A/N: Sorry this one was late. My dog got a Hot spot, and my parents and I were frantic. Anyway, he's okay now, looking good with the cone and all, so I worked my butt off to give you a longer chapter for the lateness! And here it is! Read on.
Chapter 11: They steal your...
A shadowy man sat in a dark room, looking carefully at several screens. There was movement in one of them. He focused on it. Two figures walked past it, one holding a glowing weapon. The man laughed.
"Company, eh? Well, let's give em a welcome they won't soon forget." He said. Just outside, two golems formed from the ground.
"Go an' give our guests a warm welcome boys." They slowly walked to the left and down the hallway. The man turned back to the screen, focusing on the kid a bit. He rubbed his chin.
"This kid seems familiar somehow." He thought.
Hiccup and Astrid entered what looked like a lobby. Security cameras were all over the place.
"We must be getting close." Hiccup stated.
"I'm sensing a person nearby, just ahead." Toothless informed them.
"Well, no sense stopping then." Astrid said, walking on ahead. But before she could take another step, two golems came from out of the wall in front of them.
"Give them to me!" They shouted as they charged forward. Hiccup formed his claws and rammed one, while Astrid jumped the other, swinging her axe across its body, slicing it in half. Hiccup rammed into the other one, pinning it to the ground. It sank into it, and reformed above him, slamming its arms down on Hiccup's body.
"AH!" He shouted. Astrid ran to him and knocked the golem off, picking up Hiccup.
"I'm okay!" He said, pointing to the golem. She nodded and charged with her battle axe raised high. The golem dodged to the left, but before it could react, she swing with her blade and cleaved its head off on the back swing. It crumbled to the ground. Panting, she turned to see Hiccup walking up, normal again.
"We're close. I can feel it." He said. They continued onward. Soon, they reached what appeared to be a factory of sorts. There was conveyor belts where people would be stationed around that had become rusted and caved in since their last use. There were stairs that lead to a room up top, with a blacked out window. The wires from the security cameras lead to it.
"Think our guy is up there?" Astrid asked.
"I sense someone up there." Toothless confirmed.
"Well, we won't get answers standing around here." Hiccup said. They began to walk forward, when a crackling sound emitted throughout the room.
"Oi there! You two! Not a step futha, else you'll find yeselves in deep trouble." A scottish man's voice told them.
"Too late for that! Was t you who sent those things after us?" Hiccup asked.
"You mean my Trolls? Yes, an' I'm supposin ye found that plasmid down in that vault eh?"
Hiccup froze. Astrid looked at him, confused.
"What's going on?" She asked. Hiccup didn't hear. He was in shock.
"How'd he know where I got you Toothless? How does he even know about you?" He asked.
"I…I don't know." Toothless stuttered, obviously as shocked as Hiccup.
"No matter. Once yer gone, I can get back to me real problem." He said. The speaker fizzled out.
"What's going on?" Astrid asked again.
"I don't know, I…I'm just as confused as you are right n-" Before he could finish, the ground began quaking. Hiccup fell back while Astrid fought to keep balance. The sound of creaking metal and rubble filled the room, as a giant Troll suddenly formed from out of the ground, nearly three times the size of the previous ones. Astrid and Hiccup gawked at it with surprise.
"We're gonna need a bigger Axe." Astrid said. The Troll raised its arm and brought it down.
"Look out!" She yelled as she dove and pushed Hiccup out of the way. The Arm impacted where they'd both been. Hiccup scrambled to his feet.
"I'll be needing all you have for this." He said.
"I'll try and assist when possible." Toothless agreed. Hiccup focused as his whole body grew and sprouted. In a flash, he was full Night Fury. Astrid exchanged a look with him before running and jumping on his back.
"Hey, what's th-"
"Just fly so I can get on its shoulders dragon boy." She interrupted. Hiccup snorted as he took off, avoiding another assault by the Troll's fist. As soon as hiccup was at its head, Astrid jumped off, landing on the Troll's left shoulder.
"Take this!" She shouted, driving her Axe into its neck. Unfortunately, it only went halfway through before stopping in the middle. Astrid gave it a yank before losing her balance and falling onto the Troll's arm.
Meanwhile, Hiccup was shooting fireballs at the Troll's head, blowing chunks off, but not getting a clear hit.
"This is bad. I can't see it well enough to hit it!"
"Hiccup, on a creature like this, don't rely on your sense. Use your eyes; you have them for a reason." Hiccup sighed and gave a loop around before going in again, this time focusing his sight on the Troll's "face." With a hiss, a firebolt erupted from his mouth and hit it dead center. With a crack, the head separated from the body, falling to the ground. Astrid grabbed her axe as it fell and teleported to the ground in a purple mist. The body fell to the ground with a tremor. Hiccup and Astrid walked up to it. Astrid kicked it.
"This was way too easy." Astrid said.
"Well, less work for us then, right?" Hiccup asked.
"I agree with Astrid. This thing was brought down too fast. Something is not right."
"Please don't say that." Hiccup groaned.
"Why?" Toothless asked. Suddenly, the Troll's leg snapped forward, kicking them into a wall.
"That's…why." Hiccup gasped. The Troll's body rose up from the ground and walked towards them. Astrid and Hiccup got up and ran for cover.
"How is it still walking! We severed its head, what more is there!" Astrid shouted.
"I don't know! Toothless?" Hiccup asked.
"It may be that creature has more than one area to control its body." Toothless answered.
"And where would it be if that were the case?" Astrid asked.
"How should I know?" Toothless retorted.
"Um, guys, I think we should run!" Hiccup shouted. Astrid looked up to see the Troll's foot about to slam down on them. With a yelp, she dove to the side as Hiccup did before getting squashed.
"What should we do?" Astrid called.
"Try for the exit! It won't be able to fit there!" Hiccup answered. They both ran for the exit, when suddenly, the door slammed shut on them. The speaker crackled to life again.
"Ah ah ah. Don't want ya to be escapin now do we?" The man said.
"Yes we do!" Hiccup spat.
"Well too bad kid! See ya around." Hiccup snarled, letting out a draconic roar before taking flight, this time, for the window at the top. The Troll saw this, and shot out its arm. Suddenly, a flying object sliced through it, charring its stump black and the rest of its arm to dust. It looked back at Astrid, who was smirking.
"Forget me?" She asked.
Hiccup darted at the window, and smashed through it claw first. A man sat before him, muscular with a balding head and a blonde mustache. He held a revolver in his hand, which oddly was made of rock.
"A lot of good that will do you." Hiccup said, noting it. The man smirked.
"I made that Troll out there, you'd be best wondrin what other surprises I may have." He said. Hiccup snarled.
"I see the plasmid's gotten to ya eh?" He said.
"This man…He seems familiar for some reason." Toothless said. Hiccup looked the man over.
"Now then, how's about ye tellin me all about yerself. It'd be fittin knowin just who was able to find that plasmid now, wouldn't it?" Hiccup looked out the window to see Astrid cutting off the Troll's Left leg. With a thud, it fell over, allowing Astrid to cut off its last leg and arm. Hiccup turned back to the man.
"Okay, what do you want to know." He asked, turning back to human except for his skin, which was still scales. The man rubbed his chin.
"How'd you get that thing from drivin ya mad? Everyone else killed themselves after just an hour with it."
"I'm guessing they never even thought of listening to him or talking to him." The man rubbed his chin. A purple mist appeared behind him, Astrid tip toeing from it. Hiccup gave a slight nod to her, who nodded back.
"How'd you find the vault in the first place?" He asked. Hiccup smirked.
"Ask her." He said. The man gave a yelp before Astrid wrapped her arms around his neck and raised one of her wrist daggers to it.
"What should we do with him Hiccup?" She asked. The man's eyes grew wide.
"Hiccup?" He asked. Hiccup looked at him.
"Hiccup…Haddock?" He asked. Hiccup's eyes widened.
"How'd you know my last name?" The man gave a big smile.
"I should've seen it. The soot and grime was throwin me off, but how could I not see yer mother's eyes." He said, more to himself. Hiccup was now as curious as he was shocked.
"Astrid, let him go. I have some questions for him." Astrid looked at him and the man, then nodded, lowering her blade. The man rubbed his neck a bit.
"A curious lass she is. I'm guessing ya cured her?" He asked.
"Yes, and you'll stop there with your questions about me if you know what's good for you." Astrid scolded.
"Feisty." He mumbled. He turned back to Hiccup.
"Anyway, I saw you Hiccup when you were jus' a wee lad, no more than 2 years old." He rubbed his forehead, eyes filled with wonderment. "Goodness it's been a while. How old are you now?"
"18." He said. "Sorry, just who are you?" The man smacked his forehead.
"Of course, how rude of me. 'Name's Gerald Belcher. Just call me Gobber though; everyone does...or did, anyway."
"Okay, now how do you know me?"
"I was a coworker and friend of yer father, Stoick. We both worked on the dragon plasmids." Hiccup was shocked.
"Now I know him! He was the one who created me!" Toothless said.
"You created Toothless?" Hiccup asked, returning his skin to normal.
"If yer referrin to the plasmid you have, yes." He rubbed his chin. "Although I'm curious as to how yer still sane."
"Like I said, Toothless isn't a voice in your..."Hiccup paused. "Okay, he is a voice, but not from insanity. When you made his DNA into a plasmid, you revived his soul. He was living the whole time in the vial, learning through it and through the people he temporarily bonded with. He's a living breathing dragon again, sort of." Gobber looked surprised.
"Imagine that. I knew we were revivin its body, but never did I think of its mind. Truly fascinatin."
"Um, he, not it." Hiccup pointed out. Gobber shook his head.
"Right, sorry, I'm still knew to all this. To think, all the brilliant scientists of the world and it was the kid of one who finds out more about their creation." He suddenly turned to Hiccup, excited.
"I nearly forgot! That ol' bastard Stoick, I haven't see him in years. Is he around? Might I be able to see him?"
Hiccup lowered his head. Gobber calmed down a bit, seeing Hiccup's sadness.
"I'm still looking for him. I got separated from our group when I found Toothless." Gobber's expression turned disappointed, then to greif.
"So, he's been ravaged by Adam, jus' like the rest o' Rapture, am I right?" Hiccup nodded solemnly. Gobber sighed. "I always suspected, but I never thought much on it." He turned back to Hiccup.
"What about you? You must have been poisoned by Adam, right?" Hiccup nodded.
"I was, yeah. When I injected Toothless, I thought he was a plasmid I could use to get a fix. When he bonded with me, the Cure-All tonic mixed in supplied me with enough Adam to break my insanity. It's been keeping me in check ever since."
"Fascinating. It never occurred to me how much it...he could do outside our original designs."
"Um, this talk of history and science is fun, but aren't we on a schedule?" Astrid butt in. Hiccup and Gobber looked at her.
"That's right, I need to find my dad still." Hiccup said. Gobber smirked.
"Well, if you don't mind, I might be of use for that." Hiccup and Astrid watched as Gobber walked over to a wall and tapped it three times. Suddenly, a Troll appeared from the wall, it's eyes glowing green. Astrid and Hiccup went into a battle stance, when they heard Gobber laughing.
"Don't worry. I created these things." He said, walking over to it.
"This here is a Terrain Relinquishing Operative Looking Lad, otherwise known as T.R.O.L.L. I made them using a golem plasmid I made. It was made to turn people into rock-solid body builders. Instead, it turned them into statues, and mutulated my arm an' leg. But when I accidentally spilled it, it made the ground come to life. So ever since, I've been using them to protect me from the splicers while I continued research." He then whispered something to it. It disappeared into the ground.
"Where's it going?" Hiccup asked.
"To find yer father Hiccup." He said to him. Hiccup felt happy for the first time in a while.
"Really?" He asked. Gobber raised his hand.
"Yes, but it will take some time. It can travel at a fast speed in the walls, but it will be at least an hour or so before it probably finds anything. Rapture is a big place." Hiccup nodded, still grinning.
"Until then, might I ask somethin of you two?" Gobber asked.
"Anything!" Hiccup said. Astrid placed her hand on Hiccup's chest, giving him a stern look.
"What do you want?" She asked, looking to Gobber.
"I need you two to run an errand fer me. Something my Trolls won't be able to do." He walked over to a console nearby that was hooked up to multiple screens.
"I've been looking for a man for sometime now; someone I used to work with on the project as well. I'm not sure exactly where he is, but I know he is somewhere in this building. He took somethin of mine a long time ago, somethin very close to me. If you could go out an' find him, and take back what was mine, I'd be grateful." Hiccup turned to Astrid, who crossed her arms.
"Can we talk Hiccup?" She asked. Before he could answer, she pulled him into a corner.
"Are you sure we can trust him Hiccup?"
"Come on Astrid, he could have easily done something to us the moment we set foot up here. He even had a weapon that could hurt me with Toothless' scales.
"I sensed nothing wrong with his breathing when he talked, and he never even blinked. I don't think he was lying." Toothless put in. Astrid huffed.
"Alright, I'll do it, but I still don't trust him." She said. Hiccup sighed. They both walked back to Gobber, who was cleaning his ears with his rock arm.
"Okay, we'll do it." Hiccup said. Gobber grinned.
"Excellent. Here's a map o' where he was last seen." He handed them a map.
"He's probably on the 26th floor, an' you'd best be careful, it'll surely be booby trapped. He's gone nuttier than a squirrel by now, what with all that splicin he did back in the day."
"Hiccup, ask him about the object." Toothless told him.
"Um, what is it we're looking for anyway?" Gobber sighed.
"It'll be a T shaped key. It's somethin personal I don't want to talk about too much." Astrid rolled her eyes and began to walk out. Hiccup went to follow, but stopped when he thought of something.
"Just wondering, the Trolls from before, they kept saying, "Give it to me." What was it they wanted?" Gobber blushed a bit at this.
"Um...well, they were lookin fer yer left socks." Hiccup tried not to laugh, giving a blank stare instead.
"He may be insane, but he's not stupid. He'd always outsmart them by saying the key was in his left sock, and always gave it to them to give to me. That's why I can't use them." He opened a door nearby. Hiccup gawked at the pile of socks.
"I got the idea after a few times." Gobber said quietly.
"Um...I'm just gonna...go now." He said, pointing to the door. He ran out. Gobber sighed, and took out a small wooden box from under the sock pile.
"Soon, I'll see you again." He said to himself, dusting off the box.
Stoick Looked at his arm as he stabbed it with the Adam needle. He sighed in relief as the Adam entered his system, giving him strength again. He tossed it to the side. Nearby, Snotlout was doing the same, as were Ruffnut and Tuffnut, though they were fighting over who had less than the other. Stoick sighed as he looked at the other splicers. They were all waiting to move on. He rose up and banged his hammer on a nearby wall. They all looked up.
"Listen now. My son is still missing. I've been hearing the lot of you talking about him, how we're better off. Well hear me now!" He looked around at each of them with a stone cold glare. Some gulped in fear, while others looked away.
"It was me who found you all, and it was me who lead us to survival. If you aren't with me though, on finding my son, then you are no longer welcome." He raised his hammer threateningly.
"And that means, you will be another source of Adam for us." They all looked at him in fear.
"Now, who wants to quit looking for him?" No one moved. Stoick grunted.
"Good. Now, move out." They all began walking at a fast pace away from the area. Stoick sighed. He looked around before leaving, but just as he did...
"What the...devil?" There was a rock man staring at him from a dark Hallway. Its green eyes stared at him, as if into his soul. Stoick rubbed his eyes and looked again. It was gone. Stoick looked around before hurrying off to the group.
"It's a hallucination, and nothing more." He told himself. But as he walked, he couldn't help but feel those green eyes on him still, staring right through him.
WOW. Longest one yet! Review a lot, and there might be a bigger chapter next time! No flames, constructional criticism welcome.
