growl. Drago went to do it again, but this time, Toothless bit the staff and jerked to throw Drago off of his back and falling.
"YEAH!" Hiccup cheered; then Toothless started falling as well. "Hang on," Hiccup called as he jumped off the baby dragon's back and dove for his friend. Drago yelled out as he clipped the hook onto the tusk of the Bewilderbeast and stopped his descent. Hiccup reached for Toothless as they were getting closer to the ground. "Almost there, buddy. Almost there…" Hiccup told him. Toothless turned as Hiccup grabbed onto the saddle and pulled himself in it, then fixed his leg and opened the tail as the swooped up and began to climb higher.
"Do something!" Drago ordered the Bewilderbeast as it growled.
Hiccup glared as he bent over, holding the handles of Toothless's saddle. "We need to get those two apart…" he stated as the Bewilderbeast fired an ice beam at Hiccup and Toothless, but the two avoided it. Hiccup turned Toothless as he grabbed a piece of a broken flag while flying by it. The Bewilderbeast fired again, but Hiccup and Toothless evaded. "You gotta block him out Toothless…Do you trust me, bud?" Toothless warbled at him as Hiccup began to put the piece over Toothless's eyes and began tying it in place. "We can do this. You and me…As one," he put his hand on Toothless's head and opened the tail. "That's it…Now, let's try this one more time!" he called while turning Toothless and heading right for the Bewilderbeast.
Hiccup adjusted himself to be laying flat on his Night Fury's back. "Take him down, babe!" Astrid called as everyone began cheering when Hiccup flew over their heads towards the Bewilderbeast.
"Take control of it!" Drago ordered. Hiccup blocked Toothless's ears.
"Shut it out, Toothless," Hiccup said firmly.
"STOP THEM!" Drago demanded.
"NOW!" Hiccup called over Drago's voice as he pulled a lever on the left side. The Bewilderbeast shot it's ice out at them, but Toothless went right over the blast and Drago, then curved a bit upward.
"HAHAHA…HUH!?" Drago laughed, then abruptly stopped upon seeing Toothless flying upside down, but Hiccup was not in the saddle anymore. Quickly turning around Hiccup was coming at him with a pair of leather-made wings attached to his suit. Hiccup held something in his hand, leaving a trail of green gas behind him. Once Hiccup was far enough away, he clicked a button and lit the gas for a massive explosion next to the Bewilderbeast's head. Hiccup flew at Drago, curving himself a bit and kick Drago hard in the chest to knock him off the tusk and to the ground hard; the bullhook landed a few inches away, sticking up in the dirt. Drago panted a bit from the impact as Hiccup was flying towards the tail.
"Not again…" Hiccup paled. It was the mirror image of when he was going up Red Death's tail after a blast; only he didn't escape that one without losing his left leg. "TOOTHLESS! IT'S NOW OR NEVER!" he yelled as Toothless evened himself out and flew towards Hiccup after splitting his back spines apart. "Come on, bud!" Hiccup landed on Toothless's back as Hiccup sat himself up and held the handles. Toothless swerved through the spines of the Bewilderbeast, and the two made it up and cleared the tail. "YEAH! We did it!" Hiccup cheered as Toothless let himself fall and then whipped around and landed a foot or two away from Drago, who was starting to get up now.
Hiccup jumped off Toothless's back, pulling something from off his leg and pressing a button as a flaming sword came out, and he launched it at Drago to keep him from reaching his staff again. "Hold him there, Toothless…" Hiccup began putting the wings away. "It's over now…"
"Or is it?" Drago smirked.
"HICCUP! Watch out!" Astrid warned quickly. Hiccup turned to see the Bewilderbeast right there.
"Uh…" Hiccup paused, unsure of what to do. The Bewilderbeast opened it's mouth as Hiccup turned and covered himself. "Oh, no!" Toothless jumped over right before the ice covered them. Drago stood, laughing as Valka hurried in, scared.
"No!...No…" Valka tried to punch and break through the ice. "Hiccup…" she lowered her head in defeat. Suddenly, there was a blue glow emitting from the center of the ice as everyone's eyes widened. Valka quickly gasped and backed up as there was an explosion seconds later. There in the middle was Toothless, getting up and roaring at the Bewilderbeast angrily. However, something was very different. Toothless's throat, nostrils, and along his back was glowing a neon blue color. Under his wings was Hiccup, safe and sound, panting and looking at his Night Fury.
Toothless growled as the Bewilderbeast roared back at him, then Toothless turned his attention to Hiccup, warbling a bit. Hiccup smiled, showing his friend he was okay as Toothless snarled and launched himself forward on an ice spike, snarling at the Bewilderbeast now. Hiccup got up quickly as Hiccup's group rushed to get to him.
"He's challenging the Alpha!" Hiccup exclaimed.
"To protect you!" Valka informed. Toothless fired a blast at the Bewilderbeast's face. Three more followed that before Toothless did a backflip to the next level down when the spike he was on got broken by the Bewilderbeast. Toothless fired again as the Bewilderbeast roared. Above, the dragons were hovering and shaking their heads a bit. Toothless fired three more blasts before gliding down and over to Hiccup, standing in front of him before roaring out to the other dragons.
They obeyed. Every dragon that was above the Bewilderbeast flew over and stayed on Toothless's side. Drago grabbed his bullhook now. "No, no, no, no. NO!" Drago jumped on the Bewilderbeast's tusk. "Fight back! Fight back!" he demanded as he ran up the tusk and looked around. "What's the matter with you!?" then he looked down to see Toothless, and the dragon's obeying him. "He's not the Alpha, get back here!"
Hiccup got on Toothless's back as Toothless flew up to be higher and across from the Bewilderbeast. "Do you finally get it, Drago? The dragons have chosen to follow the one who will protect them,"
"So the Night Fury has the ability to not only withstand the Bewilderbeast but ignore it's control once broken and break other's free. It seems I have the wrong dragon to see my plans through. Hand him over, boy!"
Hiccup glared. "I will never give him up!"
"Then I will destroy everything you love!" Drago yelled at him.
"I won't give you a chance even to try! Toothless, do it!" Hiccup ordered. Toothless prepared another blast as the other dragons prepared blasts of their own and Drago's eyes widened. "This is my home, and I'll defend it until the day I die! This is your last chance, Drago…This is what it is to earn a dragon's loyalty. Let this end, now," Hiccup glared.
"NEVER! Come on!" Drago urged the Bewilderbeast to go forward.
"Fire!" Hiccup told his Night Fury. Toothless fired his blast as Drago blinked at the force. Seconds after, the other dragons were doing the same; hitting the Bewilderbeast in the face over and over again. Hiccup grinned, nodded approvingly. The Bewilderbeast roared out, rising above the blast range as Hiccup held up his hand to stop the other dragons. Toothless snarled angrily as Hiccup grabbed the handles while Toothless charged another blast, smoke emitting from his mouth before firing again and this time; it took the Bewilderbeast's tusk off. The dragon shook a little and backed up.
Toothless gave an ear deafening roar and screech before huffing at the Bewilderbeast angrily. It began to lower it's head, growling in submission almost.
"No…No, it's not possible…" Drago shook his head in disbelief.
"The Alpha protects them all," Hiccup glared. The Bewilderbeast tilted it's head to throw Drago off him; then it quickly retreated to get away from Toothless. Hiccup looked down as directed Toothless to the ground and they moved that way as the dragons landed around Toothless as Hiccup got off his back and Toothless sat back on his hind legs before giving a loud roar, the dragons copied it and bowed to him shortly after. Toothless smiled, warbling at Hiccup now as Hiccup stroked the side of his face.
"You never cease to amaze me , bud…Thank you," Hiccup closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to Toothless's, who did the same back before quickly licking Hiccup until he was on his back. Hiccup laughed trying to block it. "Toothless, you know that doesn't wash out!" he complained while giggling still. The other dragons quickly spread out to find their riders and owners. Hiccup got up and watched as his friends got reunited with their dragons.
"Stormfly!" Hiccup saw Astrid snuggle her head against Stormfly. Hiccup smiled softly as he stood next to Toothless with an arm over his neck. Hoark had his team secure Drago.
"I'll kill you for this," Drago tried to get closer to him.
"We'll knock him out, just say the word," Hoark sighed.
"Oh, I got it covered…Babe, come here a sec," Hiccup called his girlfriend as she walked over and stood beside him. "I do believe I promised to hold Drago for you," he moved behind Drago and held his arms as
Astrid grinned as she curled her hand into a fist and brought it back. "This is for everything you've done to my boyfriend and me…" she ended up kicking him in the balls as he dropped a little. "And this is for killing my parents you son of a bitch!" she whirled her fist into his face, knocking him out cold. Hiccup backed up and let him fall.
"Not gonna lie; that was really hot, Milady," Hiccup informed as Astrid shrugged and Hiccup stroked her cheek a bit. "Are you okay?"
"I am now. I'm sorry got in the way, but you've spent months protecting me...I-I had to do something. I couldn't lose you, Hiccup..." Astrid looked down. Hiccup stared at her for a moment; then he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him.
"Come here you," Hiccup leaned in and kissed her deeply. Astrid melted into it right away as their friends and family around them just smiled softly.
"Get him out of here," Hoark demanded as some officers lifted Drago together and carried him away as Hiccup broke the kiss; he and Astrid smiling and staring at one another. Hoark approached Hiccup now.
"Hiccup, I was wrong about what I said a few nights ago. Perhaps sometimes it doesn't take the police or the bureau of investigation to stop devastating threats that come our way. Occasionally; it only takes one person who desperately wants to protect the people he cares for and his home. And his dragon," Hoark chuckled a bit as Toothless sat beside Hiccup and crooned for attention. "You can forget about Monday and coming into explain things; let's just chalk this up to a joint effort from anonymous allies," Hoark held his hand out. Hiccup smiled and placed his in Horak's.
"And my guys are good?" Hiccup asked, referring to Viggo and Ryker.
"You mean the anonymous messengers were providing information about Drago and his plans, and locating you? Well, we never tracked them down, so I guess wherever they are; we can say thanks and hope to count on them again if need be?" Hoark hinted.
"I'm sure they'll lend a hand," Hiccup agreed.
"Thank you, for all your help, Hiccup," Hoark shook his hand a few times.
"Anytime. And you know my number if my services should be required again. I'm always ready to serve," Hiccup reminded as Hoark nodded.
"You're a hero kid," Hoark patted his shoulder as Hiccup looked at him with surprised eyes. "I don't care what anyone says; you have the heart of a leader and the soul of a dragon, and you have proven twice now that you have what it takes to keep our two worlds, dragons, and humans, at peace with one another. The bond you and that dragon have is like nothing I've ever seen between a dragon and their rider. You two defeated Red Death together, and now, this. I'm happy to work with you any day and trust your opinions on anything. You're a hero, and don't ever believe or let anyone tell you otherwise," Hoark let go as he walked away with his people. Hiccup took a deep breath as he faced his family and friends.
"I'm so proud of you, son," Stoick pulled Hiccup in for a back-breaking bear hug that lifted Hiccup off the ground.
"Thanks, Dad," Hiccup said once his feet touched the ground.
"And I'm every bit of proud as well," Valka kissed his cheek and hugged him.
"Well done, lad. I know it's not the military, but I'd be happy to have you on my force at the department," Spitelout informed.
"Hey, I'm only eighteen; I guess I got time to figure things out," Hiccup shrugged. "Right now, I think the only thing I wanna do is finish today…And graduate. What's say you Mr. Meatsen?"
"We're so far behind," one teacher stated to Mogadon. The man closed his eyes. Finally, he smiled.
"You know what, after today; I think every speech that had been planned out was demonstrated perfectly by you and your dragon, Mr. Haddock. You showed everyone here what it means to fight for what you want, and strengthening the bonds of the people, and dragons you have in your life. You showed us that it's okay to be afraid, take risks, but never give up when it's your future on the line. So, let's line up and finish this. We'll cut right to diplomas," Mogadon informed.
. . .
{6:30 pm}
It took some clean up, readjusting, and getting back into place, but the graduation was back on. At first, everyone assumed the day had been crazy enough and reschedule. But the students didn't care; they figured spending a little extra time and just finished the ceremony today while it was there. The students, by rows, would rise when told and line up to cross the stage when called upon. Mogadon stood at the podium as there was a table beside him and staff handing him the diplomas.
"Heather Bazirk!" Mogadon called. "Camicazi Boggs," Hiccup tuned out for a lot of others, but he was paying attention when his friends were called on to cross, receive, shake a hand or two, then take their seats once on the other side. Also, they would turn their graduation tassels to the right upon getting back to place. "Ragna Falk." Then, "Minden Guarder!" following that was "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third!" Hiccup stood and crossed the stage, getting his diploma, shaking Mr. Meatsen's hand; then waiting on the stairs. "Astrid Hofferson!" Astrid did the same, and she was crying a bit. Hiccup saw her come his way and she looked up at the sky, forcing a smile.
Hiccup knew what it was about; she was searching for her parents, hoping they were watching and proud of her. Hiccup offered his hand as Astrid took it, and they shared a small kiss before continuing down the stairs. "Fishlegs Justin Ingerman!" a few more passed. "Snotlout Gary Jorgenson," many more passed up to the M's. "Thuggory Meatsen!" and then onward before it reached the T's. "Ruffnut Eugene Thorston," and then right after, "Tuffnut Lavern Thorston," a few more went through. "Eret Trapp!" and finally at the end in the W's; "Nadia Warrier!"
Things reached the end by 7:15 pm as all students were back to their seats. "Well, I'm sure you've all been waiting for this moment," Mogadon chuckled a bit. Hiccup and his friends were sitting together. They knew it was protocol, but who cared; they managed to all be sitting in the back. Hiccup and Astrid were holding hands and their diplomas in the other hands. "Parents, siblings, and guests; I give you the Archian Preparatory graduating class of 2022!" he yelled out.
Seconds later; there was an uproar of students cheering and throwing their caps in the air and the mass of guests in attendance cheering, hollering, and clapping. It was a great day to be alive. All of them had graduated High School and thanks to the efforts of Hiccup and Toothless, again; peace had been restored!
