Hiccup raced through the village as he headed for the Great Hall. No need for being stealthy anymore. He raced into the Plaza, stopping to look around before heading straight.
Stoick meanwhile ran for the blacksmith's shop for Gobber. He didn't know what was going on with his son, but he needed to get Gobber's help if he was to stop him.
"Gobber! Gobber!" he called.
He ran up in time to see Gobber shutting the doors to the window of the shop. "Gobber!"
Gobber turned his head. "Stoick. What's wrong?" he asked as he locked the windows shut.
When Stoick reached his friend, he heaved over catching his breath.
Gobber had never seen his best friend like this. Something was wrong.
"Stoick . . . ?" he asked.
"It's Hiccup." He said, and Gobber's face immediately went dark.
Meanwhile, at the Great Hall, Hiccup slowly circled the fire pit as he reached the head. He glared at the Book of Dragons as his hand reached for the spine. Not even bothering to open it, he stuffed it in the inside pocket of his cloak and headed for the door.
"That's crazy!" Gobber protested after Stoick finished his story.
"I'm telling you the truth!" Stoick replied out of anger.
"There's no way, Stoick!"
"Would I lie to you?! Especially about my own son?!" Stoick argued.
Gobber hesitated. Stoick wasn't one to lie, but the story seemed too farfetched. Gobber knew Hiccup as well as Stoick. But flashing back to when he battled the puppet, as skilled and smart as Hiccup was, he seemed too kind-hearted to do that.
He was about to explain it to Stoick, but a woman's shriek caught both their attention. They both cocked their heads in the same direction just in time to see the Puppet knock a woman unconscious with the hilt of his knife.
He looked in Gobber and Stoick's direction and immediately Gobber's face contorted into a snarl.
"You!" he screamed in anger. And without thinking, he charged forward, his hook hand raised above his head.
"No Gobber!" Stoick called, but he wasn't listening.
"Time for vengeance you little nuisance!" Gobber yelled.
The puppet charged forward, but at the last minute, dropped to the dirt and slid into Gobber's feet. Gobber's momentum carried him over the Puppet and crashing into the dirt. Puppet rose to his feet, a knife clutched in his hands.
"Gobber!" Stoick called as Gobber rose to his feet. "Don't hurt him! That's Hiccup!"
"You're talking nonsense!" he retorted as Puppet came charging and swinging his knife at Gobber's head. He managed to block and knee Puppet in the sternum.
Puppet grunted and before he could react, Gobber punched him left and right – cracking the mask from the nose down – then slamming his foot into Puppet's side; sending him skittering across the dirt and coming to rest on the cobblestone centerpiece in the Plaza.
He pushed himself to his hands and knees, the bottom half of the mask cracking and falling to the dirt. Leaving Puppet's chin exposed, and revealing a grimace smirk across his lips.
"That's not your son Stoick! He probably kidnapped Hiccup!" Gobber said.
"No, it's the truth Gobber!" Stoick protested.
Gobber was about to charge, when Astrid's voice emanated from behind them. "What's going on?!" she asked as she ran up to Gobber with Fishlegs and the others.
She peered past Gobber and saw Puppet. She snarled as she saw his smirk. "You!" she said in hatred.
"Astrid, no! That's Hiccup!" Stoick said.
"What?!" she said with confusion.
But before Stoick could explain, the sound of daggers whizzed in the air and Gobber grabbed Astrid out of the way in time. The others dodged in time.
"We have to stop him!" Astrid said and Gobber nodded in agreement. "Dragons, everyone!"
As everyone mounted, Puppet suddenly made a beeline for the woods. His one arm clutching the Book as he ran.
"The Book!" Fishlegs cried.
Astrid and Snotlout dove for Puppet, but he rolled out of way. He came up on one knee and continued to run. He had made it to the Square when a fire shot from above made him slip. The Book slipped out of his cloak and slid across the cobblestone.
He looked up and saw Fishlegs with Ruffnutt and Tuffnut. He quickly got to his knees and ran for the book.
"Oh no you don't!" Fishlegs said as Meatlug burped up a lava boulder. It crashed right at Puppet's feet and Fishlegs swooped in and snatched the book. "Yes! You will not ruin anymore of my friend's hard work!"
Puppet gritted his teeth. He felt inside his cloak and sent five daggers flying for Fishlegs. They had just braised Meatlug's skin when Stormfly's fire turned them into ashes in a matter of seconds.
"Stormfly, spine shot!" she ordered, and Stormfly sent a dozen flying toward Puppet. Puppet ducked behind the giant torches column as the spines stuck to the wood with a heavy tch.
Puppet peered around the column, but felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked back in time to see Gobber deliver a sucker punch straight to his left cheek. Puppet bounced across the cobblestone like a stone on water.
As he pushes himself to his feet, a sudden high-pitched screech echoed throughout the Square. Everyone looked into the direction of origin and Toothless fired a plasma blast at Puppet as he landed in front of Gobber. Puppet was blown back and slammed into the trunk of an in-village tree.
"Toothless!" Astrid said in relief.
Toothless scraped the dirt with his claws, like an angry bull ready to charge. And he did. Puppet rose and jumped out of the way, but before he could land safely on his intended destination – the roof – Toothless' claws snag his cloak and snap him down into the dirt. Cracking the rest of his mask.
Toothless launches himself into Puppet and they summersault backward until Puppet is pinned underneath Toothless' massive weight. The remains of Puppet's mask lost in the process. Toothless was about to finish him off then suddenly, he stopped.
His eyes return to normal, and they furrow in disbelief and shock.
"What's Toothless doing?!" Snotlout calls from Hookfang.
"I don't know." Gobber says, then calls to him. "Toothless! Finish him!"
Toothless looks back at them with a face that says, 'I can't'. Confused, the Vikings dismount from their dragons.
"Toothless!" Astrid says in anger.
"No!" Stoick calls from above. Tornado wails out as he hovers over the Square. "Toothless knows! He won't do it!"
"Do what?!" Snotlout asks.
Puppet takes advantage and slides his knife free without a sound. Then, just as Toothless' eyes flicked back to him, Puppet drives his knife into the right side of Toothless' neck. Toothless lets out a blood-curdling scream that sent shivers down everyone's spine. It mimicked the sound of a woman being murdered, mixed with the wail of a dying boar.
Puppet yanks the knife free, making sure to pull at an angle, and a steam of blood arcs through the air. He then slices right down the middle of Toothless' nose. Toothless backs up a couple steps as he tries to see through the blood that streamed into his eyes.
Puppet slams his knees into Toothless' chest and once he pushes out enough, he jumps to his feet and punches Toothless left and right. The hilt of his knife in his right hand causing little scratches to surround the gash in between Toothless' eyes.
Toothless' doesn't fight back. How could he? All he does is cry. Cry and beg as Puppet continued to slash.
"Hiccup! Stop!" Stoick screamed at the top of his lungs.
Puppet stops. His knife raised in midair, about to deliver the final blow. He lowers it and turns to face Stoick. And when he does, Stoick's eyes water.
A breeze kicks up as Puppet turns to face the other Vikings. His hood blows smoothly back, landing softly to rest on his shoulders, revealing his face.
Everyone's face turns to disbelief, regret, sorrow and panic.
"No. . ." Astrid whispered in a choked tone.
"Oh man." Snotlout said.
"It can't be. . ." Fishlegs begged. His voice catching at the end.
"No, please." Goober pleaded with Thor as he took in the sight before him.
Hiccup, stood tall and . . . proud. The smile on his face reflecting that of true, pure evil.
Toothless' blood slides along the blade of his knife and drips into a small puddle at Hiccup's feet.
"This, this can't be happening." Astrid begged as she fell to her knees.
Toothless crumpled to the ground, weak and bloody. Whimpering for his owner to snap out of this evil spell and help him. Fishlegs dropped the Book of Dragons in disbelief as he gazed at his friend.
No one could seem to move. It's as if everything has gone silent from the shock. But Hiccup only saw his moment. He threw five daggers in the direction of the Vikings. And when they ducked, Fishlegs had just looked up in time to see Hiccup whizz at him, slamming his foot in his diaphragm and knocking the boy back.
Hiccup picked up the Boo of Dragons, pulled his hood back over his head, and bolted for the woods without a word.
Leaving everyone stunned and in shock, Stoick landed Tornado and tried to snap everyone out of their state of shock.
He grabbed Gobber's shoulders, shaking him back and forth. "Gobber! Gobber! Listen to me, I know you're all shocked, but we need to get it together and find out what's happened to our Hiccup!" he turns to everyone, making sure they can hear him.
His words seem to find their mark as everyone blinks their eyes a couple times before looking to Stoick.
"Something's wrong with Hiccup. And we need to find out what it is. We all know he'd never do anything like this. We need to find him and save him." Stoick ordered.
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. The Vikings mounted their dragons and Gobber joined Stoick.
"I, I'm so sorry, Stoick." Gobber says.
"It's alright, my friend. I couldn't believe it either."
"What do we do?" Gobber asks.
"I just said, we find Hiccup and find out what's making him act this way." He states.
A sudden plea halts everyone. Stoick looks back and finds Toothless still crumpled to the ground. Stoick quickly hops off of Tornado and hustles to Toothless. He looks over his injuries. Blood flowed thickly from the stab wound Hiccup created.
That Hiccup created. To his own dragon.
Stoick shuddered at the horrid thought. He placed a hand on the wounded Night Fury. Bleeding on the outside, but also on the inside where no one will think to look.
"You'll be alright. But leave this to us. We'll get him back." he firmly promised.
Toothless weakly cooed in reply. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut. You two help bring Toothless to Goathi. She can treat Toothless."
The twins didn't protest as they helped Toothless to his feet. Stoick mounted Tornado and he and the Vikings flew off toward the direction of the woods Hiccup was headed. They glided over the treetops keeping a lookout for a shadow figure.
"Where did he go?" Fishlegs asked.
Astrid looked closer until she saw the shadow of a tree move. "There!"
"It's Hiccup!" Stoick confirmed.
They dove down steep and hovered over Hiccup as he ran. Hiccup saw the un-missable shadow that was Tornado creep over him and increased his speed. If he could just make it to the Cove again he'd be home free.
"Hiccup! Please! Stop!" Stoick pleaded to his son. But he wasn't confident he'd get through. He wasn't even sure his son was in there anymore.
Hiccup didn't even spare them a glance. Instead, he chucked five knives at the dragons.
"How many of those things does he have?!" Snotlout asked in frustration.
"I've never seen Hiccup like this before!" Astrid said.
"No one has. Either he's holding the world's biggest grudge, or he's under some spell." Gobber said.
"Maybe not a spell, but mind control." Stoick suddenly brainstormed.
"You think?" Gobber asked.
"It's the only thing I can think of."
"Normally I'd disagree, but yet here we are." He said.
Stoick looked back to Hiccup as he kept running.
"Where's he going?" Fishlegs asked.
Stoick looked ahead and saw the sudden clearance in the forest ahead.
"The Cove!"
"The Cove?" Astrid repeated with confusion. "Why would he head there?"
Stoick and Gobber exchanged looks, both remembering Gobber's story on what happened last time.
It all makes sense.
"We need to get down there!" Stoick ordered.
The dipped down and Tornado tried to grab Hiccup, but Hiccup dropped to the ground and slid under a gathering of foliage.
"Drat!" Gobber said.
"Let's just head for the Cove! He'll be headed there anyway."
They zoomed past the trees and the Cove soon came into view in a matter of seconds. They flew down and landed near the shoreline. They all dismounted and listened in as Stoick gave his orders.
"Hiccup will be coming here at any angle. Let's spread out and cover all of it. We can't let him give that Book to Alvin." He said.
"Well you're a bit late on that one Stoick."
Alvin's voiced materialized out of nowhere. Circling the Cove, the Vikings watched as he came out from the shadow of the trees. The Book of Dragons in his hands. Clouds drift away from the moon, shrinking the shadows, and revealing Hiccup. His hood down, a blank expression on his face. Like a doll.
"Hiccup" Stoick called to his son. But the boy remained still.
"I must say, I really underestimated you're little embarrassment, Stoick. Who knew how useful and merciless he could be under the power of hypnosis." Alvin said.
As if on cue, a Changewing materialized from a nearby boulder and snaked up closer to Hiccup. It's spinning pupils causing Hiccup's eyes to grow a pale green.
"Alvin, you've crossed the line. No one takes my son." Stoick said in a dark tone.
"I take what I want. You know that Stoick. And it seems that your son takes well after me." he says with a cruel smile that nearly matches Hiccup's.
"Release my son!" Stoick ordered.
"Not a chance, Stoick! Now that I know just how useful this boys is, I'm going to make good use of him. Hiccup!" Alvin called, and Hiccup looks to him. "Deal with these men, and when you're done, make sure they're never found."
Astrid takes a step back while Fishlegs begins to tremble. Snotlout swallows a thick lump in his throat and Gobber looks to Stoick. Only to see fierce determination in his eyes. Savage tosses Hiccup his sword, and Hiccup catches and twirls it in his hand as if he were skilled in it for years.
Hiccup readies the sword, and waits as Stoick and Gobber decide on what to do.
"What do we do sir?" Astrid asks.
Stoick's eyes flick back and forth from Hiccup, to the Changewing, and to Alvin. Suddenly, Stoick chucks his sword toward Alvin, knocking to book out of his hands. "Tornado!" he says, and the Thunderdrum raises in the air and blasts his howl at the Changewing.
The dragon screeches in pain and as it crawls off the rock and away from the attack, Hiccup suddenly flinched and lowered the sword to hold his head.
"That dragon controls Hiccup. Gobber and I will handle Alvin. You kids help Hiccup!" he ordered and the kids nodded mounting their dragons.
Gobber and Stoick charge for Alvin as he reaches for the book, but Tornado howls it away a few yards. Savage charges for Gobber while Stoick goes for Alvin. Stoick throws the first punch, missing Alvin as he dodges, but thankfully misses Alvin's on coming attack and sucker punches him right to the face.
Over by the kids, the Changewing shakes its head to shake off the terrible howling, and Hiccup mimicked its movements. Once the two settle, the Changewing readies itself for battle. Hiccup in turn, raises his sword.
Astrid and Stormfly fly around the dragon before shooting spines at the dragon. The Changewing dodges and spews out acid as Hiccup runs for Meatlug and Fishlegs. He's screaming as he approaches and Fishlegs and Meatlug take to the skies.
"Come one Hiccup, it's me Fishlegs. Don't you remember me?" he pleads with his friend to remember.
Hiccup grips his sword and chucks it toward them with an agitated grunt. They dodge and spew a lava rock at him. Hiccup dodges and tumbles a few feet.
"Sorry!" Fishlegs calls.
"Fishlegs!" Astrid calls. "Remember, aim for the dragoon, not Hiccup. If we beat that thing, Hiccup will return to normal!"
"Right!" he confirms as he flies in spewing another lava rock at the dragon.
Over by Alvin and Stoick, Stoick's sword whirls through their and slices off a few crusty strands of Alvin's beard. Alvin growls and slams his own sword onto Stoick's. The two clash together with a metallic clang as they thrust, par and break apart. Gobber and Savage a mere reflection.
Hookfang fires at the Changewing, but the dragon smoothly zips out of the way and spews acid. Snotlout was about to fire again when a knife cam whizzing by his head.
Whoa! What the-" his thought was interrupted as Hiccup came slamming into him, knocking him off.
Snotlout screams as he plummet s to the earth. Astrid swoops in and catches him in time.
"What happened?" she asks.
"Hiccup kidnapped my dragon!" Snotlout screams in fury.
Both look up as Hiccup and Hookfang fly in sync. Hiccup now holding a crossbow, aims and fires at the two Vikings. The swerve out of the way, but another comes close by and their thrown off balance.
Hiccup swoops in and jumps and slams both Astrid and Snotlout off. Stormfly is too stunned to save them and Hiccup slams the crossbow into her head, rendering her unconscious.
"Stormfly!" Astrid screams as she watches Hiccup control Hookfang.
Hookfang grabbed Stormfly by her tail and swung her around like a rag doll before releasing her mid-swing. Sending her flying into the rock wall of the Cove and crashing into the shallow end of the water.
"No!" she cries.
"Hookfang!" Snotlout calls, but the dragon stays hovering over the water. "Traitor!" he says as he plummets.
Suddenly, a shadow zooms over the Cove and Toothless flies out under the two catching them in time. They have a rough landing on the dirt, but better than the alternative. Fresh gauze is wrapped around his neck and patched over the middle of his nose.
"Oh thank Thor you're hear Toothless!" Astrid says as she hugs the Night Fury. "We need to save Hiccup!"
Toothless looks for the Changewing and when he finds him, he snarls and shoots plasma blasts. The Changewing dodges and hisses. Toothless snarls in reply.
"Toothless, you take care of him, we'll handle Hiccup." Astrid says and Toothless snots in reply.
She and Snotlout run for Hiccup as he lands Hookfang. He hops of and readies his sword. Astrid and Snotlout stop a few feet away. Astrid shifts to a fighting stance and Snotlout rushes over to Hookfang. Hiccup charges for Astrid and the two battle in hand-to-hand combat.
Meanwhile, Toothless continues to shoot at the Changewing, not missing a single shot. He hits the dragon straight in the face, and suddenly Hiccup freezes as he was going in for a low blow attack.
The Changewing screeches and Hiccup cries out in pain, dropping his sword.
"It's working! Snotlout!" she calls and he mounts Hookfang and shoots at the dragon while it's still stunned.
It cries out again and Hiccup screams as if he's the one being attacked. Fishlegs swoops in and shoots lava rocks at the dragon. And soon Tornado joins in. All pummeling the dragon without the slightest pause.
Hiccup holds his head and continues to cry out. Stoick looks from his battle and when he sees Hiccup, he leaves Alvin and rushes over. Gobber follows, leaving Savage bloody in the dirt.
Astrid rushes to Hiccup's side as he falls to his knees in pain.
"Hiccup, Hiccup! Look at me!" she tries to say to him.
Hiccup has his hair clutched tight in his hands until his knuckle turn white.
He manages to open his eyes and Astrid turns his head to face her. "Look at me." She coos to him. "It's me. Astrid."
Hiccup takes deep huffs of breath, his grip loosening. Eyes tear filled, and the green slowly morphing from stone cold back to the warmth they once had.
"Come on Hiccup. You can do this." She encouraged.
Hiccup stared straight into her eyes. "A-Astrid?" he says in a shaky voice.
"Yes! Yes. That's, that's right Hiccup. It's Astrid." She says, a bud of hope suddenly blooming. Like a fast blooming daisy.
Hiccup suddenly snatches her arm in a death grip. It hurt, but Astrid saw the pleading in his eyes.
"Help me!" Hiccup cries before letting her arm go.
Five little crimson crescents left on her bicep. She reaches out as Hiccup screams in a painful pitch that sounded unworldly.
"It's okay, it's okay Hiccup. You're going to be okay." She says.
"Help me Astrid! I can't stop it! I can't! I-" Hiccup lets out a horrid scream that gives Astrid goose skin.
She looks to Toothless and the Changewing and toothless continued to fire and once he ran out, he tackled the dragon and the two wrestled back and forth. Scratching, clawing, kicking, biting and screaming.
Gobber rushed over and blocked Alvin from attacking Stoick as he rushed to Hiccup.
"Hiccup! Son!"
He had just made it to Hiccup's side as Toothless clawed at the throat of the Changewing. The dragon screamed bloody-murder as it slammed Toothless against the stone wall. It weakly crawled to Alvin.
Alvin looked all around. "Men! Fall back!" he orders.
The Changewing vanishes and Savage pushes himself to his feet and hustles off. Alvin follows behind, stopping at the edge of the shadows.
"This isn't over Stoick!" he says before vanishing into the shadows.
Stoick was about to go after him when Hiccup suddenly cried out. He rushes over and gathers his broken son in his arms.
"Hiccup! It's okay, you're okay." He says trying to keep his voice calm for his son.
"Dad?! Is that you?!" Hiccup calls, as if he's miles away from him. "It won't stop! I can't stop it!" he cries
"Hiccup!"
"I can't! I-" Hiccup groans, before becoming dead weight in his father's arms.
Passed out cold. His eyes lock on Stoick's until the knowledge within them hardens into the far-seeing gaze of the dead.
"Hiccup! Hiccup!" Stoick calls as he shakes his son. "Hiccup! Please don't do this to us!" he pleads with a hollow shell.
He brings Hiccup's chest to his ear and he can still hear the steady beat of his heart.
He was still alive. But they needed to get back to the village.
"Everyone, on your dragons now!" Stoick ordered. "Hang in there son." He pleaded.
And the whoosh of dragons' wings echoed in the clear sky as they headed back for the village