A/N-the next few chapters are going to be a lot slower, what with adapting to the new lifestyle and the characters getting to know each other. Though there will still be some action and hopefully some humor, since the meeting of two so-very-different places could never happen smoothly...

Two Worlds Collide

Chapter 12: Final Night

"Alright, you're probably going to disappear for quite a while before we see you again, so we want to hear everything."

It was right around sunset, the evening after the battle with the Clubswingers, and while everyone else was in the Mead Hall celebrating by getting drunk (Vikings, what can you expect?), Hiccup and Astrid had managed to drag me away to an unused watchtower, where we had built a fire. As Hiccup had said just a moment ago, they were planning on finding out about every little possible thing they could about where I came from before I left. It would be who knows how long before I came back (if I could come back).

"Well," I began, "what do you want to know first?" Astrid leaned back in her seat. "How about explaining to us a little more what you said when you came here." I raised an eyebrow in question. "Meaning?" "You said we were from something called a 'movie'. Explain that." I laughed and nodded. "Alright, very well. A movie is part of our technology that we have in our world. The most basic form would be what is called a video tape. It's a string of thousands of pictures put together,. Each one slightly different from the last, and they're projected at a high speed onto something so it looks like the pictures are moving." Hiccup snorted. "Isn't it a bit tedious to have to squint at all those little pictures?" I laughed again and shook my head. "Like I said, they're projected onto something. Usually it's a television, which shows the movie by forming the pictures with thousands of tiny dots of light."

"Alright, how do you make the pictures move fast enough?" Astrid asked. " The same way just about everything else works in my world," I said. "Everything runs on electricity." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on," Hiccup said, raising up his hands, "you mean to tell me that people in your world can harness lightning?" I smirked. "Electricity can be produced other ways. Lightning is static electricity on overload. We produce electricity in far smaller amounts, and it can be put to work making light, heat, movement, cooling things down, and most importantly, building and destroying things."

Astrid perked up here. "Destroy things? Like a weapon?" I waved my hands around a bit. "Sometimes it builds weapons, but mostly it runs machines to clear out ground for farming or living, or to clear out other buildings and such. That's just the base line, too." Astrid nodded. "Well, you mentioned weapons, and I want to hear about those, too." I smirked. "Big surprise." She just gave me a deadpan look. "I understand the concept of whips and swords, but yours are unlike anything I've ever seen."

At this point I stood up and un-shouldered my whip. "What's to know about this?" She shrugged. "I've never learned exactly how the whip works. I mean, it's a leather rope, how does it make such a loud noise?" My face formed an 'oh, I see' look. "You mean this." Quick as lightning, I uncurled my whip, threw it back behind me, and snapped it forward. Hiccup and Astrid were expecting it, but both of them jumped as the gunshot crack echoed across the village below. "That noise is produced by this," I said, curling up the whip and thumbing the thicker tip, "moving at a speed faster than the speed of sound. It creates a compression of the sound waves traveling through the air, and the sound waves expand out all at the same time, creating a loud BOOM! It's the same principle as lightning and thunder." Hiccup looked at the weapon. "And that's something your world has had for over 800 years longer than us?" I smiled. Astrid shook her head. "Alright, what about the sword? Hiccup here is impressive at smithing, almost as good as Gobber, but even those two have never created something that doesn't tarnish at least a bit after 5 days. I've seen you use it, too, and it doesn't bend at all!"

I pulled out my sword and handed it to her, so she could look it over. "The secret is really none at all, just an alloy your time period hasn't come up with yet, stainless steel. It takes months of water exposure to make any rust on it, and unless it's heated to over 1,000 degrees, it's one of the strongest metals in my time. We make everything out of it." I pointed to the blade of the sword. "You'll notice what looks like lines going along the length of it, too. There's an Asian technique of folding the metal when making the sword, so that layer upon layer of metal meshes together, holding it all in place. Some swords have over 2,000 folds." Astrid's eyes widened, and she looked at Hiccup. "Alright, I'll try it," he groaned. Astrid smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then she handed the sword back.

"We've had swords forever," she said, "so if you're as advanced as you say you are, then you must have weapons even more powerful." I nodded slipping the sword back into its scabbard. "Well, probably the most common is the gun." Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Gun? Never heard of it." "Well, of course not, they haven't been invented around here yet," I drawled. "They consist pretty much of a handle and trigger, and a hollow tube with a metal bullet inside. You pull the trigger, which ignites a sort of explosive powder, which blasts the bullet down the tube and out at whatever you're shooting at." I turned and looked at the seat I was sitting on. "See that?" Hiccup nodded, and Astrid just raised an eyebrow. "What about it?" she asked. "Where I come from, many guns would go from not even denting that to making a nice round pockmark, but your average killing gun could put a bullet into that bench with enough force to imbed it more than halfway through."

A look of horror wormed its way onto Hiccup's face, and he looked at me. "You don't own one of these yourself, do you?" I looked at Astrid, who had a bit of frightened interest on her face still. "I do have some guns that could kill, but my father owns things that may be able to do that sort of damage." "I'll make sure never to anger your father then," Hiccup said. I laughed. "He's not a killer, but I still wouldn't piss him off." I shifted in my seat. "Of course, even that's not the worst." A unanimous "What?!" arose from the two Vikings. I nodded, and both put looks of uncertainty and nervousness on their faces. "There are things like machine guns, which can fire hundreds of bullets, or rounds, in a minute. Others launch small explosive devices. Then there's the mother of destructive weapons, the bombs." Astrid turned her head to look at me, then Hiccup. "Bombs?" she said. "Yeah," I continued. "Most work with chemicals that are naturally unstable or that will explode upon contact with other chemicals, and even those can put 20 foot or larger craters into the ground. Some, however, work on nuclear power."

I bent down and rubbed my fingers across the wooden floor, picking up some dust. I held my fingers out to the Vikings. "See the dust on my hand?" They nodded. "Take one grain of this dust, and imagine something a thousandth the size." Hiccup's eyes widened. "Things exist at that size?" "Yes," I said, "and at that level, those particles are referred to as at the atomic level. Particles of that size are the basis for everything we see around us, and this is the level nuclear power works on. Either you have nuclear fission, or fusion. Fission is where we take energy and break atoms apart, releasing huge amounts of energy. Fusion is where two atoms are fused together, releasing energy as well. Most nuclear bombs today use fission. A single atom of a gas called hydrogen is collapsed, breaking it apart and releasing energy." Hiccup held up his hand. "Hold on, you mean to say a single atom can kill?" I nodded. "Let me finish and I'll tell you how. The energy released by the one atom causes a chain reaction that builds the energy up exponentially, until reactions are being made in thousands of pounds of material, all within only a second or two. This reaction converts most of that material into energy, millions of degrees of heat energy, radiation energy, and physical force. These things can leave craters over a ΒΌ mile wide, and many feet deep." I tuned and pointed to the village of Berk below us. "If a single hydrogen bomb were to detonate over the village, everything within one to five miles would be instantly turned to vapor, and the supersonic shock wave could level the forest for a good ten miles out."

For a few minutes, there was no sound on the watchtower. Finally Astrid spoke up. "So, these weapons can destroy and island the size of Berk?" I nodded. Hiccup looked at me. "And your world created these," he stated. I sighed. "Sadly, yes. It was in defense against attack from other nations, during a massive world war. But the actual imminent destruction of the bombs isn't the worst part." Hiccup's eyes, if it's even possible, became wider. "If that's not, then what is?" "I spoke of some of the bomb's energy becoming radiation. Radiation can cause hundreds of diseases, and complicate many more, and spreads form the blast site over hundreds of miles, contaminating everything. Nothing can grow, anything touched is likely to die or live a life full of medical problems, and worse, the effects last for ages." I closed my eyes and sighed. "Only two of these bombs were ever used on people, over 70 years ago, and those people who survived are still feeling the effects in the area today." I opened my eyes and looked at the two. Hiccup spoke up. "That long? That's longer than most Vikings even live." I nodded. "Are these bombs still around?" Astrid asked. "Unfortunately, and none are even as small as the ones used 70 years ago. Many are over 20 times the size, and the combined power of all that are in the world could destroy the earth 5 times over. Luckily, so many people fear the outcome of using them that none have been used since that world war." Astrid nodded. "Let's hope none are used again." I sighed. "I hope not. But even if we don't wipe each other of the planet with weapons, my world is being depleted of what we need to survive at an impossible rate.

"There are 7 billion people in my world-" at this, the Vikings gasped again, "-and we go through enough resources each day to cover this island twice. Plus, what we use pollutes land, air, and water, and everything just seems to be going downhill." I looked out at the now dark island's coast, in the direction of the thickest visible forest. "You guys still have plenty of time before you need to worry about all that, but the earlier something is stopped, the better." I looked down at myself. "I hope there's still time for where I live, and something I can do about it." Hiccup looked straight at me. "Maybe we can help." I laughed. "My own family won't be able to believe what they're seeing when I show them what I am now, let alone the rest of the world coming to terms with this one existing. But, maybe one day. The Mystique said I was given this gift from God, so it's likely I'm meant to try and keep peace in both our worlds now, and keeping my world from destroying itself is a good way to keep peace."

Hiccup stood up and stretched. "Well, let's see if we can get off of such depressing topics, shall we?" Astrid stood up and nodded. "Too late. I'm already going to have nightmares from this. I shouldn't have asked about the weapons." I shrugged. "You would've found out sooner or later, might as well be sooner." "A-anyways," Hiccup interrupted, "I was looking over Toothless earlier, and the cuts are barely even scars now. He should be able to fly right away in the morning tomorrow." I stood up and nodded, and we all started for the stairs. "I hope so. I like it here, but my parents are probably freaking out right now. I can't even say what my sister must feel like." Astrid turned to me. "You have a sister?" I nodded. "And you're probably going to meet her in the future."

We reached the base of the tower. I looked over my shoulder and the new appendages I had kept on. Astrid put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure you'll be able to break it to them somehow," she said, "though I wouldn't suggest waiting too long." Hiccup looked at me. "You will come back, right?" I gave him a deadpan look, then walked up to him and gave him a soft slap on the back of the head. "No, I'm just going to disappear, never to be seen again. What do you think, I'd just abandon all my new friends?" Astrid snickered behind me. I turned to her. "Besides, someone's got to keep all you Vikings in line."

Astrid parted ways with us there, heading back to here house, and Hiccup and I continued up the hill to his house. We both nearly got knocked over by Toothless, but were able to get inside and to our respective beds without any major injury. As I lay down, I smiled at the thought of going home, but there was also that one big problem: how in the world was I going to break the news of all this to my family when I got back?