Night continued to cover the Isle of Berk. Remus smiled as families embraced those who had stood frozen since the Roman attack. Gently, he rubbed Solstice's neck, causing her to let out a slight pur. Hiccup laughed as he walked up to his uncle. "That is quite an impressive dragon. Without her special flames, I don't know what we would've done with those who were frozen." He had changed from his disguise back into his Berkian attire, but he had it stored away, as a souvenir. His hair had restored itself from the helmet mess he had had during the flight back.
Remus continued to smile. "I'm just glad to help." Remus continued to wear the white armor they had retrieved from Romulus' vault. It seemed to fit perfectly on him, but that was probably due to the advanced adjustment system on it. "Besides, I want to start on good terms with my fellow Berkians." Remus added. Hiccup nodded a little as he tried to figure out the hint that Remus had just dropped. When he finally got it, his face turned into one of the most surprised expressions Remus had ever seen. "You mean you're staying in Berk?!" Hiccup asked, astonished. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare house around that could accommodate a man and his dragon?" Remus answered. Hiccup smiled and then stood up tall. "Of course, sir, we have some very fine homes down this way." He said as he gestured towards the town. Remus laughed.
A piercing roar cut across the sky. Astrid and the other Vikings grasped their ears from the vast power from it. "Toothless!" Hiccup yelled as he launched into a full on sprint for his dragon and the saddlebag that held Inferno. Remus tried to grab him before he entered the open area, but missed by an inch. "Hiccup! No!" He yelled. Hiccup managed to make it to Toothless and was unbuttoning the saddlebag when the two were tackled by a large dragon, tossing Hiccup away a few feet. He slammed into a rock. The dragon's rider jumped down from his standing position on his beast and walked over to Hiccup. He could feel a cold blade against his neck, and could swear a few drops of blood were beginning to roll down it. "Do you know how much of a nuisance you have been." Hiccup remembered the voice, Romulus.
Slowly, as to not draw too much blood, Hiccup lifted his head to face his uncle. "It took me a while to put the pieces together, but I finally figured it out." Romulus turned his sword a little, causing a few more drops of blood to run down Hiccup's neck. "Six years ago, the 'Dragon Conquerer' and 'Night Fury' that Savage and Dagur were whining about. That was you, wasn't it?" He pulled his sword back and then swiped it across Hiccup's face, causing a cut in his right cheek. "And then, two years ago, the dragon that defeated Drago's Alpha. That was your 'Night Fury', am I correct?" He swiped his sword across Hiccup's face again, causing another cut on his left cheek. "And now, you have my stone. I want it back." He moved his sword in line with Hiccup's neck. A felt a faint tapping on his shoulder.
Remus punched his brother with a right hook to the jaw and then shook his hand out as he felt the force of metal on metal. Romulus stumbled back a few yards before stretching out his jaw. The Black Death roared in anger and prepared to attack Remus. "No!" Romulus yelled. "This one is mine, get the stone!" The dragon turned its head towards the fleeing Hiccup and bounded after him, releasing Toothless. Toothless in turn shot right past the beast and snatched Hiccup, turning the chase to the air.
The Black Death followed Toothless as he attempted several evasive manuevers, to no avail. Its mission was ingrained in its brain. Seeing their chief in trouble, the dragon riders took off into the skies, all except for Stormfly, who had just been thawed out. Snotlout was the first one to make a move. Hookfang flew right in front of the black dragon and Snotlout swung his hammer across its face. The Black Death became enraged. Its eyes glazed over with a white haze and white streams of energy began to flow across its back. The sight of the beast froze the dragon riders in terror, and then the dragon's ice breath froze Snotlout solid. The Black Death grabbed the block as it flew past and then chucked it at the ground, where it embedded itself 4 feet in the dirt.
The black and white blades crossed each other in a show of green sparks. "I should've killed you long ago!" The black knight yelled. The swords separated. The black knight swung his downward and the white knight brought his up, causing the to blades to clash, letting out another blast of green sparks. "It's a shame you didn't then!" The white knight yelled in response. Villagers fled as the two continued to match strikes in shows of green sparks. One of Romulus' strikes got through and broke a piece of Remus' shoulder armor. "And to think, mother and father were going to give you the throne." Romulus kicked at his brother, pushing him back several feet and causing him to fall backwards.
The Black Dragon roared at Toothless and Toothless roared back, a challenge of 2 Alphas. Hiccup unsheathed Inferno in preperation of battle. The two dragons prepared their powerful blasts. A beam of plasma collided with a white ice breath. The two blasts pushed against each other for almost a minute, and then Toothless started to become tired. The ice blast began to push back the plasma until Hiccup was forced to pull his dragon out. They barely escaped the full power of the ice attack, but it had struck Hiccup's prosthetic, locking it in place. Astrid was so stressed she almost pulled her hair out. I can't just sit around and do nothing, not again. An idea came to her.
Remus rolled back as he collided with the ground and stood himself up. "They were never going to give me the throne." He jumped at Romulus, bringing his sword down on his. Romulus pushed it back. "Then why were they always grooming you, giving you everything, I was clearly the better of the two of us!" Romulus swung his sword at his brother in pure bloodlust. "They gave us both the same Romulus, half of everything, including the throne." Remus pushed the reckless strike away from him. Romulus stood for a moment and lowered his sword in silence. Then giggling. The giggling turned to chuckling, and the chuckling turned to laughing. "You're right, Remus, they did give us each half." Romulus' laughing fell back to a small giggle. "But I was never satisfied with half." He charged at Remus, knocking him back several yards, straight into the Armory.
No matter how much heat he pumped into Inferno, it couldn't melt the Black Death ice. Toothless was exhausted, there was no way he could handle another blast like that. Despite having carefully analyzed this enemy, there was one factor Hiccup had left out, experience. The Black Death began to fire another blast. Toothless prepared for another dodge, but Hiccup seriously doubted they could pull it off. It fired its ice breath. A white streak shot out from underneath Hiccup and stood between it and Hiccup. Solstice let out a blast of yellow flames, countering out the Black Death's icy blast. It roared at the interference to its duel. Solstice flew back to line up with Toothless and Hiccup saw who was riding her. "Astrid!" His love smiled. "Together now!" She raised her axe. He smiled and raised his sword.
"I thought when I crushed you in that duel, that all of this was over, that my place as Emperor was secured, but here I find you wearing the armor of the Heir of Rome." Romulus plunged his sword into a weak spot on Remus' leg armor. "It seams, if I am truly to guarantee my seat, I most destroy you." Romullus looked around at the inventory of the Armory. He knelt down and read the crude label on one of the barrels. "Zippleback gas." A single sword slice cut holes in ten barrels, and the gas began to accumulate around the ceiling, slowly building its way down towards the floor. Romulus stepped outside the door and grabbed a torch from the outside of the building. "I'm truly sorry it had to end like this, but you've given me no other choice." He said. "Romulus, don't" He threw the torch into the filling up room. Emotionlessly, he walked away from the building.
Remus stared at the flame as the green gas descended from above. He removed his helmet and then turned his face towards the sky. "Hiccup, continue to live a good life, one full of love and joy. you have the heart of a chief, the soul of a dragon, and the strength of an Emperor. Do not mourn me, Hiccup, Valka, for I will never truly be gone, just as he will never truly be gone." The sight of the large statue of Stoick appeared in his head as a single tear ran down his cheek. He chuckled, and then closed his eyes. "I never did find out if I was your favorite uncle."
A large plume of flame erupted from the Armory, completely demolishing it. "Remus!" Hiccup could hear his mother scream. His eyes widened in terror, and he forgot about his battle with the black dragon. A claw snatched the small pouch from his belt and a tail smacked Toothless towards the ground. Hiccup collided with the dirt and tumbled several yards before coming to a halt in front of Romulus. A large thud told him that the Black Death had landed. It dropped the small pouch into Romulus' open hand and he removed the prize. "Thank you Hiccup, I can't wait to show you what this can do, but I think I'll save that for the finale tomorrow. I promise it'll be a huge surprise." Hiccup struggled to get up as Romulus climbed onto his dragon and left.
Hiccup stumbled to the charred remains that was once Berk's Armory. His mother knelt in the rubble in front of a white object. He could hear her crying as he approached. He felt his own tears begin to form as her sobbing became louder. But they only truly began to fall when he saw the relic that lie on the ground. A white helmet, completely untouched by the flames and soot, rested upon the floor, face-up. Hiccup fell to his knees next to his mother. She grabbed him tightly and he returned the favor as waterfalls continued to pour from her eyes. Never seeing someone for fifty years only to watch them die in front of you. Hiccup became angry. It's not fair! He yelled in his thoughts. You already took away my father. Why? Why must you take another? "Why must you hurt me so deep?!" He yelled to the sky. He fell onto all fours as the memory of his father's death came back along with all of the tears.
A comforting hand rested upon Hiccup's shoulder. He looked up with his red eyes to see Astrid. She sat down next to him and cradled his head as he continued to cry. She rubbed her hand across his hair in a soothing manner. "Don't worry, Everything will be fine." She said. She sounded so sure, Hiccup almost wanted to believe her. "You will always have me and Toothless, your mother, Cloudjumper, Stormfly, Solstice, Gobber. We will always be with you, just as your father and Remus will always be with you. In here." She rested her hand over his heart, making sure not to click the button. Hiccup's tears began to subside. He rubbed his hand over his eyes. She's right. He thought. They will always be with me, always. He grabbed the helmet and placed it over his head.
Hiccup stood and faced the people of Berk and the Academy. "Romulus will return soon, and he will be bringing his entire Legion. He thinks Berk will be taken easily, that we're just a small island in a small world. But we are going to show him how wrong he is! I need all Academy students to return home and get your clans to come back us up. United, the Nordic people stand a chance against our greatest enemy! United, the Nordic people will show him what happens when you try to conquer the Vikings!" The crowd roared with the thunderous fury equal to fife thousand dragons, a fury that would protect their home to the bitter end.